I. ONe should think, that the Behaviour of the Engliſh Clergy for ſome years paſt, and the preſent Circumſtances in which they are, should ſet them beyond Slander, and by conſequence above Apologies; yet ſince the the Malice of her Enemies works againſt her with ſo much ſpight, and ſince there is no Inſinuation that carrys ſo much Malice in it, and that ſeems to have ſuch colours of truth on it, as this of their having ſet on a ſevere Perſecution againſt the Diſſenters, of being ſtill ſour'd with that leaven, and of carrying the ſame Implacable hatred to them, which the preſent Reputation that they have gained, may put them in a further capacity of executing, if another revolution of affairs should again give them authority to ſet about it; it ſeems neceſſary to examin it, and that the rather, becauſe ſome aggravate this ſo far, as if nothing were now to be ſo much dreaded as the Church of England's getting out of her preſent diſtreſs.

II. If theſe Imputations were charged on us only by thoſe of the Church of Rome, we should not much wonder at it; for tho it argues a good degree of Confidence, for any of that communion to declaim againſt the ſeverities that have been put in practice among us, ſince their little finger muſt be heavier than ever our loins were, and to whoſe Scorpions our Rods ought not to be compared; yet after all, we are ſo much accuſtomed to their methods, that nothing from them can ſurpriſe us To hear Papiſts declare againſt Perſecution, and Jeſuites cry up Liberty of Conſcience, are, we confeſs, unuſual things: yet there are ſome degrees of shame, over which when People are once paſſed, all things become ſo familiar to them, that they can no more be put out of countenance. But it ſeems very ſtrange to us, that ſome, who if they are to be believed, are ſtrict to the ſevereſt forms and ſubdiviſions of the Reformed Religion, and who ſome years ago were jealous of the ſmalleſt ſteps that the Court made, when the danger was more remote, and who cried out Popery and Perſecution, when the deſign was ſo maskt that ſome welmeaning men 〈1 page duplicate〉 could not miſs being deceived by the Promiſes that were made, and the diſguiſes that were put on; that, I ſay, theſe very perſons who were formerly ſo diſtruſtful, should now, when the Mask is laid off, and the deſign is avowed, of a ſudden grow to be ſo belïeving, as to throw off all diſtruſt, and be ſo gulled as to betray all; and to expoſe us to the Rage of thoſe, who muſt needs give ſome good words, till they have gone the round, and tried how effectually they can divide and deceive us, that ſo they may deſtroy us the more eaſily; this is indeed ſomewhat extraordinary. They are not ſo Ignorant as not to know, that Popery cannot change its nature, and that Cruelty and Breach of Faith to Hereticks, are as neceſſary parts of that Religion, as Tranſubſtantiation and the Popes Supremacy are. If Papiſts were not Fools, they muſt give good Words and fair Promiſes, till by theſe they have ſo far deluded the poor credudous Hereticks, that they may put themſelves in a poſture to execute the Decrees of their Church againſt them: and tho we accuſe that Religion as guilty both of Cruelty and Treachery, yet we do not think them Fools: ſo till their Party is ſtronger than God be thanked it is at preſent, they can take no other method than that they take. The Church of England was the Word among them ſome years ago, Liberty of Conſcience is the Word at preſent; and have all poſſible reaſon to aſſure us, that the Promiſes for maintaining the one, will be as religiouſly kept as we ſee thoſe are which were lately made with ſo great a profuſion of Proteſtations, and shews of Friendship for the ſupporting of the other.

III It were great Injuſtice to charge all the Diſſenters with the Impertinencies that have appeared in many Addreſſes of late, or to take our meaſures of them, from the Impudent ſtrains of an Alſop or a Care, or from the more Important and now more viſible ſteps that ſome among them, of a higher form, are every day making; and yet after all this, it cannot be denyed but the ſeveral bodies of the Diſſenters have behave themſelves of late like men, that underſtand too well the true Intereſt of the Proteſtant Religion, and of the English Government, to ſacrifice the whole and themſelves in Concluſion to their private reſentments I hope the ſame juſtice will be allowed me in ſtating the matter relating to the ſo much decried Perſecution, ſet on by the Church of England; and that I may be ſuffered to diſtinguish the heats of ſome angry and deluded men, from the Doctrine of the Church, and the practices that have been authoriſed in it; that ſo I may shew, that there is no reaſon to Infer from paſt errors, that we are Incurable; or that new Opportunities inviting us again into the ſame ſeverities, are like to prevail over us to commit the ſame follies over again. I will firſt ſtate what is paſt, with the ſincerity that becomes one that would not lye for God; that is, not affraid nor ashamed to confeſs faults, that will neither aggravate nor-extenuate them beyond what is juſt, and that yet will avoid the ſaying any thing that may give any cauſe of offence to any party in the Nation.

IV. I am very ſorry that I muſt confeſs, that all the parties among us, have shewed, that as their turn came to be upper moſt, they have forgot the ſame Principles of Moderation and Liberty which they all claimed when they were oppreſſed. If it should shew too much ill nature to examin what the Presbytery did in Scotland when the Covenant was in Dominion, or what the Independents have done in New-England, why may not I claim the ſame priviledge with relation to the Church of England, if ſeverities have been committed by her while she bore rule? yet it were as eaſy as it would be invidious to shew, that both Presbyterians and Independents have carried the principle of Rigour in the point of Conſcience much higher, and have acted more Implacably upon it than ever the Church of England has done, even in its angrieſt fits; ſo that none of them can much reproach another for their exceſſes in thoſe matters. And as of all the Religions in the world the Church of Rome is the moſt perſecuting, and the moſt bound by her Principles to be unalterably Cruel; ſo the Church of England is the leaſt perſecuting in her principles, and the leaſt obliged to repeat any errors to which the Intrigues of Courts or the Paſſions incident to all parties may have engaged her, of any National Church in Europe. It cannot be ſaid to be any part of our Doctrine, when we came out of one of the blackeſt Perſecutions that is in Hiſtory, I mean Q. Maryes, we shewed how little we retained of the Cruelty of that Church, which had provoked us ſo ſeverely; when not only no Inquiries were made into the illegal acts of Fury, that were committed in that Perſecuting Reign, but even the Perſecutors themſelves lived among us at eaſe and in peace; and no Penal law was made except againſt the publick exerciſe of that Religion, till a great many Rebellions and Treaſons extorted them from us for our own preſervation. This is an Inſtance of the Clemency of our Church, that perhaps cannot be matched in Hiſtory: and why should it not be ſuppoſed, that if God should again put us in the ſtate in which we were of late, that we should rather imitate ſo Noble a Pattern, than return to thoſe miſtakes of which we are now aſhamed?

V. It is to be conſidered, that upon the late Kings Reſtauration, the remembrance of the former War, the ill Uſage that our Clergy had met with in their Sequeſtrations, the angry Reſentments of the Cavalier party, who were ruined by the War, the Intereſt of the Court to have all thoſe Principles condemned, that had occaſioned it, the heat that all parties that have been ill uſed are apt to fall into upon a Revolution; but above all, the practices of thoſe who have ſtill blown the Coals, and ſet us one againſt another, that ſo they might not only have a divided force to deal with, but might by turns make the Diviſions among us ſerve their Ends: all theſe, I ſay, concurred to make us loſe the happy opportunity that was offered in the year 1660. to have healed all our Diviſions, and to have triumphed over all the Diſſenters; not by ruining them, but by overcoming them with a ſpirit of Love and Gentleneſs; which is the only Victory that a generous and Chriſtian temper can deſire. In short, unhappy Councils were followed, and ſevere Laws were made. But after all, it was the Court party that carried it for rougher methods: ſome conſiderable Accidents, not neceſſary to be here mentioned, as they ſtopped the mouths of ſome that had formed a wiſer Project, ſo they gave a fatal Advantage to angry and crafty men, that to our misfortune, had too great a ſtroak in the conduct of our affairs at that time. This ſpirit of Severity was heightned by the Practices of the Papiſts; who engaged the late King in December 1662. to give a Declaration for Liberty of Conſcience. Thoſe who knew the ſecret of his Religion, as they ſaw that it aimed at the Introduction of Popery, ſo they thought there was no way ſo effectual, for the keeping out of Popery, as the maintaining the Uniformity, and the ſuppreſſing of all deſigns for a Toleration. But while thoſe who managed this, uſed a due reſerve, in not diſcovering the ſecret motive that led them to it, others flew into ſeverity, as the principle in vogue: and thus all the ſlacknings of the rigour of the Laws, during the firſt Dutch War, that were ſet on upon the pretence of quieting the Nation, and of encouraging Trade, were reſiſted by the Inſtruments of an honeſt Miniſter of State, who knew as well then, as we do now, what lay ſtill at bottom, when Liberty of Conſcience was pretended.

VI. Upon that Miniſters Diſgrace, ſome that ſaw but the half of the Secret, perceiving in the Court a great Inclination to Toleration, and being willing to take meaſures quite different from thoſe of the former Miniſtry, they entred into a treaty for a Comprehenſion of-ſome Diſſenters, and the Tolerating of others; and ſome Bishops and Clergymen, that were Inferiour to none of the Age in which they lived, for true Worth and a right Judgment of things, engaged ſo far, and with ſo much ſucceſs into this project, that the matter ſeemed done, all things being concerted among ſome of the moſt conſiderable men of the different parties. But the dislike of that Miniſtry, and the Jealouſy of the ill deſigns of the Court, gave ſo ſtrong a prejudice againſt this, that the propoſition could not be ſo much as hearkned to by the Houſe of Commons: and then it appeared how much the whole Popish Party was allarmed at the project: it is well known with how much Deteſtation they ſpeak of it to this day: tho we are now ſo fully ſatisfied of their Intentions to deſtroy us, that the Zeal which they pretended for us, in oppoſing that deſign, can no more paſs upon us.

VII. At laſt, in the year 1672. the deſign for Popery diſcovering it ſelf, the end that the Court had in favouring a Toleration became more Viſible: and when the Parliament met, that condemned the Declaration for Liberty of Conſcience, the Members of the Houſe of Commons, that either were Diſſenters, or that favoured them, behaved themſelves ſo worthily in concurring with thoſe of the Church of England, for ſtifling that Toleration, chooſing rather to loſe the benefit of it, than to open a breach at which Popery should come in, that many of the members that were for the Church of England, promiſed to procure them a bill of Eaſe for Proteſtant Diſſenters. But the Seſſion was not long enough for bringing that to perfection; and all the Seſſions of that Parliament after that, were ſpent in ſuch a continual ſtrugle between the Court and Countrey party, that there was never room given for calm and wiſe Consultations: yet tho the Party of the Church of England did not perform what had been promiſed by ſome Leading men to the Diſſenters, there was little or nothing done againſt them, after that, till the year 1681. ſo that for about nine years together they had their Meetings almoſt as publickly and as regularly as the Church of England had their Churches, and in all that time; whatſoever particular hardships any of them might have met with in ſome corners of England, it cannot be denied but they had the free Exerciſe of their Religion, at leaſt in moſt parts.

VIII. In the year 1678. things began to change their face: it is known, that upon the breaking out of the Popish Plot, the Clergy did Univerſally expreſs a great deſire for coming to ſome temper in the points of Conformity: all ſorts and ranks of the Clergy ſeemed to be ſo well diſpoſed towards it, that if it had met with a ſuteable entertainment, matters might probably have been in a great meaſure compoſed. But the Jealouſy that thoſe who managed the Civil concerns of the Nation in the Houſe of Commons, took off all that was done at Court, or propoſed by it, occaſioned a fatal breach in our publick Councils: in which diviſion, the Clergy by their principles, and Intereſts, and their dispoſition to believe well of the Court, were determined to be of the Kings ſide. They thought it as a ſin to miſtruſt the late Kings Word, who aſſured them of his ſteadineſs to the Proteſtant Religion ſo often, that they firmly depended on it: and his preſent Majeſty gave them ſo many Aſſurances of his maintaining ſtill the Church of England, that they believed him likewiſe: and ſo thought that the Excluſion of him from the Crown, was a degree of rigour to which they in Conſcience could not conſent: upon which they were generally cried out on, as the Betrayers of the Nation and of the Proteſtant Religion: Thoſe who demanded the Excluſion, and ſome other ſecurities, to which the Bishops would not conſent in Parliament, looked on them as the chief hindrance that was in their way: and the Licence of the Preſs at that time was ſuch, that many Libels and ſome ſevere Diſcourses were published againſt them. Nor can it be denied, that many Churchmen, who underſtood not the Principles of Humane Society, and the rules of our Government, ſo well as other points of Divinity, writ ſeveral Treatiſes concerning the meaſures of ſubmiſſion, that were then as much cenſured, as their performances ſince againſt Popery have been deſervedly admired. All this gave ſuch a Jealouſy of them to the Nation, that it muſt be confeſſed, that the ſpirit which was then in fermentation when very high againſt the Church of England, as a Confederate, at leaſt, to Popery and Tyranny. Nor were ſeveral of the Nonconformiſts wanting to Inflame this diſlike; all ſecret Propoſitions for accommodating our differences were ſo coldly entertained, that they were ſcarce hearkned to. The Propoſitions which an Eminent Divine made even in his books writ againſt Seperation, shewed, that while we maintained the War in the way of diſpute, yet we were ſtill willing to treat: for that Great man made not thoſe advances towards them without conſulting with his Superiours. Yet we were then fatally given up to a ſpirit of Diſſention: and tho the Parliament in 1680. entred upon a project for healing our differences, in which great ſteps were made to the removing of all the occaſions of our Conteſts; the Leaders of the Diſſenters, to the amaſement of all perſons, made no account of this: and even ſeemed uneaſy at it, of which the Earl of Nottingham and Sr. Thomas Clarges, that ſet on that Bill with much zeal, can give a more particular account. All theſe things concurred to make thoſe of the Church of England conclude, a little too rashly, that their ruin was reſolved on; and then it was no wonder if the ſpirit of a Party, the remembrance of the laſt Wars, the preſent Proſpect of Danger, and above all, the great favour that was shewed them at Court, threw them fatally into ſome angry and Violent Counſels; ſelf-preſervation is very natural: and it is plain, that many of them took that to be the caſe; ſo that truly ſpeaking, it was not ſo much at firſt a ſpirit of Perſecution, as a deſire of diſabling thoſe who they believed intended to ruin them from effecting their deſigns, that ſet them on to all thoſe unhappy things that followed. They were animated to all they did by the continued earneſtneſs of the King and Duke, and of their Miniſters. That Reproach of Iuſtice and of the profeſſion of the Law, who is now ſo high, was ſingled out for no other end, but to be their Common Hangman over England: of whom the late King gave this true character, That he had neither Wit, Law, nor Common Sence; but that he had the Impudence of ten carted Whores in him. Another Buffoon, was hired to plague the Nation with three or four papers a week; which to the Reproach of the Age, in which we live, had but too great and too general an effect, for poyſoning the ſpirits of the Clergy. But thoſe who knew how all this was managed, ſaw that it was not only ſet on, but ſtill kept up by the Court. If any of the Clergy had but preached a word for moderation, he had a chiding ſent him preſently from the Court; and he was from that day marked out as a disaffected perſon: and when the Clergy of London did very worthily refuſe to give Informations againſt their parishioners that had not always conformed, the deſign having been formed, upon that to bring them into the Spiritual Courts, and excommunicate them, and make them loſe their right of Voting, that ſo the Charter of London might have been delivered up when ſo many Citizens were by ſuch means shut out of the Common Council; we remember well how ſeverely they were cenſured for this, by ſome that are now dead, and others that are yet alive. I will not go further into this matter: I will not deny but many of the Diſſenters were put to great hardships, in many parts of England. I cannot deny it, and I am ſure I will never juſtify it. But this I will poſitively ſay, having obſerved it all narrowly, that he muſt have the brow of a Ieſuite, that can cast this wholly on the Church of England, and free the Court of it. The beginnings and the progreſs of it came from the Court, and from the Popish party: and tho perhaps every one does not know all the ſecrets of this matter, that others may have found out, yet no man was ſo Ignorant as not to ſee what was the chief ſpring of al thoſe Irregular motions that ſome of us made at that time: ſo upon the whole matter, all that can be made out of this, is, that the paſſions and Infirmities of ſome of the Church of England, being unhappily ſtirred up by the Diſſenters, they were fatally conducted by the Popish party, to be the Inſtruments in doing a great deal of miſchief.

IX. It is not to be doubted, but tho ſome weaker men of the Clergy may perhaps ſtill retain their little peevish animoſities, againſt the Diſſenters, yet the wiſer and more ſerious heads of that great and Worthy body, ſee now their error: they ſee who drove them on in it, till they hoped to have ruined them but it. And as they have appeared againſt Popery, with as great a ſtrength of learning and of firm ſteadineſs as perhaps can be met with in all Church-Hiſtory, ſo it cannot be doubted, but their reflections on the dangers into which our Diviſions have thrown us, have given them truer Notions with relation to a rigorous Conformity: and that the juſt Deteſtation which they have expreſſed of the Corruptions of the Ch. of Rome, has led them to conſider and abhor one of the worſt things in it, I mean their Severity towards Hereticks. And the ill uſe that they ſee the Court has made of their zeal for ſupporting the Crown, to juſtify the ſubverſion of our Government that is now ſet on, from ſome of their large & unwary expreſſions, will certainly make them hereafter more cautions in medling with Politicks: the Bishops have under their hands both diſowned that wide extent of the Prerogative, to the overturning of the Law, and declared their dispoſition to come to a Temper in the matters of Conformity; and there ſeems to be no doubt left of the ſincerity of their Intentions in that matter. Their Piety and Vertue, and the proſpect that they now have of ſuffering themſelves, put us beyond all doubt as to their ſincerity; and if ever God in his Providence brings us again into a ſetled State, out of the ſtorm into which our paſſions and folly, as well as the treachery of others has brought us, it cannot be imagined, that the Bishops will go off from thoſe moderate Reſolutions, which they have now declared: and they continuing firm to them, the weak and Indiſcreet paſſions of any of the Inferiour Clergy, muſt needs vanish, when they are under the conduct of wiſe and worthy Leaders. And I will boldly ſay this, that if the Ch: of England, after she has got out of this ſtorm, will return to hearken to the peevishneſs of ſome ſour men, she will be abandoned both of God and man, and will ſet both Heaven and Earth againſt her. The Nation ſees too Viſibly, how dear the dispute a bout Conformity has coſt us, to ſtand any more upon ſuch Punctilios: and THOSE in whom our deliverance is wrapt up, underſtand this matter too well, and judge too right of it, to imagin that ever they will be Prieſtridden in this point. So that all conſiderations concur to make us conclude, that there is no danger of our ſplitting a ſecond time upon the ſame rock: and indeed, if any Argument were wanting to compleat the certainty of this point, the wiſe and Generous behaviour of the main body of the Diſſenters, in this preſent Juncture, has given them ſo juſt a Title to our friendship, that we muſt reſolve to ſet all the world againſt us, if we can ever forget it; and if we do not make them all the returns of eaſe and favour when it is in our power to do it.

X. It is to be hoped, that when this is laid together, it will have that effect on all ſober and true Proteſtants, as to make them forget the little angry Heats that have been among us, and even to forget the Injuries that have been done us: all that we do now one againſt another, is to shorten the work of our Enemies, by deſtroying one another, which muſt in Concluſion turn to all our Ruin. It is a madmans revenge, to deſtroy our Friends that we may do a pleaſure to our Enemies, upon their giving us ſome good words; and if the Diſſenters can truſt to Papiſts after the uſage that the Church of England has met with at their hands, all the comfort that they can promiſe themſelves, when Popery begins to act its natural part among us, and to ſet Smithfield again in a fire, is that which befell ſome Quakers at Rome, who were firſt put in the Inquiſition, but were afterwards removed to Bedlam: ſo tho thoſe falſe Brethren among the Diſſenters, who deceive them at preſent, are certainly no Changlings, but know well what they are doing; yet thoſe who can be cheated by them, may well claim the Priviledge of a Bedlam, when their Folly has left them no other retreat.

XI. I will not digreſs too far from my preſent purpoſe; nor enter into a diſcuſſion of the Dispenſing power, which was ſo effectually overthrown the other day at the Kings Bench Bar, that I am ſure all the Authority of the Bench it ſelf is no more able to Support it: yet ſome late Papers in favour of it, give me occaſion to add a little relating to that point It is true, the Aſſertor of the Diſpenſing power, who as lately appeared with allowance, pretends, that it can only be applied to the Teſt for publick Imployments: for he owns that the Teſt for both Houſes of Parliament is left entire, as not within the compaſs of this extent of the Prerogative: but another Writer, whom by his fence we muſt conclude an Irish man, by his brow a Jeſuit, and by the bare deſignation in the title page, of James Stewarts letter, a Quaker, goes a ſtrain higher, and thinks the King is ſo abſolutely the Soveraign as to the Legiſlative part of our Government, that he may diſſolve even the Parliament Teſt: ſo nimbly has he leapt from being a Secretary to a Rebellion, to be an Advocate for Tyranny. He fancies that becauſe no Parliament can bind up another, therefore they cannot limit the Preliminarys to a ſubſequent Parliament. But upon what is it then, that Countyes have but two Knights, and Burroughs as many: that men below ſuch a value have no vote, that Sheriffs only receive Writs and return Elections, beſides many more neceſſary requiſites to the making a legal Parliament. In short, if Laws do not regulate the Election and Conſtitution of a Parliament, all theſe things may be overthrown, and the King may caſt the whole Government in a new Mould, as well as diſſolve the obligation that is on the Members of Parliament for taking the Teſt. It is true, that as ſoon as a Parliament is legally met and conſtituted, it is tyed by no Laws, ſo far as not to repeal them: but the Preliminaries to a Parliament are ſtill ſacred, as long as the Law ſtands that ſetled them: for the Members are ſtill in the quality of ordinary Subjects, and not entred upon their share in the Legiſlative power, till they are conſtituted in a Parliament legally choſen and Lawfully aſſembled, that is, having obſerved all the Requiſites of the Law. But I leave that Impudent Letter to return to the moſt modeſt Apology that has been yet writ for the Dispenſing power. It yeilds that the King cannot abrogate lawes, and pretends only that he can dispenſe with them: and the diſtinction it puts between abrogation and Diſpenſation, is, that the one is a total repeal of the Law, and that the other is only a ſlackning of its obligatory force, with Relation to a particular man or to any body of men; ſo that according to him, a ſimple Abrogation, or a total Repeal, is beyond the compaſs of the Prerogative I deſire then that this Doctrine may be applied to the following words of the Declaration; from which the Reader may Infer whether theſe do Import a Simple Abrogation, or not, and by Conſequence, if the Declaration is not illegal; We do hereby further Declare, that it is our Royal will and pleaſure that the Oaths commonly called the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegeance, and alſo the ſeveral Teſts and Declarations — shall not at any time hereafter, be required to be taken, Declared, or ſubſcribed by any perſon or perſons whatſoever, who is or ſhall be Imployed in any Office or Place of Truſt, either Civil or Military, under us or in our Government. This is plain English, and needs no Commentary. That paper offers likewiſe an Expedient for ſecuring Liberty of Conſcience, by which it will be ſet beyond even the Diſpenſing power; and that is, that by Act of Parliament all Perſecution may be declared to be a thing evil in it ſelf, and then the Prerogative cannot reach it. But unleſs this Author fancies, that a Parliament is that which thoſe of the Church of Rome believe a General Council to be, I mean Infallible, I do not ſee that ſuch an Act would ſignify any thing at all. An Act of Parliament cannot change the nature of things which are ſullen, and will not alter, becauſe a hard word is clapt on them in an Act of Parliament; nor can that make that which is not evil of it ſelf become evil of it ſelf: for can any Act of Parliament make the Clipping of Money, or the not Burying in Woollen evil of it ſelf? Such an Act were indeed null of it ſelf, and would ſink with its own weight, even without the burden of the Prerogative to preſs it down: and yet upon ſuch a ſandy foundation would theſe men have us build all our Hopes and our Securities. Another topick like this, is, that we ought to truſt to the truth of our Religion, and the Providence and Protection of God, and not lean ſo much to Laws and Teſts: All this were very pertinent, if God had not already given us human Aſſurances againſt the Rage of our Enemies, which we are now deſired to abandon, that ſo we may fall an eaſy and cheap Sacrifice to thoſe who wait for the favourable moment to deſtroy us: by the ſame reaſon they may perſuade us to take off all our Doors, or at leaſt all our Locksand Bolts, and to ſleep in this expoſed condition, truſting to Gods Protection: The ſimily may appear a little too high, tho it is really short of the matter; for we had better truſt our ſelves to all the Thieves and Robbers of the town, who would be perhaps contented with a part of our Goods, then to thoſe whoſe deſigns are equally againſt both Soul and Body, and all that is dear to us.

XII. I will only add another Reflection upon the renewing of the Declaration this year, which has occaſioned the preſent ſtorm upon the Clergy. It is repeated to us that ſo we may ſee that the King continues firm to the Promiſes he made laſt year. Yet when men of honour have once given their word, they take it ill if any do not truſt to that, but muſt needs have it repeated to them: in the ordinary commerce of the world, the repeating of promiſes over and over again, is rather a ground of Suſpition than of Confidence: and if we judge of the accomplishment of all the other parts of the Declaration, from that one, which relates to the maintaining of the Church of England, as by Law eſtablished, the proceedings againſt the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge, gives us no reaſon to conclude, that this will be like the Laws of the Medes and Perſians, which alter not: all the talk of the New Magna Charta cannot lay us aſleep, when we ſee ſo little regard had to the Old one. As for the ſecurity which is offered us in this repeating of the Kings promiſes, we muſt crave leave to remember, that the King of France, even after he had reſolved to break the Edict of Nantes, yet repeated in above an hundred Edicts, that were reall and viſible violations of that Edict, a clauſe confirmatory of the Edict of Nantes, declaring that he would never Violate it: and in that we may ſee what account is to be had of all promiſes made to Hereticks, in matters of Religion, by any Prince of the Roman Communion, but more particularly by a Prince who has put the conduct of his Conſcience in the hands of a Jeſuite.