WHat miſerable Circumſtances we lay under, during the late arbitrary Reign; by Rapes and Violences committed upon our Religion and Laws, by the impudent Violation of the moſt ſacred Oaths and Promiſes, by the Invaſion of Property, and general Corruption of Juſtice, is a thing ſo palpable and notorious, that 'tis allmoſt incredible any men but Papiſts ſhould be in Love with it; and yet by ſad Experience we find there is a degenerous Race of Proteſtants among us, that ſeem to be fond of their former Slavery, and, like the Children of Iſrael, are hankering after the Fleſh pots of Aegypt; they are infatuated with the name of Divine Right of Monarchy, and being carried headlong with that fallacious Notion, fall into a Frenzy and Madneſs againſt the preſent Lawfull Authority.

Almighty God has no where determined in his Word a Model for our Civil Government, but has left us, as all other Nations, to ſuch a Form as ſhall be agreed upon by the People; and where this Agreement is not, 'tis not properly Government but Tyranny; for without it the Judicious Mr. Hooker ſays,Eccl. Pol. l. 1. c. 10. p. 86. There is no reaſon why one man ſhould take upon him to be Judge or Lord over another; becauſe for the Manifeſtation of this their Right, and mens more peaceable Contentment on both ſides, the Aſſent of them who are to be governed ſeemeth neceſſary. And a little after he ſays, All publick Regiment, of what kind ſoever, ſeemeth evidently to have riſen from deliberate Advice, Conſultation, and Compoſition between men, judging it convenient and behoovefull.

And what he ſays concerning the Power of Government, he applies to the Power of Making of Laws, whereby to govern, and ſhews, That the lawfull Power of making Laws to command whole politick Societies, belongs ſo properly to the ſame entire Societies, that for any Prince or Potentate, of what kind ſoever upon Earth, to exerciſe the ſame of himſelf, and not either by expreſs Commiſſion Immediately and Perſonally received from God; or elſe by Authority derived at firſt by their Conſent upon whoſe Perſons they impoſe Laws, it is no better than mere Tyranny. And he adds, Laws they are not therefore, which publick Approbation hath not made ſo.

The Judgment of this great Man I could back with very many good Authorities; but there is no need, he alone being Inſtar Omnium, Equal to All, whoſe Five firſt Books of Eccleſiaſtical Polity have been received as Oracles, even by thoſe very Perſons who now differ from him.

When this Authour makes for them, as he does abundantly in vindicating Church Ceremonies, then he is the LEARNED & JUDICIOUS Mr. HOOKER, but when he goes againſt their Intereſt, though not againſt the Truth, then he is decried, and branded with being Erroneous. But tis not Mr. Hooker's Fate alone to be thus dealt with; for they treat all Authours as ill, that are againſt their Exotick and new fangled Notions of Sovereignty and Allegiance: For when the Authour is not for them, they reſolve to be againſt the Authour, though it ſhould be againſt Reaſon.

The Jewiſh Theocraſie is no Precedent to the Engliſh Monarchy; there God immediately governed; he gave that Nation all their Laws, Moral, Judiciary, and Ceremonial; but we can make no pretence to ſuch a Divine Conduct; we muſt have recourſe to the wholſome Laws and Cuſtoms of our Countrey, for our Direction in Civil Proceedings.

Neither our Saviour, nor his Apoſtles, intermeddled with Civil Government, but left that as they found it. Chriſt's Kingdom was not of this World, and therefore he and his Apoſtles meddled no farther with the Kingdoms of the World, than to teach all their Duties in their reſpective Stations, the Magiſtrates to rule, and the People to obey in the Fear of God. I know not where they command a Pasſive Obedience to Illegal Violence; if the Law be for a Man, it cannot be Rebellion in him to defend himſelf by it; but if the Law be againſt a man, then he has a proper Reaſon for the exerciſe of Non-reſiſtence.

The Apoſtle bids us be ſubiect to the Higher Powers▪ becauſe the Powers that be, are ordained of God. Rom.13. 11. But he does not command us this without reſtraction, for Rulers muſt not be Terrour to good Works, but to the evil, being appointed for the puniſhment of evil Doers, and for the Praiſe of them that doe well. 1 Pet. 2. 14. This is the End of their Government, and the reaſon of our Obedience.

When they govern as according to the Laws of our Countrey, and diſcourage Vice by Puniſhing it, and encourage Vertue by Rewards; Reſiſtence is then Rebellion with a Witneſs; but when Rulers fail in all this, and of Nuyſing Fathers (which they ſhould be) degenerate into bloody Murtherers of their Countrey, (which they ought not to be,) Reſiſtence is not Rebellion, but a juſt and lawfull Defence againſt unjuſt and unlawfull Oppreſſion.

The Standard then of our Civil Goverment is the Law of the Land, It is ſuperiour to all Orders and Banks of Men, and looks with an equal Aſpect upon the Prince and People. According to this Law we ought to be governed, and when contrary to this Law we are invaded, (as we were in the late King's time in every thing that was near and dear to us,) we may juſtly defend our ſelves againſt ſuch illegal Doings at home, and join with a Stranger that will take upon him to protect us againſt the Cruelties of an Arbitrary Power. In ſuch a Caſe as this we may take the beſt means we can for our Safety. Muſt the Lives of Innocent Millions be endangered to gratifie One Man's Arbitrary Luſt? Muſt Popery be ſet up contrary to our Laws and Oaths, as well as Scripture, and the beſt Antiquity? Muſt we deny our Senſes and Reaſon to become Chriſtians? Muſt we be forc'd to embrace a Religion that has not ſo much Charity in it as Mahometaniſm, and much leſs moral Juſtice and Honeſty? And muſt we be content to wear the Chains and Fetters of Eccleſiaſtical and Civil Slavery, when we may enjoy a Goſpel Service, which is perfect Freedom, and live under the eaſieſt and beſt of Governments? Should we conſent to all this, as it cannot be avoided if the late King's Intereſts muſt be advanced, Bedlam or Bridewell were the fitteſt place for us.

There has nothing been done (ſaving ſome enormities of the Mobile) in this great and wonderfull Revolution, but is juſtifiable before God and the World, from Scripture, from Reaſon, and the Conſtitution and Practice of this Kingdom. Let us go according to the Apoſtle's Advice, Stand faſt in the Liberty wherewith Chriſt hath (by his Glorious Inſtrument) made us free, and be not entangled again with the Yoke of (the Roman) bondage. Gal. 5. 1.

Let the Scruples of thoſe which refuſe to take the Oath of Allegiance to K. William and Q. Mary weigh nothing with us: For doubtleſs we are diſcharged of our Obligation to the late King James, and among others for theſe Reaſons; his Arbitrarineſs, breach of Contract, withdrawing his Protection, ſelling us for Slaves to a Foreign Prince and State, and conſpiring againſt us in a hoſtile manner.

And the Crown being now K. W's and Q. M's by Right and Fact, being ſettled upon them by a Parliament lawfully called, lawfully choſen, and lawfully proceeding, notwithſtanding all the factious and ſlanderous Pamphlets, The Diſſertion diſcuſſed, The Hiſtory of the Convention, or, New-Chriſtened Parliament, &c. We are obliged in Conſcience to bear Faith and true Allegiance to their Majeſties, and when required to ſwear the ſame.

They are our lawfull Governours, We live under their Protection, and therefore they deſerve our Allegiance.

There are ſome Laymen as well as Divines, that lodg the ſupreme Power ſolely in the Perſon of the King, and make him anuputheros, unaccountable to any but God. They farther ſay, He can doe no Wrong, and the whole guilt of Male-Adminiſtration lies upon his Miniſters, but He is Innocent.

But theſe are Maxims that were firſt invented by Court Paraſites, and Flatterers, raiſed by the Prince's Favour, and live by his Bread, and have ever ſince been maintained by a Generation of the ſame Stamp.

Were our Government an abſolute Monarchy, an Exception would not lie; but being limitted, the King is accountable to the Kingdom repreſented in Parliament, for all the Outrages and Oppreſſions committed by his means; otherwiſe Laws and Parliaments would be uſeleſs, Liberty and Property empty Names. And whereas, ſay they, the King can doe no Wrong, unleſs it be underſtood with this limitation, He acting by, and according to Law, He may, no doubt, be altogether as Arbitrary as the Grand Seignior.

Theſe are pernicious Poſitions, and advance the Engliſh Monarchy too high, becauſe they infer an Inerribility in the King, which is as dangerous to the State, as Infallibility to the Church.

Let then every true Patriot and Engliſhman fix here: That the King is intruſted with the Executive power of the Law for the good of the People, and the People are to obey and aſſiſt him in the Execution of this high Truſt; but if he abuſes this Power, as the Diſſerter did, to the monifeſt Oppreſſion of his People, the People repreſented in Parliament may take that Truſt from him, and give it to another, who will govern them in Juſtice and Clemency, and defend them in their Religious and Civil Rights.

And now (methinks) 'tis ſtrange that any who are called Proteſtants, ſhould declare Love for the Reformed Religion, and yet ſay, they cannot in Conſcience Renounce the late King. The Proteſtant and Popiſh Intreſt are as contrary as Fire and Water, and a Popiſh Head upon a Proteſtant Body, is like committing a Flock of harmleſs Sheep to the Cuſtody of a Ravenous Wolf: They ſhall be kept, but it is only for Prey and Deſtruction.

We cannot have a Popiſh King without a Popiſh Religion, either tolerated, or authorized in this Nation. Tolerated it may be for a time, as 'twas in the late violent Reign, but that Toleration was purely to get ſtrength enough to it, till it was able to weather all Oppoſition, and then to have given it the Protection of a Law; ſo that the Adherence to, and Eſpouſing of the late King's Cauſe, can ſignifie no leſs in the natural tendency and conſtruction of it, than an Affection for Popery, and the miſerable conſequences thereof, the Loſs of Engliſh Liberty and Property; ſeeing the one cannot be had without the other.

It is now farther made apparent; that His Intereſt and the French King's are linked together, their Counſels and Deſigns the ſame, Both conſpiring in one great Plot, to extirpate the Proteſtant Religion in General.

What Friends then his Favourers are to the Reformed Religion, may be ſeen plain enough without the help of Spectacles. Whereas we ought to Oppoſe him as a publick Enemy, even with our Lives and Fortunes; and, as a Branch of our juſt Allegiance to their preſent Majeſties, diſcover all Treaſonable Attempts and Practices againſt them, and vigorouſly ſupport their Crown and Dignity againſt the blaſphemous Harangues, and ſeditious Libels, that are too frequently vented among us.

But (alas!) how ſoon have ſome men forgot both the Day, and the glorious Inſtrument of our Deliverance? What Murmuring and Diſcontent, what falſe Fears and Jealouſies, what unkind Returns and Prejudices, would, if it were poſſible, darken the Son of the moſt Heroick Prince, and pervent the Ends of the moſt chriſtianly generous Enterprize in the World? Were we not appointed as Sheep for the Slaughter? But God ſent him to interpoſe between the Knife and the Sacrifice. When the great Tree of our Government was in a manner quite cut down by the Romiſh Axes, he came and ſecured it from falling, and made it grow again even to a Miracle. If ever a Deliverer was worthy of the chief Seat in our Affections, it muſt be this Incomparable Prince. Trophies and Statues, and Panegyrical Orations, are fit for thoſe Ambitious Monarchs who have no Real and Intrinſick Worth; but the Unparallel'd Vertues of our Excellent Deliverer, as they are far above ſuch poor, periſhing Pageantry, ſo his Merits will be get him a more laſting Monument of Love, Loyalty, and Gratitude in the Hearts of his People.

In a word, We are, under God, indebted to Him for all that we have, for our Religion, our Laws, our Lives, our Liberties and Eſtates. What an Infamy then will it bring upon us and our Memories to be ungratefull?

I would therefore adviſe all thoſe who go under the Denomination of Proteſtants, and yet appear ſticklers for the late King's Intereſt, to make timely Retractation, and endeavour to compenſate the Diſſervice they have done the Proteſtant Cauſe, by a chearfull and hearty compliance with the preſent Government, and by paying hence forward a conſciencious Obedience to their gracious Majeſties K. William and Q. Mary.

And particularly, let thoſe of the Clergie, whoſe paſt Obſtinacy has been a conſtant Lecture of Rebellion to the, People, change their Text, and let their future good Example be a Sermon of Obedience. Let them doe their Duty as Divines, and leaving civil Things to the civil Powers, approve themſelves the Ambaſſadours of Chriſt, by preaching thoſe Healing Doctrines of Humility, Peace, and Love, and by ſpeaking all the ſame thing. And that they may not fruſtrate one of the moſt glorious Ends of his Majeſties Declaration, (Decl. p. 13.) printed at the Hague, Octob. 8. 1688. the Eſtabliſhing of a good Agreement between the Church of England and all Proteſtant Diſſenters; Let them (whether Fathers or Sons of the Church) be intreated to lay down all Anger and Diſſention about Indifferent Things, and that Spirit of Perſecution which by Eſtranging our Brethren, and hindering their Union, hath formerly too much weakened our own, and ſtrengthened the Roman Party.

Conſider our Saviour hath recommended to us the Spirit of Love, Meekneſs, and Moderation; and the Apoſtle hath commanded us to have no Diviſioms, but to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and in righteouſneſs of life.

What a monſtrous Folly and Madneſs is it to differ about Indifferent Things, and not at all neceſſary to Salvation? To quarrel about the Bark, about the Shell and Carkaſs of Religion?

Remember we have ſtrove ſo long already about Rites and Accidents, that we had almoſt loſt the very Subſtance of true Religion. God in his Mercy has delivered us, let us ſin no more, leſt we provoke him ſtill to ſcourge us.

If this paſſionate but modeſt Addreſs may prevail to influence thoſe for whom it is writ, then ſhall the Hopes and Deſigns of Rome and France de defeated, our Fears ſhall vaniſh, our Religion and our Laws ſhall triumph, and the Golden Age be reſtored to theſe Kingdoms.