1. The Difference between the Church of ENGLAND,Title. and the Church of ROME, CONSIDER'D and Stated, ac­cording to such Measures, as both do Allow.

1. THese are the Words of the Title: Notes. But we must look for the Drift, & Meaning of it, in the following Text; Where, it will Appear, that the Pretended State of the Difference betwixt the Two Churches, is the Least Part of the Bus'ness of This Treatise: Though Nine Parts in Ten of the Bulk of it be Employ'd upon That Subject: So that I shall now Proceed to the Matter.

2. After the Ingenious Author of the Observators had declared,Considera­tions. that he was resolved not to inter­meddle in past Controversies,Obs. Vol. 3. Num. 1.without fresh and pub­lick Provocation to't; and to bury Forty One, and his Dissenters Sayings, both together; And that, if they will be quiet, he has as large a Field before him t'other way. It was no little surprize to the Honest and Loyal Church-of-England men to observe their Religion; and to the Clergy of London, to find themselves brought into the Field, and to be con­cern'd in the t'other way.

2. The First Note I shall make upon This Paragraph (after my Thanks for the [Ingenious Author] must be This, Notes. That it is a Paper, Representative of the Honest, and Loyal Church-of-England-men, [Page 2] and the Clergy of London, (at least if we may take the Printers Word for't in the First Page) which Imports a Complaint in Their Names, of Injurys done to Them, and Their Religion, by the Ingenious Observator. It is now to be Hop'd, that we shall have Fair Dealing in the rest of the Clause: For Otherwise the Church of England will have Juster Cause of Exception to her Advocate for his Vindication, then to the Observator for his Calumny.

In the Second Place, we shall Confront the References with the Originalls; and see how the Observators Words, and the Considerers Inferences will Hang together. [I am Resolv'd (says the Observator) not to Intermeddle in Past Controver­sies without Fresh, and Publique Provocation to't; [Or where the Uindication of the Government shall Naturally Require it.] I shall Bury Forty One, and my Dissenters Sayings Both together. [And That Story shall never see the Light more, 'till the Republicans, or the Dissenters Themselves, shall by some Future Act of Open Disobedience force Some of Those Instances out of their Graves again.] Compare the Citation now with the Text, and you will finde the Periods Maim'd, and the Omissions Totally in favour of the Dissenters; Nay, the Conditions of my Forbearance, Broken by an Open Re­bellion; and the very Violation of Those Conditions Smother'd, and Suppress'd. Here are Three Divided Sentences Tack'd into One; and when he has Disjoynted My Connexion, he mightily mistakes my Meaning. After the Words [Both together] he takes a Leap of allmost Fifty Lines to That Passage [If they will be Quiet, &c.] Which, in the Obser­vator runs Thus. [Obs. Prethee hold thy self Contented, Trimmer. Either the People I have had to do withall, Will be Quiet, or they will Not be Quiet. If they will Not, there's work enough That way Cut out, Ready to my hand: But] if they Will be Quiet, I have as Large a Field before me T'OTHER WAY; [And I shall be as Ready to Ce­lebrate the Miracle of their Loyalty and Conversion, as ever I was to set forth the History of their Ingratitude, and Disobedience.] I must here Observe, that he has First left out One Point of the Dilemma; and 2ly, Cut off, Short of the [Page 3] Explication of the Other Point: Under which Ambiguity, and Imperfection, he turns ['TOTHER WAY] upon the Church-of-England-men, and the London-Clergy, when the Words were most Explicitely Spoken, and Intended of the Republicans, and Phanatiques: And the Short English of them no more then This: If they will Not be Quiet, I'le Expose them; but if they Will be Quiet, I'le Commend them.

3. When the Clergy of the City,Consid. under the Conduct of their Right Reverend Diocesan, had pre­sented an Humble Address, in the Sincerity of their Hearts, to His Sacred Majesty, with their humble thanks for his Gracious assurance to defend Our Religion: As they could not think the Phrase Our Religion, liable in it self to any just exceptions; so of all men living, could not they have supposed, that this Author, who had before treated them with Respect, and had been so treated by them, should all o'th' suddain, without any provocation, or obser­ving the Law he had before offer'd even to the Dissenters, fall unmercifully upon that little Phrase, and those that innocently used it; as if there had been a secret reserve in it; and that un­der the Cant (as he is pleased to term it) of the Protestant Religion, the Reformed Religion, and Our Religion, Observator. Num. 7. there was intended a Cover for All Religions but Popery. An inference very wide and extrava­gant, since tho Our Religion had not been followed (as it was) with Established by Law; yet the Ad­dress being presented by such a Body of men, as the City Clergy, and referring to His Majesties Declaration, where he was pleased Graciously to as­sure us of the care he would take to defend the Church so Established; all mistake in that matter was suffi­ciently prevented.

[Page 4] 3. There are a Great many Hard Words given to the Ob­servator in This Clause;Notes. Principalities, and Powers Call'd into the Party; and upon the Whole Matter, a Body can hardly fancy the Character of a Worse Man: But yet for the sake of Two or Three Lines there, I have Good Nature enough to Forgive All the Rest. [Of All men Living (says the Considerer) they could not have Supposed that This Author, who had before Treated them with Respect; and had been so Treated by them, should [all o'th' SUDDEN, &c.] Now This Passage, has in a Great Measure Unveil'd the Mystery; and laid Open the very Root of All the Following Misun­derstandings. Alas! I was a Protestant; a Person in Credit, and Treated with Respect, 'till This Unlucky [All o'th' Sudden] Spoil'd my Market, and Shipwrackt my Religion, and my Reputation, both at a Gust. I was, in One Word, a Very Honest Man, and a Good Protestant; a True Son of the Church, and a Loyal Subject to his Majesty, 'till the Three and Twentieth of February Last past; which was the Precise Date of the Bloudy Observator that has wrought me all this Woe. There was No Notice taken as yet, of the Story of my Massing-it at Somerset-House 1680. Not a Word said, of my Siding with the Loyal Papists at Worcester, against the Rebellious Pretended Protestants there, in my Observators of May, 1683. No Talk as yet of Modalities, and Ac­commodations; though I gave the World more Pretence for it in Eighty One, then ever I did since: But now [All o'th' Sudden] I'm a Papist; a Renegade, &c. And All, long of That Vnpardonable Observator. Vol. 3. Num. 7. Wherefore I cannot do better then Remit my self to That very Paper, and leave the World to Iudge, upon an Equal Hearing, whether of the Two is the more to Blame, the Considerer, or the Observator.

Only One Word by the way, to the Articles of my Charge. First, I am made a Ridiculer of the Address of the London-Clergy; for the Phrase, of [Our Religion.] Not­withstanding 2ly, [His Majesties Gracious Assurance to De­fend [Our Religion.] And 3ly, Notwithstanding the Dig­nity of the Presenters, and the Solemnity of Presenting it, I [Page 5] make it no better then [a Cant; and as if there were some Secret Reserve in't:] To this I say, First; that the Con­siderer Cannot Apply the Descant upon [Our Religion] to the London-Clergy without making them Schismatiques. Neither does the Address run in the Style of [Our Reli­gion;] but [Our Religion, Establisht by Law.] 2ly, Neither is it the Phrase of his Majesties Declaration it self. The Words being These [I shall make it my Endeavour to Preserve This Government both in Church and State; as it is now by Law Establish'd.] 3ly, The Words [Cant,] and [Secret Reserve] are Appropriated, and Restrain'd, so Inse­parably, to the Schismatiques, that All the Force in the World cannot draw from them Any Other Meaning: So that Ei­ther the Whole Charge falls to the Ground; or he Confounds the Church, with the Schism. Beside, that the Cavil Amounts to no more then a Bare Supposition, or the Fiction of a Case, where the Observator is made to Condemn a Thing that was Not; but might possibly have been; which Casts the Pretended Censure quite out of doors. These Calumnys how­ever, are Inculcated Over and Over, to make the Impression Sink the Deeper: But the Merits of the Cause will be Best Try'd by the Observator it self. As for Example.

[The Winds from All the Points of the Compass, Obs. Num. 7. Vol. 3. never wrought so much Mischief to This Island in bringing the Sea upon us, as Liberty of Conscience has done, in the More Destru­ctive Inundations of an Unbounded Schism; And they have gotten a Trick too, of Covering All Religions but Popery, un­der the Cant of the Protestant Religion; the Reformed Re­ligion, and Our Religion (which is a Mighty Bus'ness I war­rant ye.) Now let Ten Thousand Millions of Mouths Open as many Several Ways to the Tune of Our Religion; and That same [Our Religion] looks East, West, North and South; Answers the Whole Cry, and Stops Every Mouth of 'em. Pray Observe now, that under This Generality, and Blind, the Com­mon People are so far Impos'd upon, as to take Every man for a Papist that will not Subscribe to This Protestant; This Refor­med; This Our Religion at Large, &c. Obs. Vol. 3. Num. 7.]

[Page 6] Here's a Debate upon Liberty of Conscience; The Danger of an Vnbounded Schism; The Tricks the Schismatiques have got, of Cozening the Multitude under Generalities at Large, &c. Now do I Defy any man living, either to make This an Af­front to the Canonical Addressers; or to Clear Him of an Af­front Himself, that takes upon him to Pronounce it One: And again, by way of Explanation upon the Word [PROTE­STANT.]

[If you Speak of the Church-of-England, Obs. 7. V. 3. under the Care of Episcopal Governours; And as it is by Law Establish'd, in Doctrine and Discipline, Give That Religion what Denomina­tion you please, I'm for it: But if you have a Secret Reserve to your self, of Comprehending Presbyterians, Independents, Ana­baptists, and All the Other Sects that call Themselves Prote­stants, for Protesting against Popery, I am not of That Pro­testant Religion. Ibid.] Neither do I take it to be Any Proof of a True Religion, barely to Protest against a False One: For That may be the Case, of only Combating the Errors of One Religion with the more Enormous Impieties of a Thousand Worse. Ibid.] And yet once again.

[There's the Same Snare under the Word [Reform'd,] Ibid. as under [Protestant,] and as much need of Explaining it, Least, when a man thinks to Declare for the Constitution, he be Drawn-in (as it was in the One-and-Forty-Protestation) by an Exposition Ex post facto, to an Engagement for the Schism: But then comes [OUR Religion,] that (without some Explicit Limitation or Restriction) raises a very Hubub; Fires the Bea­cons, and takes in Turks, Jews, and Gentiles, into the Com­prehension. Why Our Religion is Any Religion; All Religi­ons, or No Religion at all; Especially out of so many Mouths, of as many Several Minds; And therefore Religion, is not a Thing to be Tristed with at This Dark, Dubious, and Unin­telligible Rate, without Fixing some Mark, Name, or Appella­tion upon it; And therefore let 'em either say Our Popish Reli­gion, or Our Phanatical Religion; or [Our Religion Esta­blish'd by Law, and a body knows where to have 'em: But to Set-up a Hundred False Religions, in a Protestation to Oppose One; And then to make One True Religion out of a Hundred [Page 7] Contradictions, is to Erect a Multitude of Gods, and to set-up Altar against Altar; And on the Other hand to Extract a Com­pound of TRUTH, out of a Confusion of Errors. Ibid.]

I shall now Compare the Text with the Comment; And leave it fairly to the Reader, to Try if he can Reconcile them. Here's First; Liberty of Conscience. 2ly, An Vnboun­ded Schism. 3ly, The Imposture of Generalities. 4ly, So many Mouths, so many Minds. 5ly. Secret Reserves, for a Cover to All the Phanatical Sects. 6ly, A Hundred False Religions, and Contradictions. Here's the Text; And All This (says the Con­siderers Comment) is Intended for a Lash at Unity, Uni­formity, Express Articles, Orders, and Constitutions: Apo­stolical Agreement, Orthodox Ministers, and Canonical Obe­dience; Harmony of Confession, &c. In fine; Heaven and Earth may be as soon brought together as These Oppositions: Nor could These Illusions ever have Pass'd upon Any Other Age then This. Nay; And it is not all, that the Edge Cuts only upon the Schism, but to put the Matter past the very Possibility, (as a body would think) of a Misconstruction, there are I know not how many Savings of Honour and Re­spect, to the very Case in Question, wherein I Declare my self Abundantly Satisfy'd with (as it falls out) the very Terms, and Qualifications of the Address: i.e. [Establish'd by Law.]

4. But let that Phrase fare as it will,Consid. and our Reve­rences also be despised with it (tho' we did as little deserve, as expect it from him) yet we think our worthy Diocesan, that for the Loyalty, as well as the Nobility of his Family, deserves so well of the publick; and for his Zeal for, and constancy in our Religion (for we shall still make bold to use that Phrase;Parliament of Scot. Answ. to the Kings Let­ter. April. 28. especially, since we have no less than the Parliament of our Neighbour Nation to justify us in it) deserves so well at Our, at His, and at all Church of England mens hands, might have been spared, and that his Lordship might have been used [Page 8] with other than a Comical Respect. A contempt so intolerable to us, who have for ten years felt the happy effects of his prudent Government, that our otherwise respected Author must pardon us, if we cannot so easily forgive the publick wrong done to that ever to be honoured Person, or suffer it with the same patience we bear our own.

4. The Considerer, Notes. in This Tragi-Comical Paragraph, has done [Our Otherwise Respected Author] a kindness that a man would have done a Dog. First, to give him a Flap over the Mouth with a Fox-Tayle: And then in the Same Breath, to Arraign him for Libelling so Reverend, and so Eminent a Prelate: When the very Calling of That Observator, a Libell, (as I have shew'd already) is a most Intolerable Libell it self: For it Touches not the Least Hair of any man's Head, that is not a Schismatique: But I am to be made a Papist; and This must be done, by Preparing the way to One Calumny, by Another; The Contempt of the Clergy, is a Step to the Forsaking of the Church. I would not Believe Worse of This, or These, Man, or Men of Consideration, then He or They Deserve; for their Own Sakes; nor Better, for the Churches sake, because it is not Generous to Murder a man in an Embrace: So that I'le e'en Stop Short, without so much as Guessing, out of what Quiver This Arrow comes. There are Some Strokes here, I must Confess, that have much of the Air in'em of the Epistle Dedicatory to [The Obserbator Prov'd a Trimmer,] where the Church it Self was Notably Topt upon, as well as the Ob­servator; and I cannot Look upon the One, without Thinking of the Other. It is a Figure much us'd of late, to Cover a Scan­dal, or an Invective, under the Masque of a Panegyrique: As for Instance.

To the Most Reverend, Right Reverend, and Reverend Clergy of the Church of England, By Law Establisht.

AS these Animadversions are made Publick without the least Malice to the Person of the Observator, or design to gratifie any Faction, or undervalue any Services his Papers may have heretofore done the Church or State; But to Rectifie certain things which he has lately advanced, that may (if they pass uncontrouled) prove injurious to the Honour and In­terest of both; so they address not to you for Protection, any further than your Justice and Piety is always wont to favour Truth. And therefore (humbly cast at your feet) are submitted to your grave and impartial Considerations and Censure; as being under God and His Majesty, the Watchful Overseers, whose espe­cial Concern it is (in your several Stations) to take Care Ne quid detrimenti Capiat Ecclesia.

Here's [No Malice now to the Person of the Observator,Notes. or Design to Vndervalue Any Services his Papers may have hereto­fore done the Church or State, &c.] This is the Civility of the Epistle; and the Considerer, at the Bottom of Page. 3. comes not an Ace behind him, in the Point of Courtesy. [We will Allow (says he) This Worthy Gentleman All the Deference his Parts, and Pen do Deserve, &c.] I must not Slip One Note here; that All the Adversaries of the Observator, were Friends to That Pamphlet; and Forgave it All the Reproches it cast upon the Church for the Good Will it had towards Me: Be­side a Hundred Shams and Forgeries, over and above, that [Page 10] were Cast-In to the Composition. There were no Complaints Advanc'd in That Case, for Abusing of Diocesans, though the whole Hierarchy was Trickt upon and Ridicul'd: Anabaptists, Millenaries, Presbyterians, Independents, All, Engag'd in the Compiling of it: And Care the Ammanuensis to Hand it over to the Press. But to Proceed.

5. And yet its likely for the seaven or eight and forty years Service done by this Author (as he professeth) to a Protestant Church; Consid. Observa. Num. 10. and for a better reason which our Religion teacheth us, all this would have been buried in Silence, and the World had never heard more of it from us, were there not a farther reason behind, that requires our appearance in this way, and which we cannot dissemble and neglect with­out being false to Our Religion, that we solemnly profess'd to His Majesty, to be dearer to us than our Lives.

5. At the End of the Foregoing Clause,Notes. the Representative-Considerer Flatters me in the Name of the London-Clergy, that They might have Forgiven me perhaps, if it had not been for [the Publique Wrong done, &c.] And now in This Clause, I might have been Forgiven even That, it seems, too, if they could but have done it without being False to their Religion. We shall come by and by, to Examine This Vn­pardonable Wickedness: But in the Mean Time, by the Consi­derers leave, It was not [Our Religion] (as he renders it) but Our Religion Establish'd by Law] which They Re­presented to his Majesty, to be Dearer to them then their Lives. I must not here Pass over the Unfairness of his Citation, out of Observator. 10. Where the Point in Question was the Cha­ritable Contemplation of the Possibility of a Re-union betwixt the Two Churches, without any Proposals towards it. Nay, (says the Observator) We'le Suppose an Inadvertency; and that my Pen had Slipt: Faith betwixt Christian Charity, on the [Page 11] One hand, and Flesh and Bloud on the Other; Methinks [Seaven or Eight and Forty Years [Constant] Service of a Protestant Church] might have Compounded for so hu­mane, and so Good-Natur'd an Error. Obs. Vol. 3. No. 10.] Would Any man have Thought now, that the Modesty, and Resignation of This Passage, could have been Emprov'd into the Semblance of Vanity, and Ostentation?

6. That Religion,Consid. we say, now Established by Law, in opposition, both to Fanatacism and Popery; and from the Opposition it bears to the last of which, is called, more especially, the Protestant and Reformed.

6. If the Protestant Religion, Notes. Established by Law, stands in Opposition to Phanaticism, (as the Considerer says it does) the Phanatiques are No Protestants: Neither are They pro­perly, of the English Reformed Religion, if they be not Law­full Members of the English Communion. Now the Distin­ction of Protestant and Reformed, does only Denote that we are Not Papists, without Any Particular Account of what we Are; or under What Protestant, or Reformed Classis we Range our selves: And therefore I am against the Ge­nerality of the Appellation; because of the Infinite Diversi­ties of Errors, and Contradictions, that Shelter Themselves under That Cover. The Rebellious Sohismatiques of Forty One, Appeal'd to the [Protestants Abroad,] and to the [Re­formed Churches beyond the Seas.] The Traytors that have Suffer'd Death in Our Late Conspiracies, and Rebellions, Usurped upon the same Denomination and Profession: And in a Word; The Common Application, and the Promiscuous Vse of the same Terms, Indifferently, by Both Parties, Cuts the Throat of One Protestant Religion with Another. I do not Insist upon Strictnesses, and Criticisms; But I reckon it a Thing much to be Wish'd, since the Confounding of the Church-Protestants, and the True-Protestants, (so Call'd) is of so Pernicious a Consequence to the Government, that they [Page 12] may be Differenc'd, One from Another, in the very Style, by some Note of Discrimination. As for the Purpose; I am of the Protestant, of the Reformed Religion, says a Canonical Church-man: And so am I too, says Every Mouth of the Schism; and so it holds T'other way, Vice Versâ, which looks as if Those Within the Pale, and Those Without, were All One. To Conclude, [Establish'd by Law] Sets All Right, and Solves All Difficulties.

7. But if the Case betwixt the Church of England and Rome, Consid. betwixt Popery and those that have Re­formed from it, be as this Ingenious Person has (un­wittingly we hope) represented it, Our Lives may well be dearer to us than our Religion: And if we will yet profess Our Religion to be dearer to us, than our Lives; it must either be perverse Obstinacy, or gross Delusion, egregious Folly, or lewd Hypo­crisy.

7. Here's more Holy-water, Notes. yet. [This Ingenious Person has (Unwittingly, we hope, &c.) so Desperately Mis-Stated the Case, betwixt the Two Churches, that it has Turn'd the Pre­ference T'other way, and made our Lives Dearer to us then Our Religion.] I wish he had Omitted the [Perverse Ob­stinacy, Egregious Folly, and Lewd Hypocrisy:] For I am persuaded, if we look'd well about us, we might find Some Persons of That Iudgment, that Think Themselves in the Right in't: And Others, that are neither Fools, nor Hypo­crites; nor to be Expos'd to the World under That Chara­cter: But he has now laid his Finger upon the Sore; and up­on the Sin that is never to be Forgiven. And yet after All These Mortal Errors, Transgressions, and Pompous Aggrava­tions, he does Himself Clear me, in the very Next Paragraph (and in the Name of the Church-of-England still) of Every Article of my Charge: And in That, and the Following Clause, he comes-up to the Uttermost Syllable of what I [Page 13] ever said: Insomuch, that He who but Just now made me such an Apostate, that he could not Forbear Writing against me without being False to his Religion, is now Iudicially Wrought upon, by an Over-Ruling Impulse, to do me Iustice, in an Express Confirmation of the Truth of My Opinions, and in as Point-Blanck a Contradiction to the Profession of his Own: So that the Next Two Clauses, are Kind in Several Respects: And in regard of the Connexion and Dependence, One upon Another, we'le take 'em Both together.

8. We will allow to this worthy Gentleman,Consid.all the deference his Parts and his Pen do deserve. We allow him to be what he professeth, Observa. 6. & 10. A Catholick of the Church of England, or a Church of England Pro­testant. We allow him not to forget the Christian, the Generous, and the Friendly Obligations, that many of the Roman Catholiques have laid upon him. Lastly, Let us allow that there are some points in the Church of Rome, Num. 6. wherein, tho we differ in Modalities and Terms, we agree yet in the same meaning. And that there are some other points, wherein the matter is capable of such Condescentions and Abatements, as both sides might very well close upon, with a just deference to Christ [...] Charity, and without offence to the Catholique Faith: Yet after all these Concessions, we do most certainly believe, and seriously affirm, that there are many other points, in which neither Modalities and Terms, do make the difference; nor is the matter capable of such Condescentions and Abatements, as both sides might well close upon, without offence to the Catholique Faith.

9. That is,Consid. there are many things, they hold, and we do deny; such again as we hold, and they do deny, that with all the Condesentions and Abate­ments [Page 14] can never be Accomodated; nor we with all the Christian Charity be reconciled; unless we are so base as against Truth and Reason, to go over in those points wholly to them, or Almighty God shall open their Eyes, so to discern it, that they come fully over to us.

8. 9. I must be very Copious now,Notes. upon This Subject, to be very Clear: And it is Certainly worth my while too, when the Stress that's laid upon the Cause in hand, is made, not only Matter of Life and Death; but of Heaven and Hell too: For if ever we live to see the second Part of Otes'es Plot, there will be both Hanging, aud Damning too, in the Case. In the First Place he Allows me to be [a Catholique of the Church-of-England, or a Church-of-England Protestant,] which will hardly Consist, with his making me afterward, more then Half a Papist. Now if he had Intended Candidly, and an Impartial Iustice, upon the Question about My Religion; there was enough in the Paragraph of Obs. 6. Vol. 3. whence he took This, to have Answer'd That Point beyond All Con­troversy: But his Bus'ness was to Bring me On, not to Bring me Off: And so I must e'en do That Right for My self, which He would not do for me. The Words of the Citation, in Connexion, are These.

[Trim. Obs. 6. V. 3. 'Twould be a great deal more Generous, to Own, and to Declare your self a Papist, to the Whole World, then to lye Wriggling In and Out thus, betwixt Two Religions.

Obs. Why then once for all, Trimmer, I am a CATHO­LIQVE, and the very Same Catholique that I have Ever been, and ever Profess'd my self to Be: That is to say, a Catholique of the Church of England. Though I am well enough Content, to Own my self a Protestant too, according to the Best Acceptation of the Word, Improperly Speaking, and no Otherwise. That Religion, which I Own'd, and Pro­cess'd upon the Sacrament to the Reverend Dr▪ Ken, at the Hague; (Now Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells) when I was [Page 15] forc'd to run away from a Pack of Forsworn Miscreants here, that would have made a Papist of me; That very Religion do I Declare my self to be of, at This Day; and that I never put Pen to Paper, throughout the Whole Course of this Pretended Plot, in Justification of the Papists, with any Regard to their Religion, but out of the very Indignation of my Soul, to see an Outcry against Popery, on the One Hand, made a Cover for a Republican, and Phanatical Rebellion, on the Other; To see the Church of England Struck-at, in That Popery; and Every man that did but Talk like a Christian, a Good Subject, or an Honest Man, to be presently Stigmatiz'd for a Papist; to see Common Malefactors, and Prostitute Hirelings, set-up for the Saviours of a Church, and a State; and Gain Credit, by Kissing the Outside of a Bible, without Believing One Syllable of the Contents: To see Three Kingdoms half-Eaten-up by Catch-Poles; the Lives, and Estates of Men of Honour, Sacrific'd to the Rabble; and what with Starving Projects, and Bills of Exclusion, the Late King, and the Royal Family, Treated Little Better then the Meanest Subjects: Neither, in the Presence of God, was I ever Transported by any Partialities of Prepossession, into so much as One Thought of Bitterness, against the Dissenters, any further, then as upon Knowledge, and Sure Experience, I was Convinc'd (as I am at This Instant) that the Schism is only a Conspiracy, and a League against the Government under the Masque of Religion: If you Doubt of This, I can Sum­mon ye above a Hundred and Fifty of their Own Doctors, to Verify this Opinion. I have no Interest in this Declaration, but to Deliver the Truth, and Simplicity of my very Heart; and to Confound the Malice of All Slanderers, Impostors, and Gain-sayers.]

The Question upon the Matter here before us, is Briefly This; Not whether the Ingenious Worthy Man of Parts, be a Protestant, or a Papist; but whether he be a Christian or no: Nay a Pagan would not have made so Bold with his Idol, as I have, upon This Occasion, with my Maker; if I have not here Deliver'd the Truth, without Guile, or Reserve. And I am Mistaken too, if the Charity of Believing me, be not as [Page 16] much a Christian Duty, on the One Hand, as the Sincerity of the Protestations I have here made, is on the Other.

In his Next Citation out of Obs. 10. He passes over These Words at the Beginning of the Same Period. [Though I am not of the Religion of the Roman Catholiques] I can never forget, &c.] The Considerer, I perceive, had much rather make the world believe that I am a Papist, then Cite Any Declara­tions, or Oaths of Mine, to the Contrary; And yet now [All o'th Sudden] he comes Over to me; and we Agree, like Two Tallys: Unless it be, that He Out-does me, even in my Own Proposition: For he speaks Positively, both to the [Some Points;] and to the [Some Other Points;] To which I only put my Naked Belief: But the Surest way is to Referr to the Text it self.

[There are Some Points in the Church of Rome, Obs. 6. V. 3. wherein [I veryly Believe] though we Differ in Modalities and Terms, we Agree yet in the Same Meaning. There are some Other Points wherein [I do As veryly Believe] the Matter Capable of Such Condescentions, and Abatements, as Both sides might very well Close upon, with a Just Deference to Christian Cha­rity, and without Offence to the Catholique Faith. Obs. Num. 6. Vol. 3.]

Let Any man Compare the Considerer now, upon This Point with the Observator; and he shall find them to be Both so perfectly of a Mind, upon the Desperate Doctrine of Mo­dalities, and Accommodable Differences, in [Some Points,] and in [Some Other Points] that they Agree in the very Same Words, and Syllables: But there are Many Other Points, he says, wherein the Matter is Not Capable of such Condescen­tions and Abatements, &c.] This he says, §. 8. But then within Two or Three Lines After, in § 9. He Qualifies the Matter, and Vnsays it again; Though he's at Variance with Himself too, in That very Section. He pronounces Peremptorily, that All the Condescentions and Abatements, or All the Chri­stian Charity in the World, will do no Good, in Many Cases: But then he brings himself off, with an [VNLESS we are so Base, as against Truth and Reason, to go over in Those Points wholly to Them; or Almighty God shall open Their Eyes, to [Page 17] Discern it that they come fully over to us.] That is to say Those Points can Not be Accommodated; unless it pleases God that they May be Accommodated: And I could Wish now, that Those Points had been Nam'd, which he says [We Hold,] and [They Deny.]

But to speak more Expressly to his Ninth Section; I wou'd fain know, if the very Words of the Observator, Vol. 3. Num. 10. do not Import the Self Same Conception, and Vnderstanding of the Matter with what He Delivers. i.e.. [It is not Expos'd as the Project of a Thing Probable; but in a Charitable Con­templation of the Possibility of it, by a Providential Removal of Those Passions, and Prejudices that Hinder the Agreement.] He goes now forward, to Deny in the Next Paragraph, what he has Admitted in This.

10. This is truly the Matter in question. Consid. It is not, whether there be not Truth as well as Error in the case: and the one may not then be separated from the other (as this Gentleman mistakes;) but whether there be not in the Doctrine of that Church which we oppose, Error without Truth; and whether the main matters in dispute betwixt Church and Church, which the one faith is Truth, and the o­ther saith is Error, be capable of such condescentions and abatements as both sides might well close upon, &c. And that for example, the Church of Rome, which requires Purgatory to be believed under an Ana­thema; and the Church of England, which saith, it's a fond thing, vainly invented, &c. can be recon­ciled without those that hold, it is a fond thing vainly invented, do make it an Article of their Faith, or those that hold it an Article of their Faith, do declare it's a fond, a vain, and a false thing.

10. This Paragraph, Notes. I must Confess, is too Hard for me: For I cannot Conceive, why the Superstructure of Error upon [Page 18] Truth, may not as well be Taken-off, as it was Laid-on: For it is not be Imagin'd, that Error and Truth can be so Incor­porated, as to become Inseparable. When I speak of Error, and Truth in the Case, it is to be Understood, with a Respect to the Points in Difference betwixt the Two Churches: And whether it be Error Without Truth, or Error Accompany'd With Truth, 'tis as Broad as 'tis Long. That, indeed, which the One says is Truth, and the Other says is Error, can never be Reconcil'd, so long as Both Parties Adhere to That Oppo­sition; for that were to suppose Error, and Truth to be all One. But [His VNLESS;] and [My PROVIDENTIAL REMOVAL] takes That Rubb out of the Way.

11. An Accommodation in such a case is Impracti­cable: Consid. For (as our Author well observes upon ano­ther occasion) it imports an agreement of two divided Chuches in the very state of their disagreement; where not the passions and prejudices of men, but the Nature of the things, hinder the Agreement; and so spoils the Philosophy of a charitable contem­plation about the possibility of it.

11. 'Tis very True; Notes. that an Accomodation (as he says) is Impracticable, where it is Impossible; And it is no less True, that it is Impossible, so long as People that are of Differing Persuasions, Continue in That Hostile State of Disagreement: But Change of Mind removes That Obstacle; And the Grace of Almighty God (as He Himself Confesses in the Former Page) may work that Change of Mind. Now here's no Change all this while, in the Nature of the Thing, but in the Opinion of it: Truth and Error are the Same still that they were before; And I know very well, that 'tis Impossible to make Truth to be Error, or Error to be Truth: But what's This to the Pas­sions, and Prejudices of Men, that may be Taken-up, or Lay'd-down, allmost at Pleasure? The Inconciliable Opposition of Vice, and Virtue, does not at all hinder, but that Men of Pro­fligate Lives, and Vicious Habits, may yet Reclaim, and be­come [Page 19] Virtuous. Ambition, Avarice, Cruelty, and Oppression, can never be Transform'd into the Opposite Uirtues: But Men that are Addicted to Those Vices may Cast their Skins▪ & Pass-over into the Love, and Practice of Humility, Moderation, Tenderness, Compassion, without a Miracle. And it were Hard, Otherwise; If (according to the Sense of my Expositors,) the most Necessary Duties of a Christian; That is to say, Re­pentance and a New Life, should be Render'd only the Cha­ritable Contemplation of a thing Impossible. This is a Doctrine, that seems to Me, (with Submission to be better Enform'd) to Block-up the way, and to Preclude the Means, even of Salvation it self: For if All men Living have their Errours, and their Failings; And, when they are once Out of the Way, if there be no getting Back; How miserable is the Condition of Man­kind, that stands Condemn'd, at the same Time, to Inevitable Frailties, and to Vnpardonable Mistakes! I will Allow all the Stress that can be lay'd upon the most Potent Obstructions to This Blessed End; As the Affectation of Power, and Dominion; The Charms of Glory, and of Secular Interest; Or the Prepos­sessions of Education. These Impressions make the Matter Dif­ficult; But not Insuperable, and Vtterly Impossible: Especially (As the Considerer says) [If Allmighty God shall Vouchsafe to Open the Eyes of the Deceived, so as to make them Discern Truth and Reason;] Or in the Words of the Observaor, in case of [A Providential Removal of Those Passions, and Prejudices, that Hinder the Agreement.] This is the Possibility that I Contem­plate: And I take the Considerers [ALLMIGHTY GOD] and the Observators [PROVIDENCE] to Intend One and the Same Power.

12. This is the Case we except against,Consid. and which we shall now proceed to the consideration of; not that we declare, to lessen the esteem of this Author (whom we do honour for his Ingenuity and In­dustry, and his other Accomplishments worthy of a Gentleman and a Scholar) but to Vindicate our Church, and to preserve our People from [Page 20] the Infection of such Doctrine; which how good­natured soever it may be in the design, cannot but be mischievous and pernicious in the consequents.

12 I must needs put the same Complement,Notes. in this case, upon the Considerer, that an Italian Prince put upon a Gentleman that gave him a Lift to Help him into the Saddle. He was a Light Person of a Man: And the Other Threw him quite over his Horse: The Prince got up again; And, with his Cap in his hand, Sr, (says he) the One Halfe of This Courtesy would have done My Bus'ness. In like manner, I would have Compound­ed, with the Considerer, with all my heart, for his Civilities to the [Gentleman] and the [Scholar,] if he would but have Excus'd me from the Infamy of a Defamer of the Charch, and a Spreader of Infectious Doctrines. I do not speak This, [to Lessen the Esteem of the Author;] but purely to Preserve my Self from the Consequences of so Infectious a Calumny: And a Calumny, (for ought yet appears,) without Any Founda­tion. The Clause runs in the Style of [WE Except against] WE Declare] WE do Honour] OVR Church] and OVR Peo­ple:] So that the Censure falls little short of an Anathema, for it appears here to be Publish'd, as out of the Mouth of the Church it Self. And what's my Crime at last now but the Poor Innocent Observator of Feb. 23. Last Past? For my [Modalities,] & All that Train of True-Protestant Clamours, and Scruples are Approv'd, and Allow'd of by Himself, to a Single Tittle. We shake hands too, in the Possibilities of Things: And I do not hear of so much as One Syllable ad­ded to my Charge, upon this Subject. So that upon the Main; the Whole Mystery of My Iniquity is Wrapt up in the Gall, and Venom of Those Two Words [OVR RELIGION.] There's Popery, there's Heresy; there's Scandal; There's Insolence, and In Manners in 'em; For till That Malevolent Minute, All was Well; And the Lashing of the Schismatiques, for the Scandal, and the Ruine that they have brought, both upon the Church and the State, by the Equivocal, and Squint­ing Use they have made of Those Two General Words, is the Only Sin, for ought I can see, that I have here to Answer for. [Page 21] The Considerer Himself Dates the Quarrel from that Mo­ment: He Founds it upon That Bottom: And when All is done, he has given me a Discharge under his Own Hand.

13. Our Author is pleased to affirm,Consid. Observa. Num. 3. That the Prin­ciples of the Papists are known and certain. A propo­sition which cannot be universally true, since they are far from an agreement even in such points as are of the greatest importance for them to agree in. Such is that of Infallibility, which whether it be in the Pope without a Council, or a Council without the Pope, or Pope and Council, or the Church Diffusive, they cannot agree nor determine. But supposing, that their Principles are known and certain, where may we expect to find them, if not in their Councils, General and Provincial; in their Canons and Decrees, in their allow'd Catechisms and so­lemn Professions of Faith, in their publique Offices and approved Comments on Scripture? but if these be not admitted, we must despair of satisfaction, and have reason to conclude, their Principles are neither known nor certain.

13. He referrs Himself here,Notes. to an Affirmation of mine, out of Observator Vol. 3. Num. 9. Where (according to his Custom) he Draws a Citation out of the Middle of the Period. My words are These [Such an Union with Papists as you seem to Propose with Protestants, holds no Proportion at all with the Question in hand. First, as Their Principles are Known and Certain; The Other Unnaccountable, and Uagabond] And so afterward; [The One Supposes a Doctrinal Union; And the Other Demands a Political, &c.] Now there is a Great Difference, betwixt a Positive, and a Comparative Affirmation: So that he puts the Case upon the Stretch, to make it the For­mer: Though 'tis the Same thing to Me, whether it be the [Page 22] One, or the Other; for I'm Right, Both ways, as to My Pur­pose. If their Principles be Not Known and Certain, there's One Stabbing Argument against the Papists fall'n to the Ground. That is to say, the Involving of the People of That Persua­sion, to the Last Man of 'em, in the Common Principle of De­stroying (as they call them) Heretical Princes: For the Re­captacle of Infallibility, is a Point (as he says, p. 6.) that is not as yet Agreed, or Determin'd among Themselves: But if they Bee Known, and Certain; I have nothing more to say. Neither is it One Jot to the Bus'ness of That Observator, which Respects only the Disparity betwixt Vniting in Mat­ters of Doctrine with men of Another Religion; and Vniting with men that pretend to be of Our Own Religion, in Political Maxims, and Positions, which are Subversive of the Civil State.

14. As for the Doctrine of the Church of England, Consid. we can freely declare it to be known and certain. The sum of what we hold, is drawn up in Nine and Thirty Articles, explained in one and Twenty Ho­milies, & the way of our Worship exhibited in our Liturgy. From hence we shall therefore collect our Materials, and, according to the method of our Articles, compare Doctrine with Doctrine, Church with Church; by which we doubt not but to make the Opposition between them so evident, that both sides will agree, that the Church of England is one thing and the Church of Rome another; and, as they are at present, no more capable of being, one, than Truth and Error can be the same.

In order to which we shall premise.

14. This looks, as if the Observator had stood-up For the Principles of the Papists, Notes. Against the Doctrine of the Church-of-England, and, Consequently, Extorted from the Vnwilling Author, These Papers, in Vindication of the Protestant Religion; when yet the Observator has not Presum'd, in Any sort, or [Page 23] upon Any Occasion, to [Touch the Ark;] but Kept himself within the Bounds of Political Remarques, and Disquisitions, in Order to the Service of the State, without Breaking-in upon the Offices, and Duties of the Reverend Clergy in Any Degree Whatsoever. Now I shall Easily Joyn with him, that [the Church-of-England is One Thing, and the Church of Rome, Another:] But it is yet as Possible that they may come to be One Again, as it was, before the Separation, that they should come to be Divided. I'le break No Squares with him neither, upon This Point; that [as they are at present, they are no more Capable of being One, then Truth and Error can be the Same;] which is no more then to say, that White can never be Black, so long as 'tis White; nor Black, White, so long as 'tis Black. But now though the Error, or the Vice can never Change Colour, the Offender may Quit an Ill Habit, and leave his Wickedness behind him; And the most Mistaken Crea­ture in the world, may be brought out of Darkness into Light: So that the Considerer might have sav'd himself the Labour of Iumbling Doctrines together, and Conferring Articles, upon Any Account, (That is to say, of the Observators:) For the Virtues of the Load-stone, or the Squaring of a Circle, would have been a Subject, Every jot as much to the Question in hand (for any thing that I have to do in the Case) as the Stating, and Ballancing the Doctrine of the Two Churches.

15. First, Consid. That there are some Articles which both Churches do in express Terms agree in; viz Art. 1. of the Holy Trinity; Art. 2. of the Word, or Son of God; Art. 3. of the going down of Christ into Hell; Art. 4. of the Resurrection of Christ; Art. 5. of the Holy Ghost; Art. 7. of the Old Testament; Art. 8. of the Three Creeds; Art. 12. of good works; Art. 16. of sin after Baptism; Art. 18. of obtaining eternal salvation only by the Name of Christ; Art. 23. of ministring in the Congregation; Art. 26. of the unworthiness of Ministers; Art. 27. of Baptism; [Page 24] Art. 33. of Excommunicate persons; Art. 38. of Christian mens goods; Art. 39. of a Christian mans Oath.Ecclesiae Ang. Basis Impo­stura Luxem. 1619. Against these the Jesuit Iohan Roberti, hath little or nothing to object in his small Tract pur­posely written in opposition to our Articles,

16. But of these Articles it is to be observed,Consid. there are some which each party differs as much from the other in (when they come to explain themselves) as if there had been no agreement in Terms. Thus it happens in Articles, 3d, 7th, and 15; as shall after­wards be shewed.

15. 16. This Enumeration of Articles, is Nothing at all to Me, Notes. unless it can be made appear, that I have either Inter­meddled in the Question, or Given Any Colourable Occasion for the Animadversion, in Any Manner Whatsoever.

17. 2ly. There are other Articles,Consid.wherein both Churches do agree in the sence, tho they differ in Terms; or that are not so much Controversies be­tween Church and Church, as between private Do­cters in each Church. Of this Opinion is a Learned Forreigner of the Reformed Religion, about the matter contained in Articles the 10th and 17th, of Free-will; and of Predestination and Election. Of the former he saith, The difference that our Adversa­ries will object between them and us, upon this point of Free-will,Apology for the Prote­stants, done out of French into English by R. L. is only imaginary, and a meer cavil. Of the latter he concludes; Since we agree in the Fundamen­talls of this Doctrine (as we have already set forth); and that our dissent is but with a few of their Doctors, it would not be very hard (I should think) to find out such a biass of Temperament,1681. Part. 4. Cap. 3. pag. 133. 150. drawn from the Word of God, in proposing of these Opinions, and in Terms so proportioned to their sublimity; as all humble and moderate Spirits would find sufficient for their satis­faction.

[Page 25] 17. The Apology here-cited, was Translated by my self, and Published with my Name at length to't, in 1681. The Con­siderer is pleas'd to give the Author of it, the Character of [A Learned Forreigner of the Reformed Religion.] How comes This [Learned Forreigner,] (and so Call'd with a Respect to This very Piece) to keep up His Reputation still, as a Professor of the Reformed Religion, and the Observator to be a Lost Man, to the Church of England, past all Remission, for not the Fiftieth part of the Liberty that the Other has taken? Or rather, How comes a Protestant of Eighty-One, upon the very Same Foundation, to be made a Papist in Eighty-Five? But the Partiality will be yet more Obvious, from the Project and the Title of That Apology: An Instance, which, per­haps I might have forgotten, if the Quotation had not brought it into my Mind. The Title, in French, and English, is as follows, [Apologie pour les Protestans, Où l'Auteur justifie ple­inement leur Conduite & leur separation de la Communion de Rome; & PROPOSE des Moyens FACILES, & RAISON­ABLES, pour vne SAINTE, & Bien-heureuse REUNION] i.e. [An Apology for Portestants, wherein the Author fully Justifies their Proceedings, and Departure from the Church of Rome: With a Proposal of Means, EASY and REA­SONABLE, for a Holy and a Blessed REUNION.] All that I did was barely to Contemplate a PROVIDENTIAL POS­SIBILITY of it: Whereas Here's a Point-Blank PROPO­SAL, of the very Ways and Methods for the Attaining of that Happy End. In Fine: The Author of the Apology, tho' an Open, and a Profest Advocate for a Reunion, is highly Recommended and Approv'd; While at the same time, the Cha­ritable Speculation, but of the Possibility of it, is made a Mortal Sin in the Observator. The Three next Clauses run altogether upon the Topick of Rebus sic Stantibus.

[We do not Pray (says the Considerer) for Charities sake,Consid.to Err with those that Err, and to be De­ceived with those that are Deceived, P. 10.] But that it may please God to bring into the way of truth all such as have Erred and are Deceived; and to [Page 26] strengthen such as do stand. And for This, We Beseech thee to Hear us, Good Lord. Ibid.]

This is very well now;Notes. And no otherwise than just thus, do I understand the matter: nay I must have been a Stark fool, or a Mad-man, to have laid my self open to any other Con­struction: For I might as well pretend to Reconcile Heaven and Hell, as Truth and Error; Sound Doctrine and Heresie. And I am Afraid, there has been more care taken to Puzzle my Meaning, than to Understand it, though I Hope that the Con­siderer has been rather Misled himself, than a Willing Mislead­er of others: For he is pleas'd to say in Another Place,

[The Project we Approve; Consid. the Benefit of it is Ap­parent: But without this Renunciation, of these [Abovementioned] as well as many other Principles Destructive to such Vnion, and Society, we fear it is not Practicable, and that the Government, Our Religion, not to say, our selves, may as well be Ruin'd by Credulity, as Distrust.]

If it be a Laudable Project, Notes. 'tis Well meant, and no hurt done in the Wish, though Accompanied with almost the Des­pair of seeing it put in practice; And I am as much for the Renunciation of Destructive Principles, as the Considerer Him­self; And for making that Disclaimer, the Condition of the Agreement. As to the Hazard that may Befall the Govern­ment, [our Religion] and our Selves, as well by Credulity, as by Distrust; the Danger is not so much in Each of them Singly, as in Both Together; where Credulity towards a Faction, be­gets Fears and Iealousies of the Magistrate: But the Consi­derer follows This too, by Falling in with the Author of the Apology before Cited upon this very Text.

[We shall Conclude the Whole (says he) With what is said by a Moderate French Writer,Consid. Quoted [Page 27] before, viz. [I would to God that Those of the Church of Rome had the same Tenderness for Vs, that we have for Them; And that they would but Treat Vs with the like Openness, and Candor; They would be then Easily satisfi'd, that we are no Enemies of a Recon­ciliation, if they would but take a step or two on their side to Meet us upon the way.] But this can never be, so long as the Pope of Rome pretends, not only to be the Chief of the Order, but to Exercise an Ar­bitrary, and Absolute Power, as a Monarch in the Church] &c. And so he goes on, Reckoning up a great many Errors in the Church of Rome, as Obstructions to a Re­conciliation; coming to this Result at Last. [So long I say, as These and the Other like Abuses shall be Continued in the Church of Rome, People may make what Over­tures they please: But there is no Vnion to be Expected betwixt Them and Vs.] So that strike off the Abuses, and the Obstacle is Removed.

Now whatever Misunderstandings have fall'n out upon the way,Notes. I cannot see, but that the Considerer, the Apologist, and the Observator, are all Three of the same Mind upon the Pinch of this Question, which is, that Men Continuing in Erroneous Oppositions upon the Subject of Religion, cannot Agree in the Truth; And that without the Truth, There can be No Agreement.

There is Another Touch upon the Observator about the Prerogative of the Deposing-Power. Consid. [It is so far (says the Considerer) from being True, that [Not one Papist in a Thousand is of the Persuasion that Princes may be Deposed, Obs. Vol. 3. N. 6.] That more Pro­bably, not one in a Thousand is against it; and if any such be against it, it is with as much Incon­sistence to the Principles of Their Church, as it is with the Principles of Our Religion to be for it.]

I must here Mind the Author of what he say in the 6th. Pag.Notes.[Page 28] that the Papists are not Agreed whether the Infallibility be Lodg'd in the Church Diffusive or not; or Where it is Lodg'd; And this Instance was us'd, to shew that in That Point, the Prin­ciples of the Papists are not Known and Certain: And if so; this Inference will never hold, upon the Universality of that Princi­ple: Nay He Himself gives an Instance even against Himself, in the same Page, where he Acknowledges, the Clergy of France did not long since Publish a Proposition: [That the Pope had no Power in Civil and Temporal Affairs, and that Kings were Subject to no Ecclesiastical Power, nor can be Deposed, nor their Subjects be Absolved from their Allegiance.] So that here's a Foul Gap in the Principle already, to say nothing of our late Experiences; For it is not my Zeal for the Papists, but the Veneration that I have for Truth, Honesty, and Common Iustice, that has engag'd me in this Controversie; not forgetting what I owe to my self all this while, in the Common Cause.

To summ up the Whole now in a Few Words; The Sun is not Clearer, than it is, that my Writings have been Per­verted; The Connexion Mangled, and Disjointed; My Opi­nions, and my Practices Misrepresented; And that upon Pres­sing the several Parts of the Calumny, the Entire Structure falls to pieces. I will, in Charity, Believe, that the Considerer took his Citations upon Trust, Especially, in what Concerns the Address of the Reverend Clergy of the City of London: For the Phrase in General of Our Religion; The Protestant Religion; The Reformed Religion, is so strictly, and so Ex­presly Appropriated to the Protestant Dissenters, that it will not so much as bear an Allusion to Any thing else; And I thought it very Reasonable, to Inculcate a Caution against Those Ambiguities, that have been so Pernicious to the Crown, and to the Church. Nay! and at the same time, I have over, and over, Recommended the Bare Addition of [Established by Law,] as a short Remedy against a Thousand Inconveni­encies, and Mistakes: And this is No Capriccio of my Own, neither; For you will find it, the very Train, and Method, of Distinguishing the Friends of the Government from their [Page 29] Enemies: Look thorough All the Swarms of Seditions News Papers, Mercuries, Petitions, Addresses, and Other Libellous Discourses; And You shall find e'm to run All, Unanimously, in the stile of Protestant, True Protestant, Reformed &c. and no [Established by Law] in One of a Thousand of them, Unless in the way of Raillery or Droll. Look on the Other hand into the Counter-Petitions, Addresses, &c. and you'l hardly find the Protestant Religion in Any of them, without the Qualification of [Establish'd by Law.] 'Tis the stile of His Majesties Declaration, and likewise of the London Address abovementioned: So that I am Charg'd for Skewing at them, for Words that they did not say, without the Supplement of the Laudable, and Needful Qualification. In the Business of the [some,] and [some Other] Accommodable Points, the Con­siderer, and the Observator have Iointly given Assent and Consent, And subscribed, in Terminis, to the very same Form. And so much for That.

No sooner did the Noise, and Envy of This Calumny begin to Wear-off: But there was Another, Immediately started, worse then the Former; Which was, a Current, and a Con­fident Report, spread all over the Kingdom, That the Obser­vator had Dogmatically Deliver'd it, as from the Chair, [That All Subjects were Bound to be of their Prince's Religion; Now there was Nothing more in't then This.

In the Wednesday Paper of April 29. 1685. Num. 35. I was Handling the subject of a Popular Liberty of Conscience; And how Inevitably it must Destroy the Order, and Polity of All societies; And Iustifie the most Sanguinary, and Impious of Outrages; When [I am bound to Cut your Throat, upon One Point of Conscience, and You are bound to Cut Mine upon Another.] From hence, I proceeded to Treat of the Conscience of the Magistrate, and the Conscience of the Sub­ject; But through the Whole Discourse, as a Point of Policy, and Government, not of Religion. I'le take This Opportunity, once for all, to set my self Right in This Particular; And no way better, then to set down the Whole story at Large, in the very Words of the Observator.

[Page 30] Trim. [A Liberty for every man to serve God according to his Iudgment.]Obs. 35. Vol. 3.

Obs. Why you are Out now, Several Ways. First; it is Not That Liberty of a mans Serving God according to his Iudgment: For you Challenge That to the Subject, which you Deny to the Magistrate: His Conscience bids him Serve God, in Order; the People will have Their Consciences at Liberty to serve him in Confusion. The Magistrate's is a Go­verning Conscience: And what's to be done now, if the Sub­ject's Consciences shall Refuse to be Govern'd? The Magi­strate's Conscience is Answerable for the whole Community: The Subject's is a Private Case, where every Individual Ac­counts only for his Single Self. The Magistrate Sins against his Own Conscience if he Suffers a Capricious part of his Sub­jects to run Vagabonding, and Schismatizing, according to Theirs: Besides that the Wisdom of God, and the Disposition of Divine Providence, have made the Prince the Iudge of the Controversy; and His Conscience Exerts it self in Authority, while the Peoples Consciences are to Acquiesce, either in Resig­nation, or Obedience: The People are All and Every Man of 'em the Kings Subjects: And besides the Impious Mixture of Erroneous, and Contradictory Opinions; All their Pretended Associations of Conscience, are Conspiracies of Practice; when, at the Same time, the Sovereign has the Ordinance of God; the Laws of the Land; Piety, Duty, Imperial Prerogative, and Reason of State, on his side: So that there's a Conscience In­dispensable, on the One Hand, and a Conscience Unwarrant­able on the Other: Insomuch that Liberty of Conscience makes against ye All the ways you can put it: For it is against Law; Against Right; Against Truth, Nature, and Religion: And, like a Bottomless Quick-Sand, it Sucks-in the very Frame of All Political Constitutions, Never to be Retriv'd. It is Your Liberty of Conscience that I speak of; But the Magistrate's Right, and Obligation of Conscience stands as Firm as the Foun­dations of the Earth. And prethee wilt thou go now, and Con­sult all the Rabbi's of the Separation, Casuistically, upon This Point. What Dispensation from Almighty God, has a King, more then a Subject, to Act Contrary to his Conscience? Or [Page 31] what Answer shall That Prince make, at the Day of Iudgment▪ That when his Conscience Charges him, (as he hopes for Sal­vation) to Provide, according to the Best of his Skill, for the Welfare of his People, shall yet Suffer his Subjects to Exercise That License, which He in his Conscience, Thinks, Iudges, and Believes, will be for their Destruction? The Question is, First; Whether or No shall This Prince Govern according to his Con­science? 2ly, How is it possible, to Reconcile This Popular Liberty, to a Consistency with the Conscience of the Supreme Magistrate, and the Necessary Regulations of Sovereign Power? 3ly, Which shall have the Preference, in This Case, the Kings Conscience, or the Peoples? That is to say, in Few Words; where's the Sovereignty? In the King, or in the Multitude?

And again, [The Supream Magistrate has a Double Con­science,Obs. Num. 36. Vol. 3.One with a Respect to his Personal Persuasion about Matters that Immediately concern his Soul, The Other with a Regard to his Political Administration. The Subject likewise has a Conscience, that purely Respects Matters betwixt God and his Own Soul. And a Conscience likewise that Superin­duces another Obligation upon him, with Relation to the Pub­lick, as he is a Member of the Community. In the Former he is at LIBERTY, but in the Other he's under GOVERN­MENT and COMMAND, Obs. Num. 42. Vol. 3. Obs. Num. 36 Vol. 3.] What is this to say now but that his Religious Conscience is Free as he is a Christian, But his Practical Conscience is Limited as he is a Subject?

What is there more now, in All This, then that Kings are Bound in Conscience, to keep their People from Cutting one ano­thers Throats, which they will most Certainly do, and Destroy their Sovereign over and above, when ever he Yields to them the Point of Popular Liberty of Conscience? So that here are Reasons of State, Sublimated into Articles of Faith; and a Man is to be presently made a Papist, that will not Swear Se­crecy and Allegiance to the Practices and Positions of Rebellion.

I could Muster up a Hundred other Instances of the same Batch, and Leaven; as my Threatning of a Bookseller, if he presumed to Print any thing against Popery, which was Prov'd upon Oath to be an Arrant Lie. And yet the Cry ran so [Page 32] Strong, that there was hardly any beating of it down. They had another Story too of my Stopping the Book of a Reve­rend Divine purely for Asserting the Doctrine of the Church of England; which was so False, that the Gentleman Himself Acquitted me to all Purposes upon the whole matter: But how­ever, the Rumour was Supported as long as they could keep Life in't; and it was Impossible for any Man to Believe that Flam, without making me an Insolent Fool for my Pains. There was then Another Malicious Whimsie set a Foot too, what a Bussle I had made in I know not how many Tavern-Clubbs, with Projects, and Proposals, about Publique Business; Which in One Word was All False; And I Defy Any man living to say the Contrary. (Which Somebody or Other Must be Able to do, unless they'l Suppose the Matter Debated at a Committee of Chairs, and Stools.) To Conclude; There was Great Pains taken before the Opening of the Parliament, to make Work on't for a Formal Complaint: But the Pretence would not hold Water.

It will be said at last, that the Book was not Publish'd; And the First Sheet of it Countermanded: To which, I must An­swer, That it was Design'd to Come out while the Press was at Liberty, which would have put me upon an After-Game, ne­ver to be Recover'd. As to the Recalling of the First Sheet, I shall referr the Reader, for the Reasons of it, to my Defence.