Observations upon Mr. Johnson's remarks, upon Dr. Sherlock's book of non-resistance Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. 1689 Approx. 43 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A59833 Wing S3305 ESTC R9591 12029879 ocm 12029879 52740 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A59833) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 52740) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 878:8) Observations upon Mr. Johnson's remarks, upon Dr. Sherlock's book of non-resistance Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. [2], 21 p. [s.n.], London : 1689. Reproduction of original in Union Theological Seminary Library, New York. Attributed to William Sherlock. cf. NUC. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703. -- Remarks upon Dr. Sherlock's book, intituled The case of resistance of the supreme powers stated and resolved. Obedience. Divine right of kings. Allegiance -- Great Britain. Nonjurors. 2003-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-12 Mona Logarbo and Andrew Kuster Sampled and proofread 2004-12 Mona Logarbo and Andrew Kuster Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion OBSERVATIONS UPON Mr. JOHNSON's REMARKS , Upon Dr. Sherlock's Book OF Non-Resistance . 1 Samuel , Chap. 26. Verse 16. This thing is not good that ye have done , as the Lord liveth ye are worthy to Dye , because ye have not kept your Master the Lord 's Anointed . London , Printed in the Year , 1689. OBSERVATIONS Upon The PREFACE TO Mr. Johnson's REMARKS , Upon Dr. Sherlock's Book OF Non-Resistance . Mr. Johnson , MY former knowledge of your Person and manner of Conversation , raised my desire of reading your Life of Julian , and the little piece you have since Published against the Learned Dr. Sherlock , and both together have confirmed me in this Opinion , that you are certainly next Mr. Oats the fittest person in the World to write the Life of Julian , having so exactly transcrib'd it in your own , he being that to the Catholick Church , what you have so industriously approv'd your self to the Church of England , a perfidious Apostat . You are pleased to call your little Book ( and such it is upon more Accounts than one ) Remarks upon Dr. Sherlock's Book of Non-Resistance , and Remarks indeed they are , but such as our young trifling Novices , make in their Journies through France or Italy , which have no other Effect upon a wise Reader than to persuade a belief they have been there ▪ and scarcely that : they are such Remarks as would tempt a man to think you were retain'd on both sides , or at least were in Fee with your Adversary , or bribed by a partial Affection to his Person and Reputation ; but this Conjecture you can easily confute . You are pleas'd to tell us ( page the 25th ) that you would run over all the Doctors Scripture Proofs ( in the excellent management of which lies the strength of the Cause , and the Learning of the Author ) whereas you have taken no notice of any more than two , and only nibled at them without any impression or hurt , but with what Ingenuity is not easily comprehended , much less justifi'd without your Old Friend 's Secret against Blushing : and thus you have indeed rid your hands easily of the bafled Cause of Non-Resistance ; which , if it receive no deeper wound than those your feeble Passes yet have made , will outlive your forward Triumphs , and Conquer , as much as it despises , the Insolence that Fools and Knaves have treated it withall ; A Doctrine that commenc'd together with Religion either Jew or Christian , ( as the pious and Learned Archbishop Usher has irrefragably prov'd . ) A Doctrine that shall know no end , but when all things must confess their Ashes , and then it shall be swallowed up in the glorious Rewards of Confessors and Martyrs . But you are pleas'd to give us another Reason for Publishing your Book , that is , to offer your Service to some men's New-fashioned Loyalty , which , you say , must be adopted Church of England Doctrine too , as well as the other : this indeed gave me great hopes of finding from so clear a Casuist , and so moderate a man , irresistible Satisfaction of its being my Duty to take the new-Oaths , which piece of Service would have bound me over to as great Gratitude , as can be supposed due to the Charitable and seasonable Preserver of my little All I have in this World : but if instead of offering one single Reason evincing the Duty and Obligation to take this Oath ; you have advanced two or three considerably Cogent Reasons why I should not , then I hope the Government will allow your Argument in some Abatement to the Guilt , whatever they do to the Punishment of my Non-Complyance ; for all good men fear the guilt more than they do the Punishment , and this you have done as appears by what you tell us ( page the 55 ) No man can Authorise himself ; if so , I desire you to tell us by what Authority this New-Oath is imposed ; for the Compilers of this Law either do Authorise themselves , or else they receive their Authority aliunde ; if the first , you have already determin'd against them ; if the second , pray shew us from whence ; taking this of our Saviour along with you , If I bear Testimony of my self , my Testimony is not true . But in the second place you tell us , that King William is the rightfullest King that ever sat upon the English Throne : when in that very breath you defeat the right you would maintain , and are a very Traytor to the Title you would advance ; and I am content with you never to desire a greater advantage than to reduce my Adversary to this Absurdity , of making no difference betwixt a Title and no Title , which is a Rowland for the Oliver you gave the Doctor ; Law and no Law : And that you have done this appears thus ; If King William be the rightfullest King that ever sat upon the Throne of England , then no King ever ascended the Throne by the same Right , and by the same hands that he does ; for every King that came by it as he does , was just as rightful a King as he is , and then consequently he is not the Rightfullest : Well then , if no King was ever plac'd upon the Throne by the same hand and Right as he , then it is very plain he can have no right at all by the Common Law of England ; for Common Law is common usage , and sure that 's a strange common Usage , that cannot shew one President ; one Example at least to warrant it , which your Assertion plainly supposes and acknowledges : Well then , besides the Common Law , England knows no other but that we call the Statute-Law , and by that he has no Title , or else the Convention did him a great deal of wrong , for they never declared the Right to be his by Succession , but by their Donation : thus you defend the present Title , just as you guided your unfortunate Masters Conscience and Honour , by betraying both ; and if King William had no better Title than what in this Preface you have given him , he neither could nor would expect to be obeyed ; and now if any of my Brethren should look upon our Obligation to Complyance to be less than it was before , through the Insufficiency of the Arguments you have produced in its behalf , you will be responsible to us for our Livings , and to his Majesty for the withdrawing the Service of so many men of our Condition ; for I am morally certain that were these words of yours ( King William is the Rightfullest King that ever sat upon the English Throne ) inserted , and made a part of the Oath , there would not have have been found in the whole Nation , as bad as it is , an hundred men of your Swallow ; I am very well satisfied that the Government is not so unreasonable ( however you represent them , ) as not to be glad that , the whole body of the Clergy were satisfied as well as themselves ; and I hope you are not one of those malicious Blades that would insinuate , as if this new Act were made only to revenge the Bartholomew Act in 62 , and wish it might have the same Effect ; yet you have given us a very fair Specimen of your hatred to the present Government , since you could never have wish'd for a more sweet , or taken a more effectual Revenge than you have done , by turning such an Hebrew Advocate in their behalf ; methinks 't is great pity there is no Law obliging all men to hang the Keys of their Consciences at your Girdle ! and as it is to be hoped they will Chastise the maliciously affected Weakness of your Defence , so it were seriously to be wish'd , that before the time comes , they would provide us some Learned and Conscientious Casuist , that might be able by the Conviction of Scripture , Reason and Law , to promote those good Inclinations we in the presence of God sincerely profess to have of living under our Superiours , a sober and a peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty . And I do promise in my own , and ( as I believe I may ) in the name of all my Brethren , that are yet unsatisfied , that our Refusal to comply shall lie no longer hid in lurking Scruples , and reasons best known to our selves ( as you out of your abundant Charity would insinuate ) than till our Superiours shall be pleased with indemnity to allow us to bring them forth , ( for though Truth never seeks , it may be driven into Corners ) to men of their own Nomination and Appointment , with an obligation to the severest Penalties , if we can be prov'd to have divulg'd them any farther . Therefore all the spiteful flourishes you make in the 2d . Page of your Preface , and the malicious as well as silly Questions that you ask , are but so many instances of your natural Incivility and Rudeness towards us , as well as of an ungentile Insolence in provoking him whose hands are tyed , which is very true in reference to the Danger he must lye under , who dares be so hardy as to answer your questions , which yet I my self dare engage to do upon good security of Freedom and Indemnity , and to back those Answers with such reasons as shall ensure me the Priviledge of being ( for you ) unanswerable , or else I will forfeit my Head where yours is due : You need not wonder at this Caution in me ( in whom it is too seldom a fault ) who am not now to be told the danger of making my Tongue or my Pen too familiar with my Thoughts ; I am not so much in love with Jayls , and Pilloreis , and Whipping-Posts , as needlesly to court Mr. Colliers first Answer , or the no less pennance of reading his second ; besides Mr. Oats and your self have given us a fair Instance what ineffectual Methods those are of reducing Men to sobriety ; if ever such or greater Punishments should be our Lot , our Prayers are that God would enable us to bear them with such Magnanimity , Meekness , and Resignation , as becomes those who profess the Doctrine of passive Obedience , taught and practised by Christ and his Apostles , the Primitive and the best reformed Christians ; but surely God has a very great Controversie with this Nation of ours , surely our Sins are ripe for the severest Judgments ; the Land is divided into two extreme sinful Parts , one by our Sins are fitted to suffer under the Doctrine of Resistance ; others sinful enough to be permitted to preach , believe and prosecute it : I meekly thank God , that though my Sins are strangely great , and deserve more than I can suffer , yet he hath not given me up to the latter Judgment of teaching it , and I trust he never will. Indeed Mr. Johnson , your apparently contrary behaviour in the very subject matter of this Discourse , has not been so amiable and inviting as to render it exemplary , but has rather prejudic'd and hinder'd that Enforcement , which your Suffering Name and fallacious Reasons might otherwise have given it : No good Christian can approve , or indeed with patience hear , and no crown'd Head will endure your barbarous Usage of King James , in which you have out-done your own Forgeries and ill pack'd Stories in your Life of Julian . Is it thus that you curse not the King , no not in your heart ? is it thus that you commit your self and your cause to him that judgeth righteously ? is it thus that you heap Coals of Fire upon the Head of your Enemy ? and do you thus overcome evil with good ? no , no , the apparent Marks of an unchristian Resentment , and an ungenerous Revenge make up the whole Contexture of your Preface , and by this means you have under your own hand renounc'd to the merits of your sufferings , forefaulted your right of compensation , abdicated your Religion together with your King , and sign'd a kind of posthumous Apology for your Judges , and almost justify'd the Inhumanity of your Sentence . You say ( Page the sixth of your Preface ) that if King James had been a rightful King when he took Possession of the Crown ( as he was not but a publick Enemy ) he has since that time broken the Fundamental Contract : In these words there is one of the boldest and most notorious Falshoods that ever was broach'd , for he was certainly rightful King after the Death of his Brother , even though your malicious insinuation from his outliving him , had ( which it has not ) either weight or truth in it : The very Votes of both Houses of Convention acknowledge so much when they insisted upon the Abdication , without ever calling his Title into question ; besides if he had no right to succeed in the Throne , your Lord and the other Gentlemen of the Exclusion were much in the wrong ; had you made as much appear then , as you confidently assert now , you had sav'd the two Houses a great many angry debates , and the important Fortress of Tangier had been still in our hands , and undemolished ; and the lower House knew the importance of that place very well when they set the Bill of Exclusion upon it's head as the price of its Relief or Redemption rather ; and what necessity there was to shut out by Law , one that by Law had no right to come in , surpasses my discerning : yet farther , you prayed for him as King as oft as you did your duty in reading Common-Prayer ; now Men of mettle are seldom Hypocrites , and I cannot persuade my self you could in your Prayers to God acknowledge him to be King , whom in your Conscience you did not think rightfully and lawfully to be King : All prevarication is disengenuous and cannot become a Christian , much less one that waits at the Altar , and still less in the Service of God ; so that this consequence is self-evident , either you were a Hypocrite then , or worse now : As for what you say of his being excluded by three successive Houses of Commons , you might as well have told us that he was excluded by the Diet at Ratisbone , or the Swiss Cantons , for their Power was as great to exclude him as that of the Commons of England alone without the consent of the King and Lords : you have made as much of it as the case will bear , when you tell us it was a Caveat , and I suppose you know the Nature of a Caveat so well as not to stand in need of information what manner of treatment they commonly meet with in all places where they are entred . Page the 11th . You say , the Oath of Allegiance is the Counterpart of the Coronation Oath , and that it is of the Nature of Covenants , and that it is a conditional Oath . Now if all this could be substantially prov'd , it would go a great way towards a Conviction of those whose Consciences ( for want of information in this very point ) will not give them leave to take the new Oath : Now I could tell you this looks very like begging the Question , or at least a haughty Imposition of your Sentiments upon other men , having not been pleased to produce one Medium to prove so great an Assertion by , but you pronounce Magisterially your Opinion and expect all your Readers should subscribe to you , as to an infallible Dictator ; but when we took that Priviledge from the old Gentleman at Rome we did not intend to naturalize it at home , we have long since Emancipated our selves from that piece of slavery , and are something unwilling to be brought again under the same Yoke of Bondage we so effectually cast off ; Nullius addicti jurare in verba Magistri , Is our Motto , and whatsoever conceit you may have of your own Authority , you must not expect the same extravagant Civility should be paid it by other Men ; you have given us but too just a cause to examine a little narrowly into the very best Reasons you have yet thought fit to produce , and having not found them Sterling , you must not take it ill if we bring the rest to the Touchstone . How pitifully you trifle with us in this Paragraph with a silly Instance of a Master and an Apprentice , where you wisely suppose the Master to turn his Apprentice out of Doors , and yet expect the performance of his Service ; did King James ever banish any Man to Mevis or the Barbadoes , and yet at the same time expect his Attendance , either in the Court or Camp ; or did he commit any Clerk to Jayl , and then punish him for Non-Residence ? Your Instances and your Arguments are all of a piece , and you have very ill luck with both ; had you prov'd that a Son's Obedience to his Father had held no longer than Pater se bene gesserit , and then constituted the Son the Judge of his Fathers good or Male-administration ; or that the Wife was discharged of her subjection to her Husband , if she can plead Actions of unkindness against him , then you had done something to the purpose , then you might have confuted the Apostle and passive Obedience , which have taught submission not only to the good and gentle , but also to the froward ; then you might have boldly deny'd the Happiness the Apostle tells us shall be the reward of them who suffer patiently in and for well-doing , since according to you , no man ought to suffer any longer than till he can either hinder or revenge his sufferings : I always thought Religion had been intended to restrain and correct our unruly Passions , not to give up the Reins and let them loose ; such Doctrine is neither the Wisdom nor the Peace that comes from above , nor the way thither , but comes from below , and is earthly , sensual , devilish . You tell us Pag. 11 & 12 you are able to prove that the Oath of Allegiance taken to a Tyrant , would be a void unlawful and wicked Oath ; void , because it is an obligation to obedience according to Law , which a Tyrant makes it his business to destroy , so that it is swearing to things inconsistent ; unlawful , because the English Constitution will not admit such a Person to be King , it knows no King but such as can do no wrong ; wicked , because it strengthens his hands in the Destruction of our Countrey , so far you : Now this needs only to be twice read to shew the absurdity , the weakness and the malice of it , especially if you design the Application ( as by the drift of your Discourse appears you do ) to be made to King James , and to all that swore Allegiance to him , but especially to them ( if any such there be ) who think themselves still bound by that Oath ; for we who swore Allegiance to him at his first coming to the Crown , did it to a King not to a Tyrant ; nay , it was almost impossible he should be a Tyrant when some of us took those Oaths , unless susceptio Coronae facit Tyrannum , which for some Body's sake I know you won't aver : he had then but just begun his Reign , and had given us assurance of his intentions to govern according to Law : Nay , even they who swore Allegiance to him after he had begun to break his word , and had made some inroads upon Property and Religion , still swore to a King and not to a Tyrant ; for it would be a very difficult task even for you ( whose hatred to his Person has given you the Pen of a ready Writer ) to assign by what individual Action he commenc'd Tyrant , and the very moment wherein he ceas'd to be King : Vertue and Vice dwell in each others Neighbourhood , and their Boundaries are to be distinguished by every Eye : Yet farther , what though my Oath of Allegiance be an obligation of Obedience according to Law ? and what though the King to whom I swear goes about to destroy the Law ? is therefore my swearing Allegiance to him , swearing to things inconsistent ? by no means : Am I bound by that Oath to be one of his Instruments that shall help him to subvert the Law , and enslave my fellow subjects ? or am I perjured if I refuse ? by no means ; I am indeed if I resist : And thus you may easily see the bafled Doctrine of passive Obedience would have found out an excellent Medium betwixt these two , to suffer when according to Conscience ( and that I will allow to be directed by Law ) I can do no longer the pleasure of my King ; thus an Oath to a King who afterwards proves a Tyrant , is not void , because it is not swearing to things inconsistent . Next you say , an Oath of Allegiance sworn to a Tyrant is Unlawful , and for so saying you give this merry reason , because the English Constitution admits no such Person to be King ; which takes away the very subject matter of our dispute ; for if this Tyrant can be no King , I am as sure that no King can be no Tyrant ; there can be no Oath of Allegiance sworn in a Monarchy but to the King : so for once you are in the right ; for Nullius juramenti nulla est obligatio . Lastly you say , an Oath of Allegiance sworn to a Tyrant is wicked , and for this reason , because it strengthens his hands in the destruction of our Countrey : which I flatly deny , because ( as I told you before ) there is a Medium betwixt a sinful Obedience to an unlawful Command , and Perjury , which is passive Obedience ; but that Medium you don't love , and therefore won't admit it . Again you say , as soon as the Realm has declared him a Tyrant , our Oath of Allegiance becomes void , but for what reason , according to what Law , and by what Authority , some body else must tell , for you cannot : What you say in this is gratis dictum , and must be swallowed upon your sole Authority ; but that I do and always shall except against as insufficient , even if it could not be suspected of partiality , as in this last it vehemently is : Pray what Authority have you to affirm , which your Readers have not to deny ? But your next is a delicate flight in these words , speaking about the Oath of Allegiance sworn to King James , an Oath which ought not to have been MADE , and is now as if it never had been MADE , which was ill MADE , and would be worse kept , I suppose , than it was MADE ; now there seems no other Answer required to this but a little of your own Jargon , which a friend of mine has done to my Hands — When a Corder a cording , encord's him a Cord , In cording that Cord , he three Cords doth encord ; But if one of the Cords that encordeth , uncord , Then the Cord that uncordeth , uncordeth the Cord. But to be serious , though it be very difficult amidst such stuff as this , let me ask you , Do you seriously believe , that the Oath of Allegiance made to King James did never bind ? Whom do you arraign when you say that Oath ought never to have been made ? did he make or enact it himself ? or was it not made and enforced in the good days of Queen Elizabeth , and his Grandfather King James the First ? or was the exacting that Oath any part of the Accusation laid to the Charge of Charles the Martyr ? or did the bloody Preachers of your Doctrine of Resistance in those days suppress any of his Crimes out of a tender regard to his Person or Credit ? besides you say , it was ill made and would be worse kept , without considering the strange Incongruity of that expression ; indeed a thing that is ill made may be ill kept , but how that which is ill made can be worse kept , I find not ; the guilt of keeping , must bear proportion to the guilt of making a Law , because the effect must be commensurate to the Cause ; and though the stream may fall lower , it cannot Naturally rise higher than the Fountain ; so that we who believe our selves under an Obligation to keep it , are for so doing just as guilty ( and no more ) as those Parliaments that made it : If then it was lawfully imposed , and lawfully taken ; then as there needs no Angel to oblige us to keep it , ( our Obligation arising from a greater Authority than theirs , ) so none of that glorious Order either can or will oblige us to break it , for they are the Ministers of good , not evil . You say , page the 13th . the Maxim of those you are pleased to call Male-Contents , is better Popery than Perjury . If my perfect agreement to the truth of that Proposition will render me a Male-Content , I am and shall be , I hope , one all the days of my Life ; nay , I will go one step farther , if there be any thing on this side Hell worse than Popery , I had rather it should befall me , than that it should be kept out , or prevented by any unlawful , unjust , or wicked means of mine whatever ; believe me , he is either a mean Scholar in Religion , or a very bold Man that dares say God stands in need of our Vertues ; but he must be a man of a more than ordinary Assurance ( of your Mettle , ) that dares say God stands in need of our Vices . — Si Pergama Dextra Defendi possint , etiam hac defensa fuissent . With his own right hand , and with his holy Arm , he can get himself the Victory : If he sees it good for us to enjoy the Blessing of a publick and free Exercise of our Religion ; he can do it without any Offence or fault of ours at all ; but if not , we have been always taught , and will constantly maintain and teach , That we are in no Case to do evil , that good may come of it ; not to break Gods Laws , to maintain his Worship ; not to turn Bankrupts to Loyalty , to drive the greater Trade in Religion ; not to shake hands with the Gospel , to take the firmer hold of Christ ; not to forsake the Church of England , to secure the Reformation ; not to bring in a Bill of Exclusion of the next rightful Heir , to secure an Hereditary Monarchy ; not to think the Observation of the second and fourth , a valuable Composition for the breach of the fifth and tenth Commandments ; these are slow Hebrew methods of Divinity to me ; as if all Religion were Analytical , and the only way of Progression in Christianity , were to be Retrograde in the duties of it : For what good can our Religion do us , when we defend it by means that dishonour both it , and its Author ? You desire us to remember that the Popery and the Perjury have gone always together , and have always been both of a side ; I agree with you entirely as to this matter ; and I have long fear'd the coming in of Popery , and I thank you for discovering from what Quarter we are to expect it ; I have in all places , and upon every fair opportunity freely declared , that Popery could never come into England , unless carried upon Protestants Shoulders , and the four last years Reign has not in the least confuted , but confirm'd and strengthned that Opinion : Alas ! What a silly poor feeble thing is Popery in its proper Colours ? How easily was it driven out without a blow ? Did we not laugh at and despise , the Reverse of Fabius's Wisdom manifested in their no less foolish than hasty and forward methods to bring Popery in ? When all the Protestants in the world could not have taken a more effectual course ( than themselves did ) to keep it out : But Popery in its borrowed light confesses Anack , whilst we Protestants by our Divisions lend it fatal Colours , and a Gigantick proportion , and Power ; in this she boasts like Archimedes , she is able to turn the world upside down , but she must sharpen her Instruments at your Forge , and our Animosities must give her room whereon to set her Foot : Must the Church of England be weakned for fear the Protestant Interest should be strong ? And will she not be weakned by the Deprivation of so many as are resolv'd to make a Conscience of keeping the Oaths that they have taken , and from the Obligation of which they have sworn , that no power upon Earth is able to absolve them ? So that if Perjury and Popery go always together , and are of a side , you have fairly acquitted us from any share in the guilt of Introducing it , unless refusing to swear to a new Oath , in direct Contradiction to one we have lawfully sworn already , be Perjury , and methinks you might as well call it any thing else . See now what your Argument will amount to : thus , the fears or Interest of a Roman Catholick have overcome him , and prevail'd upon him to take an Oath wherein he does from his heart acknowledge Supremacy in all Causes , and over all persons whether Ecclesiastical or Civil , to be lodged in the person of a Protestant King in whose Dominions he Lives , and upon Oath declares that he believes no person or persons upon Earth have any power to release him from this Oath , or from any part of it ; and that therefore as he ought , so he will bear Faith and true Allegiance to that King whilst he Lives , and to his Heirs and lawful Successors when he is Dead ; now comes Julian Johnson and tells him , after some other Discourse , wherein he persuaded him not to think he lay under any Obligation to that Oath ; pish Sir , you are a young Christian , and a Stranger to that Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free ; the King you are Sworn to , hates your Religion and persecutes your Person ; the Church has declared him a Heretick , and the State a Tyrant , and an Oath made to a Tyrant is void , unlawful and wicked ; the time of our Redemption is come , and Redemption is a Title though Conquest is not , and will make your Redeemer the rightfullest King that ever sat upon the Throne : Why man , are you not satisfi'd yet ? your want of satisfaction lies hid in Lurking places , and reasons best known to your self , for I am able to prove if occasion required . ( Non tali Auxilio ne Defensoribus istis Tempus eget . ) — That your Oath did never bind ; that it is an Oath which ought not to have been made , and is now as if it were never made , which was ill made , and would be worse kept — and by this time my Blade begins to relent ; truly Sir , I have been always taught , and always believed otherwise , but for the preservation of Catholick Religion and the good of Holy Church , I must submit to your unanswerable Arguments ; and then he breaks an Oath , which he had but little Inclination to keep . Now let any man in the world judge , whether this be any more than fair turning of the Tables , and giving just the same Sauce to the Goose , that you gave to the Gander ; for what Protestant King in the world has any reason to think this Perjury in his Popish , which any Popish King has not to think this Perjury in his Protestant Subjects , with this aggravation of the matter into the Bargain , that the Protestants have constantly accused the Church as prevaricating in this matter , and have abhorr'd her upon that very Score , which ought to set that Example at the greatest distance from us ; and every word of this the Catholicks in Queen Elizabeth's days might well have pleaded , if the Spanish Invasion had succeeded ; and no doubt they would have had their appointed days of Thanksgiving also , and have celebrated Philip of Spain as their great and glorious Deliverer from Heresy and Slavery : Thus by laying the Scene under another Reign , we may take a just Estimate of the unaccountable Partiality we are guilty of in our own Cause , whereas there ought to be legitima personarum mutatio in order to the true understanding and practising the greatest and the most comprehensive Rule of Righteousness , Whatsoever you would that men should do unto you , do you even so unto them : Now if all the Priests in the Church of Rome were just such Casuists as you are , and all the People of that Communion could believe them , and would be directed by them , you might as well shackle the Hellespont , and commit the Sea to the Gate-House , or make any other Gotham-Act to hedge in these Cuckows ; for they upon this principle bid the same defence to any Law , Oaths or Tests that the power or wit of man can make , that you have done ( with less reason ) to Cambridge , and the Church Julia shall spead the rest ; the Heathen Poet corrects the Christian Priest. Sunt qui in fortunae jam Casibus omnia ponunt , Et nullo credunt Mundum Rectore moveri , Fortuna volvente vices , & Lucis , & Anni , Atque ideo intrepidi quaecunque Altaria tangunt , Hic putat esse Deos , ET PEIERAT . — Your 14 and 15 Pages are a glorious Apothesis of those men who were Executed according to Law , for the meritorious Crimes of Treason and Rebellion . Oh! that the Mastership of the Canonization-Office were but divided betwixt Mr. Baxter and you , we must quickly reform and Correct our Calendar , and in the room of the twelve Apostles , ( those Church of England Preachers of Passive Obedience , ) Insert the Names of Cromwell , Bradshaw , Ravilliack , and Milton , in the Company of some now alive ; but , — Quos dicere nolo , Experiar quid concedatur in illos , Quorum Flaminia tegitur Cinis atque Latina . You have this expression concerning some you hate , — Who shed that more than Innocent Blood ; without adverting , that every drop of Blood in man that pretends to be more than Innocent , is for that very reason , less ; you would do well to answer if you can , that which you ignorantly call an infamous Libel , the Magistracy and Government of England Vindicated , and then perhaps we may call the Execution of that unfortunate , ( but by his own Confession not very innocent ) Lord , The Murther of a great Man : I cannot indeed blame your concern for the Death of a man , whom you first seduced , ( as is credibly reported ) and then confirm'd in the fatal Doctrin of Resistance against the Supreme Power , in case the Religion Established by Law were invaded , ( which I cannot but believe that Lord then thought ) contrary to the then sentiments of Dr. Burnet , and the Reverend Dean of Canterbury , as evidently appears by Mr. Deans Letter to that unfortunate Nobleman , — and in that Letter he lays down these three Propositions . First , That the Christian Religion doth plainly forbid the Resistance of Authority . Secondly , That though our Religion be Established by Law , ( which your Lordship urges as a difference between our Case and the Case of the Primitive Christians , ) yet in the same Law which Establishes our Religion it is declared , That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take up Arms : Besides , that there 's a particular Law declaring the Power of the Militia to be solely in the King. And this ties the hands of Subjects , though the Law of Nature , and the general rules of Scripture had left us at Liberty ; which I believe they do not , because the Government and Peace of humane Societies could not well subsist upon these Terms . Thirdly , Your Lordships Opinion is contrary to the declared Doctrin of all Protestant Churches ; and though some particular persons have taught otherwise , yet they have been contradicted herein and Condemn'd for it by the generality of Protestants ; — This is part of that Excellent Letter Dr. Tillotson wrote to my Lord , to persuade him to repent of that dangerous Mistake , by which he says , his Lordship might prevent a mighty Scandal to the reformed Religion , — whether either or both of these great Men have changed their Opinion since , and upon what Motives , is neither my Duty nor my present Business to Enquire ; however no Mans Example shall shock me who know that Truth , like its Eternal Author , is unchangeable , the same yesterday and to day for ever . What you seem to conjecture some few lines after , may for ought I know , come to pass . Committunt eadem diverso Crimina Fato , And though we are indeed guilty of Misnomers now , it is to be hoped we shall not be always so , but may enjoy the Priviledge we claim from Adam , of giving things Names proper to their Natures . — Mentiri nescio , Librum Si malus est , nequeo laudare & poscere — Besides , the holy Scriptures pronounce a dreadful Wo to all such as call Good Evil , or Evil Good. There are some persons in the World who will not thank you for the unseasonable mention you make of Sheriffs de Facto , and not de Jure ; I am afraid there is a spice of Malice or Discontent upon some Disappointment , that made you furnish us with such an ill natur'd Hint , provoking us to an undutiful Enquiry , what things there are else at present in the World that are de Facto and not de Jure , and how many and great things depend upon the Solution of that Question , no less than what the Authority is of that Court , which you say ( for I have no Acquaintance there ; ) The Black Guard can make amongst themselves every day , ( pag. the 17th ) of your Preface : Surely he that writes as you do , must measure things as you do , by Success ; I am not without hopes , that God will indeed restore Justice to this lost Nation , and make it run down like a mighty Stream : for otherwise , as appears by the repeated choice of Sir P. W. and others ; there are a Set of men must have the Priviledge of destroying this Church and Nation in 89 , only to justifie their having done it once before in 48. Hoc Ithacus velit & magno mercentur Atridae , And then every honest Man could repeat , and truly apply one of the greatest Lines in the World. Victrix Causa Diis placuit , sed Victa CATONI . Now Sir , I have run through some , if not most of the material Passages in your scurrilous Preface ; and upon the whole matter it plainly appears , that you hate even the very Name of King , since you have as rudely treated , though more covertly , the Title of King William , as you have done the Person of King James ; and the boldest freedom that the late private Pamphlets are furnished withal , comes very short of that with which you have treated the late proceedings . Would not a man think you a great Courtier when you tell us , the Convention did not choose King William , as the Persians did Darius by the ' neighing of a Horse , ( page the 3d. ) to their immortal Honour : But you were resolved that their Election should not want what Confirmation could be given it , by the same Instrument wherewith Samson and you have slain your Enemies . There are other things that need corrections , but neither the Times nor you can bear them now ; but in reference to them I must only say as the Governour did to St. Paul , Go thy way for this time , when I have a more convenient season I will send for thee . And after all , it would grieve me very much , were I conscious to my self that I had measured even to you the same measure that you measured to your , once at least , lawful King , and I should be very sorry that ever I descended to read your Preface , fearing the infection of the Example ; I cannot , ( though but for half an hour ) put on ill Nature enough , to write up to that pitch of Satyr , you have both deserved and provok'd , and am but hardly reconcil'd to my very Ink , because like you 't is made of Copperass and Galls : but I dare not give way to the farther progress even of a just Indignation , nor had I spoke so far , or in the least engag'd my self either with your Book or you , could I have stood unconcern'd at the sight of a degenerous Son , like Nero , ripping , and like the Vulture preyng upon the Bowels of his two tender Mothers , the University and the Church : And here indeed I must break out and say , if Grief , though silent , have a Voice , if Anguish without a Tongue be vocal , if Sorrow be loud to Elah , or the Groans of an expiring Church , and a Consumptive Monarchy can be accented ; if a mighty Amazement and Consternation of an honest Mind , but reasonably solicitous for my own and for the Publick safety , may be allowed to have any Emphasis ; then the Injuries which Religion and Kings suffer from such Doctrins , and such Men as these , can never want Arguments nor Orators ; and he that pleads this Cause shall sooner be at a loss where to begin , than what to say ; — Inopem me Copia fecit ; These are Miscreant Persecutors of Crowns , who will not permit the Primitive Christians to wear those glorious Rewards of their Martyrdom , any more than they will let them sit quietly upon the Heads of Kings ; you take as much pains to justifie , as the Apostles did to clear themselves of the Imputation of being Men , whose Religion taught them to turn the World upside down ; and therefore before you undertake to answer Dr. Sherlock , you should do well to answer Christ and his Apostles in their Doctrin and Practice , and the truly Primitive Christians in their Writings and Examples , you should confute the Apologies of Tertullian and Justin Martyr , and the Writings of the first and best Reformers , the Articles of the Church of England in general , and in particular the Canons of 40. you should answer Bishop Usher , Sanderson , Hammond , and a whole Cloud of Witnesses in the late Rebellious Times ; the Judicium Oxoniense drawn up by Sandersou , the Decretum Oxoniense drawn up by Dr. Jane the Present Regius Professor ; you should answer Dr. Scot's Sermon at the Assizes of Chelmesford ; if you are not at leisure , get him to do it himself ; the forementioned Letter to the Lord Russel , Dr. Falkner , Sir Robert Filmer , the Learned and Brave Judge Jenkins , Dr. Hick's Jovian in answer to your Julian , and all the Acts of Parliament that lodge the Supremacy and Militia in the King alone : This when you have done fairly , and acquitted your self according to the Merits of the Cause , you shall know more of my mind : But let me advise you to be sincere in your Quotations , candid in your Inferences , close in your Arguments , impartial in your Determination , and very modest in your personal Reflection ; envy no Man who knows more , pity every man who knows less than your self , triumph over the Infelicities of no Man of what kind soever they be , especially such as are occasion'd by endeavouring to keep a Conscience void of Offence towards God and Man : Shun all Prevarications in Religion , and Misrepresentations of Persons and Things ; it is disingenuously and barbarously done by the Author of the History of the Convention , He pretends word for word to quote Mr. Collier's Desertion discuss'd , and yet in the twenty first Section he has foisted in the Word ( Popish ) apply'd to Judges and Justices , and at once deprav'd his meaning , and weakned the force of his Argument ; and nothing can be a greater evidence of a bad Cause , than making it stand in need of Lies and Forgeries to support it , without which they could never have driven their Master away . Criminibus terrere novis , & spargere Voces In vulgum ambiguas , & quaerere Conscius Arma. FINIS .