Sovereigns, when the People's Good, which is, and ever was, the Soul, the Center, the End, and the Caufe of all Government, came to be in the Difpute.

But to return to the Principles of the two Parties we are now difcourfing of; the Whigs, as before, have always afferted this to be their Notion of Go vernment and Governors; and the Church of England, however some among them have topp'd an empty Notion upon them, have all along, and now at last once for all, own'd it by their Practice.

"That Kings when they defcend to Tyranny,
"Diffolve the Bond, and leave the Subject free."

True-Born Eng. Man, P. 47.

The Act for the further Limitation of the Crown paft in the laft Parlia ment, and the Right of the People therein declar'd and recognized, I would afk my Opponent whofe Act and Deed it was? Will they fay it was a whiggifh Act, made by a phanatical House of Commons? I dare say there was not ten Diffenters in the Houfe; let them defcend with us into Particulars, let them draw out a black Lift of Members, who in that loyal, honeft English Parliament gave their Hands to the laft Settlement and Declaration of Right, and let us tell Nofes, and put a Brand upon the Phanaticks among them.

Will they tell us it was a Phanatical Parliament that fet the Crown upon the Queen's Head? I hope they will own her Majefty and their Lordships the Bishops, are Part of the Church of England; for if the Head and the principal Members are not, we know not who are.

Will they tell us, that Sir E. S. Sir B. S. Sir J. B. Mr. Hy, Sir C-r M-ve, and a Hundred more of that Side, were Whigs and Commonwealth-Men?

How comes it to pafs in England that no Papift can inherit? Divine Right ought to fupercede all Precautions, and the young Prince of Savoy, not the Houfe of Hanover, ought to reign with a Non Obftante to all human Limitation, if all was from Heaven: Where are our Right-line Men now? Why, truly the Reafon is plain, the Church of England, People of England, a Church of England, Parliament of England, have thought fit to declare, that for the Good of the People, to which all Right of Succeffion to Power must give Way, becaufe from them all Power itself does derive, and by the Voice of that People (in which Authority fufficient is legally grounded) it is unanimously agreed, that we will not have a Papist to reign over us.

All this is too plain to admit of a Difpute; and now to me it feems prepofterous, why any Man fhould keep up the Diftinction between Parties as to Loyalty, when indeed there is no Manner of Difference in the Cafe.

I have talk'd feveral Times of Bearing, Suffering, being perfecuted and opprefs'd; as the Diffenters in their Time have been more than enough; and again, in their Turn, the Church of England have been perfecuted too; for, as I noted before, they were once the Schifmaticks, the Whigs, and the Diffenters. Now I think 'tis not very foreign to my Argument to examine

whether

whether of the two behaved themfelves under their Sufferings with the greatest Submiffion, who fhew'd moft abfolute Obedience to their Superiors, and who firft or ofteneft rebell'd against their lawful Sovereign.

The Proteftants under Henry VIII, were the firft Diffenters; they were kept under, perfecuted, and put to Death as Rebels and Schifmaticks. Now upon due Search it will be found, that under the Protection of two Proteftant Queens, Wives of King Henry VIII. they had more than once form'd fuch Intereft at Court, and in the Kingdom, as to begin to be formidable to the Popish Powers then reigning; and the Fall of the Lord Cromwell was thought a neceffary Policy in King Henry, to prevent the Plots of the Phanatical Church of England Hereticks; a long Account of which may be read in the Life of that Prince.

King Edward VI. a zealous and pious Prince, made no Scruple for the Propogation of the Church of of England, which he was the glorious Founder, to fet afide the lawful and undifputed Succeffion of his own Sifters, to establish the Crown in the Lady Jane Grey, who he knew would carry on the Work of Reformation.

There's an Inftance for the Zeal for Succeffion in the right Line, in the first Proteftant Head that ever the Church of England bad.

After this, the Gofpellers, that is, the Church of England Proteftants of Suffolk, having fome Senfe of Injury done to the Princefs Mary, and willing to have the Succeffion go on in the right Line, provided they could both preferve their Religion and Loyalty too, capitulate with her, and promife to ftand by her, provided fhe would promife to preferve, and make no Alteration in their established Church of England.

Here the Church of England Men own'd the Liberty of their Religion to be fuperior to their Loyalty to her; and that they had a Right to fubmit, or not to fubmit, as their Liberty was, or was not fecure; and accordingly conditioned with her, before they would acknowledge her to be their Queen.

And we fee how Heaven punish'd them for venturing on the Word of a Prince when their Religion and Liberty were at Stake.

In this Queen's Time the Church having been again fupprefs'd, and Popery erected, Sir Thomas Wyatt, an honeft Church of England Proteftant, with a very good Body of Men, took up Arms against their lawful Prince, for breaking her Word in Defence of their dear Religion, eftablish'd by blessed King Edward, which were the very Words of the Manifefto they published: The Londoners, with 800 Men, fent by the Queen against them, thought it no Treachery to defert their lawful Popifh Queen, and go over to their Proteftant Church of England Brethren.

We have nothing to do with the Juftification of this Fact; 'tis fufficient that fo it was, and that these were Proteftants of the Church of England, in the first and pureft Part of their Principles, and let them juftify the Fact if they pleafe.

Queen Elizabeth fucceeds, and the Church of England fhone in its Meridian Glory, and then grew up fome, who aiming, as I faid before, at a further

further Reformation 5. and the Church refufing to hearken to it, form'd a new Party of Diffenters, and these were call'd Puritans, and fince that Phanaticks.

Now I challenge the Defender of this Caufe to tell me one difloyal Act, one Plot against the Government, one Disturbance of the Civil Peace, among thefe Diffenters, from the Beginning of this Queen, which was their own Beginning, to the Reign of King Charles I. which was a continued Term of 80 Years, and yet, during this Time, they fuffered all Manner of Indignities, Reproaches, Finings, Imprifonings, Banifhment, Confifcations, and corporal Punishments.

So that hitherto the Paffive Obedience of the Diffenters hath far exceeded that of the Church of England. Thefe had but five Years Oppreffion under Queen Mary, and in that five Years they once capitulated with their Sovereign to make her Queen upon Conditions, and once took Arms against her after fhe was Queen; and by that I muft always understand, that if they did not depofe and destroy her, it was because they could not; and if they had done it, no doubt they had Caufe fufficient to justify them before God and Man. The Puritans after this fuffered all that their too cruel Brethren of the Church of England laid upon them during three tedious Reigns, before they fo much as made the leaft Offer at doing themfelves Juftice; and for 80 Years together exercis'd that PaffiveObedience which they never pretended to.

At laft they took Arms; and when they did, they did it to Purpose, carried all before them, fubdued Monarchy, cut of their King's Head, and all that. After the Restoration Things began to return to their old Channel, and 30 Years more the Diffenters endur'd another Egyptian Servitude; were perfecuted, plunder'd, indicted, imprifon'd, plagu'd with Impofitions, ftigmatiz'd with a Thousand Reproaches; their Meeting-houfes demolish'd, their Eftates confifcated, their Perfons excommunicated and anathematiz'd, fworn into Plots they never heard of, and into Crimes they never committed, dragg'd to Goals, Gibbets, and Scaffolds, and the like. All this while Paffive Obedience, if there were any fuch Thing, was found among them more than anywhere elfe; for here was no Rebellions, no Infurrection, nor breaking of the Peace by the Diffenters, notwithstanding all thefe Oppofitions.

After this comes King James the Second to the Crown, and he turn'd the Scale, and, together with Invafion of Liberty, falls upon the Church, begins to rifle her of her Trophies, for no Effentials had been touch'd; and how long did She bear it? Not 80 Years, not 30 Years; no, not fo many Months.

What did the do? Truly nothing but what the ought to have done; defend her Liberty and Religion by Force, against unjust Invasion and Tyranny; nothing but what all the Nations in the World have done, and would do again if they could.

The only Error we charge upon the Church of England, was fetting up Pretences of what they really would not Practice; crying up themfelves for Fools, when we knew they were wifer Men; calling themfelves humble Slaves; but when the Trial came, proving ftubborn, refractory, LibertyMongers, even as bad as the worst Whig or Phanatick of them all.

For

For the future then, if a humble Moderator might be permitted to give Advice to the Gentlemen of the Church of England, it fhould be in these fhortand friendly Terms.

Pray, Gentlemen, never be impofed upon, to pretend to more Loyalty, and more flavish Principles than you intend to Practice.

Never pretend to more Obedience than your Sovereing requires. Our late King, who I am not afham'd to fhow as a Patern for future Ages, requir'd; and her prefent Majefty, without Affront to her Majesty's Authority it may be faid, requires no further Obedience from the People of England than the Laws of England requires.

To govern according to Law, is a full Satisfaction to the People, and to obey according to Law, is a full Satisfaction to the Sovereign. The Laws are the Feft both of the Royal Authority, and of the Subject's Obedience; and to pretend to more Obedience than the Law requires, is abufing your Prince, and abufing yourselves.

Never be asham'd to own with your Brethren the Whigs, that you are willing to fubmit to Authority, but that you expect to be govern'd according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm.

Let the Scotch Motto be fet upon your Liberties, and according to your constant Practice, as well as ours: Let all Men know you design to make it Good. Nemo me Impune Laceffit

p

And as it really never was the Principle of the Church of England, nor were a bhundreth Part of the Members of the Church tainted with it; fo for the future 'tis hoped you will not fuffer fuch to mingle themselves among you, or to act in the Name of the Church of England, who pretend to a blind abfolute Obedience to Princes.

And Laftly, Gentlemen, a little more Modeftly to your humble Servants your Proteftant Brethren, the Diffenters, or Whigs; I mean as to Matter of Loyalty: For in Truth, Gentlemen, we do not fee any Reason you have to reproach us in that Matter, you being in every Particular as faulty that Way as you Neighbours.

Necef

Some Neceflary Confiderations relating to all future Elections of Members to ferve in Parliament, humbly offered to all Electors, whether they be true Sons of the Church of England, as by Law establish'd, or modeft Proteftant Diffenters; to which is added, A Lift and Account of one Hundred and fixty-feven worthy good Patriots, lately traduced in a fcandalous Libel, commonly called the Black Lift. As alfo a Lift of two Hundred and twenty-three honeft Gentlemen, who fignaliz'd themfelves in the Defence of the Rights of the Commons of England in the Point of Impeachments; with the Addition of a Preface in Answer to a Pamphlet called, A new Teft of the Church of England's Loyalty, &c. By Dr. Drake.

1702.

The

PREFACE.

IF all Mankind were wife and boneft, an Admonition from the Prefs would be impertinent : But no Age has yet deferv'd the Compliment of having them thought fo; and this (according to the vulgar Notion of it) leaft of any. I have not, however, fo ill an Opinion of it as fome fplenetick Writers would give me: I think it neither fo wife nor fo honeft as it should be, and yet, perhaps, I think as well of it as of any that have gone before.

But of all the extravagant Follies of this Age, which are not a few, it is, perbaps, the most unaccountable, that while we pretend to more Sagacity, and a Sharper Sight than our Ancestors, we are daily bubbled by Fools, and banter'd by Blockheads. I am afraid every one of us too often experiences this in bis private and feparate Concerns; but the Prefs almoft overwhelms the collective Body of the People with Convictions every Day.

One most notorious Inftance of this Kind we have in a Pamphlet, entitled, A new Teft of the Church of England's Loyalty; or, Whiggish Loyalty and Church Loyalty compar'd. The Writer of it, after having called all the Church of England Men Rebels, Traitors, Regicides, and perjur'd Men, prolefts be has not abused them, and pretends not to have affronted them neither.

Either