AN EXPEDIENT OR A sure & easy way of Reducing all Dissenters whatsoever to an exact & sincere Obedience both to our Ecclesiastical & Civil Government.  
AMong all the great nations that have been, no man I believe can show me the example of England, which being not only still entire under the Rule of its lawful governor, but also a great deal stronger in itself, by the happy conjunction of Scotland( its former dangerous enemy) should nevertheless since the Reformation bee de facto much weaker, & consequently less considerable to our Neighbours.  
All English men, of what persuasion or interest soever, unanimously conclude that our differences in Religion are the cause; & therefore as some of every Opinion have proposed their Expedients for the cure of this misfortune, so I hope I may take the same liberty, & throw in my mite also, being induced thereunto by the affection I bear my country, which I suppose moved the rest, that have already written: and though I am born a Member of the Church of England, whose Liturgy & Rites are so worthy of admiration, yet I shall do what I can( as far as 'tis lawful) to bridle in my zeal, least seeming too partial, I should rather harden than mollify our dissenting Brethren; who happen( which is the misery of it) to be too numerous & considerable in this poor distracted Nation.  
We all know that the whole kingdom as to Divine Worship is divided( besides its subdivisions) into these four great Parties, viz: Church of England men, Presbyterians, Independents, & Papists; the three last of which we call Nonconformists, as contrary to the present Religion established.  
Our Church of England is far more numerous than any, and has persons in it of all ranks and conditions; but it seems not so full of zeal as the others, because it abound's with men that are too much in love with human Interest, or have no Religion at all; for these ever flock to that Church which is in power, whether true or false.  
Presbyterians have generally on their side the Corporations, & all formal men, which they are pleased to call the sober part of the Na●i●n; but as they are rich, so they lie more open to be harassed, whensoever the black day of tribulation happen's.  
The Independents or gives consist only in artisans, & the meanest of the Land, & yet are in two things very consid rabble; as first, let the Government do what it will with them, they cannot be much poorer, so that in three months they will recover, & be as they were; In the next place, There crafts & tra●es are of great concernment to us.  
Of Papists there are seven parts of ten, Gentlemen, & people of great quality, & therefore they fancy that their Religion is probaly the truest, because it has been professed here all along by so many men of parts & fashion; and boast that it is only through Ignorance, or want of attention that the whole Nation is not as blind as themselves. As for Persecution they are not much terrified at it, having( as they believe) manfully endured it so many years; besides by long practise they know not only all the ways imaginable to evade the penalties of the laws, but also by their birth have Relations in all offices, & employments, that always did, & still do help them when they are in danger to be whipped by us.  
This then in three words being the interest and state of each party, wee may the easier find out a Remedy for our disorders, which have ruined, or at best strangely shattered one of the most flourishing kingdoms in the world.  
Ever since the happy Restauration of his Majesty, there hath been still a great cry in all quarters for Liberty of conscience, to which I have been greatly inclined, not only out of compassion to well meaning deluded souls, but out of conviction also that it would totally root out all Sects, & erroneous Opinions from among us: & seeing we have sound by experience that severity has neither destroyed Po●e●y, which is so ridiculous to every body but its Professors: nor yet prevented a troublesone brood of our own, I say considering this, we ought to try what mildness will effect, since all wise men alter those projects which they find deficient: at least we may make trial of it for a while, as our matchless Parliaments do, that enact often laws to continue but for so long, to be the better able to see whether they may reap the proposed advantage by them; Nor can this trial be any ways prejudicial to us, if it endanger neither the souls of men, nor cause a disturbance in the Civil Government.  
'Tis impossible,( according to the profession of all our most learned Protestants) to hazard our Salvation by Opinions whilst we agree in that main Fundamental, to wit, The satisfaction of our Saviour Iesus Christ; for otherwise we must shipwreck ourselves, whether we will or no, on the unavoidable rocks of Popery; because if there should yet be any thing more, which we are necessary to believe, an infallible Interpreter, and Magisterial judge to guide the ignorant & unlearned would consequently follow; magisterial I say, because a poor simplo man must implicitly believe, as not being ever able to comprehend or understand some truths; & infallible, least men might be still doubting whether yet they are in the right or no.  
No marvel then that Mr. Chillingworth( the miracle of his age) sticks close to this, thinking it very strange a man should be damned for notions which he cannot comprehend; & therefore lays down Repentance from dead works, and a belief in the coming & merits of Christ, as the only fundamental amongst Christians, & as a thing adequate to every ordinary capacity. The Papists who would fain come near our truths, are also nibbling here though they handle it another way; for they will have it too, That all men are armys through their own wilful●esse in resisting evident things, & say Though Christ as a Prophet sent from God may be easily conceived by hum●●e Reason, yet an infallible Church to govern his flock is easier comprehended and easier demonstrated to a Christi●●, than his being sent can be proved to an Infidel & so forsooth this infallible Church by its definitions, & explications makes the hardest mysteres as easy as the plainest  
I here set down this pretty Doctrine dressed after the Roman fashion, to show, that if a Protestant should not ground damnation on our wilfulness in rejecting things within the reach of our capacity, that very Papis●s themselves will rise up in judgement against him at the last day, to his utter confusion & shane.  
This ●●●●er●tion the eminent D●ctor tailor himself highly esteemed, & this he so stoutly maintained in his book of Liberty of prophesying, that to this day it remaines unanswered. Many enemies I know he created to himself by his reconciling zeal, & though by their cry he passes at present for a better practical than controversial Divine, yet he has( as all men aclowledge) made it evidently appear inconsistent with Protestant charity to damn any of our poor Dissenters for their ●e●e●s.  
For first, can any godly Protestant think a Presbyterian a limb of Satan for refusing to conform to habits and ceremonies, which every body confesses were neither commanded by Christ, nor his Apostles: or shall he be reprobated for railing against stage plays though the drift of the best of them is to abuse the Brethren? Nor can the disowning of Episcopacy be damnable, unless we submit ourselves to Tradition & ecclesiastical authority for the Scripture has many seeming arguments for that opinion. Predestination, & the manner of Christs descent into Hell are points disputable among all Christians, and God forbid we should think that every error in judgement will deprive us of all happiness hereafter.  
The Iudependents or gives, owe their being to the foregoing Sect, & if they wildly fancy a barn as good as a Church, or a Graduate, not so learned as a cobbler, with other odd extravagancies( the half of which no one man can recount) let us not be more rigorous than the Pope, who only looked upon them that came to Rome to convert him as mad; & I think neither S. Peter, nor his pretended Successors have locked Bedlams out of heaven.  
Nor shall I damn P●p●sts for matters of Faith, whilst they believe the Trinity, & can patch up their other Doctrines, so as not really to intend thereby the dishonour of our great Lord & Master. For( as I said before) God forbid every error in judgement should be a sin to death.  
They fancy many promises in Scripture, That the Church shall never err, That it is to be visible in prosperity & adversity as a judge in all disputes that occur, & laugh at Protestants for affirming that the Scriptures are easy, seeing all Sects among us quote Scripture for what they hold, & yet the one is quiter opposite to the tenets of the other in things of the highest nature.  
They pre ache up merits( they say) to encourage men to work; but tell us expressly( when we urge them with the foulness of the tenet) That neither their own actions, nor the actions of any Saint can be in themselves sufficient to bring them to heaven, did not God premise to accept them as meritorious, and sufficient by the diamond merits of Christ.  
They honour Saints( they say) only because they were faithful servants of Christ; & believe, That these holy Spirits, must needs know our wants by their rejoicing in heaven at our conversion, & That their prayers for us are much more powerful with God, than tho●e of our friends here below, which we all often implore: yet they oblige none to pray to Saints except they will.  
They think by our Saviours saying that some sins( viz. those against the Holy Ghost) shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come, that it infers, that other sins may be forgiven in this world, and in the world to come. And therefore pray for the dead( that have built upon hay & stubble & other imperfect things) whom S. Pa●l to the Corinthians declares( they say) shall be saved so as by fire. And they more firmly also believe this Purgatory because, the Maccabees( that fought for the maintenance of G●●'s Law) prayed for their slain Brethren; which they often urge is recorded by an unquestionable Historian, if not be a Divine Writer.  
As to their Idolatry in the Sacrament, they say, That by believing Christ really there, 'tis him they worship, & not a piece of bread. That the thing is no less possible according to human reason than the Trinity: That the words. THIS IS MY BODY are as plain, as THERE ARE THREE THAT BEAR RECORD IN heaven & I hat it is much for their advantage, that all sects of Christians in the world grant the Real presence, except a few Calvinists as they call them.  
By that text of Scripture, Confess your sins one to another. They think their Confession enjoined; & that Christs commission to his Disciples to bind & loose authorizes their Priests Absolutions and Interdictions. And before many of their Books of Pilgrimages, relics, Pictures. & the like( to show their worship is relative) they print this piece of Saint Jerom's Epistle against Vigilantius We honour the relics of Martyrs, to render adoration to him for the love of whom they were Martyrs, wee honour the servants, that what we do for their service may be referred to their Master, who says, He that receives you receives me.  
I should never have done, were I to set down all their opinions, & jesuitical glosses, but this I must say for them, that they have much less to answer, since they really think themselves in the right, & are so united in their fundamentals, whilst the poor Protestants( to the great shane & weakening of the common cause) quarrel irreconcilably about nicetyes, & then divide & subdivide without end.  
For be it therefore from us to damn these Papists though ignorant, especially seeing, we must do the like then to the Lutherans, who are not only Protestants but the first Reformers also: for their Churches are crammed with Crucifixes, & Pictures; and which is more, they as really believe Christ in the Sacrament, as the Pope himself; the main point in which he & his brood commit Idolatry, as the Church of England & the other reformed Churches hold.  
Let not therefore our passion shut up heaven against any to whom our Saviour has opened it; & since Protestants themselves do so disagree( as sometimes each man in a family is of a different Church) let us be the more charitable in our censures, according to the healing advice of many a painful Divine; and thus may the Papists be baffled with their own distinction, viz. That they differ in school points only, & not in fundamentals.  
But here I desire not to be misunderstood, for I hold many other Doctrines extremely advantageous to poor souls, & hearty wish all men of my opinion, but nothing but time & new methods can unite us without the utter ruin of the Nation.  
Having thus like a good Protestant proved, That Indulgence to dissenters though( they should increase by it, as some vainly fancy) cannot hinder their salvation because all that do well may be saved; I will now come to the civil Government, & show you that it will be so far from causing disturbances, or endangering the true Religion, that in ten years there shall not be a dissenter left to piss against the wall; & this I hope( if practicable) must satisfy even those, that limit God's mercy, especially since they know how firmly sects are already rooted here, & could never be extirpated by the severity of our laws.  
I have often laught'd to hear persons of each Sect among us pretend that their Religion teaches nothing but obedience to Magistra●es, whilst all others foment Rebellion. Now for my part I would absolutely trust no Religion in the world with the full power of deposing Princes, no more then I would have an Infidel trust his wise in bed with me because I am a Christian 'tis most certain that the true religion of Christ, commands as well an exact obedience to our Rulers, as that we should not commit adultery; but yet whilst men are men, many of the Professors of this truth( what by the force of a partial appetite, & self intereste●d distinctions) when they have opportunity, often transgress those two precepts, though as positively commanded as can be: & therefore some doubt whether all the Primitive Christians would have been so patient under Nero, Domitian, Diocletian, &c. had they had power enough to contend: Nor will I more pass my word that the Grand signior should continue Emperour & Mahometon, were the sword wholly in the hands of his Christian subjects, than that all the members of the Church of England would have submitted to our present Monarch, had he yielded to the Papists, who were as busy( they say) as Bees to convert him.  
All men whatsoever affect to have their Prince of their Religion, because they fancy it most for the glory of God, but nothing heightens this zeal so much as persecution; for whensoever their is difficulty of obtaining our will, the desire of enjoyment increases; as we see even in women that often risk life, fortune, honour, & all to enjoy a Gallent, when as if they afterwards mary( & then there will be no need of coming in by the window) tis a thousand to one but they presently loathe each others conversation, & bed, Besides this natural proneness to pursue what is hindered us( for passion● often bear sway even in our spiritual actions) self preservation also or the hopes to be quiet puts the brains of dissenters upon propagating their Religion; nor is it a small argument to many of the truth of a new Doctrine, to see men suffer for it.  
This we have experimentally seen here at home in every party that now contends with the Church; for what could be more irresistible than Presbytery in the beginning of the late war; & how many, men, women, & children, would have willingly ventured their lives for the Cause whilst kept under? & yet within three yeares or thereabouts after it's establishment 'twas kicked down even by those who had before set it up with such zeal & hazard.  
Phanaticisme( as all mankind enlightened with the least spark of reason will aclowledge) has no greater enemy than it sel●e, nor ever did, nor ever can stand, because it wants all principles of ●e●●lement; & therefore 'tis we that blow the party into some appearance of unity, in hoping, by disturbance to hasten their ruin.  
As for Popery, let us consider it in Queen Elizabeth● time, & we shall find in our Protestant Historians that for the first en yeares of her reign no man as a Papist suffered either in his life, or Estate, & yet from a handful the reformed became much more than half the kingdom: but after that the Government began to enact sanguinary & penal laws we find that Allen, Philopater, & the rest of their active Writers insisted upon no argument more( to prove the truth of their Religion) than that Protestants of all sorts became daily Papists, but not one in 7. years left them, except some scandalous fellow which was a greater advantage than loss to them.  
Let us look in the next place on their jesuitical Seminaries at dovay, & Saint Omers, & you shall find them( as knowing men have assured me) much emptier now they can carry popish Children over with little danger, than in the former dayes, when it was done by great bribes, & they often indicted for fugitives also.  
Again if we reflect upon our late Rebellion, it was called by many( as I well remember) the Popes harvest, & Halcyon dayes; & yet we know they lost besides others of note, two Marquesses at a clap( I mean the heires apparent of Winchester, & Worcester) the like of which cannot be paralleled in the greatest severities of the Queen, nor in the violent storm that universally fell after the Powder Treason.  
Lastly, Concerning Proclamations & the like, what man ever found the least good by them? If there be any thing got, the Priests are the gainers: for( ever body says) not one stir's out of England, & 'tis likely also by being in a seeming kind of danger, that they are the more caressed by their Penitents. Nay if all things were well examined, we shall find that the Protestants themselves do ever pitty them in distress, & that there are never more conversions than in the height of these pudders, which 'tis no wonder if they enter into their annals as Persecutions.  
If punishment then serves only to increase the number of Sectaries, why should we be so much their friends, & do them courtesies to be rayld at for our pains? Courtesies I say, because their Domine or Godly Pastor would otherwise starve, whereas now there's nothing thought too good for him; & the flock then would have also leisure to consider their extravigance, which now the pleasure of being haress'd hinders. No Cavaliers will wonder at my joining the word pleasure to harassing, since I dare say there are not any of those great & loyal subjects, though they now possess places suitable to their merits, but had formerly more satisfaction in one poor play by stealth at Hayns's, in one meeting at Doctor Gunning's in danger, or in contriving any half Moon-plot over a pint of sack, than ever they enjoyed( as to their own particular) since the absolute establishment of his Majesty.  
This is the nature of frail man, & if the best & wifest of men cool a little by enjoyment, what must they do that have no other guide but passion.  
I wish then that our Sectaries had churckes allowed them, & all the privileges of their birth right as they call it; nor am I yet their Advocate, but the Nation's, as hoping to preserve it's Inhabitants & destroy their foolish blind zeal, which hath been so fatal to us.  
Their Churches or Congregations I would have under penalty public & registered, which has nothing of particularity in it, seeing all the Churches in the kingdom are so. By this means his majesty would know their persons, manners, & Doctrine, which now by their meeting in holes, he is wholly unacquainted with; & if any man then spake i● the least against the Government, he should be made an example with all the severity that could be thought of.  
I have heard say that in Holland( where no Religion is unwelcome) if any Minister in his sermon, or other spiritual function, meddles with state affairs, the Magistrates sand him next day a pair of shoes to carry him forthwith out of the province; & prefently he provides for his march, otherwise he is sure to be hanged unlamented; nor do they ever touch more than the offender, which proceed's not so much from Iustice or Compassion as Prudence; it being certain no penalty can so surely tie up an Incendiary's tongue as( when he suffers) not to be pitied by his Party.)  
For to punish the whole Body( as the English custom is) for the faults of some members, makes them all desperate, racking many times their brain to defend an action( the then common cause) which otherwise they would have disowned without difficulty; & besides it is a kind of real martyrdom when a man actually suffers either in his life or estate, for a crime which perchance strictly & truly he abominates.  
No wonder then, that our Papists not only reckon themselves Martyrs, but are cried up & esteemed for such by so many foreign Princes; which must needs draw a scandal upon the Nation, & so do the Protestant Religion a prejudice both at home, & abroad, if these increase, and gain repute also by their sufferings. I cannot therefore but be highly dissatisfyed with our common Justice ' which entails Rebellion on a Sect, & insulting too much over the weakness of mankind, necessary( as it were) inclines from father to son unprincipled men to all villainy & Treason.  
Let us therefore call to mind the Scotch Presbyterian Rebellion in 66 last, & see what a ruin it would have been to England, had his Majesty instead of his own great prudence, & merciful temper followed their council, who thought it fit to pursue our Presbyterians at home, as complotters with those actually in arms. This would have driven all into the utmost despair, especially those that loved the King & Kingdom best; for then they would have deemed it impossible to satisfy, & consequently thought ill designs the best of their play; nor would they have look't upon themselves or children otherwise than slaves, since no slavery is equal to that, of being always suspected by the Government. Many that are now faithful, would then have been not only incensed, but perchance have turned their Bibles over & over to find again arguments to maintain Rebellion, for what will not men fancy God says, when 'tis absolutely necessary for their ends?  
Were every man that now hearty rejoices at a Thief's execution at tyburn, to suffer with the Mal●factour, we should not only see theft defended by its present condemners, but reckoned for a virtue also. Some would cry up the life of a man for an inestimable jewel, & to be preferred before all worldly trash. Others would term propriety, a tyrannique, & unjust usurpation, with the like metaphysical fancies; nay the tricks of a Rascall would be then called the effect of a dexterons wit, & the setting upon two or three unarmed graziers, the height of all valour & courage.  
There's nothing can ever destroy us in England but disagreement, nor shall the Government ever fail of being thought the common enemy by all Nonconformists, whilst the folly or knavery of some few is imputed to the whole gang in general.  
If this way of proceeding were laid aside( which now strongly cements them) their Congregations would quickly be as well satisfied with the condemnation of a guilty Member, as we ordinarily are at what passes at the Ola Bayly, or at any of our other Sessions It may be some might strive to mince the matter of fact( as daily friends to in all faults committed) but none would then defend a crime to be no crime, which is the thing I solely insist upon, for from thence arise all our disputes & factions.  
'Tis an error to think there can be a great Boay of men inconsistent with Government, since to be lawless is as opposite to the nature of mankind in general, as death itself. Every sober man therefore( let his Religion be what it will) finds out some distinction or other to prevent confusion & to comform to laws that tend to Government. The Presbyterians are too discreet & rich to be anarchical, & whosoever has, & loves riches, will be always fond of laws that preserve his right to them.  
The Phanariques are generally harmless & well meaning, & though a Qu●ker will not set out his Tithes, he will bid the Minister or Tithing man take them; nay if he find loss by their carving, he will at length do it himself with this or the like salvo, that 'Tis the old man & not the new that pays the Hireling that Indaical abomination: nor do these poor people refuse( it seems) to engage to live peaceably, as their friend Mr. Pen tells us in his Great Case. Now for the Paypists, the greatest & most absolute Princes of the World are not only of their profession, but our own Kingdom also was extremely considerable under their Government, & our excellent laws & prudent old customs were of their framing; as they well know, & also vaunt in their late Apology and Reply.  
Besides though the Papists of England are still so great asserters of the Popes power in Spirituals, that I really believe by what I have red & seen) that there would more die for him here, than in any two Countreyes in the world, yet we know that in the very depth of Popery no body struck more bold & home at all temporal encroachments of the Romish See, than the English; for they not only made strict prohibitions against the coming in of Legates without leave, against publication of Bulls, & the like; but also enacted those nipping laws of Mortmain, so that no body could voluntarily, & of his own head give one foot of land to the Church; Nor at this day do I find,( for truly I have made particular enquiry about it) any Frenchman more willing than our present Papists to tie up the Popes hands from meddling with the civil Government of the Kingdom.  
If therefore all or any of these Dissenters be now heaving at the Government, 'tis because they are distinguished from the rest of the Nation, & made as uncapable of many things as strangers & aliens; nor does animosity or a rebellious Spirit always proceed from the Religion men profess but from the frallty of nature, which makes them often partial, & take the dictates of their appetite for truth & reason. Now were no English Christian( as long as obedient to the lawful Power) inconvenienc'd for his Conscience, 'tis impossible but Sectaries would be as hearty solicitous for the good of the Nation, as any men else whatsoever.  
This most evidently appears by the Welsh, who( whilst we suspected & used them with rigour) were ever unquiet, & our most deadly enemies: but after we had recleved them as friends, & made them partakers of all the privileges of the kingdom, they not only forgot our strange usage of their Princes, the loss of their lands & the Egyptian slavery they were under, but so united themselves with us, that our losses are now theirs, & theirs ours; nor have they since ever stirred or made ill use of our favours, but( on the contrary) by them, both they and we are become one people, & one nation without the least rancour, or grudge; nay so fond have they been of our Monarchy( which once they hated above all things) that four parts of five of them were faithful to his late Majesty, whilst such a number of English were up against him. If then gentleness & interest could reconcile long feudes, & make men from mortal foes become the greatest friends, why may not we expect by the like method the like success in these our present distractions?  
There's one argument( as 'tis thought) of great weight against this liberty of Conscience, viz: That all Dissenters when they were in power would tolerate noe Religion but their own( as the Papists in times past, & the Protestant Sectaries in the late Rebellion) & therefore in Iustice they ought now to be served in the same manner. The matter of fact is granted & taken out of their sermons I know, yet nevertheless if persecuting Christians for Conscience, be in itself against charity, we must not retaliate, & render like for like. But on the other side, if the lawful Magistrate may punish tender Consciences when he thinks it for the honour of goa, & the quiet of the Government, this may perchance a little touch the Presbyterians & Phanatique●( who were our Rulers by indirect means) but then we can never blame any longer the Papists for what they did, because their Government( as to its Juridiction) was as lawful as ours, & their plea consequently unanswerable, viz. That they really fancied their Religion true, & the Protestant heritical; That they thought it would for ever distracted & disquiet the nation to permit new Doctrine; & in short, That they proceeded according to Magna Charta, & other laws enacted by the legal Authority of the kingdom.  
Noe man cna therefore better defend the Marian dayes & all Popish severity, than by advising the punishment of Non conformists, & practising it as we do; But if we would have the Church of England's great beauty appear, & be the true spouse without pot or wrsnkle we must necessary refrain from doing those things, which they whom we blame are deemed guilty of.  
It is pleasant to see now adays how Prethyterians, Independents & Papists,( though really no great friends) begin to claw one another; & who can blame them for it, or would not think them otherwise fools, since they lie all under the same lash.  
I remember when Doctor Hewet was to be executed, our Church of England & City Divines joined together( though they hated one aonther sufficiently) to petition cromwell for him; at which some persons of quality wondering one night at Dr. Duns, Sir Henry Blunt answered, that he thought here was nothing extraordinary in that action; for( said he) I have near my house a Common where my pigs & my neighbour's feed, & there I daily ee that they eagerly fight & bite one another at the through, But if a dog happens to fall upon any one, the rest will presently take the part of the oppressed with all the zeal & fury imaginable.  
'Tis certain both Greek & Trojan will unite when they find it their interest to do it & what greater interest can any man have, than the good of his Countery, if he be capable of participating of all the advantages that accrue?  
I do not therefore infer that presently a Quaker must be made Master of the Ceremonies, or Revelles, but that if he can dance, & put of his hat with as good a grace as another, he should not loose the hopes of these places by reason of his Religion; for though thousands will never emerge but be Beggars and Tinkers, should all our Colliass be fraught with Gold, yet these very contemptible men would think the Government uneasy, and perchance wish it's ruin, were they by Act of Parliament never to rise to any higher pitch.  
Were we all of one Opinion, no man should be more willing to keep out Sects than myself, for then 'twould be both seaseable and lawful; but since things are come to this height, 'tis now impossible to do it by Severit●; for all violent courses will only exasperate more than half our subjects, & cause many to catch at all seditious oppertunities that shall at any time accurre.  
But some men( like Iustice Over do) must be punishing, for otherwise they fancy all Discipline lost; & therefore of such I would fain know, since all Disseaters cannot in Prudence be brought to the ring, which of them would they bait had they power?  
To fall soul on the Presbyterians would be madness, for who would not deem that action so with must needs provoak a rich, a prudent, & a numorous Party to be eternal enemies to the Government, & yet no Protestant can call their errors in Faith damnable. They once erred we know, but this may be a means to make their children also faulty; & truly I doubt not but the miseries they at last suffered in the late Rebellion,( for wealthy men must smart in such disorders) will cause them to be for the future faithful English men, unless new exasterations pervert both their resolution & reason,  
Twere pitty also, methinks, to be always punishing gives, who, rather want good physician, & Cephaliques, than the authority of a Constable I am sure( as I said before) it makes them more obstinate, as fancying themselves like the primitive Christians, whilst the Hollanders grow rich by our losses, affording them that quiet which they find not at home, & thereby become masters of those manufactures which formerly we alone could brag of.  
Or shall we then vent our fury against Papists, & make ourselves still ridiculous to our neighbouring Princes, who receiving odd accounts from their Agents, think us a weak people and easy to be distracted by vain fears & jealousies? Nor can it certainly be for the good or honour of the Nation to persecute those, who have shewed so much loyalty, that no race of men could ever parallel them unless the true Members of the Church of England; & that which makes me yet more their friend, is that at present( though we have often provoked them) they keep no privato cavalling with either France, Spain, Pope, Devil, or any thing that is ill( for had they done it we should have smelled it out long ago) but on the contrary, they have ever the King in their mouths, as if the Rump were now on foot, & express as much grief at our public misfortunes, as any other Subjects in the Nation.  
I defy all their Priests & Fryert to alter my principles in Religion yet I do aclowledge their Church to be a Church as our learned Prelates & Divines have taught me; nor can I but decry those that will damn our great grandfathers, and consequently all before them; for I am sure every body then were Papists with a vengeance, unless sometimes two or three foolish Lodards started up, who were far liker the Disciples of Fox & Naylor, than Members of the true Protestant Religion.  
Away then with persecuting Christians purely for Conscience, which is the only harvest for Knaves, & of this here at home we have two most wonderful examples; For neither had the Heads of our long Rebellion been so powerfully assisted at first, could their zealous Abetters have been assured of their Religion; Nor was it ever possible for cromwell to have raised himself to that pitch he was in, but by laying hold on the tender Consciences of men, who despairing of favour from a lawfuller Government, became at last bawds to his ambition, & then shared with him in that rich & plentiful booty.  
Away I say, with this persecution, the chief cause also of to much Atkeisme amongst us; for men who want courage to suffer, by sinning often against their Consciences, become hardened in time, & instead of ever really approving the Religion imposed, think every thing at last a mere cheat, & so from harmless people( erroneous it may be at first in points of small concernment) grow sixth by degrees in all infiaelity & profaneness; nor has any one thing been more destructive to our Government than so many oaths, for most that were truly ill men never scrupled the taking of them, whenas D●ssenters that stood on Principles have always refused them, & oftentimes smartly suffered for it. Thus the best fall only within reach of the laws, whilst the most factious & dangerous against whom these very laws were intended) escape their deserved punishment.  
I profess to the whole world I have no inclination to the Religion of our Sectariet, but their persons; who being so numerous can never be misused without an unspeakable inconvenience to us all; & though I have been a Cavalier( I thank God) ever since the name came up( & to this day dote upon any thing that truly was of that party) yet I have laid aside all animosity against our old enemies, because I am sure it is for the interest now of that Prince whose Rights we all heretofore so eagerly asserted.  
As Rebels against the State must be pardoned whensoever they are many, even so we must do with Dissenters in Religion, for though the executing of three or four Traytors may be Iustice, yet to hang up many millions, would be termed oruelty let the fact be what it will.  
Let there then be a general Toleration, for unless it be general we shall never be at rest, but furnish knaves still( as I said before) with advantages to cousin poor people, & provoke them( being once deluded) to kick against their lawful Magistrate.  
Let Presbyterians whine their fill, & tell us of Soulsaving-sending-home-comforts, let gives sigh till they be in earnest; & let Papists tyre themselves with their Pater Nosters & have Maries, & then I am sure they will all of them soon find the honour & welfare of their country to be their only interest. Nor is there danger that the bare hopes of recovering the public Lands they once bought in the late civil War, will make the Body of gives fond of alterations; since they very well know, let what changes soever happen( which god in his mercy defend us always from) the new Adventurers will get the prey to themselves, for that must be proportioned to each Actor, according to what he theu does, & not to what he or his father formerly did: but though by rebellion they can have no assurance of reenjoying their old silly purchasses, or any temporal gain more than other new partisans, yet all of them are sure that Liberty of Conscience will be granted them from the first, what faction soever takes up arms against the King which must needs make even quiet Sectaries greedy to hear of insurrections & broils. How necessary are the means of preventing such an ill? for wo be to that country to so great a part of whose Inhabitants, sedition & disorders are a certain advantage.  
' Twere needless to mention the many places where Toleration even at present is granted, as well in Popish as Protestant Countries, which shows all discourses against its unpracticablenesse chimercial, & the idle whimsies of mens brains; nay we know that in Holland, & in many provinces of Germany( besides several plantations, in the East & West Indies, & a thousand other places) Dissenters are not only good Subjects & make the public interest of the country their own, but also after their playing the fool a while, they become tired at last by being let alone, & then commonly comform themselves to the Religion of the Government under which they happen then to be.  
Nor is this all, for Toleration will convert several Sects from those abominable opinions as to Obedience which now they are thought tainted with; because whilst they secretly meet in by places what may not their Pastours infuse into them, & what will they not easily swallow, being discontented and troubled? On the other side, if their ●hurches be public & allowed by Authority, we may all then not only truly know what is taught by them, but also their Congregations( being enjoined to give up in writing the summ● of their tenets) will without peradventure soon comform to the due obedience mentioned; for 'tis certain to all mankind that things positively against the Law of Nature as murder, Theft, Adultery, Liberty to kill Kings when we please, & the like) will never be permitted by any Power in the world, & therefore the Knaves, or Ringleaders of our Sectaries( whose ambition and design is to draw people after them) dare not insist upon such Doctrines, as knowing it cannot be so much as connived at by his Majesty; & instead of being thought martyrs they are sure to be deserted by their own Followers, who will soon discover the cheat, when they find the King really Indulgent & good natured & shocked at nothing, but at that which is destructive & hurtful in itself: for us I said before, There's no Body of men truly anarchical.  
This will cause them then at least to explicate the worst, & most seditious Doctrines so, that Rebellion must be owned unlawful, and the persons of Kings esteemed Sacred, by which great numbers will be undeluded, and made faithful, seeing that publicly condemned by their own Assembly, which now at best lies undetermined, & therefore may be asserted by the Preacher when he pleases. Moreover this enjoining each Congregation to give in a Confession of their Faith, will certainly reduce all Sectaries to their wits; for thus they will be accustomend to stand to some Principles or other, whereas now they have nothing positive, & consequently can hardly be confuted, the only aim of their political & cunning Teachers.  
If it be then true Proustant charity not to damn Christians for Opinions whilst they agree in the main, If moreover Sects are already so fixed, that they cannot be rooted out by force without destroying the Nation, & if Severity blinds them that would otherwise see the truth, and makes them persevere in their errors, entailing also a hatred against the Government on most of their Posterity( which at present weakens & may for the future again undo u) where is the fruit of tormenting men for their consciences, unless it be to furnish our Sectaries( especially Papists) with an unanswerable argument for any action committed whilst the power was in their hands.  
But if Liberty were granted, if guilty men only suffered and not their Parties, & if Dissenters were capable of favour & trust, all people would join in the maintenance of the Government, Delinquents might be punished to the satisfaction of the rest & also the designs of all dangerous Milcreants would be wholly frustrated; & in that only consists the only possibility of new troubles. Nor can Dissenters by Liberty of conscience have any pretence in the least to bishoprics, Deancries, or our other present Ecclesiastical preferments, more than to any mans private lands; because they never contributed to them, & therefore the King( had he no other title) must dispose of them, being ever heir where there is none, & to how many men of parts & learning, our famous Monarchs have still from time to time since the Reformation bestowed them, no English-man can I am sure be ignorant. What ●ectaries give of their own for the maintenance of their Pastours, in Goas name let them have it; & as for the claim of Papists to the premises we need not fear it, though our Ancestors of that persuasion were the Benefactors; for they that got the Pope in Q Maries time( for the quiet of the Kingdom) to confirm the Act of Parliament that sold Abbey lands( which makes our title to them unquestionable upon all accounts whatsoever) will without doubt in consideration of Indulgence do again the like, should any man be so scrupulous as to desire their release to that little which is still left the Church.  
No benefit can there then be to invent new Sects, or to continue them, because Liberty to do as they please will quiter cool( as I said) the zeal of men delighted with novelties, nor shall the persons of many now amongst us be admired who under pretence of suffering for God, devour widows & Orphans, & by degrees become the ruin both of Church & State.  
How great & strong therefore must the Church of England grow by this Indulgence, when twill be no advantage for Deceivers( that now daily rage) to rob her of her children, & what shall hinder the sheep that went astray to return, when they find neither pleasure nor profit in their folly? Nor shall we then( to the present wonder of mankind) be always consulting about Religion, as our v●ry Grammar has it; nor will our Parliaments be longer troubled with the insolences of Papists & gives, which has been the common artifice to divert sober motions, when they ran counter to the private interest of a few. Having thus stated each Party's principles & case as full as I could( & really believing Toleration will so settle us in our spiritual & temporal concerns, that in a trice neither of them will have any considerable enemies left) I now defy our Dissenters themselves to prevent their own ruin, though I have discovered every thing, & showed them the very trap & pitfall.  
All that their Leaders can( I am sure) do, is( as some have already done) to kinder under hand that Indulgence which they seem so earnestly to desire; for they are sensible enough( as I mentioned) that they will hereby not only loose the present benefit they make of their followers( who in peace will soon be weary of them) but also that all their rebellious designs must be frustrated, as being never able to persuade them to fight the Battailes of the Lord, or in plain English to rebel, that already enjoy what they hope for by the danger: & besides all these true reasons, Pity itself casts something into the balance, for if the righteous man be merciful to his beast, much more ought we so to be to poor well-meaning Christians.  
LONDON 1672.  
FINIS