Advice to the English YOUTH: Relating to the Present JUNCTURE of AFFAIRS.  
GENTLEMEN,  
I Make my Application to You who are the next to come on the Stage, to act your Parts on the great Theatre of your Native Country. I Protest you are surrounded with the happiest Circumstances, and have the greatest Advantages, that any Youth have had for many years; and it will be your own Fault, if you prove not the best Actors that have entered the Stage, ever since the Reformation; having such Opportunities of improving your Knowledge, and settling your Judgements aright, by Observation of the many Preceding Failures, and False Steps of your Ancestors.  
Now is the Critical Minute, and now is the Acceptable Time, both for you to hear, and me to advise, when both may do it without Danger: I cannot suppose you so ignorant, as not to know what is doing in your Nation: 'Tis a Great and Important Work; a Work of an Universal Concern to every Individual Person, of whatever Degree or Station: 'Tis a Work of the Greatest Honour and Advantage, and I would not for any thing, but that you should be concerned, and have your share of both: And though all be concerned, yet you Principally; for what others do, is chief for you, and you are to have the greatest share of the Happiness and Blessing, if it succeed; or of the Misery and Disadvantages, if not.  
Men Adult, Possessed of Offices, that have Trades and Families, or otherwise engaged by Interest, prepossessed by Prejudice, and long glued to a Party, are with the greatest Difficulty prevailed upon, by any Argument whatsoever. For though they may be Convicted, yet they will not be Converted: Their Prae-Engagements are a load upon them, which makes them very heavy and dull, and the Whip of Reason and Discourse must come often o'er their Backs, before they will move: 'Tis a great piece of Mortification to quit an Advantage, or leave an Opinion, which for so long they have thought to be True. We indeed Address our Discourses and Reasonings to them, supposing them best able to Judge and Understand them; but principally, because they are upon the Premises, and in Possession and Actual Administration of all Affairs. 'Tis in vain to Address to them that cannot Act and They are only Empowered and Qualified by Law for Action: This forces us to Treat with them, and our Love to our Country, to them, (and to you by Consequence,) forces us to continue it; though we find them never so awkward and untractable. 'Tis a great Drudgery indeed, to have to do with Men unhappily Instructed, and I think no greater Instance thereof, ever was, or can be given, than the present Opposition of such men, to a Proposition so clearly and apparently Demonstrated, to be an Universal Good.  
These Considerations made me Appeal and Address to you, not for Redress or Remedy: (For I know you cannot act,) but by way of Advice and Complaint: You have not as yet entered upon Business and Affairs of the World, but are fitting yourselves for the same; you stand clearer, and have few or no Fetters on you; and some of you have not chose your Side or Party, (or as some call it) your Religion as yet: And therefore, Advice to you I reckon the more proper; and with Submission be it spoken, many of you may be better Judges than some of greater Authority and Years: For those that stand by, often see more than those who are concerned in the Action.  
Some of you yourselves have seen, others no doubt have heard or read, and I could gladly wish, some of you have not felt too, the sad Effects of former Troubles, or later Calamities on the score of Religion, in your Native Country; How much Blood has been shed? What Devastations, Plunderings, and Ruining Towns and Families there has been? Surely you are not fond of such Miseries, but will take him to be your real Friend, that will endeavour to show you the Causes of them, or will in any Measure contribute to stem the Tide of Misery, which will otherwise as certainly carry You, as it has done your Forefathers, down its impetuous Stream. You are Embarked on the same Bottom with them, and must expect the same Fortune, or rather Misfortune, if you endeavour not to prevent it.  
Then in Order thereto, you may please to observe, That the Principal Motives to all our Actions in the Christian Religion, are Two; viz. Rewards and Punishments; and these in the highest Degree, both for Quality and Duration. Now, What will not men believing such things do, to obtain the one, or shun and avoid the other? I say, What will they not do? Or rather, What have they not done already? They have tried all the Ways and Methods imaginable, which either Wit or Art can suggest unto them; and they neither must nor can be blamed herein, being about an Affair of the greatest Importance in the World; viz. Eternal Bliss, or Eternal Mis●…y. Now the Question is, (and a foolish one too,) Who ought to be the chief Manager, or most and principally concerned in the choice of the Means, to obtain the one, or avoid the other? Surely the Persons Interested, and not others: But this is the Misery of Christendom, especially of this Nation: Others the least concerned, will needs choose the Means, and be imposing their respective Ways and Modes on their Brethren. They tell them, They have found out the only True Way, and that they must and shall go in it; and on their Refusal, have laid unsufferable Penalties upon them. Hence come our present Differences and Quarrels, and they will never have an end; but will certainly end in the Destruction and Ruin of the Nation, if any one sort of Men have the Liberty, or Power to disturb others on this Account: For when Men have been diligent and careful, Perused the General Rule and Standard (the Scriptures) with Honesty and Integrity, and used the best Endeavours to find out the best way, and at last having fixed upon one, which they really think the best; (whether it really is or is not, is not to the purpose,) I say then, for another Party of Men to come with Violence, and force them out of this way, which they really think is the only way to Heaven, and will free them from Hell and Eternal Damnation; What can be supposed to be the Natural Product of such a sort of Violence, but Confusion, Plots and Tumults, and all the Opposition imaginable?  
And indeed no wonder Men are, and have been so uneasy, when they see themselves thrust out of Paradise, and consigned to live for ever with the Devil and his Angels, in Everlasting Burnings: No wonder they have been so troublesome to the World, disturbed the Affairs of Princes, unhinged so many Governments, and used all the Arts imaginable, both direct and indirect, to Extricate themselves out of the Way to Hell, and to get again into the Way to Heaven, from which their Enemies have forced them.  
And had we studied, and made it our Business to find out a Way to involve our unhappy Country into all the Calamities, all the Misery and Confusion which it has so long laboured under, we could not possible have invented a more suitable Expedient, than to persecute Men, and use Force and Violence in Matters of Religion.  
This is the only ready way to set all in an Uprore; for Heaven and Hell, Eternal Bliss and Glory, for the Prize on one side, to those that win; and Eternal Misery and Confusion on the other, to those that lose; and this not only for themselves, but for their Posterity, which adds Life and Strength to their Contention: I say, for Men to be stopped in their Career, and eager Pursuit after such Things; Good God How must they needs be Exasperated at those who hinder and let them! It surpasseth my thought to conceive; and I am so far from wondering at all the Calamities and Miseries, that Men have brought on the World on this Account; that I think they have been slow and dull, nay very Merciful and Gentle; and do rather wonder, they have not Perpetrated more; and had it not been for the Accidental and Undesigned Aid of some Unbelievers, before this time Beasts had Inhabited Christendom instead of Men.  
Believe me, Force in the Matters of Religion, is the Rock which your Forefathers have split upon; a thing no doubt, invented by the Enemy of Mankind to disturb them, and to make their Earth a Hell, and all the Kingdoms thereof, as much as possible, like his own. These things I would have you consider and observe.  
It lies not in your Power to Act I know, and I solicit not that; but it lies in your Power to consider, to hear, to be sober and discreet, yes, and to discourse your Parents and Principals about the same; and I hope your Religion will admit of such things: I would not have you mistake me; I come not to Proselyte you to any Side or Party of Christians, nor to dissuade you from the Religion you were bred in, to be Undutiful to your Parents, or Disrespectful to your Superiors. No; I know that every Side and Party of Christians are in the right, and none in the wrong; I shall leave such things to God and your own Consciences, to whom they most properly belong. But I come to persuade you, to use that Reason and Understanding which God Almighty has blessed you with; so as to distinguish betwixt that which will make you Happy, and that which will make you Miserable.  
Religion, (I mean the Christian Religion) would make you happy, if rightly understood and managed; and therefore, however at present obscured, I would have you always entertain High and Honourable Thoughts of Herald Her Natural Issue, are Love, Peace, Compliance and Charity, and whatever else can be called good, or can any way contribute to the making a Nation or People happy. I therefore discharge her from the Miseries and Mischiefs which infest us.  
I also discharge (which some will wonder at) all the Divisions and Sects amongst us, from having a direct Hand herein; for they would no more affect or hurt us, than our several Counties and Corporations, were they but let alone. It must be confessed indeed, that in those Nations, where only one Way and Method of Religion is practised, (whether right or wrong it matters not) there are more Advantages for Peace and Quietness, but less for Truth and true Holiness: For they all thinking that particular Way, to be the true and right Way, they are easy and have no Regret or Remorse on their Consciences; They make no Opposition or Disturbance, enjoying the Religion they were bred in, which to all men is always the Right. These Men indeed, are in a fair way for Peace in This World; but as for Truth, if they have it, it must be by Chance and accidentally; for if what their Governors lays on them, or their Parents teach them, be wrong or false, they are under an invincible Necessity of being in the wrong too; for all Disquisition, all Liberty of Choice and Judgement is taken away; and what will become of them in another World, I will not here determine: But then in those Nations where diversity of Opinions, and several ways in Religion are afoot, and the Professors of each think their own way to be the true and right way to Salvation, and no other (whether it be, or be not; whether it comes by Chance or by Choice, is not material, but their thinking so) To supply the defect of One-ness, a general Indulgence and Liberty must be granted to all Parties, and this will make them all of one Religion (though they had but one before) and when they are all of one Religion, than the Natural Consequence is Peace and Quietness. Our Unhappy Nation is one of these, and has been long perplexed in Misery and Troubles; and that by our Unskilfulness, in taking wrong Measures, for thinking to bring Peace by Uniting all; the Medium we have used in order thereunto being Force, has Ruined and Confounded all: So that I discharge both Religion and Divisions from having a hand herein; and lay all the fault where it truly is, upon ourselves. We have managed things ill; nay, we have been infinitely mistaken, not only in our Methods of Peace, but also in other things. We have called our Passion, our Humour, our Opinion, our Fancies; nay, our very Vices, our Pride, Ambition and Avarice, and almost every thing, by the Venerable Name of Religion: And having embraced a Cloud instead of Juno, no wonder the Issue and Production have been Strife, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and all that Black List of Enormities, which have so constantly Vexed and Perplexed us to this day.  
But on further Consideration, instead of blaming, methinks I begin to pity the present Actors in a very great measure, looking on their Actions as not altogether their own, but as an Insatuation on their Understandings, and a Judgement from Heaven upon them (which I hope God will now soon avert) for their Sins: For if any of them be asked why they formerly did, or do still continue to Perpetrate such Iniquities, their Answer is St. Paul's, Verily I thought I ought to do many thing against that Name; against such Men, or such a Party. This puts me upon Lamenting the Unhappiness of our several Educations, which engage us in such Mutual Severities; it also puts me upon looking a little more narrowly into that Religion, which by our Ill Managery does prey upon Humanity.  
I consider therefore, that we Suck not in our Religion with our Milk; nor is it Natural, but Taught; that if any other Religion but the Christian, had been Taught us, we should have defended and stood up as much for that; that 'tis our happiness that we were Born in a Christian Country, and not in another; and that we should as certainly have been Mahometans, had we been Born in Constantinople, as now we are Christians: That more ought to be Ascribed in this matter to Chance, or rather God's good Providence, than to our Choice. I also further Observe, That the very same Reason which makes Turks hate Christians, makes Christians hate Turks, and makes the several Parties of Christians hate one another; and that is, our thoughts of their being wicked, and in the wrong: And say they, Why do you Accuse us? Would not you have us Hate and Persecute Wickedness and Falsehood, and eagerly Pursue Goodness, Virtue and Truth? Yes, say I, by any means: But be sure you be not mistaken; have a care of calling Virtue Vice, and Vice Virtue; for not to be truly and rightly Informed, is of the most dangerous Consequence in the World; for it will most certainly Plunge both you and others into Inevitable Ruin: What it has done, it will do again; it has Ruined others, and will Ruin you. This is not only the Unhappy and Miserable Case of this Nation, but of all Christendom. And no wonder indeed men are so hardly, and with so great difficulty, persuaded to cease their Mutual Severity, and to become Mild, Gentle and Peaceable, when all the while they think, and are certainly persuaded, that they are Prosecuting Wickedness and Vice, pursuing Virtue, doing their Duty, performing the Actions of Religion, and offering a Sacrifice pleasing to their Maker.  
Well, it is so, and you are the Offspring of such a Generation, the Sons of such Parents, Servants to such Masters: You are Heirs to their Mistakes, as well as their Lands; and have Learned their Principles, as well as Trades; and will be possessed of their Consequent Misery, and as certainly Ruin yourselves (if you begin not to be Wise) as they have done. You are in a manner ready Armed, like Cadmus' Men, as soon as you are Born; and in a Posture, ready to destroy one another.  
O Unhappy Case of Englishmen! But 'tis not the Nature of the English, the Nature of Religion or Divisions, but 'tis our Indiscretion, our Ill-Managery; 'tis the Unhappiness of our Educations: And I Appeal both to you and your Instructors, whether ever either of you felt any Regret or Remorse in your Consciences, in Worshipping God in the way you were Bred to, but rather much Complacency and Delight? Every one is pleased in his own way, and displeased with another; and that purely on the Score of Education; and we are Fierce, or Calm, Angry or Pleased with one another, not because we are in the right, or have Reason on our side, but because we are Prepossessed and differently Educated. And all our habits of Love or Hatred, our great and high Veneration, or pitiful and contemptible Thoughts and Apprehensions for this or that Particular Way or Method, this or that Sort or Party of Men, is all Infused and Taught us: And had you been let alone, you had had no Hatred for this, or Love for that way; and therefore I Ascribe almost all the Misery which you may have by your being Religious, to the Unhappiness of your Respective Educations.  
But your Parents must not be blamed for teaching you their Respective ways; and they had not showed themselves good Parents, and had betrayed a great deal of neglect, had they not Instructed you in the way which they thought would bring you to Salvation. But they have done it, and you are ready to enter upon the Stage, Invested in the very same Circumstances, Instructed in the same Principles, and ready to act the very same part which they have done; and you will of necessity (as I said before) have the same Misery, which is Entailed upon you, unless you assist in getting the Entail to be cut off.  
Now his Gracious Majesty, like a Loving Father, has entered a Caveat already, and is about to cut off the Grand Entail of Misery, which has so long Afflicted his People; and will Order things so, that your Respective Educations shall bring no hurt or damage to you; that you shall be of the Religion your Fathers or Principals have taught you; and have not the least Disturbance in that, or any other which you shall think most fit to bring you to Heaven; for Disturbance herein has been the principal cause of our Misery.  
Your Fathers have been long in the Wilderness; but you are the Children of Promise, that must enter the Land of Canaan; you are in View of the Happy place already; your Fathers, some of them indeed, are in love with Garlic and Onions, and despise the Heavenly Manna; they look back towards Egypt, and have been so long in Slavery, that they are almost in love with their Chains. This is of bad Consequence for you, and it concerns you to make an Humble Filial Address unto them, that they make no further delays, but that they would cheerfully and readily, in compliance to His Majesty's Desire, consent to have the Entail of Misery cut off; and that your being Heirs to their Lands and Estates, will signify little, if they make you also Heirs to their Misery, which will destroy them, or hinder your peaceable Enjoyment of them: May be at last they may be Wise and Consider. If they will not,  
Then you may expect what your Progenitors have had, nothing but Misery, Trouble and Confusion: You may expect Goals and Imprisonments, Fines and Banishment, to be driven from your Friends and Relations, from your Trades and Employments, from your Wives and Children, and Native Country; and must be put to a miserable Choice, To seek your Livelihoods in a Foreign Country, or be ruined in your Own: And lastly, You will most certainly be involved in all the Calamities, Plots, Treasons, Rebellions, etc. which men crossed and hindered in there ways to obtain Eternal Happiness, or shun Eternal Misery, can hatch or invent; and as you cannot avoid being Actors therein, so you will most certainly be Partakers of the Punishment due thereto. But if they will consent, and you wrestle so as to prevail, than you will have the Blessing; your Land will be as a Field which the Lord hath Blessed; you will have the Dew of Heaven, and the Fatness of the Earth; you will make your Island the Mistress of the Isles of the whole Earth; a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey; Riches and Honour will encompass you, Peace and Plenty will surround you; you will be Assistant to your Friends, a Terror to your Enemies, and the Envy and Admiration of all about you.  
Too long, too long, has the Noble and Brave Spirits of the English Youth been Oppressed and kept Under. Too long have they been shackled by Religious Mistakes and Superstitious Vanities! Methinks I see the Glorious Sun Arising o'er their Heads, which will Dispel all the Mists of Error, the Clouds of Oppression and Persecution, and will Clear all the Thick and dark Fogs, and let them see their way to Honour; that will raise their Blood, stir up their Courage, and let them be as much English as they please: Egypt, and Moab, and Ammon, are afraid already; and if they be afraid now, when you but rouse yourselves, and only in your Dawn, what will they do when they see you in your Meridian?  
Was there but a Great Charter settled, this would Entitle you to all the above Happinesses; and you might be as Valiant, as Industrious, as Honest, as Good, as Religious as you please: You might sit under your own Vine, and own Figtree, Eat your Bread, Enjoy your own, or your Ancestors Labour without Fear or Disturbance. But now you can do nothing, you are rather Passive then Active, and can only do what you are bid or Taught, your are held fast in a Ginn, and encompassed with Snares, and stand entitled to nothing but Misery, eternal Brawls and Wranglings. But who are your Enemies? Who are the Authors of so much Unhappiness? Surely not your Friends, your Relations, your Parents; they are Obliged in Duty and Conscience to do you all the good they can; Ay, but 'tis they (O Unhappy Education!) which Involves not only themselves, but their Posterity in Misery. They are Obliged to do you good indeed: But alas! Mistaken men! They hinder you when they think they forward you; and really believe they are doing you good, when they are plunging you into all the unhappiness imaginable: But when men call Evil Good, there is no room left for Counsel and Advice, and therefore I know not what to say further: But shall Pray out the rest, and say, O Lord, Almighty God, King of Heaven and Earth; Thou that hast turned the Heart of the King, turn also and move the Hearts of his People; Turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children; and the children's to their Fathers; Wean them from their Prejudices and Partialities; give them a right Understanding in all things; let Mutual Severities and Animosities cease, and Mutual Charity and Condescension more and more abound; Truly Instruct them all in the things that belong to their Peace both here and hereafter: And this I humbly beg for Jesus Christ his sake.  
FINIS.  
WITH ALLOWANCE.   

LONDON: Printed by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopsgate. 1688.