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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<P>AN ENGLISH ANSVVER TO THE Scotch Speech, Shewing the <HI>Intollerablene&s;s</HI> of TOLLERATION In Matters of RELIGION. AND Converting each Argument in that Speech to its mo&s;t Rea&s;onable, Genuine and Proper U&s;e; and each Paragraph into an Argument again&s;t its <HI>Author.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>W. K.</HI> A Lover of Loyalty, Truth and Tranquility; and one who Accounts it a Dignity, as well as Duty, to be an Obedient Son of the CHURCH of <HI>ENGLAND.</HI></P>
<P>LONDON: Printed by <HI>T. N.</HI> for <HI>Edward Man,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his Shop at the Sign of the <HI>Swan</HI> near <HI>York-Hou&s;e</HI> in the <HI>Strand.</HI> 1668.</P>
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<HEAD>AN <HI>ENGLISH</HI> ANSWER TO THE <HI>SCOTCH SPEECH.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_SUrely, Sir, I &s;hould much offend you, &s;hould I not conclude you of the &s;ame Mind with the Author of this your Re-printed <HI>Oration:</HI> For that were to deale too plainly with you, and to de|clare you Guilty of what tho&s;e of your Gang are too much attainted, <HI>viz.</HI> The Watermans|practice, of Rowing one way, and looking a|nother. But there was &s;ure &s;ome extraordinary impul&s;e active in your <HI>Orator;</HI> (For all things are Miraculous that hap|pen to your Party) and we now are bound to believe him a Prophet, &s;ince your very thoughts and words were by way of Anticipation, or Praediction delivered to King <HI>James the Fifth</HI> of <HI>Scotland</HI> a hundred years &s;ince. I &s;hall therefore let the Author &s;leep with his Fathers, and make no reflections upon the departed; for, in that juncture of Af|faires, and con&s;idering the temper of that Nation, the Advice might
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then be Prudent and Politick. But becau&s;e, if <HI>Pythagoras</HI>'s <HI>Metem&s;y|co&s;is</HI> be true, you are po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with his <HI>Scotti&s;h</HI> Genius; give me leave to animadvert a little upon it as your Bratt, and none of his. I cannot conclude you any great Politician, or de&s;erving the title of a Mr. of Rea&s;on, and con&s;equently unfit to document a Prince, becau&s;e you for|get to di&s;tingui&s;h, between Nation and Nation; Party and Party; nay, the very &s;ame Party, as they may lie under different circum&s;tan|ces, <HI>viz.</HI> between Presbyterified-Separati&s;ts painting their Tenets with Plau&s;ible Pretences, and the Varni&s;h of Sanctity; wa&s;hing their Opinions in Milk and Butter: and the &s;ame Schi&s;maticks, as di&s;playing their Sentiments with greate&s;t confidence, &s;ounding them forth with Trumpet and Drum; and involving a Kingdom (the Genuine con&s;e|quent of their Tolleration) in Warr, and Blood. To deale ingeni|ou&s;ly with you, I mu&s;t begg your pardon; if I take you for one of a Lin&s;ewool&s;y-temper; a Party per pale Puritan, and Papi&s;t. For I pretend not to Divine the Authors meaning (though it may be the Author and Printer are both the &s;ame;) For this Stile was not in tho&s;e dayes, or in that Nation currant and intelligable, with reference to the Affaires then on Foot: but yours, in Publi&s;hing it at this pre|&s;ent juncto; And to me it is plain, that when you talke of two Reli|gions, you then plead for the Papi&s;t; and when of Separati&s;ts, you are the Non-conformi&s;ts-Champion. And, it is not ami&s;s that you make the di&s;covery, for Experience as well as <HI>Ly&s;imachus Nicanor</HI> gives us to under&s;tand, that there is no <GAP DESC="foreign"> between them: And we may ju&s;tly fear that Popery will not be long bani&s;hed, if a Tolleration be granted. That I pre&s;ume is the thing you all aime at, let your Pamphlets be never &s;o little to the purpo&s;e, and your Practice a cleere Confutation of the Propo&s;ition: But the evill of this hath been &s;uf|ficiently evinced by a more Learned Pen; and my de&s;ign now is to An&s;wer a Fool according to his Folly, lea&s;t he be wi&s;e in his own con|ceit: Therefore not daring to direct my Lines to the Supreme, I &s;hall Levell them at Your Self, and only de&s;ire you to peru&s;e the &s;e|veral Periods of your Speech a little converted into other Sen&s;e, and leave the Readers to Judge which &s;tands to mo&s;t rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Among&s;t the many Cur&s;es that God in the&s;e la&s;t dayes hath in|flicted upon this our Native Land, this is not the lea&s;t; that he hath been plea&s;ed permi&s;&s;ively to open the Bottomle&s;s Pit, and hath fulfilled St. <HI>Iohns Revelation, Chap.</HI> the 9th. in &s;uffering many Locu&s;ts to cover this our Earth; who, having the Faces of Men, and the Preten|&s;ions
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of Saints, yet have Stings in their Tailes, and have hurt this our Land many times five Moneths, <HI>viz.</HI> That brood of Sectaries, who have once darkened the Sun of Regall Maje&s;ty, and now endea|vour again the &s;econd time by their Infectious breath to Smoak it into an Eclip&s;e. And among&s;t the many Ble&s;&s;ings the Subjects of this Kingdom have injoyed under the Gracious Government of our Dear and Dread Sovereign, this is not the lea&s;t conducing to the Weale of this Nation. That the Honourable Hou&s;e of Commons, have had a Gracious Liberty, and the Religious boldne&s;s to open their Mindes, and Declare their Opinions, <HI>viz.</HI> That Schi&s;matical Per&s;ons are not fit objects of Favour; and that it doth not con&s;i&s;t with the Grandeur of Royall Maje&s;ty to bend to them, who will not bend to it; and who do not only confidently bend, but im|pudently break all its Sanctions.</P>
<P>And if ever there was a time thus &s;trictly to determine, it is this: and the in&s;olency of the Factious doth importunately require it. For, in matters of Advice and Con&s;ultation, we cannot al|wayes follow what is mo&s;t Rea&s;onable, nor what Chri&s;tian Con|de&s;cention in &s;ome re&s;pects may require; but what Nece&s;&s;ity drives us unto, and what is mo&s;t convenient for the pre&s;ent time, and what may be fairly accompli&s;hed and effected. For though we grant that which we need not, <HI>viz.</HI> That in a Spirit of meekne&s;s the Errors of the Weak are to be tollerated in the Re-printers &s;en&s;e; Yet it being mo&s;t apparent, that they, who pretend to be &s;o, are wil|full, not weak: And &s;ince, not only Rea&s;on and Scripture <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE>, but dear-bought Experience teaches us, that that Tolleration no whit a|vailes to the prevention of Di&s;&s;entions; but that &s;ufferance enhan|ces the In&s;olence of the Party<HI>:</HI> So that after a grant of 19 Petiti|ons they will be &s;o impudent as to Rebell, Should they be deni|ed the 20th? And &s;ince it is apparent, that to enfringe an E&s;ta|bli&s;hed Law for the plea&s;ure of a Few, would be a Sovereign way to make Lawes cheap, Authority contemptible, and Sectaries proud, who &s;well too much already. It cannot be deny'd, but that that Moderation and meekne&s;s, that forbearance and conde&s;cention, which might be exerci&s;ed towards &s;ome particular Per&s;ons, cannot without apparent danger be granted generally to the Party; and that the very Safety of the <HI>STATE</HI> denies &s;uch a Comprehen|&s;ion.</P>
<P>The E&s;tate of the Kingdom is much troubled with divers Opini|ons
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concerning Religion: and it is to be wi&s;hed that the only true Religion were in the hearts of every Subject<HI>:</HI> But &s;ince diver&s;ity of Opinions of Religion, and Here&s;ies, are the very puni&s;hment of God Almighty upon Men for their horrible Vices, Roaring Sins, and hypocriticall Delu&s;ions: And when Men for&s;ake his fear, and true obedience, God abandoneth them to their own Opinions and Fanta&s;ies in Religion, and giveth them over to believe lies; Out of which ari&s;e Partialities, Factions, Divi&s;ions, Strife, Inte&s;tine Di&s;cords, which bur&s;t forth into Civill Warr, and in &s;hort time bring Kings and Kingdomes to their la&s;t Periods, Therefore, that matters may not ari&s;e to &s;uch a heighth of in&s;olency, and that the Seditious <HI>Spirit</HI> of 40 and 48, which did then imbrue the Land in Blood, may not again be encouraged by Connivance and Indul|gence, without di&s;&s;embling my thoughts, I cannot but averr; That the pre&s;ervation of the Lawes Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall and Civill, Inviolable and Entire, and a due care to quicken and Execute them; will be the be&s;t way to pre&s;erve the Peace, and promote the Unity of this Land and Nation.</P>
<P>I hold it the de&s;ire of none but Per&s;ons Je&s;uitted, to Wi&s;h for the Free-Exerci&s;e of two Religions: for, under the pretence and &s;hadow of them, the common Peace of the Subject will be torn in peices. And certainly your Magi&s;teriall Doctor his Interrogation is altogether de&s;titute of wi&s;dom and truth<HI>:</HI> For (though like a &s;imple &s;ophi&s;ter you &s;eem to deny it) Wi&s;dom may devi&s;e a Pe|nalty for Separati&s;ts (who&s;e Principles do not lead them directly to Rebellion) that is neither Death nor Bani&s;hment (for the&s;e two are not immediate oppo&s;ites, and therefore the Propo&s;ition is pi|tifull and fallacious) there being a Medium between them, <HI>viz,</HI> a Pecuniary Mulct, or lighter Corporal Puni&s;hments. But it is the Trick of the&s;e Scriblers, like their Father the Devil, <HI>Fortiter Ca|lumniari,</HI> and to Exa&s;perate the People, by telling them what Cru|elties they mu&s;t expect, and what Torments are Decreed; hoping thereby to excite them to Rebellion, under the Specious Pretence of Liberty, and Self-pre&s;ervation. But though I mu&s;t freely &s;ay, as to the Promoters of a Religion differing in Fundamentalls from the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel, and introducing another Supreme Head of the Church, that tho&s;e two Puni&s;hments are mo&s;t fit for them, and de&s;erved by them; yet as to tho&s;e who only differ in Circum|&s;tance and Ceremonies from the Church of <HI>England;</HI> there is ano|ther
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way not as yet thought on by our addle-headed Reprinter; <HI>viz.</HI> to let them be tollerated as to living, conver&s;ing, and injoying liberty among&s;t us; but let them be fined for the neglect of Divine Service, and their verbo&s;e Teachers di&s;countenanced and &s;ilenced; and this I take to be a way different farr from that which is here propo&s;ed. But the&s;e men love to &s;care the people into &s;edition, and to make them believe that death is threatned, and many evils invented which were never thought of by any but them&s;elves. And whereas this opinion of the conveniences of inflicting penalties for Non-conformity to cere|monies, may &s;eem to interfere with that rule of <HI>Quod tibi &s;ieri non vis, &amp;c.</HI> It will ea&s;ily be rejoyned, though that Axiome always is of force in commutative ju&s;tice, yet I pre&s;ume it is not &s;o in that we call di&s;tri|butive, which comprehends the affairs of Superiours with Inferiours: becau&s;e inferiours are not competent judges in the ca&s;e, till the tables be turn'd and them&s;elves &s;uppo&s;ed the power offended, and then they have determined the ca&s;e to our hands; even then when their autho|rity was altogether unlawful, and no other then a notorious u&s;urpation and divelli&s;h Tyranny.</P>
<P>So &s;oon as a Prince begins upon the in&s;olencie and impudence of &s;ome ob&s;tinate di&s;&s;enters to comply with the Traitors, and conde&s;cend to their Petitions: He gives them an incouragement the more to plague and pe&s;ter him with Petitions, Declarations, Remon&s;trances, &amp;c. And &s;hall find (which I pray God avert from this Nation) that they will never leave inching and asking, till they have ju&s;tled, and pu&s;ht him out of his Throne. And here again we have the Presbyterian knack of lying: for as &s;oon as the Prince denies to them who have de|&s;erved death, an intere&s;t in his peculiar favour and kindne&s;s; they pre|&s;ently exclaim that he &s;poils, bani&s;hes, kills, and burns his people for matters ab&s;tract from &s;en&s;e and altogether Spiritual; when as in truth and reality he onely frowns on them, and checks them for di&s;obedient contumacy to his Laws and Edicts, and their clancular endeavour to &s;et Church and State into uproar and combu&s;tion, rather than &s;ubmit to what they acknowledge indifferent.</P>
<P>It is a very great and malicious errour in you (Ma&s;ter reprinter) to affirm the di&s;countenancing of Regecides, or at lea&s;t the ringleaders to that barbarous inhumanity, a per&s;ecuting of them for an opinion of Piety, and for matters of Faith: And unle&s;s you take faith in a very loo&s;e &s;en&s;e you cannot here be excu&s;ed from being the Papi&s;ts advo|cate, (who are latitudinarians in Faith in a contrary &s;en&s;e to them that
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are &s;o in conformity: for whil&s;t tho&s;e will do &s;omething, the&s;e will be|lieve all things) who&s;e cau&s;e (I dare &s;ay) was never promoted by &s;uffer|ing them&s;elves, but cau&s;ing all di&s;&s;enters from it to &s;uffer: The com|pliance of their doctrine with mens carnal intere&s;ts being a cogent ar|gument to the Libertine to embrace it; and therefore your argument here being very in&s;ignificant de&s;erves no further an&s;wer. But if by matters of faith, you mean ceremonies of Religion, and the per&s;wa|&s;ions of men about things indifferent, you then broach a Lye for the intere&s;t of the Presbyter, for you never yet knew any condemned to death for any &s;uch di&s;&s;ent, nor any number gained to the factious party by the ob&s;tinate &s;ufferings of a vain-glorious Pyrgopollinices. But it is the frequent practice of the&s;e &s;editious &s;criblers to amu&s;e men with brags of their Pro&s;elytes, and boa&s;ts of their number; hoping thereby to affright their Superiours into a complyance with their Peti|tions. Now how it can con&s;i&s;t with the prudence of a Parliament to be Hectored and Hufft into a yielding to the factious, who&s;e very na|tures and notions &s;trike at Supremacy, I do not under&s;tand.</P>
<P>It would &s;urely be no great errour of State to endeavour the tran&s;|planting of turbulent and implacable Spirits. For though I que&s;tion not, but that the men you plead for, are inveterate enemies to their native Countrey, yet there is certainly &s;ome probable hopes that the&s;e arti&s;ts of &s;edition, might do us a courte&s;ie in making uproares abroad as they have done at home. Neither is this (Good Sir) an extravagant fancy: for your Beloved Sir <HI>H. Vane</HI> that Baronet of Babel; had in &s;ome few months almo&s;t &s;et the whole Plantation of Conci&s;torian <HI>New England</HI> into as bad a combu&s;tion as you did this of Old. But however, &s;uppo&s;e we &s;hould fail of our hopes in this: yet &s;ure it is far better (if their enmity be implacable) to have our enemies abroad then to have them at home, a Swelling in the Arm, or an exterior Boil, is no|thing &s;o dangerous, as an impo&s;tume or an ulcer neer the Heart, or in the Kidneys.</P>
<P>I cannot but think (Sir) you have taken up Arms, and profe&s;s open ho&s;tility to &s;ound rea&s;on: In that you tell us here in a &s;ettled Kingdom, where the intere&s;ts of the Church are intricately interwoven with tho&s;e of the State, that Religion is not to be preached by arms, that is in truth (if you would a little lay a&s;ide your Tragical Language) that Schi&s;maticks are not by penalties to be re&s;trained, and bring in the fir&s;t Primitive days to avouch it. As if there were no difference between a Church e&s;tabli&s;hing, and one e&s;tabli&s;hed: and that becau&s;e they were
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deprived of the Magi&s;trates countenance, and con&s;equently could not proceed in that Method; that therefore it is unlawful for Chri&s;tian Kings to puni&s;h with the &s;word temporal, tho&s;e who violate their Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Con&s;titutions, &s;urely this is no judicious arguing. And again (as if there were no difference to be made between Religion it &s;elf, and the adjuncts thereof) to argue that becau&s;e the doctrine of the Go|&s;pel was not impo&s;ed by force on the infidels; that therefore obedi|ence to an acknowledged legal Authority, ought not to be enforced upon Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ours, though the things to be &s;ubmitted to are matters of order and decency, is &s;o poor a &s;hift that it de&s;erves not a line more to confute it: We &s;hall readily grant you, that you never knew any arms taken up by True Prote&s;tants (For I mu&s;t tell you I ac|count not the Separati&s;ts &s;o) for the matter of Religion, for when the Epi&s;copal party went of late into the Field, it was to defend their Soveraign, and al&s;o them&s;elves: But the&s;e dete&s;ters of Wars (becau&s;e their horns are &s;hort) they were the men that made the abu&s;e of Reli|gion, and fear of Super&s;tition; their pretence to invade the King and his Subjects. And we now (I hope) &s;hall not need to enterprize that difficulty you &s;peak of, and put our &s;elves in arms again&s;t Sectaries, as &s;uch. But if the&s;e men (as it is natural to them) prove as great traitors in deeds as they are already in words, I hope the enterprize will not be thought unlawful; for &s;ure he's neither a good <HI>Engli&s;hman,</HI> nor a good Chri&s;tian, who will not endeavour their &s;uppre&s;&s;ion. Little need is there of arms to force men to be Hypocrites, when hypocri&s;ie is &s;o ready to force men into arms; And I cannot in charity judge him any other then a hypocrite, who under pretence of Religion arms his tongue with reproaches: and who&s;e fingers itch at a &s;word, and all this again&s;t his undoubted Soveraign. I mu&s;t agree with you herein, that fire and iron cannot work upon mens &s;ouls: but yet let me tell you, they have been found more effectual then love and pity; for the&s;e men you are concern'd for, will break &s;ooner then bend, and are not &s;o inge|nious as to be moved with mercy. And therefore (good Sir) whil&s;t we love, and in our excellent Litany de&s;ire their conver&s;ion, and pray for their per&s;ons, give us leave to with&s;tand and oppo&s;e their ob&s;tinate errours.</P>
<P>The Will mu&s;t be acknowledged to be free from nece&s;&s;itation, and coaction, but yet not &s;o free but that it may be attracted by motives, and per&s;wa&s;ives; by rational arguments, and judicious rea&s;onings into a complyance with what before it could not &s;ubmit to; and it is every
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mans duty to endeavour to have his under&s;tanding &s;o rightly informed, that his will which follows the dictates and repre&s;entations of that high|er faculty may be complyant and &s;equacious to its dictates. But now if in &s;tead of this, men &s;uffer their wills to u&s;urp the thrones of their un|der&s;tanding, and are re&s;olved to believe only what they li&s;t (and the trite Proverb tells us it is an ea&s;ie matter thus to believe) and love to make to them&s;elves a creed and go&s;pel out of their own notions, and to frame it according to their own fancies, intere&s;ts and pa&s;&s;ions, who can pity the&s;e men, if we endeavour to reclaim the &s;tubbornne&s;s of their wills by enacting penalties for their wilfulne&s;s. I wi&s;h heartily it were not too true, that there are &s;ome among&s;t us who are &s;o addicted to their own fancies, that they re&s;olve to give a Supremacy to their Wills, and to have and obey no other <HI>Ce&s;ar;</HI> and that tell us this is the God that is to be obeyed rather then man. Sure then, though the power of the Prince be e&s;pecially over the bodies of men; yet becau&s;e the body hath &s;ome influence upon the Soul, and the Soul al&s;o acts in many things by the body: and e&s;pecially becau&s;e it ordinarily appears, that money is the life of the&s;e mens lives, and there is nothing comes in competition with it, but the vogue of the people, and a great repu|tation; It may not be unrea&s;onable to puni&s;h them in their muck and money, for the maliciou&s;ne&s;s of their minds. True it is, the&s;e men are members of the body Politick: but &s;uch as a Sore-leg is to the body natural, which if it fe&s;ters, rankles, gangrens, <HI>En&s;e recidendum ne pars &s;incera trahatur:</HI> I mean not this in the &s;trict and literal &s;en&s;e: for I love not <HI>Draco<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> laws that are writ in bloud; but my meaning is, an old Sore is not to be excu&s;ed from &s;harp corro&s;ives; becau&s;e the part aggrieved is a member of the body, but the &s;marting co&s;tick may well be u&s;ed in hope of a Cure.</P>
<P>A nobler way and a gentler connivance hath been u&s;ed with the&s;e men, then they ever de&s;erved; Penal laws take no cogni&s;ance of their clancular Preachments, provided there be not above five be&s;ides the family: And our Gratious Soveraign hath for this twelve Months la&s;t pa&s;t, very much born with their tumultuous Conventicles; But what is the effect of all this Lenity, but an ungrateful impudency and open railery again&s;t King and Parliament; Though the <HI>Oxford</HI> Act was never yet executed, yet are the&s;e Unthankful per&s;ons &s;o little &s;en&s;eable of the Kings Indulgence to them; that they fear not to a&s;&s;ert that they do not apprehend it any product of Lenity, but rather the effect of a miraculous Providence, which hath &s;topt and barr'd the mouth of the
<PB N="9" REF="6">
Lion. Thus they fear not to &s;peak evil of dignities; and &s;pread evil reports of the Lord's Anointed. But can Tolleration be thought the way to Union, as you &s;eem to intimate? or is poi&s;on to be antidoted by keeping it in the Stomack? Surely, Sir, both Propo&s;itions are equally probable. Since therefore Lenity will not avail to cure them, Severity mu&s;t be endured by them, and admini&s;tred to them, for who can help what will away?</P>
<P>It is fal&s;e, irrational, and ab&s;urd to affirm, that diver&s;ity of Religions is not de&s;tructive to Society, and a bar to the civil Conver&s;ation of men. Sure, Sir, you are a great &s;tranger in I&s;rael, if you know not what Ty|gers, a meer difference in opinion, hath rendred &s;ome <HI>Oliverians</HI> to the Loyal party: And as great a &s;tranger are you to the Tempers of men, and the Wiles of Satan, if you have not ob&s;erved, that &s;uch a diver&s;ity is the Author of feuds, and bitter animo&s;ities; and that Two Religions like <HI>Ce&s;ar</HI> and <HI>Pompey</HI> will be always at Daggers drawing for the Su|premacy; the one not enduring any Superiour, the other hating the thoughts of an equal. For every man being &s;o far his own Para&s;ite, as to flatter him&s;elf into a belief that the truth is on his &s;ide; will take all occa&s;ions to a&s;&s;ert, and promote it; and to malign them who &s;eem to oppo&s;e it. And then nothing will be &s;o common as to ca&s;t reproaches upon the highe&s;t Authority that &s;hall di&s;&s;ent from them, and to averre &s;uch Tolleration a &s;ilent conce&s;&s;ion of the goodne&s;s of their cau&s;e; for &s;uch impudent conclu&s;ions are not &s;eldom extorted from gracious premi&s;es.</P>
<P>And why, I pray, may not our almo&s;t infinite, and mo&s;t pragmatical &s;ects be as kind and good natured as the Moncks are, who content them&s;elves with, and &s;ubmit them&s;elves to the Orders and Rules of their Holy Father the Pope, acknowledging and embracing him as Su|preme, though impo&s;ing Novelties as Articles of Faith, and have there|fore good rea&s;on to yield onely unto him a pa&s;&s;ive, but no active obe|dience: I am &s;ure our di&s;&s;enters of the Cla&s;&s;ical Order, have much more rea&s;on to acquie&s;s in the Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Con&s;titutions of our Church, then they of theirs: becau&s;e our Holy Mother the Church hath declared to her children in her Rubrick of Ceremonies, that they are indifferent in them&s;elves, and are onely impo&s;ed for the &s;ake of or|der and decency; and makes nothing an Article of faith which God hath not. So that here lies the difference between the&s;e two parties, they, I mean the various orders in the Romi&s;h Church, are lull'd into a repo&s;e by the drow&s;ie rockings of a blind obedience, and our Separati&s;ts
<PB N="10" REF="7">
here would hurry us into confu&s;ion, by their impudent &s;tickling for a perver&s;e di&s;obedience; they &s;in by ea&s;ie &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, but the&s;e &s;in more by the Witchcraft of Rebellion. But &s;ince you know, who&s;e property it is to be que&s;tioni&s;t, and I apprehend this Paragraph a weak and in|con&s;iderable one, I &s;hall onely &s;ay that therefore the&s;e Separati&s;ts and Papi&s;ts cannot be &s;uffered; becau&s;e we have found by an experience, that hath been the price of Royal bloud, that Lenity and Kindne&s;s will not reduce the&s;e men to the right Government: that they cannot for|bear to practice again&s;t the politick Laws and Con&s;titutions of the King|dom; and therefore it is not fit they be tollerated in the State.</P>
<P>The Murthers, Slaughters, Battels, Ma&s;&s;acres, which not long &s;ince aro&s;e, and were promoted among&s;t us, were the unhappy con&s;equents of putting power into the hands of the&s;e cruel Separati&s;ts, and a too great conde&s;cention unto them. Opportunity not onely makes a thief, but al&s;o di&s;covers the di&s;po&s;itions of men; And if we are not wil|fully blind (which is the wor&s;t ob&s;curity) we cannot but &s;ee they have given us a &s;ufficient Comment upon their Natures, how inclined they are to fle&s;h them&s;elves with bloud and &s;laughter, to ravage and roar like Fami&s;hed Lions, though they thereby &s;acrifice their Souls to the infernal powers. Sure then this &s;hould be a cogent argument to clip their Claws, becau&s;e an unju&s;t and imprudent Tolleration would open a gate to all this impiety. For who &s;ees not, that they are &s;o far from repentance, that they are traver&s;ing over again their old &s;teps, and want nothing but a <HI>Rump Parliament</HI> to &s;et them a gog. Good rea&s;on then hath this our Prudent Parliament to look to them&s;elves, their Laws, and the Kingdom; and provide manacles for the&s;e <HI>Orlando Furio&s;oes.</HI></P>
<P>In &s;eeking Liberty of Religion the&s;e men &s;eek to believe any thing that may whim&s;ically come, or, by a cunning Je&s;uit, be &s;ubtilly in&s;i|nuated into their brains. And under the pretence of Religion, and the exerci&s;ing of it, according to the fir&s;t Chri&s;tians in&s;titution, they will neither &s;erve God, nor obey the Laws under which they are born.</P>
<P>That Maxime &s;o often repeated among&s;t the Church-men of <HI>Rome,</HI> hath not (in their &s;en&s;e) been ever executed upon the Separati&s;ts of <HI>England;</HI> At lea&s;t not upon them as Separati&s;ts, and Di&s;&s;enters from us in Religion, but as they have been guilty of &s;edition and trea&s;on, which is the Lacquey attendant upon the zealous Separati&s;t. And this is cer|tain that where Hereticks are countenanced, and the &s;editious encou|raged, there neither the power of the Prince &s;hall be pre&s;erved, nor yet the benefit of the Common people long maintained. The next
<PB N="11" REF="7">
way to bring in infidelity, is to &s;uffer men to believe what they li&s;t, for by that means they will at la&s;t believe nothing at all.</P>
<P>Chri&s;tian Kings are obliged to advance the glory of God, and the Salvation of their Subjects, by taking care that the Word and Sacra|ments be orthodoxly preached, and duly admini&s;trated to them. And though it is plain, that you here &s;quint at the revenue of the Church; as your great eye-&s;ore, yet give me leave to tell you that double ho|nour, <HI>i. e.</HI> extraordinary maintenance as well as countenance is to be given to them, who by his Maje&s;ty are called to watch over the Souls of his Subjects. It is que&s;tionle&s;s the Magi&s;trates duty to uphold and encourage mo&s;t &s;ingularly the Bi&s;hops, that take care that the Word be preached without &s;ophi&s;tication and the higgling Knavery of whining Oratory and extemporary non-&s;en&s;e: That &s;ee that the people be in|&s;tructed in their duty both to God and the King, which though never &s;o often joyned together in Scripture, &s;hall be &s;ure to be &s;eparated either directly, or implicitely by the&s;e Hectors for Schi&s;me. Now this you call governing the Kingdom by the intere&s;ts of Prie&s;ts, a &s;hrewd &s;ign that your de&s;ire is to have a nation of Athei&s;ts. I heartily wi&s;h that rule you &s;eem to harp on: viz. <HI>Quicquid propter Deum fit, aequa|liter fit,</HI> were duly ob&s;erved by this phari&s;aical generation; for then I am &s;ure whil&s;t they religiou&s;ly plead for the ob&s;ervation of the Sabbath, they would not wickedly forget the fifth Command|ment.</P>
<P>Now then &s;ince this Vice cannot be Tollerated but by the ruine of the State; and &s;ince there is a greater obligation, and nece&s;&s;ity of Law to puni&s;h Hereticks, and ob&s;tinately &s;editious Separati&s;ts, than Fornicators, and other &s;uch &s;candalous Livers; becau&s;e they are more immediately de&s;tructive of civil Society, and the peace of a Nation than the&s;e are (though it is true, For the&s;e things the wrath of God comes on the children of di&s;obedience.) It cannot be thought that they are per&s;ons to be indulged, being &s;o neet of Kind to the Vipor. For how hath the beams of favour hardned their dirty di&s;po&s;itions, emboldening them to &s;pit their poi&s;on even at the King him&s;elf, and to talk trea&s;on with a familiar confidence; which that it may not be brought into act, it concerns the Magi&s;trate not to be hufft out of their Severity.</P>
<P><PB N="12" REF="8">
The&s;e Men (I know) would willingly be thought to be of the &s;ame nature and condition of which we are: They pretend to Wor&s;hip the &s;ame God as we do, but forget he hath &s;aid, Thou &s;halt not &s;peak evill of the Ruler of the People. And whereas <HI>Michael</HI> the <HI>Arch-Angel</HI> brought not a Railing Accu&s;ation again&s;t the Di&s;puting Devil, the&s;e men &s;tudy nothing but Slanders and Sar|ca&s;ms again&s;t the Fathers of the Church. And in truth, notwith&s;tand|ing all the Gayety of their Pretences, the Differences between them and us, will be found &s;o va&s;t, that nothing but their Conformity, or their Suppre&s;&s;ion can &s;ecure our Tranquility. I know none that de&s;ires to have them Pro&s;ecuted with Fire and Sword, that Smells Rank of the Schi&s;matical Humour, who have from their Succe&s;s en|deavoured to per&s;wade us, That God was in their bitter Divi&s;ions and Alenation of Affections; in their Raging Flames of Mutiny and Sedition; in the Tempe&s;ts, and Turbulent Whirl-wind of a Spirit of Contradiction; and not in the Gentle Breathings after Peace and Concord: It being no le&s;s then Seque&s;tration to Teach the People Allegiance. This is the Sport their Fingers now Itch at; But we would fain per&s;wade them to Love and Amity, by Chalking out unto them the good Old-Way<HI>:</HI> we would give them Light, but they &s;hut their eyes; we endeavour to cut off the Scales, and they cry out we Kill them. In Mu&s;icall In&s;truments if a String jarr, and be out of Tune, and will not by any Arts and gentle means be veered about to a Concord, but &s;naps and flyes in the very face of the Mu&s;ician, it is broke off, thrown a&s;ide, and a new one put in its room. Let not us therefore be &s;o cruel to our &s;elves, as to doat on tho&s;e Serpents, who have already &s;tung us almo&s;t to death, and of who&s;e dolorous wounds we are not as yet recovered.</P>
<P>Let the&s;e Men therefore be guided by rea&s;on, and re&s;t &s;atisfied in the Decrees of the Council of the Nation<HI>:</HI> For, as they have been &s;ufficiently proved Erroneous, &s;o they have too apparently proved them&s;elves Seditious and Treacherous. That the Opinions they Maintain are contrary to the Principles and Practi&s;e of the Antient Church, is clear as the day: only to in&s;tance in that which the time of the Year mindes me of. They deny it a duty to Ce|lebrate the Fe&s;tival of <HI>Ea&s;ter,</HI> which never but one Light-headed-Aerius a&s;&s;erted before them<HI>:</HI> otherwi&s;e this their Tenet would have been Condemned by a Lawful Council; but what need that, &s;ince Saint <HI>Au&s;t.</HI> tells us, that the Pa&s;&s;ion, Re&s;urrection, A&s;cention
<PB N="13" REF="8">
of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and the Coming of the <HI>Holy Ghost, Toto terrarum orbe univer&s;aria &s;olennitate celebrantur.</HI> And you &s;hall find that the four fir&s;t Councils did not di&s;pute the Matter, but the Manner, <HI>viz.</HI> The true Time of its Ob&s;ervation<HI>:</HI> Let their Wor&s;hip of God be compa|red with that of the Fir&s;t Age, you &s;hall find a difference too great to be Indulged.</P>
<P>You do well <HI>(Sir)</HI> to Compare your Devotoes to the Refractory <HI>Jewes,</HI> and had I a mind to exceed a &s;heet of Paper, I could &s;how you a large Analogie between them<HI>:</HI> But I &s;hall only tell you, that if <HI>Rome</HI> had been &s;o Havockt and Injured by the <HI>Circumci&s;ion</HI> there; as we have, by them of the <HI>Conci&s;ion</HI> here, they would have again verifyed that of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> and have burnt up all the Synagogues of God in their Land. But the&s;e Men are wor&s;e Incendiaries then the cruell <HI>Iewes:</HI> for though they have had In&s;tructions from a free and Lawfull Coun&s;il; yet they abandon all thoughts of Re-union and Ami|ty, and think it a di&s;paragment to their Names, to for&s;ake their Er|rors.</P>
<P>That which &s;ome of them believe, <HI>viz.</HI> The Doctrine of <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;ts, Anabapti&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c. is fal&s;e and evill, and that in many Grand-Articles of our Chri&s;tian Faith<HI>:</HI> The Faith of &s;ome others, though right as to the main, in re&s;pect of Doctrine; yet is &s;o inveterately bent again&s;t the Churches Di&s;cipline, that their ignorant Zeale inevitably excites them to Confront both Civil and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Authority; and to reduce Church-Matters to their Penitential-&s;tool, and Imperious Con&s;i&s;tory, And if it be no offence to judge of the Tree by its fruits, we may &s;ay, without any violence to Chri&s;tian Charity, that they are in this re&s;pect defective in good, and have e&s;pou&s;ed and obtained an habit of evil: They are not therefore Condemned before they are Judged, nor yet Judged before they are heard; for the &s;ound of Trumpets with which they Ala|rumed People to Battel, and their Cur&s;ings of the People after the &s;i|militude of <HI>Meroz,</HI> becau&s;e they would not Fight again&s;t the Lords Annointed, are &s;ufficient Proclamations of their Opinions to the World. And we have all the rea&s;on in the World to Conclude, That it is their Pa&s;&s;ion and Perver&s;ene&s;s; their Pride and Peevi&s;hne&s;s; and not their Religion that troubles the <HI>State.</HI></P>
<DIV2 TYPE="postscript">
<PB N="14" REF="9" MS="y">
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P><HI>THink not (Gentle Reader) that I live to rake in Ranckled-Soares, it's not my Inclination, but their pre&s;umption that hath produ|ced the&s;e Lines, which I hope, con&s;idering that they follow the pre&s;cri|ptions of another Mans Fancy, may be excu&s;ed from the imputation of &s;evere Railery: Since I have but laid the Bratt at the Right Door, and given them their own in their own Language. And I cannot but hope the&s;e few Lines may al&s;o &s;erve to enervate the Mi&s;-applied Ar|guments contained in a Letter</HI> To a Member of the Hou&s;e of Com|mons for the Promotion of Liberty of Con&s;cience. <HI>Becau&s;e nei|ther the</HI> I&s;raelites, <HI>nor the</HI> Primitive-Chri&s;tians <HI>ever Experimented (as we have done) tho&s;e Tollerated by them, &s;o de&s;tructive to their</HI> Policy, <HI>as the&s;e men have been to ours: If they had, there would have been provi&s;ions made for their Suppre&s;&s;ion and Extirpation. And though the</HI> Epi&s;tler <HI>pa&s;&s;es it over as a thing not worth noting; yet to &s;o|ber men, it will be of moment to think, that the Totall de&s;truction of the</HI> Jewi&s;h <HI>Nation was the immediate con&s;equent of their numerous Sects.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="9">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
