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<DATE>2014-08-27</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140522.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A LETTER To Mr. S. A ROMISH PRIEST <HI>CONCERNING</HI> The Impo&s;sibility of the Publick E&s;tabli&s;hment OF POPERY HERE IN ENGLAND.</HEAD>
<OPENER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>May</HI> 19. 1672.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>SINCE I was la&s;t with you I have thought of what you &s;aid, <HI>That ere long all Our Pari&s;h Churches would be in your Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion:</HI> This hath occa|&s;ioned me to Write (I will not &s;ay my Advice) but my Opinion. That you and your Clergy &s;hould not Attempt that which I perceive you have already in your Speculations: They who know the Hi&s;tory of your Services in the la&s;t Wars, and &s;ince, mu&s;t acknowledge that you have de&s;erved well of
<PB N="2" REF="2">your Prince, in that not onely you a&s;&s;erted his Cau&s;e in the Field with the lo&s;s of a Limb, but which is more, you Di&s;covered to one of his great Mini&s;ters of State the De&s;ign of the <HI>Roman</HI> Catholicks, managed by Sir <HI>K. D.</HI> and Father <HI>H.</HI> an <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Sorboni&s;t, to put their part of this Nation under the Subjection and Patronage of <HI>Oliver.</HI> It is in re&s;pect to you, and &s;o many as are of your Loyalty as well as Religion, that I wi&s;h in the Game they now play, by ventu|ring high, they may not lo&s;e all. You are much mi&s;taken, if from a Tolera|tion you conclude an a&s;&s;urance of Publick E&s;tabli&s;hment. It is one thing to gain a favourable look, another, that one &s;hould &s;o fall in love, as to E&s;pou&s;e your Cau&s;e. Con&s;ider the Difficulties, if not Impo&s;&s;ibilities, which in great Number oppo&s;e your Hopes. The Chiefe&s;t, as you ought to apprehend, is the firm Re&s;olution of the King to Defend the Church of <HI>England,</HI> as it yet &s;tands; a Re&s;olution in him &s;o immovable, that neither an Intere&s;t in Mighty Princes, obtainable by &s;uch an Exchange, could Invite, nor the Arguments of Military Men could Per&s;wade him to renounce that Church, from which he then recei|ved no Advantage, but the &s;atisfaction of her Communion, and &s;uffering in her Defence. You cannot but know withal that to believe Him inclinable to you, is to Commit Trea&s;on in your Hearts, &s;ince that to &s;ay &s;o, is declared Trea&s;on by an Act of Parliament. But if you &s;hould prove &s;o Sanguine and full of Fan|cies, as to believe what was formerly ineffectual, might now prevail: I cannot commend your Judgment, except you &s;hew that either your Religion is better, or el&s;e that Intere&s;t doth more &s;trongly draw the King towards you now than heretofore. For the former part, Religion, you &s;ay it ought not in the lea&s;t to be altered; and we acknowledge if it were Reformed it will be le&s;s worth to the Clergy. For the other, concerning Intere&s;t of State, if it di&s;&s;wade under tho&s;e Circum&s;tances, much more will it at this Day. In tho&s;e Times he might by this cour&s;e have been Re&s;tored to three Kingdoms. Now he would hereby give up half his Juri&s;diction, to wit, Supremacy; and after a while, a good part of his Revenue, the appendant Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of his Supremacy: But this is not the wor&s;t; for be&s;ides this by &s;etting up Popery, he &s;ets up the Pope as his Col|legue and fellow Soveraign in all His Maje&s;ty's Dominions. He gives him at once all the Clergy, and implicitely as many as they frighten with Purgatory and Hell &mdash; To Obey Gods Vicar rather than Man: This hath been done, not in the ca&s;e of the Church alone, but in Temporal Quarrels betwixt him and other Princes. But if you &s;till hold the conclu&s;ion again&s;t unan&s;werable Ob|jections, what means pray can you propo&s;e whereby this may be accompli&s;hed? Exerci&s;e all your Imaginative Power, Fancy any thing, though never &s;o un|likely to be granted or practi&s;ed, &s;o it be but in the utmo&s;t degree of Po&s;&s;ibili|ty. There are but two ways to do it, either by Parliament, and you cannot expect that this Parliament, which appeared &s;o earne&s;t again&s;t your Tolera|tion, &s;hould &s;et you up as the National Church. And if you hope this Parlia|ment may quickly Dye of Old Age, and that another more favourable to the Di&s;tre&s;&s;ed, may &s;it in their rooms, you will find your &s;elf mi&s;taken; and that it is not your Party &s;hall be the Men, but rather &s;uch, who though they &s;erved your turn, never Loved you when they were uppermo&s;t.</P>
<P>Let me farther advi&s;e you not to forfeit your di&s;cretion &s;o far, as to expect as &s;udden a publick Change of Religion now by a Parliament, as was in Queen <HI>Maries</HI> dayes; Then the Reformation had onely been begun by King <HI>Edward</HI> his &s;ix years Reign, and Carele&s;ly Managed by the Greate&s;t Per&s;ons under Him, who&s;e Chiefe&s;t aimes appear to be quite another thing: So that there|by
<PB N="3" REF="2">whil&s;t they Neglected to bring over the Countrey Gentlemen to Prote&s;tan|ti&s;me, they confirmed them in Popery. Thence was it that the Romani&s;ts might much better promi&s;e them&s;elves to be re&s;tored under that Queen, then at the&s;e years when people &s;till remember her; and for &s;everal Generations have been reconciled to the Reformation by Writings in tho&s;e Controver&s;ies, and held in by penal Lawes&mdash;, and e&s;tranged from <HI>Rome</HI> by 88. and the 5th. of <HI>Novem|ber.</HI> Now you cannot look for any Good from a Parliament, you may rightly Dread their di&s;plea&s;ure; e&s;pecially if you &s;hould &s;tretch your Liberty of Con|&s;cience to the perverting of other Mens: For do what you can, and Declaim never &s;o much again&s;t a Parliamentary Religion; The Commons will have a Committee for Religion, or el&s;e Liberty and Priviledge are utterly lo&s;t. So that you ought by a private exerci&s;e of your Wor&s;hip, and a peaceable De|meanour to provide for the coming of a Parliament, as by Repentance men do for Death, becau&s;e it cannot be avoided, but may be made le&s;s hurtful&mdash;. By this time, I &s;uppo&s;e, you may have laid a&s;ide all hopes of being Advanced by a Parliament, and ca&s;t your Thoughts towards a &s;tanding Army; Certainly you will find this conceit as Aiery as any of the re&s;t, for (be&s;ides that he who&s;e Authority &s;hould rai&s;e it, intends you no more then a bare and limited Toleration) there are very many and Obvious Hinderances of that project, The Kingdom being an I&s;land, takes away the pretences hereof, which are alleadged by our powerful Neighbours, and allowed by rea&s;on of their Scituation. So that on the &s;urmizes of &s;uch a thing, the Mutinous Temper of this Climate would appear as Jealous of their Liberties, as in &s;ome Countreys men are of their Wives. And withall, where could you rai&s;e Men for the Service? your own Gentlemen of E&s;tates would not endure Forreigners; and they mu&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;arily want home-born Souldiers, their being not a &s;ufficient Number of your Religion, and of none to give the law of Armes to all your Adver&s;aries. And where will you get the main Weapon, Money? Though your Religion &s;hould open their &s;tock and Trea&s;ure as for a Holy War, yet in a little Time either their &s;tock or their Zeal would be &s;pent, and then an Army in its own Country cannot &s;o ea&s;ily get Bread by the &s;word, as Labouring men can do by the &s;pade. For proof of this, you may call to mind how that both Rump and Army were well nigh fami&s;hed into a <HI>Di&s;&s;olution,</HI> when the Countrey declared they would pay no mores Taxes. In &s;uch Nece&s;&s;ities Souldiers like Bea&s;ts of prey will fall one upon another and devour their Keepers too; And if you be|lieve them to be wholly Mercenary, they are never &s;o likely to be hired to a de|&s;ign contrary to their former Commi&s;&s;ion, as when their Ma&s;ters cannot pay, nor their Enemies can be plundered, yet will freely part with mony upon their own termes. You &s;ee, Sir, how I have followed your Propagators through all, both Probable and Wild Methods, which they can invent; all which appear|ing Unprofitable and Unlikely, they will not &s;urely like vain Projectors, wa&s;te what they have, for that which they can never obtain&mdash;.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your Servant</HI>&mdash;</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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