YOur present Diocessan wrote last Year 1693. Four Dis­courses, which he has Addressed to you in a long E­pistolary Preface; and Printed this Year 1694.

I have already made some Reflections upon the Second of these Discourses, Concerning the Divinity and Death of Christ, and shown, I think, very plainly, that he is rank Socinian in both. He makes Christ to be God no otherwise than by the Indwelling, as he calls it, of the Divine Word in the Person of that Man Jesus Christ, which is the very an­swer the Socinians give; as you may see in the Brief History of the Ʋnitarians, in their answer to John 1.14.

[Page 2]He explains this in an astonishing way, by the Indwel­ling of God in the Cloud of Glory which was in the Temple,27 and that as they Worshipped the Cloud, because of God's Resting upon it; so the Christians worship Christ, because of God's Dwelling in Him. And the Reason he gives for all this, is, That the Indwelling of Jehovah is Jehovah.

The Indwelling it self cannot be Jehovah: for that is no­thing but our Conception of God's dwelling in any thing: Therefore he must mean that the Thing in which God dwells is Jehovah, and then the Temple was Jehovah as well as the Cloud; and the Sun is Jehovah, and therefore Adora­ble: and so is every Creature; for God Dwells in all, be­cause All have their Being in Him.

But no Indwelling short of Impersonation, upon which fol­lows the Communicatio Idiomatum, that is, that all the pro­perties of each of the Natures Impersonated are attributed to the Person, who partakes of both Natures, as Eating, Drinking, Growing, Sleeping, Dying are said of Man, be­cause his Body is subject to all these; as likewise Immorta­lity, and other Properties of the Soul are as truly said of the same Man. And thus it is that Christ is called GOD, in Relation to His Divine Nature; and Man in relation to his Humane Nature, which could not be if both these Na­tures were not Impersonated; I say no Indwelling of God short of this Impersonation, can make that Thing in which God dwells, to be truly and really God. And therefore neither the Temple, nor the Cloud were God; nor were they Adorable: and the Jews did not Worship the Cloud of Glory, as your Diocessan strangely avers. That had been Rank Idolatry. And so wou'd the Worship of Christ (by his Parallel) if there be no more than an Indwelling of the Divinity in Him, Nor will the Degrees of Indwelling (any I mean short of Impersonation) make any Difference, in this Case. God's Indwelling is more in Angels than in Men, or inferiour Creatures; And yet it wou'd be as great Idola­try to Worship the greatest Angel, as the meanest Worm: and [Page 3] therefore your Diocessan's saying that God dwelt more Inti­mately in Christ than in the Cloud, will not make Christ to be God, more than the Cloud; unless he carries such Indwel­ling the full length of Impersonation, which if he had in­tended, he wou'd never have brought in the Parallel of the Cloud, and made it to be Jehovah and Adorable, that it might be a Parallel.

As to the other point of Socinianism concerning the Death of Christ, your Diocessan pleads expresly in Opposi­tion to the Homilie of Salvation, by rejecting the Doctrine of Satisfaction, paid by Christ, because, as he says, not Due to the Justice of God. But the abovesaid Homilie does not account him, who holds thus, as a Christian Man, but for an Adversary to Christ and his Gospel. As you may see in the Homilie, to which I Refer you. And to what I have more at large said upon this Second of your Diocessan's Dis­courses.

I will at this time, only invite you to look over again with me, his long Dedication to you of these his Discourses

Wherein, with much Episcopal Authority, he does Teach and Dictate to you.p. 10 He minds you of your High Cal­ling, and how that ye ought to walk as becomes the Sons of God, and to shine as Lights in the World.

Among the necessary and spiritual Duties of your Professi­on, he is most earnest with you to Preach up the Present Go­vernment, p. 12 and fill all your Flocks with the most terrible Ap­prehensions of K. J's Return. To express an affectionate and hearty Zeal for Their Majesties and Their Government; to endeavour to keep your People always in mind of the Extream Miseries, as well as of the visible Dangers of Po­pery and Tyranny [never greater danger of both!] we ought to set Popery and Slavery before them in their true Colours [and you have done it] with all the light and life that we can give them:p. 17 we ought to set our selves a­gainst those False Brethren, that pretend they are of the Church of England but are not; and are of the Synagogue of Satan.

[Page 4]Now, Gentlemen, you know very well, that thi [...] is turn'd upon your Diocessan, with all the rest of the Swear­ing Clergy; that they are the False Brethren, the Synagogue of Satan, who falsely pretend to be of the Church of England, but are not. And the Vindication of the Deprived Bishops, with other Proofs for this, have not yet been answer'd. And this your Diocessan shou'd, if he had argu'd fairly, have done first: For till that be done to Satisfaction, all these Harangues are not only Precarious, Begging the Question, which is the poorest sort of Argumentation: But, which is worse, they seem to conclude against your selves, while you are not able to clear your selves from the Charge of Schism, which is, with so much Reason, Learning and Au­thority prov'd against you.

You ought likewise to be fully, and without any the least Doubt or Hesitation, setl'd and convinc'd in your Consci­ences of the Lawfulness of the Present Constitution before you Preach it up, at this rate, to your Flocks. And you know there are a great many shrew'd Books wrote of the contrary Side; which are generally very well receiv'd, even by the Learned, and are thought too Knotty to be answer'd. Whereas your Diocessan's Measures of Obedience, his Phoenix Pastoral, and what ever else has been said by him, or any else in Defence of the Constitution, has been throughly Refuted, at least generally so Esteem'd; even to stop Reply, and make Sherlock himself fly to his Wife for help; and cry that She has ty'd up his Hands from answer­ing these Jacobites, and it is well for them!

But your Diocessan brings a strong Argument, that you are all fully convinc'd of the Lawfulness of the Present Con­stitution, and that is because you are otherwise a Pack of the Vilest and Wickedest Atheists in the World. For I cannot (says he) admit so had a Thought of any of you, p 15 as to imagine that you could take the Oaths, and continue to perform the Divine Offices, Ordinary and Extraordinary, unless you were fully satisfied in your Consciences, concerning the Lawful­ness [Page 5] both of the one and the other. This is so black an Imputation, to suppose that Men of common Probity, not to say, Men that ought to be the Patterns, as well as the Instructers of others, should swear an Oath, and Adhere so long to it, which is an In­terpretative Renewing of it, ever till it is openly Retracted; and shou'd in those frequent Returns of daily Prayers, besides the spe­cial Offices of Fasts and Thanksgiving-Days, offer up Devo­tions to God, contrary to their Perswasions, that no Man is ca­pable of so Heinous, and so continued a Provocation, unless he is either a Determinate Atheist, or a Man of a sear'd and hard­ned Conscience. — This is of so odious a Nature, that indeed it is not easy to find words severe enough to set it out by, &c.

Which or how many of you, Gentlemen, find your selves concern'd in This so severe Reproof of your Diocessan, I leave to your own Consciences.

But I must observe to You, and to the World, that he has said all this against Himself; for in the Chappel of Her Roy­al Highness at the Hague, he did often not only Pray for the P. of Wales by Name, whom at the end of his Measures of Obedience, he calls a Base Imposture; but in the Daily Pray­ers of Our Liturgy, which was there used; he prayed for Victory to K. J. over all his Enemies, at the same time he was busy (and most busy he was) to carry on an Invasion against him, to pull the Crown from off His Head, or else his Head from his Shoulders; and in order to it, Penning Declarations, and spreading virulent Pamphlets to Imbitter the Nation against K. J. particularly of the Base Imposture, as he calls it, for which notwithstanding, he continued to Pray, till it was time to take off the Mask.

If he says that he knew of no Design to De-Throne K. J. But that his Abdication was Occasional, and not foreseen or Desired, I must acquaint you, that I have it from the Mouths of Persons of Honour and Reputation, who heard it more than once from his own mouth, That he was the Man, who was Pitch'd upon three Years before this Revo­lution, to break the Design to Her Royal Highness of De­posing [Page 6] Her Father, and setting Her upon the Throne: to which he said, She consented, (after some little Surprize upon the first Proposal) provided the Prince might be like­wise King; and this he told by way of magnifying her great Love and Deference to her Husband; and to shew how good a Wife—

Whether in these Prayers for K. J. and the P. of W. he was a determinate Atheist, or only A Man of a Sear'd and hardned Conscience, is left to his Choice, and your De­termination? For, by his Censure of some of you, he has left himself no other Choice. Good God! How will it go down with Atheistical, and Light Wits to see such a Man in­veigh so Piously against Hypocrisy in Prayer, or any Immor­rality! It is the greatest Prejudice in the World to Re­ligion, to be set up by such sort of Men. If they would serve their Intererests of Religion, let them never name it, Lest, for the sakes, they bring the Whole to be thought a Cheat. How much have they done it already? The Nation is run, into Direct Atheism, since this Revolution!

But you, Gentlemen, must not have the least Scruple against the Lawfulness of this Constitution, upon pain of be­ing as ill as words can make you. And therefore it was very necessary your Diocessan, at the same time that he warn'd you of the Danger, should provide you a sure and certain Remedy, and build you up upon such a Foundation as should not fail; because by His, and your own Confession, if it fail you, you perish with it, with the Blood of all those of your Flocks upon your heads, whom by your Dissi­mulation you have seduc'd.

Now then come we to this strong Foundation. He ushers it in with Great Expectation p. 19. he speaks of it as a New and Happy Discovery, which had taken mightily with You, when he first told you of it. You often heard me (says he) Enlarge on it with much seeming Satisfaction: and because you thought that I laid it out in a more Particular Manner, than you had otherwise met with it, I will now spread it out be­fore you.

[Page 7]This Foundation is two Precedents, he brings for the Justification of taking Arms against our Lawful Gover­nours, for Defence of our Religion, &c.

The one, the known Story of the Maccabees taking Arms against Antiochus; the other of Constantine against Licinius, when he Persecuted the Christians in the East. But these are old Stories. How came you to be so mightily taken with them, at this time, as if you had never heard of them before?

Your Diocessan hints that it was not for the sake of these Precedents themselves; but for that Particular Gift he has in Spreading, and Laying out; which you know gives quite another Turn and Air from the same thing clutch'd up, and huddl'd together, like a Juggler's Box when it is shut, all the Rarity is in the Ʋnfolding.

Well then. Look sharp. He begins.p. 20 The first of these (Precedents) is taken from the History of the Maccabees; which I desire you will consider by these Steps. We will, Sir, and will give you as few Interruptions as will keep us with­in sight of you.

The first step is, That the Jews were Subjects of Autiochus. I suppose you mean, De jure, and not De facto Subjects; p. 20 else it has nothing to do with our Business.

Second step. 22 The Maccabees never pretended to any Spe­cial Authority from any Prophet, (i. e.) for taking Arms against Antiochus.

Third step. The Prophesy. Dan. 11.31, 32, 33, 34.23 is apply'd to justify the Maccabees.

Fourth step. As is likewise that Text. Heb. 11.34.24.

And now it is spread. And if he trips upon the first step, he tumbles to bottom without stop.

Therefore it is denied to him, that, when the Macca­bees took arms against Antiochus, the Jews were Lawfully his Subjects. The Government of that Tyrant, (says Bishop O­veral's Convocation Book. l. 1. c. 31. p. 76.) being not then either Generally receiv'd by Submission, or setled by Continu­ance, [Page 8] which appears from the First Chapter of the Book of Maccabees. And therefore there was no need of the Ex­traordinary Mission of a Prophet to enable the Maccabees to take arms against a Forreign Ʋsurper, who was invited by some Wicked men of Israel, who went out of their own Coun­try,1 Mac. 1.11. Out of Israel, to make a Covenant with him; and then fought for him, to Establish his Tyranny over all the Nation of the Jews. Antiochus, by means of these Treacherous Jews, had gotten Possession. of the Government, and overthrew their Church, as it was before by Law Established (as is complain­ed in Scotland, and in a Great Measure in England) and the Maccabees took arms against the Invasions of this Ʋsurper upon their Religion and Liberties (as was pretended by Dun­dee, &c. in Scotland) but this has no Relation to the Case of Subjects taking arms against their Lawful and Hereditary Mo­narchs; to which Case your Diocessan applies it; and before him, Pope Sixtus Quintus, who compar'd the Rebellion of the Holy League against Hen. III. of France, to the Zeal of the Maccabees for Defence of their Religion, and he exhorted them to fight Gloriously against their Lawful King, for the Advancement of the Church. D'Avila's History of France. l. 9. p. (of English Edit. 1678) 355.

From the Pope and Conclave this noble Precedent of the Maccabees was pick'd up, by our Poor Fanaticks: and is very well spread by one Isotinus a little Presbyterian, who put the Objection in these words (which leave out nothing of your Diocessan's) But what say you, (says Isotinus) to the Resist­ance us'd by Mattathias and his Children, who kill'd the King's Officers, and Arm'd against him? Which Resistance, as it was foretold by Daniel; so 'tis said by the Author of the Epistle to the Heb. That by Faith they waxed valiant in fight, and turn'd to flight the Armies of Aliens: Which by all is applied to the Maccabees. And who are you to condemn that which the Holy Ghost calls the Work of Faith in them?

[Page 7] To this it is answer'd by Basilius a Royalist, in these words agreeable to our Convocation; That the Title Anti­ochus had to command the Jews, is not undoubted: For Josephus. lib. 12. c. 7. and 8. shews how the Jewish Nation was tossed betwixt hands, and sometimes in the Power of the Kings of Egypt, and sometimes of Syria; And that the Factions amongst the Jews gave the Occasion to their being so Invaded; for ambitious Pretenders to the High Priesthood, sought the Favour of these Kings; and so sacrific'd the Interest both of Religion and their Country to their own base Ends: Which was the Case in Antioch­us Epiphanes his Time, who, after his Attempt upon E­gypt, came against Jerusalem, to which he was admitted by the Men of his Party, who open'd the Gates to Him. After which, he Polluted their Worship and Temple, and fell on the Cruellest Persecution imaginable: Now his Title over them being so ill Grounded, their asserting their Freedom and Religion against that Cruel and Unjust Invader, was not of Nature of the Subjects Resisting their Sovereign. Besides, what is brought from the Epistle to the Heb. Chap. 11. for Justifying these Wars, seems ill apply'd: For from the end of the 32th Verse, it appears he only speaks there of what was done in the times of the Prophets; and none of these being during the time of the Maccabees; that is not applicable to them. Next, as for Mattathias, I must tell you, That God often raised up Extraordinary Persons to judge Israel, whose Practices must be no Rule to us: For God set up Kings and Rulers at his pleasure: and in the Dispensation, He frequently sent Extraordinary Persons to do Extraordinary things, — And, it will be no hard task to make it appear that Mattathias was a Person Extraordinarily Rais'd up by God, as were the Judges; And tho' no mention of that be made, neither by Josephus, nor the Book of Maccabees, that is not to be stood upon; for we have many of the Judges of Israel, of whose Call no account is given, and [Page 8] yet undoubtedly they were warranted to act as they did, otherwise they had been Invaders.

But if that Practice of Mattathias conclude any thing by way of Precedent, it will prove that Churchmen may in­vade the Magistrate's Office, and kill his Officers, and Raise War against him.

Now, Gentlemen, Will it not astonish you, when you know that every word here Repeated are the Words of this same Diocessan of Yours, when Professor of Theology in Glas­gow, thus Spread and laid out 20 Years ago? (so long since he was in hopes it would have been forgot) in his Vindi­cation of the Church and State of Scotland. Printed at Glas­gow. 1673. p. 26, 27, 28, 30, 31. And p. 62. he likewise answers the other Precedent of Licinius, which he brings in his Dedication to you. For your Story of Licinius (says the Professor) the pure account of it will clear mistakes best (as it is given by Eus. 10. c. 5.) Constantine after he turn'd Christian; being then Emperour of the West, called for Licinius, whom Galerius had made Emperour of the East; and they both from Millain, gave out Edicts in favour of the Christians, giving them absolute Liberty, and discharging all Persecution on that account, which is reckon'd to have been in the Year 313. afterwards he allied with Licinius, and gave him his Sister in Marriage, and acknowledg'd him his Collegue in the Empire. But some years after that Wars arose betwixt them, which Zosimus and Eutropius impute to Constantine's Ambition, and Impatience of a Rival: But if we believe the ac­count Eusebius gives of it, Licinius provoked with Envy at Constantine, and forgetting the Laws of Nature, the Bonds of Oath, Alliance and Agreement, raised a Pesti­ferous and cruel War against him, and laid many Designs and Snares for his Destruction, which he attempted long by secret and fraudulent ways, but these were always by God's Providence discovered, and so Constantine escaped all his Designed Mischief: at length made War against [Page 5] Constantine. And as he was preparing for it, he made warlike wise against God, and persecuted the Christians, because he apprehended they all Prayed for Constantine, and wished him Success: whereupon he made severe Laws against the Christians, forbidding the Bishops ever to meet among themselves, or to instruct any Women. After­wards he Banished all that would not worship the Gods, and from that he went to an open Prrsecution; and not content with that, he by severe Laws discharged any to visit and relieve such as were in Prison for the Faith. Yet notwithstanding of all this, none that were under his Part of the Empire did Resist him; nay, not so much as turn over to Constantine against him, for ought that appears: But upon these things a War followed betwixt Constantine and Him; wherein Licinius was defeated, and forc'd to submit to what Conditions Constantine was pleased to give, who took from him Greece and Illyricum, and only left him Thrace and the East. But Licinius returning to his old ways, and breaking all Agreements, a second War fol­lowed, wherein Licinius was utterly Defeated, and sent to lead a private Life at Thessalonica, where he was some time after kill'd, because of new Designs against Con­stantine. This being the true account of that Story, I am to divine what advantage it can yield to the Cause of Sub­jects Resisting their Sovereign; For here was a Superiour Prince defending himself against the unjust Attempts and Hostile Incursions of his Enemy, who was also Inferiour to him, as Eusebius states it, whom consult Book 10. Chap. 8. First Book of Constantine's Life. C. 42 and B. 2. C. 2. &c.

These are the Words of the Learned Professor, who cou'd not Divine how his Understanding would Improve by the time he came to be a Bishop! That he should turn about a­gain, and take up the old Exploded Rebel Pretences, which Himself had put into the Mouths of Presbyterians, on pur­pose to Confute them! And without answering what Himself had then so Orthodoxly and Soundly delivered! Or so much [Page 6] as letting of us know that he had ever said any such things in his Life! But to bring them in now as spick and span­new! And on how he tickl'd you with shem up and down his Diocess! as Himself boasts over again at the End of his Delicious Epistle. I have now (says he) open'd these two Precedents very particularly to you; they seem'd to weigh much with you when I have laid them out to you in some Conferences that I have held with you upon this Subject. I hope you will both feel (at least your Lordship) the Force that is in them, and will be able to manage them with more advantage, now that you have them lying before you.

Yes, and now that you have likewise the Professor against the Bishop; that you may srread, and lay them out, and turn them; and take your choice of them. And let your next Conference be towards Reconciling of them; and let the Bishop either Convince or Excommunicate the Professor. But beware the Professor gain not a Greater Party among you than the Bishop; for he has the Reputation of the honester Man of the two, and much the better Reformer.

I have several other Exceptions both as to the Composition, and the spreading of this Plaister your Spiritual Druggist has provided for the Sick and Wounded Consciences. But hav­ing given you the Opinion of the Renewed Dr. Burneth; and thinking it very sufficient to awaken you out of your Lethargy, if you will follow his Prescriptions, set down in that Excellent Dispensatory of his, The Vindication of the Church and State of Scotland, whence I have taken this Catholicon, to expel the Poyson of these two Goliah Ob­jections taken from the Maccabees and Licinius; I will re­serve the rest, till I see the Effects of this; and dismiss you to your next Visitation, which may be sooner than you are aware.