A BIRCHEN ROD FOR D R. BIRCH: Or Some ANIMADVERSIONS UPON HIS SERMON Preached before the Honourable The House of Commons, At St. Margaret's Westminster, January 30, 1694. In a LETTER to Sir T. D. and Mr. H.  
Printed in the Year, 1694.   

Worthy Gentlemen;  
THE Honourable Character which is given of you by all who have the Happiness of your Acquaintance, emboldens this Presumption from an unknown Hand; I doubt not but as you have Capacity enough to judge, so you have Zeal enough to resent the Injury, which the Doctor's Sermon may have occasioned, either to the Memory of the Sacred Martyr, or the Title and Government of your present Master: and seeing it is more incumbent upon you than others, to take the Affair into your Consideration, and represent it truly to those under whose Cognizance it properly falls, I beg your favourable Censure of the following Animadversions.   

A Birchen Rod for Dr. BIRCH.  
MEthinks the Doctor has not done the Royal Martyr any great Honour in comparing him with Saul, who, though he was the Lord's Anointed, was a very ill Man, and one who did actually play the Tyrant; and was far more zealous for his own Honour, than ever he was for the Glory of God, as appears by his laying hold of Samuel's Garment, after he had denounced the impending Judgements of the Almighty against him, 1 Sam. 15.30. and saying, Honour me now, I pray thee, before the Elders of my People: but not one word of desiring Samuel to intercede with him at God's Hand for Pardon. So that I think it's Very plain that he was for advancing his own Prerogative over the People, though he was told that God had rejected him. And some malicious Persons won't stick to say, that seeing the Doctor takes the liberty of comparing the Royal Martyr with Saul, that he cannot be angry at them for alleging, that the words which were put into Samuel's Mouth to tell the Israelites the Manner of the King that. should reign over them, seem to have foretold K. Ch. 1. tyrannising over his Subjects, and invading their Property by the Ship-money and Loan-money, obliging them to lend him such Sums as he demanded, take Patents for Knighthood, and serve in his Fleet and Armies against their Wills, and forcing the Country to be at the Charge and Trouble of carrying the Baggage of the Court as they removed from place to place; exactly according to what was foretold of Saul, 1. Sam. 8.11. He will take your Sons, and appoint them for himself, for his Chariots, and to be his Horsemen, and some shall run before his Chariots. Ver. 14. And he will take your Fields, and your Vine-yards, and your Olive-yards, even the best of them, and give to his Officers and to his Servants. Ver. 15. And he will take the Tenth of your Seed, and of your Vine-yards, and give to his Officers, and to his Servants. Ver. 16. And he will take your goodliest young Men, and your Asses, and put them to his Work. Ver. 17. He will take the Tenth of your Sheep, and ye shall be his Servants: And all this in direct Opposition to the Law, which the King was obliged to read and observe, Deut. 17.18, 19 viz. That he should not multiply Horses to himself, nor cause the People to return to Egypt, ver. 16. That he should not greatly multiply to himself Silver and Gold, v. 17. That his Heart be not lifted up above his Brethren, and that he turn not aside from the Commandment to the Right or to the Left; and contrary to the Practice of good old Samuel, who could ask of them before God, whose Ox or whose Ass he had taken, whom he had defrauded and oppressed, or of whose Hand he had received any Bribe? 1 Sam. 12.3.  
Or, if some should have a mind to carry the Parallel further, and compare K. Charles' Spirit of contending with his Parliament to advance an unlimited Prerogative, to the evil Spirit which was sent from the Lord upon Saul; his Pretensions to Divinity, with Saul's being among the Prophets; his concluding a Cessation of Arms with the Irish Papists after they had cut the Throats of the Protestants, with Saul's sparing of Agag and the Amalekites; his persecuting of those Ministers who could not comply with the Book of Sports on Sundays, to Saul's cutting off the Priests of the Lord; his levying War against his Subjects, to Saul's unjust pursuit of David; his matching his Eldest Daughter to the Prince of Orange, like Saul's marrying of Michal to David; his seeming Condescensions to Treaties with his Subjects, as that at uxbridg, etc. with Saul's acknowledging of his Faults to David; his continuing Hostility against them afterwards, to Saul's continuing his Persecution of David; his taking upon him to be the supreme Judge in Church-Affairs, and countenancing Bishop Laud's Innovations, to Saul's usurping the Priestly Office, and offering up Sacrifice; and his falling upon the Scaffold, by his own stubborn Humour, and the superstitious Stiffness of his Chaplains, to Saul's falling on Mount Gilboa by his own Sword, when his Army was defeated by the Philistines: I say, if any perverse Man should run the Parallel thus, the Martyr's Friends will have but small reason to thank the Doctor for putting it in their Heads. But the mischief on't is, our Clergymen are never ware of the Consequences of their own Doctrine, witness that unhappy one of Passive Obedience, which was good, nay superlatively good, and the Characteristic of the Church, so long as the Court and the Church did agree together; but whenever the Court came to touch the Church in her own Property, than this Characteristick was laid aside, and Passive Obedience turned to actual Resistance. It was horrid, nay damnable Doctrine in my Lord Russel, the Earl of Essex, and the Nobility, and Gentry, and Laity, to Associate for the defence of their Lives, Liberties and Religion, and Mutinous for them to Petition their Prince on that Head; but it gave the Seven Petitioning Bishops a Right to the Title of Confessors, to Address and Cabal against King James, for giving Liberty to Dissenters.  
But to come to our purpose. The Doctor, Pag. 1. says, That no Raptures but those of a King and a Prophet could present us with Expressions of Grief suited to the Occasion. By which one would think that the Doctor condemns himself for meddling with the Subject; for whatever parity there may be in the Occasions, there's none betwixt the Doctor and David, for I know of no body that looks upon the Doctor either as a King or a Prophet.  
Ibid. He tells us that this Lamentation was over the Fall of a Prince that was Literally the Lord's Anointed and Successor; or if any prefer the being VICE-GERENTS TO THEIR INFERIORS, the Desire and Choice of the People. So that here the Doctor concedes that a King may be the Lord's Successor, and the People's Vicegerent too; which I suppose the Jure Divino Men will not thank him for: Because this seems to insinuate, That Kings may be accountable to God and the People both, and tacitly to approve of what was done to the Martyr, viz. The People called Him first to an account as their Vicegerent, and then sent him to God to give an account as his, according to Mr. Johnson. But that which sticks in the Doctor's stomach is, that any should Prefer being Vice-Gerents to their Inferiors, which I confess is enough to startle any Man of Metal; but it's a Question worth the Doctor's while to answer, Whether the People in this case be their Vice-Gerents Inferiors or not? It would be looked upon as a Solecism in common Discourse to say, that the King were Inferior to his Vice-Gerents, or Deputies and Commissioners in Ireland and Scotland; that a Colonel were his Lieutenant-Colonel's Inferior, or the Doctor an Inferior to any of his own Curates: and therefore the Doctor may avoid this Absurdity if he pleases, by considering, that though the King be Major Singulis, yet he is Minor Vniversis, and both by Laws Divine and Humane God's Minister for the People's good, Rom. 13.4. So that he is Created for them, and not they for him: And by the Doctor's own Concession, when the Theocracy ceased, Kings of the People's own choice and desire were appointed to succeed: And so careful was the Almighty of this Privilege of the People's, that he did not superseded their Choice even by his own Nomination and Unction; and long before they had any King, gave them a Law to Regulate both his Election and Prerogative, Deut. 17.15. Thou shalt in any wise SET him King over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall CHOOSE. One from among thy Brethren shalt thou SET King over thee: Thou mayest not SET a Stranger over thee. And then as to the Limitation of his Prerogative, you may read from the 16th Verse to the end of the Chapter. So that we may see how little of Solidity there is in the Doctor's Witticism of Kings preferring being Vice-Gerents to their Inferiors, to their being the Lord's Anointed, seeing in the Jewish Government they went hand in hand together: And thus David though Anointed by God's Command, and determined to be King over Israel; yet  he entered upon the Government, was first made King at Hebron by the Men of Judah, who are said to have Anointed him, 2 Sam. 2.4. and then King over all the Tribes of Israel by the Elders, who first made a League (or Original Contract) with him, and Anointed him again at Hebron, 2 Sam. 5.3. And we find, that when Rehoboam his Grandson would not grant the Terms required by the Children of Israel who were come to Shechem to make him King, that they did thereupon revolt, 1 Kings 12. and God forbade Rehoboam to make War upon them to reduce them, v. 24. So that if the People's Election was required as to those Kings who were Named and Appointed by God himself, à fortiori it is much more needful to give a Right to all Kings now, when he gives us no such positive Indications as to the Person who shall Reign over us: And therefore, when God by his Providence determines the People's Choice upon a Person or Family, it's reasonable to conclude that it's according to his Will, if there be nothing in it which contradicts Revelation; so that to be the Vicegerent of the People, is not a thing distinct from being the Lord's Anointed, as the Doctor would seem to insinuate: But on the contrary, The Choice of the People is all the Evidence which we can now have of any King's being the Lord's Anointed. Not that I think it necessary, that the Choice should be renewed in a limited Monarchy upon the Death of every Possessor: for our Laws having provided to settle the Succession on Their Present Majesties, and Their Posterity, if God should be graciously pleased to bless the Nations with such a Mercy as to afford them any, they must in all reasonable Construction be accounted the People's Choice and Desire so long as that Law is unrepeal'd, of which there will be no hazard, except any of Their Posterity should be so infatuated as to overturn the Foundations, and destroy these Laws by which they hold Their Crown; and in that Case it's a hundred to one but the Original Contract will be enquired into then, as well as it has been now. And though this Doctrine was in the late Reigns cried down as Rebellious, yet most thinking-Men are sufficiently convinced, that it was without any shadow of Justice: and if it be otherwise, as the Doctor would seem to hint by the Tenor of his Discourse, it shows how well he deserves to eat Their Majesty's Bread, who would go about to shake Their Title.  
Pag. 2. He mentions a cause for David's Grief, which I am sure he does not find in his Text, viz. Because he had made up the Rear of Achish 's Battle, when he went out to fight against Israel. Nor is there the least of Reason in the Doctor's Argument, that David should be overwhelmed at Saul 's Death, because his Heart smote him merely for cutting off the Skirt of his Garment; for the latter was his own Act, but in the former he had no Concurrence, having been discharged out of Achish's Army long before the day of Battle. But if the Doctor thinks from this to prove the unlawfulness of taking up Arms in any case against a King, or any Commissionated by him, he will find himself mightily mistaken: for we have the Testimony of God himself, that David was a Man according to his own heart, except in the matter of Vriah; and yet it cannot be denied but he carried Defensive Arms against his Father and Sovereign for a considerable time, which if God had disapproved, he would certainly have made it a part of the Exception, seeing it was not a Sin of Frailty, or the surprise of a sudden Temptation, but practised for many Years; and yet we never heard that David either repent, or that God reproved him for it, as surely he would have done, had he been guilty of Rebellion, which he himself has declared to be as the Sin of Witchcraft. Nor could it have been inconsistent with David's Duty, to have made use of those Arms against Saul, which he carried to defend himself from him, had God determined the People to invite him to rescue them from Saul's Tyranny, as the People of England invited his present Majesty to rescue them from Popery and Slavery: so that there being no Parity in the Case, his present Majesty never having been the late King's Subject, and having an Invitation and Concurrence, which David wanted, he was not obliged to make David's Carriage to Saul the Pattern of his own to the late King, even against his apparent Interest, and the highest Provocations, as the Doctor would seem slily to infer in the beginning of his third Page. There being also this remarkable difference, that Saul, besides the People's Choice, was appointed to be King by God himself; which cannot be said of any Kings now, no not of those whose Crowns are Hereditary, seeing it was only the People's Choice, or at least Consent, which made them so Originally, as is evident from the Histories of all Nations.  
Pag. 5, 6, and 7. The Doctor gives us a very strange Commentary on David's Lamentation, and endeavours to confirm it by as strange an Argument. The substance of his Commentary is expressed thus, p. 7. That it was a just Grief and Deprecation of that Gild wherein the whole Land was involved, and which hangs over all Countries, that imbrue their hands in the Blood of God's Vice-Gerents. Whereas to every intelligent Reader it must appear, that it was a true Grief for the Judgement of God upon his Country, and his own near Relations, his Father-in-Law Saul, and his Brother-in-Law Jonathan, whose love towards himself he owns to have exceeded the love of Women. Nor is it unreasonable to think that David's Natural Affection to his Wife, should make him more than ordinary sensible of the Death of her Father: But as it appears by the Context, the principal Cause of this Holy Man's Concern was, that the Uncircumcised Philistines should have reason to Rejoice and Triumph, that the Beauty of Israel was fallen upon the High Places, 2 Sam. 1.20. But there's not one word of his Deprecating the Gild wherein the Land was involved, and which hangs over all Countries that imbrue their hands in the Blood of God's Vice-Gerents, as the Doctor would have us to believe, there being not the least shadow of reason for it. The Israelites fought in his defence, and did not contribute any way to his Death, if it was not by conniving too much, and not resisting his Wicked Courses, which brought those Judgements upon himself and the Nation: and this will not answer the Doctor's Design. Nor could David have any reason from the Amalekite's story of his having killed Saul, to charge it upon the Nation of Israel, seeing a Stranger accused himself of the Crime, and that also with this Alleviation, that it was according to Saul's own desire to rid him of the Anguish which he laboured under, because his Life was yet whole in him: So that in short one cannot tell what to make of the Doctor's Expression in this Case, as to that Gild which impends over all Countries that imbrue their hands in the Blood of God's Vice-Gerents, for Saul imbrued his hands in his own Blood; and if there was any truth in this Amalekite's Relation, it must be, that he killed him quite, to rid him of his Pain: but if the Mountains were guilty because they received Saul's Blood, David is so far from deprecating of the Gild, that he curses them: and if this last be the Doctor's meaning, let him curse the Window of the Banqueting-House, whence K. Charles issued to Execution, the Ground whereon the Scaffold stood, and that which contained the Guard and Spectators: and if neither Dew nor Rain fall upon them, we shall not be so often troubled with Dirt there as at present; and we hope that the Doctor will also afford us a Birchen Broom to sweep away the Dust from thence; for with the one or the other the Street about Whitehall is always infested. This I confess may seem too light for the Gravity of the Subject; but I hope the Reader will excuse me; for the Doctor's Comment appears so ridiculous, that I think no Man can read it in Company, without saying Risum teneatis Amici. And I would further pray the Doctor to tell me, Whether Saul could at this time be properly called God's Vicegerent, when Samuel told him long before, that God had rejected him; and he himself did tell the Counterfeit Samuel, when raised by the Witch of Endor, that God was departed from him? I do not know the Doctor, but suppose he may have some Curates under him; and if he has once rejected them, I believe he will scarce allow them to be called his Vice-Gerents afterwards.  
The Doctor will further oblige the Public to answer this one Query more, viz. Whether the Cavaliers were not more guilty of King Charles' Blood, than the Israelites were of Saul's, when they fought it to the last in the Field, and the Cavaliers sat drinking their Master's Health in Taverns, while he was upon the Scaffold, without any Endeavours to rescue him; in which they might have been sure of Sir Thomas Fairfax's Assistance, though a Presbyterian, who designed to have attempted it with his own Regiment, if he had not been imposed upon and prevented?  
And the Doctor would do well to consider, Whether or not such of the highflown Clergy as himself, were not very accessary to that Prince's Tragedy, by possessing him with false Notions of things; preaching up his  Authority over the Purses, Persons and Consciences of his Subjects, pushing him on to a War against the Scots, for propagating the Ceremonies, which they themselves call indifferent, and hindering all Accommodation, when he seemed inclinable to it, at the Treaty at uxbridg, etc. as appears by Rushworth's Collections, Whitlock's Memoirs, and Col. Bamfield's Apology.  
But now to the Doctor's Argument for confirming his Comment from the parallel Instance, as he calls it, of Job's cursing the time of his Birth, Job 3. which, says the Doctor, was not a piece of Blasphemy or Distrust in God, but a designed Demonstration of the Bitterness of his Troubles, and the Contempt he had of his Life. Now suppose all this to be true, the most that it will amount to, if the Instance, as he says, be parallel, is this, That what David said was not a piece of Blasphemy or Distrust in God, but a designed Demonstration of the Bitterness of his Grief, and his Contempt of those Mountains on which that fatal Defeat was given; but nothing of a Deprecation of that Gild wherein the whole Land was involved, for imbruing their hands in the Blood of God's Vicegerent.  
And the Doctor's Argument to prove that Job did not sin in cursing the time of his Birth, Job 3. because it is said Job 1.21. That in all this Job had not charged God foolishly; is just as if one should say, Dr. Birch did not offend the Commons by the Sermon which he preached before them on the 30th of January last, because he did not offend them in that which he preached before them on the 27th. And as for the Doctor's Similitude, that we may as well apologise for Christ's praying that the Cup which he came down from Heaven to drink might pass from him, as to say first that Job murmured, and then to call it an Infirmity. I wish the Doctor were either more modest in his Comparisons, or clearer in his Reasonings: for I suppose it's obvious to every one that there is a great difference betwixt desiring an Affliction to be removed, and cursing the time when it happened; the one was a Desire of pure uncorrupted Nature, and the other an Evidence of murmuring, at least in a Man whose Nature was corrupted.  
As for his odious Comparison, P. 8. of commemorating our Saviour's Death, by which he would seem to insinuate, or at least illustrate our Obligation to an Anniversary Commemoration of that of K. Charles'. I wonder that Men who are Divines by Profession, are not afraid of profaning the greatest Ordinances of the Gospel, by comparing them with such mean things: But I confess I need not, for it's natural to Men of his Kidney; and they who can pervert the Institution of Christ so far as to say, Do this, that you may keep an Alehouse, or be an Ensign, Lieutenant, or Captain of Granadeer; Dragoons, etc. whereas Christ commanded us to do it in Remembrance of him, may say and do what they will.  
Pag. 9 The Doctor tells us, that to draw King Charles 's Image, or venture upon his Character, would require a Soul as great as his was; and that it were a Profanation in any ruder Hand to attempt it; which being compared with what he says of Saul, p. 2. That his Obsequies were fit only to be solemnised by one like himself, the known Inheritor of his Kingdom and Spirit, would seem to infer, that the Doctor himself has a mind to the Throne; for in the following Pages he very boldly attempts King Charles' Character, and warbles out his Elegy the best that he can: so that either the Doctor must think himself to be the known Inheritor of King Charles 's Kingdom and Spirit, or to have a Soul as great as his was; or, according to his own Proposition, he is a profane Fellow to attempt his Character, or the solemnising of his Funeral-obsequys. But certainly the Doctor does not think so ill of himself as this last comes to, and therefore it's probable that he intends the former; and if the Nation have a mind to choose him for King, the Doctor has one very good Qualification, if you take his own word for it, which (according to him) their present Majesty's want, that is, he is a true blue Protestant, the Religion which he tells you, p. 23. K. Charles' Murder did force his Posterity out of; and by consequence, King William and Queen Mary, who are both of his Posterity, must be of that number who were forced out of their Religion. Reader don't laugh, for this is as good a Consequence as some of the Doctor's.  
Pag. 13. The Doctor quite outdoes David's Lamentation, he did not so much as imprecate Vengeance upon the Amalekites, though one of that Nation had confessed his Murder of the Lord's Anointed, and that the whole were ordered to Destruction by God himself, he is satisfied with imprecating a remarkable stroke upon the Mountains where the Defeat of his Country happened. But the Doctor seems to be very angry that England enjoys the Blessings of Dew and Rain, that our Houses are safe from Fear, and the Rod of God not upon us; by which it would seem that the Doctor has a mind to pray in the French, on whose Assistance the Jacobites lay the Foundation of their Hopes. But his Choler is further inflamed, that the Wicked do still live and become old and mighty in Power; and that the old Arts, as he is pleased to express it, are still advancing to our Ruin. The Doctor would do well to explain his meaning in this Exclamation; for he's very much concerned that some should still live, much more that they should become old and mighty in Power. In the late Reigns such Expressions might by Innuendo's have been made High-Treason; for there's no body that pretends to grow mighty and in Power, but his Majesty; and most honest Men are sorry that his Might and Power are not much greater than they are, as they would certainly have been, if Men of the Doctor's Kidney had not obstructed his Measures: and if by the Old Arts which are still advancing to our ruin, the Doctor means any of the late Public Acts which were denied the Royal Assent, the Commons are mightily obliged to him for telling them so to their Faces.  
Pag. 14. He tells us of Pliny's Peevish Creatures that had Gall in their Ears: but the Doctor exceeds them by far, for he not only had Gall there, but also in his Heart, Tongue and Pen; nothing less will serve him than the cutting off of those whom he calls Wicked, that they should not live. And though to the Doctor's grief a general Indemnity has secured their Persons, yet that shan't take off his Pen from stabbing their Reputations, and that of the Government too; who spare the Wicked, though God says there is no peace to them. And then to give you a taste of his Charity, he charges the whole Dissenting Party with being King Charles his Murderers, and imparts his Noble Resolution to the World, that they shall hear of it once a Year, but hopes that it won't be taken for an Invective, though you may be sure the Doctor designs it for one, and the best that his Talon is able to furnish.  
But I am afraid that some perverse People will give him Rowland for his Oliver, and exhibit an Account of the Action thus.  
When after our Reformation, in which there was too great an Alloy of Carnal Policy, which is always an Enemy to Gospel Simplicity, some of our lukewarm Protestants had begun to taste the sweetness of the Popish Ecclesiastical Courts and Dignities; they did like so well of this Romish Broth, that, as Bonner prophesied, truly they longed also for their Beef: And though they abolished the Gross of the Popish Doctrine, yet they retained what ever was gainful in their Discipline. For as Pardons and Indulgences brought Money to the Pope, Commutation for Penance brought Silver to our Churchmen, and the Incomes of Doctors-Commons made their own Commons the better: So that though in her Public Liturgy she laments the want of the Ancient Discipline, yet she was resolved in her Practice never to admit it, but would rather tear the Church's Body than their Popish Ephod; Misrepresented all Enemies to their Ceremonies, as Enemies to the Civil Government; and joined with the Papists in persecuting them, as they did John Knox, etc. at Franckfort; and would rather connive at a Liberty to Papists, than Indulgence to Puritans; insomuch, that they not only forced some of their own to the Deserts of America, where they found more Hospitable Entertainment from the poor Heathens, than they found at home from the Ceremonious Protestants; but they also fell foul upon their Neighbours in Scotland, influenced their Kings to overturn the Church there, as by Law Established; whilst at the same time they counived at their Prince's seeking for Popish Matches; his taking off all Laws against Roman Catholics, permitting their Priests to swarm in his Dominions; countenanced Plays at Whitehall, and the reading of the Book of Sports through all England on Sundays; Joined with the Papists to raise an Army to invade Scotland, and Excommunicated that Church, whilst the Papists did cut the Throats of the Protestants in Ireland; Preached up the Divine Right of Ship-Money, Loan-Money, and the King's Absolute Power in England; countenanced him in refusing to let those who were accused of Murdering his Father be brought to Trial, whilst they railed against Queen Elizabeth for taking off his Grandmother according to Law; sided with him in denying all redress to the Grievances of his People represented in Parliament, and preaching up his Prerogative to such a height, that the Parliament finding them the principal Incendiaries in those unhappy Troubles, broke the Frame of their Hierarchy all in pieces: After which they joined with the Irish Cutthroats against their Fellow-Subjects, and countenanced His Majesty's Cessation of Arms with them, whilst they assisted to carry on the War against his Protestant Subjects, and in fine rendered his Majesty so deaf to all Proposals of Accommodation with his Parliament; that though he was inclined of himself to listen to their Proposals, yet they kept him from it, though at the same time he granted to the Irish Papists, that they should not be bound to swear Allegiance; that all Laws against them should be taken away, and that they should be independent on the Parliament of England: and thus by the stubborness of our highflown Churchmen, with whom Papists and Arminians, and all who were Enemies to the Civil Liberties of the Nation herded, His Majesty was overperswaded to his Ruin. So that it was the Doctor's Old Race of Saints that Preached and Prayed the Nation into Confusion and Bloodshed, and the Royal Martyr from his Crown and Life; for had he been but as willing to secure the Parliament of England in their Just Pretensions, as he was the Papists of Ireland in their unreasonable Demands, the Parliament and he both might have been safe form the Fury and Insults of an Anarchical Crew who ruin'd them and him too.  
Pag. 16. The Doctor alleges, that the Chief Pillars of his Church and State were made perfect through sufferings. So that I observe he is more cautious and afraid of profaning King Charles his Character, than of profaning the Word of God, and the chief Mysteries of the Gospel by his abusive Metaphors: does the Doctor think that any but himself can suppose a Parity betwixt the Captain of our Salvation's being made perfect through sufferings, and those of Laud, Strafford and King Charles the First? I wonder that the Doctor is not afraid of making such blasphemous Applications of Scripture Phrases, which are applicable only to Christ alone.  
In the next Paragraph the Doctor is very zealous for the Honour of his Established Church, which he wishes may so continue; and consequently bewrays his Apprehensions of Danger, which is a malicious Insinuation against the Government, as we shall see anon.  
Ibid. He says, She had always the same Enemies, and the same Fate with her Kings; they were ever Persecuted, Oppressed, Defamed, and have fallen together; her Obedience was a Nobler thing than to let them perish unattended.  
But I suppose the Doctor was not ware of what Questions might be raised upon these bold Assertions: As,  
1. Whether or not the Majority both of the Clergy and Laity of his Church did not comply with Charles the First's Enemy's, when the King was no longer able to protect them?  
2. Whether the Presbyterians were not the Men who stickled most against Oliver for saving the King's Life and Interest, as can be evidenced by the Petitions and Behaviour of the City of London, where Presbytery was most predominant; by the Behaviour of the Presbyterian Members of the House, till they were excluded by the Army, and forced to disperse some of them beyond Sea, and others into the Country; by the Opposition made by the Scotish Kirk, Committee of Estates, Parliament, Army, and Commissioners, to the King's Confinement, Trial and Execution, protesting against them all, as contrary to the Articles agreed on with them at the surrender, to the Union of the Nations, His Majesty's just Right, and the Solemn League and Covenant; And lastly, by Sir Thomas Fairfax's design to rescue Him after His Sentence?  
3. Whether the Majority of the Church-of- England-Clergy did not comply with the course of the Times both in Church and State, when of the Ten thousand ecclesiastics which are generally reckoned in England, not above two thousand were Nonconformists after Charles the Second Restauration?  
4. Whether the Church of England was oppressed, persecuted, defamed, and fell with the late King James; and how it came that, according to the Doctor, their Obedience was not so noble then as not to let him perish unattended; and why they did not follow the Example, which he says was showed to guide them hereafter, if ever the like occasion return? Perhaps the Doctor may rejoin, that if K. James had been cut off, they would not have let him perish unattended, but they did not think fit to Abdicate with him. But the Answer is easy; he that won't be faithful in a Little, will never be faithful in Much: And to tell the Doctor the plain Truth, If the Royal Martyr had imprisoned their Bishops, fallen foul upon their Colleges, and given Liberty to Dissenters, he should even have had leave to perish unattended as well as his Son; and therefore it were best for the Doctor to save his Breath, and not brag so much of his Church's Loyalty to the Martyr: they cut off his Grandmother, because they were afraid that she would be their Enemy, and they drove his Son from the Throne whenever he began to touch their Copyhold, though they spent their Lungs in crying down the Bill of Exclusion, so long as they thought that the Duke was their Friend. And hence I conclude in spite of the Doctor, that his Church will neither serve God nor the King for nought.  
Pag. 18. The Doctor urges, that he that resists, receiveth to himself Damnation. But I wish that he would a little explain himself, whether this aught to be taken only in relation to Kings, or other Governors also; and if only to Kings, then whether he does not allow of Rebellion against Republics; and if he does allow of the latter, how he will reconcile it to the Divine Command, 1 Pet. 2.13, 14. Submit yourselves unto every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the King, as Supreme, or unto Governors, as unto them who are sent by him, for the Punishment of Evil-doers, and the Praise of them that do well.  
And I would fain ask the Doctor, that seeing by this Text Obedience is due to other Governors as well as to Kings, What becomes of the Divine Right of Monarchical Government exclusive of all others? And seeing other Species of Government are of Divine Right as well as that, Whether it must not be the Choice of the People only, that can now determine which of them is most suitable to themselves? And if the People can determine whether one or more Persons shall be their Vice-Gerents, whether it can be properly said any otherwise than in sensu diviso, that they are their Vice-Gerents Inferiors? And whether seeing all sorts of Government are here called the Ordinance of Man, and that at the same time it is said they are sent by God, the Choice of the People, and the Lord's Anointed, be not now one and the same thing?  
But to come to the Point of Resistance; The Doctor would do well to explain himself, whether he means Resistance in concreto, or abstracto; if in abstracto, we are agreed that the Sin of resisting any Government duly constituted, is damnable as well as all other Sins are; and in so far Passive Obedience is a true Doctrine: If he mean in concreto, that it's unlawful to resist the Person or Persons clothed with the Government: I would willingly know, whether he understands Resistance to the Persons of all Governors in all cases whatsoever to be damnable; or only the Resistance of such as govern according to the Laws of God and the Land? If he mean the latter, we are agreed; but if he mean the former, I would know what's his Reason? and if it be drawn from that Text, Rom. 13.2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation; Whether it be not plain from the Text, that the Government, and not the Governors, are here understood, or at least both in concreto? And the I would ask the Doctor further, Whether it be not plain from the third Verse, For Rulers are not a Terror to good Works, but to the evil; that it's only damnable to resist such as are so, and as all indeed aught to be; but not those who invert their Commission, and are a Terror to Good Works, and an Encouragement to Bad? though at the same time we will allow the Doctor, that if any private Person or Persons resist the Magistrate by Military Force, except it be in case of pure Self-defence; I say, in this case we all allow that such shall be punished, as David did the Amalekite, for putting out their Hand against the Lord's Anointed, even though they be guilty of Maladministration.  
But if the Doctor will not allow of this Doctrine, I would fain know how he can clear his Church from meriting Damnation, for resisting and dethroning the late King James?  
And if he do allow it, I would desire him to answer, why he is so very severe and uncharitable to the whole Nation, as to imprecate and wish for Judgements upon them, because a certain Party, without the Consent of the whole, cut off King Charles the First; who, if our Histories be true, made as great Invasions upon the Liberty of the Subjects as ever K. James the Second did; but with this difference indeed, that the Father supported, whereas the Son invaded the Doctor's Church, which was the cause of his Ruin: for though they had suffered him and his Brother tamely to devour most of the Civil Rights and Liberties of the People, yet  he came to touch the Church, they who made Conscience of excluding him before, made none to kick him out then: So that I am afraid, upon due Scrutiny it will be found, that it is not damnable to resist the King, but damnable to resist the Doctor's Church.  
But to come to an end with this Point; I would advise the Doctor, that seeing his Church, and the Party against whom he inveighs, are guilty of the same Crimes, though in different degrees, that he would remember the Lord's-Prayer, which he has said so often, that I don't doubt but he has conned it by Heart: and as he and his Church would have the Forgiveness of their own Sins, they would also show themselves ready to forgive others, and not to rip up old Sores by a Yearly Commemoration; for the dethroning of King James being of a later Date than the beheading of King Charles, it's ten to one but it may be as long remembered. And let the Doctor and his Gang preach while they be weary, and charge all the Calamities of those unhappy Civil Wars upon the score of Dissenters, for refusing to obey K. Charles' unjust Commands, and resisting him when he came to invade their Properties; they will constantly rejoin that thousands of the Church-Communion were Socii Criminis; and that the Ruin of the King and the Misery of the Nation are owing to those of the Doctor's Kidney, who preached the King out of his Duty, and the People out of their Liberties, and by consequence were the chief occasion of his Tragical End: as their Concurrence all along with the Arbitrary Methods of the two last Reigns does entitle them to be called the Instruments of our present Miseries.  
So that it will appear to every  Reader, that the Carriage of the highflown Clergy in times past and present, with their losing the Reins of Discipline, and exalting the Hearts of their Kings above those of their Brethren, is as good an Argument to prove, that they are the Authors of all our Calamities, as any thing that they can charge upon the Dissenters in relation to King Charles the First.  
Pag. 19, and 20. The Doctor ascribes it to King Charles' Murder, That his Church's Excellent Religion, which hath no Foreign Dependences, and whose Prosperity alone is founded on that of our Country, should be forced to truckle either to the Practices of Rome, or to a Riot of Enthusiasts; and that they are still threatened, either with no Church at all, or the worst among Christians.  
But he does not consider that his Antagonist will reply, That if the Prosperity of his Church's Religion be founded alone on that of our Country, it must then be different from the Protestant Religion, which blessed be God hath obtained over so great a part of Europe: For the Protestant Religion has prospered there, when neither it nor our Country prospered here, as in Queen Mary's time and since: And as for the danger which his Church is in from Papists, who are the worst Christian Church, or Enthusiasts, by which he means Dissenters in general, that are no Church; it were more rational for him to ascribe the first to the Popish Matches, which his Church allowed their Kings to conclude; and the great Privileges, which from time to time they granted to their Religion and its Followers. And seeing Papists are as great Enthusiasts as any under Heaven, he may also charge his Enthusiasm on that same score. But seeing he will allow the Papists to be a Church, and the Dissenters no Church; though the great Body of them do maintain the Doctrine of the Church of England more sincerely than many of her own professed Sons; we find that the Doctor himself prefers an Unity in Discipline, to an Unity in Doctrine, and would shake hands with Papists sooner then Presbyterians, which are far the greatest Number of the Reformed Churches; and that he looks upon such things to be the Essential and Constituent Parts of a Church, which do not so much as come within its definition.  
I have all along suspected the Doctor's Enmity to their Majesty's Title, because of his impugning defensive Arms by which they made a Conquest of England's Affections, and then had her Consent to sit down on her Throne. But pag. 20. he falls foul on his Majesty's Government, reviles the Liberty of Conscience, of which K. William was the Royal Solicitor, his Laws as Snares to entrap the Innocent, the Fountain itself to be troubled and muddy; that he hath set up Spiritual Wickednesses in our High Places, and made such to be Fathers to our Church who were never her Sons. If the Government don't find themselves obliged to make the Doctor explain his Meaning, it's not fit for me to inquire further after it: but these are as heavy Crimes, if they be true, as any that the Church could fasten upon K. James; and therefore K. William has reason to take heed, for if the Doctor's Faction be strong enough, they'll quickly send him a Bill of Divorce.  
But to his Reflections on the Liberty of Conscience, for that was the Thing which proved K. James' Bane, he says, That it's rather a Step to Dominion than Devotion, and proves a Liberty of Impiety, Licentiousness and Error, and to by't and devour one another; and the last, the Doctor is resolved to put in practice: But cursed Cows have short Horns. If the Doctor would speak out his true Grievance, it's because he is not at liberty to by't and and devour Dissenters, and angry that Men of Moderation have by his present Majesty been preferred to Mitres. What pity it is that never one of them did fall to the Lot of this Reverend Doctor, who as we have already been informed by himself, has the Spirit of a King, and that's more than of a Bishop: And if the Doctor please to put on his Spectacles, he may find that his Church's slackening the Reins of her own, and neglecting the Use of the Ancient Doctrine and Discipline, or withdrawing their Concurrence from their Majesties repeated Orders, have more influence upon the Impiety and Licentiousness of the Age than the Liberty of Conscience, which he ought as little to reflect upon as he would have others to reflect upon his Church, seeing both are alike established by Law.  
Well, but pag. 22. the Doctor is resolved to try a Healing Touch, though aut fabrum forceps, etc. he has made a horrible Mistake; and that is, He hopes we shall not be found less sound in the Doctrine of Civil Obedience than the Jews, or think it altered by the late Exercise of that provisional Power which is necessarily reserved to a free People upon all extraordinary Emergencies. This I suppose the Doctor intends as a Compliment to the present Government, but does not consider that no such provisional Power can ever be allowed by his Hypothesis, who makes it a damnable Sin to resist any King, denies Original Contracts, or that they are accountable for their Administration: Or if he do allow these things, then why so many sly Insinuations against their Majesty's Title? and why so many Declarations against advancing the old Arts that, according to him, must tend to our Ruin?  
And seeing the Doctor owns that all these are Questions of Law and Constitution, and were of old little thought to belong unto Divinity; then why does he meddle with them now? And how comes his Church to assume the Doctrine of an unlimited Passive-Obedience and Nonresistance as her own Characteristic, and press it upon others on pain of being ruined both in Soul and Body?  
Pag. 23. he says, That the Murder of K. Charles forced is Posterity out of their Country and Religion together; which is but very little for the Credit of his Church, who punished others for saying so formerly: And I suppose his Friends will give him but little Thanks for this Assertion; which is, in plain English, as much as to say, that K. Charles II. lived and died a Dissembler both with God and his People. But 〈◊〉 Doctor and his Church may do and say what they please, Their Tongues are their own, and who's Lord over them?  
Pag. 23. The Doctor grows charitable, and having acquainted us with our Danger, he tells us also how to avoid it: The Way then, says he, to appease the Wrath of God, and to wash out the guilty Stain of our Sovereign's Blood, is not to unite in forgetting it, or to add Impudence to the Crime by seeking to depress his Credit; but to make the Remembrance of his undeserved Sufferings still more solemn and effectual to turn us from our Transgressions, and make us bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance. Who can stand before so much Reason? The Doctor divides his Text like a skilful Workman, and gives you both a Negative and a Positive Receipt; and that you may not think it lost Labour to put it in practice, consider what you have already suffered for not obeying the Doctor's Prescription before you heard it, viz. Pag. 19 That we so long heard the Cries of the Oppressed, and there was none to comfort them; that we beheld Servants on Horses, and Princes walking as Servants on the Earth; that our Law, our Liberties, and our Religion were made a Prey to such as scoffed at Kings, and made Princes a Scorn; that God raised up a Foreign Enemy to make War upon our Coasts, that he sent the Pestilence into our Streets, and a devouring Fire to lay waste our Metropolis:— That this is among the Causes why Distress and Perplexity still remains upon the Nation, men's Hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth. P. 20. That we are still left open to a bitter and hasty Nation to land upon our Coasts, and possess the Dwelling-places which are not theirs.— Pag. 23. That it hath entailed upon us disputed Titles, and for aught yet appears, endless Wars. But that which is worse than all, he says pag. 13. that we are at length to meet a Vengeance worthy of God, and drink up the Dregs of his Fury.  
Now who would not to avoid all these Evils, if they were sure that the Doctor's Receipt had had a Probatum est, put it in execution, and make the Remembrance of the Martyrdom still more solemn and effectual? But what shall we do for more Men like the Doctor, that may be the known Inheritors of his Kingdom and Spirit? for he says, pag. 2. that his Obsequies were fit only to be solemnised by one like himself: Nay, and that must also be too little; for the Doctor says this in respect of Saul, who is not to be named on the same Day with the Royal Martyr.  
But now when the Doctor has done his best, and raised his Voice a Note above Ela, to tell the Presbyterians their Transgressions, and the whole House of Dissenters their Sins: What if some perverse Fellow from amongst the Herd should reply upon the Doctor, and find him other Causes for his List of Judgements, and these more probable by far than any of his own confused Heap; as thus, That we so long heard the Cries of the Oppressed and none to comfort them, because the Clergy did preach in Defence of the Prince's Oppression, and the People did not rescue the Oppressed out of their Hands, and therefore God made our Sin our Judgement. That we beheld Servants on Horses, and Princes walking as Servants on the Earth, because God would punish the Pride of our Princes, who had exalted their Hearts above the Hearts of their Brethren, by the meanness of those whom they had oppressed and despised. That God raised up a Foreign Enemy to make War upon our Coasts, because of our going on to do wickedly; and therefore God would punish both us and our King by the Hand of those to whom he had been ungrateful for the Kindness which they shown him in his low Condition. That he sent the Plague into our Streets for our Ingratitude to himself in turning his Grace into Wantonness, and running into all manner of Abominations after our King's Restoration; and because we did not look into the Plagues of our Hearts, God resolved to punish us with a Plague in our Bodies. That a devouring Fire should be sent to lay waste our Metropolis, where we had burned the Oath of God which was so solemnly taken by the Representatives of the Nation, and to purge the City from those Sodomitish Impurities, with which the Prince had polluted it the first Night of his Arrival, and was but too much imitated by the Citizens themselves. That Distresses and Perplexities are still upon the Nation; and that we are left open to a bitter and hasty Enemy, have disputed Titles and endless Wars entailed upon us, for the reigning Impieties of the present Generation; and because the Doctor's Church will still hold their Brethren in Bondage, expose the most solemn Ordinances of the Gospel to the greatest of Contempt, have poisoned the Nation with dangerous Principles, deprive the King of the Service of the best of his Subjects; prevent or stifle the Discoveries of Plots, because so many of her own dear Sons are concerned in them, and invite the French to restore the late King.  
Now I say, If any stubborn Fanatic should reason thus, who shall judge betwixt him and the Doctor? for both of them to be sure will think their own Cause best: and let the Doctor clamour till his Tongue drop out against that sort of Men, they will still tell him, That the bad Example of his Non-jurant Bishops, the disaffected Practices of many of the swearing Clergy, and the most zealous Disciples of Passive Obedience, are the principal secondary Causes of our present Encumbrances; and that if by the Interest of his Church, Charles the Second was supported in swallowing up the People's Liberties, and James the Second brought to the Crown over their Bellies, all the Miseries which we have left, do now feel, or are like to suffer in time to come, by the Tyranny of the Late Reigns, the Wars, Taxes, and disputed Titles in this, are justly chargeable on the Doctor's Church: and therefore it's pity, seeing they have been the chief Causers of the War, but their Purses should principally bear the Weight on't. It would be a good way to prevent their meddling with Affairs of State in time to come, though all that they are worth can never compensate the Damages which they have done the Nation. And thus I leave it to the Doctor's Consideration against the next Thirtieth of January, to tell us whether or not the Repentance of his Church for these Faults; and many others which might be enumerated, be not as likely a way to make God shine upon our Counsels, and go forth with our Armies, as the Nation's repenting for the Murder of K. Charles the First: for if we must explain the Mind of God by his Providence, as the Doctor would seem to do; the Repentance of this Crime seems to be demanded of his Church as the Principal Accessaries, though not the Actors, because the Miscarriages of our Counsels and Armies have hitherto happened in the hands of those of his Church; and some will take upon them to prophecy that it's never like to be otherwise so long as they alone must be entrusted with the Management. For what reason have they to expect the Blessing of God, who have all along persecuted their Brethren for things indifferent; profane the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper, by applying it to the most sordid Uses; admit the Clean and Unclean to his Table, without any distinction, make no Conscience of putting their Discipline in Execution against those of their own Society, but hug the greatest Debauchees as their truest Sons: Or how they can acquit themselves of their breach of Oath to the late King, contrary to their Principles of Passive Obedience, which they do so much labour again to revive; and how they can be faithful to His Present Majesty, who came to the Crown by such Methods as they do all along condemn, I cannot conceive. And therefore it were Wisdom in the Doctor to consider whether those of his own Party be guiltless, before he throw the Stone at others; for if he will needs take the liberty to speak what he pleases, he must be content to hear what pleases him not.  
Reader, these Animadversions have been writ in so much haste, that I cannot tell whether they be Sense or Nonsense: I beg thy favourable Construction on my honest Endeavours, which are truly aimed at England's Welfare.  
FINIS.