THE Observator Defended, BY The AUTHOR of the OBSERVATORS.  
IN A Full ANSWER to Several Scandals Cast upon him, in Matters of Religion, Government, and Good Manners.  
LONDON, Printed for Charles Brome, at the Sign of the Gun in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1685.   

To the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry Lord Bishop of London.  
My LORD,  
YOu have here before your Lordship an Appeal from Clamour, & Calumny, to your Honour, and justice: And to whom, but to my Right Reverend Diocesan, should I fly for Protection, and Relief; when Religion, and Good Manners, (though brought in by Head and Shoulders) are made the Question! I am Arraigned as a Stickler for Popery; An Enemy to the Established Church of England; a Slanderer of the London-Clergy; and a Sour of Dissension among his Majesty's Subjects: All which Reproaches I Valued as my Glory, so long as I was Wounded for the Church's sake, and by the Common, and Professed Enemies of the True Sons of That Church, and of All Loyal Subjects. But, I must Confess, it has given me some Trouble, as well as matter of Admiration, to see so Unaccountable a Change of Humour, now of Late, from what it was some Few Years agone: And that the Same Zeal, under the Same Method of Manage, and Direction; and for the very Same Cause too; Nay, and the Selfsame Public Offices, and Applications, that were Acknowledged, and Declared to be Meritorious Services, from the Year 1680. to February 1684/5 should now, all on the Sudden, be Pronounced, so Scandalous, and Offensive to the Same Protestant Church, which Before they were thought to have Defended: And All these Contradictions at Last, from many of the very Same Hands: Where the Fault lies, is Submitted to your Lordship to Determine; and whether the Same Principles; the Same judgement; the Same Practices; and the Same Doctrine of CIVIL OBEDIENCE, (for I have gone no further) be not as Warrantable under the Reign of our Present King, (whom God Preserve) as they were in the time of his Late Blessed Majesty. If it shall be said that I have Departed from my Self; I do Freely Offer-up Seven or Eight and Forty Years of my Life, to the Scrutiny. And if upon the Strictest Examination of my Papers, and Actions, It shall be made Appear, that I am not the very same Person at This Day, that I was in the First Scottish Rebellion of 38 and 9 with a respect to the Religion, and Government, both of Church and State, and without any Shifting, either of Opinion, or so much as Outward Pretence in the Interval, I'll Submit to be Concluded by That Instance. (Though I am persuaded (My Lord) that the Clearest of my Accusers would be Loath to stand That Test) And This, (under favour) is not All neither: For there Occurs yet Another Difficulty, that's as much a Riddle as any of the Rest; which is, how the Same Person should be so Deadly an Eyesore to the Orthodox Clergy of the Church of England; and yet at the Same Time, (if not in the same Cause) be so Galling a Thorn in the Sides of the Schismatics.  
With your Lordship's Favour, and Patience, for a word or Two upon This Part of my Case: If I am an Enemy to the Church, I'm a Friend to the Faction; And yet I find no Abatement of Malicious Forgeries, and Scandals against me, from That Quarter: If I'm an Enemy to the Schism, purely for the Church's sake, I am so far, a Friend to the Church; And it is yet my Fortune, to meet with as Hard Measure under Colour of That Interest, as of the Other. Now (my Lord) If my Writings, and my Life be All of a piece; (as after all This Noise, there's not the Least Shadow of a Proof to the Contrary) If both the One, and the Other have had the Honour, till now of late, of a Fair Interpretation, both as to my Religion, and my Allegiance: If I do, at This Moment, stand upon the Same Ground, and Assert the Same Principles that ever I did; there must be either some Secret Practice, or some Dangerous Misunderstanding in the Business. And the Intrigue is no more than This; The Common Enemies of the Government, Invent, and Spread Scandals against the Friends of it. They throw out the Bait, and here and there an Easy Honest man Swallows it; while, under That Pretext, the Designs of the Faction are Exposed as the Sense of the Church. (as will be set forth more at large, in This Following Tract.) Your Lordship has not taken Notice, perhaps, that the Author of julian the Apostate, is of late become a Famous Stickler for the Protestant Religion and the Churchof England as by Law Established, against Popery and Papists: And that he has Composed, and Published Three Famous Papers upon That Subject: But withal, That as These Three Papers were Intended for Libels; so they were Managed in the Dark, and Privately Thrown about the Streets, as the most Pernicious of Libels: And in fine, to Consummate the Boldness, and the Wickedness of the Hypocrisy, These Papers were Written, Designed, and Calculated for the Service of the Rebellion itself. To say nothing of Other Affronts put upon the Dignity of the Holy Order, and the Protestant Profession, under the Same Disguise. It is, Briefly, my Lord, the very Train, and Masterpiece of the Faction, by a Certain Sleight of hand, to get the Protestant Religion turned up Trump: and Then, to Play their Own Game under it. With Permission (my Lord) This is the Just State, and True Measure of the Case, both Public, and Private. I had it Tother day from a Person of Great, and Unquestionable Honour, That the very Morning after the Rebel's Landed at Lime, as they were Discoursing of the Danger of their Undertaking; [Well! (says a Head-Man among 'em) If we can but make a Breakfast of Those Rogues, Jeffreys, and L'Estrange, we'll never Repent the Hazards we are to run.] I take it for an Obligation that they Designed the Eating of me in so Good Company: But (with pardon) it seems somewhat with the most yet, to be Baited by CHRISTIANs, on the One Hand, and Worried by CANNIBALS, on the Other.  
It will become me now to Inform your Lordship, in Excuse of This Confidence, how Unwillingly I came to it. The Western Rebellion has hardly made more Noise than my Apostasy to the Church of Rome; and it has given no small Reputation to the Imposture, that my Enemies have taken Sanctuary in the Church; and Stabbed me, even from behind the Altar: So that I could not so much as Defend myself, without some sort of Irreverence: And to go further, would have been little less than Sacrilege. It was a Dangerous, and an Unkind Dilemma that I was now put upon: Either to Sink for want of a Vindication, or to run the Risque of Hurting my Mother, in the Attempt of Righting myself upon some of her Froward Children: Upon This Consideration, I contented myself with the Middle Course, of only Touching upon the Point in question now and then in an Observator: But still, so fast as One Shame went-off, Another came on; and finding the Work to be Endless, I made a Virtue of my Misfortune, and took up a Philosophical Resolution, of Troubling my Head no further, with what I could not help. So long as the Fame of my Levity, and Hypocrisy, Passed only from hand to hand, in a News-Letter, by Word of Mouth, or upon Common Hearsay, I stood the Shock, without being much Concerned, whether the World were Angry, or Pleased: Notwithstanding, that Great Names, and Authoritys were laid hold of, to Bolster-up the Credit of the Report: But when I came, afterward, to find Ten Sheets of a Book, Printed, under the Title of [The Difference between the CHURCH of ENGLAND, and the CHURCH of ROME, Considered and Stated, according to such Measures as both do Allow:] The Subject of it, liable enough, to stir up Unseasonable Heats: And Myself (at what Hazzard soever) rendered the Occasion of the Controversy; As if the Treatise, had been only a Defence of the Church of England, in Reply to the Observator, that had Written against it. This Insinuation was the most Artificial Essay of Proving me a Papist, that has, as yet, been Offered at: And left only This Choice before me; Either to put Pen to Paper, in Denial of the Charge, or to Stand Mute, and Confess it.  
You will, I hope, My Lord, Easily Excuse my Writing, under These Circumstances; and as Generously Pardon the Adventure of This Dedication, when you shall find, how Injuriously my Adversaries have Applied the Countenance of your Lordship's Power, and Character, toward the Oppressing of an Innocent Person. Neither have I proceeded thus far, without Consulting All the Terms of Discretion, Decency, and Respect: Even to the Degree, of Reasoning myself into a Full Conviction, that I could not have done Less than now I do, without being Wanting, both to your Lordship, and to myself: That is to say; without Appearing less Solicitous for the Blessing of your Good Opinion, than I ought to be.  
It is not yet, (My Lord) that I presume to Beg your Patronage, the Breadth of a Single-Hair, beyond the Merits of the Cause; and the Exact Truth, and Rigour of an Impartial justice; So that my Petition, within Those Bounds, is as Good as Granted Beforehand: But the Sum of my Humble Request (with Submission) is only This; That I may have leave to Deposite These Sheets in your Lordship's Hand; To the End, that in case of Any Misrepresentation of the Matters here in Question, my Accusation, and my Defence may Appear Together. I have now My Lord, only to Crave your Benediction, upon  
Your Lordship's most Dutiful, and Obedient Servant, Roger L'Estrange.   

To the Reader.  
THis is only to show the Reader in a Few Words, how Matters stand betwixt the Peevish Part of the World, and the Observator; and it is a Defence that I am forced upon by a Certain Printed Paper, that lays me under the Absolute Necessity of a Reply: And, at the same time, gives me as Fair an Opportunity as I could Wish, of Clearing several Other Scores, all under One. My Work will be the Easier, in regard that the most Popular Stress of the Calumny against me, is Discharged, out of the Mouths of my very Opposers; and not without Manifest Contradictions upon Themselves too: Beside the False Countenances that are put upon my Writings, & Meanings, in Despite of Grammar-Rules, and of Common Reason; which the Reader would have taken Notice of without Telling.  
For the Better Colour of the Business; the Title bears the Face only of a Consideration of the Difference betwixt the Two Churches; But the First Sheet of the Text looks quite Another way; and turns the Pretended State of the Controversy into a Stabbing Reflection upon the Observator: As who should say, let the Author of the Observators talk what he will, of Reunions, and Accommodations; as if there were no Difference at all, but in Terms, and Modalities, betwixt the Churchof- England and the Church of Rome: Here's a Brief Confutation of his Mistake, let him Deny it if he can. Upon the Authority of This Insinuation, I am presently to be run-down for a Papist, without any Ground for the Suggestion: Nay upon Those Points, wherein the Plaintiff, and the Defendant Agree in Opinion, to a Single Syllable.  
So that Write I must; and my Method shall be, to Take, and to Answer That which Concerns myself, in Fact; (For I have nothing to do with matter of Doctrine) Paragraph by Paragraph, under the Heads of CONSIDERATIONS, and NOTES, to Distinguish the One from the Other.   

The Observator Defended, etc.  

1. The Difference between the Church of ENGLAND, 
Title.  and the Church of ROME, CONSIDERED and Stated, according to such Measures, as both do Allow.  
1. THese are the Words of the Title: 
Notes.  But we must look for the Drift, & Meaning of it, in the following Text; Where, it will Appear, that the Pretended State of the Difference betwixt the Two Churches, is the Least Part of the Business of This Treatise: Though Nine Parts in Ten of the Bulk of it be Employed upon That Subject: So that I shall now Proceed to the Matter.  
2. After the Ingenious Author of the Observators had declared, 
Considerations.  that he was resolved not to intermeddle in past Controversies, 
Obs. Vol. 3. Num. 1.  without fresh and public Provocation to't; and to bury Forty One, and his Dissenters Sayings, both together; And that, if they will be quiet, he has as large a Field before him t'other way. It was no little surprise to the Honest and Loyal Churchof- England men to observe their Religion; and to the Clergy of London, to find themselves brought into the Field, and to be concerned in the t'other way.  
2. The First Note I shall make upon This Paragraph (after my Thanks for the [Ingenious Author] must be This, 
Notes.  That it is a Paper, Representative of the Honest, and Loyal Churches-of-england-man, and the Clergy of London, (at least if we may take the Printers Word for't in the First Page) which Imports a Complaint in Their Names, of Injuries done to Them, and Their Religion, by the Ingenious Observator. It is now to be Hoped, that we shall have Fair Dealing in the rest of the Clause: For Otherwise the Church of England will have Juster Cause of Exception to her Advocate for his Vindication, then to the Observator for his Calumny.  
In the Second Place, we shall Confront the References with the Originals; and see how the Observators Words, and the Considerers Inferences will Hang together. [I am Resolved (says the Observator) not to Intermeddle in Past Controversies without Fresh, and Public Provocation to't; [Or where the Uindication of the Government shall Naturally Require it.] I shall Bury Forty One, and my Dissenters Sayings Both together. [And That Story shall never see the Light more, till the Republicans, or the Dissenters Themselves, shall by some Future Act of Open Disobedience force Some of Those Instances out of their Graves again.] Compare the Citation now with the Text, and you will find the Periods Maimed, and the Omissions Totally in favour of the Dissenters; Nay, the Conditions of my Forbearance, Broken by an Open Rebellion; and the very Violation of Those Conditions Smothered, and Suppressed. Here are Three Divided Sentences Tacked into One; and when he has Disjointed My Connexion, he mightily mistakes my Meaning. After the Words [Both together] he takes a Leap of almost Fifty Lines to That Passage [If they will be Quiet, etc.] Which, in the Observator runs Thus. [Obs. Prithee hold thyself Contented, Trimmer. Either the People I have had to do withal, Will be Quiet, or they will Not be Quiet. If they will Not, there's work enough That way Cut out, Ready to my hand: But] if they Will be Quiet, I have as Large a Field before me TOTHER WAY; [And I shall be as Ready to Celebrate the Miracle of their Loyalty and Conversion, as ever I was to set forth the History of their Ingratitude, and Disobedience.] I must here Observe, that he has First left out One Point of the Dilemma; and 2ly, Cut off, Short of the Explication of the Other Point: Under which Ambiguity, and Imperfection, he turns [TOTHER WAY] upon the Churches-of-england-man, and the London-Clergy, when the Words were most Explicitly Spoken, and Intended of the Republicans, and fanatics: And the Short English of them no more than This: If they will Not be Quiet, I'll Expose them; but if they Will be Quiet, I'll Commend them.  
3. When the Clergy of the City, 
Consid.  under the Conduct of their Right Reverend Diocesan, had presented an Humble Address, in the Sincerity of their Hearts, to His Sacred Majesty, with their humble thanks for his Gracious assurance to defend Our Religion: As they could not think the Phrase Our Religion, liable in itself to any just exceptions; so of all men living, could not they have supposed, that this Author, who had before treated them with Respect, and had been so treated by them, should all o'th' sudden, without any provocation, or observing the Law he had before offered even to the Dissenters, fall unmercifully upon that little Phrase, and those that innocently used it; as if there had been a secret reserve in it; and that under the Cant (as he is pleased to term it) of the Protestant Religion, the Reformed Religion, and Our Religion, 
Observator. Num. 7.  there was intended a Cover for All Religions but Popery. An inference very wide and extravagant, since though Our Religion had not been followed (as it was) with Established by Law; yet the Address being presented by such a Body of men, as the City Clergy, and referring to His Majesty's Declaration, where he was pleased Graciously to assure us of the care he would take to defend the Church so Established; all mistake in that matter was sufficiently prevented.  
3. There are a Great many Hard Words given to the Observator in This Clause; 
Notes.  Principalities, and Powers Called into the Party; and upon the Whole Matter, a Body can hardly fancy the Character of a Worse Man: But yet for the sake of Two or Three Lines there, I have Good Nature enough to Forgive All the Rest. [Of All men Living (says the Considerer) they could not have Supposed that This Author, who had before Treated them with Respect; and had been so Treated by them, should [all o'th' SUDDEN, etc.] Now This Passage, has in a Great Measure Unveiled the Mystery; and laid Open the very Root of All the Following Misunderstandings. Alas! I was a Protestant; a Person in Credit, and Treated with Respect, till This Unlucky [All o'th' Sudden] Spoiled my Market, and Shipwrackt my Religion, and my Reputation, both at a Gust. I was, in One Word, a Very Honest Man, and a Good Protestant; a True Son of the Church, and a Loyal Subject to his Majesty, till the Three and Twentieth of February Last past; which was the Precise Date of the Bloody Observator that has wrought me all this Woe. There was No Notice taken as yet, of the Story of my Massing-it at Somerset-House 1680. Not a Word said, of my Siding with the Loyal Papists at Worcester, against the Rebellious Pretended Protestants there, in my Observators of May, 1683. No Talk as yet of Modalities, and Accommodations; though I gave the World more Pretence for it in Eighty One, then ever I did since: But now [All o'th' Sudden] I'm a Papist; a Renegade, etc. And All, long of That Unpardonable Observator. Vol. 3. Num. 7. Wherefore I cannot do better than Remit myself to That very Paper, and leave the World to judge, upon an Equal Hearing, whether of the Two is the more to Blame, the Considerer, or the Observator.  
Only One Word by the way, to the Articles of my Charge. First, I am made a Ridiculer of the Address of the London-Clergy; for the Phrase, of [Our Religion.] Notwithstanding 2ly, [His Majesties Gracious Assurance to Defend [Our Religion.] And 3ly, Notwithstanding the Dignity of the Presenters, and the Solemnity of Presenting it, I make it no better then [a Cant; and as if there were some Secret Reserve in't:] To this I say, First; that the Considerer Cannot Apply the Descant upon [Our Religion] to the London-Clergy without making them Schismatics. Neither does the Address run in the Style of [Our Religion;] but [Our Religion, Established by Law.] 2ly, Neither is it the Phrase of his Majesty's Declaration itself. The Words being These [I shall make it my Endeavour to Preserve This Government both in Church and State; as it is now by Law Established.] 3ly, The Words [Cant,] and [Secret Reserve] are Appropriated, and Restrained, so Inseparably, to the Schismatics, that All the Force in the World cannot draw from them Any Other Meaning: So that Either the Whole Charge falls to the Ground; or he Confounds the Church, with the Schism. Beside, that the Cavil Amounts to no more than a Bare Supposition, or the Fiction of a Case, where the Observator is made to Condemn a Thing that was Not; but might possibly have been; which Casts the Pretended Censure quite out of doors. These Calumnies however, are Inculcated Over and Over, to make the Impression Sink the Deeper: But the Merits of the Cause will be Best Tried by the Observator itself. As for Example.  
[The Winds from All the Points of the Compass, 
Obs. Num. 7. Vol. 3.  never wrought so much Mischief to This Island in bringing the Sea upon us, as Liberty of Conscience has done, in the More Destructive Inundations of an Unbounded Schism; And they have gotten a Trick too, of Covering All Religions but Popery, under the Cant of the Protestant Religion; the Reformed Religion, and Our Religion (which is a Mighty Business I warrant ye.) Now let Ten Thousand Millions of Mouths Open as many Several Ways to the Tune of Our Religion; and That same [Our Religion] looks East, West, North and South; Answers the Whole Cry, and Stops Every Mouth of 'em. Pray Observe now, that under This Generality, and Blind, the Common People are so far Imposed upon, as to take Every man for a Papist that will not Subscribe to This Protestant; This Reformed; This Our Religion;; at Large, etc. Obs. Vol. 3. Num. 7.]  
Here's a Debate upon Liberty of Conscience; The Danger of an Unbounded Schism; The Tricks the Schismatics have got, of Cozening the Multitude under Generalities at Large, etc. Now do I Defy any man living, either to make This an Affront to the Canonical Addressers; or to Clear Him of an Affront Himself, that takes upon him to Pronounce it One: And again, by way of Explanation upon the Word [PROTESTANT.]  
[If you Speak of the Church-of-England, 
Obs. 7. V. 3.  under the Care of Episcopal Governors; And as it is by Law Established, in Doctrine and Discipline, Give That Religion what Denomination you please, I'm for it: But if you have a Secret Reserve to yourself, of Comprehending Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, and All the Other Sects that call Themselves Protestant's, for Protesting against Popery, I am not of That Protestant Religion. Ibid.] Neither do I take it to be Any Proof of a True Religion, barely to Protest against a False One: For That may be the Case, of only Combating the Errors of One Religion with the more Enormous Impieties of a Thousand Worse. Ibid.] And yet once again.  
[There's the Same Snare under the Word [Reformed,] 
Ibid.  as under [Protestant,] and as much need of Explaining it, Lest, when a man thinks to Declare for the Constitution, he be Drawn-in (as it was in the One-and-Forty-Protestation) by an Exposition Ex post facto, to an Engagement for the Schism: But than comes [OUR Religion,] that (without some Explicit Limitation or Restriction) raises a very Hubub; Fires the Beacons, and takes in Turks, Jews, and Gentiles, into the Comprehension. Why Our Religion is Any Religion; All Religions,; or No Religion at all; Especially out of so many Mouths, of as many Several Minds; And therefore Religion, is not a Thing to be Tristed with at This Dark, Dubious, and Unintelligible Rate, without Fixing some Mark, Name, or Appellation upon it; And therefore let 'em either say Our Popish Religion, or Our Fanatical Religion; or [Our Religion Established by Law, and a body knows where to have 'em: But to Setup a Hundred False Religions, in a Protestation to Oppose One; And then to make One True Religion out of a Hundred Contradictions, is to Erect a Multitude of Gods, and to setup Altar against Altar; And on the Other hand to Extract a Compound of TRUTH, out of a Confusion of Errors. Ibid.]  
I shall now Compare the Text with the Comment; And leave it fairly to the Reader, to Try if he can Reconcile them. Here's First; Liberty of Conscience. 2ly, An Unbounded Schism. 3ly, The Imposture of Generalities. 4ly, So many Mouths, so many Minds. 5ly. Secret Reserves, for a Cover to All the Fanatical Sects. 6ly, A Hundred False Religions, and Contradictions. Here's the Text; And All This (says the Considerers Comment) is Intended for a Lash at Unity, Uniformity, Express Articles, Orders, and Constitutions: Apostolical Agreement, Orthodox Ministers, and Canonical Obedience; Harmony of Confession, etc. In fine; Heaven and Earth may be as soon brought together as These Oppositions: Nor could These Illusions ever have Passed upon Any Other Age then This. Nay; And it is not all, that the Edge Cuts only upon the Schism, but to put the Matter past the very Possibility, (as a body would think) of a Misconstruction, there are I know not how many Save of Honour and Respect, to the very Case in Question, wherein I Declare myself Abundantly Satisfied with (as it falls out) the very Terms, and Qualifications of the Address: i.e. [Established by Law.]  
4. But let that Phrase fare as it will, 
Consid.  and our Reverences also be despised with it (tho' we did as little deserve, as expect it from him) yet we think our worthy Diocesan, that for the Loyalty, as well as the Nobility of his Family, deserves so well of the public; and for his Zeal for, and constancy in our Religion (for we shall still make bold to use that Phrase; 
Parliament of Scot Answ. to the King's Letter. April. 28.  especially, since we have no less than the Parliament of our Neighbour Nation to justify us in it) deserves so well at Our, at His, and at all Church of England mens hands, might have been spared, and that his Lordship might have been used with other than a Comical Respect. A contempt so intolerable to us, who have for ten years felt the happy effects of his prudent Government, that our otherwise respected Author must pardon us, if we cannot so easily forgive the public wrong done to that ever to be honoured Person, or suffer it with the same patience we bear our own.  
4. The Considerer, 
Notes.  in This Tragi-Comical Paragraph, has done [Our Otherwise Respected Author] a kindness that a man would have done a Dog. First, to give him a Flap over the Mouth with a Fox-Tayle: And then in the Same Breath, to Arraign him for Libelling so Reverend, and so Eminent a Prelate: When the very Calling of That Observator, a Libel, (as I have showed already) is a most Intolerable Libel itself: For it Touches not the Least Hair of any man's Head, that is not a schismatic: But I am to be made a Papist; and This must be done, by Preparing the way to One Calumny, by Another; The Contempt of the Clergy, is a Step to the Forsaking of the Church. I would not Believe Worse of This, or These, Man, or Men of Consideration, than He or They Deserve; for their Own Sakes; nor Better, for the Church's sake, because it is not Generous to Murder a man in an Embrace: So that I'll even Stop Short, without so much as Guessing, out of what Quiver This Arrow comes. There are Some Strokes here, I must Confess, that have much of the Air in'em of the Epistle Dedicatory to [The Obserbator Proved a Trimmer,] where the Church itself was Notably Topped upon, as well as the Observator; and I cannot Look upon the One, without Thinking of the Other. It is a Figure much used of late, to Cover a Scandal, or an Invective, under the Masque of a Panegyrique: As for Instance.   

To the Most Reverend, Right Reverend, and Reverend Clergy of the Church of England, By Law Established.  
My Lords! And Venerable Sirs!  
AS these Animadversions are made Public without the least Malice to the Person of the Observator, or design to gratify any Faction, or undervalue any Services his Papers may have heretofore done the Church or State; But to Rectify certain things which he has lately advanced, that may (if they pass uncontrolled) prove injurious to the Honour and Interest of both; so they address not to you for Protection, any further than your Justice and Piety is always wont to favour Truth. And therefore (humbly cast at your feet) are submitted to your grave and impartial Considerations and Censure; as being under God and His Majesty, the Watchful Overseers, whose especial Concern it is (in your several Stations) to take Care Ne quid detrimenti Capiat Ecclesia.  
Here's [No Malice now to the Person of the Observator, 
Notes.  or Design to Undervalue Any Services his Papers may have heretofore done the Church or State, etc.] This is the Civility of the Epistle; and the Considerer, at the Bottom of Page. 3. comes not an Ace behind him, in the Point of Courtesy. [We will Allow (says he) This Worthy Gentleman All the Deference his Parts, and Pen do Deserve, etc.] I must not Slip One Note here; that All the Adversaries of the Observator, were Friends to That Pamphlet; and Forgave it All the Reproaches it cast upon the Church for the Good Will it had towards Me: Beside a Hundred sham's and Forgeries, over and above, that were Cast-In to the Composition. There were no Complaints Advanced in That Case, for Abusing of Diocesans, though the whole Hierarchy was Tricked upon and Ridiculed: Anabaptists, Millenaries, Presbyterians, Independents, All, Engaged in the Compiling of it: And Care the Ammanuensis to Hand it over to the Press. But to Proceed.  
5. And yet its likely for the seven or eight and forty years' Service done by this Author (as he professeth) to a Protestant Church; 
Consid. Observa. Num. 10.  and for a better reason which our Religion teacheth us, all this would have been buried in Silence, and the World had never heard more of it from us, were there not a farther reason behind, that requires our appearance in this way, and which we cannot dissemble and neglect without being false to Our Religion, that we solemnly professed to His Majesty, to be dearer to us than our Lives.  
5. At the End of the Foregoing Clause, 
Notes.  the Representative-Considerer Flatters me in the Name of the London-Clergy, that They might have Forgiven me perhaps, if it had not been for [the Public Wrong done, etc.] And now in This Clause, I might have been Forgiven even That, it seems, too, if they could but have done it without being False to their Religion. We shall come by and by, to Examine This Unpardonable Wickedness: But in the Mean Time, by the Considerers leave, It was not [Our Religion] (as he renders it) but Our Religion Established by Law] which They Represented to his Majesty, to be Dearer to them then their Lives. I must not here Pass over the Unfairness of his Citation, out of Observator. 10. Where the Point in Question was the Charitable Contemplation of the Possibility of a Reunion betwixt the Two Churches, without any Proposals towards it. Nay, (says the Observator) We'll Suppose an Inadvertency; and that my Pen had Slipped: Faith betwixt Christian Charity, on the One hand, and Flesh and Blood on the Other; Methinks [Seven or Eight and Forty Years [Constant] Service of a Protestant Church] might have Compounded for so humane, and so Good-natured an Error. Obs. Vol. 3. No. 10.] Would Any man have Thought now, that the Modesty, and Resignation of This Passage, could have been Emprov'd into the Semblance of Vanity, and Ostentation?  
6. That Religion, 
Consid.  we say, now Established by Law, in opposition, both to Fanatacism and Popery; and from the Opposition it bears to the last of which, is called, more especially, the Protestant and Reformed.  
6. If the Protestant Religion, 
Notes.  Established by Law, stands in Opposition to Phanaticism, (as the Considerer says it does) the fanatics are No Protestants: Neither are They properly, of the English Reformed Religion, if they be not Lawful Members of the English Communion. Now the Distinction of Protestant and Reformed, does only Denote that we are Not Papists, without Any Particular Account of what we Are; or under What Protestant, or Reformed Classis we Range ourselves: And therefore I am against the Generality of the Appellation; because of the Infinite Diversities of Errors, and Contradictions, that Shelter Themselves under That Cover. The Rebellious Sohismatiques of Forty One, Appealed to the [Protestant's Abroad,] and too the [Reformed Churches beyond the Seas.] The Traitors that have Suffered Death in Our Late Conspiracies, and Rebellions, Usurped upon the same Denomination and Profession: And in a Word; The Common Application, and the Promiscuous Use of the same Terms, Indifferently, by Both Parties, Cuts the Throat of One Protestant Religion with Another. I do not Insist upon Strictnesses, and Criticisms; But I reckon it a Thing much to be Wished, since the Confounding of the Church- Protestant's, and the True- Protestant's, (so Called) is of so Pernicious a Consequence to the Government, that they may be Differenced, One from Another, in the very Style, by some Note of Discrimination. As for the Purpose; I am of the Protestant, of the Reformed Religion, says a Canonical Churchman: And so am I too, says Every Mouth of the Schism; and so it holds Tother way, Vice Versâ, which looks as if Those Within the Pale, and Those Without, were All One. To Conclude, [Established by Law] Sets All Right, and Solves All Difficulties.  
7. But if the Case betwixt the Church of England and Rome, 
Consid.  betwixt Popery and those that have Reform from it, be as this Ingenious Person has (unwittingly we hope) represented it, Our Lives may well be dearer to us than our Religion: And if we will yet profess Our Religion to be dearer to us, than our Lives; it must either be perverse Obstinacy, or gross Delusion, egregious Folly, or lewd Hypocrisy.  
7. Here's more Holy-water, 
Notes.  yet. [This Ingenious Person has (Unwittingly, we hope, etc.) so Desperately Mis-Stated the Case, betwixt the Two Churches, that it has Turned the Preference Tother way, and made our Lives Dearer to us then Our Religion.] I wish he had Omitted the [Perverse Obstinacy, Egregious Folly, and Lewd Hypocrisy:] For I am persuaded, if we looked well about us, we might find Some Persons of That judgement, that Think Themselves in the Right in't: And Others, that are neither Fools, nor Hypocrites; nor to be Exposed to the World under That Character: But he has now laid his Finger upon the Sore; and upon the Sin that is never to be Forgiven. And yet after All These Mortal Errors, Transgressions, and Pompous Aggravations, he does Himself Clear me, in the very Next Paragraph (and in the Name of the Church-of-England still) of Every Article of my Charge: And in That, and the Following Clause, he comes-up to the Uttermost Syllable of what I ever said: Insomuch, that He who but Just now made me such an Apostate, that he could not Forbear Writing against me without being False to his Religion, is now judicially Wrought upon, by an overruling Impulse, to do me justice, in an Express Confirmation of the Truth of My Opinions, and in as Pointblank a Contradiction to the Profession of his Own: So that the Next Two Clauses, are Kind in Several Respects: And in regard of the Connexion and Dependence, One upon Another, we'll take 'em Both together.  
8. We will allow to this worthy Gentleman, 
Consid.  all the deference his Parts and his Pen do deserve. We allow him to be what he professeth, 
Observa. 6. & 10.  A Catholic of the Church of England, or a Church of England Protestant. We allow him not to forget the Christian, the Generous, and the Friendly Obligations, that many of the Roman Catholics have laid upon him. Lastly, Let us allow that there are some points in the Church of Rome, 
Num. 6.  wherein, though we differ in Modalities and Terms, we agree yet in the same meaning. And that there are some other points, wherein the matter is capable of such Condescensions and Abatements, as both sides might very well close upon, with a just deference to Christ●●● Charity, and without offence to the Catholic Faith: Yet after all these Concessions, we do most certainly believe, and seriously affirm, that there are many other points, in which neither Modalities and Terms, do make the difference; nor is the matter capable of such Condescensions and Abatements, as both sides might well close upon, without offence to the Catholic Faith.  
9 That is, 
Consid.  there are many things, they hold, and we do deny; such again as we hold, and they do deny, that with all the Condesentions and Abatements can never be Accommodated; nor we with all the Christian Charity be reconciled; unless we are so base as against Truth and Reason, to go over in those points wholly to them, or Almighty God shall open their Eyes, so to discern it, that they come fully over to us.  
8. 9 I must be very Copious now, 
Notes.  upon This Subject, to be very Clear: And it is Certainly worth my while too, when the Stress that's laid upon the Cause in hand, is made, not only Matter of Life and Death; but of Heaven and Hell too: For if ever we live to see the second Part of Otes'es' Plot, there will be both Hanging, and Damning too, in the Case. In the First Place he Allows me to be [a Catholic of the Church-of-England, or a Church-of-England Protestant,] which will hardly Consist, with his making me afterward, more than Half a Papist. Now if he had Intended Candidly, and an Impartial justice, upon the Question about My Religion; there was enough in the Paragraph of Obs. 6. Vol. 3. whence he took This, to have Answered That Point beyond All Controversy: But his Business was to Bring me On, not to Bring me Off: And so I must even do That Right for Myself, which He would not do for me. The Words of the Citation, in Connexion, are These.  
[Trim. 
Obs. 6. V. 3.  'Twould be a great deal more Generous, to Own, and to Declare yourself a Papist, to the Whole World, then to lie Wriggling In and Out thus, betwixt Two Religions.  
Obs. Why then once for all, Trimmer, I am a CATHOLIQVE, and the very Same Catholic that I have Ever been, and ever Professed myself to Be: That is to say, a Catholic of the Church of England. Though I am well enough Content, to Own myself a Protestant too, according to the Best Acceptation of the Word, Improperly Speaking, and no Otherwise. That Religion, which I Own'd, and Processed upon the Sacrament to the Reverend Dr▪ Ken, at the Hague; (Now Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells) when I was forced to run away from a Pack of Forsworn Miscreants here, that would have made a Papist of me; That very Religion do I Declare myself to be of, at This Day; and that I never put Pen to Paper, throughout the Whole Course of this Pretended Plot, in Justification of the Papists, with any Regard to their Religion, but out of the very Indignation of my Soul, to see an Outcry against Popery, on the One Hand, made a Cover for a Republican, and Fanatical Rebellion, on the Other; To see the Church of England Struck-at, in That Popery; and Every man that did but Talk like a Christian, a Good Subject, or an Honest Man, to be presently Stigmatised for a Papist; to see Common Malefactors, and Prostitute Hirelings, setup for the Saviour's of a Church, and a State; and Gain Credit, by Kissing the Outside of a Bible, without Believing One Syllable of the Contents: To see Three Kingdoms half-Eaten-up by Catchpoles; the Lives, and Estates of Men of Honour, Sacrificed to the Rabble; and what with Starving Projects, and Bills of Exclusion, the Late King, and the Royal Family, Treated Little Better than the Meanest Subjects: Neither, in the Presence of God, was I ever Transported by any Partialities of Prepossession, into so much as One Thought of Bitterness, against the Dissenters, any further, then as upon Knowledge, and Sure Experience, I was Convinced (as I am at This Instant) that the Schism is only a Conspiracy, and a League against the Government under the Masque of Religion: If you Doubt of This, I can Summon ye above a Hundred and Fifty of their Own Doctors, to Verify this Opinion. I have no Interest in this Declaration, but to Deliver the Truth, and Simplicity of my very Heart; and to Confound the Malice of All Slanderers, Impostors, and Gain-sayers.]  
The Question upon the Matter here before us, is Briefly This; Not whether the Ingenious Worthy Man of Parts, be a Protestant, or a Papist; but whether he be a Christian or no: Nay a Pagan would not have made so Bold with his Idol, as I have, upon This Occasion, with my Maker; if I have not here Delivered the Truth, without Guile, or Reserve. And I am Mistaken too, if the Charity of Believing me, be not as much a Christian Duty, on the One Hand, as the Sincerity of the Protestations I have here made, is on the Other.  
In his Next Citation out of Obs. 10. He passes over These Words at the Beginning of the Same Period. [Though I am not of the Religion of the Roman Catholics] I can never forget, etc.] The Considerer, I perceive, had much rather make the world believe that I am a Papist, then Cite Any Declarations, or Oaths of Mine, to the Contrary; And yet now [All o'th' Sudden] he comes Over to me; and we Agree, like Two Tallies: Unless it be, that He Outdoes me, even in my Own Proposition: For he speaks Positively, both to the [Some Points;] and too the [Some Other Points;] To which I only put my Naked Belief: But the Surest way is to Refer to the Text itself.  
[There are Some Points in the Church of Rome, 
Obs. 6. V. 3.  wherein [I veryly Believe] though we Differ in Modalities and Terms, we Agree yet in the Same Meaning. There are some Other Points wherein [I do As veryly Believe] the Matter Capable of Such Condescensions, and Abatements, as Both sides might very well Close upon, with a Just Deference to Christian Charity, and without Offence to the Catholic Faith. Obs. Num. 6. Vol. 3.]  
Let Any man Compare the Considerer now, upon This Point with the Observator; and he shall find them to be Both so perfectly of a Mind, upon the Desperate Doctrine of Modalities, and Accommodable Differences, in [Some Points,] and in [Some Other Points] that they Agree in the very Same Words, and Syllables: But there are Many Other Points, he says, wherein the Matter is Not Capable of such Condescensions and Abatements, etc.] This he says, §. 8. But then within Two or Three Lines After, in § 9 He Qualifies the Matter, and Vnsays it again; Though he's at Variance with Himself too, in That very Section. He pronounces Peremptorily, that All the Condescensions and Abatements, or All the Christian Charity in the World, will do no Good, in Many Cases: But then he brings himself off, with an [UNLESS we are so Base, as against Truth and Reason, to go over in Those Points wholly to Them; or Almighty God shall open Their Eyes, to Discern it that they come fully over to us.] That is to say Those Points can Not be Accommodated; unless it pleases God that they May be Accommodated: And I could Wish now, that Those Points had been Named, which he says [We Hold,] and [They Deny.]  
But to speak more Expressly to his Ninth Section; I would fain know, if the very Words of the Observator, Vol. 3. Num. 10. do not Import the Self Same Conception, and Understanding of the Matter with what He Delivers. i.e.. [It is not Exposed as the Project of a Thing Probable; but in a Charitable Contemplation of the Possibility of it, by a Providential Removal of Those Passions, and Prejudices that Hinder the Agreement.] He goes now forward, to Deny in the Next Paragraph, what he has Admitted in This.  
10. This is truly the Matter in question. 
Consid.  It is not, whether there be not Truth as well as Error in the case: and the one may not then be separated from the other (as this Gentleman mistakes;) but whether there be not in the Doctrine of that Church which we oppose, Error without Truth; and whether the main matters in dispute betwixt Church and Church, which the one faith is Truth, and the other saith is Error, be capable of such condescensions and abatements as both sides might well close upon, etc. And that for example, the Church of Rome, which requires Purgatory to be believed under an Anathema; and the Church of England, which saith, it's a fond thing, vainly invented, etc. can be reconciled without those that hold, it is a fond thing vainly invented, do make it an Article of their Faith, or those that hold it an Article of their Faith, do declare it's a fond, a vain, and a false thing.  
10. This Paragraph, 
Notes.  I must Confess, is too Hard for me: For I cannot Conceive, why the Superstructure of Error upon Truth, may not as well be Taken- off, as it was Laid- on: For it is not be Imagined, that Error and Truth can be so Incorporated, as to become Inseparable. When I speak of Error, and Truth in the Case, it is to be Understood, with a Respect to the Points in Difference betwixt the Two Churches: And whether it be Error Without Truth, or Error Accompanied With Truth, 'tis as Broad as 'tis Long. That, indeed, which the One says is Truth, and the Other says is Error, can never be Reconciled, so long as Both Parties Adhere to That Opposition; for that were to suppose Error, and Truth to be all One. But [His UNLESS;] and [My PROVIDENTIAL REMOVAL] takes That Rub out of the Way.  
11. An Accommodation in such a case is Impracticable: 
Consid.  For (as our Author well observes upon another occasion) it imports an agreement of two divided Chuches in the very state of their disagreement; where not the passions and prejudices of men, but the Nature of the things, hinder the Agreement; and so spoils the Philosophy of a charitable contemplation about the possibility of it.  
11. 'Tis very True; 
Notes.  that an Accommodation (as he says) is Impracticable, where it is Impossible; And it is no less True, that it is Impossible, so long as People that are of Differing Persuasions, Continue in That Hostile State of Disagreement: But Change of Mind removes That Obstacle; And the Grace of Almighty God (as He Himself Confesses in the Former Page) may work that Change of Mind. Now here's no Change all this while, in the Nature of the Thing, but in the Opinion of it: Truth and Error are the Same still that they were before; And I know very well, that 'tis Impossible to make Truth to be Error, or Error to be Truth: But what's This to the Passions, and Prejudices of Men, that may be Taken-up, or Lay'd-down, almost at Pleasure? The Inconciliable Opposition of Vice, and Virtue, does not at all hinder, but that Men of Profligate Lives, and Vicious Habits, may yet Reclaim, and become Virtuous. Ambition, Avarice, Cruelty, and Oppression, can never be Transformed into the Opposite Uirtues: But Men that are Addicted to Those Vices may Cast their Skins▪ & Pass-over into the Love, and Practice of Humility, Moderation, Tenderness, Compassion, without a Miracle. And it were Hard, Otherwise; If (according to the Sense of my Expositors,) the most Necessary Duties of a Christian; That is to say, Repentance and a New Life, should be Rendered only the Charitable Contemplation of a thing Impossible. This is a Doctrine, that seems to Me, (with Submission to be better Informed) to Block-up the way, and to Preclude the Means, even of Salvation itself: For if All men Living have their Errors, and their Failings; And, when they are once Out of the Way, if there be no getting Back; How miserable is the Condition of Mankind, that stands Condemned, at the same Time, to Inevitable Frailties, and to Unpardonable Mistakes! I will Allow all the Stress that can be laid upon the most Potent Obstructions to This Blessed End; As the Affectation of Power, and Dominion; The Charms of Glory, and of Secular Interest; Or the Prepossessions of Education. These Impressions make the Matter Difficult; But not Insuperable, and Utterly Impossible: Especially (As the Considerer says) [If Almighty God shall Vouchsafe to Open the Eyes of the Deceived, so as to make them Discern Truth and Reason;] Or in the Words of the Observaor, in case of [A Providential Removal of Those Passions, and Prejudices, that Hinder the Agreement.] This is the Possibility that I Contemplate: And I take the Considerers [ALLMIGHTY GOD] and the Observators [PROVIDENCE] to Intent One and the Same Power.  
12. This is the Case we except against, 
Consid.  and which we shall now proceed to the consideration of; not that we declare, to lessen the esteem of this Author (whom we do honour for his Ingenuity and Industry, and his other Accomplishments worthy of a Gentleman and a Scholar) but to Vindicate our Church, and to preserve our People from the Infection of such Doctrine; which how good-natured soever it may be in the design, cannot but be mischievous and pernicious in the consequents.  
12 I must needs put the same Compliment, 
Notes.  in this case, upon the Considerer, that an Italian Prince put upon a Gentleman that gave him a Lift to Help him into the Saddle. He was a Light Person of a Man: And the Other Threw him quite over his Horse: The Prince got up again; And, with his Cap in his hand, Sir, (says he) the One Half of This Courtesy would have done My Business. In like manner, I would have Compounded, with the Considerer, with all my heart, for his Civilities to the [Gentleman] and the [Scholar,] if he would but have Excused me from the Infamy of a Defamer of the Charch, and a Spreader of Infectious Doctrines. I do not speak This, [to Lessen the Esteem of the Author;] but purely to Preserve myself from the Consequences of so Infectious a Calumny: And a Calumny, (for aught yet appears,) without Any Foundation. The Clause runs in the Style of [WE Except against] WE Declare] WE do Honour] OUR Church] and OUR People:] So that the Censure falls little short of an Anathema, for it appears here to be Published, as out of the Mouth of the Church itself. And what's my Crime at last now but the Poor Innocent Observator of Feb. 23. Last Past? For my [Modalities,] & All that Train of True-Protestant Clamours, and Scruples are Approved, and Allowed of by Himself, to a Single Tittle. We shake hands too, in the Possibilities of Things: And I do not hear of so much as One Syllable added to my Charge, upon this Subject. So that upon the Main; the Whole Mystery of My Iniquity is Wrapped up in the Gall, and Venom of Those Two Words [OUR RELIGION.] There's Popery, there's Heresy; there's Scandal; There's Insolence, and In Manners in 'em; For till That Malevolent Minute, All was Well; And the Lashing of the Schismatics, for the Scandal, and the Ruin that they have brought, both upon the Church and the State, by the Equivocal, and Squinting Use they have made of Those Two General Words, is the Only Sin, for aught I can see, that I have here to Answer for. The Considerer Himself Dates the Quarrel from that Moment: He Found'st it upon That Bottom: And when All is done, he has given me a Discharge under his Own Hand.  
13. Our Author is pleased to affirm, 
Consid. Observa. Num. 3.  That the Principles of the Papists are known and certain. A proposition which cannot be universally true, since they are far from an agreement even in such points as are of the greatest importance for them to agree in. Such is that of Infallibility, which whether it be in the Pope without a Council, or a Council without the Pope, or Pope and Council, or the Church Diffusive, they cannot agree nor determine. But supposing, that their Principles are known and certain, where may we expect to find them, if not in their Councils, General and Provincial; in their Canons and Decrees, in their allowed Catechisms and solemn Professions of Faith, in their public Offices and approved Comments on Scripture? but if these be not admitted, we must despair of satisfaction, and have reason to conclude, their Principles are neither known nor certain.  
13. He refers Himself here, 
Notes.  to an Affirmation of mine, out of Observator Vol. 3. Num. 9 Where (according to his Custom) he Draws a Citation out of the Middle of the Period. My words are These [Such an Union with Papists as you seem to Propose with Protestants, holds no Proportion at all with the Question in hand. First, as Their Principles are Known and Certain; The Other Unnaccountable, and Uagabond]]; And so afterward; [The One Supposes a Doctrinal Union; And the Other Demands a Political, etc.] Now there is a Great Difference, betwixt a Positive, and a Comparative Affirmation: So that he puts the Case upon the Stretches, to make it the Former: Though 'tis the Same thing to Me, whether it be the One, or the Other; for I'm Right, Both ways, as to My Purpose. If their Principles be Not Known and Certain, there's One Stabbing Argument against the Papists fallen to the Ground. That is to say, the Involving of the People of That Persuasion, to the Last Man of 'em, in the Common Principle of Destroying (as they call them) Heretical Princes: For the Recaptacle of Infallibility, is a Point (as he says, p. 6.) that is not as yet Agreed, or Determined among Themselves: But if they Be Known, and Certain; I have nothing more to say. Neither is it One Jot to the Business of That Observator, which Respects only the Disparity betwixt Uniting in Matters of Doctrine with men of Another Religion; and Uniting with men that pretend to be of Our Own Religion, in Political Maxims, and Positions, which are Subversive of the Civil State.  
14. As for the Doctrine of the Church of England, 
Consid.  we can freely declare it to be known and certain. The sum of what we hold, is drawn up in Nine and Thirty Articles, explained in one and Twenty Homilies, & the way of our Worship exhibited in our Liturgy. From hence we shall therefore collect our Materials, and, according to the method of our Articles, compare Doctrine with Doctrine, Church with Church; by which we doubt not but to make the Opposition between them so evident, that both sides will agree, that the Church of England is one thing and the Church of Rome another; and, as they are at present, no more capable of being, one, than Truth and Error can be the same.  
In order to which we shall premise.  
14. This looks, as if the Observator had stood-up For the Principles of the Papists, 
Notes.  Against the Doctrine of the Churchof- England, and, Consequently, Extorted from the Unwilling Author, These Papers, in Vindication of the Protestant Religion; when yet the Observator has not Presumed, in Any sort, or upon Any Occasion, to [Touch the Ark;] but Kept himself within the Bounds of Political Remarques, and Disquisitions, in Order to the Service of the State, without Breaking-in upon the Offices, and Duties of the Reverend Clergy in Any Degree Whatsoever. Now I shall Easily Join with him, that Church-of-England is One Thing, and the Church of Rome, Another:] But it is yet as Possible that they may come to be One Again, as it was, before the Separation, that they should come to be Divided. I'll break No Squares with him neither, upon This Point; that [as they are at present, they are no more Capable of being One, than Truth and Error can be the Same;] which is no more then to say, that White can never be Black, so long as 'tis White; nor Black, White, so long as 'tis Black. But now though the Error, or the Vice can never Change Colour, the Offender may Quit an Ill Habit, and leave his Wickedness behind him; And the most Mistaken Creature in the world, may be brought out of Darkness into Light: So that the Considerer might have saved himself the Labour of jumbling Doctrines together, and Conferring Articles, upon Any Account, (That is to say, of the Observators:) For the Virtues of the Loadstone, or the Squaring of a Circle, would have been a Subject, Every jot as much to the Question in hand (for any thing that I have to do in the Case) as the Stating, and Balancing the Doctrine of the Two Churches.  
15. First, 
Consid.  That there are some Articles which both Churches do in express Terms agree in; viz Art. 1. of the Holy Trinity; Art. 2. of the Word, or Son of God; Art. 3. of the going down of Christ into Hell; Art. 4. of the Resurrection of Christ; Art. 5. of the Holy Ghost; Art. 7. of the Old Testament; Art. 8. of the Three Creeds; Art. 12. of good works; Art. 16. of sin after Baptism; Art. 18. of obtaining eternal salvation only by the Name of Christ; Art. 23. of ministering in the Congregation; Art. 26. of the unworthiness of Ministers; Art. 27. of Baptism; Art. 33. of Excommunicate persons; Art. 38. of Christian men's goods; Art. 39 of a Christian man's Oath. 
Ecclesiae Ang. Basis Impostura Luxem. 1619.  Against these the Jesuit johan Roberti, hath little or nothing to object in his small Tract purposely written in opposition to our Articles,  
16. But of these Articles it is to be observed, 
Consid.  there are some which each party differs as much from the other in (when they come to explain themselves) as if there had been no agreement in Terms. Thus it happens in Articles, 3d, 7th, and 15; as shall afterwards be showed.  
15. 16. This Enumeration of Articles, is Nothing at all to Me, 
Notes.  unless it can be made appear, that I have either Intermeddled in the Question, or Given Any Colourable Occasion for the Animadversion, in Any Manner Whatsoever.  
17. 2ly. There are other Articles, 
Consid.  wherein both Churches do agree in the sense, though they differ in Terms; or that are not so much Controversies between Church and Church, as between private Doctors in each Church. Of this Opinion is a Learned Foreigner of the Reformed Religion, about the matter contained in Articles the 10th and 17th, of freewill; and of Predestination and Election. Of the former he saith, The difference that our Adversaries will object between them and us, upon this point of freewill, 
Apology for the Protestants, done out of French into English by R. L.  is only imaginary, and a mere cavil. Of the latter he concludes; Since we agree in the Fundamentals of this Doctrine (as we have already set forth); and that our dissent is but with a few of their Doctors, it would not be very hard (I should think) to find out such a bias of Temperament, 
1681. Part. 4. Cap. 3. pag. 133. 150.  drawn from the Word of God, in proposing of these Opinions, and in Terms so proportioned to their sublimity; as all humble and moderate Spirits would find sufficient for their satisfaction.  
17. The Apology here-cited, was Translated by myself, and Published with my Name at length to't, in 1681. The Considerer is pleased to give the Author of it, the Character of [A Learned Forreigner of the Reformed Religion.] How comes This [Learned Foreigner,] (and so Called with a Respect to This very Piece) to keep up His Reputation still, as a Professor of the Reformed Religion, and the Observator to be a Lost Man, to the Church of England, past all Remission, for not the Fiftieth part of the Liberty that the Other has taken? Or rather, How comes a Protestant of Eighty-One, upon the very Same Foundation, to be made a Papist in Eighty-Five? But the Partiality will be yet more Obvious, from the Project and the Title of That Apology: An Instance, which, perhaps I might have forgotten, if the Quotation had not brought it into my Mind. The Title, in French, and English, is as follows, [Apology pour les Protestans, Où l'Auteur justify pleinement leur Conduit & leur separation de la Communion de Rome; & PROPOSE des Moyens FACILES, & RAISONABLES, pour une saint, & Bien-heureuse REUNION] i.e. [An Apology for Portestants, wherein the Author fully Justifies their Proceedings, and Departure from the Church of Rome: With a Proposal of Means, EASIE and REASONABLE, for a Holy and a Blessed REUNION.] All that I did was barely to Contemplate a PROVIDENTIAL POSSIBILITY of it: Whereas Here's a Point-Blank PROPOSAL, of the very Ways and Methods for the Attaining of that Happy End. In Fine: The Author of the Apology, tho' an Open, and a Professed Advocate for a Reunion, is highly Recommended and Approved; While at the same time, the Charitable Speculation, but of the Possibility of it, is made a Mortal Sin in the Observator. The Three next Clauses run altogether upon the Topick of Rebus sic Stantibus.  
[We do not Pray (says the Considerer) for Charity's sake, 
Consid.  to Err with those that Err, and to be Deceived with those that are Deceived, P. 10.] But that it may please God to bring into the way of truth all such as have Erred and are Deceived; and to strengthen such as do stand. And for This, We Beseech thee to Hear us, Good Lord. Ibid.]  
This is very well now; 
Notes.  And no otherwise than just thus, do I understand the matter: nay I must have been a Stark fool, or a Madman, to have laid myself open to any other Construction: For I might as well pretend to Reconcile Heaven and Hell, as Truth and Error; Sound Doctrine and Heresy. And I am Afraid, there has been more care taken to Puzzle my Meaning, than to Understand it, though I Hope that the Considerer has been rather Misled himself, than a Willing Misleader of others: For he is pleased to say in Another Place,  
[The Project we Approve; 
Consid.  the Benefit of it is Apparent: But without this Renunciation, of these [Abovementioned] as well as many other Principles Destructive to such Union, and Society, we fear it is not Practicable, and that the Government, Our Religion, not to say, ourselves, may as well be Ruined by Credulity, as Distrust.]  
If it be a Laudable Project, 
Notes.  'tis Well meant, and no hurt done in the Wish, though Accompanied with almost the Despair of seeing it put in practice; And I am as much for the Renunciation of Destructive Principles, as the Considerer Himself; And for making that Disclaimer, the Condition of the Agreement. As to the Hazard that may Befall the Government, [our Religion] and ourselves, as well by Credulity, as by Distrust; the Danger is not so much in Each of them Singly, as in Both Together; where Credulity towards a Faction, begets Fears and jealousies of the Magistrate: But the Considerer follows This too, by Falling in with the Author of the Apology before Cited upon this very Text.  
[We shall Conclude the Whole (says he) With what is said by a Moderate French Writer, 
Consid.  Quoted before, viz. [I would to God that Those of the Church of Rome had the same Tenderness for Us, that we have for Them; And that they would but Treat Us with the like Openness, and Candour; They would be then Easily satisfied, that we are no Enemies of a Reconciliation, if they would but take a step or two on their side to Meet us upon the way.] But this can never be, so long as the Pope of Rome pretends, not only to be the Chief of the Order, but to Exercise an Arbitrary, and Absolute Power, as a Monarch in the Church] etc. And so he goes on, Reckoning up a great many Errors in the Church of Rome, as Obstructions to a Reconciliation; coming to this Result at Last. [So long I say, as These and the Other like Abuses shall be Continued in the Church of Rome, People may make what Overtures they please: But there is no Union to be Expected betwixt Them and Vs.] So that strike off the Abuses, and the Obstacle is Removed.  
Now whatever Misunderstandings have fallen out upon the way, 
Notes.  I cannot see, but that the Considerer, the Apologist, and the Observator, are all Three of the same Mind upon the Pinch of this Question, which is, that Men Continuing in Erroneous Oppositions upon the Subject of Religion, cannot Agree in the Truth; And that without the Truth, There can be No Agreement.  
There is Another Touch upon the Observator about the Prerogative of the Deposing-Power. 
Consid.  [It is so far (says the Considerer) from being True, that [Not one Papist in a Thousand is of the Persuasion that Princes may be Deposed, Obs. Vol. 3. N. 6.] That more Probably, not one in a Thousand is against it; and if any such be against it, it is with as much Inconsistence to the Principles of Their Church, as it is with the Principles of Our Religion to be for it.]  
I must here Mind the Author of what he say in the 6th. Pag. 
Notes.  that the Papists are not Agreed whether the Infallibility be Lodged in the Church Diffusive or not; or Where it is Lodged; And this Instance was used, to show that in That Point, the Principles of the Papists are not Known and Certain: And if so; this Inference will never hold, upon the Universality of that Principle: Nay He Himself gives an Instance even against Himself, in the same Page, where he Acknowledges, the Clergy of France did not long since Publish a Proposition: [That the Pope had no Power in Civil and Temporal Affairs, and that Kings were Subject to no Ecclesiastical Power, nor can be Deposed, nor their Subjects be Absolved from their Allegiance.] So that here's a Foul Gap in the Principle already, to say nothing of our late Experiences; For it is not my Zeal for the Papists, but the Veneration that I have for Truth, Honesty, and Common justice, that has engaged me in this Controversy; not forgetting what I owe to myself all this while, in the Common Cause.  
To sum up the Whole now in a Few Words; The Sun is not Clearer, than it is, that my Writings have been Perverted; The Connexion Mangled, and Disjointed; My Opinions, and my Practices Misrepresented; And that upon Pressing the several Parts of the Calumny, the Entire Structure falls to pieces. I will, in Charity, Believe, that the Considerer took his Citations upon Trust, Especially, in what Concerns the Address of the Reverend Clergy of the City of London: For the Phrase in General of Our Religion; The Protestant Religion; The Reformed Religion, is so strictly, and so Expressly Appropriated to the Protestant Dissenters, that it will not so much as bear an Allusion to Any thing else; And I thought it very Reasonable, to Inculcate a Caution against Those Ambiguities, that have been so Pernicious to the Crown, and to the Church. Nay! and at the same time, I have over, and over, Recommended the Bare Addition of [Established by Law,] as a short Remedy against a Thousand Inconveniencies, and Mistakes: And this is No Capriccio of my Own, neither; For you will find it, the very Train, and Method, of Distinguishing the Friends of the Government from their Enemies: Look through All the Swarms of Seditions News Papers, Mercuries, Petitions, Addresses, and Other Libellous Discourses; And You shall find 'em to run All, Unanimously, in the stile of Protestant, True Protestant, Reform &c. and no [Established by Law] in One of a Thousand of them, Unless in the way of Raillery or Droll. Look on the Other hand into the Counter-Petitions, Addresses, etc. and you'll hardly find the Protestant Religion in Any of them, without the Qualification of [Established by Law.] 'Tis the stile of His Majesty's Declaration, and likewise of the London Address abovementioned: So that I am Charged for Skewing at them, for Words that they did not say, without the Supplement of the Laudable, and Needful Qualification. In the Business of the [some,] and [some Other] Accommodable Points, the Considerer, and the Observator have jointly given Assent and Consent, And subscribed, in Terminis, to the very same Form. And so much for That.  
No sooner did the Noise, and Envy of This Calumny begin to Wear-off: But there was Another, Immediately started, worse than the Former; Which was, a Current, and a Confident Report, spread all over the Kingdom, That the Observator had Dogmatically Delivered it, as from the Chair, [That All Subjects were Bound to be of their Prince's Religion; Now there was Nothing more in't then This.  
In the Wednesday Paper of April 29. 1685. Num. 35. I was Handling the subject of a Popular Liberty of Conscience; And how Inevitably it must Destroy the Order, and Polity of All societies; And justify the most Sanguinary, and Impious of Outrages; When [I am bound to Cut your Throat, upon One Point of Conscience, and You are bound to Cut Mine upon Another.] From hence, I proceeded to Treat of the Conscience of the Magistrate, and the Conscience of the Subject; But through the Whole Discourse, as a Point of Policy, and Government, not of Religion. I'll take This Opportunity, once for all, to set myself Right in This Particular; And no way better, then to set down the Whole story at Large, in the very Words of the Observator.  
Trim. [A Liberty for every man to serve God according to his judgement.] 
Obs. 35. Vol. 3.   
Obs. Why you are Out now, Several Ways. First; it is Not That Liberty of a man's Serving God according to his judgement: For you Challenge That to the Subject, which you Deny to the Magistrate: His Conscience bids him Serve God, in Order; the People will have Their Consciences at Liberty to serve him in Confusion. The Magistrate's is a Governing Conscience: And what's to be done now, if the Subject's Consciences shall Refuse to be Governed? The Magistrate's Conscience is Answerable for the whole Community: The Subject's is a Private Case, where every Individual Accounts only for his Single Self. The Magistrate Sins against his Own Conscience if he Suffers a Capricious part of his Subjects to run Vagabonding, and Schismatizing, according to Theirs: Besides that the Wisdom of God, and the Disposition of Divine Providence, have made the Prince the judge of the Controversy; and His Conscience Exerts itself in Authority, while the People's Consciences are to Acquiesce, either in Resignation, or Obedience: The People are All and Every Man of 'em the King's Subjects: And besides the Impious Mixture of Erroneous, and Contradictory Opinions; All their Pretended Associations of Conscience, are Conspiracies of Practice; when, at the Same time, the Sovereign has the Ordinance of God; the Laws of the Land; Piety, Duty, Imperial Prerogative, and Reason of State, on his side: So that there's a Conscience Indispensable, on the One Hand, and a Conscience Unwarrantable on the Other: Insomuch that Liberty of Conscience makes against ye All the ways you can put it: For it is against Law; Against Right; Against Truth, Nature, and Religion: And, like a Bottomless Quicksand, it Sucks-in the very Frame of All Political Constitutions, Never to be Retrieved. It is Your Liberty of Conscience that I speak of; But the Magistrate's Right, and Obligation of Conscience stands as Firm as the Foundations of the Earth. And prithee wilt thou go now, and Consult all the Rabbi's of the Separation, Casuistically, upon This Point. What Dispensation from Almighty God, has a King, more than a Subject, to Act Contrary to his Conscience? Or what Answer shall That Prince make, at the Day of judgement▪ That when his Conscience Charges him, (as he hopes for Salvation) to Provide, according to the Best of his Skill, for the Welfare of his People, shall yet Suffer his Subjects to Exercise That Licence, which He in his Conscience, Thinks, judges, and Believes, will be for their Destruction? The Question is, First; Whether or No shall This Prince Govern according to his Conscience? 2ly, How is it possible, to Reconcile This Popular Liberty, to a Consistency with the Conscience of the Supreme Magistrate, and the Necessary Regulations of Sovereign Power? 3ly, Which shall have the Preference, in This Case, the King's Conscience, or the People's? That is to say, in Few Words; where's the Sovereignty? In the King, or in the Multitude?  
And again, [The Supreme Magistrate has a Double Conscience, 
Obs. Num. 36. Vol. 3.  One with a Respect to his Personal Persuasion about Matters that Immediately concern his Soul, The Other with a Regard to his Political Administration. The Subject likewise has a Conscience, that purely Respects Matters betwixt God and his Own Soul. And a Conscience likewise that Superinduces another Obligation upon him, with Relation to the Public, as he is a Member of the Community. In the Former he is at LIBERTY, but in the Other he's under GOVERNMENT and COMMAND, 
Obs. Num. 42. Vol. 3.  Obs. Num. 36 Vol. 3.] What is this to say now but that his Religious Conscience is Free as he is a Christian, But his Practical Conscience is Limited as he is a Subject?  
What is there more now, in All This, than that Kings are Bound in Conscience, to keep their People from Cutting one another's Throats, which they will most Certainly do, and Destroy their Sovereign over and above, when ever he Yields to them the Point of Popular Liberty of Conscience? So that here are Reasons of State, Sublimated into Articles of Faith; and a Man is to be presently made a Papist, that will not Swear Secrecy and Allegiance to the Practices and Positions of Rebellion.  
I could Muster up a Hundred other Instances of the same Batch, and Leaven; as my Threatening of a Bookseller, if he presumed to Print any thing against Popery, which was Proved upon Oath to be an Arrant Lie. And yet the Cry ran so Strong, that there was hardly any beating of it down. They had another Story too of my Stopping the Book of a Reverend Divine purely for Asserting the Doctrine of the Church of England; which was so False, that the Gentleman Himself Acquitted me to all Purposes upon the whole matter: But however, the Rumour was Supported as long as they could keep Life in't; and it was Impossible for any Man to Believe that Flame, without making me an Insolent Fool for my Pains. There was then Another Malicious Whimsy set a Foot too, what a Bustle I had made in I know not how many Tavern-Clubbs, with Projects, and Proposals, about Public Business; Which in One Word was All False; And I Defy Any man living to say the Contrary. (Which Somebody or Other Must be Able to do, unless they'll Suppose the Matter Debated at a Committee of Chairs, and Stools.) To Conclude; There was Great Pains taken before the Opening of the Parliament, to make Work on't for a Formal Complaint: But the Pretence would not hold Water.  
It will be said at last, that the Book was not Published; And the First Sheet of it Countermanded: To which, I must Answer, That it was Designed to Come out while the Press was at Liberty, which would have put me upon an Aftergame, never to be Recovered. As to the Recalling of the First Sheet, I shall refer the Reader, for the Reasons of it, to my Defence.   
THE END.