UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES ROLF HOFFMANN THE WORKS O F JOHN LOCF^E, Efq; VOL. II. The Second Edition. CONTAINING, Some Confiderations of the Con- fequences of lowering of In tereft, and raifing the Value of Money. In a Letter fent to a Member of Parhament. 1691. Short Obfervations on a printed Paper, entitled, For encouraging the coining Silver Money in Eng-, land, and after for keeping it here. Further Obfervations concerning raifing the Value of Money. Wherein Mr. Lowndes''s Argu- ments for it, in his late Report concerning Jn Effay for the A- mendment of the Silver Coin, are particularly examined. Two Treatifes of Government. In the Former, the falfe Prin- ciples and Foundation of Sir Ro- bert Filmer, and his Followers, are detefted and overthrown. The latter is an Effay concern- ing the true Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government. A Letter concerning Toleration. A Second Letter concerning To- leration. A Third Letter for Toleration : To the Author of the Third Letter concerning Toleration. The Reafonablenefs of Chriftiani- ty, as deliver'd in the Scriptures. A- Vindication of The Reafonablenefs ofChriflianity, from Mr, Edivards''s Reflexions. A Second Vindication of The Rea- fonablenefs of Chrijiianity, LONDON: Printed for Awn sham Churchill. M. dcc. xxii. { i-Tmw^?fW3^. Some Confiderations O F T H E CONSEQUENCES O F T H E Eotoering of fnteteft. AND ^aiCng tje Halue O F MONEY. /// a Letter fent to a Member of Parliament, 1691. 15fc067 ,,5W^>^- -'^' ■f SOME CONSIDERATIONS O F T H E Lowering of Interejl^ AND RAISING //^^ V A L U E O N E Y. S I R, HESE Motion!, concerning Coinage, having for the main, as you know, been put into JVriting above Twelve Months Jince ; as thofe other concerning Intereft, a great deal above fo many Tears : I put them now again into your Hands, zvith a Liberty (Jince you will have itfo ) to communicate them farther, as you pleafe. If, upon a Revieiv, you continue your favourable Opinion of them, and no~ thing lefs than Publifiing will fatisfy you, I muft dejire you to re- member, "That you muft be anfwerable to the World for the Stile ; which is fuch as a Man writes carelefly to his Friend, when he feeks "Truth, not Ornament ; and /Indies only to be in the right, and to be underftood. I have fince you fazu them lafl Tear, met with fotne new ObjeElions in Print, which I have endeavoured to remove; and particularly, I have taken into Conjideration a Printed Sheety entituled. Remarks upon a Paper given in to the Lords, &c. Becaufe one may na- turally fuppofe. That he that was fo much a Patron of that Caufe would omit nothing that could be [aid in favour of it. To this I muft here add. That I am juft now told from Holland, That the States finding themfelves abufed by Coining a vafl Qiian- tity of their bale [^Schillings'] Money, made of their own Ducatoons, and other finer Sih'er, melted down ; have put a (top to the Minting of any but fine Silver Coin, till they fliould fettle their Mint upon a new Foot. / knoiu the Jincere Love and Concern you have for your Country, puts you conflantly upon cafiing about on all hands for any Means to ferve it ; and will not fuffer you to overlook any thing you conceive may be of any the leajl Ufe, though offer d yuu from the meanefl Capaci- ties : Tou could not elfe have put me upon looking out my old Papers concerning the reducing of Intereft to 4 per Cent, zuhich have fo long lain by forgotten. Upon this new Survey of them, I find not my Thoughts now to differ fro7n thofe I had near Twenty Tears Jince : They have to mefiill the Appearance of Truth; mrjljould I otherwife venture them fo much as to your Sight. If my Notions are ivrong, my Intention, I am fare, is right : And what- ever I have failed in, I fl)M at leajl let you fee with what Obedience I am. Nov. 7. S I R, Your moft humble Servant. \^oI. II. SIR, Confiderations of the Loivering of Interefl, SIR, Havefo little Concern in Paying or Receiving of /^to^y?, that were I in no more Danger to be mifled by Inability and Ignorance, than I am to be biaifed by Interefl; and Inclination, I mig'it hope to give you a very perlect and clear Account of the Confccjuences of a Lau', to reduce Interefl to Vcur per Cent. But fince you are pleafed to ask my Opinion, I fliall endeavour fairly to ftate this Matter of L//t' with the befl: of my Skill. The firft thing to be confider'd, is. Whether the Price of the Hire of Money can be regulated by Law. And to that I think, generally fpeaking one may fliy, "cis manilefl it cannot. For fince it's impofliblc, to make a Law that fliall hin- der a Man from giving away his Money orEftate to whom he pleafes, it will be impollible, by any Contrivance of Law, to hinder Men, skill'd in the Power they ha\"e o\er their own Goods, and the Ways of Conveying them to others, to purchafe Money to be lent them at what Rate foever their Occafions fhall make it neceflary for them to have it. For it is to be remembred. That no Mail borrows Money, or pays Ufe, out of n-icre Plcafure : 'Tis the Want of Mo- ney drives Men to that Trouble and Charge of Borrowing : And proportionabiy to this Want, fo will e^■cry one ha\e it, whatever Price it coft him. Wherein the Skilful, I fliy, will always fo manage it, as to avoid the Prohibition of your Laiv, and keep out of its Penalty, do what you can. What then will be the un- avoidable Ccnfequences of fuch a Law ? 1. It will make the Difficulty of Borrowing and Lending much greater; whereby Trade (the Foundation of Riches) will be obflirudted. 2. It will be a Prejudice to none but thole who moft need A-fTifliance and Help, I mean Widows and Orphans, and others uninftrufted in the Arts and Manage- ment of more skilful Men ; whole Eftates lying in Money, they will be fure, cfpccially Orphans, to have no more Profit of their Money, than what Intere(i tlie Law barely allows. ^. It will mightily encreafe the Advantage of Bankers and Scriveners, and other llich expert Brokers : Who skill'd in the Arts of putting out Money accor- ding to the true and natural Value, which the prefent State of Trade, Money aiKl Debts, fliall always raiCc Imerifl to, they will infallibly get, what the true Value of Interefl fliall be, above the Legal. For Men rinding the Convenience of l.'xiging tlieir Money in Hands, where they can be lure of it at fliort Warning, the Ignorant and Lazy will be forwardefl: to put it into thefe Mens hands, ^vho arc known willingly to receive it, and -ivhere they can readily have the whole, or a part, upon any fudden Occafion, tliat may call for it. 4. I fear I may reckon it as one of the pj'obable Confequenccs of fuch a Law, That it is likely to caufe great Perjury in tb.e Nation ; a Crime, than which no- thing is more carefully to be prevented by Law-makers, not only by Penalties, that fliall attend apparent and proved Perjury ; but by ^^voiding and leflening as much as may be, the Temptations to it. For where thole are flrong, (as they are where Men fliall fwear for their own Advantage) there the fear of Penalties to follow will have little Reftraint ; efpecially if the Crime be hard to be pro- ved. All which I iuppoic will happen in this Cafe, v^^here Ways will be found out to receive I^loney upon other Pretences than for Ufe, to evade the Rule and Rigour of the Law : And there will be fecret Trufts and Collufions amongft !Men, that though they may be luipettcd, can never be proved ^vithout their own Confeflion. I have heard \ery fober and obiening Perfons complain oi the Dan- ger Mens Lives and Properties arc in, by the Frequency and Fafliionablenefs- of Perjury amongft us. Faith and Truth, efpecially in ail Occafions ot^attefiing it upon the folemn Appeal to Heaven by an Oath, is tlie great Bond or Soci-ety : This it becomes the Wiiuom of Magiftrates carefully to fupport, and render as facred and a\vful in the Jilinds of the People as they can. But if ever Frequency of Oaths fliall make thein be looked on as Formalities of Law, or the Cuitom of ftrainin^ and Raifing the Value of Money. flr.niring of Truth (which Mcn.s fu'caring in ilicir own Cnfes is npt to lead them to) has once dipt Men in Perjury, and the Guilt with the Temptation has fpread it felf very wide, and made it ahnoft faflaionabic in feme Cafes, it will be impofliblc for the Society (thefc Bonds being diflolvcd) to fubfift. All muft break in Pieces and run to ConfulioiT. 'I'hat fwcaring in their own Cafes is apt, by degrees, to lead Men into as little Regard of fuch Oaths, as they have of their ordinary Talk, 1 think there is reafon to fufpect, from what has been obfervcd in ibmething of that kind. Mafiers of Ships are a fort of Men generally indu- ftrious and fober, and I fuppofe may be thought, for their 'Number and Rank, to be equally honeft to any other fort of Men : And yet, by the Difcourfe I have had with Merchants in other Countries, I iind. That they think in thofc Parts, they take a great Liberty in their Cuflom-houfe Oaths, to tiiat degree, that I remember I was once told, in a trading Town beyond Sea, of a Mafter of a Vcf- iel, there efteemed a fober and fair Man, who yet could not hold faying, Co<^/o;-- bid that a Q/ftojn-hoi/fe Oath jlmild be a Sin. 1 fay not this to malcc any Reflection upon a fort of Men, that I think as uncorrupt as any other; and who, I am fure, ought, in England, to be cherilhed and eReemed as t!ie moft induftrious and moft beneficial of any of its Subjefts. But I could not forbear to give this here as an Inftance, how dangerous a Temptation it is, to bring Men cuftoma- riiy to fwear, where they may have any Concernment of their own. And it ivill always be worthy the Care and Confideration of Law-makers, to keep up the Opinion of an Oath high and facred, as it ought to be, in the Minds of the People ; which can never be done, where frequency of Oaths, biali'ed by Lite- reft, has cftabliflit a Neglecl of theni ; and tafliicn (^vhich it fcldom fails to do) has given Countenance to vvhat Profit rewards. Bvit that Law cannot keep Men from taking more t7/e than you fet (the Want of Money being that alone which regulates its Price) will pei'haps appear, if we confider how hard it is to fet a Price upon Wine or Silks, or other unneceflary Commodities ; but how impoffible it is to fet a Rate upon Viftuals in a Time of Famine. For Money being an univerflil Commodity, and as necelTary to Trade, as Food is to Lite, every Body muft have it, at what Rate they can get it ; and unavoidably pay dear when it is fcarce, and Debts, no lefs than Trade, have made Borrowing in Fafliion. The Bankers arc a clear Liftance of this : For Ibme Years lince, the Scarcity of Money having made it in England worth really more than Six per Cent, moft of thofe that had not the Skill to let it for more than Six per Cent, and fecure themfelves from the Penalty of the Law, put it in the Bankers Hands, where it w-as ready at their Call, when they had an Opportunity of greater Improvement. So that the Rate you fet, profits not the Lenders, and very lew of the Borrowers, who arc fain to pay the Price for Money, that Commodity would bear, were it left free ; and the Gain is only to the Banker. And Ihould you lelfen the Ufe to Four per Cent, the Merchant, or Tradefman, that borrows, would not have it one jot cheaper, than he has now; but probably thcfe two ill Effects would follow. Elrf7, 'Jliat he would pay dearer; and Secondly, That there would be lefs Money left in the Country to drive the Trade. For the Bankers paying at moft but Four per Cent, and receiving from Six to Ten per Cent, or more, at that low Rate could be content to have more Money lie dead by them, than now when it is higher : By which !Means there would be lets Money ftirring in Trade, and a greater Scarcity ; which would raife it upon the Borrower by this Monopoly. And what a part of our Trenfure their Skill and Management, join'dwith others Lazinefs or Want of Skill, is apt to draw into their Hands, is to be known by thofe vaft Sums of Money, they were found to owe at tl^e fliuttingup of the Exehequer. And though it be very true, yet it is almoft beyond Belief, That one private Gokifmith o't London fliould have Credit upon his fingle Security, (being ufualiy nothing but a Note under one of his Servants Hands) tor above Eleven hundred thouland Pounds at once. The fame Reafons, I tuppofe, will ftill keep on the lltme Trade : And ^vhen you have taken it down by Law to that Rate, no Body n'ill think of having more than Vowr per Cent, of the Banker, though thofe who have need of Money to employ it in I'rade, will not then, any more than now, get it under Five or Six, or as fome pay. Seven or Eight. And if they had then, -when the Law per- mitted Men to make more Profit of their Money, ib large a Proportion of the Cafli Confiderations of the Loivering of Inter eft, Cafli of the Nation in their Hands, who can think, but that by this Law it lliould be more driven into Lombard-jlreet now? there being many now wlio lend them at Four or Five per Cent, who will not lend to others at Six. It would therefore perhaps, bring down the Rate of Money to the Borrower, and cer- tainly diflribute it better to the Advantage of Trade in the Country, if the legal Ufe, were kept pretty near to the natural ; (by natural Ufe, I mean that Rateof Money which the prelcnt Scarcity of it makes it naturally at, upon an equal Diflribution of it) for then Men being licenfed by tlie Law to take near the full natural ufe, will not be forward to carry it to London, to put it into the Bankers Hands ; but will lend it to their Neighbours in the Country, where it is convenient for Trade it fliould be. But if you leffen the Rate of Ufe, the Len- der, whole Intereft it is to keep up the Rate of Money, will rather lend it to the Banker, at the legal hiterefl, than to the Tradefman or Gentleman, who whea the Law is broken, fhall be fure to pay the full natural Interefl, or more ; be- caufe of the IngrofTingby the Banker, as well as the Rifque in tranfgrefJing the Law : Whereas vVere the natural Ufe, fuppofe Seven per Cent, and the legal Si.\ ; Fiiil, the Owner would not venture the Penalty of the Law for the gaining one in Seven, that being the utmoft his Money would yield : Nor would the Banker venture to borrow, where his Gains would be but One per Cent, nor the Mo- ney'd Man lend him, what he could make better Profit of legally at Home. All the Danger lies in this. That your Trade fhould fuffer if your being behind- hand has made the natural Ufe lb high, that your Tradefman cannot live upon his Labour, but that your rich Neighbours will fo under-fell you, that the Re- turn you make will not amount to pay the Ufe and afford a Livelihood. There is no way to recover from this, but by a general Frugality and Induftry ; or by being Mailers of the Trade of fome Coihmodity, which the World muft have from you at your Rate, becaufe it cannot be otherwhere fupplied. Novv^, I think, the natural Interefl of Money is raifed two Ways : Firfl, When the Money of a Country is but little in Proportion to the Debts of the Inhabi- tants one amongft another. For fuppofe Ten thoufand Pounds were fufficient to manage the Trade of Bermudus, and that the Ten firft Planters carried over Twenty thoufand Pounds, which they lent to the feveral Tradefmen and Inha- bitants of the Country, who living above their Gains, had fpent Ten thoufand Pounds of this Money, and it were gone out of the Ifland. "Tis evident, that ihould all the Creditors at once call in their Money, there would be a great Scarcity of Money, when that employed in Trade muft be taken out of the Tradefmens Hands to pay Debts ; or elfe the Debtors want Money, and be ex^ pofed to their Creditors, and fo Intereft will be high. But this feldom happening, that all or the greateft part of the Creditors do at once call for their Money, unlefs it be in fome great and general Danger, is lefs and feldomer felt^ than the following, un- lefs where the Debts of the People are grown to a greater Proportion ; for that conftantly caufing more Borrowers than there can be Lenders, will make Money fcarce, and confequently Intereft high. Secondly, That which conftantly raifes the natural Interefl of Money, is, when Money is little in Proportion to the Trade of a Country. For in Trade every Body calls for Money according as he wants it, and this Difproportion is always felt. For if Engl {flymen owed in all but One Mil- lion, and there were a Million of Money in England, the Money would be well enough proportioned to the Debts : But if Two Millions were neceflary to car- ry on the Trade, there would be a Million wanting, and the Price or Money would be raifed, as it is of any other Commodity in a Market, where the Mer- chandize will not ferve half the Cuftomers, andthere are two Buyers tor one Seller. "Tis in vain therefore to go about efteftually to reduce the Price of Intereft by a Law ; and you may as rationally hope to fet a fixt Rate upon the Hire of Houfes, or Ships, as of Money. He that wants a Veflel, rather than lofe his Market, will not ftick to ha\ c it at the Market-Rate, and find Ways to do it, with Security to the Owner, though the Rate were limited by Law : And he that wants Mo- ney, rather than lole his Voyage, or his Trade, will pay the natural Intereft for it ; and I'ubmit to fuch Ways of Conveyance, as fnall keep the Lender out of the reach of the Law. So that your Aft at beft, will ferve only to increafe the Arts of Lending, but not at all leffen the Charge of the Borrower : He, 'tis likely, fhall vvJth more Trouble, and going farther about, pay alfo the more for his Money ; and Raijing the Value of M o n e y.' Money ; unlefs you intend to break in only upon Mortgages and Contracts alrea- dy made, and (which is not to be fuppoied) by a Law, popfaffum, void Bargains lawfully made, and give to Richard what is Peter's Due, for no other Reafon, but becaufe one was Borrower, and the other Lender. But fuppofing the Law reach'd the Intention of the Promoters of it ; and that this Aft be fo contriv'd, that it forced the Natural Price of Money, and hin- dred its being by any Body lent at a higher Ufe, than Four Found per Cent, which is plain it cannot. Let us in the next Place fee what will be the Confcquenccs of it 1. It will be a Lofs to Widows, Orphans, and all thofe who have their Eftates in Mopey, one third of their Eftates : which will be a very hard Cafe upon a great Kumber of People, and it is warily to be confider'd by the Wifdom of the Nation, whether they will thus at one Blow, fine and impovcrifh a great and innocent Part of the People, who having their Eftates in Money, have as much Right to make as much of their Money as it is worth, (for more they cannot ) as the Landlord has to let his Land for as much as it will yield. To fine Men one Third of their Eftates, without any Crime or Oftence committed, leems very hard. 2. As ifc win be a confiderable Lofs and Injury to the money'd Man, fo it will be no Advantage at all to the Kingdom. For fo Trade be not cramp'd, and the Exportation of our native Commodities and Manufactures not hindred, it will be no matter to the Kingdom, who amongft our felves gets or lofes : Only common Charity teaches, that thofe fhould be moft taken care of by the Law, who are leaft capable of taking care for themfelves. 3. It will be a Gain to the borrowing Merchant. Foi" if he borrow at Faurper Cent, and his Returns be Twelve per Cent, he will have Eight per Cent, and the Lender Four; Whereas now they divide the Profit equally at S\x per Cent. But this neither gets nor lofes the Kingdom in your Trade, fuppofing the Merchant and Lender to be both EngHj]:imen : Only it will, as I have laid, transfer a third Part of the money'd Man's Eftate, who has nothing elfe to live on, into the Mer- chant's Pocket i and that without any Merit in the one, or TranfgrefTion in the other. Private Men's Interefts ought not thus to be neglefted, nor facrificed to any thing but the manifeft Advantage of the Publick. But in this Cafe it will be quite the contrary. This Lofs to the money'd Men will be a Prejudice to Trade : Since it will difcourage lending at fuch a Difproportion of Profit, to Rifque; as we fhall fee more by and by, when we come to confider of what Confequence it is to encourage Lending, that fo none of the Money of the Nation may lie dead, and thereby prejudice Trade. 4. It will hinder Trade. For there being a certain Proportion of Money ne- ceflary for driving fuch a Proportion of Trade, fo much Money of this as lies ftill, lefl'ens fo much of the Trade. Now it cannot be rationally expefted, but that where the Venture is great, and the Gains fmall, (as it is in Lending in England upon low Intereft) many will chufe rather to hoard up their Money, than ven- ture it abroad on fuch Terms. This will be a Lofs to the Kingdom, and fuch a Lofs, as here in England, ought chiefly to be looked after : For ive having no Mines, nor any other Way of getting, or keeping of Riches amongft us, but by Trade, fo much of our Trade as is loft, fo much of our Riches muft necefiarily go with it ; and the over-ballancing of Trade between us and our Neighbours, muft inevitably carry away our Money, and quickly leave us poor, and expofed. Gold and Silver, though they ferve for few, yet they command all the Conveni- ences of Life, and therefore in a Plenty of them confifts Riches. Every one knows, that Mines alone furnifli tliefe : But withal 'tis obfeiTable, that moft Countries ftored with them by Nature are poor. The digging and refining of thefe Metals taking up the Labour, and wafting the Number of the People. For which Reafon the wife Policy of the Chinefe will not futfer the Mines they have to be wrought. Nor indeed, things rightly confidered, do Gold and Silver drawn out of the Mine equally enrich, with what is got by Trade. He that would make the lighter Scale preponderate to the oppofite, will not fo foon do it, by adding encreafe of new Weight to the emptier, as if he took out of the heavier what he adds to the lighter, for then half fo much will do it. Riches do not confift in having more Gold and Silver, but in having more in Proportion, tlian the reft of the World, or than our Neighbours, ivlierebv 8 Considerations of the Lowering of Jnlerejl, whereby we are enabled to procure to our fclves a greater Plenty of the Convc- nicncicsof Life, than comes within the Reach of Neighbouring Kingdoms and States, who, fliaring the Gold and Siher oi the World in a Icfs Proportion, want the Means of Plenty and Power, and lb arc poorer. Nor would they be one jot the richer, if, by tlie Difcovery of new Mines, the Qiiantity of Gold and Silver in the World becoming twice as much as it is, their Shares of them fliould be doubled. By Gold and Silver in the World, 1 muft be undcrftood to mean, not what lies hid in the Earth j but what is already out of the Mine in the Hands and Poneflions of Men. This, il well confider'd, would be no fmall En- couragement to Trade, which is a furcr and fliorter Way to Riches than any other, Avhere it is managed with Skill and Induftry. In a Country notfurniflied with Mines there are but two Ways of growing rich, either Conqueft or Commerce. By the firft the Ro7n,v:s made themfelves Mailers of the Riches of the World ; but I think that in our prcfent Circum- llances, no Body is vain enough to entertain a Thought of our reaping the Profits of the World with our Swords, and making the Spoil and Tribute of van- quiflicd Nations, the Fund for the Supply of the Charges of the Government, with an Overplus for the Wants, and equally craving Luxury, and fafhionable Vanity of the People. Commerce therefore is the only Way left to us, cither for Riches or Subfi- flence : For this the Advantages of our Situation, as well as the Induftry and Inclination of our People, bold and skillful at Sea, do naturally fit us : By this the Nation of £;;^//z?z// has been hitherto fupported, and Trade left almoft to it ielf^ and affifted only by the natural Advantages above-mentioned, brought us in Plenty and Riches, and always fet this Kingdom in a Rank equal, if not fuperior to any of its Neighbours; and would, no doubt, without any Difficulty have continued it fo, if the more enlarged, and better underftood Intcreft of Trade, fnice the Improvement of Navigation, had not raifed us many Rivals ; and the amazing Politicks of fome late Reigns, let in other Competitors with us for the Sisa, who will be fure to fieize to themfelves whatever Parts ol Trade our Mifmanagment, or Want of Money, fhall let flip out of our Hands : And when it is once loft, "twill be too late to hope, by a miftim'd Care, eafily to retrieve it again. For the Curreuts of Trade, like thofe of Waters, make themfelves Channels, out of which they arc afterwards as hard to be diverted, as Rivers that have worn themfelves deep ivithin their Banks. Trade then is necellary to the producing of Riches, and Money neccflliry to the carrying en of Trade. This is principally to be looked after and taken Care of. For if this be negleded, we fhall in vain, by Contrivances amongft our felves, and lliulYiing the little Money we have from one anothcrs Hands, endeavour to prevent our Wants :. Decay of Trade will quickly wafte all the Remainder ; and thcji the Landed-Man, who thinks perhaps by the Fall ox lateycfl to raifc the Value of his Land, will find himfelf cruelly miftaken, when the Money being gone, (as it ^vill be if our Trade be not kept up) he can get neither Farmer to rent, nor Purchafer to buy his Land. Whatfoever therefore hinders the Lending of Money, injures Trade: And fo the reducing of Money to V o\xy fer Cent, which will dif- courage Men from lending, will be a Lofs to the Kingdom, in flopping fo much of the Current of Money, which turns the Wheels of Trade. But all this upon a Suppofition, that the Lender and Borrower are both EyiglijJymen. If the Lender be a Foreigner, by lefi'ening Interefl from Six to Four, you get to tlie Kingdom one third Part of the Interefl we pay yearly to Foreigners : Which let any one if he pleafe think ccnfiderable. But then,upon lelfening Interefl to Four pr Cent, it is likely one of thefe things will happen. That either you fall the Price of your Native Commodities, or lelfen your Trade, or elfe prevent not the high Vfe as you intended. For at the time of leflening your Interefl, you -want Mo- ney for your Trade, or you do not. If you do not, there is no need to prevent borrowing at a high Rate of your Neighbours. For no Country borrows of its Neighbours, but where there is need of Money for Trade : No Body will borrow more of a Foreigner to let it lie ft.ill. And if you do want Money, Neceflity will flill make you borrow where you can, and at the Rates your Neceffity, not }our Laws, fliall let : Or elfe, if there be Scarcity of Money, it muft hinder the Merchant's Buying and Exportation, and the Arcilan's Manuftidure. Now the Kingdom and Raijing the Value of Money. Kingdom gets or lofcs by this (for no queftion the Merchant by lo;v Inteyeft gets all the while) only proportionably (allowing the Coniumption of Foreign Com- modities to be ftill the fame) as the paying of Ufe to Foreigners carries away more or lefs of our Money, than want of Money and flopping our Trade keeps us from bringing in, by hindring our Gains, which ci;i be only eftimated by thofc, who know how mucii Money we borrow of Foreigners, and at what Rate; and too, what Profit in Trade we make oF that Money. Borrowing of Foreigners upon Imerefi it's true carries away fome of our Gain : But yet, upon Examination it will be found, that our gnnving Rich or Poor depends i ot at all upoa our borrowing upon Imcr:Jl or not; but only which is greater or lefs, our Importation or Exportation of confumable Commodities. For fuppoling two Millions of Money will drive the Trade of Ew^/^w^, and that we have Money enough ol our own to do it ; if wo. confume of our own Produd; and Manuiacture, and what we purchafe by it of Foreign Commodities, one Mil- lion, but of the other Million confume nothing, but make a Return of Ten per Cent, per Ann. we muft then every Year be one hundred thouland Pounds Richer, and our Stock be fo much Encreaft : Eut if we import more confumable Commo- dities than we export, our Money muft go out to pay for tiiem, and we grow poorer. Suppofe therefore ill Husbandry had brought us to One Million Stock, and we borrow the other Million (as we muft, or lofe half our Trade) at Six per Cerit. If we confume one Moiety, and make ftill Ten per Cent, per Ann. Keturn of the other Million, the Kingdom gets forty tlioufand Pounds /'i'r ^«k. though it pay fixty thoufand Pound per Ann. Uje. So that if the Merchant's Return be more than his Ufe, (which 'tis certain it is, or elfe he will not Trade) and all that is fo Traded for on borrowed Money be but the over-balance of our Expor- tation to our Importation, the Kingdom gets by this Borrowing fomuch as the Merchant's Gain is above his Ufe. But if we borrow only for our own Expences, we grow doubly poor, by paying Money for the Commodity we confume, and Ufe for that Money ; though the Merchant gets all this while, by making Re- turns greater than his Ufe. And therefore borrowing of Foreigners in it felf makes not the Kingdom rich or poor; for it may do either: But fpending more than our Fruits or Manufoftures will pay for, brings in Poverty, and Poverty Bor- rowing. ' For Money, as neceflary to Trade, may be doubly confidered. Firft, as in his Hands that pays the Labourer and Landholder, (for here its Motion terminates, and through whole Hands fcever it pafl'es between thefe, he is but a Broker) and if this Man want Money, (as for Example, the Clothier) the Manufacture is not made ; and fo the Trade ftops, and is loft. Or Secondly, Money may be con- fidered as in the Hands of the Confumer, under which Name I here reckon the Merchant who buys the Commodity when made to export : And if he want Money, the Value of the Commodity when made is leflened, and fo the Kingdom lofes in the Price. If therefore Ufe be leflened, and you cannot tie Foreigners to your Terms, then the ill Effefts will fall only upon your Landholders and Artifins: If Foreigners can be forc'd by your Law to Lend you Money only at your own Rate, or not Lend at all, is it not more likely they will rather take it home, and think it fafer in their own Country at Four per Cent, than abroad in a decaying Country ? Nor can their overplus of Money bring them to Lend to you, on your Terms : For when your Merchants Want of Money fliall have fiuik the Price o£ your Market, a.Duncbman will find it more Gains to buy your Commodity him-~ felf, than Lend his Money at Four per Cent, to an Englifl} Merchant to Trade with. Nor will the A<5t of Navigation hinder their coming, by making them come empty, fince even already there are thofe who think, that many, who go for EtigUfl) Merchants, are but Dutch Faftors, and Trade for others in their own Names. The Kingdom therefore will lofe by this lowering of Imerefi, if it makes Foreigners withdraw any of their Money, as well as if it hinders any of your People from Lending theirs, where Trade has need of it. In a Treatife writ on purpofe for the bringing down of luterefl, I find this Ar- gument of Foreigners calling away their Money to the Prejudice of our Trade, tlius Anfwer'd, T'hat the Money of Foreigners, is not brought into the Land by ready Coin or Bullion, but by Goods or Bills of Exchange, and when it it paid mujl be returned hy Goods or Bills of Exchange ; and there -will not be the lefs Money in the Land. I could Vol. II. B not 10 Conjiderations of the Loivering of Interefly riot but wonder to fee a Man, who undertook to write of Money and Interefl, talk fo direiftly bcfides the Matter in the Bufinefs of Trade. Foreigners Money, he fays, is not brought into the Land by ready Coin or Bullion, but by Goods, or Bills oj Exchange. How thendo we come by Bullion or Money ? For Gold grows not, tliat I know, in our Country, and Silver fo little, that one hundred thoufandth Part of the Silver we have now in England, was not drawn out ol any Mines in tins Ifland. If he means that the Monied Man in Holland, who puts out his Money at Intei-efi here, did not fend it over in Bullion or Specie hither : Tiiat may be true or falic ; but either way helps not that Author's Purpofe. For if he paid his Money to a Merchant his Neighbour, and took his Bills for it here \n England, he did the fame thing as if he had fent over that Money, fince he does but make that MercJiant leave in England the Money wliich he has due to him there, and otiierwife wculd carry away. No, fays our Author, he cannot carry it away, for, fays he, when it is Paid it niufl be returned by Goods, or Bills oj Exchange. It muft not be paid and expor- ted in ready Money, fo fays cur Law indeed, but that is a Law to hedge in the Cookoe, and ferves to no Purpofe. For if we export not Goods, for which our Merchants have Money due to them in Holland, How can it be paid by Bills of Ex- change ? And for Goods, one hundred pounds worth of Goods can no where pay two hundred pounds in Money. This being that which I find many Men deceive themfelves with in Trade, it may be worth while to make it a little plainer. Let us fuppofe Ek^/c/k^ peopled as it is now ; and its Woollen Manufacture in the fame State and Perfection, that it is at prefent ; and that we, having no Mo- ney at all. Trade with this our Woollen Manufafture for the value of two hundred thoufand pounds yearly to Spain, where there actually is a Million in Money : Farther let us fuppofe that we bring back from Spain yearly in Oil, Wine and Fruit, to the value of one hundred thoufand pounds, and continue to do this Tea Years together: 'Tis plain we have had for our two Millions value in Woollen Manufacture carried thither, one Million returned in Wine, Oil, and Fruit : But what is become of t'other Million ? Will the Merchants be content to lofe it ? That you may be fure they would not, nor have traded on, if they had not every Year Returns made anfwering their Exportation. How then nere the Returns made ? In Money it is evident. For the Spaniards having in fuch a Trade, na Debts, nor the poflibility of any Debts m England, cannot pay one Farthing of that other Million by Bills of Exchange : And having no Commodities that we will take off above the value of one hundred thoufand pounds /;£>;' Annum, they can- not pay us in Commodities. From whence it neceflarily follows, that the hun- dred thoufand pounds per Ann. wherein we over-balance them in Trade, muft be paid us in Money ; and fo at the Ten Years end, their Million of Money, (though their Law make it Death to export it) will be all brought into England ; as in Truth, by this over-balance of Trade, the greateft part of our Money hath been brought into England out of Spain. Let us fuppofe our felves now poflefled of this Million of Money ; and export- ing yearly out of England, to the feveral Pans of the World, confumable Com- modities to the value of a Million, but Importing yearly in Commodities, which we confume amongft us to the value of eleven hundred thoufand pounds. If fuch a Trade as this be managed amongft us, and continue Ten Years, it is evident, that our Million of Money will at the end of the Ten Years be inevitably all gone from us to them, by the lame way that it came to us ; that is, by their over-ba- lance of Trade, for we importing every Year one hundred thoufand pounds worth of Commodities more than we export, and there being no Foreigners that will give us one hundred thoufand pounds every Year for nothing, it is unavoidable, that one hundred thoufand pounds of our Money muft go out every Year to pay for that over-plus, which our Commodities do not pay foi". ^Tis ridiculous to fay, that Bills of Exchange fliall pay our Debts abroad : 'J'hat cannot be, till Scrips of Paper can be made current Coin. The Englijl) Merchant, who has no Money owing him abroad, cannot expert to have his Bills paid there. Or if he has Credit enough with a Correfpondent, to have his Bills anfwered ; this pays none of the Debt of England, but only changes the Creditor. And if upon the general Balance of Trade, Englijl) Merchants owe to Foreigner one hundred thoufand pounds, or a Million, if Commodities do not, our Kloney muft go out to pay it, or clfe our Credit be loft, and our Trade ftop, and be loft too. A King- and Raijing the Value of Mo neY, ii A Kingdom grows rich or poor, juft as a Farmer doth, and no othcrwife. Let us fuppolc the whole Ifle of Portland one Farm ; and that the Oivner, bcfidcs wiiat I'crves his Family, carries to Market to JVeymmth and Dorchcfle,-, (jc. Cattle, Corn, Butter, Cheefe, Wool or Cloth, Lead and Tin, all Commodities produced and wrought within hi's Farm of Portland, to the value of a thouflind pounds yearly; and for this, brings home in Salt, Wine, Oil, Spice, Linneu and Silks, to the value of nine hundred pounds,and the remaining imndred pounds in Money. 'Tis evident he grows every Year a hundred pounds riclier, and lb at the end of ten Years will have clearly got a ihoufand pounds. If the Owner be a better Husband, and contenting himlelf with his native Commodities, buy lei's Wine, Spice, and Silk, at Market, and fo bring home five hundred pounds \\\ Money yearly, inftead of a thoufand pounds, at the end of ten Years, he will have five thoufand pounds by him, and be fo much richer. He dies, and his Son fuc- ceeds, a faHiionable young Gentleman, that cannot dine without Cha7npane and Burgundy, nor fleep but in a Damask Bed; whofe Wife muft fpread a long Train of Brocard, and his Children be always in the neweft French Cut and Stuff. He- being come to the Eftate, keeps on a very bufie Family ; the Markets are week- ly frequented, and the Commodities of his Farm carried out, aud fold, as for- merl)', but the Returns are made fomething different; the lafliionable Way of Eating, Drinking, Furniture and Clothing for himfelf and Family, requires more Sugar and Spice, Wine and Fruit, Silk and Ribons, than in his Father's time ; fo that inftead of nine hundred pounds /;er Annuin, he now brings home of confumable Commodioies, to the value of eleven hundred pounds jearly. What comes of this ? He lives in Splendor, 'tis true, but this unavoidably carries away the Money his Father got, and he is every Year an hundred pounds poorer. To his Expcnces, beyond his Income, add Debauchery, Idlenefs, and Qtiarrels amonglt his Servants, whereby his Manuflxftures are dillurbed, and iiis Bufinefs neglected, and a general Diforder and Confufion through his whole Family and Farm : This will tumble him down the Hill the fafter, and the Stock, which the Induftry, Frugality, and good Order of his Father had laid up, will be quickly brought to an end, and he faft in Prifon. A Farm and a Kingdom in this refpeft differ no more than as greater and lefs. We may Trade, and'be bufie, and grow poor by it, unlefs we regulate our Expences ; if to this we are idle, negligent, diflioneft, malicious, anddifturb the Sober and Induftrious in their Bufinefs, let it be upon what Pretence it will, we fliall ruine the fafter. So that whatever this Author, or any one elfe may fay. Money is brought into England hy nothing but fpending here lefs of foreign Commodities, tlian what ^ve carry to Market can pay for ; nor can Debts we owe to Foreigners be paid by Bills of Exchange, till our Commodities exported, and fold beyond Sea, have produced Money or Debts due there, to fome of our Merchants. For nothing will pay Debts but Money or Money's n'onh, which three or four lines writ in Paper can- not be. Jf fuch Bills have an intrinfick Value, and can ferve inftead of Money, why do we not fend them to Market inftead of our Cloth, Lead and Tin, and at an eafier Rate purchafe the Commodities we want ? All that a Bill of Exchange can do, is to direft to whom Money due, or taken up upon Credit in a foreign Country, fhall be paid : and if we trace it, we fhall find, that what is owing al- ready, became fo lor Commodities or Money carried from hence : and if it be taken up upon Credit, it muft (let the Debt be fhifted from one Creditor to ano- ther as often as j-ou will) at laft be paid by Money or Goods, carried from hence^ or elfe the Merchant here muft turn Banknapt. We have feen how Riches and Money are got, kept, or loft, in any Country; and that is by confuming lefs of foreign Commodities tlian what by Commodities or Labour is paid lor. I'his is in the ordinary Courfe of Things : but where great Annies and Alliances are to be maintained abroad by Supplies fent out oi any Country, there often, by a fhorter and more fenfible Way, the Treafure is dimi- nifhed. But this fincc the holy War, or at leaft fince the Improvement of Navi- gation and Trade, fcldom happening to England, whofe Princes have found the enlarging their Power by Sea, and the fecuring our Navigation and Trade, more the Intereft of this Kingdom than Wars or Conquefts on the Continent ; Expences in Arms beyond Sea have had little Inlluence on our Riclies or Po\erty. The next Thing to be confidered, is, how Money is necellary to Trade. Vol. n. ■ R : Tlie I z Conjide rat ions of the Lowering of Inter efl^ The Neceflity of a certain Proportion of Money to I'rade, (I conceive) lies in this, That Money in its Circulation driving the feVeral Wheels of Trade, whilll it keeps in that CJlianncl (for fome of it will unavoidably be drcined into fl;\nd- ing Pools) is all fliared between the Landholder, whole Laiul affords the Materi- als; the Labourer, who works them; the Broker, (i.e.) Merchant and Shop- keeper, who diftributes them to thofe that ^vant them ; and the Confumer, who fpcnds them. Now Money is necefi'ary to all thefe forts of Men, as ferving both for Counters and for Pledges, and fo carrying with it even Reckoning, and Secu- rity, that he, that receives it, fhall have the fame Value for it again, of other Thiiigs that he wants, whenever he pleafes. The one of thefe it does by its Stamp and Denomination ; the other by its intrinfick Value, ivhich is ks Q/iamity. For M:^nkind, having confente<;l to put an imaginary Value upon Gold and Sil- ver by reafon of their Durablencfs, Scarcity, and not being very liable to be counterfeited, have made them, by general Confent, the common Pledges, where- by Men are allured, in Exchange for them to receive equally valuable Things to thofe they parted with for any quantity of thefe Metals. By which Means it comes to pais, i:h;it the intrinfick Value regarded in thefe Metals made the common Bar- ter, is nothing but the quantity vvhich Men give or receive of them. For they having as Money no other Value, but as Pledges to procure, what one wants or defires; and they procuring what we want or deiire, only by their ^Ki7Km;', 'tis evident, that the intrinfick Value of Silver and Gold ufed in Commerce is nothing but their quantity. The Nereffity therefore of a Proportion of Money to Trade, depends on Money not as Counters, for the Reckoning may be kept, or transferred by Writing; but on Money as a Pledge, which Writing cannot fupply the place of: Since the Bill, Bond, or other Note of Debt, I receive from one Man, will not be accepted as Security by another, he not knowing that the Bill or Bond is true or legal, or that the Man bound to me is honeft or refponfible ; and fo is not valuable enough to become a current Pledge, nor can by publick Authority be well made fo, as in the Cafe of alEgning of Bills. Becaufe a Law cannot give to Bills that intrinfick Value, which the univerf;il Confent of Mankind has annexed to Silver and Gold. And hence Foreigners can never be brougiit to take your Bills, or Writings for any part of Paym.ent, though perhaps they might pafs as valuable Conliderations among your own People,did not this very much hinder it, i}iz.. 'I'hat they are liable to unavoidable Doubt, Difpute, and Counterfeiting, and require other Proofs, to ufi'urc us that they are true and good Security, than our Eyes or a Touchflone. And at beft thisCourfe, if prafticable, will nothinder us from bcingPoor; butmay be fufpeded to help to make us fo, by keeping us from feeling our Poverty, Vv'hich in Diftrefs.irill be fure to find us with greater Difidv'antage. Though it be certain it is better than fettijig any part of our Trade fall for want of current Pledges ; and better too than borrowing Money of our Neighbours upon L//t', if his way of align- ing Bills can be made fo eafie, fafe and univerlal at home, as to hinder it. To return to the Bufinefs in hand, and fhen' theNeceffity of a Proportion of Aloney to T'rade. Every Man muft have at leaft fo much Money, or fo timely Recruits, as may in hand, or in a fliort diftance of Time, latisfy his Creditor who fupplies him with the Neceflaries of Life, or of his Trade. For no Body has any longer thefe neceflary Supplies, than he has Money, or Credit, which is nothing elfe but an an affurance of Money in fome fliort time. So that it is requifite to Trade that there fliould be fo much Money, as to keep up the Landholders, Labourers and Brokers Credit : and therefore ready Money muft be conftantly exchang'd for Wares and Labour, or follow within a Ihort time alter. This fhews the Neceffity of iome Proportion of M.ney to Trade ; But what Pro- portion that is, is hard to determine ; becaufe it depends not barely on the Qtian- tity of Money, but the Quicknefs of its Circulation. The very fame Shilling may at one time pay twenty Men in twenty Days, at another, reft in the lame hands one hundred Days togetlier.This makes it impolUble exactly to eftimate the Quan- tity of Money needml in Trade : But to make fome probable guefs, we are to confider, how nuich Money it is necelfary to fuppofe muft reft conftantly in each Man's Hands, as requifite to the carrying on of Trade. Firft therefore the Labourers, living generally but from Hand to Mouth, and indeed, confidered as Labourers in order to Trade, may -well enough carry on their and Raijing the Value of Mo '^ ey. i ^ their Part, if they have but Money enough to buy Viftuals, Cloaths and Tools : All which may very well be provided, without any great Sum of Money lying fiill in their Hands. The Labourers therefore, being ufually paid once a Week, (if the Times of Payment be feldomer, there muft be more Money for the carry- ing on this Part of Trade) we may fuppofe there is conftantly amongft them, one with another, or thofe who are to pay them, always one Weeks Wages in rea- dy Money. For it cannot be thought, that all, or moft of the Labourers pay away a!) their Wages conftantly, as foon as they receive it, and live upon Truft till next Pay-Day." This the Fanner and Tradcfman could not ivell bear, vvere it every Labourers^s Cafe, and every one to be trufted : And therefore they muft of neceflity keep fome Money in their Hands, to go to ^.larkct for Viftuals, and to other Tradefmen as poor as themfelves, for Tools ; and lay up Money too to buy Clonths, or pay for thofe they bought upon Credit. Which Money thus necefiarily refting in their Hands, we cannot imagine to be, one with anothei", much Icfs than a Weeks Wages, that muft be in their Pockets, or ready in the Farmer's Hands. For he who employs a Labourer at a Shilling /(?;■ Day, and pays him on Saturday Nights, cannot be fuppofcd conftantly to receive that fix Shillings juft the fame Saturday: It muft ordinarily be in his Hands one time with another, if not a whole Week, yet feveral Days before. This was the ordinary Courfe, whilft we had Money running in the feveral Channels of Commerce : But that now very much failing, and the Farmer not having Money to pay the Labourer, fupplies him with Corn, which in this great Plenty the Labourer will have at his own Rate, or elfe not take it oft' his Hands for Wages. And as for the Workmen, who ai'e employed in our Manufaftures, efpecially the Woollen one, thefe the Clothier, not having ready Money to pa}-, furni/lies with the Neceftaries of Life, and fo trucks Commodities for Work, which, fuch as they are, good or bad, the Workman muft take at his Mafter's Rate, or fit ftill and ftarve : Whilft by this Means, this new fort of Ingroflers or Foreftallers, having the feeding and fupplying this numerous Body of Workmen out of tlieir Warehoufes, (for they have now Magazines of all forts of Wares) let the Price upon the poor Landholder. So that the Mar- kets now being deftroyed, and the Farmer not finding vent tlicrc for his Butter, Cheefe, Bacon, and Corn, &c. for which he was wont to bring home ready Money, muft fell it to thefe Ligroffers, on their own Terms of Time and Rate; and allow it to their own Day-Labourers under the true Market-price. What kind of Influence this is like to have upon Land, and how this way Rents are like to be paid at Quarter-day, is eafy to apprehend : And 'tis no wonder to hear how many Farmers in the IVefi are broke and gone fince Mubaelmas laft. Want of Money being to this degree, works both ways upon the Landholder. For, firft, the ingroffingForeftaller lets not the Money come to Market; but fupply- ing the Workman, n'ho is employed by him in Manufacture, vvith Neceilaries, impofes his Price, and Forbearance on the Farmer, who cannot fell to the others. And the Labourer, who is employed by the Landholder in Husbandry, impofes alio his Rate on him, for the Commodities he takes. For there being a want of Day-Labourers in the Country, they muft be humoured, or elle they will neither work for you, nor take your Commodities for their Labourer. Secondly, As for the Landliolder, fince his Tenants cannot Coin their Rent juft at Qi'.arter-day, but muft gather it up by degrees, and lodge it with them till Pay-day ; or borrow it of thoic, who ha\e it lying by them, or do gather it up by Degrees, which is the fame thing, and muft be'neceflarily fo much Money for fome time lying ftill. For all that is paid in great Sums, muft fomewhere be gathered up by the Retail Incomes of a Trade, or elfe lie ftill too in great Sums, whicli is the fame ftop of Money, or a greater. Add to this. That to pay the Creditor, that lent him his Rent, he muft gather up Money by De- grees, as the Sale of his Commodities fhall bring it in, and fo makes a greater Stop, and greater want of Money : Since the borrowed Money that paid the Land- holder the 25th of March, muft be fuppofed to lie ftill ibme time in the Creditor's Hand, 14^ Confiderations of the Lowering of hit ere fl. Hand, bcfcre lie lent it the Tenant ; and tlie Mon'*y, that pays the Creditor three Months after, muft lie flill fomc time in the Tenant's. Nor does the Landlord pay a^vay his Rent ufually as i'oon as he receives it, but by Degrees, as his Occalions call for it. All this confider'd, we cannot but fuppofe, that between the Land- lord and Tenant there muft neceikrily be at leaft a quarter of the yearly Reve- nue of the Land conftantly in their Hands. L'idecd confidering, that moft part of the Rents oi EngLmd are paid at (, ur I jidj-day and Miihaelmas, and that the lame Money, which pays me my Rent from my 'J'enant the 2fth of March, or there- abouts, cannot pay my next Neighbour his Rent from his 'J'enant at the fame Time, much lefs one more remote in another Country, it might feem requinte to fuppofe half the yearly Revenue of the Land to be neceffarily employed in pay- ing of Rent. For to fay that fome Tenants break, and p.ny not their Rent at all, and others pay not till two, three, four, five, fix, Uc. Months after Qiiarter-day, and fo the Rent is not all paid at one time, is no more than to fay, that there is Money wanting to the Trade. For if the J'enant tail the Landlord, he muft fail his Creditor, and he his, and fo on, till fome Body break, and fo Trade decay for want of Money. But fince a confiderable Part of the Land of EngLmd is in the Owner's Hands, who neither pay nor receive great Sums for it at a certain Day; and becaufe too, (which is the chief Reafon) we are not to confider here how much Money is in any one Man's, or any one fort of Mens Hands at one time; for that at other times may be diftributed into other Hands, and fene other Parts of Trade ; but how much Money is neceffary to be in each Man's Hands all the Year round, taking one time with another, (i.e.) having three hundred pounds in his Hanci one Month, is to be reckoned as one hundred pound in his Hand three Months, (and fo proportionably) I think we may w'ell fuppofe a quarter of the yearly Revenue to be conftantly in the Landlords or Tenants Hands. Here, by the by, we may obfene, that it were better for Trade, and confe- quently for every Bod}', (for more Money w'ould be ftirring, and lefs would do the Bufincfs) if Rents were paid by fliorter Intervals than fix Months. For fup- pofing I let a Farm at fifty tw'o pounds per Ann. if my Rent be paid half yearly, there is required twenty fix pounds to be employed in the Payment of it in one entire Sum, (if it be paid well, and if it be not paid well, for want of fo much Money to be ipared to that Purpofe, there is fo much want of Money, and Trade is ftill endamag'd by it) a great Part whereof muft neceflarily lie fiill be- fore it come out of my Tenants Cheft to my Hands : If it be paid once a Quarter, thirteen pounds alone will do it, and lefs Money is laid up for it, and ftop'd a lefs while in its Courfe : But fhould it be paid every Week, one fingle twenty fliillings will pay the Rent of fifty two pounds fer Ann. whence would follow this double Benefit. Firfl, That a great deal lefs Money would fen e for the Trade of a Ccvintry. And Secondly, That lefs of the Money "would lie ftill, the contrary whereof muft needs happen, where growing Debts are to be paid at larger Di- ftances, and in greater Sums. Thirdly, As ior the Brokers, fince they too muft lay up the Money coming in by Retail, either to go to Market, and buy Wares, or to pay at the Day ap- pointed, which is often fix Months, for thofe Wares which they have already, we cannot fuppofe them to have lefs by them, one with another, than one twentieth Part of their yearly Returns. Whether the Money be their own, or they be indebted fo much or more, it matters not, if it be necelfary they fhould have conftantly by them, comparing one time w^ith another, at leaft one twenti- eth Part of their yearly Return. Indeed in fome great Towns, where the Bankers are ready at hand to buy Bills, or any other way to lend Money, for fllort time at greateft /«/■«■?/?, tjiere perhaps the Merchant is not forced to keep fo much Money by him, as in other Places, where they have not fuch a Supply : But if you confider, what Money to do this muft neceflarily be conftantly lodged in the Bankers Hands, the Cafe will be much the fame. To thefc Sums, if you add, what part of the Money of a Country Scholars of all forts, Women, Gamefters, and great Mens menial Servants, and all fuch that do not contribute at all to Trade, either as Landholders, Labourers, or Brokers, will unavoidably have conftantly in their Hands, it cannot well be thought, that lefs than one fiftieth Part of the Labourer's Wages, one fourth Pare and Raifing the Value of Money. ,-'t y Part of the Landholders yearly Revenue, and one twentieth Part of the Brokers yearly Returs in ready Money, will be enough to drive the Trade of any Country. At leaft, to put it beyond Exception low enough, it cannot be ima- gin'd that lefs than one Moiety of this, ?. e. lefs than one hundredth Part of the Labourers yearly Wages, one eighth Part of the Landholders yearly Revenue, and one fortieth Part of the Brokers yearly Returns, in ready Money, can be enough to move the Icveral Wheels of Trade, and keep up Commerce in that Life and thriving Pofture it fliould be ; and how much the ready Cafli of any Country is fhort of this Proportion, fo much muft the Trade be impair'd and hindred for want of Money. But however thefe Meafures may be miftaken, this is evident, that the mul- tiplying of Brokers hinders the Trade of any Country, by making tlie Circuit, which the Money goes, larger, and in that Circuit more Itope, fo that the Re- turns muft necefl'arily be flower and fcantier, to the Prejudice ot Trade : Belides that, they Eat up too great a Share of the Gains of Trade, by that Means ftarving the Labourer, and impoverifhing the Landholder, whofe Intereft is chiefly to be taken care of, it being a fettled unmoveable Concernment in the Commonwealth. If this be fo, it is paft queftion, that all Encouragement fliould be given to Artificers ; and Things fo ordcr'd, as much as might be, that thofc who make, fliould alfo vend and retail out of their own Commodities, and they be hin- dred as much as poflible from pafTing here at home, through divers Hands to the laft Buyer. Lazy and Unworking Shopkeepers in this being worfe than Game- fters, that they do not only keep fo much of the Money ol a Country conftantly in their Hands, but alfo make tlie Publick pay them for their keeping of it. Though Gaming too, upon the account of Trade (as well as other Reafons) may well deferve to be reftrain'd : Since Gamefters, in order to their Play, keep great Sums of Money by them, which there lies dead. For thougii Gamefters, Money fliift Matters oftener than any, and is tumbled up and down with every caft of a Die, yet as to the Publick it lies perfeftly ftill, and no more of it comes into Trade, than they fpend in Eating or Wearing. Here too we may oblerve, how much Manufafture deferves to be incourag'd : Since that Part of Trade, though the moft confiderable, is driven with the leaft Money, efpecially if the Workmanfliip be more worth than the Materials. For to the Trade that is driven by Labour and Handicrafts-men, one two and fifti- eth Part of the yearly Money paid them will be fufficient : But to a Trade of Commodities of our bare native Growth, much greater Proportion of Money is requir'd. Perhaps it will be wondred, why having given fome Eftimate ( how wide I know not) of the Money necelfary in the Hands of the Landholder, Labourer, and Broker, to carry on Trade, I have faid nothing of the Confumer, whom I had mentioned before. To this I Anfwer. There are fo few Confumers, who are not either Labourers, Brokers, or Landholders, that they make a very in- conliderable Part in the Account. For thofe who immediately depend on the Landholder, as his Children and Servants, come in under that Title, being maintain^ by the Rent of his Lands ; and fo of the reft. By what has been faid, we may fee what Injury the Lowering of Interefl is like to do us by hindering Trade, when it fliall either make the Foreigner call home his Money, or your own People backward to lend, the Reward not being judged propoptionable to the Rifque. There is another feeming Confequence, of the reducing of Money to a low Price, which at firft fight has fuch an Appearance ol Truth in it, that I have known it impofe upon very able Men, and I guefs it has no fmall Influence, at this time, in the promoting this Alteration, and that is, that the Lowering of Intereft will raife the Value of all other Things in proportion. For M>ney being the Countey-balance to all other Things purchafeable by it, and lying, as it were, in the oppofite Scale of Commerce, it looks like a natural Confequence, that as much as you take oft" from the Value of Money, fo much you add to the Price of other things, which are exchang'd for it ; the raifing of the Price of any thing being no more but the Addition to its Value in refpeft of Money, or, which is all one, lef- fening the Value of Money. For Example : Should the Value of Gold be brought dowa 1 6 Confidcrations of the Lowering of Intenjlj down to that of Silver, one hundred Guineas would purchafe little more Corn, Wool, or Land, than one hundred Shillings, and 'o the Vahi; of Money being brought lower, fay they, the Price of other Things will rife, and the falling of Intenft from fix pound to four pound per Cent, is taking away fo much of tiie Price of Money, and fo confcquently the Icffening its Value. The miflake of this plaufible Way of Reafoning will be eafdy difcovered, when we coniider that the Meafure of the Value of Money, in proportion to any thing purc'iafenblc by it, is the quantity of the ready Money we ha\ e, in comparifon with the quantity of that '1 hing and its Vent; or which amounts to the fame 'J'hings, the Price of any Commodity rifes or falls, by the proportion of the num- ber of Buyen and Sellers ; this Rule holds univerfally in all things that are to be bought and fold, bating now and then an extravagant Fancy of fome particular Perfon, which never amounts to fo confiderable a part of Trade as to make any thing in the Account worthy to be thought an Exception to this Rule. The Vent of any thing depends upon its Neccffity or Ui'efulneis, as Conveni- ence, or Opinion guided by Fancy or Fafhion fliall determine. The Vent of any Commodity comes to be increafed or decreafed as a greater part of the running Cafli of the Nation is defigned to be laid out by ieveral Peo- ple at the fame time rather in that, than another, as we fee in the change of Fafhions. I fliall begin firft with the Neceflaries of Conveniences of Life, and the confu- mable Commodities fubfervient thereunto ; and fhew, that x\\e Value of Money in refped: of thofe, depends only on the Plenty or Scarcity of Money in proportion to the Plenty and Scarcity of thofe Things, and not on what Interejl fliall by Nt- ceiTity, Law or Contraft, be at that Time laid on the borrowing of Money : And then afterwards I fliall fliew that the fame holds in Land. There is nothing more confirmed by daily Experience, than that Men give any portion of Money for whatfoever is abfolutely neceffary, rather than go without it. And in fuch Things, the Scarcity of them alone makes their Prices. As for Example : Let us fuppofe half an Ounce of Silver, or half a Crown now in England, is worth a Bufliel of Wheat : But fliould there be next Year a great Scarcity of Wheat in England, and a proportionable Want of all other Food, five Ounces of Silver would perhaps in Exchange purchafe but one Bufliel of Wheat : So tliat Money would be then nine Tenths lefs worth in refpect of Food, though at the fame Value it was before, in refped of other Things, that kept their former proportion, in their Quantity and Confumption. By the like Proportions of Increafe and Decreafe, does the Value of Things, more or lefs convenient, rife and fall in refpect of Money, only with this differ- ence, that Things abfolutely necejfary for Life muft be had at any Rate ; but Things convenient will be had only as they ftand in preference with other Conve- niences : And therefore in any one of thefe Commodities, the Value rifes only as its Quantity is lefs, and Vent greater, which depends upon its being preferred to other Things in its Confumption. For fuppofing that at the fame time that there is a great Scarcity of JVheat, and other Grain, there were a confiderable Quan- tity of Oats, Men, no queftion, would give far more for Wheat than Oats, as being the healthier, pleafanter, and more convenient Food '• But fince Oats would ferve to fupply that abfolute Neceffity of fuftaining Life, Men would not rob them- felves of all other Conveniences of Life, by paying all their Money for Wheat, when Oats, that are cheaper, though witli fome Inconvenience, would fupply that Defeft. It may then fo happen at the fame time, that half an Ounce of Silver, that the Year before would buy one Bufhel of Wheat, will this Year buy but one Tenth of a Bufliel : Half an Ounce of Silver, that the Year before would have bought three Bufliels of Oats, will this Year ftill buy one Bufhel : And at the fame time half an Ounce of Silver, that would the Year before liave bought fifteen pounds of Lead, will ffill buy the fame Quantity. So that at the fame time Silver, in refpeft of Wheat, is nine Tenths lefs worth than it was, in rcfpeft of Oats, two Thirds lefs worth, and in refpeft oiLead, asniHch worth as before. The Fall therefere or Rife oi Interejl, making i'mmediately by its change neither more nor lefs Land, Money, or any fort of Commodity in England, than there was before, alters not at all the Value of .Money, in reference to Commodities. Becaufe and Raijing the Value e/ M o n e y. Becaufe the Mcafurc of that is only the Qiiantity nvAVunt, which are not imme- diately chang'd by the Change of Imercjl. So far as the Change of Interefl con- duces in Trade to the bringing in or carrying out Money or Commodities, and fo in time to the varying their Proportions here in England ivom what it was before, fofar the Change of Interefl., as ail other things that promote or hinder Trade, may alter the Value of Money in reference to Commodities. But that is not in this Place to be conlidered. This is perfectly the Value of Money in refpeB of cnnfumable Commodities . But the better to underftand it in its full Latitude, in refpcft both of confumable Com- modities, and Land too, we muft confider, Firfi, That x.\\q. Value of Land cond^is in this, that by its conftant Produ6i:ion of faleable Commodities it brings in a certain yearly Income. Secondly, The Value of Commodities confifts in this, that as portable anti ufeful things, they, by their Exchange or Confumption, fupply the Neceifaries or Conveniencies of Life. Thirdly, In Money there is a double Value, anfwering to both of thefe, firft as it is capable by its Interefl to yield us fuch a yearly Income : And in tliis it has the Nature of Land, (the Income of one being called Rent, of the other Ufe) only with this Difference, that the Land in its Soil being different, as fomc fertile, fome barren ; and the Produfts of it very various, both in their Sorts, Goodne^fs and Vent, is not capable of any fixed Eftimate by its Quantity : But Money, being conftantly the fame, and by its In- terefl giving the lame Sort of Product tlirough the whole Country, is capable of having a fixed yearly Rate fet upon it by the Magiftrate ; but Land is not. B\it though in the Uniformity of its legal Worth, one hundred Pounds of lawful Mo- ney being all through England equal in its current Value to any ether one hun- dred Pounds of lawful Money, (becaufe by virtue of the Law it will every where pafs for as much Ware or Debt, as any other hundred Pounds) is capable to have its yearly Hire valued better than Land : Yet in refpefit of the varying Need, and Neceflity of Money, which changes with the Increafe or Decay of Mo- ney or Trade in a Country) it is as little capable to have its yearly Hire fixed by Law, as Land it felf. For were all the Land in Rumney-Mavfl}, Acre for Acre, equally good, that is, did conftantly produce the fame Qviantity of equally good Hay or Grafs, orfe as another, the Rent of it, under that Confideration of eve,ry Acre being of an equal Worth, would be capable of being regulated by Law ; and one might as well enaft, that no Acre ol Land in Rumney-Murfl} fliall be let for above forty Shillings fer Ann. as that no hundred Pound fhall be let for above four Pounds fer Ann. But no body can think it fit (lince by reafon of the equal Value of that Land it can) that therefore the Rent of the Land in Rumney-Muvfl} fliould be regulated by Law. For fuppofing all the Land in Rumney-Marfl), or in England, were all of fo equal a .Worth, that any one Acre, compared at the fame time to any one other, were equally good in refpeft of its Product, yet the fame Acre, compar'd with its lelf in diffe- rent times, would not in refpeft of Rent be of equal Value. And therefore it would have been an unreafonable thing, if in the time of Henry 7. the Rent of Land in Rumney-Marflo had been fettled by a Law, according to the judg'd Value of it at that time, and the fame Law, limiting the Rent perhaps to j s. fer Acre, have continued ftill. The Abfurdity and Imprafticablenefs of this every one fees at the firft Propofal, and readily concludes within himfelf, that things muft be left to find their own Price ; and it is impoffible in this their conftant Mutability for human Forelight to fet Rules and Bounds to their conftantly-varying Proportion and ufe, which will always regulate their Value. They who confider things beyond their Names, w'ill find, that M'^zc^, as well as all other Commodities, is liable to the fame Changes and Inequalities : Nay in this refpeft of the Variety of its Value, brought in by time in the Succe/Hon of Affairs, the Rate ot Money is lefs capable of being regulated by a Law in any Country than the Rent of Land. Becaufe. to the quick Changes, that happen in Trade, this too muft be added, that Money may be brought in, or carried out of the Kingdom, which Land cannot ; and fo that be truly worth 6 or 8 fer Cent, this Year, which would yield but 4 the laft. ':.,".'„ t 2. Money has a Value, as it is capable by Exchange to procure us the Necefla- ries or Conveniencies of Life, and in this it has the Nature of a Cvtmnodity; only with this Difference, that it iei'ves us commonly by its Exchange, nc\cr almoft by Vol. IL • - C ' its \?> Confiderntions of the Loiverin^ of Inter efl^ its Confumption. But though tlic Ufe Men make of Money be not in its Con- fumption, yet it has not at all a more {landing fettled Value m Exchange with any other thing, than any other Commodity has, but a more known one, and better fixed by Name, Number and Weiglit, to enable us, to reckon, what the Proportion of Scarcity and Vent of one Commodity is to another. For fuppo- fing, as befoic, that lialf an Ounce of Silver would lad Year exchange for one Budiel of Wheat, or for 15 lb. Weight of Lead; if this Year Wheat be Ten times fcarcer, and Lead in the fame Quantity to its Vent as it was, is it not evi- dent, that half an Ounce of Silver will Hill exchange for 1 j lb. of Lead, though it will exchange but for one Tenth of a Bufliel of Wheat; and he that has Ule of Lead will as foon take 1 5 lb. Weight of Lead, as half an Ounce of Silver, for on Tenth of a Buflicl of Wheat, and no more. So that if you lay, that Mo- ney now is nine Tenths lefs worth, than it was the former Year, you nuiit lay lb of Lead too, and all other things, that keep the fame Proportion to Money which they had before. The Variation indeed is firftand nioft taken notice in Money: Bccaufe that is the univerlld Meafure by which People reckon, and ufed by every body in the valuing of all things. For calling that half Ounce of Silver Half a Crown, they fpeak properly, and are readily underftood when they lay. Half a Crown, or two Shillings and fix Pence, will now buy One Tenth of a Bufliel of Wheat, but do not fay, that 1 5 lb. of Lead will now buy one Tenth of a Bufhel of Wheat, becaufc it is not generally ufed to this Sort of Reckoning: Nor do they fay Lead is lefs worth than it was, though in refpeft of Wheat, Lead as well as Silver be nine Tenths worfe than it was, as well as Silver; only by the Tale of Shillings we are better enabled to judge of it : Becaufe thefe are Meafures whofe Ideas by conftant Ufe are fettled in every Englifl) Man's Mind. This I fuppofe is the true Value of Money when it pall'es from one to another in Buying and Selling; where it runs the fame Changes of higher or lower, as any other Commodity doth : For one equal Quantity whereof you Ihall receive in Exchange more, or lefs of another Commodity at one time, than you do at nnother. For a Farmer that carries a Bufliel of Wheat to Market, and a La- bourer that carries Half a Cfown, fliall find that the Money of one, as well as Corn of the other, fliall at fome times purchafe him more or lefs Leather or Salt, according as they are in greater Plenty and Scarcity one to another. So that in exchanging Coin'd Silver for any other Commodity, (which is buying and felling) the lame Meafure governs the Proportion you receive, as if you exchang'd Lead, or Wheat, or any other Commodity. That which regulates the Price, i. e. the Quantity given for Money (which is called buying and felling) for another Com- modity, (which is called Bartring) is nothing elfe but their Quantity in Propor- tion to their Veut. If then lowering of Ufe makes not your Silver more in Specie, or your Wheat or other Commodities lefs, it will not have any Influence at all to make it exchange for lefs of Wheat, or any other Commodity, than it will have on Lead, to make it exchange for lefs of Wheat, or any other Commodity. Money therefore in buying and felling being perfedly in the flime Condition with other Commodities, and fubjeft to all the fame Laws of Value, let us next fee hov) it comes to be of the fame Nature -with Land, by yielding a certain yearly Income, which we call Ufe or Interefi. For Land produces naturally fomething new and profitable, and of Value to Mankind ; but Money is a barren thing, and produces nothing, but by Compaft transfers that Profit that was the Reward of one Man's Labour into another Man's Pocket. That which occafions diis, is the unequal Diftribution of Money ; which Inequallity has the fame Effed too upon Land, that it has upon Money. For my having more Money in my Hand than I can, or am dilpoled to ufe in buying or felling, makes me able to lend : And another's Want of fo much Money as he could employ in Trade, makes him wil- ling to borrow. But why then, and for what Conlideration doth he pay Ufe? For the fame Reafon, and upon as good Confideration, as the Tenant pays Rene for your Land. For as the unequal Diftribution of Land, (you having more than you can or will manure, and another lefs) brings you a Tenant for your Land; and the fame unequal Diftribution of Money, (I having more than I can or will employ, and another lefs) bring me a Tenant for my Money. So my Mo- ney is apt in Trade, by the Induftry of the Borrower, to produce mor» than Six per Cent, to the Borrower, as well as your Land, by the Labour of the Tenant, is and Raifin^ the Value of M o n e'y. i 9 is apt to produce more Fruits, than his Rent comes to ; and therefore defer\ cs to be paid for, 3S well as Land, by a yearly Rent. For though the Ufurer's Mo- ney would bring him in no yearly Profit, ii he did not lend it,YfuppoIing he cm- ploys it not himfelf) and lb his iix per Cent, may feem to be the Fruit of another Man's Labour, yet he fliares not near fo much of the Proiit of another Man's Labour, as he that lets Land to a Tenant. For without the Tenant's Induftry, (fuppofing as before, the Owner would not manage it himfcif) his Land would yield him little or no Profit. So that the Rent he receives is a greater Portion of the Fruit of his Tenants Labour, than the Ufe is at fix per Cent. For generally he that borrows one thoufand Pounds at fix per Cent, and fo pays fixty Pounds per Annum Ufe, gets more above his Ujc in one Year, by his Liduftry, than he tliat Rents a Farm of fixty Pounds per Annum gets in two, above his Rent, though his Labour be harder. It being evident therefore, that he that has Skill in Traffick, but has not Mo- ney enough to exercife it, has not only reafon to borrow Money to drive Jiis Trade, and get a Livelihood ; but as much reafon to pay Ufe for that Money; as he, who having Skill in Husbandry, but no Land of his own to employ it in, has not only reafon to rent Land, but to pay Money for the Ufe of it : It follows, that borrowing Money upon Ufe is not only by the neceflity of Affairs, and the Con- ftitution of human Society, unavoidable to fom^e Men ; but that alfo to receii e Profit for the Loan of Money, is "as equitable and lawful, as receiving Rent for Land, and more tolerable to the Borrower, notwithftanding the Opinion of fome over-fcrupulous Men. This being fo, one would expeft, that the Rate o{ Interefl fhould be the Meafure of the Value of Land in number of Years Purchafe, for which the Fee is fold,- For 100 /. per Annum being equal to loo/. per Annum, and fo to Perpetuity; and lool. per Annu7n being the Produft of loool. when Interejl is at lo per Cent, of 1250/. when Interefi is at 8 per Cent, of 1666 1, or thereabouts, when Imerefl is at 6 per Cent. of 2000 /. when Money is at 5 per Cent, of 2500 /. when Money is at 4 per Cent. One would conclude, I i'ay, that Land fliould fell in proportion to Ufe, accord- ing to thefe following Rates, viz,. ,xo- rio \ When Money \ ]( (.^,^^^_ for Odiv'^^YT'" is at J ,( ) (C chafe. 4 1-25 > But Ex-perience tells us, that neither in Queen Eliz^aheih, nor King y/jww the firft Reigns, when Interefi was at ten per Cent, was Land fold for Ten ; or when it was at eight per Cent, for twelve and an half years Purchafe, or any thing near the low Rate that high Ufe required (if it were true, that the Rate q{ Interefi govern'd the Price of Land) any more than Land, now yields twenty h\e Years Purchafe, becauic a great Part of the monied Men will now let tlieir Money upon good Security at iorarper Cent. Thus we fee in faft how little this Rule has held at Home : And he that will look into Holland, will find, that the Purchafe of Land was not raifed there, when their Interefi fell. This is certain, and paft Doubt, that the legal Interejl can never regulate the Price of Land, fince it is plain, that the Price of Land has never changed with it in the leveral Changes have been made in the Rate of Interefi by Law: Nor now that the Rate oi Inte^refl is by Law the fame through all England, is the Price of Land every-where the fame it being in fome Parts conflantly fold for four or five Years Purchafe more than in others. Whether you or I can tell the reafon of this, it matters not to the Queftion in Hand : But it being really fo, this is plain Demonflration againft thofe, who pretend to advance and regulate the Price of Land by a La^v, con- cerning the Interefi of Money. But ye: I will give you fome of my Guelfes, why the Price of Land is not regu- lated (as at firft fight it feems it fliould be) by the Interefi of Money. Why it is not regulated by the legal Ufe is manifeft, becaufe the Rate of Money does not fol- low the Standard of the Law, but the Price of the Market ; and Men not ob- ferving the legal and forced, but the natural and current Interefi of Money, re- gulate their Aifairs by that. But why tlie Rate of Land does not follow the current Interefi of Money, requires a farther Confidcration, Vol. IL C 2 AH 20 Confiderations of the Lowering of Inter efl. An Things that are bought and fold, railc and fall their Price in proportion, as there are more Buyers and Sellers. Where there are a great many Sellers to a few Buyers, there ufe what Art you will, the 'I'hing to be ibid will be cheap. On the other fide, turn the Tables, and raife up a great many Buyers for a few Sellers, and tiic fame thing will immediately grow dear. This Rule holds in Land as well as all other Commodities, and is the Rcafon, why m England At the fame time, that Land in fomc Places is at fcventeen or eighteen Years Purchafe, it is about others, where tliere are profitable Manufadures, at two or three and twenty Years Purchai'e : Becaufe there (Men thriving and getting Money by their Indu- liry, and willing to leave their Lflatcs to their Ciiildren in Larid, as the furell, and moft lading Provifion, and not fo liable to Cafualties as Money in untrading or unskilful Hands) there are many Buyers ready always to purchale, but few Sellers. For the Land being thereabout already poflefled by that fort of indullrious and thriving Men, they have neither need, nor will, to fell. In fuch Places of Ma- nufacture, the Riches of the one not arifing from the fquandring and wafte of another, (as it doth in other Places wheie Men live lazily upon the Produd; of the Land) the Induftry of the People bringing in increafe of Wealth from remoteParts, makes plenty of Money there, without the impoverifliing of their Neighbours. And when the thriving Tradefman has got more than he can well employ in 'J'rade, his next Thoughts are to look out for a Purchafe, but it mi^ft be a Pur- chafe in the Neighbourhood, Vv'herc the Eftate may be under his Eye, and within convenient diftance, that the Care and Pleafure oi his Farm may not take him oft" from the Engagements of his Calling, nor remove his Children too far from him, or the 'J'rade he breeds them up in. This feems to me the Reafon, why in Places, wherein thriving Manufactures have eredted themfelves. Land has been obfened to fell quicker, and for more Years Purchafe than in other Places, as about Hal- lifax in the North, 'Taunton and Exeter in the Weft. This is that then, which makes Land, as well as other Things dear : plenty of Buyers, and but few Sellers : And fo by the Rule of Contraries, plenty of Sellers and few Buyers makes Land cheap. He that will juftly eftimate the value of any Thing, muft confider its Quantity in proportion to its Vent, for this alone regulates the Price. The Value of any thing, compared with its felf, or with a ftanding Meafure, is greater, as its Quan- tity is lefs in proportion to its Vent : But in comparing it, or exchanging it with any other thii-g,the Quantity and Vent of that thing too muft be allowed for in the computation of their Value. But becaufe the defire of Money is conftantly, al- moft every where the fame, its Vent varies very little ; but as its greater Scarcity enhanfes its Price, and increafes the Scramble, there being nothing elfe that does eafily fupply the want of it. The leffening its Qiiantity, therefore, always in- creafes its Price, and makes an equal povtivn ot it exchange for a greater of any other Thing. Thus it comes to pafs, that there is no manner of fettled propor- tion between the Value of an Ounce of Silver, and any other Commodity : For either \arying its Quantity in that Country, or the Commodity changing its Quantity in proportion to its Vent, their reipedive Values change, /. e. lefs o£ one will barter for more of the other : Though in the ordinary way of fpeaking, ^tis only faid, that the Price of the Commodity, not of the Money is changed. For Example ; half an Ounce of Silver in England, will exchange fometimes for a wliole Bufhel of Wheat, fometimes for half, fometimes but a quaiter, and this it dees equally, whether by JJfe it be apt to bring in to the Owner lix in the Hun- dred of its own Weight per Annum, or nothing at all : It being only the change of the Quantity of Wheat to its Vent, fuppofing we have ftill the fame Sum of Money in the Kingdom ; or elfe the change of the Quantity of our Money in the Kingdom, fuppofing the Quantity of W^heat, in refped to its Vent be the fame too, that makes the change in the Price of Wheat. For if you alter the Quantity or Vent on either fide, you prefeutly alter the Price, but no other way in the World. For it is not the Being, Adding, Increafing or Diminifhing of any good quality in any Commodity, that makes its Price greater or lefs, but only as it makes its Qiiantity or Vent greater or lefs, in proponion one to another. This will eafily appear by two or three Inftances. I. The Being of any good, and ufeful quality in any thing neither increafes its Price, nor indeed makes it have any Price at all, but only as it leflens its Quantity or and Raifing the Value of Money. or incrcafcs its Vent, each of thefc in proportion to one another. What more ufeful or ncceilary Things are there to the Being or Well-being of Men, than Air and and Water, and yet thele have generally no Price at all, nor yield any Money : Becaufe their Qiiantity is immenfly greater than their Vent in moft places of the World. But, as foon as ever VVater (for Air ftill offers i^felf every-where, without Reftraint or Inclofure, and therefore is no-where of any Price) comes any where to be reduced into any proportion to its Colifumption, it begins prefently to have a Price, and is fometimes fold dearer than Wine. Hence it is, that the heft, and moft ufeful Things are commonly the cheapeft,- becaufe, though their Confumption be great, yet the Bounty of Providence has made their Production large, and fuitable to it. 2. Nor does the adding to an Excellency to any Commodity, raife its Price, un- lefs it increales its Confumption. For fuppofe there fhould be taught a way (which fhould be publiflied to the knowledge of e\ery one) to make a Medicine of Wheat alone, that fhould infallibly cure the Stone : 'Tis certain the Difcovery of this Quality in that Grain, would give it an Excellency very confiderable : And yet this would not increafe the Price of it one Farthing in twenty Bufliels, becaufe its Quantity or Vent would not hereby, to any fenfible degree, be alter 'd. 3. Neither does the increafing of any good Quality, in any fort of Things make it yield more. For though Teafels be much better this Year, than they were laft, they are not one jot dearer, unlefs they be fewer too, or the Confumption of them greater. 4. Nor does the leflening the good Qiialities of any fort of Commodity leflen its Price ,• which is evident in Hops, that are ufually deareft thofe Years they are worft. But if it happen to be a Species of Commodity, whofe Defects may be fup- plied by fome other, the making of it worfe does leifen its Price; becaufe it hin- ders its Vent. For if Rye lliould any Year prove generally fmutty or grown, no queftion it would yield lefs Money than otherwile, becaufe the Deficiency of that might be, in fome meafure, made up by Wheat, and other Grain. But i£ it be a fort of Commodity whofe ufe no other known thing can fupply, 'tis not its being better or worfe, but its Quantity and Vent is that alone which regulates, and deteiTnines its Value. To apply this now to Money, as capable of different Rates of Imerefl. To Money conlidered in its proper Ufe, as a Commodity palling in exchange from one to another, all that is done by Imerefl, is but the adding to it by Agreement or publick Authority, a Faculty, which naturally it has not, of increafing every Year fix per Cent. Now if publick Authority fink Ufe to four/er Cent, 'tis certain it diminiflies this good Quality in Money one Third. But yet this making the Money of England not one Farthing more than it was, it alters not the Meafures upon which all changeable Commodities increafe or fink their Price, and fo makes not Money exchange for lefs of any Commodity, than it would without this alte- ration of its Imerefl. If leflening Ufe to ionr per Cent, fliould at all alter the quan- tity of Money, and make it leis, it would make Money, as it has the Nature of a Commodity, dearer, /. e. a lefs quantity of Money would exchange for a greater quantity of another Commodity, than it would before. This perhaps will appear a little plainer by thefe following Particulars. 1. That the intrinfick natural worth of any Thing, confifts in its Fitnefs to fupply the Neceflities, or ferve the Conveniencies of human Life ; and the more neceflary it is to our Being, or the more it contributes to our Well-being, the greater is its Worth : But yet, 2. That there is no fuch intrinfick natural fettled Value in any Thing, as to make any aflign'd Quantity of it, conftantly worth any alTigned Quantity of another. 3 . The Marketable Value of any aflign'd Qiiantities of two or more Commodi- ties, are pro hi: & nunc equal, when they will Exchange one for another. As fup- pofing one Bufliel of Wheat, two Bufhels of Barley, thirty Pound of Lead, and one Ounce of Silver, will now in the Market be taken one for another, they are then of equal Worth : And our Coin being that which Engliflmien reckon by, an Engliflmum would fay, that now one Bufliel of Wheat, two Bufhels of Barley, thirty Pound of Lead, and one Ounce of Silver, were equally worth five Shillings. 4. The Zl Z2 Confidcrations of the Lowering of Jnterefli, 4. The change of ihis Marketable Value of any Comniodity, in refpeft of an- other Commotlity, or in reipcct of a {landing con~.mon Meafure, is not the altering of any intrinfick Value or Qiiality in the Commod ity ; (for mufty and Imutty Corn win fell dearer at one time than the clean and fweet at another) but the altera- tion of fon-iC proportion, which that Commodity bears to fomething elie. 5. 'I'his proportion in all Commodities, whereof Money is one, is the propor- tion of their quantity to the Vent. The Vent is nothing elfe, but the pafUng of Commodities from one Owner to another in Exchange ; and is then caH'ci quicker, when a greater quantity of any Species of Commcdity, is taken off from the Owners of it, in an equal Space of Time. 6. 'ihis Vent is regulated, i.e. made quicker or flower, as greater or lefs quan- tities of any faleable Commodity are remov'd out ol the way, and courfe of Trade ; feparated from publick Commerce ; and no longer lie within the reach of Ex- change. For though any Commodity fliould fliift Hands ne\er fo faft, and be exchanged from one Man to another ; yet if they were not thereby exempted from Trade and Sale, and did not ceafe to be any longer Traffick, this would not at all make, or quicken their Vent. But this feldom or never happening, makes very little or no alteration. ■7. Things are remo\ed out of the Market or Hands of Commerce, and fo their Vent altered three ways ; i. By Confumption, when the Commodity in its Ufe is deftroy'd, as. Meat, Drink, a\A Cloths, CTf. all that is fo confumed is quite gone out of the Trade of the World. 2. By Exportation ; and all that is fo car- ried away, is gone out of the Trade of England, and concerns EngUjInnen no more in the Price of their Commodities among themfelves for their own tffe, than if it were out of the World. 3. By buying and laying up for a Man's private Ul'e. For what is by any of thefe ways fliut out of the Market, and no longer moveable by the Hand of Commerce, makes no longer any part of Merchantable Ware, and fo in refpeft of Trade, and the quantity of any Commodity, is not more con- fiderable than if it were not in Being. All thefe three terminating at laft in Con- fumption of all Commodities, (excepting only Jewels and Plate, and fome few others which wear out but infenfibly)may properly enough pafs under that Name. Ingrofllng too has fome influence on the prefent Vent : But this inclofing fome confiderable Part of any Commodity, (for if the ingrofllng be of all the Commo- dity, and it be of general Ufe, the Price is at the vi\\\ of the Ingrolfer) out of the free Common of Trade only for fome time, and afterwards returning again to Sale, makes not ufually fo fenfible and general an alteration in the Vent as the others do : But yet influences the Price, and the Vent more, according as it ex- tends its felf to a larger portion of the Commodity, and hoards it up longer. 8. Mofl: other portable Commodities (excepting Jewels, Plate, ijc) decaying quickly in their Ufe, but Money being lefs confumed or incrcafed, /. e. by flower Degrees removed from, or brought into the free Commerce of any Country, than the greateft part of other Merchandize ; and fo the proportion between its Qiian- tity and Vent, altering flower than in mofl; other Commodities, it is commonly look'd on as a ftanding Meafure to judge of the Value of all Things, efpecially being adapted to it by its Weight and Denomination in Coinage. 9. Money, whilft the fame quantity of it is pafTmg up and down the Kingdom in Trade, is really a flianding Meafure of the falling and rifing Value ol other Things in reference to one another : And the alteration of Price is truly in them only. But if you increafe or leflen the quantity of Money current in TrafEck in any place, then the alteration of Value is in the Money : And if at the fame time Wheat keep its proportion of Vent to quantity. Money, to fpeak truly, alters its Worth, and Wheat does not, though it fell for a greater or lefs Price than it did before. For Money being look'd upon as the ftanding Meafure of other Com- modities, Men conlider and fpeak of it ftill, as if it were a ftanding Meafure, though when it has varied its quantity', 'tis plain it is not. ID. But the Value or Price of all Commodities, amongft which Money palling in Trade is truly one, confifting in Proportion, you alter this, as you do all other Proportions, whether you increafe one, or leflen the other. II. In all other Commodities, the Owners, when they defign them for Traf- fick, endeavour as much as they can to have them vented and gone, /'. e. remo- ved out of the reach of Commerce, by Confumption, Exportation, or laying up : But and Raijing the Value 0/ Money. 23 But Money never lying upon Peoples Hands, or wanting Vent, (lor any one may part with it in exchange when he plealbs:) the proA'ident Publick, and private Care, is to keep it from venting or confuniing, i. e. from Exportation, which is its proper Coniumption ; and from hoarding up by others, wliich is a fort of in- groffmg. Hence it is that other Commodities have fometimes a quicker, fome- times a flower Vent : For no body lays out his Money in them but according to the Ufe he has of them, and that has Bounds. But everybody being ready to receive Money without Bounds, and keep it by him, bccaufe it anfvvers all things : Therefore the Vent of Money is always fumcient, or more than enough. This being fo, its Quantity alone is enough to regulate and determine its Value, with- out confidering any Proportion between its Quantity and Vent, as in other Comrnodities. 12. Therefore the lefifening of Ufe, not bringing one Penny of Money more into the Trade or Exchange of any Country, but rather drawing it away from Trade, and fo making it lefs, does not at all fink its Value, and make it buy lefs of any Commodity, but rather more. 13. That which railes the natural Imereft of Money, is the fame that raifes the Rent of Land, i. e. its Aptnefs to bring in yearly to him that manages it, a great- er Overplus of Income above his Rent, as a Reward to his Labour. That which caufes this in Land is the greater Quantity of its Produd, in Proportion to the fame Vent to that particular Fruit, or the fame Quantity of Produd, in Propor- tion to a greater Vent of that fingle Commodity ; but that which caufes Incrcafe of Profit to the Borrower of Money, is the lefs Quantity of Money, in Proporti- on to Trade, or to the Vent of all Commodities, taken together, & vice verfa. 14. The natural Value of Money, as it is apt to yield fuch an yearly Income by Imereft, depends on the whole Quantity of the then paffing Money of the King- dom, in Proportion to the whole Trade of the Kingdom, /. e. the general Vent of all the Commodities. But the natural Value ot Money, in exchanging for any one Commodity, is the Quantity of the Trading-Money of the Kingdom, de- fign'd for that Commodity, in Proportion to that fingle Commodity and its Vent. For though any fingle Man's Neceflity and Want, either of Money, or any Species of Commodity, being known, may make him pay dearer for Money, orthatCom- modity; yet this is but a particular Cafe, that does not at the lame time alter this conftant and general Rule. ly. That fuppofing Wheat a {landing Meafure, that is, that there is con- ftantly the fame Quantity of it in Proportion to its Vent, we fhall find Money to run the fame Variety of Changes in its Value, as all other Commodities do. Now that Wheat in England does come neareft to a Handing Meafure, is evident by comparing Wheat with other Commodities, Money, and the yearly Income of Land in Henry the VWth's time and now. For fuppofing that p-imo Hen. 7. N. let 100 Acres of Land to A. for 6d. per Ann. per Acre, Rack-rent, and to B. ano- ther 100 Acres of Land, of the fame Soil and yearly Worth with the former, for a Bulhel of Wheat /^er Acre, Rack-rent, (a Bufhel of Wheat about that time be- ing probably fold for about 6d.) it was then an equal Rent. If therefore thefe Leafes were for Years yet to come, 'tis certain that he that paid but 6d.per Acre, would pay now 50 j. per An. and he that paid a Bufhel of Wheat per Acre, would pay about 25/. per An. which would be near about the yearly Value of the Land, were it to be let now. The Reafon whereof is this, That there being ten times as much Silver now in the World, (the Difcovery of the IVeft-Lidies having made the Plenty) as there was then, it is nine Tenths lefs worth now than it was at ■ that time ; that is, it will exchange for nine Tenths lefs of any Commodity now, which bears the fame Proportion to its Vent as it did 200 Years fince ; which, of all other Commodities, Wheat is likelieft to do. For in England, and this Fart of the World, Wheat being the conftant and moft general Food, not al- tering with the Fafhion, not growing by Chance; but as the Farmers fow more or lefs of it, which they endeavour to proportion, as near as can be guefl'ed, to the Confumption, abftrafting the Overplus of the precedent Year in their Pro- vifion for the next ,• and vice verfa, it muft needs fall out, that it keeps the near- eft Proportion to its Confumption, (which is more ftudied and defigned in this than other Commodities) of any thing, if you take it for feven or twenty Years together : Tho' perhaps the Plenty or Scarcity of one Year, caufe by the Acci- 2 4 Confiderations of the Lowering of Inter efl. Accidents of the Sealon, may very much vary it from the immediately precedent, or following. Wheat therefore, in this Part of the World, (and that Graji^ which is the conftant general Food of any other Country) is the fitted Meaiure' to judge of the altered Value of things in any long Tradt of Time : And there- fore Wheat here. Rice in Turkey, ike. is the fittcft thing to referve a Rent in, which is defigncd to be conRantly the fame for all future Ages. But Money is tiie beft Meaiure of the altcr'd Value of things in a few Years : Becaufe its Vent is the fame, and its Quantity alters flowly. But Wheat, or any other Grain, cannot ferve inftead of Money ; becaufe of its Bulkinefs, and too quick Change of its Quantity. For had I a Bond, to pay me loo Bufliels of Wheat next Year, it might be a fourtli Part Lofs or Gain to me ; too great an Inequality and Un- certainty to be ventured in Trade : Befidcs the different Goodnefs of feveral Parcels of Wheat in the fame Year. 1 6. That fuppoilng any Ifland fcperate from the Commerce of the reft of Mankind, if Gold and Silver, or whatever elfe (lb it be lafting) be their Money, if they have but a certain Quantity of it, and can get no more, that will be a ftcady ftanding Meafure of the Value of all other things. 17. That if in any Country they ufe for Money any lafting Material, whereof tliere is not any more to be got, and fo cannot be increase; or being of no other Ufc, the reft of the World does not \alue it, and fo it is not like to be diminilhed ; this alio would be a fteady ftanding Meafure of the Value of other Commodities. 18. That in a Country where they had fuch a ftanding Meafure, any Qtiantity of that Money (if it were but fo much that every body might have fome) would ferve to drive any Proportion of Trade, whether more or lefs, there being Coun- ters enough to reckon by, and the Value of the Pledges being ftill fufficient, as conftantly encreafing with the Plenty of the Commodity. But thefe thi'ee laft, being built on Suppofitions that are not like to be found in the Praftice of Man- kind, lince Navigation and Commerce have brought all Parts acquainted with one another, and introduced the Ufe of Gold and Silver Money into all trading Parts of the World, they fen e rather to give us fome Light into the Nature of Money, than to teach here anew Meafure of Traffick. 'J hough it be certain, that that Part of the World, which bred moft of our Gold and Siher, ufed leaft of ic in Exchange, and ufed it not for Money at all. ,;..■.. ip. That therefore in any Country that hath Commerce with the reft of^tHe World, it is almoft impolTible now to be without the Ufe of Silver Coin ; and ha- ving Money of that, and Accounts kept in fuch Money, it is impollible to have any ftanding, unalterable Meafure of the Value of things. For whilft the Mines fupply to Mankind more thajiwaftes and confumes in its Ufe, the Quantity of it will daily grow greater in refpeft of other Commodities, and its Value lefs. 20. That in a CountiT that hath open Commerce with the reft of the World, iand ufes Money madeof the fame Materials with their Neighbours, any Quantity of that Money will not fen e to drive any Quantity of Trade; but there rauft be a certain Proportion between their Money and Tiode. The Reafon whereof is this, becaufe to keep your Trade going without Lofs, your Commodities amongft you muft keep an equal, or, at leaft, near the Price of the fame Species of Com- modities in the neighbouring Countries : which they cannot do, if your Money be far lefs than in other Couutries ; for then, either your Commodities muft be fold very cheap, or a great Part of your Trade muft ftand ftill, there not being Money enough in the Country to pay for them (in their fhiftingof Hands) at that high Price, which the Plenty, and confequently low Value of Money makes them at in another Country. For the Value of Money in general is the Quantity of all tlie Money in the World, in Proportion to all the Trade : But the Value of Money in any one Country, is the prefent Quantity of the current Money in that Country, in Propoition to the prefent Trade. Suppofing then, that we had now in Englandhm half as much Money as we had fcven Years ago, and yet had ftill as much yearly Produft of Commodities, as many Kands to work them, and as many Brokers to difperfe them, as before ; and that the reft of the World we trade with, had as much Money as they had before, (for 'tis likely they fliould haA e more of our Moiety iliared amongft them) 'tis certa:in, that ■either half our Rents fhould not be paid, half our Commodities not vented, and • :■ half and Ra'ifmg the Value of Money. i| half our Lahuorers not employed, and Co half the Trade be clearly loll; orelle, that every one of thefe miiil; receive bur half the Money, for their Commodities and Labour, tiiey did before, and buthalf fomuch as our Neighbours do receive for the fame Labour and tlic lame natural Produd:, at tiie fame time. Such a State of Poverty as this, though it will make no Scarcity of our native Com- modities amongft us, yet it will have thefe ill Confequences. 1. It will make our native Commodities vent very cheap. 2. It will make all foreign Commodities very dear, both which will keep us poor. For the Merchant making Silver and Gold his Meafure, and confidering what the foreign Commodity cofls him (t. e. how many Ounces of Silver) in the Country wheie Money is more plenty, /'. e. cheaper; and confidering too, how many Ounces of Silver it will yield him in another Country, will not part with it here but for the fame Qiiantiiy of Silver, or as much as that Silver will buy here of our Commodity, which will be a grear deal more than in another Place. So that in all our Exchange of native for foreign Commodities, we fhall pay double the Value that any other Country does, where Money is in greater Plenty. This indeed will make a Dearnefs, and, in time, a Scarcity of foreign Commodities ; which is not the worft Inconveniency that it brings upon us, fuppofing them not abfolutely ncceflary. But, 3. It endangers the drawing away our People, both Handicrafts, Marriners, and Soldiers, who are apt to go where their Pay is beft, which will always be where there is greateft Plenty of Money, and in time of War muft needs bring great Diftrefs. 21. Upon this Meafure too it is, that the Variation of Exchange of Money be- tween feveral Countries does fomewhat depend. For it is certain, that one Ounce of Silver is alWay of equal Value to another Ounce of Silver confidered in its intrinfick Worth, or in Reference to the univerfal Trade of the World: But 'tis not of the fame Value at the fame time, in feveral Paits of the World, but is of the moft Worth in that Country, where there is the leaft Money, in Propor- tion to its Trade : And therefore Men may afford to give twenty Ounces of Silver in one Place, to receive eighteen or nineteen Ounces of Silver in another. But this is not all : To this then, (to find out the Alteration of the Exchange) the over- balance of the Trade muft be taken into Confideration. Thefe two together re- gulate the Exchange in all the Commerce of the World, and in both the higher Rate of Exchange depends upon one and the fame thing, viz.. the greater Plenty of Money in one Country than in the other; only with this Difference, that where the over-balance of Trade raiies the Exchange above the Par, there it is the Plen- ty of Money, ivhicli private Merchants have in one Country, which they defire to remove into another: But where the Riches of the Country raifes the Exchange above the Par, there it is the Plenty of the Money in the whole Country. In one the Merchant has more Money (or Debts, which is all one) in a foreign Coun- try than his I'rade there will employ, and fo is willing to allow upon Exchange to him abroad, that lliall pay him ready Money at home, i, 2, 3, &c. per Cent. more or lefs, proportionably as his or his Countrymen's Plenty of ready Money abroad, the Danger of leaving it there, or the Difficulty of bringing it home in Specie, and his prefent Need of Money at home is greater or lefs : In the other, the whole Country has more Money than can well be employ 'd in the Trade thereof, or at leaft, the Proportion of the Money to the Trade is greater than in the neighbouring Country, where the Exchange is below the Par. For, fuppofing the Balance of Trade to be equal between England and Holland, but that theie is in Holland a greater Plenty of Money than in England, (which ■ivil! appear by the Lownefs of the natural Ufe in Holland, and the Height of the natural Ufe \n England; and alfo by the Dearnefs of Food and Labour in gene- ral \n Holland, and the Cheapncfsof it u\ England.) UN. has 10000 I. \n Holland y which the greater Advantage he could make of it in England, either by Ufe or Purchafe, tempts him to transfer into England, 'tis probable he will give as much to a Merchant in Holland to pay him 10000 1, in England, as the Infjrance at that time between Holland and England is worth. If this happens to be in a Country,, 'vvhere the Exportation of Bullion is prohibited, he muft pay the more ; becaufe his Venture, if he carry it in Specie, will be greater. And upon this Ground, per- haps, the Prohibiting the Exportation of Money out of £Kg/««i, under Penalties, Vol. n. D may 2 6 Confderations of the Lowering of Inter efl, may be of fome Ufe, by making the Rate of the Exchange greater to thofe Coun- tries, which import upon us more than they export in Commodities; and fo retain fome Part of tlie Money which their ovei-balance of Trade would carry away from us, tho' after all, if we are over-balanc'd in Trade it muft go. But, fince the //b//cW Merchant cannot receive AT's loooo /. in Money in Hul- Lmd, and pay him loooo /. in England, unlefs his over-balance of Trade make Englishmen indebted to hini loooo/. in Money, which he is not like to take in Commodities. I think the over-balance of Trade is that which chiefly raifes the Exchange in any Country, and that Plenty of Money in any Country does it only for fo much of the Money as is transferr'd either to be let out to Ufe, or to be fpent there. And though lending to Foreigners, upon Ufe, doth not at all alter the Balance of Trade between thofe Countries, yet it does alter the Ex- change between thofe Countries for fo much as is lent upon Ufe, by not calling away the Money that fhould follow the over-balance of Trade, but letting it reft there, as if it were accounted for; all one as if the Balance of Trade were for fo much altered. But this being not much, in Comparifon of the general Traffick between two Nations, or at leaft varying flower, the Merchant too re- gulating the Exchange, and not the Ufurer. I fuppofe it is the prefent Balance ol Urade, on which the Exchange immediately and chiefly depends, unlefs fome Accident fliall make a great deal of Money be remitted at the lame time, from one Place to another, which will for that time raife the Exchange all one as an over-balance of Trade ; and indeed, when examin'd, is generally very little different from it. To be able to eftimate the Par, with the Rife and Fall of the Exchange, it is neceflary to know the intrinfick Value, /. e. how much Silver is in the Coins of the two Countries, by which you reckon and charge the Bill of Exchange. Sir, If I have been led a little too far frojn one thing to another, in the Conjideration vf M'Jitey, I beg your Pardon, hoping that thefe Particulars will afiord fome Light to our frefent Subjeil. To return to the Price of Land. "Tis evident by what has been above-fa id. That the Years Purchafe of Land do not increafe with the Fall of Intereft, and the Abating that goodQiiality in Money, or yielding yearly SW per Cent, to Four, does not prefently fo link its Value in refpcd of Land, that one third more is re- quired in Exchange: Falling o{ Intereft from Six to Four, will not raife Land from twenty to thirty Years Purchale, the rifing and falling of the Price of Land, as of other things, depends much on the Quantity of Land fet to Sale, compar'd with the Quantity of Money defign'd for that Trafiick, or, which amounts to the fame thing, upon the Number of Buyers and Sellers. For where there are many Sellers and few Purchafers, tho' Intereft be lelTened, Land will be cheap, as I ha\ e already fhew'd. At leaft, this is certain. That making a Law to reduce Intereft will not raife the Price of Lands ; it will only, by driving it more into the Bankers Hands, leave the Country barer of Money, whereby, if the Price of Land about London fliould be accidentally raifed, that of remoter Countries would thereby have fewer Purchafers, and at lower Rates. This being fo, that the low Rate of Land depends much on the great Number of Sellers in Proprotion to Purchafers, the next thing to be inquired into, is. What makes plenty of Sellers ? And to that the Anfwer is obvious, general ill Huihandry, and the Confequence of it. Debts. If a Negled of Government and Religion, ill Examples, and depraved Education, have introduc'd Debauchery; and Art or Chance has made it fafhionable for Men to live beyond their Eftates, Debts will increafe and multiply, and draw with them aNeceflity on Men, firft of incumbring, and then felling their Eftates. This is generally the Caufe why Men pan with their Land : And I think there is fcare one in an hundred that thinks of felling his Patrimony, till Mortgages have pretty well eat into the Freehold ; and the Weight of growing Debts force a Man, whether he will or no, out of his PoifefTIons. When almoft is there ever a clear and unincumbred Eftate fet to fale ? 'Tis feldom a thrivinng Man turns his Land into Money, to make the greater Advantage : The Example of it are fo rare, that they are fcarcc of any Confideration in the Number of Sellers. This I think may be the Reafon, why in Queen Eliz,abeth's Days ( Sobrie- ty, Frugalit), and Induftry, brought in daily Increafe, to the growing Wealth of and Raijing the Value of Money. tn of the Kingdom) Land kept up its Price, and Ibid for more Years Purchafe, than correfponded to the lutereft of Money, then bufily employ 'd in a thriving Trade, whicii made the natural Imerejl much higher than it is now, as well as the Parliament then fet it higher by Law. On the contrary fitie, what makes fcarcity of Purchafers ? 1. The fame Rcafon, III Hmbandry. When the Tradefman lives up to the heighth of his Licome, and the Vanity of Expences either drains the Merchants Coffers, or keeps them from over-flowing, he feldom thinks of Purchaiing. Buying of Land is the Refult of a full and fatiated Gain : And Men in Trade feldom think of laying out their Money upon Land, till their Profit has brought them in more, than their Trade can well employ ; and their idle Bags cumbring their Counting- Houfes, put them upon emptying them on a Pur- chafe. 2. Another Thing that makes a Scarcity of Buyers of Land, are doubtful and ill Titles : Where thefe are frequent and fatal, one can no more expect, that Men who have Money fhould be forward to purchafe, than Ships richly laden to venture themfelves amongft Rocks and Quickfands. 'Tis no TVonder fuch Seas fliould not be much frequented, where the Examples, and Remains of daily Wrecks, fhew the folly, and hazard of the Venture, in the number of thofe who have mifcarried. 3. A general Decay of Trade difcourages Men from Purchafing : For this threatens an univerfal Poverty, which is fure to fall firft and heavieft upon Land. The Merchant who furnifhes the improvident Landholder, will not fail to have Money for his Wares with Gain, whether the Kingdom get by his Trade or no ; and he will keep his Money rather employed in Trade, which brings him in profit, (for the Merchant, may get by a Trade that makes the Kingdom poor ) than lay it out in Land, whofe Rents he fees finking, and forefees by the courfe of Trade, is likely to continue on to do fo. When a Nation is running to De- cay and Ruin, the Merchant and monied Man, do what you can, will be fure to flarve laft : Obferve it where you will, the Decays that come upon, and brirg to Ruin any Country, do conflantly firft fall upon the Land : And though the Country Gentleman, ( who ufually fecurely relies upon fo much a Year as was gi-ien in at his Marriage Settlement, and thinks his Land an unmovable Fund for fuch an Licome) be not very forward to think fo : Yet this neverthelefs is an undoubted Truth, that he is more concerned in Trade, and ought to take a greater care, that it be Tvell manag'd, and preferv'd, than even the Merchant himfelf. For he will certainly find, when a Decay of Trade has carried away one Part of our Money out of the Kingdom, and the other is kept in the Mer- chant and Tradefman's Hands, that no Laws he can make, nor any little Arts of Shifting Property amongft our felves, will bring it back to him again j but his Rents will fall, and his Income every Day leffen, till general Liduftry and Fru- gality, join'd to a well-order 'd Trade, fhall reftore to the Kingdom the Riches and Wealth it had formerly. This by the Way, if well confider'd, might let us fee, that Taxes, however contriv'd, and out of whofe Hand foever immediately taken, do in a Country, where their great Fund is in Land, for the moft part terminate upon Land, Whatfoever the People is chiefly maintained by, that the Government fupports it felf on : Nay, perhaps it will be found, that thofe Taxes which feem leaft to affeft Land, will moft furely of all other, fall the Rents. This would defcrve " to be well confideied in the raifing of Taxes, left the neglefl of it bring upon the Country Gentleman an Evil which he will be fure quickly to feel, but not be able very quickly to remedy. For Rents once fallen are not eafily raifed again. A Tax laid upon Land feems hard to the Landholder, becaufe it is fo much Money going vifibly out of his Pocket : And therefore as an Eafe to him- felf, the Landholder is always forward to lay it upon Commodities. But if he will throughly confider it, and examine the Effe6:s, he will find he buys this feeming Eafe at a very dear Rate : And though he pays not this Tax immediately out of his own Purfe, yet his Purfe will find it by a greater want of Money there at the End of the Year, than that comes to, with the lelfening of his Rents to boot; which is a fettled and lafting Evil, that will ftick upon him beyond the prefent Payment. Vol. IL Da To Conjiderations of the Lowering of Intercjl, To make this clear, let us fuppofe in the prefent State of Aft'airs in EngLmd, that the Rents of England are Twelve Millions, and that the Charge and Necel- fitics of the Government require a fupply of 'i'hree Millions from the Parlia- ment, which is laid on Land. Here is one lourth Part of his Yearly Income goes immediately out of the Landlords and Landholders Pocket. *l"his is a Burthen very apt to be felt. The Country Gentleman, wlio actually pays the Money out of his Pocket, or finds it dedufted out of his Rent at Quaiter-day for 'Taxes, fees ard very fenfibly obfenes what goes thus out of his Ellate. But though this be a Qiiarter of his yearly Income, and out of an Eftace of four hundred Pounds a Year, tlie publick Tax now openly takes away one hundred : Yet this influences not at all the yearly Rent of the Land, which the Rack-renter, or under Tenant pays : It being the fame thing to him, whether he pays all his Rent to the King, or his Landlord, or half, or a quarter, or none at all to the King; the Cafe is all one to him, what Hand receives his Rent, when due : So Trade flouriflies, and his Commodities go oft" well, he will be able to pay his Rent on. This leffens not any more the Value of his Farm, than an high or a low chief Rent dees paid out of it to the Lord of the Fee : The Tenant's Bargain and Profit is the iame, whether the Land be charg'd, or not charg'd with an Annuity payable to another Man. We fee this in College Leafes, where though the College l"e- nant pays for it to the College in fome Years fi\ e times as much as he does others, upon the varying Rate of Corn : Yet the Under-Tenant feels not this Alteration in the leaft, nor finds a Reafon to have his Rent abated, becaufe a greater Part of it is diverted from his Landlord. All this is but changing the Hand, that receives the Rent, without any influence at all upon the yearly Value of the Eftate ; which will not be lee for one Penny more or lefs to the Renter, how- ever or amongft whomfoe\er, the Rent he pays, be divided. From hence it is evident, that Trtxa laid on Land do not in the leaft make Rents fall. But fuppofe, to fhift off the Burthen from the Land, fome Country Gentle- men fhould think fit to raife thefe three Millions upon Commodities, to let the Land go free. Firft, it is to be confider'd. That fince the publick Wants re- quire three Millions, (for that we fuppos'd for Argument fake ; let it be three Millions, or one Million, that's all one ;) and fo much muft go into the King's Coffers, or elfe the Neceflities of the Government will not be iupplied : That for raifing thefe three Millions on Commodities, and bringing lb much into the Escheqiier, there mufl: go a great deal more than three Millions out of the Sub- jefts Pockets. For a Tax of that nature cannot be levied by Officers, to watch every little Rivulet of Trade, without a great Charge, efpecially at firft trial. But fuppofing no more Charge in raifing it, than of a Land T^x, and that there arc only three Millions tobepaid, 'tis evident that to do this out of Commodities, they m,uft to the Confumer be raifed a quarter in their Price ; fo that every thing, to him that ufes it, muft be a quarter dearer. Let us fee now who at long run muft pay this quarter, and where it will light. 'Tis plain, the Merchant and Broker, neither will nor can ; for if he pays a quarter more for Commodities than he did, he will fell them at a Price proportionably raifed. The poor Labourer and Handicraftf- man cannot : For he juft lives from Hand to Mouth already,and all his Food,Clothing and Utenfils, cofting a quarter more than they did before, cither his Wages muft rile with the Price of Things, to make him live ; or elfe, not being able to maintain himfelf and Family by his Labour, he comes to the Parifh; and then the Land bears the Burthen a heavier way. If the Labourer's Wages be rais'd in propor- tion to the encreas'd Rates of 'I hings, the Farmer, who pays a quarter more for Wages, as well as all other Things, whilft he fells his Corn and Wool, either at the fame Rate, or lower, at the Market, (fince the Tax laid upon it makes Peo- ple lefs forward to buy) muft either have his Rent abated, or elfe break and run away in his Landlord's Debt : And fo the yearly Value of the Land is brought down. And who then pays the Tax at the Years end, but the Landlord ? When the Tenant, not able to raife his Rent by his Commodities, either runs away in his Landlord's Debt, or cannot be continued in the Farm without abate- ment of Rent : For when the yearly Charge in his Farm is greater by the in- creafe of the Labourers Wages, and yet his Produiit fells cheaper by reaibn of the Tax laid on his Commodities ; how will the Farmer be able to make up his Rent at Qiwrter-day ? For this may be worth our Notice, that any Tax laid on foreign and Raijing the Value 0/ M o N e v . 2^ foi'eign Commodities in England, raifc its Price, and makes the Importer get more for his Commodity : But, on the contrary, a T'as laid on your Native Pi-o- dud:, and home-made Commodities, leilcns their Price, and makes them yield lels to the firfl Seller. The Rcafon whereof is plain. For the Merchant importing no Commodity but what the Neceility, or fafiiionablc Wantonnefs of your People gives him Vmt ior, will not only proportion his Gain, to the Cofl: and Riiique which he has; been at before Landing; but will expeft profit of his Money paid iicie, for any 'J"ax laid on it; and take advantage from thence to raife his Price above what his Tax comes to ; and if he cannot do that, he will Trade no more in that Commo- dity. For it being not the Product of his Farm, he is not tied to bring it to Mar- ket, if he finds its Price not anfwcr his Expedation there, but turns himfelf to other Wares, which he finds your Market take off better. A Merchant will never continue to trade in Wares, which the change of Fafhion, or Humour, amongfl your People, has made lefs vendible, though he may be fometimes caught by a fud- den Alteration. But that feldom happens in tiie Courfe of 'JVade, fo as to influence the great Bulk of it. For things of Neceility muft ftill be had, and things of Fafhion will be had as long as Men have Money or Credit, whatever Rates they coft, and the rather becaufe they are dear. For it being Vanity, not Ufe, that makes the Expenfive Fafhion of your People, the Emulation is, who fiiall have the fineft, that is, the deareft Things, not the moft convenient or ufeful. How many 'Fhings do we value or buy, becaufe they come at dear Rates from Japan and China, which if they were our own Manufafture or Produft, common to be had, and for a little Money, would be contemned and neglefted ? Have not feveral of our own Commodities offered to fale at reafonable Rates been defpifed, and the very fame eagerly bought and brag'd of, when fold for Frmch at a double Price ? You muft not think therefore that the railing their Price will leflen the^7/?of faihionable foreign Commodities amongft you, as long as Men have any Tvay to purchafe them, but rather increafe it. French Wine is become a modifh Drink amongft us, and a Man is afham'd to entertain his Friend, or almoft to dine himfelf with- out it. The Price is in the Memory of Man rais'd from 6 d. to 2 s. and does this hinder the Drinking of it ? No, the quite contrary, a Man's way of Living is commended, becaufe he will give any Rate for it : And a Man will give any Rate rather than pafs for a poor Wretch or a penurious Curmudgeon, that is not able or knows not how to live well, nor ufe his Friends civilly. Fajhion is for the moft part nothing but the Oftentation of Riches, and therefore the high Price of what ferves to that, rather increafes than lellens its Vent. The Conteft and Glory is in the Expence, not the Ufefulnefs of it ; and People are then thought and faid to live well, when they can make a fhew of rare and foreign Things, and fuch as their Neghbours cannot go to the Price of. Thus we fee how foreign Commodities fall not in their Price by Taxes laid on them, becaufe the Merchant is not neceffitated to bring to your Market any but fafhionable Commodities, and thofe go off the better for their high Rate. But on the contrary, your Landholder being forced to bring his Commodities to Mar- ket, fuch as his Land and Induftry affords them, common and known Things, he muft fell them there at fuch Price as he can get. This the Buyer knows ; and thefe home-bred Commodities being feldom the Favourites of your People, or any farther acceptable, than as great Conveniency recommends them to the Vul- gar, or down-right Neccflity to all, as foon as a Tax is laid on them, every one • makes as fparing a ufe of them as he can, that he may lave his Money for other neceffary, or credible Expences. Thus the Price which our native Commodities yield the firft Seller, is mightily abated, and fo the yearly Value of the Land, ■which produces them, leffen'd too. If therefore the hying o{ Taxes upon Commodities does, as it is evident, affect the Land, that is out at Rack-Rent, it is plain it does equally affed all the other Land in England too, and the Gent, will, but the worft way, increafe their own Charges, that is, by leflijning the yearly Value of their Eftates, if they hope to eafe their Land, by charging Commodities. It is in vain in a Country whole great Fund is Land, to hope to lay the publick Charge of the Government on any thing elfe ; there at laft it will terminate. The'Merchant (do what you can) will not bear it, the Labourer cannot, and therefore the Landholder muft : And ? o Confiderations of the Lowering of Jntercfl, And whether he were beft do it, l)y laying it d'reftly, vvhcre it will at laft fettle, or by letting it come to him by the finking of his Rents, wiiich when they nre once fallen, every one knows are not eafily raifcd again, let him con- fide r. Holland is brought as an InRance of laying tlie Charge of the PubLick upon Trade, and 'tis pollible (excepting feme few linall free Tewns) the only Place in the World that could be brought to favour tliis way. But }et wlien examin'd, will be found to fliew the quite contrary, and be a clear Proof, that lay the 'Taxes how you will. Land every-where, in Proportion, bears the greater Share of the Burthen. The publick Charge of the Government, "tis faid, is, in the United Provinces, laid on Trade. 1 grant it is, the greatefl Part of it ; but is the Land excus'd or eas'd by it ? By no means, but on the contrary fo loaded, that in many Places half, in others a quarter, in others one eighth of the yearly Value does not come into the Owner's Pocket: And if I have not been mifinformed, the Land in fomc Places will not pay the Taxes : So that we may fay, that the Charge of the Government came not upon Commodities till the Land could not bear it. TheBurtI>en unavoidably fettles upon the Land firftjand when it has pref- fed it fo, that it can yield no more. Trade mull be brought in Aid to help to fup- port the Government rather than let all fink : But the hrft Strefs is always upon Land, and as far as that will reach, it is unavoidably carried, lay your Taxes how you will. 'Tis known what a fhare of the publick Charges of the Government is fupported by the Trade of Amfierdam alone, as I remember that one Town pays Thirty-fix in the Hundred of all the publick Taxes raifed in the United Pro- vinces. But are the Lands of Guelderland easM by it.> Let any one fee in that Country of Land more than Trade, what they make clear of their Re\enues, and whether the Country Gentlemen there grow rich on their Land, whilft the Merchant ha\'ing the Taxes laid on iiis Commerce is impoverifli'd ? On tJie con- trary, Guelderland is fo low and out of Cafh, that Amfierdam has been fain for many Years to lay down the Taxes for them, which is, in efteft, to pay the Taxes of Guelderland too. Stniggle and contrive as you will, lay your Taxes as you pleafe, tlie Tra- ders will fliifc it off from their own Gain ; the Merchants will bear the leaft Part of it, and grow poor laft. In Holland it felf, where Trade is fo loaded, who, I pray, grows richeft, the Landholder or the Trader ? Which of them is pinch'd, and wants Money moft ? A Country may thrive, the Country Gentle- man grow rich, and his Rents encreafe (for fo it has been here) whilft the Land is Taxed: But I challenge anyone to fhew me a Country, wherein there is any confiderable publick Charge raifed, where the Land does not moft fenfibly feel it, and in proportion bear much the greater Part of it. We muft not therefore impute the Falling of the Rents, or of the Price of Land, to high Intereft ; Nor, if ill Husbancby has wafted our Riches, hope by fuch kind of Laws to raife them to their former Value. I humbly conceive we fhall in vain endeavour it by the Fall oi Interefl. The Number of Buyers muft be increa- fed, and Sellers lefl'en'd, which muft be done by other ways, than regulating of Jnterefi, or elfe the Landed-man will neither find Chapmen for his Land, nor for the Corn that grows on it, at the Rate he defires. But could an Aft of Parliament, bring down Interefl at ioni' per Cent, and the lowering of that immediately raife the Purchafers Fine from 20 to 25 Years Pui~ chafe ; yet it may be doubted, whether this be fit to be made into a Law, becaufe it would be of no advantage to the Kingdom. For what profit would it be to the Nation to make a Law, that he who lells Land fhould inftead of four have five hundred Pounds of the Purchafer ? This indeed a little alters the diftribution of the Money, we have amongft us Englifimtn here at home, but neither helps to continue what we have, nor brings in more horn abroad: Which being the on- ly Concernment of the Kingdom, in reference to its Wealth, is apt to be fuppofed by us without doors to be the only care of a Parliament. For it matters not, fo it be here amongft us, whether the Money be in T/wmc^ or Riihard's Hands, pro- vided it be fo order'd, that, whoever has it, may be encouraged to let it go into the current of Trade, for the improvement of the general Stock, and Wealth of the Nation. A? and Raifng the Value 0/ M o n e y. 51 As this Increafe of the Fine in thePurchafc of Land is not an Advantage to the Kingdom, fo neither is it to the Landholder, vviio is thePerfon, that bearing the greateft Part of the Burthens of tiieKingdom, ought, I tliink, to havethe great- eft Care taken of him, and enjoy as many Priviledges, and as much Wealth, as the Favour of the Law can (with Regard to the Publick-weal) confer upon him. But pray confider : Therifing the Price of Land in Sale by increafing the Number of Years Purchafe to be paid for it, givts the Advantage not to the Landholder, but to him that ceafes to be fo. He that has no longer the Land has the moie Money, and he v/ho has the Land is the poorer. The true Advantage of the Landholder is, that this Corn, Flefli, and Wool, fell better, and yield a greater Price j this in- deed is a Profit, that benefits the Owner of the Land, and goes along with it: It is this alone raifes the Rent, and makes the Poffeflbr richer: and this can only be done by increaflhg our Wealth, and drawing more Money into England, which the Falling of Imerefl, and thereby (if it could effect it) raifing the Purchafe of Land is fo far from doing, that is does vifibly and direftly one way hinder our Increafe of Wealth, that is, by hindring Foreigners to come here, and buy Land, and fettle amongft us. Whereby we have this double Lofs; Firft, we lol'e their Per- fons, Increafe of People being the Increafe both of Strength and Riches. Second- ly, we lofe fo much Money. For tho' whatever an EngUflvnan gives to another for Land, though raifed to forty Years Purchafe, be not one Farthing Adv anrage to the Kingdom; yet whatever a Foreigner, who purchafes Land here, gives for it, is fo much every Farthing clear Gain to the Nation : For that Money comes clear in, without carrying out any thing for it, and is every Farthing of it as perfed: Gain to the Nation as if it drop'd down from the Clouds. But farther, if Confideration be to be had only of Sellers of Land, the lowering of liitereft to io\xr fer Cent, will not be in their Favour, unlefs, by it, you can raife Land to thirty Years Purchafe, which is not at all likely : And I think no body by falling of Imerefl to four per Cent, hopes to get Chapmen for their Land at that Rate. W hatfoever they have lefs, if Law can regulate Imerefl, they lofe of their Value of Land, Money being thus abafed. So that the Landed-man will fcarce find his Account neither by this Law, when it comes to Trial. And at laft, I imagin, this will be the Refult of all fuch Attempts, that Experience will fliew, that the Price of Things will not be regulated by Laws, tho' the Endeavours after it will be fure to prejudice and inconvenience Trade, and put your Af- fairs out of Order. If this be fo, that Imerefl cannot be regulated by Law, or that if it couldj' yet the Reducing of it to four per Cent, would do more Harm than Good : What then fhould there (will you fay) be no Law at all to regulate Imerefl ? I fay not fo. For, 1 . It is neceffary that there fhould be a ftated Rate of Imerefl, and in Debts and Forbearances, where Contraft has not fetled it between the Parties, the Law might give a Rule, and Courts of Judicature might know what Damages to allow. This may, and therefore fhould, be Regulated. 2. That in the prefent current of running Cafh, which now takes its Courfe almoft all to London, and is Ingroffed by a very few Hands in Comparifon, young Men, and thofe in Want, might not too eafily be expofed to Extortion and Oppreffion ; and the dextrous and combining Money Jobbers not have too great and unbounded a Power, to prey upon the Ignorance or Neceffity of Bor- rowers. There would not be much Danger of this, if Money were more equally diftributed into the feveral Quarties of England, and into a greater Number of Hands, according to the Exigencies of Trade. If Money were to be hired, as Land is ; or to be had Corn, or Wool, from the Owner himfelf; and known good Security be given for it, it might then pro- bably be had at the Market (which is true) Rate, and that Rate of Imerefl would be a conftant gauge of your Trade and Wealth. But what a kind of Monopoly, by Confent, has put this general Commodity into a few Hands, it may need Regu- lation, tho' what the ftated Rate of Imerefl fhould be in the conftant Change of Affairs, and Flux of Money, is hard to determine. Poffibly it may be allo\ved as a reafonable Propofal, that it fliould be within fuch Bounds, as fhould not on the one Side quite eat up the Merchants, and Tradefmen's Profit, and Difcourge their Induftry J nor on the other hand fo low, as fliould hinder Men from rifquing their Money ^ 2 Confiderations of the Lowering of Merejl, Money in other Mens Hands, and fo rather chul'e to keep it out of Trade, than venture it upon fo fmall Profit. When it is too high, it fo hinders the Merchants Gain, that he will not Borrow ; when too low, it io hinders the Monied Man's Profit, that he will not Lend ; and both thcfe Ways it is an Hindrance to Trade. But this being perhaps too general, and loofe a Rule,, let me add, that if one would confider Money and Land alone, in Relation one to another, periiaps it is now at (wfer Cent, in as good a Propottion as is poiTible, fix per Cent, being a little higher than Land, at twenty Years Purchafe, which is the Rate pretty near, that Land has generally carried m England., it never being much over nor under. For fuppofing loo/. in Money, and Land of 5 I. per Ann. be of equal Value, which isLand at twenty Years Purchafe: 'Tis neceflary for the making their Value truly equal, that they fhould produce an equal Income, which the 100/. at 5 I. per Cent. Litereft is not likely to do. 1. Becaufe of the many, and fometimes long Litervals of Barrennefs, which happen to Money, more than Land. Money at Ufe, when returned into the Hands of the Owner, ufually lies dead there, till he gets a new Tenant for it, and can put it out again; and all this time it produces nothing. But this happens not to Land, the growing Produft whereof turns to account to the Owner, even when it is in his Hands, or is allowed for by the Tenant, antecedently to his entring upon the Farm. For though a Man that Borrows Money at Midfum- mer, never begins to pay his Intereji from our Lady-Day, or one Moment back- wards, yet he who Rents a Farm at Midfummer, may have as much Reafon to begin his Rent from our Lndy-Day, as if he had then entred upon it. 2. Befides the dead LneiTals of ceafing Profit, which happen to Money more than Land, there is another Reafon, why the Profit and Income of Money let out, fhould be a little higher than that of Land; and that is, becaufe Money out at Intereji runs a greater Rifque, than Land does. The Borrower may break, and run away with the Money, and then not only the Intereji due, but all the future Profit, with the Principal, is loft for ever. But in Land a Man can lofe but the Rent due, for which ufually too the Stock upon the Land is fufficient Security : And if a Tenant nin away m Arrear of fome Rent, the Land remains ; that can-- not be carried away, or loft. Should a Man Purchafe good Land in Middle/ex of 5 /. per Ann. at twenty Years Purchafe, and other Land in Ru?nney-Marfi, or elfe- where of the fame yearly Value, but fo fituated, that it were in Danger to be fwallowed of the Sea, and be utterly loft, it would not be unreafonable, that he fliould expect to ha\ e it under twenty Years Purchafe ; fuppofe fixteen and an half. This is to bring it to juft the Cafe of Land at twenty Years Purchafe, and Money at fix per Cent, where the Uncertainty of fecuring ones Money may well be allowed that Advantage of greater Profit ; and therefore perhaps the legal In- tereji now in England at fix per Cent, is as reafonable and convenient a Rate as can well be fet by a ftanding Rule, efpecially if we confider that the Law re- quires not a Man to pay fix per Cent, but ties up the Lender from taking more. So that if e\"er it falls of it felf, the Monied-man is fure to find it, and his Intereji will be brought down to it. High Intereji is thought by fome a Prejudice to Trade : But if we look back, we fhall hnd, that England never throve fo well, nor was there ever brought into England fo great an Increafe of Wealth fince, as in Queen Eliz,abeth's and King ^ames L and King Charles L time, when Money was at ten and eight per Cent. I will not fay high Intereft was the Caufe of it. For I rather think that our thriving Trade was the Caufe of high /were/?, every one craving Money to employ in a profitable Commerce. But this 1 think may reafonably infer from it, That low- ering of Intereji is not a fare Way to improve either our Trade or Wealth. To this I hear fome fay. That the Dutch, skilful in all Arts and promoting Trade, to out-do us in this, as well as all ether Advancements of it, have obfer- ved this Rule, viz,. That when we fell Intereji in England {vom ten to eight, they piefenily funk/«^ere/2 in Holland to {our per Cent. And again, when we lower'd it to fix they fell it to three per Cent, thereby to keep the Advantage which the Low- refs of Intereji gives to Trade. From whence thefe Men readily conclude. That the Falling of Intereji will advance Trade in England. To which I anfwer, I. 'fhat this looks like an Argument, rather made for the prefent Occafion, to miflead thofe who are credulous enough to fwallow it, than arifing from true Reafon, and Raijing the Value 0/ M o n E V* 3 1 Rcafon, and Matter of Faft. For if lowering of Inurejl were fo advantageous to Trade, why did the Dutch fo conftantly take their Mealures only by us, and not as well by Ibme other of their Neighbours, with whom they have as great or greater Commerce than with us ? This is enough at firft fight to make one fufpeft this, to be Dull only raifed, ro throw in Peoples Eyes, and a Suggeftion made to ferve a Purpofe. For, 2. It will not be found true. That when we abated hterejl here in England to Eight, the Dutch funk it in Holland to ionr per Cent, by Law i or that there was any Law made in Holland to limit the Rate of Interefi to three per Cent, when we re- duced it in England to fix. It is true, Juhn de IVitt, when he managed tlie Affairs of Holland, fetting himfelf to leflen the publick Debt, and having adtually paid fome, and getting Money in a readinefs to pay others, lent notice to all the Creditors, That thole who would not take four/'i'rCwz/.fhould come and receive their Money The Creditors finding him in earncft, and knowing not how otherwife to employ their Money, accepted hisTerms, and changed their Obligations mtoiowr per Cent. whereas before they were at five, and fo (the great Loans of the Country being to the State) it might be faid in this fenfe,That theRateof /«/e>-e/?was reduced lower at that time : But that it was done by a Law, forbidding to take higher/wcrfy? than four />(?>■ Cent, that I deny, and require any one to fhew. Indeed upon good Security one might lately have borrowed Money in Holland at three, and three and an half per Cent, but not by vertue of any Law, but the natural Rate of Interefl. And I appeal to the Men learned in the Law of Holland, whether laft Year ( and I doubt not but it is fo ftill) a Man might not lawfully lend his Money for what Intereft he could get, and whether in the Courts he fliould not recover the Intereft he con- tract ed for, if it were ttn per Cent. So that if Money be to be borrowed by honefb and refponiible Men, at three, or three and an half /pc Cent, it is not by the force of Statutes and Edifts, but by the natural Courfe of things ; which will always bring Intereft upon good Security low, where there is a great deal of Money to be lent, and little good Security, in proportion, to be had. Holland is a Country where the Land makes a very little Part of the Stock of the Country. Trade is their great Fund ; and their Eflates lie generally in Money : So that all, who are not Traders, generally fpeaking, are Lenders : Of which there are fo many whofe Income depends upon Intereft, that if the States were not mightily in Debt, but paid every one their Principal, infteadof the io\xT per Cent. Ufe, which they give5 there would be fo much more Money than could be ufed, or would be ventured in Trade, that Money there would be at t\vo per Cent, or under, unlefs they found a way to put it out in foreign Countries. Intereft, I grant thefc Men, is low in Holland : But i t is fo, not as an eft'eft of Law, or the politick Contrivance of the Government, to promote Trade ; but as ths Confequence of great Plenty of ready Money, when their Intereft firfl fell. I fay when it firft fell : For being once brought low, and the Publick having borrow- ed a great Part of private Mens Money, and continuing in Debt, it muft continue fo, though the Plenty of Money, which firft brought /K/^eif/? low. Were very much' decay'd, and a gieat Part of tiieir Wealth were really gone. For the Debt of the State affording to the Creditors a conftant yearly Income, that is look'd on as a fafe Revenue, and accounted as valuable as if it were in Land ; and accordingly tiiey buy it one of another ; and whether there be any Money in the publick Cof- fers or no, he, who has to the value of ten thoufand Pounds owing him from the States, may fell it every Day in the Week, and have ready Money for it. This Credit is fo great an Advantage to private Men, vvho know not clfe what to do with their Stocks j that were the States now in a condition to begin to pay their Debts, the Creditors, rather than take their Money out to lie dead by them, would let it ftay in, at lower Intereft, as they did fome Years fince, when they, were call'd on to come and receive their Money. This is the ftate of Intereft, in Holland: Their Plenty of Money, and paying their publick Debts, fome time fince lowered their Intereft. But it was not done by the Command and Limitation of a Law, nor in cofequence of our reducing it here by Law to fix per Cent. For I deny, that theic is any Law there yet, to forbid lending of Money for abo\e three, or fix, or ten per Cent. Whaie\ er fome here fuggeft, every one there may hire out his Money as freely as he does any thing elfe, for what Rate he can get ; and the Bargain being made, the Law will iniorce the Borrower to pay it. Vol. II. F \ gran* ?4 Confderations of the Lowering of Inter efl, I grant \ovj Merefi, where all Men confent to it, is an advantage to Trade, if Merchants will regulate their Gains accordingly, and Men be perfuaded to lend to them: But can it be expeftcd, when the Publick gives leven or eight, or ten per Cent, that private Men, whofe fccurity is certainly no better, fhall ha\e for four ? And can there be any thing ftxanger, than that the fame Men who look on, and therefore allow high Ufe as an encouragement to lending to the Chequer, fhould think low Vfe fhould bring Money into Trade ? The States of Holland fome few Years fince, paid but four per Cent, for the Money they owed ; If you propofe them for an Example, and Intercfi to be regulated by a Law, try wliether you can do fo here, and bring Men to lend it to the publick at that Rate. This would be a benefit to the Kingdom, and abate a great part of our publick Charge. If you cannot do that, confefs, that 'tis not the Law in Holland has brought the Interefl there fo low, but fomcthing elfe, and that which will make the States, or any body elfe pay dearer now, if either their Credit be lefs, or Money there fcarcer. An infallible fign of your decay of Wealth is the falling of Rents, and the ral- fing of them would be worth the Nations Care : For in that, and not in the fal- ling of Interefi lies the true advantage of the Landed-man, and with him of the Publick. It may be therefore not belides our prefent bufinefs, to enquire into the caufe of the falling cf Rents in England. 1. Either the Land is grown Barrcncr, andfo the Produft is lefs, andconfe- quently the Money to be received for that Produft is lefs. For it is evident that he whofe Land ivas wont to produce loo Bufliels of Wheat communibm annk, if by long Tillage, and Husbandry it will now produce but 50 Bufhels, the Rent will be abated half But this cannot be fuppos'd general. 2. Or the Rent of that Land is ieffen'd. i. Eecaufe the Ufe of the Commodity ceafes : As the Rents muft fall in Z^7V_f/»/fl, were taking of Tobacco forbid in £k^- land. 2. Or becaufe fomething elfe fupplies the room of thatProdud : As the rate of Copis-lands will fall upon the difcovery of Coal Mines. 5. Or, becaufe the Markets are fupplied with the fame Commodity, cheaper from another place. As the breeding Countries of England mull needs fall their Rents, by the Importa- tion of Irijl) Cattle. 4. Or, becaufe a Tax laid on your native Commodities, makes what the Farmer fells cheaper ; and Labour, and what he buys dearer. 3. Or, the Money in the Country is lefs. For the Exigencies and Ufes of Mo- ney not Idfening with its quantity, and it being in the fime proportion to be im- ploy'd and diftribxited ftill in all the parts of its Circulation, fo much as its quan- tity is leiTenM, fo much muft the fhare of every one, that has a right to this Money, be the lefs ; whether he be Landholder, for his Goods ; or Labourer, for his Hire ; or Merchant, for his Brokage. Though the Landholder ufually finds it firft. Be- caufe Money failing, and falling fhort, People have not fo much Money as former- ly to lay out, and fo lefs Money is brought to Market, by which the Price of things muft neceffarily fall. The Labourer feels it next. For when the Landholder's Rent falls, he muft either bate the Labourer's Wages, or not imploy, or not pay him ; which either way makes him feel the want of Money. The Merchant feels it laft. For though he fell lefs, and at a lower Rate, he buys alfo our native Commodities, which he exports at a lower Rate too : And will be fure to leave our native Commodities unbought, upon the Hands of the Farmer, or Manu- fafturer, rather than export them to a Market, whicli will not aftord him re- turns with Profit. If one Third of the Money imployed in Trade were lock'd up, or gone out of England, muft not the Landholders necelfarily receive one Third lefs for their Goods, and confequently Rents fall ; a lefs quantity of Money by one Third being 10 be diftributed amongft an equal number of Receivers ? Indeed, People not per- ceiving the Money to be gone, are apt to be jealous one of another j and each fuf- peciing anothers inequality of Gain to rob him of his fhare, every one will be im- ploying his Skill, and Power, the beft he can, to retrieve it again, and to bring Money into his Pocket in the fame plenty as formerly. But this is but fcrambling amongft ourfelves, and helps no more againft our want, than the pulling off a fhort Coverlet will, amongft Children, that lie together, prefene them all froni the Cold. Some will ftarve, unlefs the Father of the Family provide better, and enlarge the fcanty Co\ering. This pulling and conteft is ufually between the Landed-man and the Merchant. For the Labourer's Ihare, being feldom more than and Raifing the Value 0/ M o N e v'# 3 f than a bare fubfiftcncc, never allows that Body of Men time or opportunity to raife their Thoughts above that, or ftruggle with the Riclicr for theirs, (as one common Intercft,) unlels when Ibmc common and great Diftrcfs, uniting them in one univerfal Ferment, makes theni forget Refpedt, and emboldens them to can c to their Wants with armed Force : And then Ibmetimes they break in upon the Rich, and fwccp all like a Deluge. But this rarely happens but in the Male- adminiftration of neglefted or mifmanag'd Government. The ufual Struggle and Conteft, as I laid before, in the decays of Wealth and Riches, is between the Landed-Man and the Merchant, with whom I may here join the AIonied-Man. The Landed-Man finds himfelf aggrieved, by the falling of his Rents, and the ftreightning of his Fortune ; vvhilft the Monied-Man keeps up his Gain, and the Merchant thrives and grows rich by Trade. 'J'hefehe thinks ileal his Income into their Pockets, build their Fortunes upon his Ruin, and in- grofs more of the Riches of the Nation than comes to their fliare. He therefore endeavours, by Laws, to keep up the Value oi Lands, which he fufpefts leffened by the others excefs of Profit : But all in vain. The Caufe is miftaken, and the Re- medy too. "Tis not the Merchant's nor Monied-Man s Gains that makes Land fall : But the want of Money and lelfening of our Treafure wafted by extravagant Ex- pences, and a mifinanag'd Trade, which the Land always firfl: feels. If the Landed- Gentleman will have, and by his Example make it falhionable to have, more Claret, Spice, Silk, and other foreign confumable Wares, than our Exportation of Com- modities does exchange fori Money muft unavoidably follow to balance the Ac- count, and pay the Debt. And there-fore I fear that another Propoi'al, I hear talked of, to hinder the Exportation of Money and Bullion, will ihew more our need of care to keep our Money from going from us, than a way and method, how to preferve it here. 'Tis Death in Spain to export Money : And yet they, who furnifh all the World with Gold and Silver, have leaft of it amongft themfelvfis. Trade fetches it away from that lazy and indigent People, notwithftanding all their artificial and force, and the other Produds of Land are brought down, and the Land bears the gi eatefl Part of the Lofs. For where- ever the Confumption or Vent of any Commodity is flopt, there the flop conti- nues on till it comes to the Landholder. And where-ever the Price of any Com- modity begins to fall, how many Hands foever there be betAveen that and the Landholder, they all take Reprifals one upon another, till at lafl it cornes to the Landholder ; and there the Abatenient of Price, of any of his Commodi- ties, leflens his Income, and is a clear Lofs. The Owner of Land which produ- ces the Commodity, and the lafl Buyer who confumes it, are the two Extreams \xi Commerce. And though the falling of any fort of Commodity in the Land- . holder's Hand does not prove fo to the lafl Conf umer, the Arts of intervening Brokers and Ingroflers keeping up the Price to their own Advantage, yet when- ever want of Money, or want of Defire in theConfumer, make the Price low, that immediately reaches the firfl Producer: No body between having any In- terefl to keep it up. Now, as to the two firfl Caufes of falling of Rents, falling of Interefl has no Influence at all. In the latter it has a great Part, becaufe it makes the Money of England lefs, by making both Englijlnnen and Foreigners withdraw or w^ith- hold their Money. For that which is not let loofe inx.oT',ade, is all one whilfl hoarded up, as if it were not in being. I hav e heard it brouget for a Reafon, why Interejl fhould be reduced to four fer Cent. 'That thereby the Landholder, zcho bears the Burthen of the fublick Charge, may be in fome degree eafed by falling of Interefl. This Argument will be put right, if you fay it will eafe the Borrower, and lay the Lofs on the Lender : But it concerns not the Land in general, unlefs you will fuppofe all Landholders in Debt. But I hope we may yet think that Men in England, who have Land, have Money too ; and that Landed Men, as well as others, by their Providence and good Husbandry, accommodating their Expences to their Income, keep themfelves from going backwards in the World. That which is urged, as mofl deferving Confideration and Remedy in the Cafe, is. That it is hard and tmreafonable, that one, who has mortgaged half his Land, f}ould yet pay Taxes /or the -whole, -whilfl the Mortgagee goes a"way ■with, the dear Profit of an /i/^jA Interefl. To this I anfwer. " ^, ' '; ' .. J. That if any Man has run himfelf in Debt for the Service of his Country, 'tis fit the Publick fhould reimburfe him, and fet him free. This is a Care that becomes the publick Juflice, That Men, if they receive no Rewards, fhould at leaft be kept from fullering, in having ferved their Country. But I do not re- member the Polity of any Nation, wlio altered their Conllitution in favour of thofe whole Mifmanagement had brought them behind-hand j pofTibly as thinking the Publick little beholden to thofe, n'lio had mifcmployed the Stock of their Country in the Excels of their private Expcnces, and, by their Example, fpread a Fafiiion that carries Ruin with it. Mens paying Taxes of mortgaged Lands, is a Punilliment for ill Husbandry, which ought to be difcouraged : But it con- cerns very little the Frugal and the Thrifty. .2. Another thing to be faid in reply to this, is. That it is with Gentlemen in the Country, as with Tradefraen in the City. If they will own Titles to greater Eftates than really they have, it is their own Faults, and there is no way left to help and Ra'ijing the Value 0/ MoneV. 37 help them from paying for them. The Remedy is in their own Hands, to dif- chargc thcmfelvcs when they pleafe. And when they have once fold their Land, and paid their Debts, they will no longer pay Taxes for what they own without being really theirs. There is another vfay alfo, whci-eby they may be relie\cd, as well as a great many other Inconveniences remedied ; and that is by a R-sgijlvy .• For if Mortgages were regiftred, Land-Ta.\cs might reach them, and order the Lender to pay his Proportion. I have met with Patrons of four /-'crGv/^ who (amongfl; many other fine things thev tell us of) affirm,- 'that ij Intereft were rednc'd to Jour per Cent, then fome Men Toonld borrow Money at this low Rate, mid pay their Debts ; others would borrow tmre than they now do, and improve their Land ; otl)crs would borrow jnore, and employ it in "Trade and Ma nu fuel are. Gilded Words indeed, were there any thing I'ub- ftantial in them ! Thefe Men talk as if they meant to fliew us, not only the Wifdom, but Riches oi Solomon, and would make Gold and Silver as common as the Stones in the Street : But at laft, I fear, 'twill be but Wit without Mo- ney, and 1 wifli it amount to that. 'Tis without queftion, that could the Countryman and the Tradefman take up Money cheaper than now they do, every Man would be forward to borrow, and defire that he might have other Mens Money to employ to his Advantage. I confefs, thofe who contend for four per Cent, have found out a way to fet Mens Mouths a watering for Money at that race, and to increafe the Number of the Borrowers in England; if any body can imagine it would be an Advantage to increafe them. But to anfwer all their fine Projefts, I have but this one fliort Queftion to ask them : \\J\\\ jour per Cent, in- creafe the Number of the Lenders ? If it will not, as any Man at the very firft hearing will flirewdly.fufpeft it will not, then all the Plenty of Money thefe Con- jurers beftow upon us, iov improvement of Land, paying of Debts, and ndvanceinent vj Trade, is but like the Gold and Silver, which old Women belie\e other Con- jurers beftow fometimes, by whole Lapfuls, on poor credulous Girls, which, when they bring to the light, is found to be nothing but witlier'd Leaves ; and the Poffeflors of it are ftill as much in want of Money as ever. Indeed I grant it would be well ior England, and I Avifla it were fo, that the Plen- ty of Money were io great amongft us, that every Man could borrow as much as he could ufe in Trade ioxiciw per Cent, nay, that Men could borrow as much as they could employ for fix per Cent. But even at that rate, the Borrowers already are far more than the Lenders. Why elfe doth the Merchant, upon occafion, pay fix per Cent, and often above that rate for Brokage ? And why doth the Country Gentleman of loool. per Annum find it fo difficult, with all the Security he can bring, to take up looo/. All which proceeds from the Scarcity of Money, and bad Security,- two Caufes- which will not be lefs powerful, to hinder borrowing, after the lowering of Intercjl ; and I do not fee how any one can imagine that reducing Ufe to four per Cent, fliould abate their Force, or how lellening the Re- ward of the Lender, without diminifliing his rifque, fliould make him more for- ward and ready to lend. So that thefe Men, whilft they talk, that at four per Cent. Men would take up, and employ more Money to the publick Advantage, do but pretend to multiply the Number of Borrowers among us, of which it is certain we have too many already. While they thus fet Men a longing for the golden Days o{ iour per Cent, methinks they ufe the poor indigent Debtor, and needy Tradefman, as I have feen pratling Jack-Daws do fomietime'stheir Young, who kawing and fluttering about the Ncft, fet all their young ones a gaping; but having nothing in their empty Mouths but Noife and Air, leave them as hungry as before. 'Tis true thefe Men have found out by a cunning Projeft, how, by the reftraint of Law, to make the Price of Money one third cheaper, and then they tell John a Nokes that he fliall ha\ e loooo /. of it to employ in Merchandife, or Cloathing ; and John a Stiles fhall have 20000/. more to pay his Debts ; and fo diftribute this Money as freely as Diego did his Legacies, which they are to have, even wliere they can get it. But till thefe Men can inftruct the forward Borrowers where they fliall be furnifhed, they have perhaps done fomething to increafe Mens Defire, but not made Money one jot eafier to come by. And till they do that, all this fweet j ingling of Money in their Difcourfes goes' juft to theTune of, If all the IVorld ■u^ere Qumeal. Methinks thefe Undertakers, whilft tliev have put ^len in hopes or 15G067 3 8 Conjiderations of the Lon'cring of Imcrefl^ of borrowing more plentifully at caficr Rates, for tiic ilipply of their Wants and Trades, had done better to have bcthoiiglit thenilchcs of a way, liow Men need not borrow upon Ufe at all: For this would be nuich more advantageous, and altogether as feifible. It is as eafy to diftribute twenty pair of Shoes amongft thirty Men, if they pay nothing lor them at all, as if they paid 4>. a pair ; ten of them (notwithllanding the bratutc-Rcnt fliould be reduced from 6s. to 4/. a pair) will be necelTitaied to fit flill barcloot, as much as if they were to pay nothing for Shoes at all. Juft fo it is in a Country, that wants Money in Propor- tion to Trade. It is as, eafy to contriNe how every Man fliall be fupplied with ivhat Money he needs, (/. e. can employ in Impro'vemcnt of Land, p'ljing his Dtbts, and Returns of his "Trade) for nothing, as for foury^f; Ci;nt. Either we ha\e already more Money than the Owners will lend, or we have not. If part of the Mo- ney which is now in England, will not be lent at tlie rate Intcnjl is at prefcnt at, will Men be more ready to lend, and Borrowers befurniflied for all thofe brave Purpofes more plentifully, when Money is brought to {our per dm. f If People do already lend all the Money they have, above their own Occafions, whence arc thole, who will borrow more at four per Cent, to be fupplied.^ Or is there fuch Plenty of Money, and Scarcity of Borrowers, that there needs the redu- cing of Imereft to four per Cent, to bring Men to take it ? All the imaginable Ways of increafing Money in any Country, are thefe two: Either to dig it in the Mines of our own, or get it from our Neighbours. That '^OMY per Cent, is not of the nature of the Deujing-rod, or Vhgula Di-vina, able to difcovcr Mines of Gold and Silver, I believe will ealily be granted me. The way of getting from Foreigners, is either by Force, Borrotving, or Trade. And whatever Ways befides thefe Men may fancy or propofe, for increafing of Money, (except they intend to fet up for the Philofophers Stone) would be much the fam.e with a diftrafted Man's Device that I knew, who, in the beginning of his Diflemper, firft difcover'd himfelf to be out of his Wits by getting together and boiling a great Number of Groats, with a Defign, as he faid, to make them plim, i.e. grow thicker. That four per Cent, will raife Armies, difcipline Soldi- ers, and make Men valiant, and fitter to conquer Countries, and inrich them- felves with the Spoils, I think was never pretended. And that it will not bring in more of our Neighbours Money upon loan, than we haVe at prefent among us, is fo vifible in itfeif, that it will not need any Proof; the Contenders for four per Cent, looking upon it as an undeniable Truth, and making ufe of it as an Ar- gument to fhew the Advantage it will be to the Nation, by lelfening the Ufe paid to Foreigners, who upon falling oiUfe will take home their Money. And for the laft way of increafing our Money, by promoting of Trade, how much lowering of Interefl is the way to that, I have, I fuppofe, fhew'd you already. Having lately met -with a little TraB, intituled, A Letter to a Friend concerning Ufury, printed this prefent Tear 1 690 ; tphich gives in fhort, the Arguments of fame Treatifes printed many Tears fince, for the lowering of Interefl : It may not be amifs, briefly to conjtder them. 1 . A High Interefl; decays Trade. The Advantage from Interefl is greater than the -'*■ Profit from Trade, -which makes the rich Merchants give ever, and put out their Stuck to Interefl, and the lejfer Merchants break. Anfui. This was printed in 162 1, when Interefl was at ttnper Cent. And whe- ther England had ever a more fiourifhing Ti'ade, than at that time, muft be left to the Judgment of thofe, who have confider'd the growing Strength and Riches of this Kingdom in Cl_Eliz.abeth's and K.James Vs Reigns. Not that I impute it to high Interefl, but to other Caufcs I have mention'd, wherein Ufury had nothing to do. But if this be thought an Argument now in 1690, when the legal Interefl is fix per Cent. I defire thofe, who think fit to make ufe of it, to name thofe rich Merchants, who have given over and put out their Stocks, to Interefl. '■ z. Intereft and Raijing the Value of Money. la 2. Intercft I'sing at ten per Cent, and in Holland at fix, our Neighbour Merchants tinderfel m. Anfw. The legal Imerefi being here now at fix per Cent, and in Holland not li- mited by Law, our Neighbour Merchants underfel us, bccaulc tliey live more frugally, and are content with lefs Profit. 5 . Interefi: being loiver in Holland tijan in England, their Contributions to JVar tVurks of Piety, and all Cijarges oj the State, are cheaper to them than to m. Anfw. This needs a little Explication. Contributions, greater or lefs, I un- derftand : but Omtribtitions cheaper or dearer, I confefs I do not. If they manage their Wars and Charges cheaper than we, the blame is not to be laid on high or low Interefi. 4. In lercft being fo high, prevents the Building of Shipping, which is the Strength and Safety of our Ifland, ?nofi Merchant-Ships being built in Holland. Anfu. Though this Argument be now gone, fuch Ships being prohibited by a Law, I will help the Author to one as good. The Dutch buy our Rape-feedj make it into Oil, briiig it back to us, and fell it with Advantage. This may be as wellfaid to be from high Interefi here, and low there. But the truth is, the Induftry and Frugality of that People, makes them content to work cheaper, and fell at lefs Profit than their Neighbours, and fo get the Trade from them. 5 . T'he high Rate of Ufury makes Land fell fo cheap, being not iwrth more than four- teen or fifteen Tears Purchafe ; whereas in Holland, where Interefi is at fix, it is worth aboue tvoenty five. So that a low Interefi raifes the Price of Land. JVhere Money is dear. Land is clieap. Anfw. This Argument plainly confefles. That there is fomethingelfe regulates the Price of Land, befides the Rate of Interefi ; elfe when Money was at ten per Cent, here. Land fhould have been at ten Years Purchafe, whereas he confelles it then to have been at fourteen or fifteen. One may fuppofe, to favour his Hf- pothefis, he was not forward to fpeak the mofl of it. And Interefi, as he fays, be- ing at fix per Cent, in Holland, Land there fhould have fold by that Rule for fix- teen and an half Years Purchafe, whereas he fays it was worth about twenty five. And Mr. Manly fays, (/>• 33. ) T'hat Money in France being at feven per Cent, noble Land fells j or thirty four and thirty five Tears Purchafe, and ordinary Land fur twenty five. So that the true Conclufion from hence is, not what our Author makes, but this ; That 'tis not the legal Interefi, but fomething elfe, that governs the Rate of Land. I grant his Polition, That where Money is dear. Land is cheap, and vice verfa. But it mufl be fo by the natural, not legal Interefi. For where Mo- ney will be lent on good Security, at four or five per Cent, tis a Demonflratiort that there is more than will be ventured on ordinary Credit in Trade. And when this Plenty becomes general, 'tis a fign there is more Money than can be em- ployed in Trade ; which cannot but put many upon feeking Purchafes, to lay it out in Land, and fo raife the Price of Land by making more Buyers than Sellers. 6. ''fis not probable Lenders will call in their Aloney, zvhen they cannot make greater Interefi any-where. Befides, their Security upon Land will be better. Anfw. Some unskilful and timorous Men will call in their Money; others put it into the Bankers Hands. But the Bankers and Skilful will keep it up, and not lend it, but at the natural Ufe, as we have fliewn. But how Securities will be mended, by lowering of Interefi, is, I confefs, beyond my Comprehenfion. Of Raifng our Coin. "DEing now upon the Confideration of Interefi and Money, give me leave to fay ■*-' one Word more on this Occafion, which may not be wholly unfeafonable at this time. I hear a Talk up and down of raifing our Money, as a means to retain our Wealth, and keep our Money from being carried away. I wifli thofe that ufe the Phrafe of raifing our Money, had fome clear Notion annexed to it ; and that then they would examine. Whether, that being true, it would at all lei^ve to thofe Ends, for which it is propos'd. The raifing of Money then fignifics one of thefe two things ; either raifing the Value of our Money, or raifing the Denomination of our Coin. The raifing of the Value of Money, or any thing elfe, is nothing, but the making a lefs quantity of it exchange for any other thing, than would have been taken for ic 40 Confiderations of the Lowering of Interefl, it before, v. g. If 5 s. will exchange for, or, (as we call it) buy a Bufliel of Wheat ; if you can make 4 s. buy another BuHiel'-of the fame Wheat, it is plain the Vnlue of your Money is raifed, in relpccft ol Wheat one Fifth. But thus no- thing can raife or fall the Value of your Money, but the proportion of its Plenty, or Scarcity, in proponion to the Plenty, Scarcity, or Vent of any other Coni- mnditv, with which you compare it, or for which you would exchange it. And thus Silver, which makes the intrinfick Value of Money, compared with it fell, under any Stamp or Denomination of the fame or dirt'erent Countries, can- not be raifi;d. For an Ounce of Silver, whether in Feme, Groats, or Gww/i-Pieces, Stivers or Ducatoons, or in Bullion, is and always eternally will be of equal Value to any other Ounce of Silver, under what Stamp or Denomination foever ; unlel's it can be fhevvn that any Stamp can add any new and better qualities to one par- cel of Silver, which another parcel of Silver wants. Silver therefore being always of equal Value to Silver, the Val/ie of Coin, com- par'd with Coir, is greater, lei's or equal, only as it has more, lefs or equal Silver in. it : And in this relpeft, you can by no manner of Way raife or fall your Money. Indeed moft of the Silver of the World, both in Money and VelTels being alloy 'd, (/. e. mixed witli fome bafer Metals) foie Silver, i. e. Silver i'eparated from all Alloy) is ufually dearer than lb much Silver alloy 'd, or mix'd with bafer Metals. Becaule, befides the Weight of the Silver, thofe who have need of fine (/'. e. unmix'd Siher ; as Gilders, Wyre-Drawers, &c.) muft according to their Need, befides an equal Weight of Siher mixed with other Metals, give an Overplus to reward the Re- finer's Skill and Pains. And in this Caic,fne Silver, and alloy' dor mixed Silver are confidered as two diftinft Commodities. But no Money being coin'd here, or almcft any-where of pure fine Silver, this concerns not the Value of Money at all ; wherein an equal quantity of Silver is always of the fam.e Value with an equal quantity of Silver, let the Stamp, or Denomination be what it will. All then that can be done in this great Myflery of Raifing Money, is only to al- ter the Denomination, and call that a Crown now, which before by the Law was but a part of a Crown. For Exainple : Suppofing, according to the Standard of our Law, 51. or a Crown, were to weigh an Ounce, (as it does now, wanting about 16 Grains) whereof one twelfth were Copper, and eleven twelfths Silver, (for there-abouts it is) 'tis plain here 'tis thequantity of Silver gives the Value to it. For let another Piece be coin'd of the fame Weight, wherein half the Silver is taken out, and Copper or other Alloy put into the place, every one knows it will be ivorth half as much. For the Value of the Alloy is fo inconfiderable as not to be reckoned. This Crown now muft be rais'd , and from henceforth our Crown Pieces coin'd one Twentieth lighter; which is nothing but changing the Denomi- nation, calling that a Crown now, which yefterday was but a part, viz,. Nine- teen twentieths of a Crown ; ■t\5hereby you have only raifed 19 Parts to the De- nomination formerly given to 20. For I think no body can be fo fenfelefs, as to imagine, that 19 Grains or Ounces of Silver can be raifed to the Value of 20 ; or that 19 Grains or Ounces of Silver fliall at the famie time e.xchange for, or buy as much Corn, Oil, or Wine, as 20 ; which is to raife it to the Value of 20. For if 19 Ounces of Silver can be worth 20 Ounces of Siher, or pay for as much of any other Commodity, then 18, 10, or i Ounce may do the fame. For if the abating one twentieth of the quantity of the Silver of any Coin, dees not leflen its Value, the abating nineteen twentieths of the quantity of the Silver of any Coin, w"ill not abate its Value. And fo a fingle Threepence, or a fingle Penny, being called a Cro^vn, will buy as much Spice or Silk, or any other Commodity, as a Crown-piece, which contains 20 or 60 times as much Silver; which is an Abfurdity fo great, that I think nobody will want Eyes to fee, and Senle to difown. Now, this Raijingyour Money, or giving a lefs quantity of Silver the Stamp and Denomination of a greater, may be done two Ways. 1. By raifing one Species of your Money. 2. By raifing all your Silver Coiny at once, proportionably ; which is the thing I fuppos'd, now propos'd. I. The raifing oi one Species of your Coin, beyond its intrinfick Value, is done by coining any one Species, (which in Account bears fuch a proportion to the other and Raijing the Value 0/ M o N e V. 4 i other Species of your Coin) with lefs Silver in it, than is required by that Value it bears in yo>ir Money. For Example, A Cro-wn with us goes for 60 Pence, a Shilling for 12 Pence, a T'ejler for 6 Pence, and a Groat for 4 Pence : And accordingly, the Proportion of Silver in each of them, ought to be at 60, 12, 6, and 4. Now, if in the Mint there fliould be coin'd Groats, or T'ejlers, that being of the lame Alloy with our other Money, had but two Thirds of the Weight, that thofc Species are coin'd at now ; or elfe, being of the fame Weight, were fo alloy 'd as to have one Third of the Silver required by the prefent Standard chang'd into Copper ; and fhould thus, by Law, be made currents (the reft of your Silver Money be- ing kept to the prefent Standard in Weight and Finenefs) 'tis plain, thofe Species would be railing one U'hird part ; that palTmg for 6 d. which had but the Silver of 4 d. in it ; and would be all one as if a Groat fliould by Law be made current for 6 d. and every 6 d. in payment pafs for 9 d. This is truly railing thefe Species : But is no more in etfedt, than if the Mint fliould coin clip'd Mo- ney. And has, belides the Cheat that is put, by fuch bafe or light Money, on every particular Man, that receives it, that he wants one Third of that real Va- lue which the Publick ought to fecure him, in the Money, it obliges him to re- ceive as lawful and current ; It has, I fay, this great and unavoidable inconve- nience to the Publick, That, belides the Opportunities it gives to domeftick Coi- ners to cheat you with lawful Money, it puts it into the Hands of Foreigners to fetch away your Money without any Commodities for it. For if they find that Two-penny weight of Silver, marked with a certain Impreflion, fhall here in England be equivalent to 3 d. weight mark'd With another Impreflion ; they will not fail to ftamp Pieces of that Fafliion ; and fo importing that bafe and low Coin, will, here in England, receive 3^. for 2 d. and quickly carry away your Silver in Exchange for Copper, or barely the Charge of Coinage. This is unavoidable in all Countries where any one Species of their Money is difproportionate in its intrinfick Value, (/. e. in its due proportion of Silver to tne reft of the Money of that Country) an Inconvenience fo certainly attending^ the Allowance of any bafe Species of Money to be current, that the King of France could not avoid it, with all his Watchfulnefs. For though, by Edift, hc made his 4 Sols Pieces, (whereof 15: were to pafs for a French Crown, though 20 of them had not fo much Silver in them, as was in a French Crown Piece) pafs in the Inland Parts of his Kingdom, 15 for a Crown in all Payments ; yet he durft not make them current in his Seaport Towns, for fear that fliould give an Opportunity to their Importation. But yet this Caution ferved not the Turn. They were ftill imported ; and by this Means, a great Lofs and Da- mage brought upon his Country. So that he was forced to cry them down, and fink them to near their intrinfick Value. Whereby a great many particular Men, who had quantities of that Species in their Hands, loft a great part of their Eftates ; and every one that had any, loft proportionably by it. If we had Groats or Six-Pences current by Law, amongft us, that wanted one Third of the Silver which they now have by the Standard, to make them of equal Value to our other Species of Money ; who can imagine, that our Neighbours would not prefently pour in quantities of fuch Money upon us, to the great Lofs and Prejudice of the Kingdom ? The quantity of Silver that is in each Piece or Species of Coin, being that, which makes it real and intrinfick Value, the due proportions of Silver ought to be kept in each Species, according to the re- fpeftive Rate fet on each of them by Law. And when this is ever varied from, it is but a Trick to ferve fome prefent Occafion 3 but is always with Lofs to the Country where the Trick is play'd. 2. The other way of raijing Money is by raifing all your Silver Coin at once, the proportion of a Cro-xtt, a Shilling, and a Peiiny, in reference to one another, being ftill kept, {viz.. That a Shilling fliall weigh one fifth of a Cro^mi Piece, and a Penny weigh one twelfth of a Shilling, in Standard Silver ) but out of every one o£ thele, you abate one twentieth of the Silver, they were wont to have in them. If all the Species of Money, be, as "tis call'd raifed, by making each of them to have one twentieth lefs of Silver in them than formerly ; and fo your whole Money be lighter than it was : Thefe following will be fome of the Confequen- ces of it. Vol n. F 8 It ^ I Conjideratms of the Lowering of [nterefl^ 8. It will rob all Creditors of one twentieth (or 5; per Cent.) of their Debts, nnd all Landlords one twentieth of their quit Rents for erer ; and in all other Rents as far as their former Contrails reach, of 5 per Cent, of their yearly Income ; and this without any Advantage to the Debtor or Farmer. For he receiving no more Pounds Sterling for his Land or Commodities, in this new lighter Coin, chan he ftlould have done of your old and weightier Money, gets nothing by it. If you fay yes, he will receive more Crown, HalJ-Cruwtt, and Shilling Pieces, for what he now fells for new Money, than he Ihould have done if the Money of the old Standard had continued ; you confefs your Money is not raijed in Value, but in Denomination; fince what your new Pieces want in Weight, mufi: now be made up in their Number. But which way foever this falls, 'tis certain, the Publick (which moft Men think, ought to be the only reafon of changing a Settled Law,and diflurb- ing the common current Courfe of things) receives not the leaft Profit by it : Nay, as we Ihall fee by and by, it will be a great Charge and Lofs to the Kingdom. But this, at firft fight, is vifible ; That in all Payments to be received upon precedent Contrafts, if your Money be in effect raifed, the Receiver will lofe 5 per Cent. For Money having been lent, and Leafes and other Bargains made, when Money was of the fame Weight and Finenefs that it is now, upon Confidence that under the fame names of Pounds, Shillings , and Pence, they fliould recei\ e the fame Value, i. e. the fame Quantity of Silver, by giving the Denomination now to lefs Quantities of Silver by one twentieth, you take from them 5 per Cent, of their due. When Men go to Market to buy any other Commodities with their new, but lighter Money, they will find 20 x. of their new Money will buy no more of any Commodity than 19 would before. For it not being the denominatton,hut the quantity of Silver, that gives the Value to any Coin, 19 Grains or P.irts of Silver, however denominated or marked, will no more be worth, or pafs for, or buy lb much of any other Commodity as 20 Grains of Silver will, than 19 s. will pafs for 20 s. If any one thinks a Shilling or a Crown in Name has its Value from the Denomination, and not from the Quantity of Silver in it, let it be tried ; and hereafter let a Penny be called a Shilling, or a Shilling be called a Cro-wn. I believe no body would be content to receive his Debts or Rents in fuch Money : Which though the Law fhould raife thus, yet he forefees he fhould lofe eleven twelfths by the one, and by the other four fifths of the Value he received ; and would find his new Shilling, which had no more Silver in it than one twelfth of what a Shilling had before, would buy him of Corn, Cloth, or Wine but one twelfth of what an old Shil- ling would. This is as plainly fo in the raijing, as you call it, your Crown to 5 s. and ^d. or (which is the fame thing) making your Crown one twentieth lighter in Silver. The only difference is, that the Lofs is fo great, ( it being eleven twelfths) that every body fees, and abhors it at firft propofal ; but in the other (it being but one twentieth, and covered with the deceitful name of rai- jing our Money) People do not fo readily obferve it. If it be good to raife the Crown-piece this way one twentieth this Week, I fuppofe it will be as good and profitable to raife it as much again the next Week. For there is no reafon, why it will not be as good to raife it again another one and twentieth the next Week, and fo on; wherein, if you proceed but 10 Weeks fucceffively, you will by New- Years-Day next have every Half-Crown raifed to a Crown, to the Lois of one half of Peoples Debts and Rents, and the King's Revenue, befides the Gon- fufion of all your Affairs : And if you pleafe to go on in this beneficial way of raijing your Money, you may, by the fame Art, bring a Penny- Weight of Silver to be a Crown. Silver, i. e. the quantity of pure Silver feparable from the Alloy, makes the real Vahte of Money. If it does not, coin Copper with the fame Stamp and De- nomination, and fee whether it will be of the lame Value. I fufpeft your Stamp will make it of no more Worth, than the Copper-Money of Ireland is, which is its Weight in Copper, and no more. That Money loft fo much to Ireland^ as it pafled for above the rate of Copper. But yet I think no body fuifered fo much by it as he by whofe Authority it was made current. If Silver give the Value, you will fay what need is there then of the charge of Coinage ? May not Mem exchange Silver by W^eight, for other things ; make their Bargains, and keep their Accounts in Silver by Weight? This might be done, but it has thefe Inconveaiiencies. J. The and Ralfing the Falne 0/ Money. 45 1 . The ivfighing of Silver to every one \vc had occafion to pay it to, would be very troublefome, for every one mull carry about Scales hi his Pocket. 2. Scales would not do the bufinels. For, in the next place, every one can- not diftinj^uifli between /"w and w/x^/^'fotT,- So that though he receive the full ■weight, he was not lure lie received the lull weight of Siher ; fince there might be a mixture of fome of the baler Metals, which he was not able to difcern. Thofe who have had the care, and government of Politick Societies, introduced Coinage, as a remedy to thofe two inconveniencies. The Stamp was a TVarramy of the pub- lick, that under fuch a denomination they fhould receive a piece of fuch a weight, and fuch a finenefs ; that is, they fliould receive fo much Silver. And this is the reafon why the counterfeiting the Stamp is made the higheft Crime, and has the weight of Treafon laid upon it : Becaufe the Stamp ii the publiikVoucber of the intrin- fick Value. The Royal Authority gives the Stam-p; the Law allows and confirms the denomination : And both together give, as it were, the Publick Faith, as a fecurity, that Sums of Money contrafted for under fuch denominations, fhall be of fuch a value, that is, fliall have in them fo niuch Silver. For 'tis Silver and not Kames that pay Debts and purchafe Commodities. If therefore I have contrafted for twenty Crowns, and tlie Law then has required, that each of thofe Crowns fhould have an Ounce of Silver; 'tis certain my Bargain is not made good, I am defrauded (and Avhether the Publick Faith be not broken with me, I leave to be confidered) if, paying me twenty Crowns, the Law allows them to be fuch as have but nineteen tiventieths of the Silver, they ought to have, and really had in them, when I made my Contract. 2. It diminifhesall the King's Revenue 5 per Cent. For though the fame num- ber of Pounds, Shillings, and Pence are paid into the Exchequer as were wont, yet thefe Nam.es being given to Coin that have each of them one twentieth lefs o£ Silver in them ; and that being not a fecret concealed from Strangers, no more than from his own Subjeds, they will fell the King no more Pitch, Tarr,or Hemp, for 20 Shillings, after the raijing your Money, than they would before for ip : or, to fpeak in the ordinary Phrafe, they will raife their Commodities ^ per Cent, as you have rais'd your Money 5 per Cent. And 'tis well if they flop there. For ufually in fuch changes, an out-cry being made of your lelfening your Coin, thofe who have to deal with ycu, taking the advantage of the allarm, to fecure themfelves from any lofs by your new Trick, raife their Price even beyond thePi^rof your* IcHening your Coin. I hear of two Inconveniencies complained of, which 'tis propofed by this Pro- jeft to Rem.edy. - The one is. The melting dovsn of our Coin: The other. The carrying away of cur Bullion. Thefe are botii Inconveniencies which, I fear, we lie under : But neither of them will be in the leaft removed or prevented by the propofed alteration of our Money. I. It is paft doubt that our Money is melted down. The reafon whereof is evident- ly the cheapnefs of Coinage. For a Tax on Wine paying the Coinage, the par- ticular Owners pay nothing for it. So that 100 Ounces of Silver Coind, comes to the Owner at the fame Rate, as 100 Ounces of Standard Silver in Bullion. For delivering into the Mint his Silver in Bars, he has the fame quantity of Silver de- livered out to him again in Coin, without any Charges to him. Whereby, if at any time he has occafion for Bullion, 'tis the fame thing to melt down our mill'd Money, as to buy Bullion from abroad, or take it in Exchange for other Commo- dities. Thus our Mint to the only advantage of our Officers, but at the publick ■ Coft, Labours in vain, as will be found. But yet this makes you not have one jot lefs Money in England, than you would have otherwife ; but only makes you coin that, which otherwife would not have been Coin'd, nor perhaps been brought hither : And being not brought hither by an over-balance of your Exportation, cannot flay when it is here. It is not any fort of Coinage, does, or can keep your Money here : That wholly and only depends upon the balance of your Trade, And had all the Money in King Charles the II. and King James the II's. time, been minted according to this new Propofal, this rais'd Money would have been gone as well as the other, and the remainder been no more, nor no lefs than it is now. Though I doubt not but the Mint would have coin'd as much of it as it has of our preient mill'd Money. The flaort is this. An over-balance of Trade with Vol. IL F % Spain 44 Conjiderations of the Lowering of litcrcfl, ■Spain brings you in Bullion j cheap Coinage, when it is here, carries it into the Mii't, and Money is made of it ; but if your Exportation will not balance your Importation in the other Parts of your Trade, away muft your Silver go again, whether Monied or not Monied. For where Goods do not, Silver muil pay for the Commodities you fpend. That this is fo, will appear by the Books of the Mint, where may be feen how much milled Money has been Coin'd in the two laft Reigns. And in a Paper I have now in my Hands, (fuppoled written by a Man not wholly ignorant in the Mint) 'tis confefled. That whereas one third of the current Payments were fome time fince of .ill'd Money, there is not now one twentieth. Gone then it is : But let not any one miftake and think it gone, becaule in our prefent Coinage, an Ounce wanting about 16 Grains, is denominated a Crown • Or that (as is now propofed) an Ounce wanting about 40 Grains, being coin d in one piece, and denominated a Crown, would have ftop'd it, or will (if our Money be ib alter'd) lor the luturc fix it here. Coin what quantity of Silver you pleale, in one piece, and give it the denomination of a Crown ; when your Money is to go, to pay your foreign Debts, or elfe it will not go out at all) your heavy Money, /. e, tiiat which is weight according to its Denomination, by the Standard of the Mint) will be that, which will be melted down, or carried away in Coin by the Expor- ter, whether the pieces of each Species be by the Law bigger or lefs. For whilft Coinage is wholly paid for by a Tax, whatever your Size of Money be, he that has need of Bullion to fend beyond Sea, or of Silver to make Plate, need but take miU'd Money, and melt it down, and he has it as cheap, as if it were in pieces of Eight, or other Sii\'er coming from abroad ; the Stamp, which fo well lecures the Weight and Finenefs of the mill'd Money, coding nothing at all. To this perhaps will be laid. That if this be the effed: of mill'd Money, that it is fo apt to be melted down, it were better to return to the old way of Coining by the Hammer. To ^vhich I anfwer by no means. For, 1. Coinage by x.\\^ Hammen- lefs fecures you from having a great part of your Money melted down. For in that way there being a greater inequality in the Weight of the Pieces, fome being too heavy, and fome too light ,- thole who know how to make their Advantage of it, cull out the heavy Pieces, melt them down, and make a Benefit of the over-weight. 2. Coinage by the //l7w;««- expofes you much more to the Danger of fa/fe Coin. Becaufe the Tools are ealily made and concealed, and the Work carried on with fcnvcr Hands, and Icls Noife than a Mill; whereby falfe Coiners are lefs liable to difcovcrv. 5. The Pieces not being fo round, even, and fairiy ftamp'd, nor mark'd on the Edges, aie c\pos'd to Clipping, ivhicli mill'd Money is not. MiWd Aloiiey is therefore certainly beft for the Publick. But whatever be the cauJe of melting down our milled Money, I do not fee how railirg our Money (as they call it ) will at all hinder its being melted down. For if our Crown- pieces fhould be coin'd one twentieth lighter. Why (hould that hinder them from being melted down more than now ? The intrinlick Value of the Silver is not alter 'd, as we have fhewn already : Therefore that temptation to melt them down remains the lame as before. But they are lighter by one twentieth. That cannot hinder them from being melted down. For Half- Crowns are lighter by half, and yet that prefeiTes- them not. But they are of lefi vjeight, under the fame denomination, and therefore they ivill not be melted doivn. That is true, if any of thefe prefent Crowns that are one twentieth heavier, are current for Crowns at the fame time. For then they will no more' melt down the new light Crowns, than they will the old clip'd ones, which are more worth in Coin and Tale, than in Weight and Bullion. But it cannot be fuppos'd that Men will part with their old and heavier Money, at the fame rate that the lighter new Coin goes at; and pay away their old Crowns for 5 s. in Tale, when at the Mint they will yield them 5 f. 3 ^. And then if an old mill'd Crown goes for 5 y. 3 d. and a new mill'd Crown (being fo much lighter) go for a Crown, what I pray will be the odds of melting down the one or the other ? The one has one twentieth lefs Silver in k, and goes for one twentieth lefs ; and fo being Weight, they an; melted down upon equal Terms. If it be a convenience to melt one. and Raifing the P^ahie 0/ M o N e y. '4$ one, it will be ns much a convenience to melt tlic other : Juft as it is the fame convenience, to melt mili'd Haif-Crowns as mill'd Crowns ; the one having with half the quantity of Silver, half the Value. When the Money is all brought to the new Rate, i.e. to be one twentieth lighter, and Commodities raifcd as they will proportionably, what fhall hinder the melting down of your Money then, more than now, 1 would fain know? If it be coin'd then as it is now Gratis, a Crown-piece, (let it be of what Weight foever) will be as it is now, juft worth its oAvn W^eight in Bullion, of the lame Finenefs for the Coinage, which is the manufathury about it, and makes all the difference, colling nothing, what can make the dilfercnce of Value ? And therefore, whoever wants Bullion, will as cheaply melt down thefe new Crowns, as buy Bullion with them. The railing of your Money cannot then (the Aft lor free Coinage ftanding) hinder its being melted down. Nor, in the next place, much lefs can it, as it is pretended, hinder the Ex- portation of our Bullion. Any Denomination or Stamp we lliall give to Silver here, will neither give Silver a higher Value \n England, nor make it lefs prized abroad. So much Silver will always be worth (as we ha\e already Ihcw'd) fo much Silver given in exchange one for another. Nor will it, when in your Mint a lefs quantity of it is railed to a higher denomination (as when nineteen twenti- eths of an Ounce has the lame denomination ot a Crown, which formerly belonged only to the whole 20) be one jot rais'd, in refpeft of any other Commodity. You have rais'd the Denomination of your ftamp'd Silver one twentieth, or which is all one 5 per Cent. And Men will prelently raife their Commodities 5 per Cent. So that if yefterday 20 Crowns would exchange for 20 Bufliels of Wheat, or 20 Yards of a certain fort of Cloth, if you will to day coin current Crowns one twentieth lighter, and make them the Standard, you will find 20 Crowns will exchange for but 15? BulTiels of Wheat, or 15? Yards of that Cloth, which will be juft as much Siher fr,r a Bulhel, as yefterday. So that Silver being of no more real Value, by your giving the lame denomination to a lefs quantity of it ; this will no more bring in, or keep your Bullion here, than if you had done nothing. If this were bthcrwile, you would be beholden (as fome People fooliflily imagine) to the Clip- fen for keeping your Money. For if keeping the old denomination to a lefs quan- tity of Silver, be raifing your Money (as in effeft it is all that is, or can be done in it by this Projed: of making your Coin lighter) the C///'/;e>-/ have lufficiently done that : And if their Trade go on a little while longer, at the rate it has of late, and your milled Money be melted down and carried away, and no more coin'd j your Money will, without the charge of new Coinage, be, by that fort of Arti- ficers, railed above 5 per Cent, when all your current Money fhall be clipped, and made above one twentieth lighter than the Standard, preferving ftill its former Denomination. It will poilibly be here objefited to me, That we fee 100 /. of clip'd Money, above 5 per Cent, lighter than the Standard, will buy as much Corn, Cloth, or Wine, as 100/. in 7}ii!l'd M'Mey, which is above one twentieth heavier: V/hereby it is evident, that my Rule fails, and that it is not the Quantity of Silver, that gives the Value to Money, but its Stamp and Denomination. To which I anlwer. That Men make their Efiimate and Contracts according to the Standard, upon Suppoli- tion they fhall receive good and lawful Money, which is that of full Weight : And fo in effed: they do, whilil they receive the current Money of the Country. For fince 100/. ol clip' d Money will pay a Debt of 100/. as well as die weightieft jni/i d Money, and a new Crown out of the Mint will pay for no more Flefh, Fruit, or Cloth, than five clip'd Shillings i "tis evident that they are equivalent as to the Purchaie ot any thing here at home, whilft no body fcruples to take five clip'd Shillings in exchange for a weighty mill'd Crown. But this will be quite other- Xvife as foon as you change your Coin, and (to raife it as you call it) make your Money one twentieth lighter in the Mint; for then no body will any more give an old Crown of the former Standard for one of the new, than he will now give you ^ s. and 3 d. for a Crown : For fo much then his old Crown will yield him at the Mint. Clip d and jnulip'd Mcney will always buy an equal quantity of any thing elfe, as long as they will without Icruple change one for another. And this makes, that the foreign Merchant, who comes to fell his Goods to you, always counts upon the 4«^ Conjiderations of the Lowering of Inter efl, the Value of your Money by the Silver that is in it, and eftimates the quantity c£ Silver by the Standard of your Mint; though perhaps by reafon of clip'd or worn Money amongft it, any Sum that is ordinarily received is much lighter than the Standard, and fo has lefs Silver in it than what is in a like Sum new coin'd in the Mint. But whilft difd and lueighty Money will equally change one for another, it is all one to him whether he receive his Money in clip'd Money or no, fo it be but current. For if he buy other Commodities here with his Money, whatever Sum he conti-adls for, clip'd as well as lueighty Money equally pays for it. If he would carry nway the Price of his Commodity in ready Cafh, 'tis caiily changed into weighty Money : And then he has not only the Sum in Tale, that he conti'a- (ftcd for; bur the quantity of Silver he expcfted for his Commcdities, according to tb.c Standard of cur Mint. If the quantity of your clip'd Money be once grown fo great, that the foreign Merchant cannot (if he has a mind to it) eafily get Weighty Mt rey for it, but having fold his Merchandize, and received cltp'd Money, finds a difficulty to procure what is Weight for it ; he will, in felling his Goods, either contraft to be paid in weighty Money, or elfe raife the Price of his Commodities, according to the diminifh'd quantity of Silver in your current Coin. In Holland (Ducatocns being the bell Money of the Country, as well as the largefl Coin) Men in Payments, received and paid thofe indifferently, with the other Money of the Country, till of late the coining of other Species of Money, of bafer Alloy, and in greater quantities, having made the Ducatoons, either by melt- ing down, or Exportation, fcarcer than foiTnerly, it became difficult to change the bafer Money into Diicatoons ; and fince that, no body will pay a Debt in Ducatoom, unlefs he be allowed h&\i per Cent, or more, above the Value they were coin'd for. To underftand this, we muft take notice. That Guilders is the denomination, tl»at in Holland they ufually compute by, and make their Contracts in. A Duca- toon formerly pafled at three Guilders, and three Stuyvers, or fixty-three Stuvyers, There were then (fome Years fince) began to be coin'd another Piece, which was call'd a Three Guilders Piece, and was order'd to pafs for three Guilders or fixty Stuyiers. But 21 Three Guilders Pieces, which were to pafs for 63 Guilders, not having fo much Silver in them as 20 Ducatoons, which paffed for the fame Sum of ^3 Guilders : the Ducatoons were either melted down in their Mints, (for the ma- king of thefe Three Guilders Pieces, or yet bafer Money, with Profit) or were car- ried avvay by foreign Merchants ; who when they carried back the Produft of their Sale in Money, would be fure to receive their Payment of the number of Guilders they contracted for in Ducatoons, or change the Money they received, in- to Ducatocns .- Whereby they carried home more Silver, than if they had taken their Payment in Three Guilders Pieces, or any other Species. Thus Ducatoons be- came icarce. So that now he that will be paid in Ducatoons muft allow \i&\i per Cent, for them. And therefore the Merchants, when they fell any thing now, either make their Bargain to be paid in Ducatoons, or if they contra ft for Guilders in general, (which will be fure to be paid them in the bafer Money of the Country,) they raiie the Price of their Commodities accordingly. By this Example, in a NeighbourCountry,wemay feehowour new mill'd Mo- ney goes away. When foreign Trade imports more than our Commodities will pay for, 'tis certain we muft contraft Debts beyond Sea, and thofe muft be paid •5vith Money, when either we cannot furnifti, or they will not take our Goods to difcharge them. To have Money beyond Sea to pay our Debts, when our Com- modities do not raife it, there is no other way but to fend it thither. And fince a weighty Crown cofts no more here than a light one, and our Coin beyond Sea is valued no otherwife than according to the quantity of Silver it has in it, whether we lend it in Specie, or whether we melt it down here to fend it in Bullion, (which is the fafeft xvay as not being prohibited) the iveightie/i is fure to go. But when fo great a quantity of your Money is clip'd, or fo great a part of your weigh- ty Money is carried away, that the foreign Merchant or his Faftor here cannot have his Price paid in weighty Money, or fuch as will eafily be changed into it, then everyone will fee {when Men will no longer take five clip d Shillings for a mill'd or weighty Crown) that it is the quantity of Silver that buys Commodities and pays Debts, and not the Stamp and Denomination which is put upon it. And then too it will be feen what a Ral/kry is committed on the Publick by Clipping. Every Grain and Raijing tkc Value of M o n i: v< 4-7' Grain dimiuinied from the ;uft Weight ol our Money, is io much Lofs to the Nation, ii)l)kb will one time or other be JenJIbly jelt ; and which, if it be not taken care of, and fpeedily fiopt, will in that enormous Courfc it is now in, quickly, I fear, break out into open ill Erfc6:s, and at one Blow deprive us of a great pair (perhaps near one fourth) of our Money. For that will be really the Cafe, when thelncreafe of clip' d Money makes it hard to get weighty i when Men begin to put a difference of Value between that which is weighty, and light Money, and will not fell their Commodities, but for Money that is Weight, and will make their Bargains accordingly. Let the Country Gentleman, when it comes to that Pafs, confider, what the Decay of his Eftate will be, when receiving his Rent in the 'i'alc of clip'd Shil- lings, according to his Bargain, he cannot get them to pafs at Market for more than their Weight. And he that Iclls him Salt or Silk, will bargain for 5 s. fuch a quantity, if he pays him in fair weighty Coin, but in clip'd Money he will not take under 5 /. 3 ^. Here you lee you have your Money without this new trick of Coinage, raifed 5 per Cent. But whether to any advantage of the Kingdom, I leave every one to judge. Hitherto we have only confidered the Raifmg of Silver Coin, and that has been only by coining it with lefs Silvel- in it, under the fame Denomination. There is another way yet of raifing Money which has fomething more of reality, though as little good as the former in it. This too, now that we are upon the Chapter oi Raijiiig of Money, it may not be unfcafonable to open a little. The Raifing I mean is, when either of the two richer Metals, (which Money is ufually made of) is by Law raifed abo\ e its natural Value, in refpeft of the other. Gold and Silver, have, in almoft all Ages, and Parts of the World ( where Money was ufed) generally been thought the fitteft Materials to make it of But there being a great difproportion in the Plenty of thefe Metals in the World, one has always been valued much higher than the other; fo that one Ounce oi Gold has exchang'd for feveral Ounces of Silver : As at prefent, our Guinea paffing for 2 1 s. 6 d. in Silver, Gold is now about fifteen and an half Times more worth than Sil- ver; there being about fitteen and an half Times more Silver in 21 s. 6 d. than there is Gold in a Guinea. This being now the Market Rate of Gold to Silver ; if by an eftablifhed Law the Rate o{ Guineas fhould be fet higher, (as to izs. 6 d.) they w^ould be raifed indeed, but to the Lofs of the Kingdom. For by this Law Gold being raifed 5 per Cent, above its natural true Value, Foreigners w'ould find it worth while to lend their Gold hither, and fo fetch away our Silver at fi\ e per Cent. Profit, and fo mucii Lofs to us. For when fo much Gold as would pur- chafe but 100 Ounces of Silver anywhere elfe, will in England purchafe the Merchant 105 Ounces, what fhall hinder him from bringing his Gold to fo good a Market; and either felling it at the lylint, where it will yield fo much, or having it coin'd into Gaineiu .- And then (going to Market with his Guineas) he may buy our Commodities at the Advantage of 5 per Cent, in the verv fort of his Money ; or change them into Silver, and carry that away with him ? On the other lide, if by a Law you would raife your Silver Money, and make four Crowns^, or 20 .f. in Silver, equal to a Guinea, at which rate I fuppofe it was firft coin'd ; fo that by your Law a Guinea Hiould pafs but for 20 j. the fame Inconveniency would follow. For then Strangers would bring in Silver, and carry away your Gold, which was to be had here at a lower Rate than any where elfe. If you fay, that this Inconvenience is not to be fear'd ; for that as foon as People found, that Gold began to grow fcarce, or that it was more worth than the Law fet upon it, they would not then part with it at the Statute-rate ; as we fee the Broad-Pieces that were coined in King Jatnei I. time for 20 s. no body will now part with under 25 s. or more, according to the Market Value. This I grant is true, and it does plainly confefs the Fooliflmefs of making a Law, which cannot produce the Effeft it is made for: As indeed it will not, when you would raife the Price of Silver in rcfpefl: of Gold, above its natural Market Va- lue: For then, as we fee in our Gold, the Price of it will raife itfelf But on the other fide, if you fliould by a Law fet the Value of Gold above its Par, then People would be bound to receive it at that high rate, and fo part with their Silver at an under value. But fuppofing that having a mind to raife your Silver iti 4^ Confiderations of the Lowering of Inter ejl, in refpeft of Gold, you make a Law to do it, what comes of that ? If your Law prevail, only this ; that as much as you raife Silver, you debafe oold, ( for they are in the Condition of two things put in oppolite Scales, as much as the one ri- fes the other falls) and then your Gold will be carried away with fo much clear Lofs to the Kingdom, as you rail'c Silver and debafe Gold by your Law, below their natural Value. If you raife Gold in Proportion to Silver, the lame Effect follows. I lay, raife Silver in refpeEi of Gold, and Gold in Proportion to Siher. For when you would raife the Value of Money, fancy what you will, "tis but in rcfpeft of fomething you wotjld change it for, and is done only when you can make a lefs quantity of the Metal, which your Money is made of, change for a greater- quantity of that thing which you would raife it to. ... The Effeft indeed, and ill Confequence of raifing either of thefe two Metals, in rcfpeft of the other, is more eafily obferved and fooner found in raifing Gold than Silver Coin : Becaufe your Accounts being kept, and your Reckonings all made in Pounds, Shillings, and Pence, which are Denominations of Silver Coins, or Numbers of them ; if Gold be made current at a rate above the free and Mar- ket Value of thofe two Metals, every one will eafily perceive the Inconvenience. But there being a Law for it, you cannot refufe the Gold in payment for fo much. And all the Money or Bullion People will carry beyond Sea from you, will be in Silver, and the Money or Bullion brought in will be in Gold. And the fame juft will happen when your Siher is is raifed and Cold debafed in refpeft of one another, beyond their true and natural Proportion : {Natural Proportion or Value I call that reipeftive Rate they find any where without the Prefcription of Law) For then Silver will be that which is brought in, and Gold will be carried out ; and that Hill with Lofs to the Kingdom, anfwerable to the overvalue fet by the Law. Only as foon as the Mifchief is felt. People will (do what you can) raife their Gold to its natural Value. For your Accounts and Bargains being made in the Denomination of Siher Money; if, when Gold is raifed above its Proportion, by the Law, you cannot refufe it in Payment (as if the Law Ihould make a Guinea current at 22 /. s.n6.6d.) you are bound to take it at that rate in Payment. But if the Law fliould make Guineas current at 20 s. he that has them is not bound to pay them away at that rate, but may keep them if he pleafes, or get more for them if he can : Yet from fuch a Law one of thefe three things will follow. Either ift. The Law for- ces them to go at 20 s. and then being found paffing at that rate. Foreigners make their Advantage of it ; Or, 2^/y, People keep them up, and will not part with them at the legal Rate, underftanding theni really to be worth more, and then all your Gold lies dead, and is of no more ufe to Trade, than if it were all gone out of the Kingdom : Or, ■^dly. It pafles for more than the Law allows, and then your Law fignifies nothing, and had been better let alone. Which way ever it fucceeds, it proves either prejudicial or ineffeftual. If the defign of your Law takes place, the Kingdom lofes by it : If the Inconvenience be felt and avoided, your Law is eluded. Money is the meafure of Commerce, and of the rate of every thing, and there- fore ought to be kept ( cis all other meafures ) as fleddy and invariable ai may be. But this cannot be, if your Money be made of two Metals, whofe Proportion, and confequently whofe Price, conilantly varies in refpeft of one another. Silver, for many Reafons, is the fitteft of all Metals to be this Meafure, and therefore generally made ufe of for Money. But then it is very unfit and inconvenient that Gold, or any other Metal, fhould be made current legal Money, at a (landing fettled Rate. This is to fet a Rate upon the varying Value of Things by Law, which juftly cannot be done; and is, as I have fliewed, as far as it prevails, a conftant damage and prejudice to the Country where it is praftifed. Suppofe fif- teen to one be now the exact Par between Gold and Silver, what Law can make it lading ; and eftablifli it fo, that next Year, or twenty Years hence, this fhall be the juft Value of Gold to Silver, and that one Ounce of Gold Ihall be juft worth fifteen Ounces of Silver, neither more nor lefs ? 'Tis poflible, the Eafl^ India 'J'rade fweeping away great Sums of Gold, may make it fcarcer in Europe. Perhaps the Guinea Trade, and Mines of Peru, affording it in greater Abundance, may make it more plentiful ; and fo its Value in refpeft of Silver, come on the one \i(\& to be as fixteen, or on the other as fourteen to one. And can any Law you and Raijing the Value 0/ M o n e y. "49 you lliall make alter this Proportion here, when it is fo every where clfe round about you ? li' your Law fet it at ifiiteen, when it is at the iVee Market Rate in the neighbouring Countries, as fixteen to one ; ^ivill they not lend hither their Sih-er to fetch away your Gold at one fixteen Lofs to you ? Or if you will keep its Rate to Silver, as fifteen to one, when in Hvliand, F,/m:e, and SpaP^ its Market Value is but fourteen ; will they not fend hither their Gold, and fetch away your Silver at one fifteen Lofs to you ? This is unavoidable, if you will make Money of both Gold and Silver at the fame time, and fet Rates up- on them by Law in refped of one another. What then? (Will you be ready to fa)') would you hai.e Gold kept out of Eng- land? Or, being here, would you have it ufelefs to Trade ; and muft there be! no Money made of it ? I anfwer. Quite the contrary. 'lis fit the Kingdom fliould make ufe of the Treafureit has. 'Tis necefiary your Gold fhould be coin'd, and have the King's Stamp upon it, to fecure Men in receiving it, that there is fomuch Gold in each Piece. But 'tis not neceflary that it fliould have a fixed V.ilue fet on it by publick Authority : 'Tis not convenient that it fliould in its varying Proportion have a I'etled Price. Let Gold, as other Commodities, find its own Rate. And when, by the King's Image and Liieription, it carries v/ith it a publick Aflurance of its Weight and Finenefs, the Gold Money fo coin'd •\vill never fail to pafs at the known Market Rates, as readily, as any other Spe- cies of your Money. Twenty Guineas, tho' dcfigned at firft .for 20 /. go now as current for 21 I. 10 s. as any other Money, and fometimes for more, as the Rate varies. The Value or Price of any thing, being only the I'efpeifiive Eftimate it bears to fome other, which it comes in Competition with, can only be known by the Qiianiity of the one, which will exchange lor a certain Quantity of the other. '1 here being no two things in Nature, whofe Proportion and Ufe does not vary, 'tis poffible to fet a Handing regular Price between them. The growing Plenty or Scarcity of either in the Market, (whereby I mean the ordinary Pla- ces, where they are to be had in Tralfick) or the real Ufe, or changing Falhi- on of the Place, bringing either of them more into Demand than formerly, pre- fently varies the rcfpective Value of any two Things. You will as fruitlefly endeavour to keep uvo different things lleddily at the fame Price one with another, as to keep two things in a ^.quilibrium, where their varying Weights depend on different Caufes. Put a Piece of Spunge in one Scale, and an exaft Coun- te]"}ioife of Silver on the other, you will be mightily miftaken if you imagine, that becaufe they are to Day equal, they fliall always remain fo. The W eight of the Spunge varying with e\ ery Change of Moifture in the Air, tiie Silver in the oppolite Scale will fometimes rife and fometimes fall. This is juft the State of Siher and Gold, in regard of their niutual Value. Their Proportion, or Ufe, may, nay conftantly does vary, and with it their Price. For being eftimated one in Reference to the other, they are as it were put in oppofite Scales, and as the one rifes the other falls, and fo on the contrary. Farthings made of a bafcr Metal, may on this Account too deferve your Con- fideration. For whatfoever Coin you make current, above the intrinfick Value, ivill always be Damage to the Publick, whoever get by it. But of this I fliall not at prefent enter into a more particular Enquiry ; only this I will confident- ly affirm, I'hat it is the Interefl of every Country, that all the current Money oj ztfiould be oj one and the fame Metal ; T'hat the federal Species fliould he all of the fame Alloy, and none of a bafr Mixture : And that the Standard once thm fetled, foould be inviolably nnd i?n}nut/ibly kept to Perpetuity. For whenever that is alter'd, upon what Pretence foever, the Publick will lofe by it. Since then it will neither bring us in more Money, Bullion, or Trade ; nor keep that we have here, nor hinder our weighty Money, of what Denomination foever, from being melted, to n'hat purpofe fliould the Kingdom be at the Charge of coining all our Money anew? For I do not fuppofe any body can propofe, that we fliould have two forts of Money at the fame time, one heavier, and the other lighter, as it comes from the Mint i that is very abfurd to imagine. So that if all your old Money muft be coin'd over again, it will indeed be Ibme Advantage, and that a very confiderable one, to the Officers of the Mint. For tliey being al- low'd 3 J. 6d. it fliould be fixteen Pence Halipenny for the Coinage of every Pound Troy, whi^h is very near five and an h^li per Cent. If our Money be fix Milli- Vol. 11. G ©ns. 50 Confderations of the Lowering of Inter ejl, ons, and muft be coin'd all over again, it will cofl: the Natinn to the Mint thlee hundred thirty thoufand Pounds. One hund*-ed thirty thoufand Pounds if the clip'd Money muft fcape, becaufe it is already as light as your new Standard; do you not own that this Defign of new Coinage is juft of the Nature of Clipping ? 'J his Bufinefs of Money and Coinage is by fome Men, and aniongft them (bme very ingenius Perfons, thought a great Myftery, and very hard to be underftood. Not that truly in itfelf it is fo, but becaufe intereflcd People, that treat of it, wrap up the Secret they make Advantage of in a myftical, obfcurc, and unintelli- gible ways of Talkingj which Men, from a pre-conceiv'd Opinion of the Diffi- culty of the Subject, taking for Senfe, in a Matter not eaiic to be penetrated, but by the Men of Art, let pafs for current without Examination. Whereas, would they look into thofe Difcourfes, enquire what Meaning their Words have, they would find for the moft part, either their Pofitions to be falfe, their Deduc- tions to be wrong, or (which often happens) their Words to have no diftincl Meaning at all. Where none of thefe be, there their plain, true, honeft Senfe, would prove very eafie and intelligible, if exprefs'd in ordinary and dired; Language. Ihat this is fo, I fhall fliew, by examining a printed Sheet on this Subject, intituled. Remarks on a Paper given in to the Lords, &c. Rem. 'T^n certain, T'hat what Place fvevey -will give mofi for Silver by Weight, it will thither be carried and fold : And if of the Money which now fajfes in England, there can be ^ s. 5 d. the Ounce given Jor Standard Silver at the Mint, when but 5 s. ^d. of the very fame Money can be given elfewhere for it, it will certainly be brought to the Mint ; and when coin'd, cannot be fold (having one Penny over-value fet upon it by the Ounce) for the fame that other Plate may be bought for, fo will be left unmelted ; at leaf, 'twill he the Intereft of any Exporters, to buy Plate to fend out, before Money ; whereas now 'tis his Intereft to buy Money to fend out before Plate. Anfu. The Author would do well to make it intelligible, how, of the Money that noiu pajfes in England, at the Mint can be given 5 s. 5 d. the Ounce for Standard Silver, when but ly s. ^d. of the fame Money can be given elfewhere for it. Next, How it has one Penny over-value fet upon it by the Ounce, fo that when coin'd it cannot be fold. This, to an ordinary Reader, looks very myfterious; and, I fear, is fo, as either fignifying nothing at all, or nothing that will hold. For, 1. I ask who is it at the Mint, that can give 5 s. 5 d. per Ounce, for Standard Silver, when no body elfe can give above 5 s. 4d ? Is it the King, or is it the Mafter- Worker, or any of the Officers ? For to give 5 ^. •yd. for what will yield but 5 s. ^d. to any body elfe, is to give one fixty fifth Part more than it is worth. For lb much every thing is worth, as it will yield. And I do not fee how this can turn to account to the King, or be born by any body elfe. 2. I ask, How a Penny over-value can be fet upon it by the Ounce, fo that it cannot be fold ? This is fo myfterious that I think it near impoillble. For an equal Qiian- tity of Standard Silver will always he juft worth an equal Quantity of Standard Silver. And it is utterly impoffible to make fixty four Parts of Standard Silver equal to, or worth fixty five Parts of the fame Standard Silver ; which is meant by fitting a Penny ove-r-value upon it by the Ounce, if that has any Meaning at all. Indeed, by the Workmanfhip of it, fixty four Ounces of Standard Silver may be made not only worth fixty fi^ e Ounces, but feventy or eighty. But the Coi- nage, which is all the Workmanfhip here, being paid for by a Tax, I do not fee how that can be reckon'd at all : Or if it be, it muft raife every 5 s. ^d. coin'd, to above 5 j. 5 i. If I carry fixty four Ounces of Standard Silver in Bul- lion to the Mint to be coin'd, fhall I not have juft fixty four Ounces back again for it in Coin ? And if fo, can thefe fixty four Ounces of coin'd Standard Silver be poflibly made worth fixty five Ounces of the fime Standard Silver uncoin'd; when they coft me no more, and I can, for barely going to the Mint, have fixty four Ounces of Standard Silver in Bullion turn'd into Coin ? Cheapnefs of Coinage in England, where it cofts nothing, will indeed make Money be fooner brought to the Mint, than any where elfe ; becaufe there I have the Convenience of having it made into Money for nothing. But this will no more keep it in England than if it wereperfeft Bullion. Nor will it hinder it from being melted down, be- caufe it coft no more in Coin than in Bullion : And this equally, whether your Pieces of the fame Denomination be lighter, hea\ier, or juit as they were before. This and Raifing the Value 0/ M o n e Y. 51 This being explain'd, 'twill be cafie to fee, whether the other things faid In the fame Paragraph be true or falfe, and particularly, whether 't-will be the Interefl of every Exporter, to buy Plate to fend out before Money. ■ Rem. 'Tis only barely ajferted, T'hat if Silver be raifed at the Mint, that 'ttvill rife elfevjjjere above it, but can never be known till it be tried. Jnjw. Tlie Author tells us, in the lafl Paragraph, that Silver that ii "worth hut 5 s. 2d. pr Oi'.nce at the Mint, is uorth 5 s. 4 d- elfezuhere. This, how true, or what Inconvenience it hath, I will not here examine. But be the Inconvenience of it what it will, this railing the Money he propofes as a Remedy : And to thofe who fay^ upon rfiifing our Money, Silver will rile too, he makes this Anfwer, that Ic can never be known whether it will or no, till it be tried. To which I reply. That it may be known as certainly without trial as it can, that two pieces, of Silver that weighed equally Yefterday, will weigh equally again to Morrow in the lame Scales. T'here is Silver ( fays oiir Author ) whereof an Ounce ( i. e. 480 Grains } will change for 5 J. 4 ^. ( i. e. 49^ Grains) of our Standard Silver coined. To morrow you coin your Money lighter; fo that then 5 s. ^d. will have but 472 Grains of coin'd Standard Silver in it. Can it not then be known, without Trial, whether that Ounce of Silver, which to day will change for 496 Grains of Standard Silver coin'd,will change to morrow but for 47 2 Grains of the fame Standard Silver coin'd? Or can anyone imagine that 480 Grains of the fameSilver,whichto day are worth 496 Grains of our coin'd Silver, will to morrow be worth but 472 Grains of the fame Silver, a little differently coin'd.^ He that can have a Doubt about this till 'it be tried, may as well demand a Trial to be made, to prove, that the lame thing is equiponderant, or equivalent to it lelf. For I think it is as clear. That 472 Grains of Silver are equiponderant to ^96 Grains of Silver, as that an Ounce of Silver, that is to day worth 496 Grains of Standard Silver, Ihould to morrow be worth but 472 Grains of the fame Standard Silver, all Circumfiances remaining the fame, but the different Weight of the Pieces fiamp'd : Which is that our Author aflerts, when he fays. That 'tis only barely ajferted, &c. What has been faid to this, may ferve alfo for an Anfwer to the next Paragraph. Only I defire it may be taken notice of, that the Author feems to infmuate, that Silver goes not in England, as in foreign Parts, by Weight : Which is a very dangerous as well as falfe Pofition ; and which, if allowed, may let into our Mint what Corruption and Debafing of our Money one pleafes. K em. T'hat our Tr-ade hath heretofore furnijlxd m with an Overplm, brought home in Gold and Silver, is true : But that we bring home frojn any Place more Goods than we now export to it, I do not conceive to befo. And more Goods might be fent to thofe Parts ; but by reafon of the great Value of Silver in tins part of the World, more Money is to be got by exporting Silver, than by any other thing that can be fent ; and that is the reafon of it. And jor its being melted down, and fent out, becaufe it isfo heavy, is not by their Paper denied. Anlw. T'hat we bring home font any place more Goods than we now export, (the Author tells us) he doth not conceive. Would he had told us a Reafon for his Conceit. But fince the Money of any Country is not prefently to be changed, upon any private Man's groundlefs Con- ceit, I fuppofe this Argument will not be of much W^eight with many Men. I make bold to call it a groundlefs Conceit : For if the Author pleafe to remember the great Sums of Money are carried every Year to the Eafi-Indies, for which we bring home confumable Commodities ; (though I muft own that it pays us again with Advantage) or if he will examine, how much only two Commodities, wholly confum'd here, coft us yearly in Money, (I mean Canary Wine and Currants ) more than we pay for with Goods exported to the Canaries and Zant ; befides the Over-balance of Trade upon us in feveral other Places, he will have little reafou to fay, he doth not conceive we bring home from any place more Goods than we now Ex- port to it. As to what he fays concerning the melting down and exporting our Money, becaufe it is heavy. If by heavy, he means, becaufe our Crown-pieces ( and the reft of our Species of Money in proportion ) are 23 or 24 Grains heavier than he would have them coin'd : This, whoever grants it, I deny upon Grounds, which I fup- pofe, when examined, will be found clear and evident. Vol. II. G z Indeed 5 z Conjiderations of the Lowering of Interefl, Indeed when your Debts beyond Sea, to anAver the Over-balance of foreign Importations, call for your Money, 'tis certain the heavy Money, which has the full Standard Weight, will he melted down and carried away ; becaule Foreign- ers value not your Stamp or Denomination, but your Silver. He woxild do well to tell us what he means by the great Value of Silver in this part of the M^orld. For he fpeaks of it as a Caufc that draws away our Money more now than formerly, orelfe it might as well have been omitted as mentioned in this place : And if he mean, by this part of the M'^orld, England : 'tis fcarce Senfc to fay, That the great Value of Silver in England fhould draw Siher out o{ England. If he means the neighbouring Countries to England, he fhould have faid it, and not doubtfully this part of the World. But let him, by this part of the World, n-.can what he will, I dare fay every one will agree. That Silver is not more valu'd in this, than any other part of the Worlds nor in this Age, more than in our Grand- fathers Days. ^ . 1 am forry if it be true, what he tells v;s. That more Mvney is to be got by Expor- tation of Siher, than by any other thing that can be fent. This is an Evidence, that "voe brings fmne more Goods than "we export. For till that happens, and has brought us in Debt beyond Sea, Silver will not be exported ; but the overplus of Peoples Gain, being generally laid up in Silver, it will be brought home in Silver; and fo our People will value it as much as any other, in this part of the World. 'J'he Truth of the Cafe in fliort is this. Whenever we, by a. lofing Trade, contraft Debts with our Neighbours, they will put a great Value on our Silver ^ and more Money icill be got by tranfporting Silver than any thing can be fent : Which comes about thus. Suppofe that by an Over-balance of their Trade (whether by a Sale of Pepper, Spices, and other Eafl-India Commodities, it matters s'ot) we have received great quantities of Goods, within thefe two or three Months, from Holland, and fent but little thither; fo that the Accounts balanced between the Inhabitants o{ England andtheUnited Provinces, we of Englandweie a.M\Uion in their Debt ; What would follow from hence ? This : That thefe Dutch Creditors, defiring to have what is due to them, gi\ e Order to their Factors and Correfpon- dents here, to return it to them. For enquiring, as we do, what are the Erfefts of an over-balance of Trade, we muft not fuppofe, they inveft their Debts in Commodities, and return their Effefts that way. A Million then being to be re- turned from England to Holland in Money, every one feeks Bills of Exchange; but Englifi?nen not having Debts in Holland to anfwer this Million, or any the leaft part of it. Bills are not to be got. This prefently makes the Exchange very high : upon which the Bankers, ci^c. who have the Command of great quantities of Money and Bullion, fend that away to Holland in Specie, and fo take Money here to pay it again there, npon their Bills, at fuch a rate of Exchange, as gives them five, ten,- fifteen, &c. per Cent, profit : And thus fometimes a 5 s. Piece of our mill'd Aloney may truly be faid to be worth 5 v. ^d. ^d. 6d. 9 d. in Holland. And if this be the great Value of Silver in this part of the World, I ealily grant it him. But this great Value is to be remedied, not by the Alteration of our Mint, but by the Regulation and Balance of our Trade. For be your Coin what it will, our Neighbours, if they over-balance us in Trade, will not only have a great Value of otrr Silver, but get it too; and there will be more to be got by exporting Silver to them than by any other "Thing can be fent. Rem. "The Alteration of the Coins in Spain and Portugal are no -way at all like this. For there they alter d in Denomination near half, to deceive thofe they paid, ivith paying ihofe to -whom they ozved one Ounce of Silver, but half an Ounce for it. But in the Al- teration here dejigned, to -whoever an Ounce of Silver icas owing, an Ounce will be paid in this Money ; if being here only dejtgnd, that an Ounce of Money jlwuld equal an Ounce of Silver in Value, at home, m well as abroad, which now it does not. Anfw. In this Paragraph the Author confeffes the Alteration of the Coin in Spain and Portugal was a Cheat ; but the Alteration here defignd, he fays, is not : But the Reafon he gives for it is admirable : viz. Eecaufe they there alter d in Denomina- tion near half, and here the Denomination is alter'd but five per Cent, for fo in Truth it is, whatever he defigned. As if fifty per Cent, were a Cheat, but five per Cent, were not ; bccaufe perhaps lefs perceivable. For the two Things that are pretended to be done here by this new Coinage, I fear will both fail, viz.. 1 . 'I'hat to whomfoever an Ounce of Silver is owing, an Ounce of Silver /hall be paid in this Mvney. and Raijing the Value 0/ M o n e y. 53 Money. For when an Ounce of Silver is coin'd, as is pi-opofed, into 5 j. 5 ^. (wliich is to make our Money five per Cent, lighter than it is now) I that am to receive an 100/. per Annum, Fee Farm Rent ; fhall I in this new Money receive 105 /. or barely 100/. ? The firfl I think will not be faid. For if by Law you have made it loo /. 'tis certain the Tenant will pay me no more. If you do not mean that 400 Crowns, or 2000 Shillings of your new Coin fliall be an 100/. but there n-.uft be fixe, per Cent, in Tale, added to every 100, you are at the charge of new Coinage to no other purpofe but to breed Confufion. If I niufl receive 100/. by Tale, of tliis new Money for my Fee Farm Rent, 'tis Demonflration that I lofe five Ounces per Cent, of the Silver was due to me. This a little lower he confelfes in thefe Words, 'That where a Man hai a Rent-SEC, that can never be more, this may fomewhat affecl it, but fo very little, that it zvill fcarce ever at all be per- ceived. This very little is dveper Cent. And if a Man be cheated of that, lb he per- ceives it not, it goes for nothing. But thisLofs will not afteft only fuch Rents, as can never be more, but all Payments whatfoever, that are contraftcd for before this Alteration of our Money. 2. If it be true, what he affirms, That an Ounce of Money doth equal an Ounce of Silver in value abroad, but not at home ; then this part of the Undertaking will alfo fail. For I deny that the Stamp on our Money does any more debafe it here at home than abroad, or make the Silver in our Money not equal in Value to the fame Weight of Silver every-where. The Author would ha^'e done well to ha\e made it out, and not left fo great a Paradox only to the credit of a fingle Afi'ertion. Rem. And for vjhat is faid in this Bill to prevent Exportation, relates only to the keeping in our .own Coin, and Bullion, and leaves all foreign to be exported fill. Anfw. What the Author means by our own a.n6. foreign Bullion, will need fome Explication. Rem. There is now no fuch thing cu Payments made in weighty and mill'd Money. Anfw. I believe there are very few in Town, who do not very often receive a mill'd Crown for 5 s. and a mill'd half Crown for 2 s. 6d. But he means I fup- pofe in great and entire Sums of mill'd Money. But I ask, if all the clip'd Mo- ney were called in, whether then all the Payments would not be in weighty Mo- ney 5 and that not being call'd in, whether if it be lighter than your new mill'd Money, the new mill'd Money will not be melted doivn as much as the old ? Which I think the Author there confeffes, or elfe I underftand him not. Rem. Nor will this any way interrupt Trade ; for Trade will find its own courfe ; the Denomination of Money in any Country no way concerning that. Anfw. The Denomination to a certain Weight of Money, in all Countries, concerns Trade ; and the Alteration of that necelfarily brings difturbance to it. Rem. For if fo be, it occafions the coining more Money. Anfv. He talks as if it would be the occajion of coining Jtiore Money. Out of what } Out of Money already coin'd, or out of Bullion ? For I would be glad to know where it is. Rem. It may be fome Gain to thofe that will venture to melt down the Coin, but very fmall Lvfs ( if any) to thofe that fiall be paid in the new : 'Tis not to be denied, but that where any Man has a Rent-SE C, that can never be more, this may fomewhat affeH it ; but fo very little, 'twill farce ever at all be perceived. Anjw. As much as it will be Gain to melt down their Coin, fo much Lofs will it be to thofe who are paid in the new, viz,. 5 per Cent, which, I fuppofe,. is more than the Author would be willing to lofe, unlefs he get by it another way. Rem. And if the Alteration defgncdfwuld have the effeEl of making our native Commo- dities any way dearer. Anfw. Here our Author confeffes, that proportionably as your Money is raifed, the Price of other things will be raifed too. But to make amends, he fays. Rem. It does at the jame time make the Land which produces them, of more than fo 7nuch more in value. Anfw. This more thanfo much more in Value, is more than our Author, or any body elfe for him, will ever be able to make out. The Price of Things will always be eftimated by the quantity of Silver is given in exchange for them. And if you make your Money lefs in Weight, it mufl be made up in Tale. This is all this great Myftery of raifing Money, and raifine Lanc£ 5-4 Conjiderations of the Lowering of Interefi, Land. For Example , The Manner of Bluckacre would yefterday have yielded one hundred thouland Crowns, which Crown-pieces, let us iuppole numero rotun- da, to weigh each of them an Ounce of Standard Silver. To day your new Coin comes in play, wliich is •) per Cent, lighter. 'J'here's your Money raifed : The Land now at Sale yields one hundred and five thoufand Crowns, vvhich is juft the lame one hundred thoufand Ounces of Standard Silver. There's the Land raifed. And is not this an admirable Invention, for which thePublick ought to be at above one hundred tlioufand Pounds Charge for new Coinage, and all your Commerce put in diforder ? And then to recommend this Invention, you are told, as a great Secret, That, Had mt Money from time to time, been raifed in its Denomination, Lands had mt fo rifen too : Which is to fay, Had not your Money been made lighter, fewer Pieces of it would have bought as much Land as a greater number does now. Rem. The Lofs of Payments there fpoken of, ivill, in no fort, k- fo great m if the Par- ties to iv/wm thefe Debts are owing, -were now bound to receive them in the Money nowpaJfeSy and then to melt the fame down ; fo at this they will have no caufe to complain. Anfw. A very good Argument ! The Clippers have rob'd the Publick of a . good part of their Money (which Men will, fome time or other, find in the Pay- ments they receive) and 'tis defired the Mint may have ^ liberty to be before- hand with thofe to v/hom Debts are owing. They are told they will have no rea- fon to Complain of it, who fufter this Lofs ; becaul'e it is not fo great as the other. The damage is already done to the Publick, by Clipping. Where at laft it will light, I cannot tell. But Men who recei\e clip'd Money, not being forced to melt it down, do not yet receive any Lofs by it. When clip'd Money will no longer change for weighty, then thofe who have clip'd Money in their Hands, will find the Lofs of it. Rem. 'Twill make the Cufloms letter paid, becaufe there will be more Money. Anfw. That there will be more Money in Tale, 'tis poflible : That there wiU be more Money in Weight and Worth, the Author ought to fhew. And then, whatever becomes of the Cujloins, (which I do not hear are unpaid now) the King will lofe in the Excife above thirty thoufand Pounds per Annum. For in all Taxes where fo many Pounds, Shillings, or Pence are determined by the Law to be paid, there the King will lofe 5 per Cent. The Author here, as in other places, gives a good Reafon for it. For, His Majefly being to pay away this Money by Tale, us he received it, it will be to him no Ivfs at all. As if my receiving my Rents in full Tale, but in Money of undeiTalue five per Cent, were not fo much Lofs to me, becaufe I was to pay it away again by Tale. Try it at fifty per Cent. The odds only is. That one being greater than tlie other, would make more noife. But our Author's great Refuge in this is. That it will mt be perceiv'd. Rem. If all foreign Co?>t?nodities were to be Purchafed with this new Species of Ma~ vey fent out; ive agree. That with ioo 1. of it, there could not be fo much Silver or other Commodities bought, as with 100 1. in Crown-Pieces as now coined; becaufe they would be heavier ; and all Coin in any Kingdom, but where 'tis coined, only goes by IVeight ; and for the fame Weight of Silver, the fame every-where flill will be bought; and fo there will, ■with the fame quantity of Goods. And if thofe Goods fhould cojl five per Cent, more here in England than heretofore, and yield but the fame Money fwe tnean by the Ounce abroad) the fame Money brought home and coin d, will yield the Importer five per Cent, more at the Mint than it heretofore could do, and fo no damage to the Trader at all. Anfw. Here Truth forces from the Author a confeffion of two Things, which demonftrate the Vanity and Ufelefnefs of the Projeft. i . That upon this change of your Coin, foreign Goods will be rais'd. 2. Your own Goods will coft more five per Cent. So that Goods of all kinds being thereupon raifed ,- wherein confifts the raifing of your Money, when an Ounce of Standard Silver, however minc'd, ftamp'd, or denominated, will buy no more Commodities than it did before? This confefTion alfo fhews the Falfliood of that dangerous Suppofition, That Money, in the Kingdoin where it is coin'd, goes not by IVeight, i. e. is not valued by its Weight. Rem. 'Tis true. The Owners of Si her wHl find a good Market for it, and no others lii II be damaged ; but, en the coiitrary^ the making Plenty of Money will be an advaU" tags to all. Anfv), md Raifing the Fdlue of Money* ^f Anfw. I grant it true, That if your Money were really raifcd {^vepe>■ Cent, the OwKers of Silver would get fo much by it, by bringing it to the Mint to be coin'd. But fincc, as is confelled. Commodities will (vipon this railing yonr Money) be railed to R\eperC'em. this Alteraticju will be an Advantage tu no body but the Officers of the Mint, and Hoarders of Money. Rem. H'^ben Standard Silver was lafl raijed at the Mint, (which it ■u;a6,fium 5 s. to 5 s. and z d. the Ounce, in the 43 d. 0/ Eliz.) and, for abuve Forty Tears after^ Silver uncoind wcu not worth above 4 s. 10 d. the Ounce, which occajton'd much Coin" ing ; and of Money, mme in thoje Days w:u exported : IVhereM Silver now is worth but the very fame 5 s. and 2 d. the Ounce /i HI at the Mf>n, and is worth 5 s. 4d. elfe- where. So that if this Bill now with the Lords does not happen to pafs, there can hever any Silver be ever more coin'd at the Mint ; and all the mill'd Money will in a very little time more be deflroyed. Anfw. The Reafon of fo much Money coin'd in Qvieen EU-z^abeth' s Time, and afterwards, was not the leflening your Crown-Pieces from 480 to 462 Grains, and fo pfoportionably all the rell of your Money, (whicli is that the Author calls, raifing Standard Silver from ^s. to 5/. zd. the Ounce) but from the over-ba- lance of your Trade, bringing then in Plenty of Bullion, and keeping it here. How Standard Silver (for if the Author fpeaks of other Silver, it is a fallacy) fliould be worth its own Weight in Standard Silver at the Mint, (/. e. 5 .f. 2 d. tlie Ounce) and be worth more than its own Weight in Standard Silver, (/. e. 5 s. ^d. the Ounce) in Lombard-Street, is a Paradox tnat no body, I think, will be able to comprehend, till it be better explain'd. It is time to give off Coining, if the Valueof Standard Silver be lelfened by it : as really it is, if an OUnce of coin'd Standard Silver will not exchange for an Ounce of uncoin'd Standard Silver, un- lefs you add 1 5: or 16 Grains over-plus to it : Which is what the Author would have taken upon his Word, when he fays. Silver is worth Five Shillings Four Pence elfewhere. Five Shillings Four Pence of Money coin'd at the Mint, the Author mufl al- low to be at leaft 495 Grains. An Ounce is but 480 Grains. How then an Ounce of uncoin'd Standard Silver can be worth five Shillings four Pence, (i.e. How 480 Grains of uncoin'd Standard Silver can be worth 495 Grains of the fame Standard Silver, coin'd into Money) is unintelligible ; unlel's the coinage of our Mint leflens the Value of Standard Silver. SIR, r^ O I N and Interefl. are Two 'things of fo great Moment to the Pnblick, and of ft ^^ great Concernment in 'Trade, that they ought, very accurately to be examind into, and very nicely xveigh'd, upon an) Propofal of an Alteration to be made in them. I pretend not to have treated of them here oi they deferve. That muft be the Work of an abler Hand. I have faid fomething on thefe SubjeHs, becaufe you required it. And, I hope, the Readinefs of my Obedience will exciife, to You, the Faults I have connnitted, and o.ffure Ton that I am. S I K Your moft humble Servant, n Q H N LOCKE, S H O R t ,55 Conjlderations of the Lowering of the Interefl, Ij CU T. VJ k'C V ^ V i •i-'. '-ii SHORT OBSERVATIONS O N A Printed Paper, Entituled, For 'Encouraging the Coining Silver Money in England, and after for keeping it here. H E Author fays. Silver yielding the proposed 2 d. or ^ d. 7nore l>y the Ounce, than it will do by being coind into Money, there •will be no)te coin'd into Money ; and Matter of FaSl jljeus there is none. 'Twould be hard to know what he means, when he fays. Silver yields 2 d. or 3 d. more by the Ounce, than it -will do by being coind into Money : But that he tells us in plain words at the bottom of the Leaf^ that an Ounce oj Silver uncoind, is oj 2 d. more value, than after it is coind it iliU be ; which I take the liberty to fay, is fo far from being true, that I affirm it is im- poffible to be fo. For which 1 lliall only give this fhort Reafon, viz.. Becaufe the Stamp neither does nor can take away any of the intrinfick Value of the Silver, and therefore an Ounce of coined Standard Silver, muft necellarily be of equal Value to an Ounce of uncoined Standard Silver. For Example ; fuppofe a Gold- fmith has a round Plate of Standard Silver juft of the fhape, li7e and weight of a coin'd Crown-piece, which, for brevity's fake we will fuppofe to be an Ounce, this Ounce of Standard Silver is certainly of equal Value to any other Ounce of unwrought Standard Silver in his Shop ; away he goes with his round piece of Silver to the Tower, and has there the Stamp let upon it; when he brings this numerical Piece back again to his Shop coin'd, can any one imagine that it is now 2 d. lefs worth than it was when he carried it out fmooth a quarter of an hour before, or that it is notftillof equal Value to any other Ounce of unwrought Standard Silver in his Shop? He that can fay 'tis 2 d. lefs worth than it was before it had the King's Image and Infcription on it, may as well fay, that 60 Grains of Silver brought from the Tower are worth but 5 8 Grains of Silver in Lombard- flreet. But the Author very warily limits this ill Etfeft of Coinage only to England^ why it is fo in England, and not every-where, would defen e a Reafon. But let us grant it to be true, as our Author affirms, that coin'd Silver in England is one thirtieth worfe, or of lefs Value than uncoin'd, the natural Con- fequence from this, if it be time, is, that it is very unfit that the Mint fhould be employed in England \x\\Qre. it debafes the Silver one thirtieth ; lor if the Stamp leffens the Value of our Silver this Year, it will alfo do fo the next, and fo on to the End of the World, it always working tlic fame way. Nor will the altering the Denomination, as is propos'd, at all help it. But yet he thinks he has fome Proof for his Propolition, becaufe it is Afatterof Fuel that there is no Money coin d at the Mint. This is the great Grievance, and is one indeed, but for a different Reafon from what feems to infpire that Paper. The mcL Raifing the Value 0/ M o n e Y. .57 'J'he Matter in fhort is this ; England fending more confumable Commodities to Spain, than it receives from thence, the Merclunts wlio manage that 1 rade, bring back the Ox'fJ/'/aJ in Bullion, which at their Return they fell as a Commodity. The Chapmen that give higheflfor this, are, as in all Cafes of buying and fel- ling, thofe who can make moft Profit by it; and thofe are the Returners of our Money by Exchange into thole Countries where our Debts any way contrafted make a Need of it ; for they getting 6, 8, lo, &c. per Cent, according to the Want and Demand of Money from England there, and according to the Rifque of the Sea, buy up this Bullion as foon as it comes in, to fend it to their Correfpondents in- thofe Parts, to make g6od their Credit for the Bills they have drawn on them, and fo can give more for it than the Mint-Rate, i. c. more than an equal Weight of mill'd Money, for an equal Weight of Standard Bullion, they being able to make more Profit of it by Returns. Suppofe the Balanceof our Trade with Hol/andwere in all other Commodities equal, but that in the laft Eafl-India Sale we bought of them of Eafi-India Commodi- ties to the Value of a Million, to be paid in a Month; within a Month a Mil- lion muft be returned into Holland, this prefently raifes the Exchange, and the Traders in Exchange fell their Bills at high Rates ; but the Balance of Trade being (as is fuppos a in the Cafe) equal in all other Commodities, this Million can no way be repaid to their Correfpondents on whom thofe Bills were drawn^ but by fending them Money or Bullion to reimburfe them. This is the true Reafon why the Bullion brought from Spain is hot carried to the Mint to be coin'd, but bought by Traders in foreign Exchange, and exported by them to fupply the Overplm of our Expences there, which are not paid for by our Commodities. Nor will the propofed /JaZ/i^g of oKr MiKey, as 'tis call'd, whether we coin our Money for the future one thirtieth, or one twentieth, or one half lighter than now it is, bring one Ounce more to the Mint than now, whilft our Affairs in this refpeft remain in the fame Pofture. And I challenge the Author to fhew that it will, for faying is but faying : Bullion can never come to the Mint to be coin'd, whilft the over-balance of Trade and foreign Expences are fo great, that to fatisfy them, not only the Bullion your Trade in fome Parts now yearly brings in, but alfofome of your formerly coin'd Money is requifite, and muft be fent out ; but when a Change in that brings in and lodges Bullion here, (for now it feems it only paffes through £Kgte^) thelncreafeof Silver and Gold ftaying in England, will again bring it to the Mint to be coin'd. This makes it eafily intelligible how it comes to pafs, that when now at the Mint they can give but j j. 2d. per Ounce for Silver, they can give y s. /^d. the Ounce (in Lombard-flreet, which is what our Author means when he fays. Silver mtu is worth but 5 s. 2d. the Ounce at the Mint, and is worth 5 s. 4d. el/ewhere.) The Reafon whereof is plain, viz. Becaufe the Mint giving weighty Money for Bullion, can give fo much and no more for Silver than it is coin'd at, which is 5 s. 2d. the Ounce, the Publick paying all the Odds that is between the coin'd and tmcoin'd Silver, which is the Manufadure of Coinage : But the Banker or Re- turner of Money having Ufe of Silver beyond Sea, where he can make his Pro- fit of it by anfwering Bills of Exchange, which he fells dear, muft either fend our Money in Specie, or melt down our Coin to tranfport, or elfe with it buy Bullion. The fending our Money in Specie, or melting it down, has fome hazard, and ' therefore if he could have Bullion for 51. id. per Ounce, or a little dearer, 'tis like he would always rather chufe to exchange Coin for Bullion, with fome lit- ' ' tie Lofs, rather than run the Rifque of melting it down, or Exportation, But this would fcarce make him pay 2d. in the Crown, which is almoft three and an ha\£ per Cent, if there were not fomething more in it, than barely the Rifque of Melting or Exportation ; and that is the Lightnefs of the greateft Part of our current Coin. For Example : N. has given Bills for thirty thoufand Pounds Sterling in Flanders, and fo has need of ten thoufand Weight of Silver to be tranf- ported thither ; he has thirty thoufand Pounds Sterling by him in ready Money, whereof five thoufand Pounds is weighty mill'd Money ; what (hall hinder him then from throwing that into his Melting-Pot, and fo reducing it to Bullion, to be tranfported > But what fhall he do for the other twenty five thoufand Pounds, which tho' he has by him, is yet clip'd and light Money, that is at leaft twenty Vol, n. H per ^g Conjiderations of the Lowering of Interejl^ per Cent, lighter tlian the Standard ? If he tranfports or melts down this, theie is fo much clear Lofs to him ; it is therefore more Ad\antage to him to buy Bullion at y J. 4^. the Ounce with that Money, than to tranfport or melt it down; wherein tho' the Seller of the Bullion has lefs Weight in Silver than he parts with, yet he finds his Accompt as much as if he received it in weighty Coin, whilft a clip'd Crown-piece or Shilling paifes as well in Payment for any Commodity here in England as a mill'd one. Thus our Mint is kept from coining. But tiiis Paper, For encouraging tkeCoining, &c. would fain have the Mill at work, tho' there be no Grift to be had, unlefs you will grind (jver again what is ground already, and pay Toll for it a fecond Time ; a Propofition fit only for the Mil- ler himfelf to make; for the meaneft Houfewife in the Country would laugh at it as foon as proposed. However the Author pleaies himfelf, and thinks he has a good Argument to make it pafs, wz,. Becaufe the Toll to bepaid for it will not amount to three hundred and thirty thoufand Pounds, as is faid in a late Treatife about Raifng the Value of Money, p. 70. for, fays he, that Writer is mi- ftaken, in faying that 3 s. and6d. is allowed at the Mint for the Coinage oj every Pound T'roy, whereas ?/we is I'M dxteen Fence ha\{ penny there alloxued for the fame ; which fixtcen Pence halfpenny being above one third of 31. 6. it follows by his own Computation, that the new Coining our Money will coft the Nation above one hundred and ten thoufand Pounds : a fmall Sum in this our Plenty of Riches, to be laid out for the purchafing thefe following Inconveniencies without any the leaft Advantage. 1 . A-Lofs to the King of one fiftieth (if you coin your Money 2 d. per Crown, one twentieth, if you coin your Money 3 d. per Crown lighter) of all his ftanding Revenue. 2. A like Lofs of one twentieth or one thirtieth in all Rents that are fetled, for thefe have, during the Term, the Nature of Rent-feck : But five per Cent. Lofs in a Man's Income he thinks fo little, it uv// not be perceived. 3. Trotible to Merchants in their Trade. Thefe Inconveniencies he is forc'd to al- Ictv. He might have faid Diforder to all People in their Trade, tho' he fays it will be but a little Trouble to Merchants, and without any real Damage to Trade. The Author would have done well to have made out this and a great many other Aflertions in that Paper ; but faying is much eafier, if that may pafs for Proof. Indeed he has, by a fhort Way, anfwer'd the Book above-mention 'd, in the Conclnfion of his Paper, in thefe Words : And he that fo grofly miftakes info ma- terial Points of what he would ajfert, 'tis plain is not free frojn Miftakes. It does not appear that he who publiflied that Book, ever thought himfelf free from Mi- ftr.kes; but he that miftakes in two material Points, may be ip the right in two others, and thofe will ftill need an Anfwer. But one of thefe material Points will, I think, by what is already faid, appear not to be a Miftake ; and for any thing the Author of the Paper hath faid, or can fay, it will always be true, that an Ounce of Silver coin 'd or not coin'd, is, and eternally will be of equal Value to any other Ounce of Silver. As to any other Miftake, concerning the Rate of Coinage, 'tis like he had his Information from fome difinterefted Per- fon, whom he thought worthy of Credit. And whether it be 3/. 6d. as he was told, or only fixteen Pence half penny per Pound Troy, as the Paper fays, whe- ther the Reader will believe the one or the other, or think it worth his more exaft Enquiry, this is certain, the Kingdom ought not to be at that or any other Charge where there is no Advantage, as there will be none in this pro- pcs'd Coinage, but quite the contrary. In his Anfwer to OhjeEi. I. He fays from Edw. III. Silver haifro^n time to time {as itgrezu in efleem) been by Degrees raifed in all Mints. If an Ounce of Silver now not exchanging or paying for what one tenth of an Ounce would have purchafed in Edw. Ill'd time, and fo being ten times lefs worth now than it was then, be growing in efteejn, this Author is in the right, elfe Silver has not CxnceEdw. Ill's Reign, from time to time grown in Efleem. Be that as it will, he aUigns a wrong Caufe of raijing of Silver, as he calls it in our Mint. For [{growing tlnn in Requefl, i. e. by lelfening its Value, had been the Reafon of altering our Money, this Change of Coin, or raifing the Deuomination of Silver in ours and other Mints, ought to have been greater by much and Rdifing the Falue of M o n e y . jjl iriuch fince Henry VIl's 'J'imc, than it was between that and Edw. Ill's ; becauft the great Change of the Value of Silver has been made, by the Plenty of it pour'd into this Part of the World i'rom the IVt'/i-Iudies, not dilco\ered till //t-«. VIl's Reign. So that I think I may fay, that the Value of Silver from Ediu. III. to Henry VII. changed not one tenth, but from Henry VII. till now it chan^'d above leven tenths, and yet Money having been railed in our Mint two third? fince Edw. Ill's 'lime, the far greater Part of the Railing of it was before Htn. VIl's Time, and a \ cry fmall Part of it fince; fo that the Caule infinuted bv our Author, 'tis evident, was not the Caufe of leffening our Coin fo often whatever was it : And 'tis polfible there wanted not Men of Piojects in thofe Days, who for private Ends, by Wrong Suggeftions, and falle Reafonings, co-- ver'd with myfterious Terms, led thole into Miftakes, who had not the Time and Will nicely to examine, tho' a Crown-piece three times as big as one of ours now might, for its Size alone, deferve to be reformed. To Ol^jeci. 2. He fays, "the Kaifing the Denomination of Money in Spain ayid^or- tugal, was making it go for more when coin d, than its true Value. J his, I fay, is impofllble, and defire the Author to prove it. It did in Spain and Portugal, juftwhatit will do here and everywhere, it made not the Silver coin 'd go for more than its Value in all Things to be bought, but juft fo much as the Denomination was raifed, juft fo much lefs of Commodity had the Buyer in ex- change for it : as it would be here, if you fhould coin Six-pences into Shillings ; if any one went to Market with this new Money, he would find that whereas he had a BuHiel of Wheat laft Week for eight Shillings of the former Coin, he would have now but half a Buftiel for eight of the new Shillings, when the fame Denomination had but half the Quantity of Silver. Indeed thofe who Were to receive Money up- on former Contrads, would be defrauded of half their Due, receiving In their full Tale of any Denomination contrafted for, but half the Silver they fhould have; iheCheat whereof they would find, when they went to Market with their new Money. For this I have above proved, that one Ounce of Silver is, and eternally will be equal in Value to another Ounce of Silver; and all that can poflibly put a Difterence between them, is only the different Value of the Workmanfliipbeftow'd on one more than another, which in Coinage our Author tells us in this Paper is but fixteen pence half penny /er Pound Troy. I demand therefore of our Author to fliew that any fort of Coinage, or, as he calls it, raifing of Money, can raifd the Value of coin'd Silver, or make it go for more than uncoin'd, bating the Charge ol Coinage, unlefs it be to thofe who being to receive Money upon for- mer Contrafts will by receiving the Tale agreed for, receive lefs than they fhould of Silver, and fo be defrauded of what they really contrafted for. What Effed fuch a Raifing of their Money had in one Particular, I will tell our Author. In Portugal xhey count their Money by Reys, a very fmall, or rather imaginary Coin, juft as if we here fhould count all ourSums by Farthings. It plea- fed the Government, polTibly, being told that it would raife the Value of their Money to raife in Denomenation the feveral Species, and make them go for a greater (let us fuppofe double the) Number of Reys than formerly. What was the Confequence ? It not only confounded the Property of the Subjeft, and difturb- cd Affairs to no purpofe; but Treaties of Commerce having fetled the Rates of the Cuftoms, at io many Reys on the feveral Commodities, the King immedi- ately loft in the Value half his Cuftoms. The fame that in Proportion will happen in the fetled Revenue of the Crown here upon the propofed Chancre. For tho' our Author in thefe Words, Wlieras all now dejired by this Aci fs, to keep Silver, when coin d, of the fame Value it was before, would infinuate, that this Rai- fingthe Denomination, or leffening our Coin, as is propofed, will do no fuch thing; yet 'tis Demonftration, that when our Coin is leflened 3 J. in j s. the King w^fll receive five per Cent, lefs in Value in his Cuftoms. Excife, and all his fetled Re- venue, and fo proportionably, as the Quantity of Silver in every Species of our Coin fliall be made lefs than now it is coin'd in thofe of the fame Denomination. But whatever our Author means by w/jiJ:/K^M)Ke)'^o /or ;«or^ when coin'd than its true Value, or by keeping Silver when coin'd of the fame Value it was before ; this is evi- dent, that raifing their Money thus by coining it with lefs Silver in it than it had before, had not the Efteft in Porttigal anA Spain, which our Author propofes ircm It here : For it has not brought one Penny more to the Mint there, nor kept VoJ. II. H % their 5o Confideratlons of the Lowering of Jnterefl^ their Money or Silver from Exportation fince, tho' Forfeiture and Death be the Penalties joined in Aid to this Trick of Raijmg to keep it in. But our Author tells us in Anfvver to Ohje'd. 4. Tliis -willfcarce ever at all l/e per- ceived. If of a 100 Guineas a Man has in his Pocket, 5 fhould be picked out io as he fliould not perceive it, the Fraud and the Lofs would not be one Jot the lefs; and tho' he percciv cd it not when or how it was done, yet he will find it in his Accounts, and the going fo much back in his Eftate at the End of the Year. 'J'o Ol'jecl. 3. he fays. The Rnifng your Coin (it may be) may rnife the Price of Bnlliun here in England. An Ounce of Silver will always be equal in Value to an Ounce of Silver every where, bating the Workmanfhip. I fay it is impoffible to be otherwise, and require our Author to fliew it pullibie in England, or any where, or clfe hereafter tofparehis may he's. To avoid Fallacies, I delire to be underftoodj when I ufc the \\or6. Silver alone, to mean nothing but Silver, and do lay afide the Confideration of bafer Metals that may be mixed with it : For I do not fay that an Ounce of Standard Silver, that has almoft one twelfth of Copper in it, is of equal Value with an Ounce of fine Silver that has no Alloy at all, but that any two Ounces of equally alloy 'd Silver will always be of equal Value ; the Silver being the Meafure of Commerce, "tis the Quantity of Silver that is in every Piece he receives, and not the Denomination of it which the Merchant looks after, and values it by. But this Railing of the Denomination our Author would have pafs, becaufe "twill be better for the PuffeJJors of Bullion, as he fays, Anfcj. 3. But who are they ■\vho now in England are poflels'd of fo much Bullion ? Or what private Men are there in England of that Confideration, that for their Advantage all our Money flaould be new coin'd, and of a lefs Weight, with fo great a Charge to the Na- tion, and Lofs to his Majefty's Revenue. He farther adds, Anf-w. 3. It doth not thence inevitably follow, it will raife the Price of Bullion beyond Sea. It will as inevitably follow, as that nineteenOunces of Silver Avillnever be equal in weight or worth to twenty Ounces of Siver: So much as youleflen your Coin, fo much more muft you pay in tale as will make the Quantity of Silver the Merchant expeds for his Commodity, under what Denomination foever he receives it. The Clothier thus buying his »S]fflK//7j Wool, Oil, and Labour, atfiwe. ferCent. more in Denomination, i'clls his woollen Manufacture proportionably dearer to the Englif) Merchant, who exporting it to S^ain, where their Money is not chan- ged, fells it at the ufual Market-rate, and fo brings home the fame Quantity of Bullion for it which he was wont, which therefore he muft fell to you at the fame railed Value your Money is at : And what then is gain'd by all this ? The Denomination is only chang'd to the Prejudice of the Publick, but as to all the great Matters of your Trade, the fame Quantity of Silver is paid for Com- modities as before, and they fold in their feveral foreign Markets for the fame Quantity of Silver. But whatever happens in the Rate of foreign Bullion, the Railing of- the Denomination of our Money, will bring none of it to our Mint to be coin'd i that depends on the Balance of our Trade, and not on leflening our Coin under the fame Denomination : For whether the Pieces we call Crowns be coin'd 16, 14, or 100 Grains lighter, it will be all one as to the Value of Bullion, or the bringing more or lefs of it into England, or to our Mint. What he fays in his Anfwer to Object. 4. befides what we have already taken, notice of, is partly againft his Bill, and partly miftake. I. He fays. It may be fame {as it is now) Gain to thofe that will venture to melt down the mill d and heavy Money now coin d. That Men do venture to melt down themill'd and heavy Money, is evident, from the fmall Part of mill'd Money is now to be found of that great Quantity of it that has been coin'd ; and a farther Evidence is this, that mill'd Money will now yield four or five more /er Cent, than the other, whicli muft be to melt down, and ufe as Bullion, and nor as Money in ordinary Payments. The Reafon whereof is, the fliameful and horrible Debafing (or, as our Author would have it, Raifing) our unmill'd Mo- ney by Clipping. For the Odds betwixt mill'd and unmill'd Money being now, modeftly fpeaking, above 20 per Cent, and Bullion, for Reafons elfewhere given, being not to be had, • Refiners, and fuch as have need of Silver, find it thccheapeft way to buy mill'd Money for clip'd, at four, five, or more/e/- Cent. Lofs. ' I ask and Ra'ijing the Value of M o N E y.- 6i I ask therefore this Gentleman, What fiiall become of all our prefent miU'd and heavy Money, upon the pafling this Aft? To which his Paper almoft con- feiles ivluit 1 will venture to anfvvcr for him, 'viz.. That as foon as fuch a Law is pafled, themill'd and heavy Money will all be melted down ; for it being five per Cent, heavier, /. e. more worth tiian what is to be coin'd in tlie Mint, no body will carry it thither to receive live per Cent, lefs ior it, but fell it to fuch as Avill give four or four and an half /"^r Cent, more for it, and at that Rate melt it down with Advantage : For Lo7tiiard-fl,-eet is too quick-fighted to give fixty Ounces of Silver for fifty feven Ounces of Silver, when bare throwing it into the Melting-pot will make it change for its equal Vv^eight ; fo that by this Law Bve per Cent. Gain on all our n;ill'd Money, will be given to be fliarcd betweeii the Poflelfor and the Melter of our mill'd Money, cut of the honeft Creditor and Landlord's Pocket, who had the Guaranty of the Law, that under fuch a 'J'alc of Pieces of fuch a Denomination as he let his Land for, he fliould have to fuch a Value, i. e. luch a Weight in Silver. Now I ask whether it be not a direft and unanfwerable Reafon againft this Bill, that he confefics that it will be a Gain to thofe iv/m ixill melt dov:n the inill'd and heavy Money with fo much LofstothePublick, and not, as he fays, with very fmall Lofs to thofe that fiinllh paid in the new, unlefs he calls five per Cent, very fmall Lofs, for juft fo much is it to receive but fifty feven Grains or Ounces of Silver for fixty, which is the Pro- portion in making your Crowns 5 d. lighter. This is certain, no body will pay away mill'd or weighty Money for Debts or Commodities, when it will yield him four-or five per Cent, more ; fo that which is now left of weighty Money, being fcatter'd up and down the Kingdom into private Hands, which cannot tell how to melt it down, will be kept up and lofi: to our Trade. And as to your clip'd and light Money, will you make a new Act for Coinage, without taking any Care for that ? The making a new Standard for your Money, can- not do lefs than make all Money, which is lighter than that Standard, unpafla- ble; and thus the mill'd and heavy Money not coming into Payment, and the light and clip'd not being lawful Money, according to the new Standard, there muft needs be a fudden flop of Trade, and, 'tis to be fear'd, a general Con- fufion of Aftairs ; tho' our Author fay, it luill not any ^vays interrupt T'rade. 2. The latter Part of this SeHion about raifing the Value of Land, I take the Liberty to jQiy is a Miftake ; which tho' a fufficient Reply to an Affertion without Proof, yet I fliall not fofar imitate this Author as barely to fay things : And therefore I fhall add this Reafon for what I fay, viz,. Becaufe nothing can truly raife the Value, i. e. the Rent of Land, but the Licreafe of your Money; but becaufe iia7//H5 the Value of Land is a Phrafe which, by its uncertain Senle, may deceive others, we may reckon up thefe feveral Meanings of it. t. The Value of Land is raifed, when its intrinhck Worth is increafed, /. e. when it is fitted to bring forth a greater Quantity of any valuable Produft. And thus the Value of Land is raifed only by good Husbandry. 2. The Value of Land is raifed, when remainuig ol the fame Fertility, it comes to yield more Rent, and thus its Value is raifed only by a greater Plenty of Money and Treafure. 5. Or it may be raifed in our Author's Way, which is, by Raifing the Rent in Tale of Pieces, but not in the Quantity of Silver received for it, which, in Truth, is no raifing of it at all, no more than it could be accounted the Raifing of a Man's Rent, if he let his Land this Year for forty Sixpences, which lafh Year he let for twenty Shillings. Nor would it alter the Cafe, if he fhould call thofe forty Sixpences forty Shillings ,• for having but half the Silver of forty Shillings in them, they would be but of half the Value, however their Denomi- nation were changed. In his Anfwer to the fifth Ohjeciion, there is this dangerous Infinuation, That Coin in any Country where it is coin'd goes not by Weight, i. e. has its Value from the Stamp and Denomination, and not the Quantity of Silver in it. Lideed in Contrafts already made, if your Species be by Law coin'd a fifth Part lighter, under the fame Denomination, the Creditor muft take a hundred fuch light Shil- lings, or twenty fuch light Crown-pieces for j /. if the Law calls them fo, but he lofes one fifth in the intrinfick Value of his Debt. But in Bargains to be made, and Things to be purchafed, Money has and will always have its Value from 62 Conjiderat'wns of the Lorvering of IntereJJy from the Quantity of Silver in it, and not from the Stamp and Denomiiiatiori, as has been already proved, and will fome time or other be evidenced with a, witnefs in the clip'd Money. And if it were not fo, that the Value of Money were not according to the Quantity of Silver in it, i. e. that it goes by Weight, I fee no reafon why Clipping fliould be fo feverely punirtied. As to Foreigners, he is forced to confefs, That 'tis all one what our Money is, greater or lefs, who regard only the Quantity of Silver they fell their Goods for, how then can the leffening our Money bring more Plenty of Bullion into England, or to the Mint ? But he fays, "The Owners and Importers of Stiver -will find a good Market at the Mint, Sec. But always a better in Lombard-Street, and not a Grain of it will come to the Mint, as long as by an under-balance of Trade, or other foreign Expen- ces, we contraft Debts beyond Sea, which require the remitting of greater Sums thither than are imported in Bullion. If for above forty Tears after Silver was rat- fed, in the forty third Tear of Qiieen Elizabeth, /row 5 s. ro 5 s. 2 d. the Ounce, un~ cuin'd Silver -wM not worth above 4 s. 10 A. per Ounce ; the Caufe was not that rai- fing of Silver in the Mint, but an over-balance of Trade, which bringing in an Increafe of Silver yearly, for which Men having no occalion abroad, brought it to the Mint to be coined, rather than let it lie dead by them in Bullion ; and ■ivhenever that is the Cafe again in England, it will occafion Coining again, and not till then. No Money wcis in thofe Days exported, fays he; no, nor Bullion neither fay I ; wliy fliouId, or how could it, when our exported Merchandize paid for all the Commodities we brought home, with an over-plus of Silver and Gold, ivhich flaying here, fet the Mint on work. But the Pafling this Bill, will not hin- der the Exportation of one Ounce either of Bullion or Money, which muft go if you contraft Debts beyond Sea ; and how its having been once melted in En^and, which is another Thing propos'd in this Bill, fhall hinder its Exportation, is hard to conceive, when even Coining has not been able to do it, as is demonftrable, if it be examined, what vaft Sums of mill'd Money have been coin'd in the two laft Reigns, and how little of it is now left. Befides, if the Exportation of Bul- lion fhould be brought under any greater Difficulty than of any other Commodi- ty, it is to be confidered whether the Management of that Trade which is in skilful Hands, will not thereupon be fo ordered, as to divert it from coming to England for the future, and caufe it to be fent from Spain, direftly to thofe Places where they know Englif} Debts will make it turn to beft account, to an- fwer Bills of Exchange fent thither. FUR- FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING 3ElaiIing tje Halue MONEY. WHEREIN Mr. Lowndes's Arguments for it, in his late Report concerning An Effay for the Amendment of the Siher Coins, are par ticularly Examined. To tha RiGHt Honour AEin Sir JO HN SO MME R S, Kr. Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England^ and one of His Majelly's moil: Honourable Privy Gouncih Mv LORD, H E Papers I here prefent your Lordfhip, arc in Subflancc the fame with one which I delivered to you, in Obedience to the Commands 1 received by your Lordfliip, irom their Excellencies the Lords |u- flices," and with another, whichi writ in Anfwer tofomeQiieftions }our Lordfliip was pleafed to propofe to me concerning our Coin. 'llic Approbation your Lordfliip was plcaied to give chem then, has been En- couragement to me to revife them now, and put them in an Order; fitter to comply with their Defires, who will needs have me print ibmething at this time on this Subject : And could any thing of this Nature be received with Indifferency in this Age; the Allowance they have had from your Lordfliip, whofe great and clear Judgment is, with general Confent and Applaufe, acknowledged to be the juft Mealure of right and wrong amongft us, might make me hope that they might pafs in the World without any great Diflike. However, fince your Lordfliip thought they might be of Ufe to clear fome Difficulties, and redify fome wrong Notions that are taken up about Money, I have ventured them into the World, defiring no Mercy to any erroneous Poli- tions or wrong Reafonings, which fliall be found in them. I fliall never know- ingly be of any, but Truth's and my Country's Side ; the former I fliall always gladly embrace and own, wlioever fliews it me. And in thefe Papers, I am fure^ 1 have no other Aim, but to do what little I can ior the Service of my Coun- try. Your Lordfliip's fo evidently preferring that to all other Confiderations, dees, in the Eyes of all Men, fit lb well upon you, that my Ambition will not be blamed ; if I in this propofe to my felf fo great an Example, and in my lit- tle Sphere am moved by the fame Principle. I have a long time forefeen the Mifchief and Ruin coming upon us bvclip'd Money, if it were not timely Ilop'd; And had concern enough for thePublick, to make nie print fome Thoughts touching our Coin fome Years lince. The Prin- ciple I there went on, I fee no reafon to alter: They have, if I miflake not, their Foundation in Nature, and will ftand: They have their Foundation in Na- ture, and are clear ; and will be fo, in all the Train of their Confequences thro- out this whole (as it is thought) mvRerious Bufinefs of Money, to all thofe^ who will but be at the Trouble of ftrippingthis Subjeft of hard, obfcure, and and doubtful Words, wherewith Men are often milled, and miflead others. And now the Diforder is come to Extremity, and can no longer be plaid with, I n'ifli it may find a fudden and efledual Cure; not a Pvem.edy in Sound and Appearance, which may flatter us on to Ruin in the Continuation of a growing Mifchief, that calls for prefent Help. I wifli too, that the Remedy may be as eaf\- as poflible; and that the Cure of this Evil be not order'd fo as to lay a great Part of the Burthen unequally on thofe who have had no particular Hanci in it. fVc'Jl!>ii>?fiey-Ha\l is fo great a Witnefs of your Lordfliip's unbiafled Juftice, and (leddy Care to preferve to every one their Right; that the World will not wonder you fliould not be for fuch a lefi'ening our Coin, as will .without any Reafon, deprive great Numbers of blamelefs Men of a fitth Part of their Eftates, beyond the Relief of Chancery. I hope this Age will fcape fo great a Blemifli. I doubt not but there are many, who, for the Service of their Country, and for the Support of the Government, would glad- ly part with, not only one fitth, but a much larger Portion ol their Eftates- But when it fliall be taken from them, only to he beftow'd on Men in their, and the common Opinion, no better deferving of their Country than themfclves, un- lefs growing exceedingly rich by the publick Neceflities, whilft every body elfe finds his Fortune ftrengthnedby them, be a publick Merit, that deferves a pub- lick and fignal Reward, this Lofs of one fifth of their Debts and Licome will fie heavy on them, who fliall feel it without the Alleviation of any Profit or Credit, that n'ill thereby accrue to the Nation, by fach a leflening of our Coin. Vol. IL I If . If anyone ask, how I, a retired private Man, come at this time to meddle with Money and Trade, for they are inleparable; I reply, that your Lordfliip, and the other gi eat Men that put mc upon it, are anlWerable for it : Whether what I fay be to the Purpofe or no, that I my felf am anfwerable for. This I can anfwer to all the World, that I have not faid any thing here, without a full Perfuafion of its 'Jruth ; nor with any other Motive or Purpofe than the clearing of this artificially perplexed, rather than in itfelf myilerious Subjed, as far as my poor Talent reaches. That which pej-haps 1 fliall not be fo well able to anlwer, to your Lordfiiip and my felf, is the Liberty I have taken in I'uch an Addrcfs as this, to piofefs that lam. My LORD, Tour LorJJJjip'i mo ft I. umble, and mofi obedient Servant, J OHN LOCKE . The prepack! ~ THo' Mr. Lowndes and I differ in the Way, yet I ajfiire my felf our End is the fame ; and that ive both propofe to our felves the Service of our Country. He is a Man knovjn fo able in the Pojl he is in, to -which the Bujinefs oj Money peculiarly belongs ; and has fyewedlmnfelf fo learned in the Records , and Matters of the Mint ; and fo exaSi in Calculations and Combinations of Numbers relating to our Coin, either already in Ufe, or d'-figned by hi?n, that I think Ifiould have troubled the Publick no more on this SubfeEi^ had not he himfelf engaged me in it ; and b-rought it to that pafs, that either I mufl be thought to renounce my ozcn Opinion, or mufl publickly oppofe his. Whilfl his Treatife luas yet a Manufript, and before it was laid before thofe great Per~ fans, to whom it was afterwards fubmitted, he did me the Favour to fljew it to me; and made me the Com.plement, to ask me my Opinion of it. 'Tho' we had fome fhort Difcourfe on the SubjcB, yet the Multiplicity of his Bufinefs zvhilfl I fiaid in Tozin, and my Healthy which focn after forced 7ne out of it, allowed us not an Occafion to debate any one Point throughly, and bring it to an Iffue. Before I returned to Town his Book wa6 in the Prefs, and finiflx'd before I had an Opportunity to fee Mr. Lowndes again. And here he laid a new Obligation on me, not only in giving me one of them, but telling me, when I received it fnm his Hands, that it wm the firfi he had parted with to any body. I then went it over a feccnd time, and having more Leifure to confider it, 1 found there were a great many Parti- culars in it drawn out of ancient Records, not commonly known, wherewith he had obliged the IVorld. "Thefe, ■ which very pleafingly entertained me, tho' they prevailed not on me to be of his Opinien every xvhere, yet join'd with the great Civilities he had Jhezun me, left me in a Difpojition fo little inclind to oppofe any thing in it, that I floould rather have thofen to acknowledge my felf in Print, to be his Convert, if his Argu?nents had convinced 7ne, than to have troubled the World with the Reafons why J diffent from him. In this Difpofjtion my Pen reftedfrom medling any farther with this Subject whilfl I was in Town ; foon after my own Health, and the Death of a Friend, forc'd me into the Country ; and the Bufincf cccafiond thereby, and my own private Affairs, took tip all my 'Time at my firfl coming thither ; and had continued on to do fo, had not feveral repeated Intimations and Inflames from London, not without fome Reproaches of my Backward- nefs, made me fee, thiit the World concern d me particularly in Mr. Lowndes'^ Pofi- jrript, and expe&ed fomething from me on that Occafion. 'Tho' poffibly I was not wholly 02'.t of his Mind when Mr. Lowndes writ that Invitation^ yet I fjall nut ?nake my felf the Complement, to think I alone am concern d in it. The great Importance of the Matter made him defire every one to contribute what he could to the Clearing of it, and fetting it in a true Light. And I muft do him this Right, to think that he prefers the publick Good to his private Opinion ; and therefore is willing his Propofals and Argmnents fhould be with Freedom exatnind to the bottom, that if there be any Miflake in them, no body may be mifled by his Reputation and Authority, to the Prejudice of his Country. Thru I tmderfland his Poftfcript, and thm I Jhall endeavour to comply with it. Iflhill, to the befl of my Skill, examine his Arguments with all Refpecl to hi?n, and Fidility to Truth, as jar as I can difcover it. The Franknefs of his Pro- ceeding in particular with ?ne, affures me he is fo great a Lover of Truth and Right, that Ijc will not think himfelf injur' d when that is defended ; andiviUbe glad, when it is made plain, by whof Hand foever it be. This u what has ?nade 7?iepiiblijh thefe Papers, without any Derogation to Mr. Lowndes, or fo much as a Sufpicion that he will take it amifs. I judge ofhi?n by hiinfelf. For I 0}all think 7ny felf obliged to any one, who fonll fl)ew me or the Publick any material Miflake in any thing I have here faid, wherein any part of the Qt/eflion turns, F A Rt ^7 FARTHER CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING RAISING /-&^ VALUE O F O N Y I EVER is the Snnfrumcnt and 2l9cafurc of Commerce in all the civilized and trading Parts of the World. It is the 3{nRtlinicnt of Commerce by its intrinfick Value. The intrinltfit ©aillC of Silver confider'd as Money, is that Eftimate which common Confent has placed on it, whereby it is made equivalent to all other things, and confequently is the uni- verfal Barter or Exchange which Men give and receive for other things they would purchafe or part with for a valuable Confideration : And thus, as the Wife Man tells us, Money anfwers nil things. Silver is the fll^caflirc of Commerce by its tanip is a Mark, and as it were a publick Voucher, that a Piece of fuch Denomination is of fuch a Weight, and fuch a Finenefs, /. e. has fo much Silver in it. ' That precife Weight and Finenefs, by Law appropriated to the Pieces of each Denomination, is called the <^tanDacI>. jfinc dSJllIcr is Silver without the Mixture of any bafer Metal, ^Hap is bafer Metal mixed with it. The JFincncfi^ of any Metal appearing to be Silver, and fo called, is the Pro- portion of Silver is in it, compared with what there is in it of bafer Metals. The Finenefs of Standard S'\\v en in England is ele\ien Parts Silver, and one Part Copper, near : Or to fpeak more exaftly, the Proportion of Silver to Cop- per is as III top. Whatever Piece or Mafs has in it of bafer Metal, above the Proportion of 9 to III, isworfeor coarfer than Standard. Whatever Mais of Metal has a lefs Proportion than p to 1 1 1, of bafer Metal in it, is better or finer than Standard. Since Silver is the thing fought, and would better ferve for the Meafure of Commerce if it were unmixt, it will poffibly be asked why any Mixture of bafer Metal is allowed in Money, and what Ufe there is of fuch Allay, which ferves to make the Quantity of Silver lefs known in the feveral Coins of different Countries. Perhaps it would have been better for Commerce in general, and more conveni- ent for all their Subjefts, if the Princes every where, or at leaft in this Part of the World, would at firft have agreed on the Finenefs of the Standard to have been juft one twelfth Allay, in round Numbers; without thofe minuter Fractions which are to be found in the Allay of moft of the Coin in the feveral diftinft Do- minions y Ritijing the Value of M o n £ y.' 6^ minions of this Part of the V/orld. Which broken Proportion of bafer Metal to Siher, in the SLan«.l:ird of the Icveral Mints leems to have been introduced by the Skill of Men imploy'd in Coining, to keep that Art (as all Trades are call'd) a Myflery; rather than for any Ulc or Ncceflity there was of fuch broken Numbers. But be tliat as it will, the Standard in our Mint being now i'etled b'> Authority, and eflabliflied by Cuftom, known at home and abroad, and the Rules and Methods of Elfaying fuited to it; and all the wrought Plate as well as Coin of £;?g/rf«t/ being made by that Meafure; it is of greater Concernment that it fliould remain un\ariable. But to the Queftion ; What need is there of any Mixture of bafer Metal with Silver in Money or Plate ? I anAver, There is great Reafon for it. For, I. Copper mixt with Silver makes it harder, and fo ivares and waftes lefs in Ufe than if it were fine Silver. 2. It melts eafier. 3. Silver as it is drawn and melted from the Mine, being feldom perfectly fine, it would be a great Charge by refining, to feparate all the bafer Merals from it, and reduce it to perfectly unmixt Silver. The Ufe of coin'd Silver or Money is, that every Man in the Country where it is current by publick Authority, may, without the Trouble of refining, ef-. faying or weighing, be affured what (Oufllltitji of Silver he gives, receives, or' contrads for, under fuch and fuch Denominations. If this Security goes not along with the publick Stamp, Coining is Labour to no purpofe, and puts no Difference between coin'd Money and uncoin'd Bulli- on. I'his is fo obvious, that I think no Government, where Money is coin'd,' ever overlooks it. And therefore the Laws every where, when the (SJuaitiitpt of Silver has been leffen'd in any Piece carrying the publick Stamp, by Clipping, Wafhing, Rounding, &c. have taken off the Authority of the publick Stamp, and declar'd it not to be lawful Money. This is known to be fo in England, and every one may not only refufe any Money bearing the publick Stamp, if it ber' clip d, or any ways rob'd of the due Weight of its Silver ; but he that offers it in Payment is liable to Indi^Siment, Fine and Imprifonment. From whence we may fee, that the Ufe and End of the publick Stamp is only to be a Guard and Voucher of the ?/■ Cent, of what they contrafted for, and is their Due. And I ask. How much jufter it would be thus to diflblve the Contrafts they had made; than to make a Law, that from henceforth all Landlords and Creditors fliould be paid their paft Debts, and the Rents for Leafes already made, in clip'd Money, twenty/'e/Cfjz/-. lighter than it fliould be? Both ways tliey lofe twenty pe?- Cent, of their Due, and with equal Juftice, Tha 70 Farther Conjiderations concerning The Cafe would be the flime, and legal Ccntrafts be avoided, if the Standard fhould be alter'd on the other fide, and each Species of our Coin be made one fifth hea\'ier. For then he that had borrowed or contraded for any Sum, could not be difcharged by paying the Quantity he agreed for, but be liable to be forced to pay twenty fer Cent, more than he bargained for, that is, more than he ought. On the other fide ; Whether the Creditor be forced to receive lefs, or the Deb- tor be forced to pay more than his Contrafl:, the Damage and Injury is the fame, whenever a Man is defrauded of his Due. And whether this will not be a publick Failure of Juflice, thus arbitrarily to give one Man's Right and Pof- feffion to another, without any Fault on the fuflering Man's fide, and without any the leaft Advantage to the Publick, I fliall leave to be confidered. I!iair)ll0 of Coin is but a fpecious Word to deceive the Unwary. It only gives the ufual Denomination of a greater Quantity of Silver to a lefs, (v. g. calling Four Grains of Silver a Penny to Day, when five Grains of Silver made a Pen- ny yefterday) but adds no worth or real Value to the Silver Coin, to make amends for its want of Silver. That is impofTible to be done. For it is only the i'cr balaiiCC of CraDf, is when the Quantity of Commodities which we fend to any Country do more than pay for thofe we bring from thence : For then the Over-plus is brought home in Bullion. 25ullit'j; is Silver whofe Workmanfhip has no Value. And thus foreign Coin hath no Value here for its Stamp, and our Coin is Bullion in foreign Dominions. "Tis ufelefs and labour in vain, to coin Silver imported into any Country where it is not to ftay. Silver imported cannot ftay in any Country in which, by an Over-balance of their wiiole Trade, it is not made theirs, and doth not become a real Increafe of their Wealth. If by a general Balance of its Trade, England yearly fends out Commodities to the Value of four hundred thoufand Ounces of Silver more than the Commo- dities we bring home from abroad coft us j there is one hundred thoufand Pound every Year clear Gain : Which will come home in Money, be a real Increafe of our \" eakh, and will ftay here. On the otlier fide, if upon a general Balance of our whole Trade, we yearly import Commodities from other Parts to the Value of an hundred thoufand Pound more than our Commodities exported pay for, we every Year grow an hundred thoufand Pound poorer. And if, befides that, we fliould alfo import a Million in Bullion from Spain every Year, yet it is not ours i it is no Increafe to our Wealth, nor can it ftay here ; but muft be exported again every Grain of it with an hundred thoufand Pound of our own Money to boot. I have heard it propos'd as a Way to keep our Money here, that we fhould pay our Tebts contraded beyond Seas, by Bills of EMhange, The ^^ Farther Conjtderations concerning The Idlcnefs of fuch a Propofition will appear, when the Nature of Exchang7i*er, for many Reafons, which need not here be mention'd. It is enough that the World has agreed in it, and made it their common Money ; and, as t\\clndiam rightly call it, Meafure. All other Metals, Gold, as well as Lead, are but Com- modities. CcJinuoJiitic^ are Moveables, valuable by Money, the common Meafure. Goldy tho' not the Money of the World, and the Meafure of Commerce, nor fit to be fo, yet may, and ought to be coined, to afcertain its Weight and Fine- jiefs ; and fuch Coin may fafely have a Price as well as a Stamp iet upon it by publick Authority j fo the Value fet be under the Market-price. For then fuch Pieces coin'd, will be a Commodity as pa/liible as Silver Money, very little vary- ing in their Price: As Guineas which were coin'd at the Value of 2o.r. but ■ aifed ufually for between 21 or 22 Shillings, according to the current Rate ; DUt net having fo high a Value put upon them by the Law, no body could be forced to take them to their Lofs at 21 s. 6d. if the Price of Gold fliould happen at any Time to be cheaper. From what has been laid, I think it appears : 1. That Silver is that which Mankind ha\'e agreed on to take, and gi\"e in Exchange for all other Commodities, as an Equivalent. 2. That 'tis by the quailtitp of Silver they give or take, or contraft for, that they eftimate the Value of other things, and fatisfy for them ; and thus by its . 72. 'ihat Melters of the Coin will have lefs Profit by fourteen Pence Half-penny in the Crown, when the Money is coined upon the new Foot. To this I take Liberty to fay, that there will not be a Farthing more Profit in melting down the Money, if it were all new mill'd Money upon the prefent Foot, than if it were all new coin'd, as is propofed one fifth lighter. For whence fliould the Profit arife more in the one, than the other? But Mr. Lowndes goes upon this Suppofition; That Standard Bullion is now worth Six Shillings and five Pence an Ounce, of mill'd Money, and would continue to fell for Six Shil- lings five Pence the Ounce, if our Money were all weighty mill'd Money : Both which I take to be Miftakes, and think I have proved them to be fo. 5. He fays, 'T« hoped that the Exchange /o Holland may be kept at a /land, or at leajl from falling much lower. I hope fo too. But how that concerns this Argu- ment, or the Coining of the Money upon a new Foot, I do not fee. 4. He fays, />. 73. 'There is a great Difference with Regard to the Service and Dif~ fervice of the Publick, between carrying out Bullion or Coin, for neceffary Ufes, or for pro- hibited Commodities. The Gain to the Exporters, which is that which makes them melt it down and export it, is the fame in both Cafes. And the Neceflity of exporting it is the fame. For 'tis to pay Debts, which there is an equal Necef- fity of paying, when once contracted, tho' for ufelefs things. They are the Goldfmiths and Dealers in Silver that ufually export what Silver is fent beyond Sea, to pay the Debts they have contracted by their Bills of Exchange. But thofe Dealers in Exchange feldom know, or confider, how they to whom they give their Bills, have or will employ the Money they receive upon thofe Bills. Prohibited Commodities, 'tis true, fhould be kept out, and ufelefs ones impove- ri^fh us by beingbrought in. But that is the Fault of our Importation : And there the Mifchief fliould be cured, by Laws, and our way of Living. For the Ex- portation of our Treafure is not the Caufe of their Importation, but the Con- fequence. Vanity and Luxury fpends them : That gives them Vent here : That Vent caufes their Importation : And when our Merchants have brought them, if our Commodities will not be enough, our Money muft go to pay for them. But what this Paragraph has in it againft continuing our Com upon the prefent Foot, or for making our Coin lighter, I confefs here again, I do not fee. 'Tis true what Mr. Lowndes obferves here, the Importation of Gold, and the going of Guineas at 30 j. has been a great Prejudice andLofs to the Kingdom. But that has been wholly owing to our clip'd Money, and not at all to our Money being coin'd at five Shillings two Pence the Ounce ; nor is the Coining our Mo- ney lighter, the Cure of it. The only Remedy for that Mifchief, as well as a great many others, is the putting an End to the pafTing of clip d Money by Tale, as if it were lawful Coin. 5. His fifth Head, p. 74. is to anfwer thofe, who hold, that by the lelfening our Money one fifth, all People who are to receive Money upon Contrafts already made, will be defrauded of twenty per Cent, of their Due : And thus all Men will lole one fifth of their fetled Revenues, and all Men that have lent Money one fifth of their Principal and Ufe. To remove this Objeftion, Mr. Lowndes fays, that Silver in England is grown fcarce, and confequently dearer, and fo is of higher Price. Let us grant for the prefent, it is of higher Price (which how he makes out I fhall examine by and by.) This, if it were fo, ought not to an- Raijing the Value 0/ M o N e Y. 75) iiul any Man's Bargain, nor make him receive Icfs in Qiianrity than he lent. He was to receive again the lame Sum, and the publick Autliority was Guarantee that the lame Sum lliould have the lame Quantity of Silver under the fame De- nomination. And the Realbn is plain, why in Juftice he ought to havC the lame Quantity of Silver again, notwithftanding any pretended Rife of its Value. For if Silver had grown more plentiful, and by Confequence (by our Author's Rule) cheaper, his Debtor would not have been compelled by the publick Autho- rity to have paid him, in Confideration of its Cheapnefs, a greater Quantity of Silver than they contrafted for. Cacao-Nuts were the Money of a Part oi Arne- rica, when we firfl: came thither. Suppofe then you had lent me laft Year 300, or tifteen Icore Cacao-Nuts, to be repaid this Year, Wou'd you be fatisfied and think your ielf paid your Due, if I Hiou'd tell you, Cacao-Nuts were Icarce this Year, and that four fcore were of as much Value this Year as an hundred the lafl; and that therefore you were well and fully paid if Ireftored to you only 240 for the 300 I borrow'd ? Would you not think your felf defrauded of two thirds of your Right by aluch Payment ? Nor would it make any amends for this to Juftice, or Reparation to you, that the Publick had (after your Contraft, which was made ior fifteen Score) alter'd the Denomination of Score, and applied it to fixteen inftead of twenty. Examine it, and you will find this juft the Cafe, and the Lofs pro- portionable in them both : That is, a real Lois of twenty per Cent. As to Mr. Lowndes's Proofs, that Silver is now one fifth more Value than it was, and there- fore a Man has Right done him, if he receive one fifth lefs than his Contract, I fear none of them will reach Mr. Lowndes's Point. He faith, p. jj. By daily Experience nineteen penny M^eight, and three Tenths of a penny Weight of Sterling Silver, zvhich is jufi the IVeight oj a Crown-piece, will pur:hafe more coin'd Money than five iin- clip'd Shillings. I wifli he had told us where this daily Experience he Ipeaks of is to be found : For I dare lay no body hath feen a Sum of unilip'd Shillings paid for Bullion any where this twelve Months, to go no further back. In the next Place, I wiflihe had told us how much more than five lawful mill'd Shillings, Bullion of the Weight of a Crown-piece will purchafc. If he had laid it would purchafe {ix Shillings and three Pence weighty Money, he had proved the Matter in Queftion. And whoever has the Weight of a Crown in Silver paid him in yiv. Lowndes's new Coin, inftead of fix Shillings and three Pence of our prefent Money, has no Injury done him, if it ^vill certainly purchafe hinr fix Shillings and three Pence all unclip'd of our prefent Money. But every one at firft fight perceives this to be impofliblc, as 1 have already proved it. And I have in this the Concurrence ot Mr. Low-ndes's new Scheme, to prove it to be fo. For, p. 62. he propofes that his S/lver Unite having the Weight and Finenefs of a prefent unclip'd Crown-piece, fhould go for 75 Pence; and that the prefent Shilling ftiould go for 15 Pence ; by which Eftablifliment there will be 75 Pence in his Unite, and 93 Pence three Farthings in fix Shillings three Pence, weighty Money of the prefent Coin ; which is an undeniable Confeflion, that it is as impoflible for his Silver Unite, (having no more Silver in it than a prefent un- clip'd Crown) to be worth, and fo to purchafe fix unclip'd Shillings and three Pence, of our pi'efent Money, as it is for 75 Pence to be worth ^3 of the fame Pence, or 75 to be equal to 93. If he means by 77Jore, that his Sterling Silver of the Weight of a Crown-piccc will purchafe a Penny, or two Pence more than five unclip'd Shillings, which is the moft, and which is but accidental too ; What is this Rife of its Value to 15; Pence > And what amends will one fixtieth (a little more or lefs) Rife in Va- lue, make for one filth diminilhed in Weight, and loft in Quantity ? which is all one as to fity, that a Penny, or thereabouts, fhall make amends for fifteen Pence taken away. Another way to recommend his new Coin, to thofe who fliall receive it inftead of the preier.t weightier Coin, he tells them, p. jj. it will pay as much Debt, and purchafe as much Commodities as our prefent Money, which is one fifth heavier: Vv'hat he fays ot Debts is true. But yet I would have it well confidered by our Englijh Gentlemen, that tho' Creditors will lofe one fifth of their Principal and Ule, and Landlords will lofe one fifth of their Income, yet the Debtors and 'j'c- nants will not get it. It will be asked. Who then will get it ? Thofe, I far, and thofe only, who have great Sums of vveighty Money (whereof one fees not' a Piece 2o Farther Confderations concerning piece now in Payments) hoardeci up by them, will get by it. To thofc by the propoled cliange oi our Money will be an increafe of one tifth added to their Ri- ches, paid out of the Pockets of the reft of the Nation. For what thefe Men recci\ed for four Shillings, they wIU pay again for five. This weighty Money hoarded up, Mr. /.o-ia/c/w, /a 105. computes at one Million and iix hundred thou- sand Pounds. So that by raifing our Money one fifth, there will three hundred and twenty tlioufand Pound be given to thofc wlio have hoarded up our weighty Money ; which iioaiding up of Money is thought by many to June no other Merit in it than the prejudicing our Trade and publick Afiairs, and increafing our Ne- ccfTitics, by keeping fo great a part of our Money from coming Abroad, at a time when there was fo great need of it. If the Sum of unclip'd Money in the Nation, be as fomc fuppofe, much greater i then there will by this contrivance of the raifing our Coin, be given to thefe rich Hoarders, much above the aforcfaid Sum of three iuindred and tn'enty thoufand Pounds of our prefent Money. No body dfe,but thele Hoarders, can get a Farthing by this propofed change of our Coin; unlefs Men in Debt have Plate by them, which they will Coin to pay their Debts. Thofe too, I muft confefs, will get one fifth by all the Plate of their Own, which they fliall coin and pay Debts with, valuing their Plate at Bullion : But if they fliall confider the Fafhion of their Plate, what that coft when they bought it, and the Fafliion that new Plate will coft them, if they intend ever to have Plate again, they will find this one fifth fecming prefent Profit in coining their Plate to pay their Debts, amount to little or nothing at all. No body then but the Hoarders will get by this twenty fer Cent. And I challenge any one to fhew how any body elfe (but that little in the cale of Plate coin'd to pay Debts) fliall get a Farthing by it. It feems to promife faireft to the Debtors ; but to them too it will amount to nothing. For he that takes up Money 10 pay his Debts, will receive this new Money, and pay it again at the fame rate he received it, juft as he does now our prefent Coin, without any Profit at all. And though Commodities (as is natural) JllaJl be raifed in proportion to the leffening of the Money, no body will get by that, any more than they do now, Avhen all things are grown dearer. Only he that is bound up by Contratt to receive any Sum under fuch a Denomination of Pounds, Shillings and Pence, will find his Lofs fenfibly when he goes to buy Com- modities, and make new Bargains. The Markets and the Shops will foon con- vince him, that his Money, which is one fifth lighter, is alio one fifth worfej ivhen he muft pay twenty per Cent, more for all the Commodities he buys with the JiJcney of the new Foot, than if he bought it with the prefent Coin. This 'islr.Lou-iidei himfelf Vv'ill not deny, when he calls to mind what he himfelf, fpeaking of the Inconveniences we fuffer by our clip'd Money, fays, p. 115. Per- Jons bejore thc-y coitchide in any Bargains, are necefjitated firfi to fettle the Price or Value of the I'ery Money they are to receive for their Goods ; and if it be in clip'd or bad Money, they fet the Price of their Goods accordingly : JVhich I think has been one great Caufe of raifmg the Price, not cnly of Merchandiz^e, but even of Edibles, and other Necejfaries for the Sujlenance of the common People, to their great Grievance. That every one who recei\cs Money after the raifing our Money, on Contracts made before the change, muft lofe twenty /'i'rCfKf. in all he fliall buy, is Demonftration, by Mr. ZouW«'s own Scheme. Mr. Lozvndes prcpofcs that there fhould be Shillings coin'd upon the new Foot one fifth lighter than our prefent Shillings, which fliould go for tu'elve'Pence a piece ; and that the unclip'd Shillings of the prefent Coin fliould go foi" fifteen Pence a piece, and the Crown for feventy-five Pence. A Man who has a, Debt oi an hundred Poimds owing him, upon Bond or Leafe, receives it in thefe new Shillings, inftead of lawful Money of the prefent Standard : He goes to Mar- ket with tnenty Shillings in one Pocket of this new Money, which are valued at 240 Pence ; and in the other Pocket with four mill'd Crown-pieces, (or twenty mill'd Shillings of the prefent Coin) which are valued at three hundred Pence, wJiich is one fifirh more: 'Tis Demonftration then that he lofes one fifth, or twenty per Cent, in all that he buys, by the Receipt of this new Money, for the prcient Coin, which -was his Due j unlefs thofe he deals with will take four for five Pence, or four Shillings for five Shillings. He buys, for Example, a QuaiT <*;F Oil. for fifteen Pence : If he pay for it with the old Money in one Pocket, one Shining will ddit ; if with the new Money in the other, he muft add three Pence to ir, or it quarter of another Shilling ; and fo of all the reft that he pays for, with. Raifing the Value of Money. 8 i Aviih either the old Money which he fhould have received his Debts in, or with rhelSlew, which he was forced to recie\e for it. Thus far it's Demonftratioii he loies twenty per Cent, by receiving his Debt in a new Money thus raifed, when he ules it to buy any thing. But to make him amends, Mr. Lowndes tells him. Silver is now dearer; and all things confcquently will be bought cheaper twen- ty pey Cent. And yet at the fame time he tells them in the Pafl'age above cited out ' of p. 115. that all other things are grown dearer. I am fure there is no Demon- ftration that they will be fold twenty per Cent, cheaper. And if I may credit Houfe-keepcrs and fubftantial Tradefmen, all forts of Provifions and Commodi- ties are lately rifen excelfively; and notwithftanding the Scarcity of Silver, be- g-in to come up to the true Value of ourclip'd Money, every one felling their Commodities lb as to make themfelves amends in the Number of light Pieces what they ivant in Weight. A Creditor ought to think the new light Money equivalent to the prefent heavier, becaufe it will buy as much Commodities. But what if itfhould fail, as 'tis ten to one but it will, what Security has he for it ? He is told fo, and he muft be fatisfied. The Salt, Wine, Oil, Silk, Naval-Stores, and all foreign Commodities, will none of them be fold us by Fo- reigners for a lefs Quantity of Silver rhan before, becaufe we have given the Name of more Pence to it, is I think Demonftration. All our Names (if tliey are any more to us) are to them but bare Sounds ; and our Coin, as theirs to us, but meer Bullion, valued only by its Weight. And a S-wede will no more fell you his Hemp and Pitch, or a Spaniard his Oil, for lefs Silver ; becaufe you tell him Silver is Icarcer now in England, and therefore rifen in Value one fifth, than a Tradefinan of London will fell his Commodity cheaper to the Ifle of Man, be- caufe they are grown poorer, and Money is I'carce there. All foreign Commodities muft be fliut out of the Number of thofe that will fall, to comply with our railing our Money. Corn alfo, "tis evident, does not rife or fall by the Differences of inore or lefs Plenty of Money, but by the Plenty and Scarcity that God gives. For our Money, in Appearance, remaining the fame, the Price of Corn is double one Year to what it was the precedent ; and therefore we muft certainly make account that fince the Money is one fifth lighter, it will buy one fifth lels Corn Commtinibus annis. And this being the great Expence of the Poor, that takes up almoft all their Earnings ; if Corn be Cummunibm annis fold for one fifth more Money in Tale, than before the Change of our Money, they too muft have one filth more in Talc of the new Money for their Wages, than they have now; and the Da y-Labourer muft have, not only twelve, but fif- teen Pence of the new Money a Day, which is the prefent Shilling, that he has now, or elfe he cannot live. So that all foreign Commodities, with Corn and Labour keeping up their Value to the Quantity of Silver, they fell for now, and not complying in the Fall of their real Price with the nominal Raifing of our Mo- ney ; there i« not much left wherein Landlords and Creditors are to expeft the Recompence of fwenty per Cent. Abatement of Price in Commodities to make up their Lofs in the Lightnefs of our Money they are paid their Rents and Debts in. Twould be ealie to fliew the lame thing concerning our other native Com- modities, and make it clear, that we have no Reafon to expeft they fhould abate ot their prefent Price, any more than Corn and Labour. But this is enough, and any one, who has a mind to it, may trace the reft at his Leifure. And thus I fear the Hopes of cheaper Penny-worths, which might beguile fome Men into a Belief, that Landlords and Creditors would receive no lefs by the pro- pofed new Money, is quite vaniflied. But if the Promife of better Penny-worths and a Fall of all Commodities t\Kenty per Cent. ihoulA hold true, this would not at all relieve Creditors and Landlords, and let them on equal Terms with their Neigh- bours: Becaui'e the cheap Penny-worths will not be for them alone; but every bo- dy elfe, as well as they, will fliare in that Advantage; fo that their Silver being diminifh'd one fifth in their Rents and Debts, which are paid them, they wouid ftillbetwenty/j^-CfW. greater Lofers than their unhoarding Neighbours, andforty perCent. greater Lofers than the Hoarders of Money; who will certainly gettwen- ty per Cent, in the Money, whatever happens in the Price of Things; and twen- ty per Cent, more in the Cheapnefs of Commodities, if that promifed Recom- pence be made_ good to Creditors and Landlords. For the Hoarders of Money (if the Price of things lalls) will buy as cheap as they. So that whatever is laid of Vol. II. L the 22 Farther Conjiderations concerning the Chcapncfs of Commodities, "'tis Demonftration, (whether that proves tinae or no) that Creditors, and Landlords, and all thoi'e who arc to receive Money upon Bargains made before the propofed Change of our Coin, will unavoidably lofe twenty /'fj' CfH?. A'.'yiv:. One thing Mr Lowndes fays in this Paragraph very remarkable, which I think decides the Qucftion. His Words, p. 78. are thei'e. That if the- Value of the Siher in the Coins {by an extrinji'k Denomination) be raifed above the Value or Market Price cf the fame Siher rcOUtCi) toS^uHion, the Subject would be proportionally injured and defrauded as they were formerly in the Cafe oj bafe Moneys 'joind by publnk Authority. It remains therefore only to fhew, that the Market Price of Standard Bullion is not one fifth above our Coin that is to be raifed, and then we hav e Mr. Lowndes of our fide too againft its Railing. 1 think it is abundantly proved already, that Stan- dard Bullion neither is, nor can be worth one fifth more than our Lawful weigh- ty Money : And if it be not, by Mr. Lowndes's ConfefTion, there is no need of railing our prefent legal mill'd Money to that Degree; and 'tis only our clip'cl Money that wants Amendment : And when that is recoin'd and reduced all to mill'd and lawful Money, that then too will have no need of raifing. This I fhall now prove out of Mr. Lowndes's own Words here. Mr. Lowndes in the forecited Words compares the Value of Siher in our Coin, to the Value of the fame Siher r(DUCCt> to ^lllitoil; which he fuppofing to be as four to five, makes that the Meafure of the Raifing our Money. If this be the Difference of Value between Silver in Bullion, and Silver in Coin ; and it be true, that four Ounces of Standard Bullion be worth five Ounces of the fame Silver coin'd ? Or, which is the fame Thing, that Bullion will fell by the Ounce for fix Shillings and five Pence unclip'd Money ; I will take the Bold- nefs to advife His Majefly to buy, or to borrow any where fo much Bullion, or rather than be without it, melt down fo much Plate, as is equal in Weight to twelve hundred Pounds Sterling of our prefent mill'd Money. This let him fell for mill'd Money. And according to our Author's Rule, it will yield fifteen hundred Pounds. Let that fifteen Hundred Pounds be reduc'd into Bullion, and fold again, and it will produce eighteen Hundred and fixty Pounds : Which eighteen hundred and fixty Pounds of weighty Money being reduc'd to Bullion, will ftill produce one fifth more in Weight of Siher, being fold for weighty Mo- ney. And thus His Majefty may get at lead three hundred and twenty thou- fand Pounds by felling of Bullion for weighty Money, and melting that down into Bullion, as faft as he receives it ; till he has brought into his Hands the Million and fix hundred thoufand Pounds, which Mr. Lowndes computes there is of weighty Money left in England. I doubt not but every one who reads it, will think this a very ridiculous Pro- polition. But he mull think it ridiculous for no other Reafon, but becaule he fees 'tis impoflible, that Bullion fhould fell for one fifth above its Weight of the fame Silver coin'd, that is, that an Ounce of Standard Silver fliould fell for fix Shillings five Pence of our prefent weighty Money. For if it will, 'tis no ridicu- lous thing that the King lliould melt down, and make that Profit of his Money. If our Author's Rule, (p. 78. where he fays. That the only jufi and reasonable Foot upon which the Coins fiotild be current, is the very Price oj the Siher thereof, in caje it be ??iolten in the fame Place where Coins are made current) be to be obferved ; our Money is to be raifed but an Half-penny, or at moft a Penny in five Shillings : for that was the ordinary Odds in the Price between Bullion and coin'd Silver, be- fore Clipping had deprived us, in Commerce, of all our mill'd and Weighty Money. And Silver in Standard Bullion would not be in Value one Jot above the fame S/i'fr in Coin, if clip'd Money were not current by Tale, and coin'd >S';7'-t;f»- (as Mr. Lozvndes propofes, p. 73.) as well as Bullion, hacl the Libeity of Exporta- tion. For when we have no clip'd Money, but all our current Coin is Weight, according to the Standard, all the Odds of \'alue that Silver in Bullion has to Silver in Coin, is only owing to the Prohibition of its Exportation in Money; and never rifes, nor can rile, above what the Goldfmith Hiall eftimate the Rifque and 1 rouble ot melting it down ; which is fo little, that the Importers of Sil- 1/er could never raife it to above a Penny an Ounce, but at fuch times as the Eaft-India Company, or fome foreign Sale, calling for a great Qiiantity of Silver at a time, made theGoldfmiths fcramble for it; antl fo the Importers of Bullion raile its Price upon them, according to the prefent need of great Qiiantitiesof ^//w-S which Ra'ijing the Value of Money.' which every Goldfmith (eager ro ingrofs to himfelf as much as he could) was con- tent to pay high lor, rather than go without : His prefent Gains from thofe whom he furnini'd, and whom othenvilb he could not furnifh, making him amends. The natural Value then between Silver in Bullion, and in Coin, is (I fay) every where equal ; bating the Charge of Coinage, which gives the Advantage to the tide of the Coin. The ordinary Odds here in England, between Silver in Bullion, and the fame in our Coin, is by Reafon that the Stamp hinders its free Exportation about a Penny in the Crown. The accidental Difference, by reafon of fuddcn Occafions, is lometimes (but rarely) two Pence in five Shillings, or fomewhat more in great Urgencies. And fince the ordinary Rate of things is to be taken as the Mcafuve of their Price, and Mr. Lowndes tells us, p. 78, That if the Value of the Silver in the Coins flmild be raifed above the Value, or Mar- ket Price, of the farm Silver reduced to Bullion, the Subjefl would be proportionably inju- red and defrauded; 1 leave him to make the Inference, what will be the Confe- quence in England, if our Coin be raifed here one fifth, or twenty per Cent. Mr. Lowndes fays farther, p. 80. That Silver has a Price. I anfwer ; Silver to Silver can have no other Price, but Quantity for Quantity. If there be any other Difference in Value, it is or can be nothing but one of thefe two: Firft, Either the Value of the Labour imploy^d about one Parcel of Silver more than another, makes a Difference in their Price ; and thus fafhion'd Plate fells for more than its Weight of the fame Silver ; and in Countries where the Owners pay for the Coinage, Silver in Coin is more worth than its Weight in Bullion ; but here, where the Publick pays the Coinage, they are of very near equal Va- lue, when there is no need of Exportation : For then there is no more Odds than the Trouble of carrying the Bullion to the Mint, and fetching again, is worth ; or the Charge of Refining fo much of it, as will bring it to Standard, if it be worfe than Standard. Or Secondly, Some Privilege belonging to one Parcel of Silver which is de- nied to another, viz.. Here in England a Liberty of Exportation allowed to Sil- ver in Bullion, denied to Silver ftamp'd. This, when there is need of Expor-- tation of Silver, gives fome fmall Advantage of Value to uncoin'd Silver here, above coinM ; but that is ordinarily very inconfiderable ; and can never reach to one fifth, nor half one fifth, as has been already fhewn. And this I think will anfwer all that is faid about the Price of Silver in that Place. 'Tis true ivhat Mr. Lowndes fays in the next Words, p. Si. T'hat five Shillings coin'd upon the Foot propofed, will a&ually contain more real and intrinjick Value of Sil- ver by a great Deal, than is in the current Money now commonly applied to the Payment cf the faid Rents, Revenues and Debts. But will he hence conclude, becaufe ther6 is now loft in thofe Rents, Revenues and Debts, a great deal more than twenty per Cent, under the prefent Irregularity of our Coin, and the Robbery in clip a Money, without any the leaftNegleft or Mifcarriage in the Owner that intitled him to that Lofs, that therefore it is juft that the Lofs of twenty per Cent, be eftablifli'd on him by Law for the future, in the reforming of our Coin ? Mr. Lowndes's fecond Reafon for leffcning of our Coin we have, p. 82. in thefe Words, "The Value of the Silver in the Coin ought to be raifed, to encourage the bringing of Bullion to the Mint to be coiti'd. This Raifing of Money is in Effeft, as has been feen, notliing but giving a Denomination of more Pence to the fame Quan- tity of Silver, viz.. I'hat the fame Quantity of Silver fhall hereafter be called feventy-five Pence, which is now called fixty Pence. For that is all is done: As is manifeft, when a Crown-piece which now goes but for fixty Pence, fhall be made to go for feventy five Pence ; for "tis plain, it contains nothing of Silver or Worth in it, more than it did before. Let us fuppofe, that all our Silver Coin now in England were Sixpences, Shillings, Half-crowns and Crowns, all mill'd Money full Weight according to the prefent Standard ; and that it fliould be ordered, that for the future, the Crown -piece inftead of going for fixty Pence, Ihould go for feventy five Pence, and fo proportionably of all the other Pieces, I ask then, how fuch a Change of Denomination fhall bring Bullion to the Mint to be coin'd, and from whence ? I fuppofe this Change of Names, or alcribing to it more imaginary Parts of any Denomination, has no Charms in it to bring Bullion to the Mint to be coin'd : For whether you call the Piece coin'd meive Pence, or fifteen Pence, or fixty or feventy five, a Crown or a Scepter, it will buy no more Silk, Salt or Bread than it would before. That therefore can- Vol. II. L 2 not ^4 Farther Conjiderations concerning it would before. That therefore cannot tempt People to bring it to tlic Mint. And if it will pay more Debt, that is perfeft defrauding, and ougiit not to be permit- ted. Next, I ask, from whence fhall this Raifing fetch it ? For Bullion cannot be brought hither to ftay here, whilft the Balance of our Trade requires all the Bulli- on we bring in, to be exported again, and more Silver out of our former Stock with it, to anfwer our Exigencies beyond Seas. And whilft it is fo, the Gold- fmiths and Returners of Money will give more for Bullion to export, than the Mint can give for it to coin ; and fo none of that will conic to the Mint. But fays our Author, p. 83. An Half-penny an Ounce Profit, -which -will be in the frofiojed Coin, above the prefent Price oj Sterling Bullion, will be an Encouragement to tboje who have Englifl) Plate, to bring it in to be coind. I doubt whether there will be any I'uch Profit ; for I imagine that Standard Bullion cannot now be bought per Ounce for fix Shillings and five Pence of our clip'd running Cafli, which is the Meafure whereby Mr. Lowndes determines of the Price of Sterling Silver. But taking this Half-penny an Ounce Profit for granted, it will not bring to,the Mint any Plate, whofe Fafhion is valued by the Owner at above an Half-penny per Ounce ; and how much then it is like to bring to the Mint, is eafie to guefs. The true and only good Reafon that brings Bullion to the Mint to be coin'd, is the fame that brings it to England to ftay there, viz,. The Gain we make by an Over-balance of Trade. When our Merchants carry Commodities abroad, to a greater Value than thofe they bring home, the Over-plus comes to them in foreign Coin or Bullion, which will ftay here, when we gain by the Balance of our whole Trade. For then we can have no Debts beyond Sea to be paid with it : In this thriving Pofture of our Trade, thofe to whofe Share this Bullion fiills, not having any Ule of it whilft it is in Bullion, choofe to carry it to the Mint to have it coin'd there, whereby it is of more Ufe to them for all the Bufinefs of Silver in Trade, or purchafingLand; the Mint having afcertained the Weight andFine- nefsof it: So that on any Occafion, every one is ready to take it at its known Value, without any Scruple ; a Convenience that is wanting in Bullion. But when our Trade runs on the other fide, and our exported Commodities will not pay for tliofe foreign ones we confume, our Treafure muft go ; and then it is in vain to beftow the Labour of Coining on Bullion that muft be exported again. To what purpofe is it to make it pafs through our Mint, when it will away ? The lefs Pains and Charge it cofts us, the better. His third Reafon p. 83. is, that this Raifing our Coin by making it mO?C ixi Cflic will make it more commenf urate to the general Need thereof, and thereby hinder the Increafe of haz^ardous Paper-credit, and the Inconveniency of Bartering. Juft as the Boy cut his Leather into five Quarters (as he called them) to cover his Ball, when cut into four Quarters it fell fhort : But after all his Pains, as much of his Ball lay bare as before. If the Quantity of coined Silver employ'd in Engl and is\\s fhort, the arbitrary Denomination of a greater Number of Pence given to it, or which is all one, to the feveral coin'd Pieces of it, will not make it commenfurate to the Size of our Trade, or the Greatnefs of our Occaiions. This is as certain, as that if the Quantity of a Board which is to ftop a Leak of a Ship fifteen Inches fquare, be but twelve Inches fquare, it will not be made to do it, by being meafured by a Foot that is divided into fifteen Inches inftead of twelve, and i^o having a larger Caic or Number of Inches in Denomination given to it. This indeed would be a convincing Reafon, if Sounds would give Weight to Silver, and the Noife of a greater Number of Pence (lefs in Quantity pro- portionably as they are more in Number) were a large Supply oj Money, which our Author, p. 84. fliys our Occafions require, and which he by an hureafe of the 'Tale of Pence hopes to provide. But that Miftake is very vifible, and fhall be farther fhewn in the Bufinefs of Bartering. The Neceflity of Truft and Bartering is one of the many Inconveniencies fpringing from the Want of Money. This Inconvenience, the multiplying ar- bitrary Denominations, will no more fupply, nor any ways make our Scarcity of Coin commenfurate to the need there is of it, than if the Cloth which was provi- ded for cloathing the Army, falling fliort, one fhould hope to make it commenfu- rate to that need there is of it, by meafuring it by a Yard one fifth flioiter than the Standard, or changing the Standard of the Yard, and fo getting the full Denomination of Yards, necelfary according to tiie prefent Meafure. For this is all Raijlng the Value 0/ MoNEYi) 85 nil will be done by railing our Coin, as is propofcd. All it aiTiont.<; to, is no more but this, viz,. That each Piece, andconlequently our whole Stock of Money fliould. be meai'urcd and denominated by a Penny, one fifth lefs than the Standard. VVheie there is not coin'd Silver in Proportion to the Value of the Commo- dities that daily change Owners in Trade, there is a Neceflity of Truft, or Bartering, i. e. changing Commodities for Commodities, without the Intert'cn- tion of Money. For Example, let us fuppofc in Bermudm but an hundred Pounds in ready Money, but that there is every Day there a Transferring of Commo- dities from one Owner to another, to the Value of double as much. When the Money is all got into Hands that have already bought all that they have need of for that Day, whoever has need of any thing elfc that Day, muft either go on tick, or barter for it, /. e. give the Commodities he can beft fpare for the Com- modities he wants, 11. ^. Sugar for Biead, CiTf. Now 'tis evident here, that changing the Denomination ot the Coin they already have in Bermuda, or coin- ing it over again undeor new Denominations, will not contribute in the lead towards the removing this Necellity of Truft or Bartering. For the \vholc Sil- ver they have in Coin, being but four hundred Ounces ; and the Exchange of the Commodities made in adiuanteof time, wherein this Money is paid, not above once, being to the Value of eight hundred thoufand Ounces of Silver ; 'tis plain that one half of the Commodities that fliift Hands,muft of Necellity be taken upon Credit, or exchanged by Barter ; thofe who want them, having not Money to pay for them. Nor can any Alteration of the Coin, or Denomination of thefe four hundred Ounces of Silver, help this; becaule the Value of the Silver, in re- ipect of other Commodities, will not thereby be at all increafed ,• and the Com- modities changed, being (as in the Cafe) double in Value to the four hundred Ounces of coin'd Silver to be laid out in them; nothing can fupplv this Want but a double Quantity, i.e. eight hundred Ounces of coin'd Silver'; how deno- minated it matters not, fo there be a lit Proportion of fmall Pieces to fupply fmall Payments. Suppole the Commodities pafling every Day in Enghwdy in Markets and Fairs, between Strangers, or fuch as truft not one another, were to the Value of a Mil- lion of Ounces of Silver; and there was but half a Million of Ounces of coin'd Silver in the Hands of thofe who wanted thofe Commodities ; 'tis Demonftra- tion they muft truck for them, or go without them. If then the coin'd Silver of England be not fufficient to anfwer the Value of Commodities moving in Trade amongft us, Credit or Barter muft do it. Where the Credit and Money fail. Barter alone muft do it ; Which being introduced by the Want of a great- er Plenty of coin'd Silver, nothing but a greater Plenty of coin'd Silver can re- move it. The Increafe of Denomination does, or can do nothing in the Cafe: For 'tis Silver by its Quantity, and not Denomination, that is the Price of things, and Meafure of Commerce ; and 'tis the Weight of Silver in it, and not the Name of the Piece that Men cftimate Commodities by, and exchange them for. If this be nor fo, when the NecelTity of our Affairs abroad, or ill Husbandry at home, has carried away half our Treafure, and a Moiety of our Money is gone out of England; 'tis but to iflue a Proclamation, That a Penny fhall go for Twopence, Sixpence for a Shilling, Half a Crown for a Crou^n, ClTc. and immediately without any more ado we are as rich as before. And when half the Remainder is gone, 'tis but doing the fame thing again, and railing the Denomination anew, and we are where we w^re, and fo on : Where by fup- poling the Denomination raifed tt, every Man will be as rich vv'ith an Ounce of Siher in his Purfe as he was before when he had fixteen Ounces there ; and in as great Plenty of Money, able to carry on his Trade, without bartering ; his Silver, by this fhort Way of raifing, being chang'd into the Value of Gold : For when Silver will buy fixteen times as much Wine, Oil and Bread, &c. to Day, as it would Yefterday, (all other things remaining the fame but the Deno- ijiination) it hath the real Worth of Gold. This, I guefs, every body fees cannot be fo. And yet this muft be fo, if it be true, that raifing the Denomination one fifth can fupply the Want, or one jot raife the Value of Silver in refpeft of other Commodities, /'. e. make a lefs Qiiantity of it to Day, buy a greater Quantity of Corn, Oil and Cloth, and all other Commodities, than it would Ydlerday, and thereby remove theNeceflity of Bar- tering, 85 Farther Confidcrations concerning tering. For if Raifing the Denomination can thus raiie the Value of Coin in Exchange for other Commodities one fifth, Ly the fame Reafon it can raile it two fifths, and afterwards three fifths, and again, if need be, four fifths, and as much farther as you pleafe. So that by this admirable Contrivance of rai- fing our Coin, ve fhall be as rich, and as well able to fupport the Charge of the Governnirnt, and carry on our 'Jrade without Bartering, or any otlier Incon- venience, for want of Money, with fixty thoufand Ounces of coin'd Silver in Engltind, as if we had fix or lixty Millions. If this be not f'o, I defire any one to flaew me, why the fame Way of raifing the Denomination, which can raile the Value of Money in refped of other Commodities, one fifth, cannot when you pleafe raife it another fifth, and fo on ? I beg to be told where it muftfiop, and why at fuch a Degree, without being able to go farther. It muft be taken notice of, that the Raifing I fpeak of here, is the raifing of the Value of our Coin in refpeft of other Commodities (as I call it all along) m Con- tradiftinction to raifing the Denomination. The confounding of tliefe in Difcour- fes concerning Money, is one great Caufe, I fufpeft, that this Matter is fo little underftood, and fo often talk'd of with fo little Information of the Hearers. A Penny is a Denomination no more belonging to eight than to eighty, or to one fingle Grain of Silver : And fo it is not neceflary that there fliould be fixty fuch Pence, no more nor lefs, in an OuQce of Silver, /. e. twelve in a Piece call'd a Shilling, and fixty in a Piece call'd a Crown ; fuch like Divifions being only extrinfical Denominations, are every where perfedly arbitrary. For here in England there might as well have been twelve Shillings in a Penny, as twelve Pence in a Shilling, /. e. the Denomination of the lefs Piece might have been a Shilling, and of the bigger a Penny. Again, the Shilling might have been coin- ed ten times as big as the Penny, and the Crown ten times as big as the Shilling; whereby the Shilling would ha\'e but ten Pence in it, and the Crown an hundred. But this, however order'd, alters not one Jot the Value of the Ounce of Silver in relpeft of other things, any more than it does its Weight. This Raifing being but given of Names at pleafure to aliquot Pans of any Piece, 'viz,, that now the fixcieth Part of an Ounce of Silver fhall be call'd a Penny, and to Mor- row that the feventy fifth Part of an Ounce of Silver fhall be call'd a Penny, may be done with what Increafe you pleafe. And thus it may be order'd by a Proclamation, That a Shilling fliall go for twenty four Pence, an Halfcrown for fixty inftead of thirty Pence, and fo of the refl. But that an Halfcrown fhould be worth, or contain, fixty fuch Pence as the Pence were before this Change of Denomination was made, that no Power on Earth can do. Nor can any Power (but that which can make the Plenty or Scarcity of Commodities) raife the Va- lue of our Money thus double, in refpeft of other Commodities, and make that the fame Piece, or Quantity of Silver, under a double Denomination, fhall purchafe double the Quantity of Pepper, Wine or Lead, an Inftant after fuch Proclamation, to what it would do an Inftant before. If this could be, we might, as every one fees, raife Silver to the Value of Gold, and make our felves as rich we pleafed. But 'tis but going to Market with an Ounce of Silver of one hundred and twenty Pence, to be convinc'd that it will purchai'e no more than an Ounce of Silver of fixty Pence. And the Ringing of the Piece will as foon purchafe more Commodities as its Change of Denomination, and the multipli'd Name of Pence, when it is called fix fcore inftead of fixty. 'Tis propos'd, that the twelve Pence fhould be raifed to fifteen Pence, and the Cro-ivn to feventy five Pence, and fo proportionably of the reft : But yet that the Pound Sterling fhould not be raifed. If there beany Advantage in raifing, why fhould not that be raifed too ? And as the Crown-piece is raifed from fixty to feventy fi\ e Pence, why fhould not the Pound Sterling be raifed in the fame Proportion, from two hundred and forty Pence, to three hundred Pence ? Farther, If this raifing our Coin can fo ftretch our Money, and enlarge our pared Remainder of it, as to make it more commenfitrate to the general Need thereof, for cayr)ing on the common T'raffitk and Commerce of the Nation, and to anfiver Occajjons requiring a larger Supply of Money, as Mr. Lowndes tells us in his third Reafon, p. 83. Why are we fo nigardly to our felves in this time of Occafion, as to ftop at one fifth ? Why do we not raife it one full Moiety, and thereby double our Money } If Mr. Loxivdes's Rule, p. 78. That if the Value of the Silver in the Cvin, fkould Raijing the Value 0/ M o n e Y. 87 (J}0ulil be ml fed above the Market-price of ibe fame Silver reduc'dio Bullion ; t/:e ^llO- icct iwuld be proportionally injur\l and tlCfcnlliDC^J muft keep us from thefe Advan- tages, and the publick Care of Juftice Rop the Raifing of the Money at one fifth, becavife if our Money be raifed beyond the Market-price of Bullion, it r/ill be fo much defrauded of the SubjeSi : I then fay it muft not be raifed one fifth, nor half one fifth, that is, it mull not be raifed fifteen Pence in the Crown ; no nor five Pence. For I deny that the Market-price of Standard Bullion ever was, or ever can be Jive Shillings feven Pence, of lawful weighty Money, the Ounce : So that if our prefent mill'd Money be raifed one filth, the Subjects will, by Mr. Z.otu«iw's Rule, he defrauded iixtcen per Cent, nay, above eighteen /'erCew/-. For the Market-price of Standard Bullion being ordinarily under five Shillings four Pence the Ounce, when fold for weighty Money (which is but one thirtietli) whatever our prefent mill'd Money is rais'd above one thirtieth, it is by Mr. Loxvndes's Rule fo much defrauding the Subject. For the Market-price of any tiling, and fo of Bullion, is to be taken from its ordinary Rate all the Year round ; and not from the extraordinary Rife of two or three Market-days in a Year. And tha.t the Market-price oi Standard Silver was not found, nor pretended to be sbove five Shillings and four Pence the Ounce, before Clipping had left none but light running Cafh to pay for Bullion, or any thing elfe, is evident from a Pa- per then publifh'd, which I took the Liberty to examine in my Confiderations of the Confequences of P^aifing the Value of Money, &c. printed 1692. The Author of that Paper, 'tis manifeft, was not ignorant of the Price of Silver, nor had a Delign to lelfen its Rate, let down the highefl: Price it then bore. If then Mr. Lo-xndes's Rule of Juftice, and Care of the Subjeft, be to regulate the Rife of our mill'd Money, it muft be raifed above one thirtieth Part. If the Advantages hepromifes, of making our Money, by raifing it one fifth, more commenfurate to the general Need thereof, be to be laid hold on, 'tis reafonable to raife it higher, to make it yet more commenfurate to the general Need there is of it. Which ever of the two Mr. LoxcWt^r w ill prefer, either Reafon of State, or Rule of Juftice,,one fifth muft not be his Meafure of raifing our prefent mill'd Money. If the Advantage of making our Money more proportionate to our Trade, and other NecefTities, be to govern its propofcd Raifing, every one will cry out to Mr. Lozcndes, If your Way will do what you fay, the Raifing it one half will be much better than one fifth, and therefore pray let an Half-crown be raifed to a Crown, and a Sixpence to a Shilling. If Equity, and the Confideration of the Subjefts Property ought to govern in the Cafe, you muft not raife our mill'd Crown to above five Shillings and four Pence. II it here be faid tome, that I do then allow that our Money may be raifed one thirtieth, i. e. that the Crown-piece fliould be railed to five Shillings and two Pence, and fo proportionably of the other Species of our Coin ; I anfwer, he thnt infers fo, makes his Inference a little too quick. But let us for once allow the ordinary Price of Standard Silver to be five Shil- lings four Pence the Ounce, to be paid for in weighty Coin (for that muft always be remembred, when we talk of the Rate of Bullion) and that the Rate of Bul- lion is the juft Meafure of raifing our Money. This I fay is no Reafon for the Raifing our mill'd Crown now to five Shillings four Pence, and recoining all our clip'd Money upon that Foot ; unlcfs we intend, as foon as that is done, to new raife, and coin it again. For whilftour Trade and Affairs abroad require the Exportation of Silver, and the Exportation of our coin'd Silver is prohibited, and made penal by our Law, Standard Bullion v.'ill always be fold here for a little more than its NA'eight of coin'd Silver. So that if we fllall endeavour to equal our coin'd Silver to Standard Bullion, by rafing it, whilft there is a Ne- ceffity of the Exportation of Silver, we fhall do no otherwife than a Child, who runs to o\ertake and get up to the Top of his Shadow, which ftill fld\-:inces at the fame Rate that he does. The Privilege that Bullion has, to be exported freely, will give it a little Advance in Price above our Coin, let the Denomina- tion of that be raifed or fallen as you pleafe, whilft there is need of its Expor- tation, and the Exportation of our Coin is prohibited by Law. But this Ad- vance will be but little, and will always keep within the Bounds which the Rifque and Trouble of melting down our Coin fhall let to it in the Eftimate of the Exporter. He that will rather venture to throw an hundred Pound into his Melting- 2J> Farther Confidcrations concerning Melting-pot, Avhen no body ices liim, nnd reduce it to Cullion, t!ian give an hundicd and five Pounds for the fame Weiglit of tlie like Bullion, will never give rive Shillings and five Pence of mill'd Money for an Ounce of Standard Bullion ; nor buy at that Price, what he can have near five pvr Gut. cheaper, without any Riique, if he will not accule himfelf. And I think it may be con- cluded, that very few, who ha\ e Furnances, and other Conveniencies ready for m.clting Silver, will give one fee Gw. for Standard Bullion, which is under five Shillings and three Pence per Ounce, who can only for the '1 rouble of melting it, reduce our Coin to as good Bullion. The Odds of the Price in Bullion to Coin on this Account (which is the only one, where the Coin is kept to the Standard) can never be a Reafon for raifing our Coin to prefcrve it from melting down : Becauie this Price above its Weight is given for Bullion, only to avoid melting down our Coin ; and fo this Dif- ference of Price between Standard Bullion and our Coin, can be no Caufe of its melting down. The fe three Reafons which I have examin'd, contain the great Advantages, which our Author fuppofes the propos'd raifing of our Coin will produce. And therefore I have dwelt longer upon them. His remaining fix Reafons being of lefs moment, and offering mo{t of them, but fome circumftantial Conveniencies, as to the Computation of our Money, &c. I fhall more briefly pafs over. Only before I proceed to them, I fhall here fet down the different Value of our Money, colle- cted from our Author's Hiftory of the feveral Changes of our Coin, iinceEdwm-d the Firft's Reign, quite down to this prefent time. A curious Hiftory indeed, for which I think my lelf and the World indebted to Mr. Lowndes's great Learning in this fort of Knowledge, and his great Exactnefs in relating the Particulars. I fhall remark only the Qtiantity of Silver was in a Shilling in each of thofe Changes ; that fo the Reader may at firft Sight, without farther Trouble, com- pare the Lelfening, or Increafe of the Quantity of Silver upon eveiy Change. For in Propriety of Speech, the adding to the Qtiantity of Silver in our Coin, is the true Raifing of its Value ; and the diminifhing the Qi^iantity cf Silver in it, is the finking of its Value ; however they come to be tranfpos'd, and ufed in the quite contrary Senfe. If my Calculations, from the Weight and Finenefs I find fet doivn in Mr. Lowfidei's Extraft out of the Indentures of the Mint, have not mifled me, the Qtiantity of Silver to a Grain, which was in a Shilling in every Change of our Money, is fet down in the following Table. One Shilling contain'd of fine Silver^ 28 18 27 9 I 4 49 I 34 56 37 3 5 6 2 43 Echv. I Edw. 3 Edw. 3 Hen. 5 Hen. 6 Hen. 6 Hen. 6 Hen. 8 Hen. 8 Hen. 8 Hen. 8 Edw. 6 Edw. 6 Edw. 6 Eli^. Eli-^. Grains. 2(54 235 213 1-J6 142 175 142 118 100 60 40 40 20 88 89 86 And fo it has remained from the 43d Year of Queen Elizabeth to this Day.' Mr. Lowndes's 6^ Mr. Z-ou'wiej having given us the Finenefs of the Standard Silver in every Reign, and the Number of Pieces a Pound Troy vvas coin'd into, clofes this Hiftory with Wards Raipig the Value of M o x e v. gp Words to this Purpofe, p. ^6. By this Dedttciion it doth eviJemly appear, that it hall) been a Policy conjlamly pyatiifed in the Mints of England, to raife the Value of the Coin in its extrivfhii Denomination from time to time, \i5 any Exigence or Occafion required and more efpedally to encourage the bringing of Eidlion into the Realm to be coin'd. This indeed is roundly to conclude for his Hypothcfis. But Icould wifh, that from the Hiftorie.s of thofc Times, wherein the fevcral Clianges were made, he had flievv'dus the Exigencies ancl Occafions that produced the raifing of the Coin, and what Efiefts it had. If I miftake not, Henry the Vlllth's fevcral Raifings of our Coin, brouglic little Increafc of Silver into England. As the feveral Species of our Coin lei- fen'd in their refpcftivc Qiiantitics of Silver ; fo the Treafure of the Realm de- creafed too : And he that found the Kingdom rich, did not, as I remember, by all his railing our Coin, leave it fo. Another thing, (that from this Hiftory) makes me fufpcft that the Raifin"' the Denomination was never found efteftively to draw Siher into England, is the lowering the Denomination, or adding more Silver to the feveral Species of oiir Coin, as in Htn. VI's Time, the Shilling was increafed from one hundred forty two Grains of Silver, to one hundred leventy fix. And in the lixth of Edio. VI. in whole Time raifing the Denomination feems to have been tried to the Utmoft, when a Shilling was brought to twenty Grains of Sih er. And the great Alteration that was then quickly made on the other Hand, from twenty to eighty Grains at one Leap, feems to fhew that this Le/lening the Silver in our Coin, had proved highly prejudicial : For this is a greater Change in finking of the Denomination in Proportion, than ever was made at once in Raifuig i: ; a ShiU ////g being made four times weightier in Silver the fixth, than it was in the filth Year of Ediv. VI's Reign. Kingdoms are feldom found weary of the Riches they ha\e, or a\erfe to the Incrcaie of their Treafure. If therefore the Raifing the Denomination did in reality bring Silver into the Realm, it cannot be thought that they would at any tmie fink the Denomination, which by the Rule of Contraries fliould be at leaft fufpefted to drive, or keep it out. Since therefore we are not from Matter of Faft informed, what were the true Motives that caufed thofe feveral Changes in the Coin ; may ^ve not with Rea- fonfufpeft that they were owing to that Policy of the Mint, fet down by our Author, f. 83. in thefe Words, That the /ro/^q/t'^ Advance is agreeable to the Policy that in paft Ages hath been praciifed, not only in our Mint, but in the Mints of all Poli- tick Governments; namely, to Raife the Value of Silver in the Coin^ to pjO ilOtf tljC Wa^lX of tfjC 2l9ilU J As I remember, fuitable to this Policy of the Mint, there was, fome two Years fince, a Complaint ot a wortliy Gentleman, not ignorant of it, that the Mill in the Mint ftoodftill; and therefore there was a Propofal offer'd for bringing Grift to the Mill. The Bufinefs of Money, as in all times, even in this our quick-fighted Age, hath been thought a Myftery : Thofe employ 'd in the Mint mufl, by their Pla- ces, be fuppofcd to penetrate deepeft into it. 'Tis no impofFible thing then to ima- gine, that it was not hard, in the Ignorance of paft Ages, when Money was lit- tle, and Skill in the Turns of Trade lefs, for thofc \erled in the Bufinefs and Policy of the Mint, to perfuade a Prince, efpecially if Money were fcarce, that the Fault was in the Standard of the Mint, and that the Way to increafe the Plenty of Money, was to raife (a well-founding Word) the Value of the Coin. This could not but be willingly enough hearkned to ; when, befides the Hopes of drawing an Increafe of Silver into the Realm, it brought prefent Gain by the Part which the King got of the Money, which was hereupon all coined anew, and tlie Mint Officers loft nothing, fmce it promoted the TVork of the Mint. This Opinion Isix.Lo-xndes himfelf gives fufficient ground for in his Book, par- ticularly />. 2 j>. where we read thefe Words, Altho' the former Debafemems of the Coins by publitk Authority, efpecially thofe in the Reign of King Henry VIII. and King Edward VI. anight be projefled for the Profit of the Cro-jcn, and the PrcjeElors might mea-^ fiire that Profit by the excejjive Q^mntities of Allay that zvtre mixed xmh the Silver and the ■Gold (and let me add, or by the Quantity of Silver ledened in each Species, which is the fame thing.) And tho' this wot enterpriz.ed by a Prince, who could firetch his Prerogative very far upon hif People; and luas done in T'imes when the Nation had very little Cotnmerce, inland or foreign^ to be injured and prejudiced thereby ; yet Ex- Vol. II. M ferience cjo Farther Confiderations concerning peaeiice pyeftiuly JJ}ezcaI, that the ProjeBon -were miftaken, and that it was avfvh:tely tie-' ci'Ifary to have the bafe Money reformed. This at leaft they were not miflaken in, that they brought Work to the Mint, and a Part of the Money coir/d to the Crown for Seigniorage : in both which there was Profit. Mr. Lvwades tells us, p. 44. That Henry VIII. had to the Value of fifty Shillings for every Pound U'^eight of Gold eoin'd. I have met with it fomewhere, that formerly the King might take what he pleafed for Coinage. I know not too but the (latccring Name of raifing Money might prevail then as it does now ; and impofe lo far on them, as to make them think, the P^aifing, i. e. diminifhingthe Silver in their Coin, would bring it into the Realm, or ftay it here when ihey found it goirg out. For if We may gucfs at the other, by Henry VIIl's Raifing, it v/as probably when, by Reafon of Expcnce in foreign Wars, or ill managed Trade, they found Money begin to grow fcarce. The having the Species of our Coin one fifth bigger, or one fifth lefs than they are at prefcnt, would be neither good nor harm to England, if they had always been fo. Our Standard has continued in Weight and Finenefs juft as it is now, for very near this hundred Years laft paft : And thofe who think the De- nomination and Size of our Money have any Influence on the State of our Wealth, have no Reafon to change the prefent Standard of our Coin; fince under that we have had a greater Increase, and longer Continuance of Plenty of Money, than perhaps any other Country can fhew; I fee no Reafon to think, that a little big- ger or lefs Size of the Pieces coin'd, is of any Moment one way or t'other. The Species of Money in any Country, of whatfoever Sizes, fit for Coining, if their Proportions to one another be fuited to Arithmetick and Calculations, in whole Numbers, and the Ways of Accounts in that Country; if they are adapted to fmall Payments, and carefully kept to their juft Weight and Fineneis, can have no Harm in them. The Harm comes by the Change, which unreafonably and unjuftly gives away and transfers Mens Properties, diforders Trade, puzzles Accounts, and needs a new Arithmetick to caft up Reckonings, and keep Ac- counts in; befides a thoufand other Inconveniencies ; not to mention the Charge of recoining the Money. For this may be depended on, that if our Money be railed as is propofed, it will inforce the Recoining of all our Money, both old and new, (except the new Shillings) to avoid the terrible Difficulty and Confu- fion there will be in keeping Accounts in Pounds, Shillings, and Pence, (as they muft be) when the Species of our Money are fo ordered, as not to anfwer thole Denominations in round Numbers. This Confideration leads me to Mr. Lowndes's fifth ar\d fixth Reafons, p. 85. wherein he recommends the raifing our Money in the Proportion propofed, for its Convenience, to our accounting by Pounds, Shillings, and Pence. And for obviat- in" Perplexity among the common People, he propofes the prefent weighty Crown to go at fix Shillings three Pence; and the new Scepter or Unite to be coin'd of the fame Weight, to go at the fame Rate ; and Half-Crowns, Half-Scepters, or Half-Unites, of the Weight of the prefent Half-Crown, to go for two Shillings feven Pence Half- Penny: By no Number of which Pieces can there be made an even Pottnd Sterlings or any Number of even Shillings under a Pound ; but they always fall into Frafti- ons of Pounds and Shillings, as may be feen by this following Table. i I. 5. d. I Half-Crown, Half-Scepter, or Half-Unite Piece 3 i4^ I Crown, Scepter, or Unite Piece 6 3 3 Half-Crown Pieces 9 4t a Crown Pieces 12 6 5 Half-Crown Pieces 15 1^ 3 Crown Pieces 18 9, 7 Half-Crown Pieces I I lo-r 4 Crown Pieces I J The prefent Shilling, and new Teftoon, going for fifteen Pence, no Number of them make any Number of even Shillings, but five Shillings, ten Shillings, fifteen Shillings, and twenty Shillings; but in all the reft, they always fall into Fraftions. The like maybe faid of the prefent Six-pences, and future half Tefioons going for feven Pence Half-penny; the Qtiarter Teftoons, which are to go for three Pence three Raijtng the Value 0/ M o N E Y^ oi three Farthings ; and the (jro/r and Crort^j, which arc to ^o {or five Pence ^ the half Grofs or Groat, which is to go for ttuu Pence Hiilfpenny; and the Pmw, which is to go for a Penny Farthing: Out of any Tale of each of which Species there can no ]uft Number of Shillings be made, as I think, hut five Shillings, ten Shillings, fif- teen Shillings, and ttventy Shillings ; but they always fall into Fractions. The new intended Shilling alone fcems to be fuited to our accounting in Pounds, Shillingi and Pence. The great Pieces, as Scepters, and Half-fcepters, which are made to ferveforthe Payment of greater Sums, and are for Difpatch in Tale, will not in Tale fall into even Pounds. And I fear it will puzzle a better Arithmetician, than moft Countrymen are, to tell, without Pen and Ink, how many of the lef- fer Pieces ( except the Shillings ) however combined, will make jufl fixteen or feventeea Shillings. And I imagine there is not one Country-man of three, but may have it for his Pains, if he can tell an hundred Pounds made up of a promil- cous Mixture of the Species of this new raifed Money (excluding the Shillings) in aD.Tv's-time. And that which will help to confound him, and every body elfe, will be the OW Croxuw, Half-croivns, Shillings, and Sixpences cnrrtniior ntvi Numbers of Pence. So that I take it for granted, that if our Coin be raifed, as is propofed, not only all our clip'd, but all our weighty and mill'd Money niuft of Neceflity be recoin'd too ; if you would not have Trade difturbed, and People more diieafed with new Money, which they cannot tell, nor keep Ac- counts in, than with light and clip'd Money, which they are cheated with. And what a Charge the new coining of all our Money will be to the Nation, I have computed in another Place. * That I think is of fome Confideration in our pre-'* Vid. lent Circumllances, though the Confulion that this new raifed Money, I fear, ^"""tOb- is like to introduce; and the Want of Money, and Stop of Trade, when the ^^''^^'^i' clip'd is called in, and the weighty is to be recoin'd; be of much greater. onsen a His Fourth, Eighth, and M/zz-AReafons, p. 84. and 85. are taken from the fa- Jj^^'^^'^"* ving our prefent mill'd Money from being cut and recoin'd. The End I confefs p^)). ^- 1 to be good: 'Tis very reafonable, that fo much excellent Coin, as good as ever ^(,;,r jWw" was in the World, fhould not be dellroyed. But there is, I think, a furer and Coinm The Reafon whereof is vifibly this, that they exchange it not here for Silver, but for our Commodities : And our Bargains for Commodities as well as all other Contracts being made in Pounds, Shillings, and Pence, our clip'd Mo- ney retains amongft the People (who know not how to count but by current Mo- ney) aPart of its legal Value, whilft itpalTes for the Satisfaftion of legal Contracts, as if it were lawful Money. As long as the King receives it for his I'axes, and the Landlord for his Rent, "'tis no wonder the Farmer and Tenant fliould receive it for his Commodities. And this perhaps would do well enough, if our Money and Trade were to circulate only amongft our felves, and we had no Commerce with the reft of the World, and needed it not. But here lies the Lofs, when Fo- reigners fhall bring over Gold hither, and with that pay for our Commodities at the Rate of thirty Shillings the Guinea, when the fame Quantity of Gold that is in J Raijing the Value 0/ M o n e Y. ^2 in a Guinea is not beyond Sea worth more Silver than is in twenty, crone and twenty and fix Pence of ourmill'd and lawful Money : By whicli Way of pay- ing for our Commodities England lofes near one third of the Value of all the Cemmodicies it thus fells. And 'tis all one as il Foreigners paid for them in Mo- ney coin'd and clip'd beyond Sea, wherein was one third lels Sih cr than there ought to be. And thus we lofe near one third in all our Exportation, whilft fo- reign Gold imported is received in Payment for thirty Shillings a Guinea. To make this appear, we need but trace this Way of Commerce a little, and there can be no Doubt of the Lofs we futfer by it. Let us fuppofe, for Example, a Bale of Holland Linncn, wortli there one hun- dred and eighty Ounces of our Standard Silver ; and a Bale of Serge here, worth alfo the lame Weight of one hundred and eighty Ounces of the fame Standard Silver: 'Tis evident, thefe two Bales are exaftly ot the fame Value. ^Iv.LoivKdes tells us, p. 88. T'hat at this "Time the Gold that is in a Guinea {if it -i.\)eye carried to Spain, Italy, Barbary, and fome other Places,) zuould not piinhafe Jo much Silver there, as is equal to the Standard of ftuenty of our Shillings, i. e. would be in Value thereto Silver fcarce as one to fourteen and an half: And I think, I may lay, that Gold in Holland \s, or lately was, as one to fifteen, or not much above. Taking then Standard Gold in Hvliand to be in Proportion to Standard Silver, as one to about fifteen, or a little more; twelve Ounces of our Standard Gold, or as much Gold as is in forty four Guineas and an half, muft be given for tliat Bale of Holland Linnen, if any one will pay for it there in Gold : But if he buys that Bale of Serge here for one hundred and eighty Ounces of Silver, which is forty eight Pounds Sterling, if he pays for it in Gold at thirty Shillings the Guinea, two and thirty Guineas will pay for it. So that in all the Goods that we fell beyond Seas for Gold imported, and coin'd into Guineas, unlefs the Owners raife them one third above what they would fell them for in mill'd Money, we lofe twelve in forty four and an half, which is very near one third. This Lofs is wholly owing to the permitting clip'd Money in Payment. And this Lofs we muft unavoidably fufter whilft clip'd Money is current amongft us. And this robbing of England of near one third of the Value of the Commodities we fell it out, will continue whilft People liad rather receive Guineas at thirty Shillings, than Silver Coin (no ether being to be had) that is not worth half what they take it for. And yet this clip'd Money, as bad as it is, and however unwilling People are to be charged with ir, -svill always have Credit enough to pafs, whilft the Goldfmiths and Bankers receive it ; and they will always re- ceive it ; \vhilft they can pafs it over again to the King with Advantage, and can have Hopes to prevail, that at laft when it can be born no longer, but muft be call'd in, no Part of the Lofs of light Money, which fliall be found in their Hands fhall fall upon them, tho' they have for many Years dealt in it, and by Reafon of its being clip'd have had all the runnmg Cafh of the Kingdom in their Hands, and made Profit of it. I fay, clip'd Money, however bad it be, will always pal's whilft the King's Receivers, the Bankers of any kind, and at laft the Exchequer takes it. For who will not receive clip'd Money, rather than have none for his necelfary Occafions, whilft he fees the great Receipt of the Exchequer admits it, and the Bank and Goldfmiths will take it of him, and give him Credit for it, fo that he needs keep no more of it by him than he plea- fes. In this State, whilft the Exchequer receives clip'd Money, I do not fee how it can be ftop'd from palling. A clip'd Half-crown that goes at the Ex- chequer, will not be refufed by any one who has Hopes by his own or others Hands to convey it thither, and who, unlefs he take it, cannot Trade, or fhall not be paid. Whilft therefore the Exchequer is open to clip'd Money, it will pafs, and whilft clip'd Money palfes. Clippers will certainly be at Work,- and what a Gap this leaves to Foreigners, if they will make ufe of it to pour in clip'd Money upon us (as its Neighbours did into Portugal) as long as we have either Goods or weighty Money left to be carried away at fifty per Cent, or grea- ter Profit, its eafie to lee. I will fuppofe the King receives clip'd Money in the Exchequer, and at half or three Qiiarters Lofs coins it into mill'd Money. For if he receives all, hoiv much focver clip'd, I fuppofe the Clippers Sheers are not fo fqucamifh as not to pare away above half 'Twill be a wonderful Confciencioufnefs in them, np where, that 1 know to be parallell'd, if they will content themfelves with lefs Profit 94 Farther Confiderations concerning Profit tlian they can make, and will lea\c feven Penny Worth of Siher in an Hali-crovvn, it' fix Penny Wortii and the Stamp be enough to make it pafs for Half a Crown. When His Majefly hath coin'd this into milTd Money of Stan- dard W'eiglit, and paid it out again to the Bankers, Goldimiths or others, what fliall then become of it ? Either they will lay it up to get rid of their clip'd Mo- ney, for no body will part with heavy Money, whilft he has any light ; nor will any heavy Money come abroad whilft there is light left; for whoever has clio'd Money by him, will fell good Bargains, or borrow at any Rate of thole who are willing to part with any weighty, to keep that by him, rather than the clip'd Money he has in his Hands. So that as far as this reaches, no mill'd Money, how much focver be coin'd will appear abroad, or if it does, will it long fcape the Coiners and Clippers Hands, who will be at work prefently upon it to furnifli the Exchequer with more clip'd Money at fifty, fixty, feventy, or I know not what Advantage ? Tho' this be enough to cut otl: the Hopes of mill'd Money appearing in Payments whilft any clip'd is current ; yet to tliis we may add, that Gold imported at an 0\ er-value will fweep it away as faft as it is coin'd, whilft clip'd Money keeps up the Rate of Guineas above their former Value. This will be the Circulation of our Money, whilft clip'd is permitted any way to be current. And if ftore enough of clip'd Money from at home or abroad, can be but provided (as 'tis more than probable it may now the Trade is fo univerfal, and has been fo long praftifed with great Advantage, and no great Danger, as appears by the few have fuffer'd in regard of the great Num- ber 'tis evident aie engaged in the Trade, and the Vent of it here in England \s fo known and fure) I do not fee how in a little while we fhall have any Money or Goods at all left in England, if Clipping be not immediately ftop'd. And how Clipping can be ftop'd, but by an immediate pofitive Prohibition, whereby all clip'd Money fhall be forbid to pafs in any Payment whatfoever, or to pals for more than its Weight, I would be glad to learn. Clipping is the great Leak, which for fome time paft has contributed more to fink us, than all the Force of cur Enemies could do. 'Tis like a Breach in the Sea-bank, which widens every Moment till it be ftop'd. And my timerous Temper muft be pardon'd, if I am frighted with the Thoughts of clip'd Money being current one Moment longer, at any other Value but of warranted Standard Bullion. And therefore there can be nothing more true and reafonable, nor that delerves better to be confider'd, than what Mr. Lowndes fays in his Corollary, p. 90. Whoever defires to know the different Ways of coining Money by the Hammer and by the Mill, may inform himfelf in the exact Account Mr. Lowndes has given of both, under his fecond general Head : Where he may alfo fee the probableft Gnefs that has been made of the Qiiantity of our clip'd Money, and the Silver deficient in it ; and an Account of what Siher Money was coin'd in the Reigns of Q^Eliz^nbeth, K. James Ift. and Charles Ift, more exaift than is to be had any where clle. There is only one thing which I fhall mention, fince Mr. Lowndes does it here again under this Head, p. 100. and that is, melting down our Coin; concern- ing which I fhall venture humbly to propofe thefe following Queftions. 1. \M-iether Bullion be any thing but Silver, whofe Workmanfhip has no Value? 2. Whether that Workmanfhip, which can be had for nothing, has, or can have any Value ? 5. Whether, whilft the Money in our Mint is coin'd for the Owners, without any coft to them, our Coin can ever have any Value above any Standard Bullion ? 4. Whether, whilft our Coin is not of Value above Standard Bullion, Gold- fmiths and others, who have need of Standard Siher, will not take what is by tlie free Labour of the Mint ready eflaid and adjufted to their Ufe, and melt that down, than be at the Trouble of melting, mixing and eflaying of Silver for the Ufes they have ? 5. Whether the only Cure for this Wanton, tho' criminal melting down our Coin, be not, that the Owners fhouldpay one Moiety of the Sixteen-pence half- penny, which is paid per Pound Troy for Coinage of Silver, which the King now pays all ? 6. Whether by tliis Means Standard Siher in Coin will not be more worth than Standard Siher in Bullion, and fo be preferved from this wanton melting down, as foon as an Over-baJance of our Trade fliall bripg us Silver to ftay here? For Raijing the Value 0/ M o n e y. 95 for till then it is in vain to think of prefcrvinf^ our Coin from melting down, and therefore to noPurpofe till then to change that Law. 7. Whether any Laws, or any Penalties can keep our Coin from being carried out, when Debts contraftcd beyond Sea call for it ? 8. Whether it be any Odds to England, whether it be carried out, melted down into Bullion, or in Specie ? till we part with the other. Scripture or Reafon, I am furc, do not any where lay fo, notwithftanding the noife of Divine Right, as if Divine Authority hath fubjeftedus to the unlimited Will of another. An admirable State of Mankind and that which they have not had Wit enough to find out till this latter Age, For however Sir Robert Filmer feems to condemn the Novelty of the contrary Opinion, Patr.f. 3. yet 1 believe it will be hard for him to find any other Age orCountryof the World, but this, which has afleited Monarchy to he yiire Divim. And he confcfles, Patr. p. 4. That Heyward, Blackwood, Barclay, and others, that have bravely vindicated the Right of Kings in moft Points, never thought of this, kit •Siith one Confent admitted the Natural Liberty and Equality of Mimkind 5. By whom thisDodrine came at firft to be broach'd, and brought in fafhion amongft us, and what fad Etfefts it gave rife to, I leave to Hijlorians to relate, or to the Me moiy of thofe who were Contemporaries \vith Sibthorp and Manwaring to recoiled. My Bufinefs at prefent is only to confider what Sir R. F. who is al- lowed to have carried this Argument fartheft, andisfuppofed to have brought it to Perfeftion, has faid in it ; fof from him every one, who would be as faftlion- able as French was at Court, has learned, and runs away with this fhort Syftem of Politicks, viz.. Men are not born free, and therefore could never have the Liberty ti chufe either Govermurs, or Forms of Government. PrincCs have their Power abfolute, and by Divine Right; for Slaves could never have a Right to compad or confent. Adam was a abfolutc Monarch, and fo are all Princes ever fince. CHAP. il. Of Paternal and Regal Power, 6iClR R.F\. great Pofition is, that Men are not naturally Free This is the •-^ Foundation on which his abfolute Monarchy ftands, and from which it ercds it I'elf to an hight, that its Power is above every Power, Caput inter nu~ bila, fo high above all earthly and human Things, that Thought can fcarce reach it; that Promifes and Ofiths, which tie the infinite Deity, cannot confine it. But if this Fouudation fails all his Fabric falls with it, Goverments muft be left again to the old way of being made by Contrivance, and the Confent of Men ("A.SfiyTi.ii xT.'hc) making ufe ot their Reafon to unite together into Socie- ty. To prove this grand Pofition of his, he tells us, p. 12. Men are born inSub- jeiiion to their Parents, and therefore cannot be free.' And this Authority of Pa- rents, he caWs Royal Authority,^. I z,ij^. Fatherly Authority, Right of Fatherhood, p. 12, 20. One would have thought he would, in the beginning of fuch a Work as this, on wbich was to depend the Authority of Princes, and the Obedience of SubjcLts, haVe told us exprefly, what that fatherly Authority is, have defin'd itj though not limited it, becaufe in fome other Treatifes of his he tells us, 'tis un- limited, and * unlimitable ; he fliould at leaft have given us fuch an Account of it, that w-e might have had an entire Notion of this Fatherhood, or Fatherly Au- thority, whenever it came in our way in his Writings: This I e.xpefted to have: found in the firft Chapter of his Patriarcha. But inftead thereof^ having, 1. EnPaf- ^ In Grants and Gifts thathnve thc'ir Or'iginai frcmGoi or Nature, asthcPoiucrofthe Palher hath, noinf trior Po'Mcr of Man can I'lm'tl, nor make any Lav) of Pre fcriptionagainji them.O. Ii^8. The Scripivre tcachn, thai St'preme Power was originally thefaiher, ■without anyLimitaiion, 104 0/ G O V E R N M E, M T. fdiit, Mndc his Obeifance to the Arcana !mper:i, p. 5. 2. Made his Compliment to the Rights and Lil/eyties of this, or any other Nation, p. 6. which he is going pre- fently to null and deftroy ; And, 3. Made his Leg to thofe learned Men, who did not fee fo far into the Matter as himfelf, p. 7. He comes to fall on Bellar- »iine, p. 8. and, by a Viftory over him, eftablifties his Fatherly Authority htyoud. any Qiieftion. Bel/armine being routed by his own Confeflion, />. 1 1. the Day is clear got, and there is no more need of any Forces : For having done that, 1 ob- fer\c not that he ftates the Quftiim, or rallies up any Arguments to make good his Opinion, but rather tells us the Story, as he thinks fit, of this ftrange kind of domineering Phantom, called the Fatherhood, which whoever could catch, pre- fently got Empire, and unliniitcd abfolute Power. He aifures us how this Fa- therhood began in Adam, continued its Courfe, and kept the World in order all the't'ime of the Patriarchs till the Flood, got out of the Ark with Noah and his Sons, made and fupported all the Kings of the Earth till the Captivity of the Ifraelites in Egypt, and then the poor Fatherhood was under Hatches, till God by giving the Ifraelites Kings, re-eftallijijed the ancient and prime Right of the lineal Succef- Jion in Paternal Government. This is his Bufinefs from/'. 12, to 19. And then obviating an Objection, and clearing a Difficulty or two with one half Reafbn, p.'i'S. to confirm the Natural Right of Regal Power, he ends the firft Chapter : I hope tis no Injury to call an half Oitotation an half Reafon; for God fays. Honour thy Father and Mother ; but our Author contents himfelf with half, leaves out thy Mother quite, as little ferviceable to his Purpofe. But of that more in another Place. .7. I do not think our Author fo little skill'd in the Way of writing Dif- courfcs of this Nature, nor fo carclefs of the Point in Hand, that he by Over- fight commits the Fault, that he himfelf, in his Anarchy oj a mix'd Monarchy, p. 239. objefts to Mr. Httnton in thefe Words: Where Jirfl I charge the A. that he bath not given us any Definition, or Dijcriptivn of Monarchy in general ; Jor by the Rules of Method, he f.ould have fir fl defind. And by the like Rule of Method Sir Robert lliould have told us, what his Fatherhood or Fatherly Authority is, before he had told us, in whom it was to be found, and talked fo much of it. But perhaps Sir Robert found, that this Fatherly Authority, this Power of Fathers, and of Kings, for he makes them both the fame, />. 24. would make a a ery odd a nd frightful Figui e, and verydifagieeing, with what either Children imagine of their Parents, orSub- jeds of their Kings, if he fhould have given us the whole Draught together in that gigantic Form, he had painted it in his own Phancy ; and therefore, like a wary Phyfician, when he would have his Patient fwallow fome harfh or corrofive Li- quor, he mingles it with a large Qiiantity of that which may dilute it ; that the fcatter'd Parts may go down with lefs Feeling, and caufe lefs Averfion. §. Let us then endeavour to find what Account he gives us oi xKis Fatherly Authority, as it lies fcatter'd in the feveral Parts of his Writings. And firft, as it tviis veiled in Adam, he fays. Not only Adam, but the fuceeding Patriarchs, had h Ri'-^bt of Fatherhood Royal Authority over their Children, p. i 2. I^his Lordfinp -vhi:h Adam by Command had over the whole IVorld, and by Right defending from him the Pa- triarchs did enjoy, -aai cu large and ample as the abfolute Dominion oj any Monarch, -which bath l/etn ftnce the Creation, p. 13. Dominion of Life and Death, making War, and cor- eluding Peace, p. 1 3 . Adam and the Patriarchs had abfolute Power oj Lije and Death, p. '35. Kings, in the Right of Parents, fucceed to the Exercife of fupreme yurifdiElion, p. I j>. As Kingly Power is by the Law of God, fo it hath no inferior Law to limit it, Adam zvas Lord oj' all, p. 40. T'he Father oj a Family governs by no other Law, than by his own IVill, p. 78. T'l)e Superiority of Princes is above Laws, p. 79. T'he unli- ?nited furijditlion of Kings is fo aviply defcrib'd by Samuel, p. 80. Kings are above the Laws, p. 93. And to this Purpofe fee a great deal more which our A. de- livers in Bodiii's Words : It is certain, that all Laws, Privileges, and Grants of Princes, have no Force, but dtiring their Life ; if they be not ratified by the exprefs Confent, or by Sufferance of the Prince following, efpecially Privileges, O. p. 2 79- T"/. e Reafvn why Laws have bein alfo made by Kings, was this; M^i)en Kings were either bnfied with Wars, or di/iracied with pnblick Cares, fo that every private Man could not have Aicefs to their Per- foris, to learn their IVills and Pleafure, then luere Laws of Neceffity invented, that fo every particular Subject migin find his principal Pleafure deciphered unto him in the "Fables of his Law, p. 92. In a Alonarchy, the King miijl by Neceffity be above the Lazus, p. xoo. A perfcci Kingdojn is that, wherein the King rules all "Things according to his own Will, of G OVER N M E N T. I05 If^ill, p. 100. Neither Cornwon nor Statute Lirjjs are, or can be, any Diminution of t/.hZt general Power, ivhiih Kings have wer their People by Right of Fathirlwod, p. ixj, Adam ivcu the Father, King, and Lord over bis Family; a Son, a Siibjecl, and a Ser- vant or Slave, -were one and the fame thing at firji. "The Father had Poruer to difpofc or fell his Children or Servants ; vehenee me find, that the firjl reckoning up of Goods in Scripture, the Man-Servant and the Maid-Servant, are numbred among the PoffLlfions and Subjlance of the Owicr, as ot/jer Goods zvere, O. Pref. God alfo hath given to the Father a Rig/jt or Liberty, to alien his Porcer over his Children to any other ; ivhence zac find the Sale and Gift of Children to have much been in tife in the Beginning of the World, •when Men had their Servants for a Poffeffion and an Inheritance, as -well ai other Goods ; •whereupon ■u:e find the Pozver of Ca/irating and tnaking Eunuchs much in tife in old times, O. P- 1 5 5 • La-uj is nothing elfe but the IVill of him that hath the Power of the SuprearH Father, O. p. 225. Itivas God's Ordinance that the Supremacy fhou Id be unlimited in Adam, and as large as all the Atls of his Willi and as in him fo in all others that have Supream Power, O. p. 245. 9. I have been fain to trouble my Reader with thefc feveral Quotations in ouf A.'s own Words, that in them might be i'een his own Defcription of his Fatherly Authority, as it lies Icatter'd up and down in his Writings, which he fuppofcs was firll veiled in Adam, and by Right belongs to all Princes ever lince. This Fatherly Authority then, or Right of Fatherhood, in our A.'s Senfc, is a Divine unal- terable Right of Sovereignty, whereby a Father or a Prince hath an abfolutc, arbitrary, unlimited, and unlimitable Power, over the Lives, Liberties, and Eftates of his Children and Subjcfts ; fo that he may take or alienate their Ellates, fell, caftrate, or ufc their Pcrfons as he pleafes, they being all his Slaves, and he Lord or Proprietor of every thing, and his Unbounded Will their Law. 10. Our A. having placed fuch a mighty Power in Adam, and upon thatSup- polition, founded all Government, and all Power of Princes, it is reafonable to c.xpeft, that he ftiould have proved this with Arguments clear and evident, fuit- able to the Weightinefs of the Caufe. That fince Men had nothing clle left them, they might in Slavery have fuch undeniable Proofs of its NeceiTity, that their Confciences might be convinced, and oblige thcni to fubmit peaceably to that abfolute Dominion, which their Governors had a Right to exercife over them. Without this, what Good could our A. do, or pretend to do, by erect- ing fuch an unlimited Power, but flatter the natural Vanity and Ambition of Men, too apt of itfelf to grow and encreafe with the Poffeflion of any Power? And by perfuading thofe, who, by the Confent of their Fellow-Men, are advan^ ced to great, but limited. Degrees of it, that by that Part which is given them, they have a Right to all, that was not foi and therefore may do what they pleafe, becauie they have Authority to do more than others, and fo tempt them to do, what is neither for their own, nor the Good of thofe under their Care ; where- by great Mifchiefs cannot but follow. 11. The Sovereignty of Adam, being that on which, as a fure Bafis, our A.' builds his mighty abiblute Monarchy, I expefted, that, in his Patriarcha, this his main Suppofition would have been f roved, and eftabliftied with all that Evidence ot Arguments, that fuch a fundamental Tenet required ; and that this, on which the great Strefs of the Budnefs depends, would have been made out with Reafons fufficient to juftify the Confidence with which it was affumed. But in all that Treatife, I could find very little tending that way : The thing is there fo taken for granted, without Proof, that I could fcarce believe my felf, when upon atten- tive reading that Treatife, I found there fo mighey a StruSure rais'd, upon the bare Suppofition of this Foundation. For it is fcarce credible, that in a Dif- courfe, where he pretends to confute the Erroneous Principle of Man's Natural Free^ dom, he fliould do it by a bare Suppofition of Adam's Authority, without offering any Proof for that Authority. Lideed he confidently lays, that Ada>n had Royal Authority, p. 12, and 13. Abfolute Lordfljip and Dominion of Life and Death, p, 13. An Univerfal Monarchy, p. 33. Abfolute Power of Life and Death, p. 35, He is very frequent in fuch Aflertions, but, what is ftrange, in all his whole Patriarcha I find not one Pretence of a Reafon to eftablifh this his great Founda- tion of Government; not any thing that looks like an Argument, but thele Vol. IL ' O Words : 106 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. Words: Toconjjim tJ is Niituyal Right of Regfil Power, v:e find in tl)e Decalogue, that the Laio xvhiih enjoins Obedience to Kings, is deli%ered in the Terms, Honour thy Father^ as if all Power -were originally in the Father. And why may I not add as well. That m the De:alogue, the Law that enjoins Obedience to Queens, is delivered in the Terms of Honour thy Mother, as if all Power were originally in the Mother? The Argument, as Sir Robert puts it, will hold as well for one as t'other : But of this, more in its due Place. 13. All that I take notice of here, is, that this is all our A. fays in this firft, or any of the following Chapters, to prove the Abfolute Power o/Adam, which is his great Principle : And yet, as if he had there fettled it upon fure Demonftra- tion, he begins his iecond Chapter with thefe Words, By conferring thefe Proofs and Reafuns, drawn font the Authority of the Scripture. Where thole Proofs and Reajons for Adam's Sovereignty are, bating that of Honour thy Father, above-men- tioned I confefs, I cannot rind; unlefs what he fays, p. ii. In thefe IVords we have an evident Confeffion. viz. 0/ Bellarmine, that Creation made Man Prince of his Pofle~ rity, muft be taken for Proofs and Reafons drawn from Scripture, or for any lore of Proof at all : tho' from thence by a new way of Inference, in the Words im- mediately following, he concludes, the Royal Authority o/Adam, fufficiently fet- tled in him. 13. If he has in that Chapter, or any wherein the whole Treatife, given any oiherViookoi Adam\ Royal Authority, other than by often repeating it, which, among fome Men, goes for Argument, I defire any body for him to (hew me the Place and Page, that I may be convinced of my Miflake, and acknowledge my Overlight. If no fuch Arguments are to be found, I befeech thofe Men, who ha\e lo much cried up this Book, to confider, whether they do not give the World caufe to fulped:, that it's not the Force of Reafon and Argument, that makes tiiem for Ablblute Monarchy, but fome other By-Intereft, and therefore are refohed to applaud any Author, that writes in Favour of this Doftrine, whether he fupport it with Reafon or no. But I hope they do not exped, that rational and indifferent Men Ihould be brought over to their Opinion, becaufe this iheir great Dr. of it, in a Difcourfe made on purpofe, tofet up the Abfo- lute Minarchical Power o/Adam, in Oppolition to the Natural Freedom of Man- kind, has faid fo little to prove it, from whence it is rather naturally to be con- cluded, that there is little to be faid. 14. Bur, that I might omit no Care to inform myfelf in our A.'s full Senfe, I confulced his Obfervations on Arijlotle, Hobs, &cc. To fee whether in Difputing with others he made ufe of any Arguments, for this his darling Tenet of Adam's Sovereignty-, fince in his Treatife of the Natural Power of Kings, he hath been fo fparing of them. In his Oblervations on MPr. Hob's Leviathan, I think he has put, in fhort, all thofe Arguments for it together, which in his Writings I find him anywhere to make ufe of,- his Words are thefe. If God created only Adam, and of a Piece oj him made the Woman, and if by Generation from them Two, as Pans of them all Mankind be propagated : If alfo God gave to Adam not only the Dominion over the Woman and the Children that fhould iffue from them, but alfo over the whole Earth to fubdue it, and over all the Creatures on it, fo that as long as Adam lived, no Man could claim or enjoy any thing but by Donation, Affixation or Pe-rmiffion from him, I wonder, &c. 0.i6$. Here we have the Sum of all his Arguments, {ox Adam's Sovereignty, and agam^i Natural Freedom, which I find up and down in his other Treatifes: And they are thefe following; God' s Creation of Adam, the Dominion he gave him over Eve : And the Dominon he had as Father over his Children, aU which I fhall particularly confider. CHAP. III. 0/ AdamV Title to Sovereignty by Creation* 15 C I R Robert in his Preface to his Obfervations on Ariflotle's Politics, tells us, ^ A Natural Freedom of Mankind cannot be fuppofed without the Denial of the Crea- tion uj Adam ; But how Adam's being created, which was nothing but his receiv- ing a Being immediately from Omnipotency and the Hand of God, gave Adam a Sovereignty 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. 107 Sovereignty over any thing, I cannot fee, nor confcquently underftand, how a Sitppojition of Ndtiiral Eeedom is a Denial of Adam'j Creation, and would be glad any body elfe (lince our A. did not vouchfafc us the Favour) ^vould make it out for him. For I find no Difficulty to fuppofe the Freedom of Mankind, tho' I have always believed the Creation q/*Adam. He was Created, or began to exift, by God's immediate Power, without the Intervention of Parents, or the Pie-ex- iftence of any of the fame Species to beget him, when it pleafed God he fhould ; and fo did the Lyon, the King of Beafts, before him, by the fame Creating Power of God: And if bare Exiftcnce by that Power, and in that way, will give Dominion, without any more ado, our A. by this Argument, will make the Lyon have as good a Title to it, as he, and certainly the Antienter. No ! for Adam had his Title by the Appointment of God, fays our A. in another Place. Then bare Creation gave him not Dominion, and one might have fuppofed Man- kind Free without the Denying the Creation o/Adam, ^mcc' tvfa.s Co A' s Appointment made him Monarch. i6. But let us iee, how he puts his Creatio:? Mvi tliis AppO!nt?nent together. By the Appointment of God, fays Sir Robert, asfoon as Adam ivas created, he was Monarch of the JVurld, tho* he had no SubjeEis; for tho* there could not be actual Government till there were Subjects, yet by the Right of Nature it was due to Adam to be Governor of his Pojlerity, tho' not in Act, yet at leafl in Habit, Adam was a King fro?n his Crea- tion. I wilh he had told us here, what he meant by God's Appointment. For whatlbever Providence orders, or the Law of Nature direcSs, or pofitive Reve- lation declares, may be faid to be by God's Appointment : But I fuppofe it cannot be meant here in the firft Senfe, /. e. by Providence; becaufe that would be to fay nomoie, but that asfoon as Adam was Created be was de facto Monarch, be- caufe by Right of Nature it was due to Adam, to be Governor of his Pvflerity. But he could not de faBo be by Providence conflituted the Governor of the World, at a Time, when there was aAually no Government, no Subjefts to be govern- ed, which our A. here confefles. Monarch of the JVorld is alfo differently uled by cur Autlior, for fometimes he means by it a Proprietor of all the World exclu- five of the reft of Mankind, and thus he does in the flime Page of his Preface before cited, Adam, fays he, being coinmanded to Multiply and People the Earth and to fubdue it, and having Dominion given him over all Creatures, was thereby the Monarch of the whole JVorld, none of his Pvjierity had any Right to poffefs any thing but by his- Grant or Permiffion, or by Succeffion from him. 2. Let us underftand then by Monarch Proprietor of the IVorld, and by Appointment God's adual Donation, and reveal-' ed pofitive Grant made to ^^^. 11. Creation made Man Prince of hii Pofterity: How farther can one judge of the truth of hisbeing thus King, till one has examined, whether King be to be taken, as the Words in the Beginning of this Paflage would perfuade, on Suppofition of \\\s private Domini- on, which was by God's pofitive Grant, Monarch of the World by Appointment ; or King on Suppofition of his Fatherly Power over his Oft-fpring, which was by Na- ture, due by the Right of Nature, whether, I fay. King be to be taken in both, or one only of thefe two Senfes, or in neither of them, but only this, that Creation made 0/ G O V E R N M E N T- 10^ made him Prince, in a way diflcrcnt from both the other ? For tho* this Afler- tjon, that Adam -was King from bis Creation, be true in no Senfe, yet it ftands here as an evident Concluiion drawn from the preceding Words, tho^ in truth it be but a bare Aflcrtion join'd to other Aflcrtions of the Hime kind, which con- fidently put together in Words of undetermined and dubious Meaning, look hke a foit of arguing, v/hen there is indeed neither Proof nor Connexion: A Way very famailiar with our A. of which having given the Reader a Tafte here, I Ihall, as much as the Argument will permit me, avoid touching on hereafter; and fliould not have done it here, were it not to let the World lee, how Inco- herences, in Matter, and Suppofitions without Proofs put handfomely together in good Words and a plaufible Stile, are apt to pafs for ftrong Reafon and good Senfe, till they come to be look'd into with Attention. CHAP. IV. Of Adam'i- Title to Sovereignty by Donatiotiy Gen. i . 28. ii.l-J A VING at laft got thro' the foregoing Paflage, where we have been fo •*• ■■■ long detain'd, not by the Force of Arguments and Oppofition, but the Intricacy oi^ the Words, and tJie Doubtfulnefs of the Meaning; Let us go on to his next Argument, for Adams Sovereignty. Our A. tells us in the Words of Mr. Selden, that Adam by Donation from God, Gen. i. 28. -was made the general Lord of al/ 'Things, not without fuch a private Dominion to hitnfe/f, as without his Grant did exclude his Children. This Determination of Mr. Sdden, fays our A. is confonant to the Hiftory of the Bible, and natural Reafon, O. 210. And his Pref to his Obf. on Arifl. he fays thus. The fir fl Government in the World was Monarchical in the Fa- ther of all Fleflo, Adam being commanded to multiply and people the Earth, and to fubdue it, and having Dominion given him over all Creatures, woi thereby the Monarch of the whole World, none of his Poflerity had any Right topoffefs any thing, but by his Grant or Permiffion, or by Succeffion from him: The Earth, faith the Pfalmift, hath he given to the Children of Men, which pew the Title comes jrom Fatherhood. 22. Before I examine this Argument, and the Text on which it is founded, it is ncceflary todciire the Reader to obferve, that our A. according to his ufu- al Method, begins in one Senfe, and concludes in another; he begins here with Adam's Propriety, or private Dominion, by Donation; and his Conclufion is, vohich fljcw the Title comes from Fatherhood. 23. But let us fee the Argument. The Words of the Text are thefe; And. God blejfed them, and God faid unto them, be Fruitful and Multiply and Replenifh the Earth and fubdue it, and have Dominion over the Fiji) of the Sea, and over the Fowl of the Air, and over every living thing that movetli upon the Earth, i Gen. 28. from xvhence our A. concludes, that Adam, having here Dominion given him over all Crea-^ tures, ii'^r thereby the Mm arch oj the whole World: Whereby muft be meant, that either tliis Grant of God gave ^liaw? Property, or as our A. calls it, private Do- fninion over the Earth, and all inferior or irrational Creatures, and fo confe- quently that he was thereby Monarch; or 2°, that it gave him Rule and Domi- nion over all Earthly Creatures whatfoever, and thereby over his Children, and fo he was Monarch; for, as Mr.Selden has properly worded it, Adam was made General Lord of all things, one may very clearly underftand him, that he means nothing to be granted to Adam here but Property, and therefore he fays not one Word of Adam's Monarchy. But our A. fays, Adam was hereby Monarch of the World, which properly fpeaking, fignifies Sovereign Ruler of all the Men in the World; and fo Adam, by this Grant, muft be conftituted fuch a Ruler. If our A. means otherwife, he might, with much Clearnefs have faid, that Ada'rn was hereby Proprietor oj the whole World. But he begs your Pardon in that Point, clear diftincl Speaking not ferving every where to his Purpofe, you muft not ex- peft it in him, as in Mr. Selden, or other fuch Writers. 24. In Oppolition therefore to our A.'s Doftrine, that Adam was Monarch of the whole World, founded on this Place, I fhall fhew. i, Thac no 0/ Government. 1. That by this Grant, i Gen. :8. God gave no immediate Power to Adam over Men, over his Children, over thoi'e of his own Species; and fo he was not made Ruler, or Monarch by this Charter. 2. That by this Grant God gave him not Private Dominion over the inferior Creatures, but Right in common with all Mankmd, fo neither was he Monarch, upon the account of the Property here given him. 25. I. ThAt this Donation, 1 Gen. 28. gave Adam no Power over Men, will ap- pear, if we confider the Words of it. For fince all pofitive Grants convey no moie, than the exprefs Words, they are made in, will carry, let us fee w'lich of them here will comprehend Mni.kind, or Adam's ^olitnty, andthofe, I ima- gin, if any, niuft be thefe, ivevy liiing thing that mcveth, the Words in Hebrew are, nUJLnn iTn ;. e. Btftiam Reftantem, of which Words the Scripture it felf is the heft Interpreter: God having crenied the Fiflies and Fowls the 5^/; Day, the Be- ginning of the 6th, he creates the Irrational Inhabitants of the dry Land, which, "v. 24. are defcribed in thefe Words, Let the Earth bring forth the living Creature af- ter hii kind; Cattle and creeping things, and Beajls of the Earth, after his kind, and, v. 2. and God made the Beafli of the Earth after his kind, and Cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth on the Earth after his kind : Here in the Creation of the brute Inhabitants of the Earth, he firft fpeaks of them all under one General Name, of Living Creatures, and then afterwards divides them into three Ranks, 1 . Cattle, or fuch Creatures as were or might be tame, and fo be the private Pof- Je/Tion of particular Men: 2. H'n which vcr 2^. and 25. in our Bible, is tranf- JatedBcafls, and hy the Septuagint Scfi*, WildBeafls, and is the fame Word, that here in our Text, ver ;8. where we have this great Charter to Adam, is tranf- lated Living thing, and is alfo the lame Word ufed. Gen. 9.2. where this Grant is renewed to Noah, and there likewife tranflated Beaft. 3. The third Rank were the creeping Animals, which ver. 24 and 25. are comprifed under the Word, nu;Q"in, the fame that is ufed here ver.iS. and is tranflated moving, but in the former Verfes Creeping, and by the Septuagint in all thefe Places, if^i^, or Rep- tils; from whence it appears, that the Words which we tranflate here in God's Donation, ver. 28. Living Creatures moving are the fame, which in the Hiftory of the Creation, ver. 24, 25. fignify two. Ranks of terreftrial Creatures, viz,. Wild Beafis and Reptils, and are fo underftood by the Septuagint. 26. When God had made the Irrational Animals of the World, divided into three Kinds, from the Places of their Habitation, viz,. Fifies of the Sea, Fo-wls of the Air, and living Creatures of the Earth, and thefe again into Cattle, Wild Beafis, and Reptils, he confiders of making Man, and the Dominion he fhould have over the Terreftrial World, ver. 26. and then he reckons up the Inhabitants of thefe three Kingdoms: But in the terreftrial, leaves out the fecond Rank n'rij or wild Beafts-: But here, ver. 28. where he aftually exercifes this Defign, and gives him this Dominion, the Text mentions the Fifies of the Sea, and Fo-iuls of the Air, and the TerreJIrial Creatures in the Words that fignify the Wild Beafts and Reptils, tho' tranflated Living thing that moveth, leaving out Cattle. In both which Places, tho' the Word that iignifies Wild Beafts be omitted in one, and that which fignifies Cattle in the other, yet, fince God certainly executed in one Place, what he declares he defigned in the other, we cannot but underftand the fame in both Places, and ha\ e here only an Account, how the terreftrial irrati- onal Animals, which were already created and reckon'd up at their Creation, in three diftind: Ranks of Cattle, Wild Beafts, and Reptils, were here, ver. 28. flftually put under the Dominion of Man, as they were defigned ver. 26. nor do thefe Words contain in them the leaft Appearance of any thing, that can be wreftcd, to fignify God's giving to one Man Dominion over another, to Adam o\er his Poflerity. 27. And this further appears from Gen. 9. 2. where God renewing this Charter to A/btz/jandhis Sons, he gives them Dominion over tht Fowls of the Air, and the F.ftjes of the Sea, and the Terreftrial Creatures, exprefled by iTH and "^COIT^ wild Beafts and Reptils, the fame Words that in the Text before us, i Gen. 28. are tjanfiaLed every moving thing, that moveth on the Earth, which by no means can comprehend Man, the Grant being made to Noah and his Sons, all the Men then living, and not to one Part of Men over another: Which is yet more evident fiom the very ncAt Words, ver. 3. where God gives every U;D1, eiiery moving things 0/ Government. iii thing, the very Words ufcd, Ch. i. 28. to them for Food. By all which it is plain, that God's Donation to Adam, Ch. 1.28. and his Defignation, v. 26. and his Grant again to Noah and his Sons, refer to and contain in them neither more nor lefs, than the Works of the Creation of the jth Day, and the Begin- ning of the 6th, as they are fet down from the 20th, to 26th, vcr. includvely of the I ft Ch. and fo comprehend all the Species of irrational Animals of the Ten-a- queous Globe, tho' all the Words whereby they are cxpreffed in the Hiftory of their Creation, are no where ui'ed in any of the following Grants, but fome of them omitted in one, and fome in another. From whence I think it is pafl: all Doubt, chat Man cannot be comprehended in this Grant, nor any Dominion over thofe of his own Species be convey'd to Adam. All the Terreftrial irratio- nal Creatures are enumerated at their Creation, 'ver. 25. under the Names Beafts of the Earth, Cattle and creeping things; but Man being not then Created, was not contain'd under any of thofe Names; and therefore, whether we underftand the //■f^rexu Words right or no, they cannot be fuppofed to comprehend Man, in the very fame Hiftory, and the very next Verfes following, efpecially fince that He- brew Word ^VTi which if any in this Donation to Adam, Ch. i. 28. muft com- prehend Man, is fo plainly uled in Contradiftinftion to him, as Gen. 6. 20. 7. 14. 21. 23. Gen. 8. 17, 19. And if God made all Mankind Slaves to Adam and his Heirs, by giving Adam Dominion over every living thing that moveth on the Earthy Ch. 1. 28. as our A. would have it, methinks S\x Robert fhould have carried his Monarchical Power one Step higher, and fatisfied the World, that Princes might eat their Subjefts too, fince God gave as full Power to Noah and his Heirs, Ch, p. 2. to eat every living thing that moveth, as he did to Adam to have Dominion over them, the Hebrew Words in both Places being the fame. 28. David, who might be fuppofed to underftand the Donation of God in this Text, and the right of Kings too, as well as our A. in his Comment on this Place, as the Learned and judicious Ainfworth calls it, in the 8th Pfalm, finds here no fuch Charter of Monarchical Power, his Words are, -Thou hafl made him^ i. e. Man the Son of Man, a little lower than the Angels, thou madfi him to have Dominion over the Works of thy Hands, thou hafi put aH things undt/)/, the Peopling of the World muft be deferr'd 350 Years ; for this part of the Benediction can- not be underftood with Subordination, unlefs our A. will fay, that they muft ask leave of their Father Noah to lie with their Wives. But in this one Point our A. is conftant to himfelf in all his Difcourfes, he takes great care there fhould be Monarchs in the World, but very little that there fhould be People ; and indeed his way of Government is not the way to People the World. For how much Ab- folute Monarchy helps to fulfil this great and primary Blelfing of God Almigh- ty, Be Fruitful, and Multiply, and repknif} the Earth, which contains in it the im- provement too of Arts and Sciences, and the Conveniences of Life, maybefeenin thofe large and rich Countries, which are happy under the 7«?-;^//7^ Government, •where are now to be found -f, nay in many, if not moft parts of them -j^, per- haps I might fay not t^'- of the People, that were formerly, as will eafily appear to any one, who will compare the Accounts we have of it at this time, with An- tient Hiftory. But this by the by. 54. The other Parts of this Benediction or Grant, are fo expreffed, that they muft needs be underftood to belong equally to them all ; as much to Noa//s Sons as to Noah himfelf, and not to his Sons ivith a Subordination or in Suaeffion. "The Rar of you, and the dread of you, fliys God, JImU be upon every Be afi, 8cc. Will any Body but our A. {ay, that the Creatures feared and ftood in awe of Noah only, and not of his Sons without his leave, or till after his Death > And the following Words, into your hands they are delivered, are they to be underftood as our A. fays, if your Father pleafe, or they fhall be deliver'd into your hands hereafter. If this be to argue from Scripture, I know not what may not be proved by it, and J can fcarce fee how much this differs from that F'iclion and Phanfie; or how much a furer Foundation it will prove, than the opinions of Philofophers and Poets, which our A. fo much condemns in his Preface. 35. But our A. goes on to prove, that it may befi be tinderjiood with a Subordina- tion or a BenediBion in Suaeffion, for, fays he, it is not probable that the private Domi- nion which God gave roAdam, and by his Donation, Affignation or Ceffion to his Chil- dren, ivas Abrogated, and a Community of all things injiituted between Noah and his Sons. — Noah was left the fole Heir of the IVorld, why ffiould it be thought that God would difmherit him of his Birth-right, and make him of all Men in the JVmld the only "Tenant in comiiwn with his Children, O. 211. 3(5. The Prejudices of our own ill-grounded Opinions, hoivever by us called probable, cannot authorize us to underftand Scripture contrary to the dired: and plain Meaning of the Words. I grant, 'tis not probable, that Adam's private Domi- nion was here Abrogated : Becaufe it is more than improbable, (for it will never be proved) that ever Adam had any fuch private Dominion : And fince parallel Places of Scripture are moft probable to make us know, how they may be befl under/hod, there needs but the comparing this Bleffing here to Noah and his Sons after the Flood, with that to Adam after the Creation, i Gen. 28. to allure any one that God gave Adam no fxichprivate Dominion. "T'ls probable, I confefs, that Noah fliould . Vol. M. P have 114 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. have the fame Title, tlic fame Property and Dominion after the Flood, that Adam had before it : But fince private Dominion cannot conlift with the Bleffing and Grant God f^ave to him and his Sons in Common, 'tis a fufticicnt Rcafon to conclude, that Adam had none, efpccially fince in the Donation made to him, there is no Words that exprefs it, or do in the Icaft favour it; and then let my Reader judge whether it may bijl be under/lood; when in the one Place there is not or.c Word ior it, not to fay what has been above proved, that that 'J'cxt in iclf proves the contrary; and in the other, the Words and Senfe are direftly againft it. 57. But our A. lays, "i^onhivas the fok Heir of theH'^orld, luhyjhould it betljOKgl.t tl. at God Tjutild dijin/.ierit him of his Birth-right : Hevr., indeed, m England, fignihes the Eldefl Son, who is by the Law of England to have all his Father's Land, but wlicie God ever appointed any fuch Heir of the IVorld, oui A. would have done well to have fliewcd us ; and how God dijinherited him oj his Birth-right, or what Harm was done him if God gave his Sons a Right to make ufe of a Part of the Earth for the Support of themfelves and Families, when the Whole was not only more than Nvah himfelf, but infinitely more than they all could make ule ot", and the Pofl'cflions of one could not at all prejudice, or, as to any Ufe, ftreigh- ten that of the other. 58. Our A. probably forefeeinghe might not be very fucccfsful in perfuading People out of their Senfes, and fay what he could, Men would be apt to believe the plain Words of Scripture, and think, as they faw, that the Grant was fpo- kcn to Nvah and his Sons jointly. He endeavours to infinuate, as if this Grant X.O Nvah, conveyed no Property, no Dominion; becaufe. Subduing the Earth ani Dominion ever the Creatures are therein omitted, nor :l.e Earth once named. And therefore, fays he, there is a conjiderahle Difference between thefe two Texts, the fir Jl Ble/Vng gate Adam a Dominion over the Earth and al! Creatures, the latter allows Noah Liberty to ufe the living Creatures, for Food, here i> no Alteration or Diminijh- im of bis T'itle, to a Property of all Things, but an Enlargement only of his Commons, O. 211. So that in cur A.'s Senfe, all that was laid here to Noah and his Sons, gave them no Dominion, no Property, but only Enlarged the Commons; their Com- mens, I fhould fay fince, God fays, to you are they given, tho' our A, fays his, for iis {or Noah's Sons, they it fecms by Sir A&te'f's Appointment, during their Fa- ther's Life-time, were to keep faftingDays. ^p. Anyone but our A. would be mightily fufpefted, to be blinded with Pre- judice, that in all this BlefSng to A'bfl/; and his Sons, could fee nothing but only an Enlargement of Commons. For as to Dominion which our A. thinks omit- ted, the Fear of you, and the Dread of you, fays God, /hall be upon every Beaft, which I fuppofe, expreifes the Dominion, or Superiority was defigned Man over the living Creatures, as fully as may be, for in that Fear and Dread, feems chiefly to confifl what was given to Adam, over the inferior Animals ; who as abfolute a Monarch as he was, could not make bold with a Lark or Rabbit to fatisfy his Hunger, and had the Herbs but in common with the Beafts, as is plain from I Gen. 2. p. and 50. In the next Place, 'tis manifeft that in this Blef- fing to Noah and his Sons; Property is not only given in clear Words, but in a larger Extent than it was to Adam. Into your Hands they are given, fays God, to Nvah and his Sons; which Words, if they give not Property, nay. Proper- ty in Pofleflion, 'twill be hard to find Words, that can ; fince there is not a Way to exprefs a Man's being poflefled of any thing more natural, nor more certain, than to fay, it is delivered into his Hands. And, vsr. 5. to fiiew, that they had then given them the utmoft Property Man is capable of, which is to have a Right to deftroy any thing by ufing it ; Every moving thing that liveth, faith God, fiall be Aleat for you, which was not allowed to Adam in his Charter. This our A. calls, a Liberty of ufing them for Food, and only an Enlargement of Commons, but no Alteration of Property, O. 211. What other Property Man can have in the Creatures, but the Liberty of ufing the?n, is hard to be underflood : So that if the Hrft Blefling, as our A. fays, gave Adam Dominion over the Creatures, and the Bleffmg to Noah and his Sons, gave them fuch a Liberty to ufe them, as Ada?n had not ; it muft needs give them fomething that Adam with his Sove- reignty wanted, fomething that one would be apt to take for a greater Propeity ; tfor certainly he has no ablolute Dominion over even the brutal Part of the Crea- tures, and the Property he has in them is very narrow and fcanty, who can- not Of G O \- E R N M E N T. 115 not make that ufc of them, which is permitted to another. Should any o«ic, who is abiblute Lord of a Country, have bidden our A. fiiUiw the Earth, and given liim Dominion o\er the Creatures in it, but not have permitted him to have ta- ken a Kid or a Lamb out of the Flock, to fatisfy his Hunger, I gucfs, he would Ica^-ce have thous^iit himlelf Lord or Proprietor of that Land, or the Cattle on it ; but would have found the difference between having Do7nmiQn, which a Shepherd may have, and having full Property as an Owner. So that, had ic been his own Caje, Sirilw/'. I believe, would have thought here was :in Alteration, nay, an en- larging of Property; and that Noah and his Children had by this Grant, not only Property given them, but fuch a Property given them in the Creatures, as Adant had not': For however, in refped: of one another. Men may be allowed to iiave Propriety in their diftinct Portions of the Creatnres ; yet in refpect of God the Maker of Heaven and Earth, who is fole Lord and Proprietor of the whole W'orld : Man's Propriety in the Creatures is nothing but that Liberty to life them, which God has permitted, and fo Man's Property may be altered and enlarged, as we fee it was here, after the Flood, when other Ufes of them are allowed, which before were not. From all which I fuppofe, it is clear, that neither Adant nor Noah, had any Private Do?fiinion, any Property in the Creatures, exclufue of his Poftcrity, as they fhould fucceflively grow up into need of them, and come to be able to make ufe of them. 40. Thus we have examined our A.'s Argument for Adam's Monarchy, founded on the Blefling pronounced, 1 Gen. 28. Wherein I think 'tis impoffible for any Icber Reader, to find any other but the fetting of Mankind above the other kinds of Creatures, in this habitable Earth of ours. 'Tis nothing but the giving to Man, the whole Species of Man, as the chief Lihabitant, who is the Image of his Maker, the Dominion over the other Creatures. This lies fo obvious in the plain Words, that any one but our A. would have thoughr it neceflary to have Ihewn, how thefe Words that feem'd to fay the quite contrary, gave Adam Mo- narchical ahfolute Poziier over other Men, or the Sole Property in all the Creatures ; and methinks in a bulinefs of this Moment, and that whereon he builds all that follows, he fliould have done fomething more than barely cite Words, which apparently make againft him ; for I confefs, I cannot fee any thing in them, tending to Adam's Monarchy, or Private Dominion, but quite the contrary. And I the Icfs deplore the dulnefs of my Apprehenfion herein, fince 1 find tJie Apoftle feems to have as little notion of any i'uch Private Dominioii of Adam as I, when he fays, God gives m all things richly to enjoy, which he could not do, if it were all given away already, to Monarch Adam, and the Monarchs his Heirs and Sue-, cellors. 'lb conclude, this Text is fo far from proving Adam fole Proprietor, that on the contrary, it is n Confirmation of the Original Community of all things amongft the Sons of Men, \vhich appearing from this Donation of God, as well as other Places of Scripture, the Sovereignty oi Adam, built upon his Pri^ vate Dominion, muft fall, not having any Foundation to fupport it. 41. But yet it after all, any one will needs have it fo, that by this Donation of God, Adam was made fole Proprietor of the whole Earth, what will this be to his Sovereignty ? and how will it appear, that Propriety in Land gives a Man Power o\ er the Life of another ? or how will the Pofleliion, e\cn of the u'hole Earth, give any one a Sovereign Arbitrary Authority over the Perfons of Men ? The moft fpecious Thing to be faid, is, that he that is Proprietor of the whole World, may deny all the reft of Mankind Food, and fo at his Pleafure ftan-e them, if they will not acknowledge his Sovereignty, and obey his Will. If this were' true, it wuuld be a good Argument to prove, that there was never any fuch Property, that God never ga\e any fuch Private Dominion ; fince it is more reafonable to think, that God who bid Mankind increafe and multiply, fliould ra- ther himfelf give them all a Right, to make ufe of the Food and Raiment, and other Conveniences of Life, the Materials whereof he had fo plentifully provided for them, than to make them depend upon the Will of a Man for their Subfift- ence, who flaould have Power to deftroy them all when he pleafed, and who be- ing no better than other Men, was in Succeffion likelier by Want, and the depen- dance of a fcanty Fortune, to tie them to hard Sen-ice, than by liberal Allow- ance of the Conveniences of Life, promote the great Defign of God, Increafe and Multiply: He that doubts this, let him look into the Abfolutc Monarchies of the Vol. II. P 2 World, I 1 6 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. World, and fee vvhnt becomes of tlic Conveniences of Life, and the Multitude? of Pc(;ple. 42. But we know God liath not left one Man fo to the Mercy of another, that he may ftarve him if he pleaie : God the Lord and Father ol all has given no one of his Children fuch a^ Property in his peculiar Portion of the 'Jhings of this World, but that he has given his needy Brother a Right in the Surpl'afl'agc of his Goods, fo that it cannot juftly be denied him, when his prcHiiig Wants call for it. And therefore no Man could ever have a jull Power over tlie Life of another by Right of Property in Lai;d or Pofleflions, iince 'iwculd always be a Sin in any Man of Eftatc, to let his Brother pcrifli for want of affording him Relief out of his Plenty. As 'Jiiflke gives every Man a Title to the Product of his honeft In- duftry, aid the fair Acquilitions of his Anceftors defcended to him ; fo Charity gives eve;y Man a Title to fo much out of another's Plenty, as will keep him from extreme Wart, where he has ro Means to fubfifl. otherwife: and a Man can no more juRly make ufe cf another's Neceflity, to force him to become his Vaflal, by with-liolding that Relief, God requires him to afford to the V\ ants of his Bro- ther, than he that has more ftrength can feize upon a weaker, mailer him to his Obedience, and with a Dagger at ins Throat oner him Death or Slavery. 43. Should any one make i^o perverfe an ufe of God's Blelfings poured on him with a liberal Hand ; fhould any one be Cruel and Uncharitable to that extre- mity, yet all this would not prove that Propriety in Land, even in this Cafe, gave any Authority ever the Perfons of Men, but only that Compaft might ; fince the Authority of the Rich Proprietor, and the Subjedion of the needy Beg- gar began rot from the poflefTion of the Lord, but the Confent of the poor Man, who prefer'd being his Subjeft to ftarving. And the Man he thus fubmits to, can pretend to no more Power over him, than he has confented to, upon Com- poft. Upon this ground a Man's having his Stores filled in a time of Scarcity, having Money in his Pocket, being in a Veflel at Sea, being able to Swim, &c. may as well be the Foundation of Rule and Dominion, as being Pofl'eflbr of all the Land in the World ; any of thefe being fufficient to enable me to fave a Man's Life, who would perifli if fuch Affiftance were denied him ; and any thing by this Rule, that may be an occafion of working upon another's NecefTity, to lave his Life, or any thing dear to him, at the rate of his Freedom, may be made a Foundation of Sovereignty, as well as Property. From all which it is clear, that tho' God fhould have given Adam Private Dominion,^ yet that Private Domi- nion could give him no Sovereignty ; But we have already fufEciently proved, that God gave him no Private Dominion. CHAP. V. Of Adam'j Title to Sovereignty by the SubjeBion of Eve. 44. 'T^ H E next Place of Scripture we find our A. builds his Monarchy of X Adam on, is 3 Gen. 16. And thy defire jhal! be to thy Hmhaiid, and he fhaU rule over thee. Here -we have ( fays he ) the Original Grant of Government, from whence he concludes, in the following Part of the Page, O. 244. That the Supreme Po-wer is fettled in the Fatherhood, and limited in one kind of Government , that is to Mo- narchy: For let his Premifes be what they will, this is always the Conclufion; let Rule in any Text, be but once named, and prefently Ahfolute Monarchy is by Divine Right eftablifli'd. If any one will but carefully read our A.'s own Rea- foning from thefe Words, O. 244. and confider among other t\\m^s, the Line and Pojlerity of Adam, as he there brings them in, he will find fome difficulty, to make Senfe of what he fays j but we will allow this at prefent, to his peculiar way of Writing, and confider the Force of the Text in hand. The Words are the Curfe of God upon the Woman, for having been the firft and forwardefl in the Difobedience ; and if we will confider the Occafion of what God fliys here to our firfl Parents, that he was denouncing Judgment, and declaring his Wrath againft them both, for their Difobedience, we cannot fuppofe that this U'as the time, wherein God was granting Adam Prerogatives and Privileges, invefting him with Of G O V E R N :\I h NT. II with Dignity and A'uthoanty, Elevating him to Dominion and Monarcliv : For though as a helper in the 'J cmptation, Eve was laid bcloiv iiim, and io lie had accidentally a Superiority over iier,for her greater Puniflimcnt; yet he too had his ■fhare in the Fall as well as the Sin, and was laid lower, as may be fcen in rlic followirg Verfes; and 'twould be hard to imagine, that God, in tiic fame Breath, fllould make him Univerlal Monarch over all Mankind, and a Day-Labourcr for hi,', Life ; turn him out of ParadiJ'e to till the ground, iier. 23. and at the fame time, advance him to a Throne, and all the Privileges and Eaie of Abfolute Power. 4j. This was not a 'J'ime, when Adam could expect any Favours, any Grant of Privileges, from his oft'cnded Maker. If this be the Original Grant ofGovenmunt, as our A. tells us, and Adam was now made Monarch, whatever Sh' Rubtrt would have him, 'tis plain, God made him but a very poor Monarch, fuch an one, as our A. himfelf would have counted it no great Privilege to be. God fets him to v/'-rk for his Li\ing, and fecms rather to give him a Spade into his hand, to Jubdue the Earth, than a Scepter to ruleover its Inhabitants. In the Siveat of thy Face thou Jl^alt eat th) Bread, fays God to him, lie)'. 19. This was unavoidable, may it perhaps be anfwered, becaufc he was yet without Subjects, and had no body to 'ivork for him, but afterwards living as he did above poo Years, he might have People enough, whom he might Command, to work for him ; no, fays God, not only whilfl. thou art without other help, fave thy Wife, but as long as thou liveft, Ihalt thou li\e by thy Labour. In the Svjeat of thy Face, fhak thou eat thy Bread^ till thuu return unto the Ground, fir out of it ivaji thou taken, for dufl thou art, and unto duflf)alt thou return, "j. 1-9. It will perhaps be anfwered again, in Fa\'our of our A. that thefe Words are not fpokeu perfonally to Ada?n, but in him, as their Repre- fentative to all Mankind, this being a Curfe upon Mankind, becaufc of the Fall. 46. God I belie\e, fpeaks differently froin Men, becaufc he fpeaks with more Truth, more Certainty : But when he vouchfafes to fpeak to Men, I do not think, he ipeaks differently from them, in crofling the Rules of Language in ufe amongft them : This would not be to condefcend to their Capacities, when he humbles himfelf to fpeak to them, but to lofe his Defign in fpeaking, what thus fpoken, they could not underfland. And yet thus muft we think of God, if the Inter- pretations of Scripture, neceflary to maintain our A.'s Do6trine, muft be recei- ved for good. For by the ordinary Rules of Language, it will be very hard to underftand what God lays; If what he fpeaks here, in the fingular Number to Adam, muft be underftood to be fpoken to all Mankind, and what he fays in the Plural Number, i Gen.26. and 28. muft be underftood o{ Adajn alone, exclufive of all others, and what he lays to Noah and his Sons jointly, muft be under- ftood to be meant to Noah alone. Gen. 9. 47. Farther it is to be noted, that thefe Words here of 3 Gen. 16. -which our A. calls the Original Grant of Government, were not fpoken to Adatn, neither in- deed was there any Grant in them made to Adajn, but a Punifllmcnt laid upon Eve : And if we will take them as they were direfled in particular to her, or in her, as their Reprefentative, to all other Women, they will at nioft concern the Female Sex only, and import no more, but that Subjeftion they fliould ordina- rily be in to their Husbands : But there is here no more Law to oblige a Woman to fuch a Subjeftion, if the Circumftances either of her Condition, or Contratc with her Husband Ihould exempt her from it, than there is, that flie fliould bring forth her Children in Sorrow and Pain, if there could be found a Remedy for it, which is alfoa part of the fame Curfe upon her : For the ivhole Veri'e runs thus. Unto thelVoman he f aid, I iiiH greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception ; in forroiu thou fljalt bring forth Children, and thy Defre jl.mit he to thyHmband, and he Jh all rule over 'thee. 'Twould, I think, have been a hard matter for any bod}', but our A. to have found out a Grant of Monarchical Government to Adam in thele V^ ords, which were neither fpoke to, nor of him : neither will any one, I fuppofe by thele VVords, think the weaker Sex, as by a Law, fo fubjefted to the Curfe con- tained in them, that 'tis their Duty not to endeavour to avoid it. And will any one fay, that Eve, or any other Woman, finn'd, if Ihe were brought to Bed with- out thofe multiplied Pains God threatens her here with ? Or that either of our Queens, Mary or Eliz.abeth, had they married any of their Subjedts, had been by this Text put into a Political Subjcd'ion to him ? or that he thereby fliould have had I 8 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. had Momrchhal Rule over her ? God, in this Text, gives not, that I fee, any Authority to Adam over Eve, or to Men over their Wives, but oily f'oretels what fliould be the Womnn's Lot, how by his Providence he would order it ib, that fhe Ihould be fubject to her Husband, as we fee that generally the Laws of Mankind and Cufloms of Nations liave ordered it fo ; and there is, I grant, a Foundation in Nature for it. 48. TIius when God la}S of 'Jacob and Efau, T'hat the Elder jlmild ferve the Tounger, 25 Gm. 2^. no body iuppofcs that God hereby made 'Jacob Efau's Sove- reign, but foretold wliat fliould de Jaflo come to pafs. But if thcie Words here fpoke to Eve muft needs be undcrftood as a Law in bind her and all other'Women to Subjeftion, it can be no other Subje(ftion, than what every Wife owes her Husband ; and then, if this be the Original Grant ofGo- 'veimnent, and the Fuundatiun of Monarchical Po'icer, there will be as many Monarchs as there arc Husbands : It theretore thefe Words gi\ e any Power to Adam, it can be only a Conjugal Power, not Political ; the Power that every Husband hath to order the Things of private Concernment in his Family, as Proprietor of the Goods and Land there, and to have his Will take place before that of his Wife in all things of their common Concernment : But not a Political Power of Life and Death over her, much lefs over any body elfe. 49. This I am fure • If our A. will have this Text to be a Grant, the Original Grant of Government, Political Government, he ought to have proved it by Ibnie better Arguments than by barely faying, That thy Defrre fl^all be unto thy Hmband was a Law, whereby Eve, and all that jlmtld come of her, were fubjefted to the Ab- iblute Monarchical Power of Adam and his Heirs. T'hy Dejire {hall be to thy Hus- band, is too doubtful an Exprellion, of whofe fignification Interpreters are not agreed, to build fo confidently on, and in a matter of fuch Moment, and fo great amd general Concernment : But our A, according to his way of Writing, having once named the Text, concludes prefently, without any more ado, that the Meaning is, as he would have it. Let the Words Rule and SubjeEl be but found in the Text or Margent, and it immediately fignifies the Duty of a Subjeft to his Prince ; the Relation is changed, and though God fays Hmband, Sir Robert will ha\ e it King ; Adam has prefently Abfolute Monarchical Power over Eve, and not only oxer Eve, but all that Jlmtld cojne of her, though the Scripture fays not a word of it, nor our A. a word to prove it. But Adam muft for all that be an Abfolute Monarch, and fo down to the end of the Chapter. And here I leave my Reader to confider, whether my bare faying, without offering any Reafons to e\ ince it, that this Text gave not Ada7n that Abfolute Monarchical Poiver, our A. fuppofes, but not as fufficient to deftroy that Power, as his bare Aifertion is to Eftablifli it, fince the Text mentions neither Prince nor People, fpeaks nothing of Abfolute or Monarchical Power, but the Subjedion of Eve to Adam, a Wife to her Husband. And he that would trace our A. fo all through, would make a ihort and lufficient Anfwer to the greateft Part of the Grounds he proceeds on, and abundantly confute them by barely denying ; It being a fufEcient Anfwer to Alfertions without Proof, to deny them without giving a Reafon. And therefore fliould I have faid nothing, but barely deny'd, that by this Text the Supreme Power 11:116 fettled and founded by God himfelf, in the Fatherhood, Limited to Monarchy, and that to Adam'j- Perfon and Heirs, all which our A. notably concludes from thefe Words, as may be feen in the flime Page, O. 244. it had been a fufficient Anfwer; fliould I have delired any fober Man only to have read the Text, and conlidered to -ivhom, and on what occafion it was fpoken, he would, no doubt, have wondered how our A. found out Monarchical Abfolute Power in it, had he not had an exceed- ing good Faculty to find it himfelf, where he could not fliew it others. And thus we have examined the two Places of Scripture, all that I remember our A. brings to prove Adam's Sovereignty, that Supremacy, which he fays, it was God s Ordinance Jhould be unlimited in Adam, and cii large cis all the A^s of his IVill, O. 254. viz. I Gen. 28. and 3 Gen. 16. one whereof fignifies only the Subjeftion of the Inferior Ranks of Creatures to Mankind, and the other the Subjeftion that is due from a Wife to her Husband, both far enough from that which Subjefts owe the Governors of Political Societies. CHAP. of Government. ■*" '' 1 1^ CHAP. VI. Of Adam'j Title to Sovereignty by Fatherhood* 50. '' I ""HERE is one thing more, and then I think I have given yon all that -■- our A. brings for Proof of Adam's Sovereignty, and that is a Suppofi- tion of a natural Right of Dominion over his Children, by being their Father : And this Title of Fatherhood he is fo pleafed with, that you will lind it brought in almoft in every Page; particularly he fays. Not o«/) Adam, l>iit the fucceeding Patriarchs had by Right of Fatherhood Royal Authority over their Children, p. 12. And in the fame Page, This Suhje^ion of Children being the Fountain of all Regal Authority^ &c. This being as one would think by his fo frequent mentioning it, the main Bafis of all his Frame, we may well expeft clear and evident Reafon for it, fince he lays it down as a Pofition neceflary to his Purpole, That every Man that is born is fo far from being Free, that by his very Birth he becomes a SiibjeEi of him that begets him, O. 1)6. So that Adam being the only Man Created, and all ever fince be- ing Begotten, no body has been Free. If we ask how Adam comes by this Power over his Children, he tells us here 'tis by Begetting them : And fo again, O. 225. This Natural Dominion o/Adam, fays he, may be proved out o/Grotius himfelf -who teacheth. That generatione jm acquiritur parentibm in liber os. And indeed the Aft of Begetting being that which makes a Man a Father, his Right of a Father over his Children can naturally arife from nothing elfe. 51. Grotim tells us not here how far this jtti in liberos, this Power of Parents over their Children extends; but our A. always very clear in the Point, allures us, 'tis Supreme Power, and like that of Abfolute Monarchs over their Slaves, Abfolute Power of Life and Death. He that fhould demand of him, how, or for what Reafon it is, that Begetting a Child gives the Father fuch an Abfolute Power over him, will find him anfvver nothing : We are to take his Word for this, as well as feveral other things, and by that the Laws of Nature, and the Confti- tutions of Government, muft ftand or fall : Had he been an Abfolute Monarch, this way ol: Talking might have fuited well enough ; pro ratione voluntus might have been of force in his Mouth ; but in the way of Proof or Argument is very unbecoming, and will little advantage his Plea for Abfolute Monarchy. Sir Robert hcu too much leffend a SubjeEl's Authority to leave himfelf the hopes of E/iablifiing any thing by his bare Saying it ; one Slave's Opinion without Proof, is not of weight enough to difpofe of the Liberty and Fortunes of all Mankind. If all Men are not, as I think they arc, naturally equal, I'm fure all Slaves are ; and then I may without Prefumption oppofe my fingle Opinion to his ; and be confident that my Saying, That Begetting of Children makes them not Slaves to their Fathers, as cer- tainly lets all Mankind Free, as his affirming the contrary makes them all Slaves. But that this Pofition, which is the Foundation of all thpir Doftrine, who would have Monarchy to he.'jHre Divino, may have all fair play, let us hear what Reafons others gave for it, fince our A. offers none. 52. The Argument, I have heard others make ufe of, to prove that Fathers, by Begetting them, come by an Abfolute Power over their Children, is this ; That Fathers have a Power over the Lives of their Gnldven, becaufe they give them Life and Being, which is the only Proof it is capable of : Since there can be no Reafon, why naturally one Man fhould have any Claim or Pretence of Right over that in another, which was never his, which he bellowed not, but was received from the Bounty of another, i. I anfvver. That every one who gives another any Thing, has not always thereby a Right to take it away again. But, 2. They who lay the Father gives Life to his Children, arc fo dazled with the Thoughts of Monarchy, that they do not, as they ought, remember God, who is the Author and Giver of Life : 'Tis in him alone we live, move, and have our Being. How can he be thought to give Life to another, that knows not wherein his own Life con- fids ? Philofophers are at a Lofs about it after their moft diligent Enquiries ; and Anatomifts, after their whole Lives and Studies fpent in Uifl'edions, and dili- gent examining the Bodies of Men, confefs their Ignorance in the Strufture and life of many Parts of Man's Body, and in that Operation wherein Life confifts in thii 120 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. the whole. And doth the rude Plow-Man, or the more ignorant Voluptuary frame and fafliion I'uch an admirable Engine as this is, and tJien put Life and Senle into it ? Can any Man fay, he formed the Pr'.rts that are necelTary to the Life of his Child? Or can he fuppofe himfelf to give the Life, and yet not know what Subjeft is fit to receive it, nor what Aftions or Organs are neceflary for its Reception or Prefervation ? 53. To give Life to that which has yet no Being, is to frame and make a li- ving Creature, fafhion the Parts, and mould and fuit them to their Uies, and having proportioned and fitted them together, to put into them a living Soul. He that could do this, might indeed have i'omc Pretence to dellroy his own Work- manflaip. But is there any one fo bold, that dares thus far arrogate to himlelf the Incomprehenfible Works of the Almighty ? Who alone did at firft, and con- tinues ftill to make a living Soul, he alone can breathe in the Breath of Life. If any one thinks himfelf an Aitift at this, let him number up the Parts of his Child's Body, which he hath made, tell me their CJfes and Operations, and. when the living and rational Soul began to inhabit this curious Structure, when Senfe began, and how this Engine which he has framed, Thinks and Reafons : If he made it, let him, when it is out of order mend it, at leaft tell wherein the Defeats lie. Shn// he thai made the Eye not fee ? Says the Pfalmift, Pfalm 94. g. See thefe Mens Vanities } 'ihc Strufture of that one Part is fufficient to con- vince us of an All-wife Contriver, and he has fo vifible a Claim to us as his Workmanfliip, that one of the ordinary Appellations of God in Scripture is. Cod our Maker, and the Lord our Maker. And therefore though our A. for the magnifying of his /vwM-Aoo^, be pleafed to fay, 0. 159. "That even the Po'xer ivhich God himfelf exercifeth over Mankind is by Right of Fatherhood, yet this Fatherhood is fuch an one as utterly excludes all Pretence of Title in Earthly Parents i for he is King, becaufe he is indeed Maker of us all, which no Parents can pretend to be of their Children. 54. But had Men Skill and Power to make their Children, 'tis not fo flight a Piece a Workmanfliip, that it can be imagined, they could make them without deligning it. What Father of a Tiioufand, when he begets a Child, thinks far- ther than to fatisfy his prcfent Appetite. God in his infinite Wifdom has put ftrong Defires of Copulation into the Conftitution of Men, thereby to continue the Race of Mankind, which he doth moft commonly without the Intention, and often againft the Confent and Will of the Begetter. And indeed thofe who de- fire and defign Children, are but the Occafions of their Being, and when they defign and wifh to beget them, do little more towards their making, than Duca- lion and his Wife in the Fable did towards the making of Mankind, by throw- Pebbles over their Heads. 5). But grant that the Parents made their Children, gave them Life and Be- ing, and that hence there followed an Abfolute Power. This would give the Father but a joint Dominion with the Mother over them. For no body can de- ny but that the W^oman had an equal Share, if not the greater, as nourifhing the Child a long Time in herownBodyoutof herownSubflance: There itisfafhion'd, and from her it receives the Materials and Principles of its Conftitution : And it is fo hard to imagine the rational Soul fhould prefently inhabit the yet unform- ed Embrio, as foon as the Father has done his Part in the Act of Generation, that if it muft be fuppofed to derive any thing from the Parents, it muft certain- ly owe moft to the Mother. But be that as it v.'ill, the Mother cannot be denied an equal Share in begetting of the Child, and fo the abfolute Authority of the Father w\\\ not a rife from hence. Our A. indeed is of another Mind ; for he fays. For lue know that God at the Creation gave the Sovereignty to the Man over the JVoman^ as being the nobler and principal Agent in Generation, O. 172. I remember not this in my Bible, and when the Place is brought where God at the Creation gave the Sovereignty to Man o\er the Woman, and that for this Reafon, becaufe be is the nobler and principal Agent in Generation, it will be time enough to confider, and anfwer it. But this is no new thing for our A. to tell us his own Fancies for certain and divine Truths, though there be often a great deal of Difterence be- tween his and divine Revelations.; for God in the Scripture fays, his Father and his Mother that begot hiw. 5(f. They 0/ G O V £ R N M E N T. 12 1 5^. They who allege the Praftice of Mankind, (or cxpnjing or fel/ing their Ch'A- dren, as a Proof ot ilicir Power Jolute Alcnarch, and fo Afen are not naturally free, that even his own Proofs make againfthim; fo that to ufe his own Way of arguing, This fir fl erroneous Principle failing, the ivhole Fabric of this vafl Engine of Abfolute Power and Tyranny, drops down of it felf, and there needs no more to be faid in Anfwer to all that he builds upon fo falfe and frail a Foundation. 68. But to fave others the Pains, were there any need, he is not fparing him- felf to iliew", by his own Contradictions, the Weaknefs of his own Doftrine. Ada?ns abfolute and fole Dominion is that, which he is every where full of, and all along builds on, and yet he tells us, p. ii. That as Adam was Lordof his Chil- dren, fo his Children under him had a Command and Power over their own Children. The unlimited and undivided Sovereignty oi Adam's Fatherhood, by our A/s Computa- tion, ftocd but a little while, only during the firft Generation, but as foon as he had Grandchildren, Sir Rob. could give but a very ill Account of it. Adam, ay- Father of his Children, faith he, hath an abfolute, tmlimited Royal Power over them, and by Virtue thereoj over thofe that they begot, and fo to all Generations ; and yet his Chil- dren, viz. Cain and Seth, jiave a paternal Power over their Children at the l^me time; fo that they are at the fame time abfolute Lords, and yet Vaffals and Slaves ; Adam has all the Authority, as Grandfather of the People, and they have a Part of it as Fathers of a Part of them : He is abfolute over them and their Pofterity, by having begotten them, and yet they are abfolute over their Children by the lame Title. No, fays our A. Adam's Children under him, had Power over their own Children, but fill zvith Subordination to the firjl Parent. A good Diftinftion that founds well, and 'tis pity it fignifies nothing, nor can be reconciled with our A's W^ords. I readily grant, that fuppoiing Adam's abfolute Power over his Pofterity, any ol his Children might have from him a delegated, and fo a Subordinate Power over a Part, or all the reft: But that cannot be the Power our A. fpeaks o£ ' here, it is not a Power by Grant and Commiflion, but the natural paternal Power he fuppofes a Father to have over his Children. For i. he fays. As Adam zvas Lord of his Children, fo his Children tinder him had a Power over their own Children : They were then Lords over their own Children after the fame Manner, and by the fame Title, that Adam was, i. e. by Right of Generation, by Right of Fatherhood, z. 'Tis plain he means the natural Power of Fathers, becaufe he li- mits it to be only over their own Children; a delegated Power has no fuch Limi- tation, as only over their own Children, it might be over others, as well as their own Children, j. If it were a delegated Power, it muft appear in Scripture ; but their is no Ground in Scripture to affirm, that Adam's Children had any other Power over theirs, than what they naturally had as Fathers. 69. But that he means here Paternal Power, and no other, ispaft doubt, from the Inference he makes in theie Words immediately following, I fee not then how the Children of Adam, or of any Man elfe can be free from SubjeEiion to their Parents^ Whereby it appears that the Poiver on one iide, and the Subjeciion on the other, our A. here fpeaks of, is that natural Power and Subjeciion between Parents and Chil- dren. For that which every Man's Children owed, could be no other; and that! 125 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. that our A. always affirms to be abfolute and unlimited. This natural Pozver of Parents over their Children, Adam had over his Poflerity, fays our A. and this /"•oiutT of Parents over their Children, his Children had over theirs in his Life- time, fays our A. alfo: fo that Adam, by a natural Right of Father, had an ab- folute unlimited Power over all his Pofterity, and at the fame time his Children had by the fame Right abfoiute unlimited Power over theirs. Here then are two abfolute unlimited IPowers exifting together, which I would have any body re- concile one to another, or to common Senfe. For the Salvo he has put in of Sub- ordinativn, makes it more ablurd : To have one Abfolutey Unlimited, nay Unlimi- table Power in Subordination to another, is fo manifeft a Contradition, that no- thing can be more. Adam is abfolute Pritije zvith the Unlimited Authority of Father- hood over all his Pu/lerity; all his Pofterity are then abfolutely his Subjects, and, as our A. fays, his Slaves, Children and Grandchildren are equally in this State of Subjedion and Slavery; and yet, fays our A. the Children o/Adam have Pater- nal, i. e. Abfolute unlitmited Pozver over their own Children : Which in plain Englijh is, they are Slaves and abfolute Princes at the fame time, and in the fame Go- vernment: and one Part of the Subjefts have an abfolute unlimited Power over the other by the natural Right of Parentage. 70. If any one will fuppofe in Favour of our A. that he here meant, that Pa- rents, who arc in Subjection themfelves to the abfolute Authority of their Father, have yet fome Power over their Children; I confefs he isfomething nearer the Truth : But he will not at all hereby help our A. : For he no where fpeaking of the Paternal Power, but as an abfolute unlimited Authority, cannot be fuppos'd to underftand any thing elfe here, unlefs he himfclf had limited it, and fliewed how far it reach d. And that he means here Paternal Authority in that large Extent, is plain from the immediate following Words; T'hts Sub]eEtion of Children being, fays he, the Foundation of all Regal Authority, p. 12. "The Subje^ion then that in the former Line, he fays, every Man is in to his Parents, and confequently what Adam's Grandchildren were in to their Parents, was that which was the Foun- tain of all Regal Atithority, i. e. according to our A. abfolute unlimitable Authority. And thus ^^i2»?'s Children had Regal Authority over their Children, whilft they themfches were Subjeds to their Father, and Fellow-Subjefts with their Chil- dren. But let him mean as hepleafes, "tis plain he allows Adam's Children to have Paternal Power, p. 12. as alfo all other Fathers to have Paternal Power over their Children, O. 1^6. From whence one of thefe two things will neceflarily follow, that either Adam's Children, even in his Life-time, had, and fo all other Fa- thers have, as he phrafes it, p. 1 2 . By Right of Fatherhood Royal Authority over their Children, or elfe, xhztAdam, by Right of Fatherhood, had not Royal Authority. For it cannot be but .that Paternal Power does, or does not give Royal Authority to them that have it: If it does not, then Adam could not be Sovereign by this Title, nor any body elfe, and then there is an End of all our A.'s Politicks at once : If it does give Royal Authority, then every one that has Paternal Power has Royal Authority, and then by our A's Patriarchal Government, there will be as many Kings as there are Fathers. 71. And thus what a Monarchy he hath fetup, let him and his Difciples con- fider. Princes certainly will have great Reafon to thank him for thefe new Po- liticks, which let up as many abfolute Kings in every Country as there are Fa- thers of Children. And yet who can blame our A. for it, it lying unavoidably ia the Way of our difcourfmg upon our A.'s Principles ? For having placed an abfo- lute Power in Fathers by Right of Begetting, he could not eafily refolve how much of this Power belong'd to a Son over the Children he had begotten; and fo it fell out to be a very hard matter to give all the Power as he does, to Adam, and yet allow a Part in his Life-time to his Children, when they were Parents, and which he knew not well how to deny them. This makes him fo doubtful in his Expreflions, and fo uncertain where to place this abfolute natural Power, which he calls Fatherhood; fometimes Adam alone has it all, as p. 13. O. 244, 245. Cr Pref Sometimes Parents have it, which Word fcarce fignifies the Father alone, /). 12, 19. Sometimes Children during their Fathers Life-time, as f. 12. Sometimes Fathers of Families, as p. 78^ and 7p. Some- of Government. 127 Sometimes Fathers indefinitely, O. 155. Sometimes the Heir to Adam, O. 255. Sometimes the Poflerity of Adam, 244, 24^. Sometimes prime Fathers, all Sons or Grandchildren o/Noali, O. 244,' Sometimes the eldefi Parents, p. la. Sometimes all Kings, p. 19. Sometimes all that have Supreme Power, O. 245. Sometimes Heirs to thofe Jirfi Progenitors, who were at the firfi natural Parents of the whole People, p. 19. Sometimes an Eleftire King, />. 25. Sometimes thofe, whether a few or a Multitude, that Govern the Common- wealth, p. 25. Sometimes he that can catch it, an Vfurper, p. 2J. O. 155. 72. Thus this New Nothing, that is to carry with it all Power, Authority, and Government; This Fatherhood, which is to defign the Perfon, and Eftablifh the Throne of Monarchs, whom the People are to obey, may, according to Sir Robert, come into any Hands, any how, and fo by his Politicks give to Demo- cracy Royal Authority, and make an Ufurper a Lawful Prince. And if it will do all thefe fine Feats, much good do our Author and all his Followers with their omnipotent Fatherhood, which can ferve for nothing but to unfettle and deftroy all the lawful Governments in the World, and to Eftablifh in their RoomDif- order. Tyranny, and Ufurpation. CHAP. VII. Of I Fatherhood and Property confdered together as Fountains of Sovereignty, 75. 1 N the forgoing Chapters we have feen what Adains Monarchy was, in our -■• A/s Opinion, and upon what Titles he founded it. The Foundations which he lays the chief Strefs on, as thofe from which he thinks he may beft derive Monarchical Power to future Princes, are two, viz,. Fatherhood and Property, and therefore tlic Pt^ay he propofes to remove the Abfurdities and Inconveniemies of the Dochine of natural Freedom, is, to inaimain the natural and private Dominion of Adam^ O. 222. Conformable hereunto, he tells us, the Grounds and Principles of Govern^ ment necejfarily depend upon the Original of Property, O. 108. The SubjeElion of Chil- dren to their Parents is the Fountain of all Regal Authority, p. 12. And all Power on Earth is either derived or ufurped from the Fatherly Power, there being m other Original to be found of any Power whatfoever, O- 158. I will not ftand here to examine how it can be faid without a Contradiction, that thcfirft Grounds and Principles of Government necejfarily depend upon the Original of Property, and yet, that there is no other Original of any Power ivhatfoever, but that of the Father: It being hard to underftand ho-iv there can be no other Original but Fatherhood, and yet that the Grounds and Principles of Government depend upon the Original of Property ; Property and Fatherhood being as far different as Lord of a Mannor and Father of Children. Nor do I iee how they will either of them agree with what our A. fays, O- 244. of God's Sentence againft Eve, Gen. 3. 16. That it is the Original Grant of Government : fo that if that were the Original, Government had not its Original by our A.'s own Con- fcflion, either from Property or Fatherhood; and this Text which he brings as a Proof of Adam's Power over Eve, necelfarily contradicts what he fays of the Fa- therhood, that it is the Sole Fountain of all Power. For if Adam had any fuch Regal Power over Eve, as our A. contends for, it muft be by fome other Title than that of Begetting. 74. But I lea\e him to reconcile thefe Contradictions, as well as many others, which may plentifully be found in him, by any one who will but read him with a little Attention, and fliall come now to confider, how thefe two Originals of Go\ernment, Adam' s natural and private Do7ninion, will confift, and ferve to make cut and eftablifh the Titles of fucceeding Monarchs, who, as our A. obliges them, muft 128 0/ Government. nuift all deri\-c their Power from rhefe Fount ain:. Let Us tlien fuppofc Adiim made by God's Donation Lord and iole Proprietor of the whole Earth, in as large and ample a manner as S\t Robert cgu\A wifh; let us fuppofe him alio hy Right of Fa- tber/md abMme Ruler over his Children with an unlimited Supremacy, 1 ask then upon Adam's Death what becomes of both his «a/«r^/and private Dominicn ; and 1 doubt not 'twill be anfwered, that they descended to his next Heir, as our A. tells us in fcveral Places. But this way, 'tis plain, cannot poflibly convey both his natural and private Doyninion to the lame Perfon. For fliould we allow, that all the Property, all the Eftate of the Father ought to defcend to the Eldeft Son, (which will need fome Proof to eftablifh it) andfo he has by that Title all the private Dominion of the Father, yet the Father's natural Dominion, the Paternal Power cannot defcend unto him by Inheritance. For it being a Right that accrues to a Man only by begetting, no Man can have this natural Dominion o\er any one, he does not beget; unleis it can be fuppcs'd, that a Man can have a Right to any thing, without doing that upon which that Right is folely founded. For if a Father by begetting, and no other Title has natural Dininion over his Children, he that does not beget them, cannot have this natiaal Dominion over them; and therefore be it true or falie, that our A. fays, O. ijd. That every Mm that is born, by his very Birth becomes a SubjeSi to him that begets him, this necelfarily follows, viz.. '1 hat a Man by his Birth cannot become a Subjeft to his Brother, who did not beget him; unlefs it can be fuppos'd that a Man by the \ery fame Title can come to be under the natural and abfolute Do?ninion of two ditterent Men at once; or it be Senle to fay, that a Man by Birth is under the natural Dominion of his Father, only becnufe he begat him, and a Man by Birth alfo is under the natural Dominion of his Eldeft Brother, tho' he did not beget him. 75. \{ then the, private Dominion o/Adam, i.e. his Property in the Creatures, dclcended at his Death all intirely to his Eldeft Son, his Heir: (for if it did not, there is prefently an end of all Sir Robert's Monarchy) and his natural Dominion ; the Dominion a Father has over his Children by begetting them, belong'd; im- mediately upon Adam's Deceafe equally to all his Sons who had Children, by the fame Title their Father had it, the Sovereignty founded upon Property, and the Sovereignty founded upon Fatherhood, come to be divided; lince C^/k as Heir had that of Property alone, Seth and the other Sons that of Fatherhood equally with him. This is the beft can be made of our A.'s Dbftrine, and of the two Titles of So- vereignty he fets up in Adam, one of them will either fignify nothing, or if they both mull ftand, they can ferve only to confound the Rights of Princes, and dif- order Go\ ernment in his Pofterity. For by building upon two Titlesto Domini- on, which cannot defcend together, and which he allows may be feparated, (for he yields that Adam's Children had their diftinci Territories by Right of private Domi- nicn, O. 210. p. 40.) he makes it perpetually a Doubt upon his Principles where the Sovereignty is, or to whom we owe our Obedience, fince Fatherhood and Pro- perty are diftindt Titles, and began prefently upon Adam's Death to be in diftinft Perfons. And which then was to give way to the other ? 76. Let us take the Account of it, as he himfelf gives it us. He tells us out of Grotim, That Adam's Children by Donation, Ajfignation, or fome kind of Ceffion before he ivas dead, had their diflinci Territories by Right of private Dominion; Abel had his Flocks and Pa/lures for them; Cain had his Fields for Corn, and the Land oj Nod -where he built him a City, O. 210. Here 'tis obvious to demand, which of thefe two after ^^^w's Death was Sovereign? Cain, fays our K.p. ip. By what Title .> As Heir i for Heirs to Progenitors, -who luere nattiral Parents of their People, are not only Lords of their oven Children, but alfo of their Brethren, fays our A. p. 19. What was Cain Heir to? Not the entire Polleffions, not all that ^NK\chAdam had private Dominion in\, for our A. allows that Abel by a Title derived from his Father, had his diftinSI Territory for Pafiure by Right of private Dominion. What then Abel had by private Dominion, was exempt from G»'«'s Dominion. For he could not have private Do- viicn over that, which was under the private Dominion o{ another ; and therefore his Sovereignty over his Brother is gone with this private Dominion, and fo there are prefently two Sovereigns, and his imaginary Title oi Fatherhood is out of Doors, ard Cain is no Prmce over his Brother. Or elfe if Cain retain his Sove- icig-ty over Abel, notwithftanding his private Do?ninion, it will follow, that the fir jl Grounds and Principles of Ccvernment ha\e nothing to do with Property^ what- 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. 12^ whatever our A. fays to the contrary. 'Tls true, ^/^e/did not out-live his Father ^dajn, but that makes nothing to the Argument, which will hold good againft Sir Rol^ert in JM's IlTue, or in Seth, or any of the Pofterity of Adam, not de- fcended from Cain. 77. The fame Inconvenience he runs into about the three Sons of Nuah, who, as he fays, />. x 3. had the -whole World di'vided amougfl them by their Father. I ask then in which of the Three fliall we find the EJlabliflment of Regal Power akcr Noah's Death ? If in all Three, as our A. there feems to fay ; then it will follow, that Regal Power is founded in Property of Land, and follows private Dominiotj, and not \n paternal Power or natural Dominion, and fo there is an end of paternal Power as the Fountain of regal Authority, and the fo much magnified Fatherhood quite vanifhes. If the regal Power defcended to Shetn as Eldeft, and Heir to his Fa- ther, then Noah's Divifion of the World by Lot to hit Sons, or his Ten Tears failing about the Mediterranean to appoint each Son his part, which our A. tells of, />. i J. was La- bour loft, his Divifion of the World to them, was to ill, or to no Purpofe. For his Grant to Cham and Japhet was little worth, if Shem, notwithftanding this Grant, as foon as Noah was dead, was to be Lord over them. Or, if this Grant of private Dominion to them, o\er their afligned Territories, were good, here were fet up two diftinfi: Sorts of Power, not fubordinate one to the other, with all thofe Inconveniences which he mufters up againft the Power of the People, O. 158. which I fhall fet down in his own Words, only changing Property for People, All Power on Earth is either derived or ufurped from the Fatherly Power, there being no ether Original to be found of any Power ivhatfoever : For if there fljould be granted two Sorts of Power, without any Subordination of one to the other, they would be in perpetual Strife which //mild be Supreme, for two Supremes cannot agree : if the Fatherly Power be Supreme, then the Power grounded on private Dominion muft be fubordinate, and depend m it ; and if the Power grounded on Property be Supreme, then the Fatherly Power mufl fubmit to it, and cannot be exercifed without the Licenfe of the Proprietors, which mufl quite deflroy the Frame and Courfe of Nature. This is his own arguing againft two diftinA Independent Powers, which I have fet down in his own Words, only putting Power rifing from Property, for Power of the People ; and when he has an- fwered what he himfelf has urged here againft two diftinft Powers, we fhall be better able to fee how, with any tolerable Senfe, he can derive all Regal Autho- rity/row the natural and private Dominion of Adam from Fatherhood and Property to- gether, which are diftinft Titles, that do not always meet in the fame Perfon ; and 'tis plain, by his own Confeflion, prefently feparated as foon both as Adam's and Noah's Death made way for SuccefTion : Though our A. frequently in his Writings jumbles them together, and omits not to make ufe of either, where he thinks it will found beft to his Purpofe. But the Abfurdities of this will more fully appear in the next Chapter, where we fhall examine the Ways of Convey- ance of the Sovereignty of Adam, to Princes that were to Reign after him. CHAP. VIII. Of the Conveyance of AdamV fovereign Monarchical Power. 78. C IR Robert, having not been very happy in any Proof he brings for the Sove- ^ reignty of Adam, is not much more fortunate in conveying it to future Princes, who, if his Politicks be true, muft all derive their Titles from that liift Monarch. The Ways he has aUigned, as they lie fcatter'd up and down in his Writings, I will fet down in his own Words : In his Preface he tells us, That Adam being Monarch of the whole World, none of his Pofterity had any Right topojfejs any thing, but by his Grant or Permijjton, or by Succefjion from him. Here he makes two Ways of Conveyance of any thing Adam ftood poOelled of, and thofe are Grams or Succejfon. Again he fays. All Kings either are, or are to be reputed the nest Heirs to thofe firfl Progenitors, who were at firft the natural Parents of the whole People, p. ip. T'here cannot be any Multitude of Men whatfoever, but that in it, conJidcr\i by it f elf, there is one Man amongft them, that in Nature hath a Right to be the King of all the reft, as being the next Heir to Adam, O. 253. Here in thefe Places Inheritance is the Vol. II. R only 130 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. only \^ ay he allows of conveying Monarchical Power to Princes. In other Places he tells us, 0. 155:. All Power uri Earth is either derived or ujurped Jrom the Fatherly Poxver, O. 158. All Kings that nozu are, or ever -were either Fathers oj their People, or Heirs of fuel) Fathers, or Ufterpers of the Right of fuch Fathers, O. 253. And here he makes Iiiheritance or Ufurpation the only Ways whereby Kings come by this Origi- nal Porcer : But yet he tells us, T^his Fatherly Empire, cu it ivm of it felf Hereditary, fo it wui alienage by Patent, and juix,able ly an Ufurper, O. 190. So then here Inheri- tance, Grant or Ufurpation will convey it. And laft of all, which is mod admi- rable, he tells us, p. 100. It skills not which way Kings come by their Power, whether by EleEiion, Donation, SucceJJion, or by any other Means, for it is flill the Manner of the Go~ •vernment by fnpreme Power, that makes them properly Kings, and not the Means of obtain- ing their Crowns. Which I think is a full Anfwer to all his whole Hypothefis and Difcourfe about Adam's Royal Authority, as the Fountain from which all Princes wefe to derive theirs : And he might have fpared the Trouble of fpeaking fo much as he does up and down of Heirs and Inheritance, if to make any one properly a King , needs no more but Governing by fnpreme Power, and it matters not by what Means he came by it. 79. By this notable Way, our A. may make Oliver as properly King, as any one clfe he could think of : And had he had the Happinefs to live under Majfanellu's Government, he could not by this his own Rule have forborn to have done Ho- mage to him, with O King live j or ever, fince the Manner of his Government by fuprcme Power, made him properly King, who was but the Day before properly a Fiflierman. And if Don Qiiixot had taught his Squire to govern with fupreme Authority, our A. no doubt, could have made a moft loyal Subjeft in Sancho Pan- chas IJland; and he muft needs have defei"ved fome Preferment in fuch Govern- ments, fince I think he is the firft Politician, who, pretending to fettle Govern- ment upon its trvie Bafis, and to eftablifh the Thrones of lawfiil Princes, ever told the World, That he was properly a King, whofe Manner of Government was by fupreme Poxuer, by what Means foever he obtained it; which in plain JE'k^///^ is to fay, that Regal and Supreme Power is properly and truly his, who can by any Means feize upon it ; and if this be, to be properly a King, I wonder how he came to think of, or where he will find, an Ufurper. 80. This is fo ftrange a Doftrine, that the Surprife of it hath made me pafs by, without their due Refleftion, the Contradictions he runs into, by making fometimcs Inheritance alone, fometimes only Grant or Inheritance, fometimes only Inheritance or Ufurpation, fometimes all thefe three, and at laft EleEiion or any other Means, added to them, the Ways whereby Adam's Royal Authority, that is, his Right to fupreme Rule, could be convey'd down to future Kings and Governors, fo as to give them aTitle to the Obedience and Subjedion of the People. But thefe Contradiftions lie fo open, that the very Reading of our A.'s own Words, will difcover them to any ordinary Underftanding ; and though what I have quoted out of him (with abundance more of the fame Strain and Coherence, which might be found in him) might well excufe me from any farther trouble in this Argument, yet having propofed to my felf, to examine the main Parts of his Doftrine, I fliall a little more particularly confider how Inheritance, Grant, Ufur- pation or EleElion, can any way make out Government in the World upon his Prin- ciples ; or derive to any one a Right of Empire, from this Regal Authority of Ada7n, had it been never fo well proved, that he had been abfolute Monarch, and Lord of the whole World. CHAP. IX. Of Monarchy., by Inheritance from Adam^ 81. "T^Hough it be never fo plain, that there ought to be Government in the -■- World, nay fhould all Men be of our A.'s Mind that divine Appointment had oiJaincd it to be AJunarchical, yet fince Men cannot obey any thing, that cannot command ; and Ideas of Government in the Fancy, though never fo per- fect, though ne\ cr fo right, cannot give Laws, nor prefcribe Rules to the Ani- ons of G O V E R N At E N T. I 3 1 ons of Men ; it would be of no behoof for the fettling of Order, and Eftablifli- ment of Government in its Excrcife and Ufe amongil Men, unlefs there weic a Way alio taught how to know the Perfon, to whom it belonged to have this Power, and exercife this Dominion over others. "Tis in vain then to talk of Subjection and Obedience without telling us whom we are to obey. For were I never io fully perfwaded that there ought to be Magiftracy and Rule in the World ; yet I am never the lefs at Liberty flill, till it appears, who is tiic Per- fon, that hath Right to my Obedience ; fince if there be no Marks to know him by, and diftinguifh him, that hath Right to Rule from other Men, it may be my felf, as well as any other. And therefore though SubmilHon to Government be every one's Duty, yet fince that fignifies nothing but fubmitting to the Direftion and Laws of fuch Men, as have Authority to command, 'tis not enough to make a Man a Subjeft, to convince him that there is Regal Pozuer in the World ; but there mull be ways of defigning , and knowing the Perfon to whom this Regal Power of Right belongs : And a Man can never be oblig'd ; in Confcience to fub- mit to any Power, unlefs he can be fatisfied ^vho is the Perfon, who has a Right to exercife that Power over him. If this were not fo, there would be no diftinftion between Pirates and Lawful Princes ; he that has Force is without any more ado to be obey'd, and Crowns and Scepters would become the Inheritance only of Violence and Rapine. Men too might as often and as innocently change their Governors, as they do their Phyficians, if the Perfon cannot be known, who has a Right to dired me, and whofe Prefcriptions I am bound to follow. To fettle t}ierefore Mens Confciences, under an Obligation to Obedience, 'tis necefiary, that they know not only, that there is a Power fomewhere in the World, but the Perfon who by Right is vefted with this Power over them. 82. How fuccefsful our A. has been in his Attempts, to fet up a Mmarcbkal Alfolute Po-u:er in Adam, the Reader may judge by what has been already f^id ; but were that Alfolute Monarchy as clear as our A. would defire it, as I prefume it is the contrary, yet it could be of no ufe to the Government of Mankind now in the^ World, unlefs he alfo make out thefe two things. F'njl, That this Power cf Adam was not to end with him, but was upon his Deceafe conveyed intire to fome other Perfon, and fo on to Pofterity. Secondly, That the Princes and Rulers now on Earth, are polfefled of this Power of Adam, by a right way of Conveyance derived to them. 83. If the firfl of thefe fail, the Power of Adam, were it never fo great, never fo certain, will fignify nothing to the prefent Government and Societies in the World, but we muft feek out lome other original of Power for the Go\'ernment of Polities than this of Adam, or elfc there will be none at all in the World. If the latter fail, it will deftroy the Authority of the prefent Governors, and abfolve the People from Subjeftion to them, fince they having no better a Claim than others to that Power, which is alone the Fountain of all Authority, can have no Title to rule over them. 84. Our A. having fanfied an abfolute Sovereignty in Adam, mentions feveral Ways of its Conveyance to Princes, that were to be his Succelfors j but that which he chiefly infifts on, is that of Inheritance, which occurs fo often in his feveral Difcourfes, and I having in the foregoing Chapter quoted feveral of thefe Pafiages, I fliall not need here again to repeat them. This Sovereignty he erefts, as has been faid, upon a double Foundation, viz.. that oi Property, and that of Fatherhood. One was the Right he was fuppofed to have in all Creatures, a Right to poffefs the Earth with the Beafts, and other inferior Ranks of things in it, for his private' Ufe, exclufive of all other Men. The other was the Right he was fuppofed to have, to Rule and Govern Men, all the reft of Mankind. 85 . In both thefe Rights, there being fuppofed an exclufion of all other Men, it muft be upon fome Reafon peculiar to Adam, that they muft both be founded. That of his Property our A. fuppofes to arife from God's immediate Donathn, Gen. I. 28. and that of Fatherhood from the Aft of Begetting : Now in all Inheri- tance, if the Heir fucceed not to the Reafon, upon which his Father's Right was founded, he cannot fucceed to the Right which followeth from it. For Example,^ Adam had a Right of Property in the Creatures upon the Donation and Grant of God Almighty, who was Lord and Proprietor of them all ; let this be fo as our A. tells us, yet upon his Death his Heir can have no Title to them, no fuch Vol. IL * R 2 . Right 1^1 0/ Government. Righc of Property in them, unlefs the fame Reafon, njix,. God's Donat'icn vefted a Right in the Heir too. For if Adam could have had no Property in, nor ule of the Creatures without this ^'oi'mwe Donation from God, and x.\\'\s Donation, were only perlbnally to Adam, his Heir could IiaA'e no Right by it, but upon his Death it muft rc\ ert to Gcd tlic Lord and Owner again ; for poiitive Grants give no Title fartlier, than the exprefs Words convey it, and by which only it is held. And tiius, if, as our A. himfelf contends, that Donation, Gen. i. 28. were made only to Adam perfonally, his Heir could not fucceed to his Propierty in the Creatures; and if it were a Donation to any but Adam, let it be fliewn, that it was to his Heir in our A.'s Senfe, i.e. to one of his Children exclulive of ail the reft. 8<5. But not to follow our A. too far out of the Way, the plain of the Cafe is this. God having made Man, and planted in him, as in all other Animals, a ftrong Delire of Self-Prefervation ; and l\irnifhed the World with things fit for Food and Raiment, and other Necefl'aries of Life, fubfervient to his Delign, that Man fliould live and abide for Ibme time upon the Face of the Earth, and not that £0 curious and wonderful a Piece of Workmanfliip, by its own Negligence' or want of Necefl'aries, fiiould perifli again, prelently after a few Mon^.ents con- tinuance ; God, I fay, having made Man and the World thus, fpoke to him, (that is) direded him by his Senfes and Reafon, as he did the inferior Animals by their Senfe, ard Inflinft, which he had placed in them to that purpofe, to the Ufe of thofe things, which were ferviceable for Iiis Subfiftence, and given liim as the Means of his Prefewation. A nd therefore I doubt not, but before thele Words were pronounced, i Gen.z'^, zp. (if they muft be underftood literally to have been i'poken) and without any fuch Verbal Donation, Man had a Right to an Ufe of the Creatures, by the Will and Grant of God. For the Defire, ftrong Defire of preferving his Life and Being having been planted in him, as a Principle of Action by Gud himfelf, Reafon, zv/jich ivcu the Voice of God in him, could not but teach him and alfure him, that purfuing that natural Inclination, he had to preferve his Being, he followed the Will of his Maker, and therefore had a Right to make ufe of thofe Cieatures, which by his Reafon or Senfes he could difcover would be ferviceable thereunto. And thus Man's Property in the Creatures, was founded upon the Right he had, to make ufe of thofe things, that were neceUary or ufeful to his Being. 87. This being the Reafon and Foundation of Adam's Property gave the fame Title, on the fame Ground, to all his Children, not only after his Death, but in his Life-time : So that here was no Privilege of his Heir above his other Children, v/hich could exclude them from an equal Right to the Ufe of the inferior Crea- tures, for the comfortable Prefervation of their Beings, which is all the Property Man hath in them ,• and fo Adam's Sovereignty built on Property, or as our A. calls it. Private Dominion comes to nothing. Every Man had a Right to the Crea- tures, by the fame Title Adam had, viz,, by the Right e\ery one had to take care of, and provide for their Subfiftence : And thus Men had a Right in common, Adam'b Children in common with him. But if any one had began, and made him- felf a Property in any particular thing, (which how he, or any one elk, could do, Hiall be fhewn in another Place) that Thing, that Poffeffion, if he difpos'd not otherwife of it by his pofitive Grant, defcended naturally to his Children, aad they had a Right to fucceed to it, and poflefs it. 88. It might reafonably be asked here, how come Children by this Right of Pofle/Ting, before any other, the Properties of their Parents upon their Deceale. For it being perfonally the Parents, when they die, without adtually transfer- ring their Right to another, why does it not return again to the common Stock ot Mankind ? 'Twill perhaps be anfwered, that common Confent hath difpofed of it to their Children. Common Praftice, we fee indeed does fodifpofeof it, btt we cannot fay, that it is the common Confent of Mankind ; for that hath never been asked, nor aftually given ; and if common tacit Confent hath cftablifli'd it, it would make but a pofitive, and not a natural Right of Children to inherit the Goods of their Parents : But where the Praftice is univerfal, 'tis reafonable to think the Caufe is natural. The Ground then, I think to be this. The firft and ftrongeft Defire Gcd planted in Men, and wrought into the very Principles of their Nature, being that of Self-Preferv^ation, that is the Foundation of a Right to the Creatures for the particular Support, and Ufe of each individual Perlbn him- 0/ G O V E R N M E N T- I 33 him'elf. But next to this, God planted in Men a ftrong Defire alio of propa- gating their Kind, and continuing themielves in their Poilcrity ; and this gi\es Children a Title, to fliarc in the Property of their Parents, and a Right to inherit their Pofleffions. Men are not Proprietors of what they have meerly for theni- ielves, their Children ha\e a Title to part of it, and have their Kind of Right join'd with their Parents, in the Ponl-ffion, which comes to be wholly theirs, when Death, having put an End to their Parents Ufe of it, hath taken them from their Pcfleflions ; and this we call Inheritance : Men being by a like Obliga- tion bound to preferve what they have begotten, as to preferve thcmfelvcs, their lllue come to have a Right in the Goods they are pofielled of. That Children have fuch a Right, is plain from the Laws of God ; and that Men are convinced, that Children have fuch a Right, is evident from tlie Law of the Land, both vvhich Laws require Parents to provide for their Children. 8p. For Children being by the Courl'e of Nature born weak, and unable to provide for themlelves, they have by the Appointment of God himfelf, who hath thus ordered the Courfe of Nature, a Right to be nourifh'd and maintained by their Parents ; nay a Right not only to a bare Subfiflence, but to the Convenieii- 'ces and Comforts of Life, as far as the Conditions of their Parents can afford it. Hence it comes, that when their Parents leave the World, and fo the Care due to their Children ceafes, the Effefts of it are to extend as far as pofTibly they can, and the Provifions, they have made in their Life-time, are underftood to be in- tended, as Nature requires they fhould, for their Children, whom after them- ielves, they are bound to pro\ ide for, though the dying Parents, by exprels Words, declare nothing about them. Nature appoints the Defcent of their Property to their Children, who thus come to have a Title, and natural Right of Liheri- tance to their Fathers Goods, which the reft of Mankind cannot pretend to. 90. Were it not for this Right of being Nouriflied and Maintained by their Parents, which God and Nature has given to Children, and obliged Parents to, as a Duty, it would be reafonable, that the Father lliould inherit the Eftate o£ his Son, and be prefer'd in the Liheritance before his Grand-Child. For to the Grand-Father, there is due a long Score of Care and Expences laid out upon the Breeding and Education of his Son, which one would think in Juflice ought to be paid. But that having been done in Obedience to the fame Law, whereby the leceived Nourifliment and Education from his own Parents ; this Score of Edu- cation, receixed from a Man's Father, is paid by taking Care, and providing for his own Children, is paid, I fay, as much as is requir'd of Payment by Alteration of Property, unlefs prelent NecelTity of the Parents require a Return of Goods for their neceffary Support and Subfiflence. For we are not now fpeaking of that Reverence, Acknowledgment, Refpeft and Honour, that is always due from Children to their Parents ; but of PofJellions and Commodities of Lite valuable by Money. But though it be incumbent on Parents to bring up and provide ior their Children, yet this Debt to their Children does not quite cancel the Score due ro their Parents ; but only is made by Nature preferable to it. For the Debt a Man owes his Father takes Place, and gives the Father a Right to inherit the Son's Goods, where for want of Ilfue, the Right of Children doth not exclude thau Title. And therefore a Man having a Right to be maintain'd by his Children, where he needs it ; and to enjoy alio the Comforts of Life from them, when the neceflary Provifion due to them, and their Children will aftbrd it; if his Son die without Iffue, the Father has a Right in Nature to poflels his Goods, and in-, herit his Eflate (whatever the Municipal Laws of fyme Countries, may abfurdly dired; otherwife,) and fo again his Children and their Iflue from him ; or for want of fuch, his Father and his Iffue. But Avhere no fuch are to be found, ?. e. no Kindred, there we fee the PolVeffions of a Private Man revert to the Commu- nity, and fo in Politic Societies come into the Hands of the publick Magiftrate : but in the State of Nature become again perfeftly Common, no body having a Right to inherit them : nor can any one have a Property in them, otherwife than in other things common by Nature, of which I (hall Ipeak in its due Place. 91. I have been the larger, in fhewing upon what ground Children have a Right to fucceed to the Pofl'eflion of their Fathers Properties, not only becaufe by it, it will appear, that \i Adam had a Property (a Titular infignificant ufelefs Property; for it could be no better, for he was bound to Nourifli and Mnintain his 34 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. liis Cliildren and Poflerity out of it ) in the whole Earth nnd its Produft, yet all liis Children coming to ha\e by the Law of Natuie, and Right of Inheritance a joint Tide, and Right of Property in it after his Death, it could convey no Right ol Soveicignty to any one of his Poflerity over the lefl: : Since every one having a Right of Inheritnncc to his Portion, they might enjoy their Inheritance, or any Part of it in Common, or fhare it, or fome Parts of it by Divilion, as it bcft liked them. But no one could pretend to the whole Inheritance, or any Sovereignty flippofed to accompany it ; fince a Right of Inheritance gave every one oi the reft, as well as any one, a Title to fhare in the Goods of his Father. Not only upon this Account, I fay, have I been fo particular in examining the Realon of Childrens inheriting the Property of their Fathers, but alfo bccaufe it will give us farther Light in the Inheritance of Rule and Power, which in Coun- tries where their particular Municipal Laws gi\e the whole Poife/lion of Land entirely to the Firft Bom, and Defcent of Power has gone fo to Men by this Cuflom, feme have been apt to be deceived into an Opinion, that there was a Natural or Divine Right of Primogeniture, to both Efiate and Power ; and that the Inheritance of both Ru/e over Men and Property in Things, Iprang from the lame Original, and were to defcend by the fame Rules. 92. Property, whole Original is from the Right a Man has to ufe any of the inferior Creatures, for the Subfiftence and Comfort of his Life, is for the Benefit and fole Advantage of the Proprietor, fo that he may even deflroy the Thing, that he hasPi'operty in by his ufe of it, where need requires : But Government being for the Prefervation of every Man's Right and Property, by preferving him from the Violence or Injury of others, is for the good of the-Governcd. For the Magiftrates Sivord being for a Terror to Evil Doers, and by thit Terror to inforce Men to obferve the pofitive Laws of the Society, made conformable to the Laws of Nature, for the publick Good, i.e. the Good of every particular Member of that Society, as far as by common Rule, it can be provided for; the Sword is not given the Magiflrate for his own Good alone. $13. Children therefore, as has been fhew'd, by the dependance they have on their Parents for Subliftence, have a Right of Inheritance to their Fathers Pro- perty, as that which belongs to them for their proper Good and Behoof, and therefore are fitly termed Goods, v/herein the Firft Born has not a fole or pecu- liar Right by any Law of God snd Nature, the younger Children having an equal Title with him founded on that Right they all have to Maintenance, Support and Comfort from their Parents, and on nothing elfe. But Government being for the Benefit of the Governed, and not the fole Advantage of the Governors (but only for theirs with the reft, as they make a Part of that Politick Body, each of whofe Parts and Members are taken care of, and directed in its peculiar Fun- ctions for the Good of the whole, by the Laws of the Society) cannot be inhei&cd by the fame Title', that Children have to the Goods of their Father. The Right a Son has to be maintained and provided with the Neceffaries and Conveniences of Life out of his Father's Stock, gives him a Right to fucceed to his Father's Property for his own Good ; but this can give him no Right to fucceed alfo to the Rule, which his Father had over other Men. All that a Child has Right to claim from his Father is Nourifhment and Education, and the things Nature furnilhes for the Support of Life : But he has no Right to demand Rule or Dominion from him : He can fublift and receive from him the Portion of good Things, and Ad- vantages of Education naturally due to him, without Empire nnd Dominion. That (if his Father hath any) was vefted in him, for the Good and Behoof of others : and therefore the Son cannot claim or inherit it by a Title, which is founded wholly on his own pri\-ate Good and Advantage. 94. We mull; know how the firft Ruler, from whom any one Claims, came by his Authority, upon what Ground any one has E?npire, what his Title is to it, before we can know who has a Right to fucceed him in it, and inherit it from- him : If the Agreement and Confent of Men firft gave a Scepter into any one'? Hand, or put a Crown on his Head, that alfo muft direft its Defcent and Con- \eyance. For the fame Authority, that made the firft a lawful Ruler, muft make the fecond too, and fo give Right of SuccefTion : In this Cafe Inheritance or Pri- mogeniture, can in its felf have no Right, no Pretence to it, any farther than that Confent, which Eftabliflied the Form of the Government, hath fo fettled the 0/ Government. 135 the SucccfTion. And thus we fee the Succeflion of Crowns, in fevcral Countries places it on dift'erent Heads, and he comes by Right of SuccclTion, to be a Prince in one Place, who would be a Subject in another. 95. If God by his pofitive Grant and revealed Declaration, fni\. gave Rule and Dominion to any Man, he that will claim by that U'itle, muft have the fame poii- tive Grant of God for his SucccfTion. For if that has not direfted the Courfe of its Defcent and Conveyance down to others, no body can fucceed to this Title of the firft Ruler. Children have no Right of Inheritance to this ; and Primo- geniture can lay no Claim to it, unlefs God, the Author of this Conftitution, hath lb ordained it. Thus we fee the Pretenfions of Saul's Family, who received his Crown from the immediate Appointment of God, ended with his Reign ; and David by the fame Title that Saul Reigned, viz,. God's Appointment, fucceeded in his Throne, to the excluiion n{ Jonathan, and all Pretenfions of Paternal Inheri- tance : And if Solomon had a Right to fucceed his Father, it muft be by fome other Title, than that of Primogeniture. A Cadet, or Sifter's Son, muft have the Preference in Succeflion, if he has the fame Title the firft lawful Prince had : and in Dominion that has its Foundation only in the pofitive Appointment of God himfelf, Benja?nin the Youngeft, muft have the Inheritance of the Crown, if God fo direft, as well as one of that Tribe had the firft Poifeflion. 964 If Paternal Right the Aft of Begetting, give a Man Rule and Dominion, In- heritance or Primogeniture can give no Title. For he that cannot fucceed to his Father's Title, which was Begetting, cannot fucceed to that Power over his Bre- thren, which his Father had by Paternal Right over them. But of this I fhall have occafion to fay more in another place. This is plain in the mean Time, that any Government, whether fuppofed to be at firft founded in Paternal Right, Confent of the People, or the pofitive Appointtnent of God himfelf, which can fuperfede either of the other, and fo begin a new Government upon a new Foundation, I fay, any Government began upon either of thefe, can by Right of SuccelTion come to thofe only, who have the Title of him, they fucceed to Power founded on ContraEl, can defcend only to him, who has Right by that Contraft : Power founded on Begetting, he only can have that Begets : and Power founded on the pofitive Grant or Donation of God, he only can have by Right of Succeilion, to whom that Grant direfts it. 97. From what I have faid, I think this is clear, that a Right to the Ufe of the Creatures, being founded Originally in the Right a Man has to fubfift and enjoy the Conveniences of Life ; and the natural Right Children have to inherit the Goodsof their Parents, being founded in the Right they have to the fame Subfiftence and Commodities of Life, out of the Stock of their Parents, who are therefore taught by Natural Love and Tendernefs to provide for them, as a part of them- felves : and all this being only for the Good of the Proprietor, or Heir j it can be no Reafon for Childrens Inheriting of /?«/-«k UR A. tells us, 0.253. fhat it is a'f.itth undeniable, that there cannot be \J any Multitude of Men what foever, either great or fmall, tin' gathered together from the feveral Corners and remotefl Regions of the IVorld, btit that in the fame Multi- tude conftdered by it felf, there is one Man amongfl them, that in Nature hath a Right to be King of all the reft, as being the next Heir to Adam, and all the other SuhjeEis t9 him, every Man by Nature is a King or a SiibjeSI. And again, p. 20. If Adam him- felf were Jlill living, and now ready to die, it is certain that there is one Man, and but one in the If^orld who is >wxt Heir. Let this Multitude of Men be, if our A. pleafes, all the Princes upon the Earth, there will then be our by A.'s Rule, one amongft them, that in Nature hath a Right to be King of all the refl, as being the Right Heir to Adam ; an excellent Way to eftablifli tlie 'I hroncs of Princes, and fettle the Obedience of their Subjefts, by fctting up an Hundred, or perhaps a Thouland Titles (if . there be fo many Princes in the World) againft any King now Reigning, each as good, upon our A.'s Grounds, as his who ivears the Crown. If this Right of Heir carry any Weight with it, if it be the Ordinance of God, as our A. feems to tell us, O. 244. muft not all be fubjeel to it, from thehigheft to the loweft? Can thole who were the Name of Princes, without having the Right of being Heirs to Adam, demand Obedience from their Subjefts by this Title, and not be bound to pay it by the fame Law? either Governments in the World are not to be claim'd, and held by this Title of Adam's Heir, and then the ftarting of it is to no purpofc, the being or not being Adam's Heir fignifies nothing as to the Title of Dominion : Or if it really be, as our A. fays, the true Title to Government and Sovereignty, the firft thing to be done, is to find out this Vol. II. S true jog 0/ Government. tiTic Heir of Adam, feat him in his Throne, and then all the Kings and Princes of the World ought to come and refign up their Cro-wm and Scepters to him, as things that belong no more to them, than to any of their Subjcts. • 105. For either this Right in Nature, of Adam's Heir, to be King over all the race of Men, (for all together they make one Multitude) is a Right notnccef- i«rv to the making of a lawful King, and fo there may be lawful Kings with- out it, and then Kings Titles and Power depend not on it : or elfe all the Kings in the World but one are not lawful Kings, and fo have no Right to Obedi- ence : Either this Title o{ Heir to Adam is that whereby Kings hold their Crowns, and have a Right to Subjeftion from their Subjefts, and then one only can have it, and the reft being Subjefts can require no Obedience from other Men, who are but their Fellow Subjefts; or elfe it is not the Title whereby Kings Rule, and have a Right to Obedience from their Subjefts, and then Kings are Kings without it, and this Dream of the Natural Sovereignty of Adam's Heir is of no Ufe to Obedience and Government. For if Kings have a Right to Dominion, and the Obedience of their Subjefts, who are not, nor can poflibly be Heirs to Adam, what Ufe is there of fuch a Title, when we are oblig'd to Obey without it? If Kings who are not Heirs to Adam, have no Right to Sovereign- ty, we are all free, 'till bur A. or any body for him, will fhew us Adam's Right Heir. If there be but one Heir of Adam, there can be but one lawful King in the World, and no body in Confcience can be oblig'd to Obedience 'till it be re- folved who that is ; for it may be any one, who is not known to be of a younger Houfe, and all others have equal Titles. If there be more than one Heir of Adam, every one is his Heir, and fo every one has Regal Power. For if two Sons can be Heirs together, then all the Sons are equaHy Heirs, and fo allSre Heirs, being all Sons, or Sons of Adam. Betwixt thefe two the Right of Heir cannot ftand ; for by it either but one only Man, or all Men are Kings. Take which you pleafe, it diflblves the Bonds of Government and Obedience; fince if all Men are Heirs, they can owe Obedience to no body ; if only one, no body can be obliged to pay Obedience to him, 'till he be known, and his Title made out. CHAP. XI. Who H E I R? lo^.'TpHE great Qiieftion which in all Ages has difturb'd Mankind, and -■- brought on them the greateft part of thofe Mifchiefs, which have ruin'd Cities, depopulated Countries, and diforder'd the Peace of the World, has been not whether there be Power in the World, nor whence it came, but who fhould have it. The fetling of this Point being of no fmaller Moment than the Security of Princes, and the Peace and Welfare of their Eftates and King- doms, a Reformer of Politicks, one would think, fhould lay this fure, and be very clear in it, for if this remain difputable, all the reft will be to very little Purpofe ; and the skill ufed in drefling up Power with all the Splendor and Temp- tation Abfolutnefs can add to it, without fhewing who has a Right to have it, will ferve only to give a greater Edge to Man's Natural Ambition, which of its felf is but too keen. What can this do but fet Men on the more eagerly to Scramble, and fo lay a fure and lafting Foundation of endlefs Contention and Diforder, inftead of that Peace and Tranquility, which is the Bufinefs of Go- vernment, and the End of Human Society > 197. This Delignation of the Perfon our A. is more than ordinary obliged to take Care of, becaufe he, affirming that the Ajjignment of civil Poiver is by diviua liijiitutlon, hath made the Conveyance as well as the Power it felf Sacred '• fo that no Coniideration, no Ad or Art of Man can divert it from that Perfon, to whom, by this divine Right it is Aflignedi no Neceffity or Contrivance can fubftitutc another Perfon in his Room. For '\{ the Ajjigumtm of civil Pozver be l/y divir.e Inflitution; and Adam's Heir be he, to whom it is thus afligned, as in the fore- of G C> V K il N M E N T. forcgfiing Chapter uxxx A. tells us, it would be as much Sacrilege for any oric to be King, who was not Adam's Heir, as it would have been amongll the 7t-u;.f, ioranyone to have been Priift, who had not been oi Aann\ Poflenty : Vov mt cnly xhz '?i'\c{k.\\oo6. in general being Ly divine Li/litiitivn, but the Afjigmncnt vf it to the fole Line and Poflerity of Aaroi?, made it impoffil)le to be enjoy 'd or exercifed by any one, but thofe Perfons, wlio are of the Oft-i'pring of Aaron .- whole Succef- Jion therefoie was carefully oblerved, and by that tlic Perlbns who had a Right to the Prielthood certainly known. 1 08. Let us fee then what Care our A. has taken, to make us know who is this Heir, who bj divine Infiittitivn, ban a Right to be King over all Men. The hrft Account of him we meet with is p. i 2. in thefe Words : This SubjeEliun of Children, being the Fount :iin of all Regal Authority, by the Ordination of God himfelf ; it follovcs that civil Pozuer not only in general, is by divine Injlitution, but even the Ajfignment of it fpecifically to the eldefi Parents. Matters of fuch Confequence as this is, fhould be in plain Words, as little liable, as might be, to Doubt or Equivocation ; and, I think, if Language be capable of exprefling any thing diftinftly and clearly, that of Kindred, and the fevcral Degrees of nearnefs of Blood, is one. It were there- fore to be wifh'd, that our A. had ufed a little more intelligible Expreflions here, that we might ha\e better known, who it is, to whom the Aljignment of civil Pozuer is made by divine Injlitution ; or at lead would ha\e told us what he meant by eldefl Parents. For I believe if Land had been ailigned or granted to him, and the eldffi Parents oi his Family, he would have thought it had needed an Liter- pretcr ; and 'twovild fcarce have been known to whom next it belonged. 105?. In Propriety of Speech, (and certainly Propriety of Speech is neceffary in a Difcourfe of this Nature) eldefi Parents iignities cither the cldeft Men and Women that have had Children, or thofe who have longcft had lifue ; and then our A/s Allcrtion will be. That thole Fathers and Mothers, who have been longeft in the World, or longeft fruitful, have by divine Infiitiition a Right to civil Poveer. If there be any Abfurdity in this, our A. mufl; anfwer for it : And if his Meaning be different from my Explication, he is to be blam'd, that he would not fpeak it plainly. This I am fure, Parents cannot llgnify Heirs Male, nor eldefi Parents an infant Child: who yet may fometime be the true Heir, if there can be but one. And we are hereby ftill as much at a Lofs, who civil Power belongs to, notwithftanding this AfOgnnient by divine Infiitiition, as if there had been no fuch Ajfignment at all, orour A. had faid nothing of it. This of eldefi Parents leaving us more in the dark, who by divine Infiitiition has a Right to civil Pozuer, than thofe who never heard any thing at all of Heir, or Defcent, of \vhich our A. is fo full. And tho' the chief Matter of his Writings be to teach Obe- dience to thofe, who have a Right to it, which he tells us is conveyed by De- fcent, yet who thofe are, to whom this Right by Defcent belongs, he leaves> like the Philolophers Stone in Politicks, out of the Reach of any one to difcover from his Writings. no. This Obfcurity cannot be imputed to want of Language in fo gi"eat a Mailer of Style as Sir Robert is, when he is refulved with himfelf, what he would fay : And therefore, I fear, finding how hard it would be to fettle Rules of Defcent by divine Liflitution, and how little it would be to his Purpofe, or conduce to the clearing and cftablilhing the Titles of Princes, if fuch Rules of Defcent were ietilcd, he chofe rather to content himfelf with doubtful and general Terms, whichmight make no ill Sound in Mens Ears, who were willingto bepleas'd with them, rather than offer any clear Rules of Defcent of this Fatherhood o{ Adam, by which Mens Confciences might be fatisfied to whom it defcended, and know the Perfons who had a Right to Regal Power, and with it to their Obedience. III. How ellc it is poffiblc, that laying fo much Strefs, as he does, upon Defent, and Admns Heir, nest Heir, true Heir, he fliould never tell us what Heir meiins, nor the Way to know vho the next or true Heir is. This, I do not remember, he dees any where cxpreily handle; but, where it comes in his Way, very warily and doubtfully touches; cho' it be fo nccelTary, that without it allDil- courlcs of Government and Obedience upon his Principles would be to no Pur- pofe, and F.Ltherly Poxcer, never fo well made out, ^vill be of no ufe to any body'. Hence he tells us, O- ^44. That not only the Confiitiition of Poiver in general, but ti]^ Llmitaticn oj it to one kind, (i. e.) Monarchy and the Determination of it to the indivi' Vol. II. S 2 " dual 1^0 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. "^ njidnal Perfon and Line of Adam, are all three Ordinances of God, neither Eve nor her Children could either limit Adam'^ Power, or joyn others with him; and what was given unto Adam was given in his Perfon to his Pojlerity. Here again our A. iiilorms us, that the Divine Ordinance hath limited the Del'cent of Adam's Monarchical Power. To whom ? To Adam's Line and Pojlerity, f^^ys our A. A notable Limitation, a Limi'- tation to all Mankind. For if our A. can find any one amongft Mankind, that is not of the Line and Pojlerity of Adam, he may perhaps tell him, who this next ficir of Adam's is : But for us, I defpair how this Li?nitation of Adam's Empire to his Line and Pojlerity \v\\\ help us to find out one Heir. This Liinitation indeed of our A. will ft.ve thofe tlie Labour, who would look for him amongft the Race of Brutes, if any llich there were: But will very little contribute to theDifcovery of one next Heir amongft Men, tho' it make a fhort and eafy Determination of ihe Qiicftion about the Defcent of ^^^w's Regal Power, by telling us, that the Line and Pojlerity of Adam is to have it, that is in plain Englijl}, any one may have it, fincc there is no Perfon living, that hath not the Title of being o{ the Line and Pojlerity o{ Adam; and while it keeps there, it keeps within our A.'s Limita- tion by God's Ordinance. Indeed, p. ip. he tells us, that fuch Heirs are not only Lords of their own Children, but of their Brethren, whereby, and by the Words fol- lowing, which we fhall confider anon, he feems to infinuate, that the eldeft Son is Heir; but he no where, that I know, fays in di reft Words, but by the Inftan- ces of Cain and 'Jacob, that there follow, we may allow this to be fo far his Opi- nion concerning Heirs, that where there are divers Children, the eldeft Son has the Right to be Heir. That Primogeniture cannot give any Title to Paternal Power, we have already fhew'd. That a Father may have a Natural Right to fome Kind of Power over his Children, is eafily granted, but tliat an elder Bro- ther has fo over his Brethren remains to be proved : God or Nature has not any where, that I know, placedbyfuch Jurifdiftion intheFirft-born ; norcanReafon find any fuch natural Superiority amongft Brethren. The Law of M)/fj gave a double Portion of the Goods and Pofleffions to the Eldeft, but we find not any where, that naturally, or by God's Injlittition, Superiority or Dominion be- long'd to him, and the Inftances there brought by our A. are but flender Proofs of a Right to Civil Power and Dominion in the Firft-born, and do rather fhew the contrary. 112. Kis Words are in the fore-cited Place : And therefore we find God told Cain of his Brother Abel ; his Defirejhall be SubjeB unto thee, and thou Jhalt Rule over him. To which I anfwer, 1. Thefe Words of God to Cain, are by many Interpreters with great Reafon, underftood in a quite different Senfe than what our A. ules them in. 2. Whatever was meant by them, it could not be, that Cain as Elder, had a Natural Dominion over Abel; for the Words are conditional : If thou dojl well, and fo perfonal to Cain, and whatever was fignified by them, did depend on his Car- riage and not fellow his Birth-right : And therefore could by no means be an Eftablifliment of Dominion in the Firft-born in general. For before this Abel had his diflincl Territories by Right of private Dojninion, as our A. himfelf confell'es, O. 2IO. which he could not have had to the Prejudice of the Heir's Title, If by Divine Injlitution, Cain as Heir were to inherit all his Father's Dominion. 3. If this were intended by God as the Charter of Primogeniture, and the Grant of Dominion to Elder Brothers in general as fuch, by Right of Inheritance, we might expeft it fliould have included all his Brethren. For we may well fup- pofe, Adajn, from whom the World was to be Peopled, had by this Time, that thefe were grown up to be Men, more Sons than thefe two: Whereas v^/if/ him- felf is not io much as named; and the Words in the Original can fcarce with any good Conftruftion, be applied to him. 4. It is too much to build a Doftrine of fo mighty Confequence upon fo doubt- ful and obfcure a Place of Scripture, which may be well, nay better, under- ftood in a quite different Senfe, and fo can be but an ill Proof, being as doubt- ful as the thing to be proved by it ; efpecially when there is nothing elfe in Scripture or Reafon to be found, that favours or fupports it. 113. It follows, p. 19. Accordingly when Jacob bought his Brother's Birth-right, Ifaac bhffed him thus ; be Lord over thy Brethren, and let the Sons of thy Mother bow before tlm. Another Inftance, I take it, brought by our A. to evince Dominion due 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. 1^1 due to B'rth-rif^ht, and an admirable one it is. For it mufl be no ordinary Way of Realbningina Man, that is pleading for the natura*! Power of Kings, and agair.ft all Compaii;, to bring for Proof of it, an Example, where his own Account of it fouiids all the Right upon Compaft, and fettles Empire in the Younger Brother, unlefs buying and felling be no Compaft ; for he tells us, -when Jacob /'OOT^f bis Brother's Birth-right. But paflingby that, let us confider the Hiftory It i'eif, with what Ufe our A. makes of it, and we fliall find thefe following Miftakes about it. 1. That our A. reports this, as if //O.-zc had given j^^ro/' this BlelTing, immedi- ately upon his purchaiing the Birth-right; for he lays, -when Jacob bought, likac bkf- fed him, which is plainly otherwiie in the Scripture. For it appears, there was a Diftance of time between, and if we will take the Story in the Order it lies, it muft be no fmall Diftance; ^Wlfiuic's fojourning mGerar, and Tranfac- tions with Abimelech, Gen. 26. coming between, Rebecca being then beautiful and confequently young, but Ifaac when he bleifed Jacob, vvas old and decrepid : And Efiiu alio complains of Jacob, Gen. 27. ^6. that two times he had fupplant- ed him, he toook away my Birth-right, iays he, and behold now he hath taken away my Bkffing; Words, that 1 think fignify Diftance of Time and Difference of Adion. 2. Another Miftake of our A.'s is, that he fuppofes Ifaac gave Jacob the Bkf- Jing, and bid him be Lord over his Brethren, becaul'e he had the Birth-right ; for our A. brings this Example to prove, that he that \ya.s the Birth-right, has there- by a Right to be Lord over his Brethren. But it is alfo manifeft by the Text, that Ifaac had no Confideration of Jacob's having bought the Birth-rightj for when he bleifed him, he confidered him not as Jacob, but took him for Efau. Nor did Efau underftand any fuch Conneftion between Birth-right and the Bleffing, for he fays, he hathfapplanted me thefe two times, he took away my Btrth-right, and behold now he hath taken aivay my Bleffing : IVheveas had the Bleffing, which was to be Lord over his Brethren, belong'd to the Birth-right, Efau could not have complain'd of this fe- cond, as a Cheat, Jacob having got nothing but what Efau had fold him, when he fold him his Birth-right; fo that it is plain. Dominion, if thefe Words fignifie it, was not underftood to belong to the Birth-right. 114. And that in thole Days of the Patriarchs, Dominion was not underftood to be the Right of the Fleir, but only a greater Portion of Goods, is plain from Gen. 21. 10. lor Sarah taking Ifaac to be Fleir, fays, caji out the Bondwotnan and her Son, for the Son of this Bsndwoman jhall not be Heir with my Son : whereby could be meant nothing, but tliat he fhould not have a Pretence to an equal Share of his Father's Eftate alter his Death, but Ihould have his Portion prefently and be gone. Accordingly we read. Gen. 2^. ^,6. T'hat Abraham gave all that he had un- to Ifaac, but tmto the Sons of the Concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave Gifts and fent them avjay fro'm lia.a.c his Son, while he yet lived. That is, Abraham having given Portions to all his other Sons, and fent them away, that which he had re- lerved, being the greateft part of his Subftance, Ifaac ^s Heir polfefled after his Death, but by being Heir, he had no Right to be Lord over his Brethren ; for if he had, why Hiouid Sarah endeavour to rob Iiim of one of his SubjeBs, or leffen the Number oi h\s Slaves, by deliring to have I/hmael lent away. 115. Tnus asunder the Law, the Privilege of Birth-right was nothing but a double Portii.n, fo we fee that befc-ie Mofes in the Patriarchs Time, from whence our A. pretends to take his Model, there was no Knowledge, no Thought, that Birth-right gave Rule or Empire, Paternal or Kingly Authority, to any one over his Bretheren. If this be not plain enough in the Story of Ifaac and If/rmael^ he that w'xll lock into i Chron. 5.12. may there read thefe Words, Reuben wui the firflBorn, but forafmueh as he defiled his Father s Bed, his Birth-right was given unto the. Sons of Jofep'i, the Son of Ifrael, and the Genealogy is not to be reckoned after the Birth-^ ''ight ; for judah prevailed above his Bretheren, and of him came the chief Ruler, but the Birth-right wcu Jofeph'^' ; what this Birth-right was, Jacob bleiling Jofeph, Gen.^S. 22. telleth us in thefe Words, Moreover I have given thee one Portion above thy Bre~ thren, which I took out of the Hand of the Amorite, with -my Szuord and with ?ny Bow'. Whereby it is not only plain, tiiat the Birth-right was nothing but a double Por- tion, but the Text in Chron. is exprefs againft our A.'s Doftrine, and fliews that Dominion was no part of the Birth-rigi'.t. For it tells us, that Jofeph had the ^ Birth-right, buz Judah the Dominion. One would think our A. were very fond of i/^i - 0/ Government. of the very Name Oi Birtb-right, wlicn lie bripgs this Inflancc o^ 'Jacob ay-p Efaii, to prove that Dominion belongs to the Heir over his Brethren. ' 1 1 6. I. Becaufe it will be but an ill Example to prove, that Dominion by God's Ordination bclong'd to the Eldeft Son, becaufe JacoL the Youngeft here had it, k-t him come by it how he would. For if it prove any thing, it can only prove againft our A. that the Ajfignment of Dominion to the Eldcji, is not by Divine Infti- tution, which would then be unalterable. For if by the Law of Gcd, or Nature, ablolute Power and Empire belongs to the eldeli Son and his Heirs, fo that they are fuprcam Monarchs, andall the reft of their Brethren Sla^es, our A. gives us Rcafon to doubt, whether the eldeft Son has a Power to part with it, to the Prejudice of his Pofterity, fince he tells us, O. 158. That in Grants and Gifts that have their Origindl from God or Nature, or inferior Power oj Man can limit, or make any Law of Prcfoiption agalnjl them. II J. 2. Becaule this Place, Gen. 27.29. brought by our A. concerns not at all tlie Dominion of one Brother over the other, nor the Subjeftion of Efaii to Jacc!/. For ''tis plain in the Hiftory, that Efau was never fubjeft to Jacob, but lived "apart in Mount Seir, where he founded a diftinft People and Government, and was himfelf Prince over them, as much as Jacob was in his own Family. This Text if confider'd, can never be underftocd of Efau himfelf, or the perfonal , Dominion of Jacob over him : For the Words Brethren and Sens of thy Mother, could not be uled literally hy Ifaac who knew j^/zai had only one Brother; and thefe Words are fo far from being true in a literal Senfe, or eftablifhing any Domi- - nion in Jacob over Efau, that in the Story we find the quite contrary, for Ge>?. 32. Jacob feveral times calls £/^« Lord, and himfelf his Servant; and Gen. ■^^. he lozved himfelf feveiz times to the Ground to Efau. Whether Efau then were a Subjeft and Vailal (nay as our A. tells us, all Subjefts are Slaves) to Jacob, and Jacob his Sovereign Prince by Birth-right, I leave the Reader to judge ; and to believe if he can, that thefe Words of ifaac, be Lord over thy Brethren, and let thy Another's Sons bow down to thee, confirm'd Jacob in a Sovereignty over Efau, upon the Ac- count of the Birth-right he had got from him. 118. He that reads the Story o( Jacob ^nd Efau, will find there was never any Jurifdiction or Authority, that either of them had over the other after their Fa- ther's Death; they lived with the Friendfhip and Equality of Brethren, neither Lord, neither.S'/rt'y? to his Brother; but independent of each other,were both Heads of their diftind: Families, where they received no Laws from one another, but lived feparately, and were the Roots out of which fprang two diftind People under two diftinft Governments. This Blelling then of Ifaac, whereon our A. would build the Dominion of the elder Brother fignifies no more, but what Re- becca had been told from God, Gen. 25. 23. Two Nations are in thylVvmb, andtzvo manner of People, -fiaH be feparated fro7n thy Bowels, and the one People flxiH be fironger than the other People, and the Elder f}} all ferve the Tounger; and fo Jacob blefled Judah, Gen. 45?. and gave him the Scepter and Dominion, from whence our A. might have aigued as well, that Jurildiction and Dominion, belongs to the third Son over liis Brethren, as well as from this Blefling oi Ifaac, that it belonged to Jacob : Both thefe Places contain only Predictions of what flaovdd long after happen to their Pofterities, and not any Declaration of the Right of Inheritance to Domi- nion in either. And thus we have our A.'s two great and only Arguments to J>rove, that Heirs are Lords ever their Brethren. '' i. Becaufe God tells Cain, Gen. 4. That however Sin might fet upon him, he ought or might be Mafter of it: For the moft learned Interpreters underftood the Words of Sin, and not of Abel, and give fo ftrong Reafons for it, that no- thing can convincingly be infer'd, from fo doubtful a Text, to our A.'s Purpofe. 2. Becaufe in this oi Gen. 27. Ifaac foretels that the Ifaelits, the Pofterity of Jacob, fliould ha\e Dominion over the Edomites, the Pofterity oi Efau; there- fore fays otir A. Heirs are Lords of their Brethren: I leave any one to judge oi the Conclufion. up. And now we fee how cur A. has provided for the Defcending, and Con- veyance down of Adam's monarchical Power, or paternal Dominion to Pofterity, by the Inheritance of his Heir, fucceeding to all his Father's Authority, and be- coming upon his Death as much Lord as his Father Avas, not only over bis own Chil- dren, but over his Brethren, antl all defcended from his Father, and fo in infini- turn of Government. 14 J tu7n. But yet who this Heir is, he 'docs not once tell us ; and all the Light we have IVom him in this fo fundamental a Point, is only, that in his Inftauce of Jacob, by uling the Word Birth-right, as that which palled from Efau to 'Jacob, he leaves us to guefs, that by Heir, he means the eldeflSon; the' I do not re- member he any where mentions exprcfly the Title of the Firft-born, but all along keeps himfelf under the Shelter of the indefinite Tk^rm Heir. But taking it to be his Meaning, that the eldcft Son is Heir, (for if the Eldeft be not, there will be no Pretence why the Sons fliould not be all Htirs alike) and fo by Right of Primogeniture has Dominion over his Brethren j this is but one Step towards the Settlement of SuccelTion, and the Difficulties remain ftill as much as ever^ till he can fliew us who is meant by Right Heir, in all thofe Cafes which may happen where the prefent Pofl'eifor hath no Son. This he filently paiTes over; and perhaps wifely too: For what can be^ wifer, after one has affirm'd. That the Perfvn having that Power, as well as the Power and Form of Government, is the Ordi- nance of God, and by divine LijUtiition, vid. O. 254. p. 12. than to be careful, not to ftart any Queftion concerning the Perfon, the Refolution whereof will certainly lead him into a Confefllon, that God and Nature hath determined nothing about him. And if our A. cannot fliew who by Right of Nature, or a cleat pofitive Law of God, has the next Right to inherit the Dominion of this natu- ral Monarch he has been at fuch Pains about, when he died without a Son, he might have fpared his Pains in all the reft, it being more neceflary for the fet- ling Mens Confciences, and determining their Subjeftion and Allegiance, to fliew them who by original Right, fuperior and antecedent to the Will, or any A(ft of Men, hath a Title to this paternal Jiirifdi^iion, than it is to fhew that by Nature there was fuch a Jiirifdiciion ; it being to no Purpofe for me to knovV thei-e is fuch a paternal Power, which I ought, and am difpofed to obey, unlefs where there are many Pretenders, I alfo know the Perfon, that is rightfully invefted and endow'd with it. 120. For the main Matter in Queftion being concerning the Duty of my Obedience, and the Obligation of Confcience, I am under, to pay it to him, that is of Right my Lord and Ruler, I muft know the Perfon, that this Right of paternal Power refides in, and fo impowers him to claim Obedience from me. For let it be true what he fays, p. 1 2. That Civil Power not only in general is by di- vine biftitution, but even the Affignmem of it fpecially to the Eldejl Parents ; and O. 254. "That not only the Power or Right of Government, but the Form of the Power of Go~ •verning, and the Perfun having that Power, are all the Ordinance of God; yet unlefs he fliew us in all Cafes who is this Perfon, Ordain d by God; who is this Eldefl Parent, all his abftraft Notions of Monarchical Power will lignify juft nothing, when they are to be reduced to Praftice, and Men are confcientioufly to pay their Obedience. Fov paternal JurifdiBion being not the thing to be obeyed, be- caufe it cannot command, but is only that which gives one Man a Ricrht, which another hath not, and if it come by Inheritance, another Man cannot have, to command and be obey'd; it is ridiculous to fey, I pay Obedience to the paternnl Poiver, when I obey him, to whom paternal Power gives no Right to my Obedience: For he can have no divine Right to my Obedience, who cannot fliew his divine Right to the Power of ruling over me, as well as that by Di- vine Right, there is fuch a Power in the World. 121. And hence not being able to make out any Prince's Title to Government, as Heir to Adam, which therefore is of no Ufe, and had been better let alone, he is fain to refolve all into prefent PoUelllon, and makes civil Obedience as due to an Ufurper, as to a lawful King; and thereby the Ufurper's Title asgood. His Words- are, O. 255. And they delerve to be remembred: If an Ufurper difpojfefs the true Heir, the Sid'jeffs Obedience to the Fatherly Power mufi go along and wait upon God's Pro- vidence. But I fliall leave his Title of Ufiirpers to be examin'd in its due Place, and defire my fober Reader to confider what Thanks Princes owe fuch Politicks as this, which can fuppofe paternal Power, (i. e.) a Right to Government in the Hands of a Cade, or a Cromwel, and fo all Obedience being due to paternal Power, the Obedience of Subjefts will be due to them, by the fame Right, and upon as good Grounds, as it isto lawful Princes; and yet this as dangerous a Doc- trine as it is, muft necedarily follow from making all political Power to be no- thing elie, but Adam's paternal Power by Right and divine Inflitution, defcend^ ing from Ijim without being able to fliew to whom it defcended, or who is Heir to it. ,;,. I'g I .A 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. 112. To fettle Government in the World, and to lay Obligations to Obedience on anv Man's Confcience, it is as neccil'ary Tfuppofing vvitli our A. that all Power be nothing but the being pofldled oi Adam's Fatherhuud) to latisfy him, who has a Right to this Potver, this Fatherhood, when the Polfeflbr dies without Sons to fucceed immediately to it, as it was to tell him, that upon the Death of the Fa- ther, the Eldeft Son had a Right to it: For it is ftill to be remember'd, that the great Qiieftion is, (and that which our A. would be thought to contend for, if he did not fometimes forget it) what Pcrfons have a Right to be obeyed, and not whether there be a Power in the World, which is to be called paternal, without knowing in whom it refidcs: For fo it be a Power, /. e. Right to govern, it matters not, whether it be termed Paternal or Rtgal, Natural ox Acquired: \vhe- ther you call it fttpreme Fatherhood, or fiipreme Brotherhood, will be all one, provid- ed we know who has it. 123. I po on then to ask whether in the inheriting of tWxs paternal Pozuer, this fii- preme Fatherhood, the Grandfon by a Daughter, hath a Right before a Nephew by a Brother? Whether the Grandfon by the Eldeft Son, being an Infant, before the younger Son a Man and able? Whether the Daughter before the Uncle? any other Man, defended by a Male Line ? Whether a Grandfon by a younger Daugh- ter, before a Grand-daughter by an elder Daughter? Whether the elder Son by a Concubine, before a yooanger Son by a Wife? From whence alfo will arife many Queftions of Legitimation, and what in Nature is the Difference betwixt a Wife and. a Concvibine? For as to the municip-al or poiitive Laws of Men, they can fignify nothing here. It may farther be asked, Whether the eldeft Son be- ing a Fool, Ihali inherit this patiemal Power^ before the younger a wife Man ? And what Degree of Folly it muft be, that fliall exclude him? And who fhall be Jude of it ? Whether the Son of a Vwl excluded for his Folly, before the Son of his wife Brother who Reign'd? Vv'bo has the paternal Power whilft the Widow-Queen is with Child by the deceafed King, and no body knows whether it will be a Son or a Daughter? Which (hail be Heir of the two Male-Twins, who by the Difteftion of the Mother, were laid open to the World? Whether a Sifter by the Half-blood, before a Brother's Daughter by the whole Blood ? 124. Thefe, and many more fuch Doubts, might be propofed about the Title? of Succeflion, and the Right of Inheritance; and that not as idle Speculations, but fuch as in Hiftory we fhall find, have concerned the Inheritance of Crowns and Kingdoms; and if ours want them, we need not go farther for famous Ex- amples of it, than the other Kingdom in this very Ifland, which having been fully related by the ingenious and learned Author of Patrianha mn Monarcha, I need fay no mora of. Till our A. hath refolved all the Doubts, that may arife about the next Heir, and fliewed that they are plainly determin'd by the Law of Na- ture, or the revealed Law of God, all his Suppofitions of a Monarchical, Abfohaei Supreme, paternal Power in Adatn, and the Defcent of that Power to his Heirs, would not be of the leaft Ufe to eftablifh the Authority, or make out the 'J'itle of any one Prince now on Earth; but would rather unicttle and bring all into Queftion: For let our A. tell us as long as he pleafes, and let all Men believe it too, thuit Adam had a Paternal and thereby a Monarchical Power; thatthi<; (the only Powe^- in the World) def.ended to his Heirs; and that there is no other Power in the World but this: Let this be all as clear Demonftration, as it is manifeft Error, yet if it be not paft Doubt, to whom this paternal Power defcends, and whofe now it is, no body can be under any Obligation of Obedience, unlels any one will fay, that I am bound to pay Obedience to paternal Power in a Man, who ha« no more paternal Power than I my fclf ; which is all one as to fay, I obey a Man, becaufe he has a Right to govern; and if I be asked, how I know he has a Right to govern, I fhould anfwer. It cannot be known, that he has any at all. For that cannot be the Reafon of my Obedience, which I know not to be fo : much lefs can that be a Reafon of my Obedience, which no body at all can know to be ^o. 125. And therefore all this ado v!i)OMt Adam' s Fatherhood, the Greatncfs of its Power, and the NecefTity of its Suppofal, helps nothing to eftablifti the Power of thofethat govern, or to determine the Obedience of Subjcds who are to obey, if they cannot tell whom they are to obey, or it cannot be known who are to go- vern, and who to obey. In the State the World now is irrecoverably ignorant, who iS Adam' i. Heir. ''i"hi$ Fatherhood, this Monarchical Power of Adam'deli^ending to of G O V E R N M E N T« i^C to his Heirs, would be of no more ufcto the Government of Mankind, than it would be to the quieting of Mens ConfciCnces, or fecuring their Healths, if our A. had allured them, that AJajn had a Poiwr to forgive Sins, or cure Difeafcs, which by divine Inftitution defcended to his Hdr, whilft this Heir is impofllblc to be known. And fhould he not do as rationally, who upon the Aflurance of our A. went and confededhis Sins, and cxpeded a good Abfolution ; or took Phy- lick with Expectation of Health from any one who had taken on himfelf the Name of Fried or Phylician, or thruft himfelf into thofe Employments, faying, I acquiefce in the abfolvihg Power defcending from Adam, or I fhall be cured by the medicinal Power deicending from .(^^/iZ/«; as he who fays, I fubmittoand. obey the paternal Power defending from Adam, when 'tis confefled all thefe Powers dcfcend only to his fingle Heir, and that Heir is unknown. 1 2<5. 'Tis true, the Civil Lawyers have pretended to determine fome of thefe Cales concerning the Succeflion of Princes; but by our A.'s Principles, they have medled in a Matter that belongs not to them: For if all political Power be deriv- ed only from Adam, and be to defcend only to his fucceffive Heirs, by the Ordi- nance of Godo.uA divine Inftittition, this is a Right anticedent and paramount to all Government ; and therefore the poiitive Laws of Men, cannot determine that, which is it felt the Foundation of all Law and Government, and is to receive its Rule only from the Law of God and Nature. And that being filent in the Cafe, I am apt to think there is no fuch Right to be convey 'd this Way : I am fure it would be to no Purpofe if there were, and Men would be more at a Lofs concern- ing Government and Obedience to Govemors, than if there were no fuch Right; fince by pofitive Laws and Compaft, which divine Inftitution (if there be any) fhuts out, all thefe endlefs inextricable Doubts, can be fafely provided againft ; but it can never be underftood, how a divine natural Right, and that of fuch Moment as is all Order and Peace in the World, fhould be convey 'd down to Pofle- rity, without any plain natural or divine Rule concerning it. And there would be an End of all civil Government, if t\\e. Ajjigmnent of civil Power were by di^ •vine Inftitution to the Heir, and yet by that divine Inftitution the Perfon of the Heir could not be known. This paternal regal Pozver, being by divine Right only his, it leaves no room for human Prudence, or confent to place it any where elfe ; for if only one Man hath a divine Right to the Obedience of Mankind, no body can claim that Obedience, but he that can fhew that Right ; nor can Mens Confciences by any other Pretence be obliged to it. And thus this Doftrine cuts up all Government by the Roots. 127. Thus we fee how our A. laying it for a fure Foundation, that the very Perfon that is to Rule, is the Ordinance of God, and by divine Inftittition, tells us at large, only that this Perfon is the Heir, but who this Heir is, he leaves us to guefs; and fo this divine Inftitution which afligns it to a Perfon, whom we have no Rule to know, is juft as good as an Allignment to nobody at all. But what- ever our A. does, divine Ihftittitioit makes no fuch ridiculous Allignments : Nor can God be fuppofed to make it a facred Law, that one certain Perfon fliould have a Right to fomething, and yet not give Rules to mark out, and know that Perfon by, or give an Heir a divine Riglit to Power, and yet not point out who this Heir is. 'Tis rather to be thought, that an Heir had no fuch Right by di- vine Inftitution, than that God fhould give fuch a Right to the Heir, but yet leave it doubtful, and undeterminable who fuch Heir is. 128. If God had given the Land of Canaan to Abraham, and in general Terms to fome body after him, without naming his Seed, whereby it might be known, who that fome body was, it would have been asgoodandufeful an Aflignment, to determine the Right to the Land of Canaan, as it would be the determining the Right of Crowns, to give Empire to Adain and his fuccelTwe Heirs after him, without telling who his Heir is : For the Word Heir, without a Rule to know who it is, fignifies no more than fome body, I know not whom. God making it a divine Inftitution, that Men fhould not marry thofe who were near of Kin, thinks it not enough to fay, none of you fhall approach to any that is near of Kin to him, to 702cover their Nakednefs : Bu6 moreover gives Rules to know who are thofe near of Kin, forbidden by divine Inftitution, or elfe that Law would have been of no ufe; it being to no Purpofe to lay Reftraint, or give Privileges, to Men, in fuch general Terms, as the particular Perfon concern 'd cannot be known bv. But yol 11 T ' ' God y^$ 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. God not having any where faid, the next Heir fhall inherit all his Father's E- ftatc or Dominion, we are not to wonder, that he hath nu where appointed, wlio that Heir fhould be; for never having intended any I'uch thing, never deligned any Heir in that Senfe, we cannot expeft he fliould any where nominate, or ap- point any Perfon to it, as we might, had it been otherwife. And therefore in Scripture, though the Word Heir occur, yet there is no fuch thing, as Heir in our A/s Senfe, one that was by Right of Nature to inherit all that his Father had, exclufive of his Brethren. Hence Sarah fuppofes, that if I/I.mael [\.a\d m the Houfe, to fhare mAl^rabam's Eftate after his Death, this Son of a Bond-woman might be Heir with Ifaac ; and therefore, fays fhe, caft out this Bond-woman and her Sen, fur the Son vf this Bond-woman fljall not he Heir -with my Son ; but this cannot cxcufe our A. who telling us there is in every Number of Men, one who is Right and next Heir to Adam,^ ought to have told us what the Laws of Defcent arc. But he having been fo fparing to inftruft us by Rules, how to know who is Heir, let us fee in the next place, what his Hiftory out of Scripture, on which he pre- tends wholly to build his Government, gives us in this necelfary and fundamental Point.' 129. Our A. to make good the Title of his Book, p. 13. begins his Hiftory of the Defcent of Adam's regal Power, />. 13. in thefe Words, T^./V Lord/hip which Adam by Command had over the whole IVorld, and by Right defending from him, the Patriarchs did enjoy was a large, &c. How does he prove that the Patriarchs by Defcent did enjoy it ? for Dominion of Life and Death, fiiys he, we find Judah the Father pronounced Sentence of Death againjl Thamar his Daughter-in-Law for playing the Harlot, p. 1$. How does this prove that j?z/^i2/j had abfolute and fovereign Au- thority ? He pronounced Sentence oj Death. The pronouncing of Sentence of Death, is not a ceitain Mark of Sovereignty, but ufually the Office of inferior Magi- Rratcs. The Powerof making Laws ot Life andDeath, is indeed a Mark of Sove- reignty, but pronouncing the Sentence according to thofe Laws may be done by others, and therefore this will but ill prove that he had fovereign Authority : As if one fhould fay, fudge Jefferies, pronounced Sentence of Death in the late Times, therefore Judge fefferies, had fovereign Authority. But it will be faid, Judah did it not by CommifTion from another, and therefore did it in his own Right. Who knows whether he had any Right at all, heat of Paflion might car- ry him to do that, which he had no Authority to do. Judah had Dominion of Life andDeath, how does that appear? \{.t(t\zxz'i{^ii\x.,\\zpronotmced Sentence of Death againft Thamar, our A. thinks it is very good Proof, that becaufe he did it, therefore he had a Right to do it : He lay with her alfo : By the fame way of Proof, he had a Right to do that too. If the Confequence be good from doing to a Right of doing. Abfalon too may be reckon 'd amongft our A.'s Sovereigns, for he pronounced fuch a Sentence of Death againft his Brother Amnon, and much iipon a like OccalTion, and had it executed too j if that be fufficient to prove a Dominion of Life and Death. But allowing this all to be clear Demonftration of fovereign Power, who was it, that had this L.ordJJ.np by Right defending to him from Adam, as large and a7Kple lis the abfoluteji Do7ninion if any Monarch ? Judah, fays our A. Judah a younger Son of Jacob, his Father and elder Brethren living ; fo that if our A.'s own Proof be to be taken, a younger Brother may, in the Life of his Father and elder- Brothers, by Right of Defcent, f/z/oy Adam'i Monarchical Power; and if one fo qualify'd may be Monarch by Defcent, why may not every Man ? If Judah^ his Father and elder Brother living, were one of Adam's Heirs, 1 know not who j^ap'be excluded from this Inheritance; all Men by Inheritance may be Monarchs as well as Judah. 130. "Touching War, we fee that Abraham commanded an Army 0/318 Soldiers ofhif own Family, ' and Efau met his Brother Jacob with 400 Men at Arms ; for Matter of Peace; Abraham made a L.eague with Abimelcch, &c. p. 13. Is it not poilible for a Man to have 318 Men in his Family, without being Heir to ^ip of Ada>n doth not by Ri[;ht dcfcend to Common-wealths, though they make War and Peace, the fame- fay I of Abraham, and then there is an end of your Argument; if you ftand to yo ur Argument, and fay thofe that do make War and Peace, as Common- vv'ealths do without doubt, do inherit Adam'y Lordfiip, there is an end of your ^ lonarchy, unlels you will fay, that Common-wealths by defcent enjoying Adam'y L crdjhip are Monarchies, and that indeed would be a new way of making all the C governments in the World Monarchical. 134. To give our A. the Honour of this new Invention, for I confefs it is not 1 have firft found it out by tracing his Principles, and fo charged it on him, 'tis jijit my Readers know that (as abfurd as it may feem) he teaches it himfelf, p. -23. where he ingenuoufly fays, /;/ all Kingdoms and Common-ijcealths in the World, •whether the Prince be the fupreme Father of the People, or but the true Heir to fuch a Fa- ther, or come to the Crovcn by Ufurpation or Election, or -whether fome few or a Multitnde govern the Cominon-tDealth ; yet flill the Authority that is in any one, or in many, or in all thefe is, the only Right, and natural Authority of a fupreme Father, which Right of Fatherhood he often tells us, is Regal and Royal Authority ; ;t^ particularly, p. 12. the Page immediatelyprecedingthislnftance of y^/;ra/w??7. This Regal Authority, he fays, thofe that govern Common-v/ealths have; and if it be true, that Regal Vol. II. T 2 and I^^ 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. nnd Roynl Authority be in thofe that govern Common-weakhs, it is as true that Common-wcaltns arc go\ern'd by Kings; for if Regal Autlioritybe inhimthac governs; he that governs mud needs be a King, and fo all Common-wealths are nothing but downright Monarciiies, and then what need any more ado about the Matter? The Governmerts of the World are as they fliculd be, there is nothing hut Monarchy in it. This without doubt, was the furclt Way our A. could ha\elound, to turn all other Governments, but Monarchical, out of the World. I ;^5. liut all this i'carce proves Abraham, to have been King as Heir to Adam. If by lrl;ei itarce he had been King, Lot^ who was of the fame Family muft needs iir.ve been his Subjeft, by that Title, before the Servants in his Family; but we ieetheyliv'd as Friends and Equals, and when their Herdfm;n could not agree, thc-:e was no Pjciencc of Junldittion or Superiority between them, but they parted by Ccnfcnt, Gen. 13. hence he is called both by Abraham, and by the 'i'cxt Abraha7>i's Brother, the Name ofFriendHiip and Equality, and not of Jurif- diftion and Authority, though he were really but his Nephew. And if cur A. knows that Abraham was Adam's Heir, and a King, 'twas more, it feems, than Abraham himfelf knew, or his Servant v.'hom he ient a wooing for his Son; for when he fcts out the Advantages of the Match, iJi^Gen. 35. tiiereby to prevail with the )'curg Woman and her Friends. He fays, I am Abraham'^ Servant, and the Lord hath blejfed my Afafier greatly, and he is becojnd great, and he hath given hijn F/ocks and Herds, and Silver and Gold, and Men-Servants and Maid-Servants, and Camels and AJfes, and Sarah my Mafler's IVife, hare a Sen to my Mafier v^hen fl)e luas old, and unto himhath he given all he hath. Can one think that a difcreet Servant, that W4S thus particular to fetout his Mafter's Greatnefs, would have omitted the Crown Ifaa: was to have, if he had known of any fuch ? Can it be imagin'd he fliculd have neglected to have told them on luch an Occafion as this, that Abraham was a King, a Name u'ell known at that time, for he had nine of them his Neighbours, if he or his Mafier had thought any fuch thing, the like- lieft Matter of all the reft, to make his Errand fuccefsful ? \-^6. But this Difcovery, it ieems, was referved for our A. to make 2 or 3000 Years after, and let him enjoy the Credit of it, only he fliould. have taken care that frme o{ Adam\ Land fliould have delcended tothis his Heir, as well as all Adam\ Lordflilp. For though this Lordfliip which Abraham, (if we may believe (^ur A.) as well as tlie other Patriarchs, by Right defeendingto him did enjoy, zvas as large and ample as the abfolntejl Dominion of any Monarch which hath been Jince the Creation ; yet his Eftate, his Territories, his Dominions were very narrow and fcanty, for he had not the PoflfelTion of a Foot of Land, till he bought a Field and a Cave of the Sons of H^th to bury Sarah in. I :; 7. The Liftance oi Ejau joyn'd with this of Abraham, to prove that the Lord- fiv'p zihich Adam had over the ivholeM^Vrld, by Right defcending from him, the Patriarchs did enjoy, is yet nrore pleaflmt than the former. Efau met his Brother Jacob luith 400 Men at Arms ; he therefore was a King by Right of Heir to Adam. 400 arm'd Men then however got together are enough to prove him, that leads them, to be a King and Adrm's Heir. There ha\ e been Tories in Ireland, (v/hatever there are in other Countries) who would have thank'd our A. for fo honourable an Opinion of them, efpecially if there had been nobody near with a better Title of 500 armed Men, to queftion their Royal Authority of 400. 'Tis a fhame for Men to triile fo, to fay no worfe of it, in fo ferious an Argument. Here Efau is brought as a Proof that Adam's Lordfliip, Adam's abfolute Dominion, as large as that of any Msnarch defended by Right to the Patriarchs, and in this \try Chap. p.i^. Jacob is brought as an Inftance of one, that by Birth-right %i:as Lordcver his Brethren'.. So we have here two Brothers abfolute Monarchs by the lame Title, and at the fame time Heirs to Adam ; the eldeft Heir to Adam, becaufe he met his Brother with 400 Men ; and the youngeft Heir to Adam by Birth-right : Efau enjoy'd the l.or(\f)ip ivhich Ad^m had ever the -whole World by Right defending to him, in as large and ample manner, as the abflutefl Dominion oj any Monarch, and at the fame time, Jacob Lord over l;im, by the Right Htirs have to be Lords over their Brethren, Rifimtencatis? I neyer, I confel's, met with any Man of Parts fo dextrous as Sir Rob. at this way of arguing : But 'twas his Misfortune to light upon an Hypothefis, that could not be accom.modated to the nature of Thing*;, and human Atf.iirs ; his Principles could cot be m.ade to agree with that Conltitution and Order, which God had fettled 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. 1 49 fettled in tlic World, and therefore muft needs often ci^fli U'ith con-inion Senfe and Experience. 138. In the next Seftion, he tells us, 'This Patriarchal Pozuer cmtinucd not only till the Flood, but after it, Ui the Name Patriarchs doth in part prove. The Word Patriarch doth more than in part prove, that Patriarchal /^oui^r continued in the World as long as there were Patriarchs, for 'tisncceffary that Patriarchal Power fliould be whilft there are Patriarchs; as 'tis neceliary there Hiould be paternal or conjugal Power, whilfl there are Fathers or Husbands ; but this isbut playing with Names, 'iliat which he would fallacioufly infmuatc, isthe'J hinginqueftion to be proved, viz.: 'J'hat the Lord/hip -which Adam had over the World, the luppoied ablblute uni- verfal Dominion of Adam by Right defcendingjrom him, the Patriarchs did enjoy. If he affirms fuch an abfolute Monarchy continued to the Flocd, in the World, I would be glad to know what Records he has it from ; for I confefs I cannot find a Word of it in my Bible: If by Patriarchal Power, he means any thing el!e, it is nothing to the Matter in hand. And how the Name Pi?m/7)T/; in fomcpart proves, that thofe, who are called by that Name, had abfoluie monarchical Power, I confefs, I do not fee, and therefore I think riceds no Anfwer till tiie Argument from it be made out a little clearer. 139. The three 6'owof Noah had the IVorld, fnys our A. divided a}!W!!y ft themhytheir Father, for of them -was the luhole JVorldoverfpread, p. 14. The World might be over- fpread by the Offspring of Noah's Sons, though he never divided the World amongft them ; for the Earth might be replenifhed without being divided : So that all our A.'s Argument here, proves no fuch Divilion. However I allow it to him, and then ask, the World being divided amongfl: them, which of the three was Adam's Heir.' \i Adam's Lor df.)ip, Adam's Monarchy, by Right deicendcd only to the Eldeft, then the other two could be but his Subjecis, his Slaves; if by Right it defcended to all the three Brothers, by the fame Right, it will de!"ccnd to all Mankind, and then it will be impoflible ^vhat he fays, p. 19. that Heirs are Lords of their Brethren, fhouldbe true, but all Brothers, and confequently all Men will be equal and independent, all Heirs to Adam's Monarchy, and confe- quently all Monarchs too, one as much as another. But 'twill be faid Noah their Father divided the World amongft them, fo that our A. will allow more to Noah, than he will to God Almighty, for O. 211. he thought it hard, thatGcd himfelf fhould give the World to Noah and his Sons, to the prejudice of Noah's Birth-right, his Words are, Noah vsas left fcle Heir to the IForld, v.hy(Imild it be thought that God -would difwherit him of his Birth-right, and male hi7n of all Afcninthe World, the only Tenant in common -luith his Children? and yet here he thinks it tit that Noah fhould difinherit Shein of his Birth-right, and divide the World be- twixt him and his Brethren, fo that his Birtl-ight, when cur A. pleafes, muft, and when he pleifes muft not, be facred and inviolable. 140. li Noah did divide the World between his Sons, and his Aflignment of Dominions to them were good, there is an end of divine Inftitution ; all our A.'s Difcourfe of Adam's Heir, with whatfoever he builds on it, is quite out of doors; and the natural Power of Kings fall to the ground; and then thejovjnofthe Power Governing, and the Perfon having that Povcer, -will not be (as he lays they are, O.254. the Ordinance of God, but they will be Ordinances oj Man. For if the Right of the Heir be the Ordinance of God, a divine Right, no Man, Father or not Father, can alter it : If it be not a divine Right, it is only human, depending on the Will of Man : And fo where human Inftitution gives it not, the firft-born has no Right at all above his Brethren ; and Men may put Government into what hands, and under what form they pleafe. 141. He goes on, Mojl of the civilefi Nations of the Earth, labour to fetch their Ori- ginal from Jo?ne of the Sons, or Nephews of Noah, p. 14. How many do moft of the civileft Nations amount to ? and who are they ? 1 fear the Chincfes, a very great and ci\ il People, as well as feveral other People of the Eafi, IVeft, Nrth and South, trouble not themfelvcs much about this Matter. All that believe the Bible, which I believe are our A.'s ?noJi of the civilefi Nations, muft necellarily derive themfelves from Noah, but for the reft of the World, they think little of his Sons or Nephews. But if the Heralds and Antiquaries of all Nations, for 'tis thele Men generally that labour to find out the Originals of Nations, or all the Nations tha^^ie\\'esP.>ould labour to fetch their Original from fome of the Sons or Ne- phe-ws I 50 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. ft/jfxw o/Noah, what would this be to prove, that the Lordfhip which Adam had ever the whole IVorhl, by Right depended to the Patriarchs ? Whoever, Nations, or Races of Men, Ial/02ir to fetch their O-iginnl from, may be concluded to be thought by them, Men of Renown, famous to Pofterity, from thegreatncfs of their Vir- tues and Adions ; but beyond thefe they look not, nor confider who they were Heirs to, but look on them as fuch as raifed themfelves by their own Virtue to a degree, that would gi\c a Luftre to thofc, who in future Ages could pretend to derive themielves from them. But if it were Ogyges, Hercules, Brama, Tam- bevldin, Pharamond; nay, if Jupiter and Saturn were the Names, from whence divers Races of Men, both ancient and modern, have labour'd to derive their Original; \vill that prove, that thofe Men enjoyed the Lord(l)ip 0/ Adam, by Right defending to them ? If not, this is but a Flourilh of our A.'s to miflead his Rea- der, that in it felf lignifies nothing. 14a. To as much Purpofe, is, what he tells us, />. 15. concerning this Divifion of the World, T^hat fome fay it was by Lot, and others that Noah failed round the Mediterranean in Ten Tears, and divided the World into Afia, Africk and Europe, Portions for his three Sons. America then it feems, was left to be his that could catch it. Why our A. takes fuch Pains to prove the Divifion of the World by Noah to his Sons, and will not leave out an Imagination, though no better than a Dream, that he can find any where to favour it, is hard to guefs, fince fuch a Divifion, if it prove any thing, muft neceffarily take away the Title of Adam's Heir ; unlefs three Brothers can altogether be Heirs oi Adam; and therefore the following Words, Howfoever the manner of this Divifion be uncertain, yet it is mofi certain the Divifion it felf was by Families from Noah and his Children, over which the Parents were Heads and Princes, p. i 5. If allow'd him to be truf and of any force to prove, that all the Power in the World is nothing but the Lordfliip of Adam'i- defcending by Right, they will only prove, that the Fathers of the Children are all Heirs to this Lordfliip of y^^i^w. For if in thofe Days Cha:n and Japhet, and other Parents, befides the eldeft Son, were Heads and Princes over their Families, and had a right to di\'ide the Earth by Families, what hinders younger Brothers, being Fathers of Families, from having the fame Right? It Cham and Japhet were Princes by Right defcending to them, notwithftanding any Title of Heir in their eldeft Brother, younger Brothers by the fame Right defcending to them are Princes now, and fo all our A.'s natural Power of Kings will reach no farther than their own Children, and no Kingdom by this natural Right can be bigger than a Family. For either this Lordfiip of Adam over the zvhole World, by Right defcends only to the eldeft Son, and then there can be but one Heir, as cur A. fays, p. 19. Or elfe, it by Right defcends to all the Sons equally, and then every Father of a Family will have it, as well as the three Sons of Noah : Take which you will, it deftroys the prefent Governments and Kingdoms, that are now in the World, fince whoever has this natural Power of a King, by Right defcending to him, muft have it either, as our A. tells us, Cain had it, and be Lord over his Brethren, and fo be alone King of the whole World ; or elfe, as he tells us here, Shetn, Cham and Japhet had it, three Brothers, and fo be only Prince of his own Family, and all Families independent one of another ; all the World muft be only one Empire by the Right of the next Heir, or elfe every Family be a diftinft Government of it felf, by the Lordfiip of Adam's defend- ing to Parents of Families. And to this only tends all the Proofs he here gives us of the defcent of ^^«?«'s Lordfliip : For continuing his Story of this Defcent : he fays, 143. In the difperjion of Ba.hc\, wemufl certainly find the EJlabliflment of Royal Power^ throughout the Kingdoms of the IVurld, p. 14. If you muft find it, pray do, and you will help us to a new piece of Hiftory: But you muft fliew it us before we fhall be bound to believe, that regal Power was eftablifhed in the V/orld upon your Principles. For, that regal Power wase^ahWiliedin theKingdo7ns of the IVur/d, I think no body will difpute ; but that there fliould be Kingdoms in the World, whofe feveral Kings enjoy 'd their Crowns, by right defending tothe}nf-om Adam, that we tiiink not only Apocrypha, but alio utterly impolTible. If our A. has no better Foundation for iiis Monarchy than a Suppofition of what was done at the difperfion of Babel, the Monarchy he erefts thereon, whofe top is to reach to Heaven to unite Mankind, will ferve only to divide and fcatterthem, as that Tower did; and inftt-adof cRablifliingCivil Government and Order in the World, "will produce notliing but Confufion. i44' F^^' 0/ G O V E R N M E N T. I 5 I 144. For he tells us, tlie A''jr/oKj theywerc divided into, were diflinB Families, ■which had Fathers for Rulers over them; wherel/y it appear i, that even in the Conftijiou, Gvd ■was careful to preferve thejatherly Authority, by dijhikititig the Diver fny of Languages according to the Diverfuy of Families, p. 14. It would have been a hard Matter for any one but our A. to have lound out fo plainly in the Text, he here brings, that all the Nations in that Dilperiion were governed by Fathers, and that God was careful to preferve the fatherly Authority. The Words of the Text are, T'hefe are the Sons of Shcm after their Families, after their Tongues in their Lauds, after their Na~ tions ; and the fame thing is faid of Cham and Jap/jet, after an Enumeration of their Pofterities ; in all which there is not one Word faid of their Governors, or Forms of Government J of Fit hers, or fit/ierly Authority. Butour A. who is very quick- fighted to fpy out Fatherhood, where no body elfe could fee any the leaft Glimp- fes of it, tells us politively their Rulers ivere Fathers, and God wen careful to preferve the fatherly Authority ; and why ? Becaufe thofe of the fame Family fpoke the fame Language, and fo of NecelTity in the Divifion kept together. Juft as if onefhould argue thus ; Hanibal in his Army, confiding of divers Nations, kept thofe of the fame Language together, therefore Fathers were Captains of each Band, and Ha- nibal \va.s caretul oi t]^t fatherly Authority : Or in Peopling of Ca)o//«<2, the Engli/I;, French, Scotch, and Welch that are there, plant themfelves together, and by them the Country is divided in their Lands after their 'Tongues, after their Families, after their Nations ; therefore Care was taken of the fatherly Authority. Or becaufe in many Parts oi America, every little Tribe was a diflinft People, with a different Language, one ftlould infer, that therefore God was careful to preferve the fatherly Authority, or that therefore their Rulers enjoy' d Adam"^ Lordfjjip by Right defend- ing to them, though we know not who were their Governors, nor what their Form ol Government, but only that they were divided into little independent Societies, fpeaking different Languages. 145. The Scripture fays not a Word of their Rulers or Forms of Government, but only gives an Account, how Mankind came to be divided in diftinfl: Lan- guages and Nations ; and therefore 'tis not to argue from the Authority of Scrip- ture, to tell us poiitively. Fathers were their Rulers, when the Scripture fays no fuch Thing; but to fet up Fancies of ones own Brain, when we confidently aver Matter of Faiif, where Records are utterly filent. Upon a like Gi'ound, i. e. none at all, he fays. That they were not confufed Multitudes without Heads and GovernorSy and at Liberty to chufe what Governors or Governments they pleafed. 1^6. For I demand, when Mankind were all yet of one Language, all Congre- gated in the Plain of Shinnr, were they then all under one Monarch, who enjoy' d the Lordfjip of Adam by Right defending to him ? If they were not, there was then no Thoughts, 'tis plain, of Ada?n's Heir, no Right to Government known then upon that Title ; no Care taken by God or Man, of Adam's fatherly Authority, If when Mankind Were but one People, dwelt altogether, and were of one Lan- guage, and were upon building a City together; and when 'twas plain, they could not but know the right Heir, {or Shem lived till Ifaac's Time, a long while after the Divifion at 5rt^f/; if then, I fay, they were not under the Monarchical Government o£ Adam's Fatherhood, by Right defcending to the Heir, 'tis plain there was no regard had to the Fatherhood, no Monarchy acknowledg'd due to A- dam's Heir, no Empire of Shem's in Afia, and confequently no fuch Divilion of the World by Noah, as our A. has talked of As far as we can conclude any thing from Scripture in this Matter, it feems from this Place, that if they had any Government, it was rather a Commonwealth than an abfolute Monarchy : For the Scripture tells us. Gen. 11. They faid, 'Twas not a Prince commanded the building of this City and Tower, 'twas not by the Command of one Monarh, but by the Conlultation of many, a Free People; Let us build us a City ; They built it for themfelves as Free Men, not as Slaves for their Lord and Matter : That we be not fcattered abroad : having a City once Built, and fixed Habitations to fet- tle our Abodes and Families. This was the Confultation and Defign of a People, that were at Liberty to part afunder, but defired to keep in one Body, and could not have been either neceffary or likely in Men tied together under the Govern- ment of one Monarch, who if they had been, as our A. tells us, all Slaves under the abfolu,te Dominion of a Monarch, needed not have taken fuch Care to hinder themfehes from wandering out of the Reach of his Dominion. I demand -whether this 152 0/ Government. this be not plainer in Scripture than any thing o£ Adam's I/dr or fatherly Au- thority ? 147. But if being as God fays, Gen.11.6. onePeople, they had one Ruler, one King by natural Right, Abioluteand Supreme over them, -what care hadGudta frefer-je the paternal Authority oj the fupreme Fatherhood, if on a fudden he fulicrs 72 (for fo many our A. talks of) di/iinci Nations, to be ere(5ted out of it under diftind Governors, and at once to withdraw themfelves from the Obedience of their Sovereign. Uhis is to intitle God's Care how and to what we pleafe. Can it be SenJ'etofay, that God was careful to preferve the yi!//;fr/v Authority in thofe who had it not ? For if thefe were Subjects under a Supreme Prince, what Au- thority had they ? Was it an Inflance of God's Care to ^reiencthe fatherly Au- thority when he took away the true Supreme Fatherhood ot the natural Monarch. Can it be Realon to fay. That God, for the Prefervation of fatherly Authority, lets feveral new Governments with their Governors ftart up, who could not all have fatherly Authority. And is it not as much Reafon to fay. That God is care- ful to de^iroy fatherly Authority when hefuffers one who is in Pofle/Tion of it, to have his Government torn in pieces, and fhared by feveral of his Subjefts ? Would it not be an Argument juft like this for Monarchical Government to fay, when any Monarchy was fhatter'd to pieces, and divided amongll revalted Subjefts, that God was careful to preferve Monarchical Power, by rending a fettled Empire in- to a multitude of little Governments ? If any one will fay, that what happens in Providence to be preferv'd, God is careful to preferve as a thing therefore to be efleemed by Men as necefl'ary or ufeful, 'tis a peculiar Propriety of Speech, which every one will not think iit to imitate : But this I am fure is impoffible to be either proper, or true fpeaking, that Shem, for Example (for he was then alive,) ihould have fatherly Authority, or Sovereignty by Right of Fatherhood over that one People at BaM, and that the next Moment Shem yet living, 72 others, fhould have Jatherly Authority, or Sovereignty by Right of Fatherhood over the fame People, divided into fo many diftinft Governments: Either thefe 72 Fathers adually were Rulers, jufl before the Confufion, and then they were not one Peo- ple, but that God himielf fays they were; orelfe they were a Common-wealth, and then 'svhcre was Monarchy ? or elfe thefe 72 Fathers had fatherly Authority but knew it not. Strange ! that fatherly Authority fhould be the only Original of Government amongft Men, and yet all Mankind not know it; and ftranger yet, that the Confuflion of Tongues fhould reveal it to them all on a fudden, that in an Inftant thefe 72 fhould know that they had fatherly Power, and all others know that they were to obey it in them, and every one know that particular ^r/;«/y Authority to which he was a Subjeft. He that can think this arguing from Scrip- ture, may from thence make out what Model of anEutopia will beft fuit with his Fancy orlntereft; and th'\s Fatherhood th\is difpofedof, will juftify both a Prince who claims an uni\erlal Monarchy, and his Subjefts, who being Fathers of Fa- milies, fliall quit all Subjefton to him, and Canton his Empire into lefs Govern- ments for themielves ; for it will always remain a Doubt in which of thefe the fa- therly Authority refided, till our A. refolves us, whether Shem who was then a- live, or thefe 72 new Princes, beginning fo many new Empires in his Dominions, and over his Subjcfts, had right to Govern, lince our A. tells us, that both one, and t'other had fatherly, which is fupreme Authority, and are brought in by him as Inftances of tliofe, who did enjoy the Lordfiips of Adam by Right defending to them^ ■which was m large and ample m the abfolutefi Dotninion oj any Monarch. This at leaft is unavoidable, that if God was careful to preferve the fatherly Authority, in theyz new ereSied Nations, it neceflarily follows, that he was as careful to deftroy all Pretences of Adam's Heir ; fmce he took Care, and therefore did preferve the fatherly Authority in fo many, at leaft 71, tiiat could not poifibly be Adam's Heirs, when tiic right Heir (if God had ever ordain'd any fuch Inheritance) could not but be known, Shem then living, and they being all one People. 148. iViVwW is his next Inftance of enjoying this Patriarchal Power, p. 16. but I know not for what Reafon our A. feems a little unkind to him, and fays, that he again/} Right enlarged his Empire, Ly feizing 'violently on the Rights of other Lords of Families. 'Ihefe Lords of Families here were called Fathers of Families, in his Ac- count of the Difpcrfion of BaM; but it matters not how they were called, ih we know who they are, for this fatherly Authority mvill b€ iniiicm, either as Heirs to of G O V E R N M E -\' T. J. 2':}i's ? If thefc had the paternal Authority put into their Hands immediately by God, why had not tlieir Ijff/te the Benefit of this Grant in a Succefiion to this Power ? Or if they had it as Adam's Heirs, why did not their Heirs enjoy it after them by Right defendirg to them ? For they couid no'c be Heirs to one another . Was the Power thelame, and from the fame Original in Miifes, Jijhua and tlie Judges as it was in David and the Kings, and was it inhci'itable in one and not in the other ? If it was paternal Authority : then God's own People where governed by thofe that had not paternal Authority, and thofe Governors did well enough without it : If \t ware paternal Authority, and Gcdchofe the Perfons that were to exercileit, our A. 's Rule fails, that ivhenfoever God makes choice of any Per/on to be Jupreme Ruler (for 1 fuppoi'e the name King lias no Spell in it, 'tis not the Title, but the Power makes the Difference) he intends that the Iffue alfo jlnuld have the Benefit of it, lince from their coming out of Egypt, to David's lime 400 Years, the Ijjue was nsvev fo fafficiently coniprebended in t,.e Per/on of the Father, as that any Son after the Death of his Father, fucceeded to the Government amongft all thofe Judges that judged //r«e/. If to a\oid this, it be faid, God always chole the Perfon of the Succeflor, and fo trans'ernng the fa- therly Authority to him, excluded his Ilfue from lucceeding to it, that is manifeilly not fo in the Story of Jeptha, where lie articled ivith the People, and they made him Judge over them, as is plain, jud. 11. 164. 'Tis in vain then to fay, that zvhenfoever God chafes any fpecial Perfon to have theExercife o^ paternal Authority {{or if that be not to be King, I deiire to know the difference between a King and one ha\"ing the Exercife of paternal Au- thority,) he intends the Iffue nlfo Jhould have the Benefit of it, lince we find the Au- thority, the Judges had, ended with them, and defcended not to their Ifue, and if the Judges had not paternal Authority, 1 fear it will trouble cur A. or any of tlie Friends to his Principles, to tell who had. ihmixhe paternal Authority, that is, the Government and fuprcme Power amongft the IJralites; and I fulpect they mud confefs that the chofen People of God continued a People feveral hundreds of Years, without any Knowledge or Thought o{ this paternal Authority, or any appearance of monarchical Government at all. 155. To be fatisfied of this, he needs but read tlie Story of the Levite, and the War thereupon with t\.e Benjamites, in the three laft Chap, ol Jud. and wlien he finds, that the Levite appeals to the People for Juftice ; that it was the Tribes and the Congregation, that debated, relolv'd, and direded all that v/as done on that Occafion ; he mull conclude, either that God was not careful to preferve the fatherly Authority nmongii his o-;vn chofen People j or clfe t!iat the fiUhrrly Autho- rity may be preferved, where there is no monarchical Go\crnment j if the latter, then it will follou' that tho^Jt^a fatherly Authority be never fo well prov'd, yet it will not infer a Neceflity of monarchical Government ; if rlie forir.er, it will ibem very ftrange and improbable, that God fliould ordain fatherly Authority to be fo facred amongfl: the Sons of Men, that there could be no Power, or Government without it, and yet that amongft his own People, even whilft he is providing a Government for them, and therein prefcribes Rules to the feveral States and Re- lations of Men, this great, and Fudan^.ental one, this moft material and nccelia^ ry of all tlie reft, fliould be concealed, and lie neglected for 400 Years after. 1 66. Before I leave this, I muft ask how our A. knows that xdrrnfoevcr God 7nakes choice of any fpecial Perfon to he King, he intends that the Iffue ftmtld have tie Benefit thereof? Does God by the Law of Nature or Rc\"e!ation fay lb ? By the lame Law alfo he muft fay, which of his Iffue muft enjoy th.c Crown in Succefiion, and fo point out the Heir, orelfe lea\e his Iffne to di\ ide and fcramblefor theGorern- ment: Both alike abfurd, and fuch as will deftrov t!ie Benefit of fuch Grant to the Ijjue. \\ hen any fuch Declaration of God's Iitention is produced, it will be cur J-i,ty to bel!e\e C^cd intcrds it fo, but till that be dore, our A. mv.ft flicw VIS 1^8 0/ Government. fcsfccne better Warrant, before we Ihall be obliged to receive him as the Au- tlicntick Rcvcaler of God's Intentions. 167. 'The IJJue, fays our A. is lomprehended fiijjiciemly in the Perfun of the Father, al- tbotigh the Father cw/y tvas named in the Grant : And yet God, when he gave the Land of Canaan to Ahaham, Gen. 13. 15. thought fit to put his Seed into the Grant too : So the Priellhood was given to Aaron and his Seed; and the Crown God gave not only to David, but his Seed alio: And however our A. aflures us tU-Al God intends, that tie IJjue jhoiild have the Benefit oj it, -luhen he chnfes any Per/on to be King, yet we fee that the Kingdom, which he gave to Saul, without men- tioning his Seed after him, never came to any of his Ijjue : and why, when God chol'e a Perfon to be King, he fhould intend, that his IJfue fhould have the Be- iicfit of it, more than when he chol'e one to be Judge in Ijrael, I would fain know a Reafon ; or u'hy does a Grant of Fatherly Authority to a King more compre- hei:d the Iffue, than when a like Grant is made to a Judge ? Is Paternal Authori- ty by Right to defcend to the IJJue, of one and not of the other? There will need fome reafon to be fhe^vn of this Difference, more than the Name, when the Thing given is the fame Fatherly Authority, and the manner of giving it, God's choice of the Perfon, the fame too ; for I fuppofe our A. when he fays, Codrai- Jed lip Judges, will by no means allow, they were chofen by the People. 168. But fince our A. has fo confidently aflured us of the care of God to pre- fcrve the Fatherhood, and pretends to build all he fays, upon the Authority of the Scripture, we may well expeft that the People whofe Law, Conftitution and Hiflory is chiefly contained in the Scripture, fhould furnifli him with the cleareft Inllances of God's care of preferving of tlie Fatherly Authority in that People who 'tis agreed he had a mofl peculiar Care of. Let us fee then what State this Paternal Authority or Governn-.ent was in amongft the Je-^s, from their beginning to be a People. It was omitted by our A.'s Confeffion, from their coming into Egypt, till their return cut of that Bondage, above 200 Years : From thence till God gave the Ifraclites a King about 400 Years more, our A. gives but a very llcnder account of it, nor indeed all that time are there the leaft Footfteps of Pa- ternal or Regal Government amongft them. But then, fays our A. God re-efia- Hified the ancient and priine Right oj Lineal Succejfion to Paternal Government. 169. What a Lineal Siicceffion to Patei-nal Government was then Eftabliflied, we ha\e already feen. I only now confider how long this lafted, and that was to their Captivity about 500 Years : From thence to their Deftruction by the Ro- wans, above 650 Years after, the ancient and priine Right oj Lineal Succejjion to Pa- ternal Gtvermnen: was again loft, and they continued a People in the promifed Land without it. So that of 1750 Years, they that were God's pecvtliar People, they had Hereditary Kingly Government amongft them, not one third of the Time, and of that Time there is not the leaft Footftep of one Moment of A-:;er- nal Gcvernmeut, ncr the Re-ejlablijl:)ment oj the ancient and prime Right oj Lineal Suc- ceffion to it, whether we fuppofe it to be derived, as from its Fountain, from David, Saul, Abraham, or, which upon our A.'s Principles is the only true, from Adam. * * * * * AN ( >59 ) if^ vl^ ;^ v'^^a'^/g^ v"^ V^ V^_ *^> *-^t *^^. Wi^. vy i *'y» •■•^ ■ *y»*y»1 'v^'v^'t'*^ O F Civil-Government. BOOK II. CHAP. I. T having been fliewn in the foregoing Difcourfe, 1. Tha.t Adam had not either by natural Right of Fatherhood, or by pofitivc Donation form God, any fuch Authority over his Chil- dren, or Dominion over the World as is pretended. 2. That if he had, his Heirs yet had no Right to it. 3. 'i hat if his Heirs had, there being no Law of Nature nor pofitive Law of God that determines, which is the right Heir in all Cafes that may arife, the Right of Succeffion, and confequently of bearing Rule, could not have been cer- tainly determined. 4. That if even that had been determined, yet the Knowledge of which is the eldeft Line of Adam's, Pofterity, being fo long lince utterly loft, that in the Races of Mankind and Families of the World, there remains not to one above another, the leaft Pretence to be the eldeft Houfe, and to have Right of Inheritance. All thefe Premifes having, as I think, been clearly made out, it is impoffible that the Rulers now on Earth, fliould make any Benefit, or derive any the leaft Shadow of Authority from that, which is held to be the Foundation of all Power, Adain s private Dominion and paternal JurifdiElion ; fo that, he that will not give juft occafion, to think, that all Government in the World is the Produft only of Force and Violence, and that Men live together by no other Rules but that of Beafts, where the ftrongeft carries it; and fo lay a Foundation for perpetual Diforder and Mifchief, Tumult, Sedition and Rebellion, (Things that the Fol- lowers of that Hypothefis fo loudly cry out againft) muft of neceffity find out another Rife of Government, another Original of political Power, and another Way of defigning and knowing the Perfons that have it, than what Sir Robert F. hath taught us. 2. To this Purpofe, I think it may not be amifs, to fet down what I take to be political Power. That the Power of a Magiftrate over a Subjed, may be di- ftinguifh'd from that of a F^f/^er over his Children, a Md/?fr over his Servant, a Hmband over his Wife, and a Lord over his Slave. All which diftinfl: Poivers happening fometime together in the fame Man, if he be confidcred under thefe different Relations, it may help us to diftingufh thefe Powers one from another, and fhew the Difference betwxit a Ruler of a Common-wealth, a Father of a Family, and a Captain of a Galley. 3. Political Po-xer, then I take to be a iJ/5/1? of making Laws with Penalties of Death, and confequently all lefs Penalties, for the regulating and prelerving of Property, and of employing the Force of the Community, in the Execution of fuch Laws, and in the Defence of the Common-wealth from foreign Injury, and all this only for the publick Good. CHAP. I 6b 0/ C I V L - G O V E R N M E N CHAP. II. Of the State of Nature, 4. ' I O underfland political Power right, and derive it from iic wnginal, ive A muft conlider, what State all Men are naturally in, and that is, a State of ferfecl Freedvm to order their Actions, and difpofe of their Polfeffions, and Per- ibns as they think Ht, within the Bourds of the Law of Nature, without asking Leave, or depending upon the \\"\\\ of any other Man. A State alio of Equality, wherein all the Power and Jurifdidion is Reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that Creatuiesof the fame Species and Rank, promilcuoully born to all the fame advan- tages of Nature, and the ufe ot the fame Faculties, fliould alio be equal one a- mongft another without Subordination or Subjection, unlefs the Lord and Mafter of them all, fliould by any manifefl Declaration oi his Will fet one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear Appointment, and undoubted Right to Dominion and Sovereignty. 5. This Eqnalityo{ Men by Nature, the judicious Hooker looks upon as fo evi- dent in it lell and beyond allqueftion, that he makes it the Foundation of that Obligation to mutual Love aniongft Men, on which he builds the Duties they owe one another, and from whence he derives the great Maxims of yufike and Charity. His words are : "The like natural Inducement, hath brought Mm to know that it is no lefs their Duty, to Love others than themjelvcs, for feeing thofThings which are equal, mujl needs all have one Meafure ; if I cannot but w/JI) to receive Good, even as much at every Man's Hands, m any Man can zvifi unto his own Soul, and hovjjjjould I look to have any part of my Dejire herein fatisfied, unkfs my felj be careful to fatisfy the like Dejire, which is undoubtedly in other Men, being of one and thefnne Nature ; to have any thing offered them repugnant to this De/ire, 7nu/i needs in all ref peels grieve them cu much cis me, fo that if I do harm, I mufi look to fuffer, there being no Reafon that others fiouldfl^ew greater meafures of Love to me, than they have by me, f)ewed unto them ; my Dejire therefore to be lov'd of my Equals in Nature, as much as pojjible may be, impofeth upon me a natural Duty of bearing to t hem-ward, fully the like Ajf eel ion ; from which relation of Equality between our fives and them that are as our f elves, what feveral Rules and Canons, natural Reafon hath drawny for Dire'ciicn of Life, no Man is ignorant. Eccl. Pol. Li. i. 6. But though this be a State of Liberty yet it is not a State of Licence ; though Man in that State have an uncontroulable Liberty, to difpofe of his Perfon or Poilefllons, yet he has not Liberty to defiroy himlelf, or fo much as any Crea- ture in his Polfeffion, but were fome nobler Ufe, than its bare Prefervation calls for it. The. State of Nature has a Law of Nature to govern it, which obliges eve- ry one : And Reafon' which is that Law, teaches all Mankind, who will but confult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ouglit to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Polfeffions. For Men being all the Workmanfhip of one Omnipotent, and infinitely wife Maker : All the Senants of one Sove- reign Mafter, fent into the W orld by his Order, and about his Bufinefs, they are his Property, whofe Workmanfliip they are, made to laft during his, not one anothers Pleafure : And being furniflied with like Faculties, fharing all in one Community of Nature, there cannot be fuppofed any fuch Subordination a- mongus, that may authorize us todeftroy one another, as if we were made for one another's Ufes, as the inferior Ranks of Creatures are for ours. Everyone, as he is bound to preferve himfelf, and not to quit his Station wilfully, fo by the like reafon, when his own Prelervation comes not in Competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preferve the refl of Mankind, and may not, unlefs it be to do Juftice on an Offender, take away, or impair the Life, or what tends to the Pre- lervation of the Life, the Liberty, Health, Limb, or Goods of another. 7. And tliat all Men may be rellrained from invading others Rights, and from doing hurt to one another, and the Law of Nature be obferved, which willeth the P^.ace and Prefervation of all Mankind, the Execution oi the Law of Nature is in tiiat State, put into every Man's Hand, whereby every one has a Right to punilh the Tranigvefiors of that Law to fuch a Degree, as may hinder its Viola- tion. 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T, I ^); tion. For the Law of Nature would, as all other Laws, that concern Men in this World, be in vain, if there were no Body that in tiie State of Nature, had a Power to execute that Law, and thereby prefervethe Innocent and reftrain Offenders. And if any one in the State of Nature may punifli another, for any Evil he has done, every one may do fo. For in that State of ferfeEl Equality, wliere naturally there is no Superiority or Jurifdiftion of one, over another, what any may do in Profecution of that Law, every one muft needs have a Right to do. 8. And thus in the State of Nature, one Man comes by a Power over another ; but yet no abfolute or arbitrary Power, to ufe a Criminal, -ivhen he has got him in his Hands, according to the pafTionate Heats, or boundlefs Extra\agancy of his own Will ; but only to retribute to him, fo far, as calm Reafon and Confcience diftate what is proportionate to his Tranfgreffion, which is fo much as may ferve for Reparation and Reftraint. For thefe two are the only Reafons, \x\\y one Man may lawfully do harm to anotlier, ■i\hich is that we call Punifbment. In tranfgref- llng the Law of Nature, the Offender declares himfelf to live by another Rule, than that of common Reafon and Equity, which is that Meafure God has let to the Aftions of Men, for their mutual Security ; and fo he becomes dangerous to Mankind, the Tie, which istofecure them from Injury and Violence, being flighted and broken by him. Which being a Trefpafs agamil the wliole Species, and the Peace and Safety of it, provided for by the Law of Nature, every Man upon tliis Score, by the Right he hath to preierve Mankind in general, may re- ftrain, or where it is neceflary, deftroy Things noxious to them, andfo may bring fuch Evil on any one, who hath tranfgrefled that Law, as may make him repent the doing of it, and thereby deter him, and, by his Example others, from doing the like Mifjhief And m this Cafe, and upon this Ground, e'-jery Man hath a Right topunif} the Offender, and he Executioner of the Law of Nature. 5». T doubt not but this will feem a very ftrange Doftrine to fome Men : But before they condemn it, I deiire them to refolve me, by what Right any Prince or State can put to death, or punifi an Alien, for any Crime he commits in their Country? 'Tis certain their Laws by virtue of any Sanation, they receive from the promulgated Will of the Legiflative, reach not a Stranger: They fpeaknot to him, nor, if they did, is he bound to hearken to them. The legiflative Au- thority, by which they are in Force over the Subjefts of that Common-wealth, hath no Power over him. Thofe who have the fupream Power of making Laws in England, France or Holland, are to an Indian, but like the reft of the World, Men without Authority : And therefore, if by the Law of Nature, every Man hath not a Power to punifli Offences againft it, as he foberly judges the Cafe to require, I fee not how the Magiftrates of any Community, can punij].i an Alien of another Country ; lince in reference to him, they can have no more Power, than what every Man naturally may have over another. ID. Befides the Crimes which confifts in violating the Law, and varying from . the right Rule of Reafon, whereby a Man fo far becomes degenerate, and declares himlelf to quit the Principles of human Nature, and to be a noxious Creature, there is commonly Lijury done, fome Perfon or other, fome other Man receives Damage by his Tranfgreffion, in which cafe he who hath received any Damage, has befides the right of Punifliment common to him with other Men, a particular Right to feek Reparation from him that has done it. And any other Perfon v/ho iinds it juft, may alfo join with him that is injur'd, andaflifthim in recovering from the Offender, fo much as may make Satisfaftion for the harm he has fuftered. ' II. From thefe two di/linci Rights, the one oi punifiing the. Cnme for Refiraint, and preventing the likeOffence, which Right of punifliing is in every Body; the other of taking Reparation, which belongs only to the injured Party, comes it to pafs, that the Magiftrate, who by being Magiftrate, hath the common Right of punilhingput into his Hands, can often, where the Publick Good demands not the Execution of the Law, re?nit the Punifliment of criminal Offences by his own Authority, but yet cannot 7-emit the Satisfaftion due to any private Man, fof the Damage he has received. That, he who has fuftered the Damage has a Right to demand in his own Name, and he alone can remit : The damnified Perfon has this Power of appropriating to himlelf, the Goods or Service of the Oftisnder, iy Right of Self-Preferi'ation, as every Man has a Power to punifli the Crime, to prevent its being committed again, by the Right he has of preferring all Mankind^ Vol. II. X and i6z 0/ Civil-Government. and doing all reafonable Things, he can, in order to that end : And thus it is, that every Man in the State of Nature, has a Power to kill a Murderer, both to deter others from doing the like Injury, which no Reparation can compcnfate, by the Example of the Punifhment that attends it from every Body, and alfo to I'ecure Men from the attempts of a Criminal, who having renounced Reafon, the •common Rule and Meafure, God hath given to Mankind, hath by the unjuft Violence and Slaughter he hath committed upon one, declared War againft all Mankind, and therefore may be dcRroyed as a Lyon or a Tyger, one of thofe wild favagc BeaRs, with whom Men can have no Society nor Security : And upon this is grounded tliat great Law of Natvire, w/wfo Jlx'ddeth Mans Blood, by Man JJjnIl his Blood be JI}ed. And Cain was fo fully convinced, that every one had a Right to deftroy fuch a Criminal, that after tlie Murder of his Brother, he cries out, Every one that findeth me, f mil flay me ; fo plain was it writ in the Hearts of all Mankiixi. 12. By the fame Reafon, may a Man in the State of Nature />««//& the leffer Breaches o{ i\v.xt Law. It wmII perhaps be demanded with Death .^ lanfwer, each Tranfgrellion may be punlj])sd to that degree, and with fo much Severity, as will fuffice to make it an ill Bargain to the Offender, give him caule to repent, and terrify others from doing the like. E\ery Offence that can be committed in the State of Nature, may in the State of Nature be alfo punifhed equally, and as far forth as it may, in a Common-wealth. For though it would be befides my prefent Purpofe, to enter here into the Particulars of the Law of Nature, or its Mea- fiires of Piaiijl)mem ; yet, it is certain there is fuch a Law, and that too, as in- telligible and plain to a rational Creature, and a Studier of that Law, as the poll- tive Laws of Common-wealths ; nay poffibly plainer ; as much as Reafon is eafier to be undcrflood. than the Fancies and intricate Contrivances of Men, following contrary and hidden Interefls put into Words j for fo truly are a great part of the mnniciple Laws of Countries, which arc only fo far right, as they are founded on the Law of Nature, by which they are to be regulated and interpreted. 13. To this ftrange Doftrine, viz.. That in the State of Nature, every one has the Executive Power of the Law of Nature, I doubt not but it will be objected, that it is unreafonable for Men to be Judges in their own Cafes, that Self-love will make Men partial to themfelves and their Friends : And on the other fide, that ill Nature, Paffion and Revenge will carry them too far in punifhingothers; and lience nothing but Confufion and Diforder will follow, and that therefore God hath certainly appointed Go^'ernment to reftrain the Partiality and Violence of Men. I eafily grant, that Civil-Govern?nent is the px'oper Remedy for the Incon- veniencies of the State of Nature, which muft certainly be great, where Men may be Judges in their own Cafe, fince 'tis eafie to be imagined, that he who was fo unjuil as to do his Brother an Injury, will fcarce be fo juft as to condemn himfelf for it : But I fliall defire thofe who make this Objeftion, to remember, that abfolnte Monarchs are but Men, and if Government is to be the Remedy of thofe Evils, which necclfarily follow from Mens being Judges in their own Cafes, and the State of Nature is therefore not to be endured, I defire to know w^hat kind of Government that is, and how much better it is than the State of Nature, where one Man commanding a Multitude, has the Liberty to be judge in his own Cafe, and may do to all his Subjects whatever he pleafes, ^vithout the leaft qucftion or controlc of thofe who execute his Pleafure ? And in whatfoever he doth, whether led by Reafon, Miftake or PalTion, muft be fubmitted to ? Which Men in the State of Nature are not bound to do one to another : And if he that judges, judges amifs in his own, or any other Cafe, he is anfwerable tor it to the reft of Mankind. 14. 'Tis often asked as a mighty Objei5tion, where are, or ever were, there any Men in fuch a State of Nature ? 'Fo which it may fuffice as an Anfwer at prefent : That fince all Princes and Rulers of Independent Governments all through the World, are in a State of Nature, 'tis plain the World never was, nor ever will be, without Numbers of Men in that State. I have named all Governors of />/- dependent Communities' w^hether they are, or are not, in League ivith others. For ^tis not ev^ery Compact that puts an end to the State of Nature between Men, but only this one of agreeing together mutunllvto enter into one Community, and make one Body Politick ; other Promifes, and Compads, Men may make one with of C I V I L - G O V E ]l N ?.I E N T. with another, and yet flill be in the State of Nature. The Promifes and Bar- gains forTni-k, &c. between the two Men in the defcrt Jlland, mentioned by Garcilajfo du la Vegn.^ in his Hiilory of /Vk j or hctwctin a. S-uifs and. an Lidi an, m the Woods o^ America, are binding to them, though they rue perfectly in a State of Nature, in reference to one another. For Truth and keeping of Faith be- longs to Men, as Men, and not as Members of Society. 15. To thofe that fay, Tiiere were never any Mci in the State of Nature : I will not only oppofe the Authority of the judicious Hooker, Eal. Pol. Lib. 1. Seel: 10. \vhere he lays, "The Laws which have been hitherto mentivnad, i. c. the Laws of Nature, do l>ind Af^n abfulutely, even as they are M^n, although they have never any fet^ tied Felluzi/bip, and never any Jolemn Agreement am'.ngjl thevijelvts what to do or nA to do, hut for as iJiucli as we are not by our [elves fufficient tojiirnifl) our [elves with compe- tent /lore o[ 'Things, needful for fuch a Life as our Nature doth dijire, a Life fit for the Dignity of Man ; therefore to fipply thoje Deje'cls and iMperfeclions which are in t'.s, as living Jingle and folely by our [elves, we are naturally induced to jeek Communion and FA~ lowpjip with others, this W'as the caufe of Mens i:ni ling thei.nflves, al Jirjl in politick So- cieties. But I moreover affirm. That all Men arc naturally in that State, and re- main fo, till by their own Confents they make themfelves Members of fome poli- tick Society i and Tdoubt not in the Sequel of this Difcouife, to make it very clear. CHAP. III. Of the State of War. 16.' I ""HE State of War is a State of Enmity and Deflruciion : And therefore de- -^ daring by Word or Adion, not a paffionate and hafty, but a fedaie let- tied Defign, upon another Man^s Life, puts hi?n in a State of TVar with liim a- gainft whom he has declared fuch an Litention, and fo has expofed his Life to the others Power to be taken away by him, or any one that joins with him in his Defence, and efpoufes his Qiiarrelj it being realonable and juft I fliould have a Right to dcftroy that, which threatens me with Deftruciion. For by thef/nda- mental Law of Nature, Man being to be preferved, as much as poflible, when all can- not be preferved, the Safety of the Innocent is to be preferred : And one may deftroy a Man who makes War upon him, or has difcovered an Enmity to his Being, for the fame Reafon, that he may kill a IVoolf or a Lion ; becaufe fuch Men are not under the Ties of the Common-Law ot Reafon, ha\ e no other Rule, but that of Force and Violence, and fo may be treated as Beads oi Frcy, thofe dangerous and noxious Creatures, that will be fure to deftroy him, ^vhen- ever he falls into their Power. 17. And hence it is, that he who attempts to get another Man into his Abfo- lute Power, does thereby put hijfifelf into a State oflVar with him ; it being to be underftood as a Declaration of a Defign upon his Life. For I have reafon to con- clude, that he who would get me into his Power without my Confent, would ui'e me as he pleafed, when he had got me there, and deftroy me too, when he had a fancy to it ; for no Body can defire to have me in his abfdute Power, unlefs it be to compel me by Force to that, which is againft the Right of my Freedom, /. e. make me a Slave. To be free from fuch Force is the only Security of my Preier- vation ; and Reafon bids me look on him, as an Enemy to myPrefervation, who would take away tliat Freedom, which is the Fence to it ; fo that he ivho makes an attempt to enflave me, thereby puts himdelf into a State of War with me. He that in the State of Nature, would take azvay the Freedo>n, that belongs to any one in that State, muft necelTarily be fuppofed to have a defign to take away e\'ery thing elle, that Freedojn being the Foundation of all the reft : As he that in the State of Society, would take away the Freedom belonging to thofe of that Society or Common-wealth, muft be fuppofed to defign to take away from them every thing elle, and fo be looked on as in a State of IVar. 18. This makes it lawful for a Man to kill a Thief, who has not in the leaft_ hurt him, nor declared any Defign upon his Life, any larther, than by the Ufe ot Force, fo to get him in his Power, as to take away his Money, or wliat he pleafes Vo1.il X 2 from 153 I ^^ 0/ C I V I r, - G O V E R N M E N T. from him ; bccaufe ufing Force, where he has no Right, to get me into his Power, let his Pretence be what it will, I have no reaibn to i'uppofe, that he, who would take aivay my /.;/'-/!;}' would not, when he had me in his Power, take away every thing clle. And therefore it is lawful for me to treat him, as one who has put himfelf into a State of War with me, i.e. kill him if I can; for to that Ha- zard does he jullly expofc himfelf, whoever introduces a State of War, and is Aggielior in it. ip. And here we have the plain Difference l/etzveen the State of Nciture, and the Statt of War, which however IbmeMen have confounded, areas far diflant, as a State of Peace, good Will, mutual Afliftance and Prefervation ; and a State of Enmity, Malice, Violence and mutual l^eftruftion are one from another. Men livirg together according to Reaibn, without a common fuperior on Earth, with Authority to judge between them, is prope}ly the State of Nature. But Force, or a declared delign of Force upon the Perlbn of another, where there is no com- mon Superior on Earth to appeal to for Relief, is the State of War : and 'tis the want of fuch an Appeal gives a Man the Right of War even againfl; an A^grefftr, tho' he be in Society and a fellow Subjed. Thus a "Thief, whom I cannot harm, but by Appeal to the Law, for having ftolen all that I am worth, I may kill, when he fets on to rob me but of my Horfe or Coat ; becaufe the Law, which was made for my Prefervation where it cannot interpofe to fecure my Life from preient Force, which if loft, is capable of no Reparation, permits me my own Defence, and the Right of War, a Liberty to kill the Aggreflbr, becaufe the Acgrefibr allo-svs not Time to appeal to our common Judge, nor the Dccifion of the Law, for Remedy in a Cale, where the Mifchief may be irreparable. Want of a common fudge -with Authority, puts all Men in a State oj Nature : Force without Right, upon a Alan's Perfon, 7nakes a State of War, both wliere is, and is not, a common Jvidge. 20. But when the actual Force is over, the State of War ceafes between thofe that are in Society, and are equally on both Sides fubjecfted to the fair Determi- nation of the Law ; becaufe then there lies open the Remedy of Appeal for the paft Lijury, and to prevent future Harm ; but where no fuch Appeal is, as in the State of Nature, for want of pofitive Laws, and Judges with Authority to ap- peal to, the State of War once begun, continues, with a Right to the innocent Party to deftroy the other whenever he can, until the A ggreHbr offers Peace, and de- fires Reconciliation on fuch Terms, as may repair any Wrongs he has already done, and fecure the Linocent for the future ; nay where an Appeal to the Law, and conftitutcd judges lies open, but the Remedy is deny'd by a manifeft per- verting of Juftice, and a barefac'd wrefting of the Laws to protect or indemnify the Violence or Injuries of fome Men, or Party of Men, tijere it is hard to ima- gine any thing but a State of War. For where-ever Violence is ufed, and Lrjury done, though by Hands appointed to adminifter Juftice, it is ftill Violence and Lrjury, however colour'd with the Name, Pretences, or Forms of Law, the End whereof being to proted; and redrefs the Linocent, by an unbiafled Application of it, to all who are under it ; where-ever that is not hona fide done. War is made upon the Sufferers, who having no Appeal on Earth to right them, they are left to the only Remedy in fuch Cafes, an Appeal to Heaven. 21. To avoid this &(i/e vf War (wlierein there is no Appeal but to Heaven, and wherein every the leaft Difference is apt to end, where there is no Authori- ty to decide between the Contenders) is one grc^tReafn of Mens pitting themfehes into Society, and quitting the State of Nature. For where there is an Authority, a Power on Earth, from which Relief can be had by Appeal, there the continu- ance of the State of War is excluded, and the Controverfy is decided by that Power. Had there been any fuch Court, any fuperior Jurifdittion on Earth, to determine the Right between Jephtha and the Ammonites, they had never come to a State of War, but ^ve fee he was forced to appeal to Heaven. The Lordthe fudge (favs he) be fudge this Day between the Children o/Ifrael, and the Children of Ammon, fu'd. II. 27. and then profecuting, and relying on his Appeal, he leads out his Army to Battle : And therefore in fuch Controverfies, where the Qiieftion is put, who f jail be fudge? It cannot be meant, who fhall decide the Controverly; every one knows what j^^/'M-.-j here tells us, that the Lord the fudge, fliall judge. Wliere there is no Judge on Earth, the Appeal lies to God in Heaven, ThatQueftion 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. l6- then cannot mean, who fhall judge? Whether another hath put him fcl fin a State (f IVarwkhmc, and whether I may as Jep/}!hadk\, appeal to Hcnvenin it ? Of that I n>y ielf can only be Judge in my own Conlcieiicc, as 1 will anfwer it at tlie great Day, to the iupreme Judge of all Men. CHAP. IV. Of SLA VERT, 2 2.'T^HE Natural Liberty of Man is to be free from any fuperior Pouxr on J- Earth, and not to be under the Will or Legillatne Authoiity of Man, but to have only the Law of Nature for his Rule. The Liberty oj Mm, in Socie- ty, is to be under no other Legillative Power, but that eftablilhed, by Confent, in the Common-wealth; nor under the dominion of any Will, orReftraint of any Law, but what that Legidative fliall enact, accorduig to the Trufl put in it. Freedom then is not what Sirii. F. tells us, 0. A.^^. A Liberty for every one to do ■what he lijls, to live as hepleafes, and not to be tied by any Laivs : Eut Freedo»t of Men under Government, is, to have a {landing Rule to live by, common to every one of that Society, and made by the legiflative Power eretted in it ; a Liberty to fol- low my own Will in all 'I'hings, where that Rule prefcribcs not ; and not to be fubject to the inconftant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary Will of another Man : As Freedom of Nature is to be under no other Reftraint but the Law of Nature. 23. This Freedom {mm abfolute, arbitrary Power, is fo necedary to, andclofe- ly joined with a Man's Prefervation, that he cannot part with it, but by what forfeits his Prefervation and Life together. For a Man, not having the Power of his own Life, cannot, by Compact, or his own Confent, enflavs himflj to any one, nor put himfelf under the abfolute, arbitrary Power of another, to take away his Life, when he pleafes. No body can give more Power than he has himlelf ; and he that cannot take away his own Life, cannot give another Po^ver over it. Indeed having by his Fault, forfeited his own Life, by fome A&. that deferves Death; he, to whom he has forfeited it, may (when he has him in his Power) delay to take it. For, whenever he finds the Hardfliip of his Slavery outweigh the Value of his Life, 'tis in his Power, by refilling the Will of his Mafier, to draw on himfelf the Death he delires. 24. This is the perfeft Condition oi Slavery, which is nothing elfe, but the State tflVar continued, betvceen a lawful Conqueror, and a Captive. For, if once Compaui enter bet^veen them, and make an Agreement for a limited Power on the one Side, and Obedience on the other, the State of TVar and Slavery ceafes, as long as the Compad endures. For, as has been laid, no Man can, by Agreement, pals over to another that which he hath not in himfelf, a Power over his own Life. I confefs, we find among the Jews, as well as other Nations, that JSlen did fell themfeh'es ; but, 'tis plain, this was only Mo Drudgery, not to Slavery. For, it is evident, thePerfon fold was not under an abfolute, arbitrary, delpotical Power. For the Mailer could not have Power to kill him, at any time, whom at a cer- tain time, he was obliged to let go free out of his Service ; and the Mafter of fuch a Sen'ant was fo far from having an arbitrary Power over his Life, that he could not at Pleafure, fo much as maim him, but the lofs of an Eye, or Tooth, fet him free, Exod. xxi. CHAP. V. Of PRO PERT r. 25. "VSTHeiher we confider natural Reafon, which tells us, that Men, being 'f ' once born, have a Right to their Prefervation, and confequently to Meat and Drink, andfuch other Things, as Nature affords for their Sublillence; or Revelation, which gives us an account of thofe Grants God made of the \\orld l66 0/ClVIL-GovZRNMENT. World to u I V I r. - G o V E R x jm £ N jr. 1 6g Metal, uhich would keep without wnfling or decay, fliould be worth a great Piece o{ Flefii, or a whole Heap of Corn, though Men had a right to appropi late, by their Laboui', each one to himfelf, as nnich ol' the '1 hing.s of J>Jature, as he could uie ; yet this could not be much, nor to the Prejudice of others, where the lame Plenty was O.ill lefc, to thole who would uie the iamc Induftry. 'i'o which let me add, that he who appropriates Land to himlelt by his Labour, does not letien but increafe the common Stock of Mankind. For the Pro\ ifions ferving to the fup- port of human Life; produced by one Acre of incloled and cultivated Land aie (to fpeak much witliin Compafs) ten times m.ore than thofe which are yielded by an Acre of Land of an equal Richnefs lying wafte in Common. And therefore he that indoles Land, and has a greater Plenty of the Conveniencies of Li-b froni ten Acres, than he could ha\e from an bundled left to Nature, may truly be faid to pive ninety Acres to Mankind. For his Labour now I'upplies him with Provi- fions cut of ten Acres, which were but the Product of an hundred lying in Com- mon. I have here rated the improv'd Land very low in making its Product but as ten to one, when it is much nearer an hundred to one. For I ask whether in the wild Woods and uncultivated Wafle of America left to Nature without any Liiprovement, Tillage, or Husbandry, a thoufand Acres yield the needy and wretched Inhabitants as many Conveniencies of Life, as ten Acres of equal fer- tile Land do in Devchfirre, where they are well cultivated? Before the Appropriation of Land, he who gather'd as much of the wild Fruit, killed, caught, or tamed, as many of the Beafls, as he could ; he that fo em- ploy 'd his Pains about any of the fpontaneous Products of Nature, as any way to alter them, from the State which Nature put them in, l/} placing any of his Labour on them, did thereby acquire a Propriety in them : But if they periilied, in his Pofl'effion, without their due Ufe; if the Fruits rotted^ or the Venifon putrified, before he could fpend it, he oftended againft the common Law of Na- ture, and was liable to be puniflied ; he invaded his Neighbour's Share, for he had no. Right, farther than his Ufe called for any ot them, and they might lervc to afford him Conveniencies of Life. 38. The fame Meafiires gcjvcvnd the PoJftjVons of Land too : Whatfoevcr he til- led and reaped, laid up and made ufe of before it i'poiled, that was his peculiar Right; whatfoevcr he enclofed, and could feed, and make ufe of, the Cattle and Produd was alfo his. But if either the Grafs of his Inclofure rotted on the Ground, or the Fruit of his planting perifli'd without gathering, and laying up, this Part of the Earth, notwithflanding his Liclofure, wasftill to be lock'd on as Wafte, and might be the Polleflion of any other. Thus, at the Beginning, Cain might take as much Ground as he could Till, and make it his own Land, and \et leave enough for Abel's Sheep to feed on ; a few Acres would ferve for both their Poifeffions. But as Families increafed, and Liduftry inlarged their Stocks, their PbJfefjiGus inlarged with the Need of them ; but yet it was commonly iicithviit any fixed Property to the Ground they made ufe of, till they incorporated, fettled them- ielves together, and built Cities, and th^n by Confent, they came in Timc^, to fet out the Bounds oj their difiinft 'Territories, and agree on Limits between them and their Neighbours; and by Laws within themfelves ; fettled tlxcPrcperties o£ thofe of the fame Society. For we fee, that in that Part of the World which was Hrft inhabited, and therefore like to be the bell peopled, even as low down as Abrahains Time, they wandred with their Flocks, and their Herds, which was. their Siibftance, freely up and down ; and this Abr ah ajnt^x A, in a Country where he was a Stranger. Whence it is plain, that at leaft, a great Part of the Z,i7Ki/izy in Common; that the Inhabitants valued it not, nor claim'd Property in any more than they made ufe of. But when there was not room enough in the lame Place, for their Herds to feed together, they by Confent, as Abraha/m and Lvt did. Gen. xiii 5. feparated and enlarged their Pafture, where it beft liked them. And for the fame Reafon Efati went from his Father, and his Brother, and planted in Mount Seir, Gen. xxxvi. 6. 39. And thus, without fuppofing any private Dominion, and Property in Adam, over all the World, exclufive of all other Men, which caii no way be prov'd, nor any ones Property be made out from it ; but fuppofirig the tVorld given as it was to the Children oi. l^Icn in Common, we fee ho'W Labour :o\x\A make Men diftin(56 Vol. IL V i itl.-^5 I -C 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N At E N T. Titles to feveral Parcels of it, for their private Ufesi wherein there could be no doubt of Right, no room for Qu-inel. 40. Nor is it To ftrange, as perhaps before Confiderat on it may appear, that the Property of Labour ih:)u\(l he able to over-balance the Ccmrr.unity of Land. For ^is LnbouY indeed that puts the difference of Value on every thing ; and let any one confider what the difference is between an Acre of Land planted with Tobacco or Sugar, fown with wheat or Early ; and an Acre of the fame Land lying in Com- mon, withp.ut any Husbandry upon it, and he will fird, that the Improvement oi Labour makes the far greater part of the Value. I think it will be but a very modcfl Computation to lay, that of the Products of the Larthuleful to the Life of Man-f: are the cffetis of Labour : Nay, if we will rightly eflimate Things as they come to our Ufe, and caft up the i'everal Expenccs about them, what in them is purely owing to Na:itre, and what to Labour, we fhall rind, that in moll of them 'v-are wholly to be put on the account of Labour. 41. The'e cannot be a clearer Demcrflration of any thing, than feveral Na- tions of the Americans are of this, who are rich in Land and poor in all the Com- forts of Life, whom Nature having furnifhed as liberally as any other People, with the Materials of Pierty, /. e. a fruit*\ii Soil, apt to produce in abundance, what might lerve for Food, Raurent, ard Delight; yet for ixwit of ijnproving it by Labour, have not ore hunaiedth part of the Conveniencies we enjoy : And a King of a large and fjuit^ul ! erricory there feeds, lodges, and is clad worfe than a Day-Labou;er in Enghind. 42. To make this a little ciCMC'-, let us but trace fome of the ordinary Provi- fions of Life, through their leve^ii P'- greil'es, Liefoie t'^ey come to our U:e, and jce how m.uch they receive < fche:] value fom human Indujlry. Bread, Wine and Cloath, are Things of daily Uil;, and great; Plenty, yet nctwithftandi ng. Acorns, Water and Leaves, or Skins, mud be ' u'- B-ead, Dnnk, a'ld Cloathing, did not Labour ^Mvmih. us with theie more uieful Comm dities. For whatever Bread is more worth than Acorns, Wiethan VWier, and Chath or Silk, than Leaves, Skins or Mofs, that is wh' lly oi\cing to Labour and Indufiery. '1 he one of thefe be- ing the Food and Raiment which uivifliftedNatuie fumifhes us with ; the other Provifions which our Induftry and Pains piepare for us, which how much they exceed the other in Value, when any one hatn c> mpuied, he will then fee, how much Labour makes the far greatcjl part of the valueoi Things weenjoy in this World : And the Ground that produces the Materials, is Icarce to be reckon'd in, as any, or at moft but a veryfmall part of it ; fo little, that even amongft us, Land that is left wholly to Nature, that hath no Improvement of Pafturage, 'i'illage, or Planting, is called, as indeed it is, Wafle; and wefhall find the Benefit of it amount to little more than nothing. This fliews how much numbers of Men are to be preferred to largenefs of Do- minions ; and that the Licreafe of Lands, and the right employing of them is the great Art of Government : And that Prince, who fhall be fo wiie and godlike, as by eftablilhedLaws of Liberty to fecure Proteftion and Enconregment to the honcft Liduftry of Mankind, againft the Opprellion of Power and Narrow- nefs of Party, will quickly be too hard for his Neighbours; But this by theby: To return to the Argument in Hand. 43. An Acre of Land, that bears here twenty Bufhels of Wheat, and another in America \wK]c\\, with the fame Husbandry, would do the like, are, withoutdoubt, of the fame natural intrinfick Value : But yet the Benefit Mankind receives from the one in a Year, is worth 5/. and from the other poffibly not worth a penny', if all the Profit an Indian received from it were to be valued, and Ibid hear; at icafl, I may truly fay, not tt--4- 'Tis Labour then, which puts the greatefi part of Value upon Land, without which it would fcarcely be worth any thing : 'Tis to that we owethegreateftpartofall its ufeful Produfts; for all that the Straw, Bran, Bread, of that Acre of V\ heat, is more worth than the Produft of an Acre of as good Land, which lies wafle, is all the effeft of Labour. For 'tis not barely the Ploughman's Pains, the Reaper's and Threflier's Toil, and the Baker's Sweat, is to be counted into the^rea^weeat; the Labour of thofe who broke the Oxen. ^vhod!gg'd and wrought the Iron and Stones, who felled and fram'd the Tim- bei- employ 'd about the Plough, Mill, Oven, or any other Utenfils, which are a vaft Number, requifite to this Corn, from its being Seed to be fown, to its being made of C I V I L - G O \^ £ R N M E N f . I 7 t made Bread, muft all be charged vn the Account of Lahoiir, and receix'cd aS an Efl'cift of that : Nature and the Earth furnilh'd only the nlmofl worthlefs Mate-"- rials, as in themfelves. 'T would be a {iran^QCdtahgiie oj 'Things, that Luiujh-y pro- 'vided and made ufe of, about every Loaf of Bread, before it came to our Uie, if ^v^e could trace them ; Iron, Wood, Leather, Bark, 'J'imbcr, Stone, Bricks, Coals', Lime, Cloath, Joying Drugs, Pitch, Tar, Malls, Ropes, and all the Materials made ufe of in the Ship, that brought any of tliC Commodities made ufe of by any of the Workmen, to any part of the Work, all which, 'twould be almofl. im- poiliblc, at leaft to long, too reckon up. 44. From all which it is Evident, that tho' the Things of Nature are giveii in Common, yet Man by being MaRer of himfelt, and Pfoprktor of Lis ozun Per- fon, and the A'ciions or Labour oj it, hadfiill in hinijelj the great Foumlatirn 'f Property i and that, which made up the great Part of what he apply 'd to the Support or Com- fort of his Being, when Invention and Arts had improved the Conve.iiencies of Life; was perfedly his own, and did not belong in Common to others. 45. Thus Labour, in the Beginning gave a Right of Property, where-ever any ond was pleafed to employ it, upon what was Common, which remained a long while, the far greater Part, and is yet more than Mankind makes ufe of Men, at hrfti for the mod Part, contented themfelves with what un-aflifted Nature offered to their Neceffities : And though afterwards, in fome Parts of the World, (where the Licreafe of People and Stock, with the Vje of Money, had made Land fcarce, and fo of fome Value) xhtiex'tr^l Communities fettled the Bounds of their diftind Territories ; and by Laws within themfelves, regulated the Properties of the private Men of their Society; and fo, byCompacl and Agreement, fettled the Pro- perty which Labour and Liduftry began ; and the Leagues that have been made between feveral States and Kingdoms, either e.xprefly or tacitly difowning all Claim and Right to the Land in the others Pofl'ellion, have, by common Con- fent, given up their Pretences to their natural common Right, which originally they had to thofe Countries, and fo have, by poftive Agreement, fettled a Property amongft themfelves, in diftindt Parts and Parcels of the Earth ; yet there are flili great TraEis of Ground to be found, which, (the Lihabitants thereof not ha\'ing joyn'd with the reft of Mankind, in the Confent of the Ufe of their common Money) lieivafte, and are more, than the People, who dwell oii it, do, or can make ufe of, and fo ftill lie in Common. Though this can fcarce happen am.ongft that Part of Mankind, that have confented to the Ufe of Money. 46. The greateft part of Things really tifeful to the Life of Man, and fuch as thd Neceffity of Subfifting made the firft Commoners of the World look after, as it doth the Americans now, /ar^ generally Things of ji.iort Duration ; flic h as if they are not confumed by Ufe, will decay and perilh of themfelves : Gold, Silver, and Diamonds, are Things, that Fancy or Agreement hath put the Value on, more than real Ufe, and the neceffary Support of Life. Now of thofe good Things which Nature hath provided in (Common, every one had a Right as hath bfeen faid) to as much as he covild ufe, and Property in all he could eileci; with his La- bour ; all that his Induftry could extend to, to alter from the State Nature liad put it in, was his. He that gathered a hundred Bufhels of Acorns or Apples, had thereby a Property in them, they Were his Goods as foon as gathered. He was only to look, that he ufed them before they fpoiled, elfe he took more than his Share, and robb'd others. And indeed it was a foolifh thing, as well as difhoneft, to hoard up more, than he could make ufe of If he gave away a Pate to any body elfe, fo that it perifhcd not ufelefly in his Poifefiion, thefe he alio made ufe of. And. if he alio bartred away Plumbs, that would have rotted in a Week, for Nuts that would laft good for his eating a whole Year, he did no' Injury; he wafted not the common Stock; deftroy'd no Part of the Portion of Goods that belonged toothers, fo long as nothing perifh'd ufelefly in his Hflnds. Again, If he would give his Nuts for a piece of Metal, pleafed with its Colour j or exchange his Sheep for Shells, or WooU for a Iparkling Peble or a Diamond^ and keep thofe by him all his Life, he invaded not the Right of others, he might heap up as much of thefe durable Things as he pleafed ; the exceeding if the Bounds cj h\s jufi Property not lying in the Largnefs of his Polfelfion, but the periiTiing of any thing ufeleily in it. Vol. II. If 3 47. And l-JZ 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. 47. And thus came in the ufe of Muney, fome lafting thing that Men might keep without ipoiling, and that by mutual Confent Men Avould take in exchange for the truly ufeful, but perirtiable Supports of Life. 48. And as different degrees of Induftry were apt to give Men Poffeflions in diftcrent Proportions, fo this Invention of Mcney gave them the Opportunity to con- tinue and enlarge them. For I'uppofing an liland, feperate from all poffible Com- merce with the reft of the World, wherein there were but an hundred Families, but there were Sheep, Horfes and Cows, with other ufelul Animals, wholfome Fruits, and Land enough for Corn for an hundred thoufand times as many, but nothing in thelfland, either becaul'e of its Commonnefs, or Perifhablenefs, fit to fupply the Place of M««ey .• WhatRcafon could any one have there to enlarge his Pollcllions beyond the Ufe of his Family, and a plentiful Supply to its Ccnfumption, cither in what their own Induftry produced, or they could barter for like perifliable, ufeful Commodities, with others? Where there is not fbmething, both lafting and fcarce, and fo valuable, to be horded up, there Men will be apt to enlarge ihf^'n- PnJfcj'ficnsofLand, were it never fo rich, never fo free for them to take. For I ask, what would a Man value Ten thoufand, or an Hundred thoufand Acres of excellent ZrtBi, ready cultivated, and well ftocked too with Cattle in the middleof the Lr-land Parts of America, where he had no Hopes of Commerce with other parts of the World, to draw AftKi7 to him by the fale of the Produd; } It would not be worth the enclofing, and we fhould fee him give up again to the wild Com- mon of Nature, whatever was more than would fupply the Conveniencies of Life to be had there for him and his Family. 49. Thus in the Beginning all the World was Ameiica, and more fo than that is now; for no fuch thing as Money, was any where known. Faid out fomething that hath the Ufe and Value of Mvney amongii his Neighbours, you fhall fee the fame Man will begin prefently to enlarge his PoffefTions. 50. But fince Gold and Silver, being little useful to the Life of Man in propor- tion, to Food, Raiment, and Carriage, has its ^rt/w^' only from the Confentof Men, whereof Labour ytt makes, in great part, the Mtafure, it is plain, that Men have agreed to a difproportionate and unequal Pojfeffion of the Earth, they having by a tacit and voluntary Confent, found out a Way how a Man may fairly poflefsmore Land, than he himfelf can ufe the Product of, by receiving in Exchange for the overplus Gold and Silver, which may be hoarded up without Injury to any one; thefe Metals notfpoiling or decaying in the Hands of the Poflelfor. ThisPar- tageof Things in an Inequality of private PoU'effions, Men have made practicable out of the Bounds of Society, and without Compact only by putting a Value on Gold and Silver, and tacitly agreeing in the Ufe' of Money. For in Govern- ments, the Laws regulate the Right of Property, and the Pofl'effion of Land is determin'd by pofitive Conftitutions. 51. And thus, 1 think, it is very eafy to conceive without any Difficulty, /:'oto Labour could at fi.fl begin a 'Title of Property in the common Things of Nature, and how the fpendmg it upon our Ufes bound it. So that there could then be no Rea- fon of quarreling about Title, nor any Doubt about the largenefs of Pofl'effion it gave. Right and Conveniency went together; for as a Man had a Right to all lie could imploy his Labour upon, fo he had no temptation to Labour for more than he could make Ufe of This left no Room for Controverfy about the Title, nor for Incroachment on the Right of others ; what Portion a Man carv'd to himfelf, was eafily feen; and it was ufelefs as well as difhoneft to carve himfelf too much, or take more than he needed. CHAP. 1^:21 Of Paternal Power. 52. TT may perhaps be cenfured as an impertinent Criticifm in a Difcourfe of •*■ this Nature to findfoult with Words and Names, that haveobtain'd in the World : And yet pofllbly it may not be amifs to offer new ones, when the old are apt to lead Men into Miftakes as this of Paternal Poiver probably has done, whicli of C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T* which feems fo to place the Power of Parents over their Children wholly in the Father, as if the Mother liad no Share in it, whereas, if we confult Reafon or Re- velation, we fhall find, llie hath an equal Title. This n-;ay give one Reafon to a.sk, whether this might not be more properly called Parental Po-^er ? For what- ever Obligation Nature and the Right of Generation lays on Children, it mufl cer- tainly bind them equal to both the concurrent Caufes of it. And accordingly we fee the pofitiveLaw of God every where joins them together, without Dilii'ncti- on, when it commands the Obedience of Cliildren, Hunotir thjFather and thy Mother Exod. 20. 1 2. Whofcever curfeth his Father or bis Mother, Lev. 20.5?. Ye {ImU fear every Man his Motl:er and his luither. Lev. 15?- 3. Children obey your Parents, ike. Eph. p. i. is the Stile of the Old and New Tellament. J3. Had but this one thing been well confider'd, without looking any deeper into the Matter, it might perhaps have kept Men from running into thofe grofs Miftakes, they have made, about this Power of Parents; which however it miHit without any great Karfhnefs, bear the Name of abfolute Dominion, and regal Au- thority, when under the litle q( paternal Pozuer, it feem'd appropriated to the Fa- ther, would yet have founded but odly, and in ihe very l-same fhewn riic Abfurdi- ty, if this fuppofed abfolute Power over Children had been called Parental: and thereby have difcover'd, that it belong'd to the Mother too; for it will but very ill ferve the Turn of thofe Men, who contend lb much for the abfolute Power and Authority of tlv^ Fatherhood, as they call it, that tne Mother flioukl have any Share in it. And it would have but ill fuppdned the Mnarchy they contend for, when by the very Name it appeared, that that fundamental Authority, from whence they would deiive their Government of a fingle Perfon only, was not placed in one, but two Perfons jointly. But to let this of Names pafs. 54. Though I have laid above. Chap. 2. T'hat all Men by Nature are equal, lean- not be fuppofed to underftand all forts oi Equality : Age or Virtue may give Men a juft Precedency : Excellency oj Parts and Merit may place others above the common Level : Birth may fubjed fonie, and. Alliance or Benefits others to pay an Obfer- vance to thofe to whom Nature, Gratitude, or other Rcfpeits may have made it due; and yet all this conlifts with iht Equality, which all Men are in, in rei'pect of Juiifdiftion or Dominion, one over another; which was the Equality I there I'poke of, as proper to the Bufinefs in Hand, being that equal Right, that every Man hath, to his natural Freedom, without being I'ubjcted to the Will or Autho- rity of any other Man. 55. Children, I confcfs, are not born in this full State of Equality, though they are born to it. Their Parents have a fort of Rule and Jurifdiition over them when they come into the World, and for fome time after, but ^tis but a tempora- ry one. The Bonds of this Subjection are like the fwadlingClothes they are wrapt up in, and fupported by in the Weaknefs of their Infancy : Age and Reafon as they grow up, loofen them, \ill at length the/ drop quite cfF, and leave a Man at his own free Difpofal. 5<5. Adain was created a perfeft Man, his Body and Mind infull Pofle/non of their Strength and Reafon, and fo was capable, from thefirft Inflant of his Being, to provide for his own Support and Prefervation, and govern his Aftions accord- ing to theDiftates of the Law of Reafon which God had implanted in him. From him the World is peopled with his Defcendants, who are all born Lifants, weak and helplefs, without Knowledge or Underflanding : But to fupply the Defects of tiiis imperleCt State, till the Improvement of Growth and Age had removed them, Adam and Eve, and after them all Parents were, by the Law of Nature under an Obligation to pre ferve, nourij]?, and educate the Children, they had begotten ; not as their own Workmanfliip, but the Workmanfliip of their ovv'n Maker, the Almighty, to whom they were to be accountable for them. 57. 'J he Law, that was to govern Adam, was the fame, that was to govern all his Poflerity, the Laiu of Reafon. ^ But his Off-fpring having another Avay of en- trance into the World, difierent from him, by a natural Birth, that produced them ignorant and without the Ufe of Reafon, they were not prefently under thac La-eo; for no body can be under a Law, which is not prom.ulgated to'him ; and this Law being promulgated or made known by Reafn only, he that is not come to the Ufe of his Reafn, cannot be laid to be under this La~u ; and Adam*s Chil- dren, being not prefently as foon as born under this La-jj of Reafn, were not pre- I'ently 174 0/ Civil-Government. {ent]y free. For Law, in its true Notion, is not lb much the Limitation as the Direclion of afree and intelligent Agent to his proper Intcreft, and prefcribes no {ir- ther than is for the general Good of tholb under that Law : Could they be hap- pier without it, the Law, as an ufelefs 1'hing, would of it felf vanifh ; and that ill deferves the Name of Confinement which hedges us in only from Bogs and Pre- cipices. So that, however it mny be miftaken, the End of Law is, not to abolilh or reftrain, but to preferve and enlaige Freedom. For in all the States of created Beings capable of Laws, iv/iere there i^ no Law, there is no Freedom. For Liberty is to be free from Refiraint and Violence from others; which cannot be, where there is no Law : But Freedom is nor, as we are told, A Liberty for every Man to do what he lijh : (For who could be free, when every other Man's Humour might do- mineer over him ?) But a Uberty to difpoie, and order as he lifts, his Perfon, Adions, Poifenions, and his whole Property, within the Allowance of thofe Laws, under which he is, and therein not to be lubjcct to the arbitrary Will of another, but freely follow his own. 58. The Pozcer, then, that Parents harje over their Children, arifes from that Duty which is incumbent on them, to take Care of their Olf-fpring, during the imperfect State of Childhood. To inform the Mind, and govern theAdiionsof their yet ignorant Nonage, tillReafon fhall take its Place, andeafe them of that Trouble, is what the Children want, and the Parents are bound to. For God hav- ing given Man an Underftandign to direft his Aftions, has allowed him a Free- dom of Will, and Liberty of Afting, as properly belonging thereunto, within the Bounds of that Law he is under. But whilft he is in an Eftate, wherein he has not Under/landing of his own to di reft his WiU, he is not to have any JVilloi his on'n to follow : He that nnderftands for him, muft will for him too ; he muft prefcribe to his Will, and regulate his Aftions ; but when he comes to the Eftate that made his Father a Freeman, the Son is a Freeman too. 59. This holds in all the Laws a Man is under, whether Natural or Civil. Is a Man under the Law of Nature? Wiiat made him free of that Law? What gave hini a free difpofing of his Property, according to his own Will, within the Compafs of that Law ? I anfwer ; a State of Maturity wherein he might be fuppofed capable to know that Law, that fo he might keep his Aftions within the Bounds of it. When he has acquired that State, he is prefum'd to know how far that Law is to be his Guide, and how far he may make ufeof his Freedotn, and fo comes to have it ; till then, fome body elfe muft guide him, who is prefum'd to know, how far the Law allows a Liberty. If fuch a State of Reafon, fuch an Age of Difcretion ?nade him Free, the fame fhall make his Son Free too. Is a Man under the Law of Eng- land? What made hi?n Free o/that Law? That is, to have the Liberty to difpoie of his Aftions and PoflelTions according to his own Will, within the PermifTion of that Law? A Capacity of knowing that Law. Which is fuppofed by that Law, at the Age of one and twenty Years, and in fome Cafes fooner. If this made the Father Free, it fliall make the Son Free too. Till then we fee the Law allows the Son to have no Will, but he is to be guided by the Will of his Father or Guardian, who is to underftand for him. And if the Fadier die, and fail to fubftitute a Deputy in his Truft; if he hatli not provided a Tutor, to govern his Son, during his Minority, during his want of Underftanding, the Law takes care to do it, fome other muft govern him, and be a Will to him, till he hath attained to a State of Freedo7n, and his Underftanding be fit to take the Government of his W'ill. But after that, the Father and Son are equally Free as much as Tutor and Pupil after Nonage ,• equally Subjefts of the fame Law together, without any Dominion left in the Father over the Life, Liberty, or Eftate of his Son, whe- ther they be only in the State and under the Law of Nature, or under the poli- tive Laws of an eftablifh'd Government. 60. But if, through Defefts that may happen out of the ordinary Courfe of Na- ture, any one comes not to fuch a Degree of Reafon, w^hcrein he might be fup- fed capable of knowing the Law, and fo living within the Rules of it, he is never capable vf being a Freeman, he is never let loofe to the difpofure of his own Will (becaufe he knows no Bounds to it, has not Underftanding, its proper Guide) but is continued under the Tuition and Government of others, all the Time his own Underftanding is uncapable of that Charge. And fo Lunaticks and Lleots are r.ever fet free from the Go\ernment of tlieir Parents ; Children who are mt as yet come of C I V I L - G O \ E R N jM E N T. come vnto thcfe Tears zvhereat they may have; and Innocents luhich are excluded by a na- tural di'jeEl from ever having; 'X\iwA\y, Madmen, ivhich for the prefent cannot pi ifib'.y have the life of ) ig/.t Reaf,n to guide th-cmjelves, have for ti.eir Guide, the R'Uifin tl.>at guideth other Men which are T'laors over them, to ftek and procure their Good for them fays Hooker, Eccl. Pol. Ill;, i. feci. j. All which icems no more tinn that Bucy, which God nnd Nature has laid on Man, as well as other Crcnuue?, tt) prcferve their Ori-fpring, till they can be able to fliifi: for theinfelves, and will Icarce amount to an Inuance or Proof of Parents Regal Authority. 61. Thu.swe are horn fee, as v/e are born rational i not that we have adual- ly the Exercife of either: Age that brings one, brings with k the other too. And thus Ave ice how natural Freedom and Siihjeciion to Parents may conlift tofe- t'ler, and are both lounded on the iame Principle. A Cl'ild is Free by his Fathei 's MuiC, by his Father's UnderP.anding, which is to govern him, till he h'.th it of his own. The Freedom of a Man at Tears oj Difretion, and the Subjecdicn of a Child to his Parents, whilftyet fhort of that Age, are lo confiftent. and lb diflin- guiflinblCjthat the mofl blinded Contenders for Monarchy, by Right if Fatherhood, cannot miis this Difference ; the moftobllinatc cannot but allow their Coniiilency. For were their Doctrine all true, were the right Heir o{ Adam new known, anxl by that Title fettled a Monarch in his 'i'hrone, inverted with all the abiblute urJinJ:ed Tower Sir .K. iT talks of; if he Ihould die as ibon as his Heir were born, muft not the Child, notwithftanding he weje nevtr fo free, never i'o much Sovereign, be in Subjection to his Mother and Nurfe, to Tutors and Gover- nors, till Age and Education brought him Reaibn and Ability to govern him'elf, ard others? The Necefficies of his Life, the Health of his Body, and the Infor- mation of his Mind would require him to bedirectedby the \Vill oforhets and not his own ; and yet will any one think, that this Reftraint and Subjccton were inconfifient with, or fpoil'd him of that Liberty or Soveieignty he had a Right to, or gave away his Empire to thofe who had the Government of his Nona<7e .=> This Government over him only prepaied him the better and fooner for it. If any body fhiuidask me, whenmy Son is of Age to be Fee? I fhill aiiwc-, Jut ■when his Moiiarch is of Age to gwern. But at what F'/m, fliys the jud^cious Hjoker, Eccl. Pol. 1. I. Seft. 6. a Alan may be faid to have attain d fo far forth the ufe of Reafn, m fufficeth to make him capable of thofe Laws whereby he is then bound to guide hisAclions; this is a great deal more eafy for Senfe to difcern, than for any cm by Skill and Learning to determine 62. Common-v.ealths themfelves take notice of, and allow, that there is a T'ime when Men are to begin to aci like Free Men, and therefore till that Time require not Oaths of Fealty, or Allegiance, or other publick owning of, or SubmilHon to the Government of their Countries. 63. The Freedom then of Man, and Liberty of afting according to his own Will, is grounded on \{\s having Reafon, which is able to inftruct him in that Law he is to govern himfelf by, and make him know how far he is left to the Free- dom of his own Will. To turn himloofe to an unreftrain'd Liberty, before he has Reafon to guide him, is not the alloAvinghim the privilege of his Natu-e to be Free; but to thrufl him out amongft Biutes, and abandon him to a State ^.s wretched, and as much beneath that of a Man, as theirs. This is that which puts the Authority into the Parents Hands to govern the Minority of their Chil- dren. God hath made it their Bufinefs to employ this Care on their Olf-fpi- n:r, and hath placed in them fuitable Lic'inations of Tendcrnefs, and Concern to temper this Power, to apply it, as his Wifdom dcfignM it, to the Childrei^s good, as long as they fliould need to be under it. ie~ rlcj, where, when the Husband and Wife part, which happens frequently, the Children aieall left to the Mother, follow her, and are wholly under her Care and Provifion ? If the Father die whiKl the Childien are young, do they not na- turally every where owe the fame Obedience to their Mother, during their Mino- rity, as to their Father were he alive? And will anyone fay, that the Mother hath a legiflati\'e Pt.wer over her Children ? 'J'hat flie can make (landing Rules, which fliall be of perpetual Obligition, by which they ought to regulate all the Concerns of th^eir Piopcrty, and bound their Liberty all the Courfe of their Lives? Or can flie inforce the Obfervation of them U'lth Capital Punifliment ? For this is the proper Power of the Magiflrate, of which the Father hath not fo much as the Shadow. His Command over his Children is but Temporary, and reaches not their Lile or Property : It is but a help to the Weaknefs and Imperfediion of their Nonage, a Difcipline necellary to their Education : And though ^Father may difpoleof hisoAvn PoiTeflions as he pleafes, when his Children are out of Danger of perifliing for Want, yet his Power extends not to the Lives or Goods, which either their own Lulullry, or another's Bounty has made theirs; nor to their Liberty neither, when they are once arrived to the Lifranchilcment of the Years cf Dilcretion. 'J'hc Father's Einplre then ceales, and he can from thence forwards no more difpofe of the Liberty of his Son, than that of any other Man: And it mufi be far from an abfolute or perpetual Jurifdiction, from which a Man may withdraw himfelf, having Licence from divine Authority to leave Father and Mo- ther and cleave to his [Fife. 66. But thcugli there be a Time when a Child comes to be as free from Subjecii- on to the W ill and Command of this Father, as the Father himfelf is free from J^ubjeftion to the Will of anybody elie, and they are each under no other Re- firaint, but that which is common to them both, whether it be the Law of Na- ture, or municipal Law of their Country : Yet this Freedom exempts not a Son from that H.mur which he ought, by the Law of God and Nature, to pay his Parents. God having made the Parents Lillruments in his great Delign of con- tinuing the Race of Mankind, and the Occafions of Life to their Children ; as he hath laid on them an Obligation to nourifh, preferve, and bring up their Off- j'pring; fo he has laid on the Children a perpetual Obligation o{ honouring their Parents, vvhich containing in it an inward Efteem and Reverence to be flrewn by all outward ExprclTions, ties up the Child from any thing, that my ever injure oralfront, difturb, -or endanger the Happinefs or Life of thofe from whom he received his; and engages him in all Adiionsof Defence, Relief, Afliftance and Comfort of thofe, by whofe Means he entered into Being, and has been made capable of any Enjoyments of Life. From this Obligation no State, no Free- dom can abfolve Children. But this is very far from giving Parents a Power of Command over th.eir Children, or an Authority to make Laws and dilpofe as they pleal'e, of their Lives or Liberties. 'Tis one thing to owe Honour and Re- fpcLt, Gratitude and Afliftance; another to require an abfolute Obedience and Submilfion. The H:miir due to Parents, a Monarch in his Throne owes his Mother, and yet this lefl'ens not his Authority, nor lubjedts him to her Government. 67. The Subjecton of a Minor places in the Father a temporary Government, which terminates with the Minority of the Child : and the Hvnoiir due from a Child, places in the Parents a perpetual Right to Refpeft, Reverence, Support, and Compliance too, more or lels, as the Father's Care, Coft, and Kindnefs, in his Education, has been more or lefs. This ends not with Minority, but holds in all Parts and Conditions of a Man's Life. The want of diftinguifhing thefe two Powers, viz.. That v/hich the Father hath in the Right of T^uitioii, during Mino- rity ; and tlie R\ght oi^ H noirr all his Life, may perhaps have caufed a gre.at part of theMiftakes about this Matter. For to fpeak properly of them, the firft of thefe is rather the Privilege of Children, and Duty of Parents, than any Preroga- tive of Paternal Power. The NouriOiment and Education of their Children, is a Charge of Government. a Charge fo incumbent on Parents for their Chiluren's Good, that nothing can abfolvc them fi-om taking Care of it. And tho' the Poivc-r of comvuinding and clm- jiifmg them go along with it, yet God hath woven into the Principles of human Nature I'uch a Tendernefs fur their Off-fpring, that there is litile fear that Pa- rents fhould uie their Power with too much Rigour? the Excefs is fcldom on the ievere fide, the {Irong byafs of Nature dra^-ing the other way. And there- fore God Almighty when lie ivould exprefs his gentle Dealing with the Jfraelites, he tells them, that tho' he chaften'd them, he chaftend them as a Man chajlens his Son, Deut. viii. 5. /. e. with Tendernefs and Aftedion, and kept them und'.-r no feverer Diiciplinc, than what was abfolutely bcft for them, and had been lefs Kindnefs to have flacken'd. This is that Power to which C/)/7i^/YK are command- ed Obedience, that the Pains and Care of their Parents may not be increafcd, or ill rewarded. 68. On the other fide, Hnmur and Support all that w^hich Gratitude requires to return for the Benefits received by and Irom them, is the indifpenfible Duty of the Child, and the proper Privilege of the Parents. This is intended for the Parents Advantage, as the other is for the Child's ; though Education, the Parents Duty, feems to have moft Power, becaufe the Ignorance and Infirmi- ties of Childhood ftand in need of Reftraint and Corredion ; which is a vifible Exercife of Rule, and a kind of Dominion. And that Duty which is compre- hended in the Word Honour, requires lefs Obedience, though the Obligation be ftronger on grown, than younger Children. For who can think the Command, Children oiey your Parents, requires in a Man, that lias Children of his own, the fame Submiffion to his Father, as it does in his yet young Children to him ; and that by this Precept he were bound to obey all his Father's Commands, if, out of a Conceit of Authority, he iliould have the Indifcretion to treat him flill as a Boy ? 69. The firft part then of Paternal Poiver, or rather Duty, which is Education^ belongs fo to the Father, that it terminates at a certain Seafon ; when the Bufi- nefs of Education is over it ceafes of it felf, and is alfo alienable before. For a Man may put the Tuition of his Son in other Hands ; and he that has made his Son an Apprentice to another, has difcharged him, during that Time, of a great part of his Obedience both to himfelf and to his Mother. But all the Duty of Honour, the other Part, remains never the lefs entire to them; nothing can cancel that : It is fo infeparable from them both, that the Father's Authori- ty cannot difpofiefs the Mother of this Right, nor can any Man difcharge his Son from honouring her that bore liim. But both thefe are very far from a Power to make Laws, and inforcing them with Penalties, that may reach Eflate, Liber-r ty. Limbs and Life. The Power of Commanding ends with Nonage; and tho' after that, Honour and Refpeft, Support and Defence, and whatfoever Grati- tude can oblige a Man to, for the higheft Benefits he is naturally capable of, be always due from a Son to his Parents ; yet all this puts no Scepter into the Father's Hand, no fovereign Power of Commanding. He has no Dominion over his Son's Property, or Aftions ; nor any Right, that his Will fhould prefcribe to his Sons in all things ; however it may become his Son in many things, not very inconvenient to him and his Family, to pay a Deference to it. 70. A Man may owe Honour and Refpeft to an ancient, or wife Man ; De- fence to his Child or Friend; Relief and Support to the Diftreffed ; and Grati- tude to a Benefaftor, to fuch a degree, that all he has, all he can do, cannot fufficiently pay it : But all thefe give no Authority, no Right to any one, of making Laws over him from whom they are owing. And, 'tis plain, all this is due not only to the bare Title of Father ; not only becaufe, as has been faid, it is owing to the Mother too; but becaufe thefe Obligations to Parents, and the Degrees of what is requir'd of Children, may be varied by the differeut Care and Kindnefs, Trouble and Expence, which is often employed upon one Child, more than another. 71. This fliews the Reafon how it comes to pafs, that Parents in Societies, where they themfelves are Subjects, retain a Power over their Children, and have as much Right to their Subjeft ion, as thofe who are in the State of Nature. Which could not poffibly be, if all Political Power were only Paternal, and that in truth they were one and the fame thing : For then, all Paternal Power being in Vol. II. z the / / -J?, 0/ Civil-Government. , the Prince, the Subjeft could naturally have none of it. But thefe two Po-wert, Political and Pateraaly are fo perfectly diftind and feparate ; are built upon fo different Foundations, and given to fo diftcrent Ends, that every Subject that is a Father, has as much a Paternal Power ever his Children, as the Prince has over his : And every Prince, that has Parents, owes them as much filial Duty andObedience, as die meanefl of his Subjects do to theirs j and can therefore con- tain not any part or degree of that kind oi Dominion, which a Prince or Magi- ftrate has over his Subjciit. 72. 'Jhough the Obligation on the Parents to bring up xht'w Children, and the Obligation on Children to honour their Parents, contain all the Power on the one Hand, and Submilllon on the other, which are proper to this Relation, yet there is another Poiuer ordinarily in the Father, whereby he has a Tie on the Obedience of his Children ; which though it be common to him with other Men, yet the Occafions of fiiewing it, almoft conflantly happening to Fathers in their private Families, and the Inllanccs of it elfewhere being rare, and lefs taken notice of, it paffes in the World for a part of Paternal JurifJiclion. And this is the Power Men generally have to befiozu their Eflates on thofe who pleafe them befl. The Pofleffion oi the Father being the Expeftation and Inheritance of the Chil- dren, ordinarily in certain Proportions, according to the Law and Cuftom of each Country ; yet it is commonly in the Fatlier's Power to bellow it with a more fparing or liberal Hand, according as tlie Behaviour of this or that Child hath comported with his Will and Humour. 75. This is no fmall Tie on the Obedience of Children : And there being al- ways annexed to tiie Enjoyment of Land, a Submiffion to the Government of the Country, of which that Land is a part ; it has been commonly fuppos'd,Thac a Father could oblige his Poflerity to that Government, of which he himfelf was a Sub- jeft, and that his Compact held them ; whereas, it being only a necelfary Con- dition annexed to the Land, and the Inheritance of an Eftate which is under that Government, reaches only thofe who will take it on that Condition, and fo is no natural Tie or Engagement, but a voluntary Submiffion. V or every Man sChil~ dren being by Nature as free as himielf, or any of his Anceflors ever were, may, whilft they are in that Freedom, chuie what Society they will join themfelves to, what Common-wealth they \\-\\\ put themfelves under. But if they will enjoy the Inheritance of their Anceftors, they muft take it on the fame Terms their An- ceflors had it, and fubmit to all the Conditions annex'd to fuch a Poifeffion. By this Power indeed Fathers oblige their Children to Obedience to themfelves, even when they are pafl Minority, and moft commonly too fubjeft them to this or tliat Political Power. But neither of thefe by any peculiar Right of Father- hood, but by the Rewai'd they have in their Hands to inforce and recompence fuch a Compliance ; and is no more Power than what a Frenchman has over an Englijlmian, who by the Hopes of an Eflate he w"ill leave him, vvill certainly have a flrong Tie on his Obedience: And if when it is left him, he will enjoy it, he mufl certainly take it upon the Conditions annex'd to the Pojfeiflon of Land in that Country where it lies, whether \u France or England. 74. To conclude then, though the Father's Power of commanding extends no farther than the Minority of his Children, and to a degree only fit for the Dif- cipline and Government of that Agej and though that Honour and Refpeci, and all that which the Latins called Piety, which they indifpenfibly owe to their Parents all their Life-time, and in all Eftates, with all that Support andDefence is due to them, gives the Fatlier no Power of Governing, /. e. making Laws and enacting Penalties on his Children ; though by all this Jie has no Dominion over the Pro- perty or Aftions of his Son : Yet 'tis obvious to conceive how eafy it was, in the rirft Ages of tlie World, and in Places flill, where the thinnefs of People gives Families leave to feparate into unpoflelfed Quarters, and they have room to re- move or plant themfelves in yet vacant Habitations ,• for the Father of the Family to become the Prince of f it ; he had been a Ruler from the beginning of the In- fimcy ■^ It is no improiaile Ofmion therefote rvhirh the Arch I'hilofopher roai of. That the ch'ef Vernon in every Honjhold was always, as it mere, a King : io when Numbers of HoufljtUs joyn'd them/ehes i)i Ci'i^il Secieces together, Kiti^s M/ert the frfl kind of (JovernoHn amongji them, which it alfo. Of C I V I L - G O V E R N il £ N f. fancy of his Children: and fince without fomc Government it would be hard for them to live together, it was likelieft it fliould, by the exprcfs or tacit Confent of the Ch.ldren when they were grown up, be in the Fnther, wlieie it i'eemed without any Change barely to continue j vvlien indecdnothing more vr^s required to u, than the permitting the Father to exercifc alone in hisFamilv that exe- cutive Power of the Law of Nature, which every irtc Man naturalTy hath and by '.hat PennilTion refigning up to him a Monarchical Power wliilfl they remained in it. But that this was not by any Paternal Right, but only by the Confent of his Children, is evident from hence. That no body doubts, but if a Stranf^er whom Chance or Bufinefs had brought to his Family, had there kill'd any^cf his Children, or committed any other Faft, lie might condemn and put him to Xeath, orotherwife have punifli'd him, as well as any of his Children; which it was impcflible he fhould do by virtue of any paternal Authority o\ er one who was not his Child, but by virtue of that executive Power of the Law of Na- ture, which, as a Man, he had a Right to: And he alone could puniHa him in his Family, where the Refpeft of his Children had laid by the Exercife of fuch a Power, to give way to the Dignity and Authority they were willing fliould re- main in him, above the reft of his Family. 75. Thus 'twas eafy, and almoft natural for Children by a tacit, and fcarce avoidable Confent, to make way for the Father's Authority and Govermmnt. They had been accuftomed in their Childhood to follow his Direftion, and to refer their liitle Differences to him; and when they were Men, who fitter to rule them ? Their little Properties, and lefs Covetoufnefs, feldom afforded greater Contro- verlies ; and when they fhould arife, where could they have a fitter Umpire than he, by whole Care they had every one been fuftain'd and brought up, and who had a Tendernefs for them all ? "Tis no wonder that they made no Diftinction betwixt Minority and full Age : nor looked after one and twenty, orany other Age that might make them the free Difpofers of themfelves and Fortunes, when they could have noDefireto be out of their Pupilage: The Government they had been under, during it, continued ftill to be more their Protection than Re- flraint ■■, and they could no where find a greater Security to their Peace, Liber- ties, and Fortunes, than in the Rule of a Father. -j6. Thus the natural Fathers of Families, by an infenfible Change, became the politick Mjnarchs of them too : And as they chanced to live long, and leave able and worthy Heirs, for feveral Succellions, or otherwlfe ; fo they laid the Foun- dations of Hereditary, or Eleftive Kingdoms, under feveral Conftitutions and Manners, according as Chance, Contrivance, or Occafions happen'd to mould them. But if Princes have their Titles in their Fathers Right, aud it be a fuf- ficient Proof of the natural ii-^/j^ of Fathers to political Authority, becaufe they commonly were thofe in whofe Hands we find, de faSio, the Exercife of Govern- ment : I fay, if this Argument be good, it will as ftrongly prove, that all Prin- ces, nay Princes only, ought to be Priefts, fince 'tis as certain, that in the Be- nnning. The Father of the Family was Priefi, as that he was Ruler in his own Hou- ai it feimeth, the Rettfon why the N»me of Fathers continued ftill in thent, who, of Wathers, were made Rulers ; as alfo the ancient Cuftom of Govtrmurs to do as Melchir.edcc, and being Kings, to ex- erci/e ijt' Office of Priefts, which Fathers did, at the firft grew perhaps by the fame Occajion. Howieit, this IS not the only kind of Regiment that has been received in the tVorld. The Inconveniencies of one kind have caufed fundry others to be devifed ; fo that in a Word, all fiMick Regiment of what kind foever, feemeth evidently to have rifen from the deliberate Advice. Confiiltatim and Compofition be- twetn Men, judging it convenient or behovefui, there being no ImfoJIbdity in Nature conftJered by itfelf, but that Ma» might have lived without any fiMck Regimei». Hooker'/ Eccl. P. L. i, Sea. 10. Vol. It! Z z CHAR n9 i8o 0/ Civil-Government. CHAP. VII. Of Political or Civil Society, 11 ■{~^ OD hnving made Man fuch a Creature, that, in his own Judgment, it vJ5 vvas not good for him to be alone, put him under ftrong Obligations of Neceffity, Convenience, and Inclination to drive him into Society, as well as fitted him with Underftanding and Language to continue and enjoy it. The fir/i Society was between Man and Wife, which gave beginning to that between Pa- rents and Children ; to which, in time, that between Malter and Servant came to be added : And thougli all thefe might, and commonly did meet together, and make up but one Family, wherein the Mailer or Miftrefs of it had Ibme fortof Rule proper to a Family; each of thefe, or all together, came fliort o( Political Society, as we fliall fee, if we confider the different Ends, Ties, and Bounds of each of thefe. 78. Conjugal Society is made by a voluntary Compad between Man and \^'o- man ; and tho' it confift chiefly in fuch a Communion and Right in one anothers Bodies, as is neceflary to its chief End, Procreation ; yet it draws with it mu- tual Support and AfTiftance, and a Communion of Interefts too, as necelfary not only to unite their Care and Affeftion, but alfo neceflary to their common Off- fpring, who have a Right to be nouriflied, and maintained by them, till they are able to provide for themfelves. 79. Toy theEndoi Cotijunfiion, befween Male and Female, being not barely Pr<>' creation, but the Continuation of the Species; this Conjunction betwixt Male and Female ought to lad, even after Procreation, fo long as is neceifary to the Nourifhmcnt and Support of the young Ones, who are to be fuftained by thofe that got them, till they be able to ihift and provide for themfelves. This Rule, which the infinite wile Maker hath let to the Works of his Hands, we find the inferior Creatures fteadily obey. In thofe viviparous Animals which feed on Grafs, the ConjunSiion hetiveen Male and Female lafts no longer than the very Aft of Copulation ; becaufe the Teat of the Dam being fufficient to nourifh the Young, till it be able to feed on Grafs, the Male only begets, but concerns not himfelf for the Female or Young, to whofe Sullenance he can contribute no- thing. But in Beafts of Prey the Conjimclion lafts longer : becaufe the Dam not being able well to fubfift her felf, and nourifh her numerous Off-fpring by her ownPrey alone, a more laborious, as well as more dangerous way of living, than by feeding on Grafs, the Afliftance of the Male is neceffary to the Main- tenance of their common Family, which cannot fubfift till they are able to prey for themfelves, but by the joint Care of Male and Female. The fame is to be obferved in all Birds (except fome domeftick Ones, where Plenty of Food excufes the Cock from feeding, and taking care of the young Brood) whofe young need- ing Focd in the Neft, the Cock and Hen continue Mates, till the young are able to ufe their Wing, and provide for themfelves. 80. And heiein I think lies the chief, if not the onlyReafon, "why the Male and Female in Mankind are tiedto a longer ConjunBi on than other Creatures, viz.. Becaufe the Female is capable of conceiving, and ^e /(zHo is commonly with Child again, and brings forth too a new Birth, long before the former is out of Dependency for Support on his Parents help, jind able to fliift for himfelf, and has all the Affiftance is due to him from his Parents; whereby the Father, who is bound to take care for thofe he hath beget, is under an Obligation to continue in conju- gal Society with the fame Woman longer than other Creatures, whofe young be- ing able to fubfift of themfelves, before the time of Procreation returns again, the conjugal Bond difl'olves of it felf, and they are at Liberty, till //)'?«?« at his ufual Anniverfary Scafonfummons them again to chufe new Mates. Wherein one can- not butadniirethe VVifdom of the great Creator, who having given to Man Fore- fight, and an Ability to lay up for the future, as well as to fupply the prefent INeccfllty, hath made it neceifary, x\iat Society of Man andJVifef^ouldbemoreiafi- ihg, than of Male and Female a mor.gft other Creatures ; that fo their Induftry niight be encouraged, and their Intcrcft better united, to make Proviliou and lay up of C I V I L - G O V E R N il E N T. 1 % t up Goods for their common Iflue, which uncertain Mixture^ or eafy and fre- quent Solutions of conjugal Society would mightily difturb. 8i. But though thcie are Tics upon Mnnkind, which make the Cunjuml Bonds more firm and lading in Man, than the other Species of Animals; yet it would give one reafon to enquire, why this Cojupaci, where Procreation and Education are lecured, and Inheritance taken care for, may not be made determinable, cither by Confent, or at a certain Time, or upon certain Conditions, as well as any o- ther voluntary Compafts, there being no Nccedicy in the Nature of the thing, nor to the Ends of it, that it fhould always be for Life ; I mean, to fuch as arc under no ReRraintof any pofitiveLaw, which ordains all fuch Contracts tobeperpeuial. 82. But the Husband and Wife, though they have but one common Concern, yet h:iving ditterent Underftandings, will unavoidably fometimes have different Wills too i it therefore being neceifary that the laft Determination, /. e. the Rule, fliould be placed fomewherc ; it naturally fills to the Man's Share, as the abler and the {Ironger. But this reaching but to the things of their common Intel e?! and Property, leaves the Wife in the full and free Polfeifion of what by Contract is her peculiar Right, and gives the Husband no more Power over her Life than ilie has over his. The Power of the Husband being fo far from tliat of an abfolute Monarch, that the Wife has in many Cafes a Liberty to feparate from him ; where natural Right or their Contract allows 4t, whether that Contraft be made by themlelves in the State of Nature, orby the Cuftom or Laws of the Country they live in ; and the Children upon fuch Separation fall to the Father or Mother's Lot, as fuch Contrad: does determine. 83. For all the Ends of Marriage being to be obtained under politick Govern- ment, as well as in the State ol Nature, the Civil Magiftrate doth not abridge the Right or P-jWer of either naturally neceifary to thofe Ends, wz:,. Procreation and rvatual Support and Afliftance whilft they are together ; but only decides any C-.pi:roverly thatmayarifebetween Man and Wife about them. If it were other- v: -0. and that abfolute Sovereignty and Power of Life and Death naturally belong'd to ihe Husband, and wd'e necejfary to the Society betzveen A£m and H^/fe, there could be no Matrimony in any of thofe Countries where the Husband is allow'd no fuch abioluie Authority. But the Ends of Matrimony requiring no fuch Po^'er in the Husband, the Condition oi Conjugal Society put it not in him, it being not at ail neceftary to that State. Conjugal Society could fubfift and attain it Ends without it; nay. Community of Goods, and the Power over them, mutual Affift- ance and Maintenance, and other things belonging to Conjugal Society, might be varied and regulated by that Contraft which unites Man and W^ife in that So- ciety, as far as may confift with Procreation and the bringing up of Children till they could fhift for themlelves; nothing being necellary to any Society, that is not neceifary to the Ends for which it is made. 84. 'I'he Society betzvixt Parents and Children, and the diftinft Rights and PowerS belonging relpedively to them, I have treatejd of fo largely in the foregoing Chapter, that I fhall not here need to fay any thing of it. And I think it is plain, that it is far different from a politick Society. 85. Mafier and Servant are Names as old as Hiflory, but given to thofe of far different Condition ; for a Freeman makes himfelf a Servant to another, by fel- ling him for a certain time, the Service he undertakes to do, in exchange for Wages he is to receive : And though this commonly puts him into the Family of his Mafter, and under the ordinary Difcipline thereof; }'et it gives the Mafter but a temporary Power over him, and no greater, than what is contained in the Contracl between 'em. But there is another fort of Servants, which by a pecu- liar Name we call Slaves, who being Captives taken in a juft War, are by the Right of Nature fubjefted to the abfolute Dominion and arbitrary Power of their Mafters. Thefe Men having, as I fay, forfeited their Lives, and with it their Liberties, and loft their Eftates ; and being in the State of Slavery,^ not capable of any Property, cannot in that State be confidercd as any part o'L Civil Society ; the chief End whereof is the Prefervation of Property. 85. Let us therefore confider a Alafter of a Family ivith all thefe fubordinate Relations of IVife, Children, Servants, and Slaves, united under the DomclHck Rule of a Family ; which, what Refemblance foever it may have in its Order, Offices, and Number too, with a little Common--',vealth, yet is very far from it, both in 1 8 2 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. in its ConRitution, Power and End : Orifitmtift be thought a Monarchy, and the Piitt'J'ii?niliai tlie ablolutc Monarch in it, abfolute Monarchy will have but a very ftiattcred and fliort Power, when 'tis plain, by what has been laid before. That tlie Mafter vf the Family has a very diftinft and differently limited Power, b xh as to Time and Extent, over thofe feveral Perfons that are in it ; for ex- cepting Slave (and the Family is as much a Family, and his Power as Pater- familias as great, whether there be any Slaves in the Family or no) he has no Le- giflative Power of Life and Death over any of them, and none too but wiiat a Mifirefs of a Family may have as well as he. And he certainly can have no ab- folute Power over the whole /vjw//y, who has but a very limited one over every Individual in it. But how a Fainily, or any other Society of Men differ from that, which is ^xo^cvly Political Society, we fliall beft fee, by confidering wherein Political Society itfelf confifts. 87. Man being born, as has been proved, with a Title to perfed Freedom, and an unconcrouled Enjoyment of all the Rights and Privileges of the Law of Nature, equally witli any other Man or Number of Men in the World, hath by Nature a Power, not only to preferve his Property, that is, his Life, Liberty and Eftate, againllthe Lijuries and Attempts of other Men; butto judge of and pu- nifli the Breaches of that Law in others, as he is perfuaded the Offence deferves, even with Death itfelf, in Crimes where the Heinoufnel's of the Fait, in his Opi- nion, requires it. But becaufe no Political Society can be, nor fubfift without having in itfelf the Power to prefene the Property, and in order thereunto, punifh the Offences of all thofe of that Society ; there, and there only is Political Society, where every one of the Members hath quitted this natural Power, refign'd it up into the Hands of the Community in all Cafes that exclude him not from appeal- ing for Protedion to the Law eftabliflied by it. And thus all private Judgment of every particular Member being excluded, the Community comes to be Umpire, by fettled Handing Rules, indifferent, and the fame to all Parties; and by Men having Authority from the Community, for the execution of thofe Rules, decides all the Differences that may happen between any Members of that Society con- cerning any Matter of Right ; andpuniflies thofe Ottences which any Member haih committed againft the Society, withfuch Penalties as the Law has eftabliflied; whereby it is eafy to difcern, who are, and who are not, in Political Society toge- ther, 'fhofe who are united into one Body, and have a common eftablifh'd Law and Judicature to appeal to, with Authority to decide Controverfies between them, and punifh Offenders, are in Civil Society one with another : But thofe who have no fuch common Appeal, I mean on Earth, are ftill in the State of Nature, each being, where there is no other, Judge for himfelf, and Executioner i which is, as I have before fhew'd it, theperfeft State uf Nature. 88. And thus the Common-wealth comes by a Power tofetdown what Punifh- ment fliall belong to the feveral Tranfgre (lions which they think worthy of it, committed amongft the Members of that Society, (which is the Power of making Laws) as well as it has the Power to punifh any Injury done unto any of its Mem- bers, by anyone that is not of it, (which is the Power of War and Peace ;) and all this for the Prefervation of the Property of all the Members of that Society, as far as is pofTible. But tho' every Man who has enter'd into Civil Society, and is become a Member of any Common-wealth has thereby quitted his Power to punifh Offences, againft the Law of Nature, in Profecution of his own private Judgment, yet with the Judgment of Offences, which he has given up to the Le- giflative in all Cafes, where he can appeal to the Magiftrate, he has given a Right to the Common-wealth to employ his Force, for the Execution of the Judgments of the Common-wealth, whenever hefhallbe called to it; which indeed are his own Judgments, they being made by himfelf, or his Reprefentative. And herein we have the Original of the legijlative and executive Power of Civil Society, which is to judge by ftanding Laws, how far Offences are to be punifhed, when commit- ted within the Common-wealth ; and alfo to determine, by occafional Judgments founded on the prefent Circumftances of the Fad, how far Injuries from with- out are to be vii dicated ; and in both thefe to employ all the Force of all the Members, vvhen there fliall be need. 8p. \\ herc-ever therefore any number of Men are fo united into one Society, as to quit every one his executive Power of tlic Law of Nature, and to refign it to the 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N f « I g? the Publick, there and there only is a Political, or Civil Society. And this is done; v/hefc-ever any number ofMon, in the State of Nature, enter into Society to make one People, one Body Politick, under one luprenie Government ; or elfe when any one joins himfelf to, and incorporates with any Government already made. For hereby he authorizes the Society, or which is all one, the Lcr^iflative thereof, to make Laws for him, as the publick Good of the Society fhail require; to the Execution whereof, his own AlFifcance (as to his own Decrees) is due. And this puts Mi'iiowl of a Sts.t(i oi Nature into x\\zt o^ a Cummon-ivealt/j, by i'^^c- ting up a Judge on Earth, with Authority to determine all the Controverfies, and redreis the Injuries, that may happen to any Member of the Common- wealth ; which Judge is the Legiflative, or Magiftrates appointed by it. And where-ever there are any number of Men, however aflociated, that have no fuch deciiive Power to appeal to, there they areftill \n the State of Nature. 90. Hence it is evident, t\\at ahfolute Mmarchy, which by Ibme Men is counted the only Government in the World, is indeed incoiifflent vjitb Civil Society, and fo can be no Form of Civil-Government at all. For the End of Civil Society, being to avoid, and remedy thofe Inconveniencies of the State of Nature, which ne- celfarily follow from every Man's being Judge in his own Cafe, by letting up a known Authority, to which every one ot that Society may appeal upon any Inju- ry received, or Controverfy that may arife, and which every one of the t Socie- ty ought to obey ; where-ever any Perfons are, who have not fuch an Authori- ty to appeal to, for the Decifion of any Difference between them, there thole Perfons are flill in the State of Nature. And fo is every abfolute Prince, in re- Iped of thole who are under his Dominion. c)i. For he being fuppos'd to have all, botli legiflative and executive Power in himfelf alone, there is no Judge to be lound, no Appeal lies open to any one, who may fairly, and indifferently, and with Authority decide, and from whole Deci- fion Relief and Redrefs may be expected of any Injury or Inconveniency, that may be fuffered from the Prince, or by his Order : So that fucli a Man, how- ever intitled, Co^ar, or Grand Seigmr, or how you pleafe, is as much in the State of Nature, with all under his Dominion, as he is with the reft of Mankind. For where-ever any two Men are, who have no Handing Rule, and common Judge to appeal to on Earth, for the Determination of Controverfies of Right betwixt them, there they are ftill in the State 0} '* Nature, and under all the Inconveni- encies of it, with only this woeful Difference to the Subject, or rather Slave of an abfolute Prince : That whereas, in the ordinary State of Nature, he has a Li- berty to judge of his Right, and according to the beft of his Power, to main- tain it ; now whenever his Property is invaded by the Will and Order of his Monarch, he has not only no Appeal, as thofe in the Society ought to have, but as if he were degraded from the common ftate of Rational Creatures, is de- nied a Liberty to judge of, or to defend his Right .■ and fo is expofed to all the Mifery and Inconveniencies, that a Man can fear from one, who being in the unreftrained ftate of Natute, is yet corrupted with Flattery, and armed with Power. 92. For he that thinks al>folHtc Power purifes Mens Bloods, andcorreds the Bafe- nefs of human Nature, need read but the Hiftory of this, or any other Age to be convinced of the contrary. He that would have been infolent and injurious in •|- The publick Power of all Society is above every Soul contained in the fame Society j and the principal VJe of that Vomer is, to give Lams unto all that are under ii, -which Laws in fuch Cafes me mufl obey, unlefs there ie reafon fliene'd which may necejfarily inforce, that the Lam of Reajon, or of God, doih injoyn the contrary. Hook. Eccl. Pol. L. i . Seft. i 6. * To take am ay all fuch mutual Grievances, Injuries and ll'rongi, i.e. fuch as attend Meu in the State of Nature. There mas no m.iy hut only by grooving into Compo/ition and Agreement amon^fl ihern- felves, by ordaining feme kind of Government publick. and by yielding thtmjehes fubjeH thereunto, that unto mhom they granted Authority to rule and govern, by them the teace, IraBquilliry and happy F.llate of the rejl might be procured. Men always knew that where Force and Injury was offered, they mi;^ht be Defenders of themfelves i they knew that however Men may ftek their Commodity ; yet if this were done with injury unto others, it was not to be filtered, but by all Men, and all good Means to be with' Jlood. Finally, they knew that no Man might in reafon take upon him to determine his own Right, and ac- cording to ills own Determination proceed in Maintenance thereof, la at much as every Mart is towards hi?»[elf, and them whom he greatly afftfli, partial; and therefo'C that Strifes and Troubles would h» endipfs, except they gave their common Confent all to be ordered by feme, whom they Jliall agree upon, wiihcut which Con/ent there would be no reafon that one Man f'Ould takf upon him 10 be Lord or Judge ovtr another. Hcoker'i Eccl. Po!, L. i. Se;>. lo. the 184 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. the Woods of America, would not probably be much better in a Throne ; where periiaps Learning and Reliiiion fliaJl be found out to juftify all, that he fhall do to his Subjefts, and the Sword prefently filence all thofe that dare queftion it. For what the ProtcSiion of abfolitte Monarchy is, what kind of Fathers of their Countries it makes Princes to be, and to what a degree of Happincfs and Se- curity it carries Civil Society, where this fort of Government is grown to Per- feftion, he that will look into the late Relation of Ceylon, may ealily fee. 93. In abfohite Monarchies indeed, as well as other Governments of the World, the Subjcfts have an Appeal to the Law, and Judges to decide any Controverfies, jind reftrain any Violence that may happen betwixt the Subjects themfelv es, one amongR another. This every one thinks neceffary, and believes he deferves to be thought a declared Enemy to Society and Mankind, who fhould go about to take it away. But wliether this be from a true Love of Mankind and Society, and fiich a Charity as we owe all one to another, there is Reafon to doubt. For this is no more, than that every Man, who loves his own Power, Profit, orGreat- ncfs, may and naturally muft do, keep thofe Animals from hurting, or deftroying one another, who labour and drudge only for his Pleafure and Advantage ; and fo are taken care of, not out of any Love the Mafter has for them, but Love of himfelf, and the Profit they bring him. For if it be asked, what Security, u7;at Fence is there, in fuch a State, ngainft the Violence and OpprejTion of this abfolme Ruler ? The very Quedion can fcarce be born. They are ready to tell you, that it deferves Death only to ask after Safety. Betwixt Subject and Subjed, they will grant, there muft be Meafures, Laws and Judges, for their mutual Peace and Security : But as for the Ruler, he ought to be abfuhne, and is abo\ e all fuch Circumftances ; becaufe he has Power to do more Hurt and Wrong, "tis right when he does it. To ask how you may be guarded from Harm, or Injury, on that fide where the ftrongeft Hand is to do it, is prefently the Voice of Faction and Rebellion. As if when Men quitting the State of Nature entered into So- ciety, they agreed that all of them but one fliould be under the Reftraintof Laws, but that he fhould ftill retain all the Liberty of the State of Nature, increafed with Power, and made licentious by Lnpunity. This is to think, that Men are fo foolifli, that they take care to avoid what Mifchiefs may be done them by Pole-Cats, ov Foxes ; but are content, nay think it Safety, to be devoured by i?OHr. 94. But whatever Flatterers may talk to amuze Peoples CJnderftandings, it hinders not Men from feeling ; and when they perceive, that any Man in what Station foever, is out of the Bounds of the Civil Society which they are of, and that they have no Appeal on Earth againft any Harm, they may receive from him, they are apt to think themfelves in the State of Nature, in relpeft of him, whom they find to be fo ; and to take care as foon as they can, to have that Safety and Security in Civil Society, for which it was firft inftituted, and for which only they entered into it. And therefore, though perhaps at firft, (as fhall befhewed more at large hereafter in the following Part of this Difcourfe) fome one good and ex- cellent Man having got a Prehemency amongft the reft, had this Difference paid to his Goocinefs and Vertue, as to a kind of natural Authority, that the chief Rule, with Arbitration of their Differences, by a tacit Confent devolved into his Hands, without any other Caution, but the AlTurance they had of his Uprightnefs and Wifdom ; yet when time, giving Authority, and (as fome Men would perfuade us,) Sacrednefs to Cuftoms, which the negligent, and unforefeeing Innocence of the firft Ages began, had brought in Succellors of another Stamp, the People find- ing their Properties not fecure under the Government, as then it was, (whereas Government has no other End but the Prefervation of * Property) could never be fafe nor at reft, nor think the?nfelves in Ciiiil Society, till the Legiflature was placed in collective Bodies of Men, call them Senate, Parliament, or what you pleafe. By which Means every fingle Perfon became fubjeft, equally with other the Mea- * Atthejirfl, when fome certain hind of Regiment was once appointej, it may be that nothing »at then farther thought upon for the Manner of Governing, but all permitted unto their Wifdom and Dif crelion, which Wire to Rule, tilt by Experience they fonnd this for all Parts very inconvenient, fo as :ht Thing which they hud deviled for a Remedy, did indeed but increafe the Sore, which it fliould have cured. Ihey fam, that to live by one Muns Vvill, became the cau(e ot all Mens Mifery. Ihis co-./lramed them to come unto Laws, wherein all Men might fee their Duty beforehand, and know the Penalties of iranfgref. fing them. Hooker j Ec(.I> I'ol. L. i.:>cifi« 10. neft of C I V I L - G O V E R N .AI E N T. 1 2 J reft Men, to thofe Lav;s, which he himfelf, as Part of the Legiflatix'e, had efta- blifh'd; nor could any one, by his own Authority avoid the Force of the Law, when once made ; nor by any Pretence of Superiority plead Exemption, thereby to Licenie his own, or the Mii'carriages of any of his Dependents. * No M.in in civil Society can he exempted jro-m the Lmus of it. For \i any Man may do, what he thinks fit, and there be no Appeal on Earth, lor Rcdrels or Security againfl any Harm he fliali do : I ask, whether he be not perfedly ftill in the State of Nature ~ and fo can be m Pan or Member of that civil Society ; unlefs any one will lav, the State of Nature and Civil Scjciety are one and the fame Thing, which 1 have never yet found any one fo great a Patron of Anarchy as to affirm. > ic CHAP. VIII. of the Beginning of Political Societies, Ps.'* yrEN being, as has been faid, by Nature, all free, equal, and indepen- JVl dent, no one can be put out of this Eftate, and fubjeded to the politi- cal Power of another, without his own Conient. The only Way whereby any one devefts himfelf of his natural Liberty, and puts on the Bonds of civil Society, is by agreeing with other Men to join and unite into a Community, for their com- fortab!", lafe, and peaceable living one amongft another, in a lecure Enjoyment of their Properties, and a greater Security againft any, that are not of it. This any Number of Men may do, becaufe ic injures not the Freedom ofthereft ; they are left as they ^vere in the Liberty of the State of Nature. When any Num- ber of Men have fo confented to inake one Com^nunity or Government, they are thereby prefently incorporated, and make one Body Politick, wherein the Majority have a Right to aft and conclude the reft. 96. For when any Number of Men have,by the Confent of every Individual,made a Commttnity, they have thereby made that Co?nm!inity one Body, with a Power to aft as one Body, which is only by the Will and Determination of the Majority. For that which afts any Community, beingonly the Confent of the Individuals of it, and it being neceflary to that which is one Body to move one Way; it is necefla- ry the Body Ihould move that Way whither the greater Force carries it, which is the Confent of the Majority : Or elfe it is impoflible it fliould aft or continue ore Body, one Community, which the Confent of every Lidividual that united into it, agreed that it fliould; and fo every one is bound by that Confent to be concluded by the Majority. And therefore we fee, that in Allemblics, impower'd to aft by pofitive Laws, where no Number is fet by that pofitive Law which impowers them, the AH: of the Majority pafles for the Aft of the whole, and of Courl'e deter- mines, as having by the Law of Nature and Reafon, the Power of the whole. 9j. And thus every Man, by confentingwith others to make one Body Poli- tick under one Government, puts himfelf under an Obligation, to every one of that Society, to fubmit to the Determination of the Majority, and to be concluded by it ; or elfe this original Cojnpali, whereby he with others incorporates into one Society, would fignify nothing, and be no Compaft, if he be left free, and under no other Ties, than he was in before in the State of Nature. For what Appear- ance would there be of any Compaft ? What new Engagement, if he were no far- ther ty'd by any Decrees of the Society, than he himielf thought fit, and did aftually confent to ? This would be ftill as great a Liberty, as he himfelf had be- fore his Compact:, or any one elfe in the State of Nature hath, who may fubmit himfelf, and Confent to any Afts of it, if he thinks fit. 98. For i{ the Confent of the Majority ih?M not, in Reafon, be receiv'd, as theASl of the IVhole, and conclude every Individual; nothing but the Confent of every In- * Citil Lum being the Acl of the whole body Fclifick, doth thereftre ovn-rule eech feverelPart of tht f»mi Body. Hooker, ibid. Vol. IL A a dividual l26 0/ C I V I L -G O V I- R N i\T E N T. dividual can make any Thing to be tiic Act of the Whole: But fucli a Confent is liext impoffible ever to be had, if-vvc conlidcr chelnfinviities of Health, an^ A- vocations of Bulinefs, which in a Number, though much icfs^ than that of a Common-wealth, will ncccll'arily keep many away from the publick Adembly. 'I"o which if we add the variety of Opinions, and contrariety of Inierefl, which unavoidably happen in allCollei^ions of Men, the coming into Society upon fuch 'i'erms would be only like Cato' s coming into the Theatre, only to go out again. Such a Conllitution, as this, would make the mighty Leziatljan of a fliortcr Du- ration, than the fecblefl. Creatures ; and not let it outlafl; the Day it was born in: Which cannot be fuppos'd, till we can think, that rational Creatures fh uld delirc and conftitute Societies only to be difiblvcd. For where the A%yr;>ycannc: conclude the reft, there they cannot aci: as one Body, and confequcntly will be immediately difiolv'd again. ~- 99. Whofoever therefore outof a State of Nature unite into a Community, mud be underftood to give up all the Pou'er, nccellary to the Ends for which they unite into Society, to the. Major hy of the Community, unlefs they exprefly agreed in any Number greater than the Majority. And this is done by barely agreeing to unite into cue political Society, which is all the Co7npacl chat is, or needs be, between the Individuals, that enter into, or make up a Common-ivealth. And thus that, whicli begins and aduaUy con/iitiites any political Society, is nothing but the Con- fent of any Number of Freemen capable of a Majority to unite and incorporate into fuch a Society. And this is that, and that only, which did, or could give Beginning to any lawful Government in tlie World. 100. I'o this I iincl two Objections made. Firft, T^.hat there are no Injlances to he found in Story, of a Company of Men Inde- pendent, and equal one amongfl another, that meet together, and in this Way began and fet up a Go'vemncnt. Secondly, 'T^is impofjlble of Right, that Alen fiould do fo, Lecatife aS Men being born under Government, they are tofubmit to that, and are not at Liberty to begin a new one. 1 01. To the firft there is this to anfwer. That it is not at all to be wonder'd, that Hiflory gives us but a very little Account oi Men, that lived together in the State of Nature. The Inconveniencies of that Condition, and the love, and want of Society no fooner brought any Number of them together, but they prefently uni- ted, and incorporated, if they defign'd to continue together. And if we may not fuppofe Men ever to have been in the State of Nature, becaufe we hear not much of them in fuch a State, we may as well fuppofe the Armies of Salmanaffer^ ox Xerxes were never Children, becaufe we hear little of them, till they were Men, and embodied in Armies. Government is every where antecedent to Records, and Letters feldom come in amongft a People, till a long continuation of Civil Socie- ty has, by other more neceffary Arts, provided for their Safety, Eafe, and Plen- ty. And then they begin to look after the Hiftory of their Founders, and fearch into tiieir Original, when they have out-liv'd the Memory of it. For 'tis with Common-xvealths as with particular Perfons, they are commonly ignorant of their own Birth and Infancies : And if they know any thing of their Original, they are be- holden for it, to the accidental Records, that others have kept of it. And thole that we have, of the Beginning of any Polities in the World, excepting that of the Jews, where God himfelf immediately interposed, and which favours not at all paternal Dominion, are all either plain Inftances of fuch a Beginning, aslhave mentioned, or at leaft have manifeft Footfteps of it. 102. He muft fliew a ftrange Inclination to deny evident Matter of Faft, when it agrees not with hisHypothelis, who will not allow, that the Beginning o{ Rome and P^enice were by the uniting together of feveral Men free and independent one of another, amongft whom there was no natural Superiority or Sub jeft ion. And lijofephus Acofla's Word may be taken, he tells us, that in many Parts 01 America there was no Government all. T'here are great and apparent ConjcEitires, fays he, that thefe Men, fpeaking of thole of Peru, for a long'Time had neither Kings nor Com- mcn-wealths, but liv'dinTroops, as they do this Day in Floriday, the Cheriquanas, thofe oj Bralil, and many other Nations, zvhich have no certain Kings, but asOccaJiun is offer' d in Peace or TVar, they chufe their Captains as they pleafe, 1. i. c. 25. If it be faid, that every Man there was bornfubjedt to hisFather, or the Head of his Family. That the Subjection due from a Child to a Fatlier, took not a\vay his Freedom of uni- tint: 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E ,N T. , 1 2y ting into what political Society he thought fir, has been already proved. But be > that as- it will, thefe Men, 'tis evident, were actually Fa-e ; and whatever Su- - periority foiue Politicians now would place in any of them, they themfelves ■ claimed it not; but by Conlent ware 2.\\ equal, till by the fame Content they let Rulers over themfelves. So yX^xXxkcAt Politick Societies oW kgan from a \oluntary; IJnion, and the mutual Agreement of Men freely acting in the Choice of their Go\ernors, and Forms of Gox'ernment. .^ lo^ And 1 hope thqfe Vvho went away from Spana\\\x\\ Valanm, mcntion'd by Jujlin, 1. 3. c. 4. will be allow'd to have hi^tn Freemen, Independent one oi ^luo-' ther, and to have fet up a Government over themfelves, by their own Confent. ' Thus I have given feveral Examples out of Hiftory, of People Free and in the State of Nature, that being met together incorporated and began a Common-xcealtb. And if che want of fuch Inflances be an Argument to pro\e that Government were not nor could not be fo hegim, I fuppofe the Contenders to paternal Empire were better let it alone, than urge it againft natural Liberty. For if they can give fo many Inllances, out of Hiftory, of Governments begun upon paternal Right, I chink (though at beft an Argument from what has been, to what Ihould of Right be, has no great Force) one might, without any great Danger, yield them the Cau'e'. But if I might advife them in the Cafe, they ^vould do ivell not to learch too much into the Original of Governments, as they have begun defaBo, left they fhould find at the Foundation of moft of them, fomething very little favourable to the Defign they promote, and fuch a Power as they contend for. 104. But to conclude, Reafon being plain on our Side, that Men are naturally Free, and the Examples of Hiftory ihewing, that the Governments oi the World that were begun in Peace, had their Beginning laid on that Foundation, and were made by theConfent of the People ; there can be little room for Doubt, either wheie the Right is, or what has been tlie Opinion, or Pratftice of Manknid, shc\i.t the fir ft ere cling of Governments. 105. I will not deny, that if we look back as far as Hiftory will direfi: us to- wards the Original of Common-wealths, we fhall generally find them ui.uer tiie Go- vernment and Adminiftration of one Man. And I am alio apt to believe, that where a Family was numerous enough to fublift by itfelf, and continued entire together, without mixing with others, as it often happens, where there is much Land, and few People, the Government commonly began in the Father. For the Father having, by the Law of Nature, the fame Power with every Man elfe topunifli, as bethought fit, any Offences againft that Law, might thereby pu- nilli his tranfgrefling Children, even when they were Men, and out of their Pu- pilage; and they were very likely to fubmit to his Punifliment, and all join with him againft the Offender, in their turns, giving him thereby Power to execute his Sentence againft any Tranfgreflion, and fo in efted make him the Law-Maker and Governor over all, that remain'd in Conjunftion with his Family. He was fitteft to be truftedj paternal Aifedion fecur'd their Property, and Litereft under his Care; and the Cuftom of obeying him, in their Childhood, made it eafier to fubmit to him, rather than to any other. If therefere they muft have one to rule them, as Government is hardly to be avoided amongft Men that live to- gether ; who fo likely to be the Man, as he that was their common Father; unlefs Negligence, Cruelty, or any other Defefl: of Mind or Body, made him unfit for it ? But when either the Father died, and left his next Heir, for want of Age, Wil- dom. Courage, or any other Qualities, lefs fit for Rule ; or where feveral Fa- milies met, and confented to continue together ; there 'tis not to be doubted, but they ufed tlieir natural Freedom, to fet up him, ivhom they judg'd the ablcft, and moft likely, to rule well over them. Conformable hereunto we find the Peo- ple of A?nerica, who (living out of the Reacli of the conquering Swords, and ipreading Domination of the two great Empires of Peru and Afesico) enjov'd their own natural Freedom, though, cateris paribus, they commonly prefer the Heir of their deceafed King; yet if they find him Aveak, oruncapable, they pafs him by, and fet up the ftouteft and braveft Man for their Ruler. 106. Thus, though looking back as far as Records give us any Account of Peo- pling the World, and the Hiftory of Nations, we commonly find tht Government to be in one Hand; yet it deftroys not that which I affirm, viz.. That the. Begin- ning of politick Society depends upon the Confent of the Individuals, to join into. Vol. II. A a 2 and igg 0/ Civil-Government. and make one Society ; who when they nre thus incorporated, might fct up wliat Form of Government tliey thought fit. But tliis having given occafion to Men to miftake, and think, that by Nature Government was monarchical, and belong'd to the Father, it may not be amils licrc to confider, why People in the Beginning genera-lly pitch'd upon this Form, wliich though pherhaps the Father's Prehemi- nency might in thehrft Inftitutionof ibmc Common-wealths, give a Rife to, and pla.e in the Beginning, the Power in one Hand; yet it is plain that the Reafon, that continued the Form o'i Govenmient inaJiiiglePerfun,\\'as not any Regard, or Refpect to paternal Authority; fmce all petty Afi;«<7rc-/)/>.f, that is, almoft all Mo- narchies, near their Original, ha\e been commonly, at leaft upon occafion, TLlecl-ivs. 107. Firfl then, in the Beginning of Things, the Father's Government of the Childhood of thofe iprung from him, having accuftomed them to the K.iU of one Man, and taught them that where itwasexercil'ed with Care and Skill, with Af- fe(^tion and Love to thofe uncier it, it was fufficient to procure and preferve to Men all the political Happinefs they fought lor in Society. It was no wonder that they fhould pitch upon, and naturally run into that Form of Government, which from their Infancy they had been all accuftomed to; and which, by Experience, they had found both eafie and lafe. To which, if we add, x^v^x. Monacrhy being funple and moft obvious to Men, whom neither Experience Had Inftrufted in Forms of Government, nor the Ambition or Infolence of Empire had taught to bewareof the E:-;croachments of Prerogative, or the Inconveniencies of abiblute Power, which Monarchy in Succeflion was apt to lay claim to, and bring upon them ; it was not at all Itrange, that they rtiould not much trouble themfelves, to think of Metiiods ofreftraing any Exorbitances of thofe to whom they had given the Authority over them and of balancing the Power of Government, by placing feveral Parts of it in difterent Hands. They had neither felt the Oppreffion of tyrannical Dominion, nor did the fafhion of the Age, nor their Poffeffions, or way. of living, (which afforded little Matter for Covetoufnefs or Ambition) give them any Reafon to apprehend or provide againft it ; and therefore 'tis no wonder they put themfelves into fuch a Frame of Government, as was not only, as I faid, moft ob- vious and limple, but alfo beft fuited to their prefent State and Condition ; which ftood more in need of Defence againft foreign Invafions and Injuries, thanof Mul- tiplility of Laws, 'i'he Equality of a iimple poor way of living, confining their Defires within the narrow Bounds of eaca Man's fmall Property, made few Con- trol erlies, and lb no need of any Laws to defide them or Variety of Officers to fuperintend the Procefs, or look after the Execution of Juuice, where there were but few Trefpafles, and few Offenders. Since then thofe, who liked one another lb well as to join into Society, cannot but be fuppofed to have fome Ac- quaintance and-Friendfhip together, and fome Truftone in another; they could not but have greater Apprehenfions of others, than of one of another : And there- fore their firft Care and Thought cannot but be fuppofed to be, how to fecure themfelves againft foreign Force. "Twas natural for them to put themfelves un- der a Frame ofGovermnem, which might beft ferve to that End ; and chufe the wi- feft andbraveft Man to condud: them in their Wars, and lead them out againft. their Enemies, and in this chiefly betlieir Ruler. 108. Thus we fee, that the Kings of the Indians in America, which is ftill a Pat- tern of the firft Ages m AJia and Europe, whilft the Inhabitants were too few for the Country, and want of People and Money gave Men no Temptation to enlarge theirPollelfionsof Land, or conteft for wider Extent of Ground, are little more than Generals of their Armies; and though they command abfolutely in War, yet at home and in time of Peace they e.xerciie very little Dominion, and have but a very moderate Sovereignty, the Refolutions of Peace and War being ordinarily either in the People, or in a Council. Though the War itfelf, which admits not of of Plurality of Governors, naturally devolves the Command into the Kings fole Authority. i;- 109. And thus in Ifrael it felf, the chief m/inefs of their Judges and firfi King feems to have been to be Captains of IVar, and Leaders of their Armies; which, (befides what is fignifiedby going out and in before the People, which was, to march forth to War, and home again in the Heads of their Forces) appears plainly in the Story oi Jephtba. The Ammonites making War u^on Ifrael, ihcGikaditesiix Fear 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. 1 8^ Fear fend to Jephtha, a Baftard of their Family whom they hadcaft off, and article with him, if he will aflift them againft t\\c Ammonites, to make him their Ruler; which they do in thefe Words, And the People made Imn Head aud Captain over them, Judg. xi. II. which was, as it feems, all one as nobe '[Judge. And he judged Ifrael, Judg. xii. J. that is, was their Captain-General fix Tears. So when Jothhm up- braids the ^/jerAe^K/fff with the Obligation they had to C/W^ok, who had been their yudge and Ruler, he tells them, he fought for you, and adventured his Life for, and deliver' d you out of the Hands of Midian, Judg. ix. ry. Nothing raention'd of him, but what he did as a General: and indeed that is all is found in his Hiftory, or m any of the reft of the Judges. And Al>imeleck particularly is called King, tho' at moft he was but their General. And when, being weary of the ill Condudl of &zw«e/'s Sons, the Children of //)yJ(?/ defired a A7/;^, like all the Nations to judge thern, and to go out before them, and to fght their Battles, i Sam. viii. 20. God grant- ing tiieir Derfire, fays to Samuel, Iwilljend thee a Alan, and thou fl)alt anoint him to be Captain over my People Ifrael, that he may five my People out of the Hands of the Phi" Lftines, c. ix. v. 16. As if the only Bujincfs of a King had been to lead out their Armies, and Hght in their Defence ; and accordingly at his Inauguration pour- ing a Viol of Oil upon him, declares to Saul, that the Lord had anointed him to be Captain over his /inheritance, ex. v. i. And therefore thofe, who after i^^w/'s being folemnly chofen and ialuted King by the Tribes at Mifpah, were unwilling to have him their King, make no other Objcdion but this, Hovi flmll this Man fave tis? V. 27. as if they fhould have faid. This Man is unfit to be our A^/?z^, not having Skill and Conduct enough in War, to be able to defend us. And when God re- folved to transfer the Government to David, it is in thefe Words, But now thy Kingdom floall not continue : The Lord hath fought him a Man after his own Heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be Captain over his People, c. xiii. v. 14. As if the whole kingly Authority were nothing elfe but to be their General : And therefore the Tribes whf had ftuck to Saul's Family, and oppofed David's Reign, when they came to Hebron with Terms of Submiffion to him, they tell him, amongft other ArguiTieuts they had to fubmit to him as to their King, That he was in effeft their King in Saul's Time, and therefore they had no Reafon but to receive him as their King now. Alfo (fay they) in Time pafl, when Saul was King over us, thou "wafl he that ledefl out and broughtefi in Ifrael, and the Lord faid unto thee, thou Jljalt feed my People llrael, aad thou fi>alt be a Captain over Ifrael. no. Thus, \'vhether aFajnily byDegrees grew up into a Commcn-wealth, and the fatherly Authority being continued on to the elder Son, every one in his Turn growing up under it, tacitly fubmitted to it, and the Eafinefs and Equality of it not offending anyone, everyone acquiefced, till Timefeem'd to have contirm'd it, and fettled a Right of SuccefTion by Prefcription,- or whether feveral Families, or the Defcendants of ieveral Families, whom Chance, Neighbourhood, or Bufi- nefs brought together, uniting into a Society, the need of a General, whofe Con- duft might defend them againft their Enemies in War, and the great Confidence the Innocency and Sincerity of that poor but vertuous Age, (fuch as are almoft all thofe which begin Governments, that ever come to laft in the World) gave Men one of another, made the firft: Beginners of Common-wealths generally put the Rule into one Man's Hand, without any other exprefs Limitation or Reftraint, but what the Nature of the Thing, and the End of Government required : Which ever of thole it was that at firft put the Rule into the Hand of a fingle Perfoa, certain it is, no body was intrufted with it but for the publick Good and Safety, and to thofe Ends in the Infancies of Common-wealths commonly ufed it. And unlefs thofe who had it had done fo, young Societies could not have fubfifted ; without fuch nurfing Fathers tender and careful of the publick Weal, all Govern- ments would have funk under the Weaknefs and Infirmities of their Infancy, and the Prince and People had loon periflied together. III. But though the Golden Age (before vain Ambition, and amor fceleratus ha- lendi, evil Concupilcence had corrupted Mens Minds into a Miftake of true Pow- er and Honour) had more Vertue, and confequently better Governors, as well as lef s vicious Subjefts ; and there was then no ftretching Prerogative on the one Side, toopprefsthe People; nor confequently on the other, any Difpute about Pri- •vilege, to lefTen or reftrain the Power of the Magiftrate, and fo no Conteft be- twixt Rulers and People about Governors or Government: Yet, when Ambi- Sioa 190 0/ C I V I L - G O Y E R N M E N T. tion and Luxury in future Ages * would retain and increafe the Power, without doing the Bulinefs for which it was given ; and aidedby Flattery, taught Princps to have diftini!;t and feparate Intercft from their People, Men found itneceifary- to examine more carefully the Original and Rights of Government ; and to find cue Ways to refirain the Exorbitances, awA prevent the Abitfes of that Power which they; having intruUcd in anothei's Hands only for their own Good, they found was made ufe ot to hurt them. IZ2. Thus we may fee how probable it is, that People that were naturally free, and by their own Conient cither fubmitted to the Government of their Fa- ther, or united together out of different Families, to make aGovernment, fliould. generally put the Rule into me Mans Hands, and chufe to be under the Conduft of a Jingk Per/on, without fo much as by exprels Conditions limiting or regulat- ing iiis Power, which they thought fafe enough in his Honelly aiid Prudence. Though they never dream'd ol Monarchy being Jure Divino, which we never heard of among Mankind, till it .was revealed to us in the Divinity of this laft Age J nor everallow'd paternal Power to have a Right to Dominion, or to be the Foundation of all Governm.ent. And thus much may fuffice to fhew, that as far as we have any Light from Hiftory, we have Reafon to conclude, that all peaceful Beginnings of Govcrmnent have been laia in t/.-e Confem of the People. I fay, peaceful, bccaufe 1 fliallhave Occafion in another Place to Ipeak of Conqueft,^ wh'ch fome eftecm a Way of beginning of Governments. •■ T'he other Objection I find urgd ngainft the beginning of Pokties, in the JVay J haiie wentiottd, is this-, viz. ■ II?. T'hat all Men being born under Government, fome or other, it is impojjlble any of them fiwuld ever be free, and at Liberty to unite together, and begin a new one, or ever he able to ereB a lazvful Government. T If this Argument be good; I ask, how came fo many lawful Monarchies into the World > For if any body, upon this Suppofition, can fliew me any one Man, in any Age of the World, free to begin a lawful Monarchy ; I will be bound to fliew him ten other free Men at Liberty, at the fame time to unite and begin a new Government under a regal, or any other Form. It being Demonflration, that if any one, born under tiie Dominion of another, may be fo free as to have a. Right to command others in a new and diftinct Empire ; every one that is born under the Dominion of an other may be fo free too, and may become a Ruler, or Subjed, of a diftind; feparate Government. And fo by this their own Princi- ple, either all Men, however ^o?k, art free, or elfe there is but one lawful Prince, one lawful Government in the World. And then they have nothing to do but barely to fhew us, which that is. Which, when they have done, I doubt not but all Mankind will eafily agree to pay Obedience to him. 114. Though it be a fufficient Anl'wer to their Objeftion to fliew, that it in- volves them in the fame Difficulties that it doth thofe, thy ufe it againft; yet I Ihall endeavour to difcover the Weaknefs of this Argument a little farther. All Men, fay they, are born under Government, and therefore they cannot be at Liber- ty to begin a neiu one. Every one is born a Subject to his Father, or his Prince, and is . therefore under the perpetual "Tie oj Subjection and Allegiance. ^Tis plain Mankind ne- ver own'd nor confidered any fuch natural SnbjeElion that they -were born in, to one or to the other that tied them, without their own Confents, to a Subjection to them and their Heirs. 115. For there are no Examples fo frequent in Hiflory, both facred and pro- fane, as thofe of Men withdrawing themfelves, and their Obedience, from the jfuriiHiction they were born under, and the Family or Community they were bred up in, and fetting up new Governments in other Places; from whence fprang all that nuinber of petty Common-wealths in the Beginning of Ages,and which always * j4t fir(i, when fome certain kind of Regiment -aiss once approved, it may te, nothing teas then farther thought upon for the manner of govtrmn^, but all permitted unto the Hydom and Difcrition fihich mere to Rule, tiil by 2^pcrience they found thi for all Parts 'Jery inronvenient. ft as the thmg lehich they haj devtfed for a Remedy: did indeed but increa/e the Sure which it JJjould have cured' 1 hfy law, that to live jy one Min's Will, became the Caufe of all Mens Milcry. ihis conflramed them to come uito Lnws wherein all Men might fee their iiuty^ie/inhtiKd, and know the Penalties of tr.iajgrej/ing them, Hooker'j Eccl. Pol. L- 1 • Sect, 10. multiply 'd. 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R K ivl E N T. I 9 I multiplied, as long as there was room enough, till the Stronger, or more Fortu- nate, iWallowed the Weaker; and thofe great ones again breaking to pieces, dil- folved into leli'er Dominions. All which are lb many I'eftimonicsagainft paternal Sovereignty, and plainly prove. That it was not the natural Riglrc of the Fat /av defcending to his Heirs, that made Governments in the Beginning, iince it was impofTible, upon that Ground, there fhould have been lb many little Kingdoms; all mult ha\'e been but only one univerfal Monarchy, if Men had not been at Li- berty tof.'paratethemic[vcs from their Families, and the Government, be it what it will, that was fet up in it, and go and make dillinut Common-wealths ai:d other Governments, as they thought fit. 116. This has been the Practice of the World irom its firft Beginning to this Day,- nor is it now any more Hindrance to the Freedom of Mankind, that they are IforK under conflituted and ancient Polities, that ha\'C eflablifhcd Laws and fct Forms of Governn:kent, that if they were born in the Woods, amongfl; theuncon- fined Inhabitants, that run loofe in them. For thofe, who would perfuade us that by being born under any Govermnent, zue are naturally SubjeHf to it, and have no more any I'itle or Pretence to the Freedom of the State ot Nature, have no other Realbn (bating that of paternal Power, which we have already anfwer^d) to pro- duce for it, butonly, becaufc our Fathers or Progenitors paffed away their natu- ral Liberty, and thereby bound up themfelves and their PoRerity to a perpetual Subjeftion to the Government, which they themlelvcs fubmitted to. 'Tis true that whatever Engagementsor Promifes any one has made forhimfclf, he is under the Obligation of them, but cannot by any Compail whatfoever, bind his Children or Pofierity. For his Son, when a Man, being altogether as free as the Father, any Afl of the Father can no more give arvay the Liberty of the Svn, than it can of any body elfe: He may indeed annex luch Conditions to the Land, heenjoycd as a Subiett of any Conimon-wealth, as may oblige his Son to be of that Community, if he will enjoy thofe Polfeilions which were his Father's ; becaufe thatEftate being his Father's Property, he may difpofe or fettle it, as he pleafes. 1 17. And this has generally given the Occafion to miflake in this Matter ; be- caufe Common-wealths not permitting any Part of their Dominions to be difmem- bred, nor to be enjoyed by any but thole of their Community, the Son cannot ordinarily enjoy the Pofleffion of his Father, but under the lame Terms his Father did : by becoming a Member of the Society ; whereby he puts himfelf prelently under the Government, he finds there eftabliflied, as much as any other Subje/t of that Common-wealth. And thus the Conjent of Freemen, born under Goverwnent, which only makes them Members of it, being given feparately in their Turns, as each comes to be of Age, and not in a Multitude together ; People take no No- tice of it, and thinking it not done at all, or not necelfary, conclude they are jiaturally Subjefts as they are Men. 118. But, 't\s^W\x\, Governments themfelves underftand it otherwife ; they claim no Po-xer over the Son, becaufe of that they had over the Father; nor look on Children as being their Subjects, by their Father being fo. If a Subjeft of Eng- land have a Child, by an EngUfl} Woman in France, whofe Subjed is he ? Not the King of England's ; for he muft have Leave to be admitted to the Pivilcges of it. Nor the King of if/vzKce's : For how then has his Father a Liberty to bring him a- way, and breed him as he pleales ? And whoever was judged as a Traitor ov De- ferter, if he left or warr'd againft a Country, for being barely born in it of Pa- rents that were Alians there ? 'Tis plain then, by the Praftice of Governments themfelves, as well as by the Law of right Reafon, that a Child is bom a Subiecl of no Country or Government. He is under his Father's Tuition and Authority, till he comes to Age of Difcretion; and then he is a Freeman, at Liberty what Go- vernment he will put himfelf under; what Body politick he will unite himfelf to. . For if an Englifymayi $, Son, born in France, be at Liberty and may do fo, 'tis evi- dent there is no Tie upon him by his Father's being a Subject of this Kingdom; nor is he bound up, by any Compact of his Anceftors. And why then hath not - his Son, by the fame Reafon, the fame Liberty, though he be born any where elfe ? Since the Power that aFatherhath naturally over his Children, is the fame where ever they be born; and the Ties of natural Obligations, are not bounded by the pofitive Limits of Kingdoms and Common-wealths. li them all, he and all the reft of Marihind are (if vm Cummimity , make up one Socieiy, diftindt. from all otiicr Creatures. And were it not for the Corruption and Vi- fiouiiiefs of degenerate Men, there would be no need of any other ; no Neceflity that Men fliould lepai-atc from this great and natural Community, and by pofi-' tive Agreements coriibine into fmailcr and divided Affociations. The other Power a Man has in the State of Nature, is the Power to punifl) the Crimes committed againft that La\v. Both thefe he gives up, when he joins in a private, if I may lb call it, or particular political Society, and incorporates into any Common-wealth, feparate from the reft of Mankind. 129. The firft Puwer,'viZ: of doing luhatfocver he thought fit for the Prefervation of himfelf and the reft of Mankind, he gives up to be regulated by Laws made by the Society, fo far forth as the Prefervation of himfelf, and the reft of that Society fhall requiTe; which Laws of the Society in many Things confine the Liberty he had by the Law of Nature. ■ 130. Secondly, The Power of punifl^ing he wholly gives up, and engages his natural Force, (which he might before employ in the Execution of the Law of Nature, by his own fingle Authority, as he thought fit) to aflift the executive Power of the Society, as the Law thereof fhall require. For being now in a new State^ where- in he is to enjoy many Conveniencies, from the Labour, Affiftance, and Society of others in the fame Community, as well as Proreftion from its wiiole Strength ; he is toPartalfo with as much as his natural Liberty, in providing for himielf, as the Good, Profperity, and Safety of the Society fhall require ; which is not on- ly neceflai y, but juft ; fince the other Members of t'le Society do the like. 131. But though Men when they enter into Society, give up the Equality, Li- berty, and executive Power they had in the State of Nature, into the Hands of |he Society, to be fo far difpofed of by theLegiilative, as the good of the Society fliall require ; yet it being only with an Litention in every one the better to pre- ferve himielf his Liberty and Property ; (For no rational Creature can be fup- pofed to change his Condition with an Intention to be worfe) the Power of the Society, or Legiflative con^xtutcA by them, can never be fuppos d to extend farther than the common Good; but is obliged to fecure every ones Property, by providing iagainft thofe three Defects above-mention 'd, that made the State of Nature fo imfafe and uneafie. And fo whoever has the Legiflative or fupreme Power of any Common-wealth, is bound to go\ern by eftablifh'd /landing Laws, promulgated and known to the People, and not by extemporary Decrees; by indifferent and upright Judges, who are to decide Controverfies by thofe Laws: and to employ the Force of the Community at Hom^i, only in the Execution of fuch Lawf, or Abroad to prevent or redrefs foreign Injuries, and fecure the Community from Inroads and Invafion. And all this to be direfted to no other End, but the Peace, Safety, and fublick Goodoi the People. CHAP. X. Of the Forms of a Common-wealth. 132. 'Tp H E Majority having, as has been fliew'd, upon Mens firft uniting into -■- Society, the whole Power of the Community, naturally in them, may employ all that Power in making Laws for the Community from time to time, and executing thofe Laws by Officers of their own appointing ; and then theForw of the Government is a perfeft Democracy : Qr elfe may put the Power of making Laws into the Hands of a few feleft Men, and their Heirs or Succeflors; and then it is an Oligarchy : Or elfe into the Hands of one Man, and then it is a Monarchy : If to him and his Heirs, it is an Hereditary Monarchy : If to him only for Life, but upon his Death the Power only of nominating a Succellor to return to them ; an Elective Monarchy. And fo accordingly of thefe, the Community may make compounded and mixt Forms of Government, as they think good. And if the Legiflative Power be at firft given by the Majority to one or mojePerfons only for 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N i\l E N r. 1 9 5 for their Lives, or any limited Time, and then the fuprcme Power to revert to them again; when it is fo reverted, the Community may difpofc of it again anew into wliat Hands they pleai'e, and I'o conllitute a new Form of Government. FortheFji;« of Government depending upon the placing the fupreme Power, which is the Legijlative, it being impofliblc to conceive that an inferior Power fliould pre- fcribe to afuperior, or any but the Supreme make Laws, according as the Power of making Laws is placed, fuch is the Form of the Common-wealth. 133. By Common-xveahlj, I mull be undcrftood all along to mean, not a Demo- cracy, or any Form of Government, but any independant Cummunity wlwch the Latines fignihed by the Word Civitas, to which the Word which bed anfwers in our Lan- guage, is Common-'weaJth, and moll; properly expi'efles fuch a Society of Men wnich Community or City in Englifl} docs not, for there may be lubordinatc Communities in a Government ; and City amongll us has a quite different No- tion from Common-v/ealth ; And therefore to avoid Ambiguity, I crave Lea\c to ufe the Word Common-wealth in that Senfe, in which I hnd it ul'ed by King 'Jaines the firft, and I take it to be its genuine Signification; which if any Body diflike, I confent with him to change it for abetter. CHAP. XI. of the Extent of the Legijlative Power, 134-' I ""HE great End of Mens entring into Society, being the Enjoyment of A their Properties in Peace and Safety, and the great Liftrument and ^ieans of that being the Laws eftablifh'd in that Society ; the fi,fi andfundamental poji^ive Law of all Common-wealths, is the eftablijjjing oj" the Legijlative Power ; as the fiji and fundamental natu,-al Law, which is to govern even the Legiflative it felf, IS tl.ePrefervati:n of the Society, and (as far as will confift with the publick Good) ot every Peribn in it. 'IK\s Legijlative is not only the fupreme Power of the Common-weolth, but facred and unalterable in the Hands where the Community have once placed it ; nor can any Edid of any body elfe, in what Form foever ccnceiv'd, or by what Power foever back'd, have the Force and Obligation of a Law, which has not its Santiion from that Legiflative, which the Publick has chofen and appointed. For without this the Law could not have that, which is abfolute- ly neceflary to its being a Law, * the Confent of the Society, over whom no Body can have a Power to muke Laws, but by their own Confent, and by Authority re- ceived from them ; and therefore all the Obedience, which by the moft folemn Ties anyone can be obliged to pay, ultimately terminates in this _/;', and is direi:;ted by thofe Laws which it enads : Nor can any Oaths to any forei^^n Power whatlbever, or anydomeftick fubordinate Power, difcharge any Member of theSotiety iromhys Obedience to the Legiflative, afting purfuant to their Truft; nor oblige him to any Obedience contrary to the Laws fo enafted, or farther than they do allow; it being rediculous to imagine one can be tied ultimately to obey any Power in the Society, which is not the Supreme. \l^. Though the Legiflative, whether placed in one or more, whether it be al- ways in being, or only by intervals, tho' it be the fupreme Power in every Com- mon-wealth; yet, Firfl, It'xsmt, nor can poflibly be abfolutely ^r^m-«)7 over the Lives and For- tunes of the People. For it being but the joint Power of every Member of the ihe lawful Power of making Laws to Ccmmand whole Holttick Societies of Men, belonging jo froberly unto the fame intire Societies, that for any Pnnct or Potentate of what Kind foever upon Earth, to ex. trcife the fame of himjetf. and not by txfrefs Commiffion immediately and ferfonaly received from God. or tljo oy authority derived at the firfl from their Conjent, iifon vhafe Perfons they impofe Uvs, it is no htt- ttr than mere Tyranny. Laws they art not therefore which publick approbation hah not made fo. H(<)kei s Ecd. Pol. L. i. Seft. lo. Of this Point therefore, weare toNote, that fith Men naturally have no fnll and ferfeS Power to command whole Politick multitudes of Men therefore utterly without our Con- fent, we could in fuch fort be at no Man's Commandment living. And to be commanded we do consent wi_ei that Society, whereof we be a Patt, hath at any time before conjenitd, -viiihmt revoking the fame »Jter by the like univerfat ./Agreement . L'iws therefore human, of what Kind fotvtr, are avmlakle by Confent. Ibid, y'>l. n. B b 3 Society lCf6 0/ C I V I L -G O V E R X M E N T. Society given up to that Peribn, or Aflembly, which is Legiflator ; it canbencJ more than thoi'e Perions had in a State of Nature before they enteicd into Society, and gave up to the Community. For no Eody can transfer to another more Power, than he has in himielfj and no Body has an abfolute arbitrary Power over him- lelf, or over any other, to deflroy his own Life, or take away the Life or Pro- perty of anotiicr. A Man, as has been prov'd, cannot fubjeift him.lclf to the arbitrary Power of another; and having in the State of Nature no arbitrary Power over the Life, Liberty, or Poiicffion of another, but only lb much as the Law of Nature gave him for the Prefervation of himfelf, and the reft of Man- kind ; this is all he doth, or can give up to the Common-Wealth, and by it to the Legiflath'e Poxuer, fo that the Lcgillative can have no more than this. Their Power in the utmoft Bounds of it, is limited to the publick good of the Society. It is a P'. vver, that hnth no other End but Prefervation, and therefore can never * have a Right to deftroy, enflave, ordefignedly to impoverifti the Subjeds. U he Ob- ligations of the Law of Nature, ceafe not in Society, but only in many Cales are drawn clofer, and have by human Laws known Penalties annexed to tliem, to inforce their Obiervation. 'Ihus the Law of Nature ftands as an eternal Rule to all Men, Legiflators as well as others. The Rules that they make for other Mens Adions, muft, as well as their own, and other Mens Adions, be conformable to the Law of Natuie, /. e. to the Will of God, of which that is a Declaration, av.dthp fundamental Law of Nature hing the Prefervation of Mankind^ no liuman Sandion can be good, or valid againft it. 136. Secondly, f The Legijlative, or fupreme Authority, cannot aflume to its felf a Power to Rule by extemporary arbitrary Decrees, but is hound to dijpenfe ^tiflice, and decide the Riglits of the Subjed by promulgated flanding Laws, and knovM authorized 'Judges. For the Law of Nature being unwritten, and fo no where to be found but m the Minds of Men, they who through Padion or Intereft Ihall mifcite, or mii'apply it, cannot fo eafily be convinced of their Miftake,where there is no eftablifh'd Judge : And fo it ferves not, as it ought to determine the Rights, and fence the Properties of thofe that live under it, efpecially where every one is Judge, Interpreter, ard Executioner of it too, and that in his own Cafe: And he that has Right on his Side, having ordinarily but his own fingle Strength, hath not Force enough to defend himlelf from Injuries, or to punifh Delin- quents. To avoid thefe Inconveniencies, which diforder Mens Properties in the State of Nature, Men imite into Societies, that they may have tiie united Strength of the ^vhole Society to fecure and defend their Properties, and may have /landing Rules to bound it, by which every one may know, what is his. To this End it is that Men give up all their natural Power to the Society, which they enter into, and the Community put the Legiflative Power into fuch Hands as they think fit-, with this Truft, that they Ihall be govern 'd by dedar'd Laws, or elfe their Peace, Quiet, and Property will flill be at the fame Uncerainty, as it was in the State of Nature. 17,-j. Abfolute arbitrary Power, or ^oxQrr\\ngvi\t\\o\xt fettled ftanding Laws, can neither of them confift with the Ends of Society and Government, which Men •would not quit the Freedom of the State of Nature for, and tie themfelves up under, were it not to preferve their Lives, Libenies and Fortunes ; and by . " * Tno Tound:iiio>ii there are which Lear up puiliek Societies, the one » natuml Inclination, whereby all Men defire fociable Ltfe and Fellowfliif ; the other an Order, exfrejly or fecretly Agreed upon, touching the Manner of their Union in tiling together ; the Utter is that which we call the Law of » Common-roeal, th$ ijery iotil of a politick Body, the Harts whereof are by Law animated, held together, artd fet on Wt>rk in fuch .AUioas as the common Good requireth. Laws Politick, ordain d for external Order and Regiment amongfl Men, are nezer framed as ti.ey fliould be, unUfi prefitming the U'lll of Man to be inwardly oijli- nate. Rebellion^; jind yiverje from all Obedience to the f acred Laws of his Nature: In alVord, unleft pre fuming Man to be in regard of his depraved Mind, little better than a wild Beafl, they do accordingly pro^ •vide notwithfiitmling Jo to frame his outward Anions, that they be no Hindrance unto the common Good, for which Societies arc inflituteJ. Unlefs they do this they are not perfeH. Hooker 'j Eccl. Pol. L. i.Seft. 10. t Human Laws are Meafures in reJpeSl of Men whofe ABions they muft direB, howbeit fuch Meafuret they are as have alfo their higher Rules to be meafured by, which Rules are two, the Law of God, and the Law of Nature; fo that Laws Human mufl be made according to the general Laws of Sature, „nd without ConiradiHion to any pofiti-ue Law of Scripture, otherwtfe they are ill made. Ibid. L« l» JO conflrain Men to any Thing inconvenient doth feem Hnreafunakle. Ibid. L> i> Seft. 10. Jlated of C I V I L * G O V i; 11 N .M I. .\ i'.- J ^ ^/ fiated R:/Ii< of Right and Property to iecure their Peace and Qu'ct. It caur.ot be fuppoied that they fliouki intend, had they a Power To to do, to gi\e to any one, ^)Y morC; an ahjul/ne nrbitrary Po-mcy over ti'.cir Perfons and ERates, and puc a Force ir. to the Magiftraics Hand to execute !iis unlimted Will arbitrarily upon ithem. This were to put tlicmielves into a worf'e Condition than the State ct Nature, wherein they had a Liberty to dciend liieir Right againft the Injui-ies of others, and were upon equal Terms of Force to maintain it, whether invaded by a finglc Man, or many in Combination. Whereas by fuppofing they have piven up thenilelves to the abfolute arbiirary Power and Wil! of a Legillator, they' have difarmed themielves, and armed him, to make Prey of them when he picales. He being in a much worfe Condition, who is expofed to the arbitrary Power of one Man who has the Command of looooo, than he that is expos'd to the Arbi- trary Power of looooo lingle Men; nobody being lecure, that his Will, who hath luch a Command, is better, than that of other Men, tho' his Force be looooo times ilronger. And therefore whatever Form tlie Common-wealtli is under, the ruling Power ought to govern by declared and received Laws, and not by extem- porary Dictates and undetermin'd Relblutions. For then Mankind will be in a far worle Condition, than in the State ot 'Nature, if they fhall have armed one, or a few Men with the joint Power ot a Multitude, to force them to obey at Plea- fure the exorbitant and unlimited Decrees of their fudden Thoughts, or Unre- ftram'd, and till that Moment unknown Wills, without having any Meafures let down which may guide and juftify their Adions. For all the Power the Go- vernment has, being only for the good of the Society, as it ought not to heAr- iitrary and at Plealure, lb it ought to be exercifcd by efiablified and promuhaied Laws ; that both the People may know their Duty, and be iafe and lecure with- in the Limits of the Law ; and the Rulers too kept within their due Bounds, and not be tempted, by the Power they have in their Hands, to employ it to fuch Purpofes, and by luch Meafures, as they would not have known, and own not willingly. 138. 'Thirdly, The fupreme Power cannot take from any Man any Part of his Pro- perty without his own Cofent. For the Prefervation of Property being the End of Government, and that for which Men enter into Society, it necelVarily fun- poles and requires, that the People Ihould have Property, without which they muft be iuppoied to lofe that, by entering into Society, which was the End for which they entred into it, too grofs an Abfurdity for any Man to own. Men there- fore in Society having Property, they have fuch a Right to the Goods, which by the Law of the Community are theirs, that no bodyhath a Right to take their Subftance or any Part of it from them, without their own Confcnt ; without this they have no Property at all. For I have truely no Property in that, which another can bvRight take from me, when he pleafes, againft my Confent. Hence it is a Miftake to think, that the fnpreme or legiflative Power of any Common-wealth, can do what it will, and dilpole of the Eftates of the Subjects arbitrarily, or take any Part of them at Plealure. This is not much to be fear'd in Governments, where the Legi- flative confiRs wholly or in part, in Aflemblies which are variable, whole Members upon the Diflblution of the AlTembly, are Subjects under the Common Laws of their Country, equally with the reft. But in Governments, where the Legiflative is in one lafting Aflembly always in being, or in one Man, as in abfolute Mo- narchies, there is Danger ftill, that they w^ill think thcmfelvcs to have a diftinft Intereft, from the reft of the Community ; and fo \yill be apt to increafe theii* own Riches and Power, by taking what they think rit from the People. For a Man's Property is not at all lecure, tho' there be good and equitable Laws to let the Bounds of it, between him and his Fellow-Subjefts, if he who Commands thole "Subjefts, have Power to take from any private Man, what Part he pleafes of his Property, and ufe and difpofe of it as he thinks good. 139. But Goverwnent, into whatlbevcr Hands it is put, being, as I have before lliew'd, intrufted with this Condition, and /or this End^ that Men might have and fecure their Properties, the Prince, or Senate, however it may have Power to make Laws, lor the regulating of Property, between the Subje:/^?V>-^, and the Power devolve irt< the Hands of thole that gave it, who may place it a-new where they (hall think beft for their Safety and iiccurity. And thus the Community perpetually >•?- taifis a fup)-eme Power of faving themfelves from the Attempts andDefigns of any body, even of their Legiflators, when ever theyfhall be fofoolifli,orfo wicked,as to lay and carry on Defigns againft the Liberties and Properties of theSubjeft. For- no Man or Society of Men, having a Power to deliver up their Prefervation, or confequently the Means of it, to the abfolute Will and arbitrary Domminion o£ another; whenever any one fliall go about to bring them into fuch a flavifli Con- dition, they will always have a Right to preferve, what they have not a Power to part with ; and to rid themfelves of thofe, who invade this fundamental, fa- cred, and unalterable haw oi Self-prefervation, for which they enter'd into Socie- ty. And thus the Co^nmimity may be faid in this Refpeft to be always the fupreme Power, but not as conlidered under any Form of Government, becaufe this Power of the People can never take place till the Government be diflblved. 150. In all Cafes, whilft the Government fubfifts, the Legiflative is the fupreme Power. For what can give Laws to another, muft needs be fuperior to him ; and fmce the Legiflative is no otherwife Legiflative of the Society, but by the Right it has to make Laws for all the Parts, and for every Member of the Society, prelcribing Rules to their Aftions, and giving Power of Execution, where they aretranfgrelled, the Legiflative muft needs be the Supreme, and all other Powers in any Members or Parts of the Society, derived from and fubordinate to it. 151. In fomeCommon-\vealthswheretheZ.f^//?^Wf is not always in Being, and the Executive is vefted in a finglc Perfon, who has alfo a Share in the Legiflative; there that lingle Perfon in a very tolerable Senfe may alfo be call'd Supreme, not that he has in Jiimfelf all the fupreme Power, which is that of Law-making : But becaufe he has in him the fupreme Execution, from whom all inferior Magiftrates derive all their feveral fubordinate Powers, or at leafl^the greateft part of them ; having alfo no Legiflative fuperior to him, there being no Law to be made with- out his Confcnt, which cannot be expefted ftiould ever fubjeft him to the other part of the Legiflative, he is properly enough in this Senfe Supreme. But yet it is to be obl'erved, that though Oaths of Allegiance and Fealty are taken to him, 'tis not to him as fupreme Legiflator, h\xt as fupreme Executor of the Law, made by a joint Power of him with others; Allegiance being nothing but Obedience ac- cording to Law, which when he violates, he has no Right to Obedience, nor can claim it otherwiie than as the publick Perfon vefted with the Power of the Law, and of G I \M L - G O V E R N M E N T. 10 X and fo !:? to be coniidcr'd as tliclmagc, Phantom, or Rcprcfcntativc of the Ccm-^ mon-wcaltii, ad;ed by the Willoi' tiie Society, declared in its Laws; and thus he has no Will, no Power, but that of the Law. But when he quits this R.e- pvefentation, this publick Will, and acts by his own private Will, he degrades himiclf, and is but a fnigle private Pcrlbn without Power, and without Will that has any Right to Obedience ; the Members owing no Obedience but to the pub- lick Will of the Society. 1^2. The executive Poivcr placed any where but in a Perfon, that has alfo a Share in the Legiflative, is vifibly fubordinate and accountable to it, and may be at pleafure changed and difplaccd ; lb tiiat it is not the faprems executive Pomer that is exempt from Subordination, but the fupreme executive Poiuer veiled in one who having a Share in the Legiflative, has no diftinct luperior Legiflative to be fubordinate and accountabje to, farther than he himfelf fliall join and confent; fo that he is no more fubordinate than he himfelf fliall think ht, Avhich one may certainly conclude will be but very little. Of otlier minifieiial and fubordinate I'ozvers in a Common-wealth we need not fpeak, they being fo multiply^'d u'ith infinite Variety, in the different Cuftoms and Conftitutions of diflind: Common- wealths, that it is impofTibleto give a particular account of them all. Only thus much, which is neceffary to cur prefent Purpoie, we may take Notice of con- cerning them, that the have no manner of Authority any of them, beyond what is by pofitive Grant and Commiffion, delegated to them, and are all of them ac- countable to fome other Power in the Common-wealth. 1 5 J. It is not neceflary, no nor fo much as convenient^ that the Legi/latiie fliould be always in Being. But abfolutely neceifary that the executive Power fhould, becaufe there is not always need of new Laws to be made, but always need of Execution of the Laws that are made. When the Legiflative hath put the Execution of the Laws, they make, into other Hands, they have a Power Hill to relume it out of thole Hands, when they find Caufe, and to punifli for any Mall-adminiftration againft the Laws. The fame holds alfo in regard of the Fede^ rative Power, that and the Executive being both niinifterial and fubordinate to the Le- giflative, which has been lliew'd in a conflituted Common-wealth, is the Su- preme. The Legiflative alfo in this Cafe being fuppos'd to confifl: of feveral Per- fons; (for if it be a fingle Perfon, it cannot but be always in Being, and fo will as Supreme, naturally have the fupreme executive Power, together witli the legi- flative) m2.y affemble andexercife their Legiflature, at the Times, that either their original Conftitution, or their own Adjournment appoints, or when they pleafe; if neither of thefe have appointed any Time, or there be no other Way prelcrib'd to convoke them. For the fupreme Power being placed in them by the People, tis always in them, and they may exercife it when they pleafe, unlefs by their original Conftitution they are limited to certain Seafons, or by an Aft of their fupreme Power, they have adjourned to a certain Time; and when that Time comes, they have a Right to affemble and aft again. 154. If the Legiflative, or any Part of it be made up o{ Reprefektatives chofen for that Time by the People, which afterwards return into the ordinary State of Subjefts, and have no Share in the Legiflature but upon a new Choice, this Power of chufing muft alfo beexercifed by the People, either at certain appointed Sea- fons, or elfe when they are fummon'd to it; and in this latter Cafe, the Power of convoking the Legiflative, is ordinarily placed in the ExecutiAe, and has one of thefe two Limitations in rcfpeft of Time : That either the original Conftitu- tion requires their affembling and aliing at certain Intervals, and then the execu- tive Power does nothing but minifterially iifue Direftions for their eleftinc-and affembling, according to due Forms : Or elfe it is left to his Prudence to call them by new Eleftions, when the Occafions or Exigencies of the Publick require the Amendment of old, or making of new Laws, or the Redrefs or Pretention ol any Inconveniencies, that lie on, or threaten the People. 155. It may be demanded here. What if the executive Power being pofleflcd of the Force of the Common-wealth, fliall make ufe of that Force to hinder the 7neeting und acting of the Legiflative, when the original Conftitution, or the publick Exigencies require it ? I fay uftng Force upon the People without Authority, and contrary to the Truft put in liim, that dees fo, is a State of War ivith the People, who have a Right to reinftatf x\\dx Legiflative in the Exercifq 0/' their Power. For Vol. 11, C c having 20 2 0/ C I V I L -G O V E R N M E N T. having erefted a Legiflative, with an Intent they Ihould exercifc the Power of making Laws, either at certain fct Times, or when there is need of it, when they are hinder'd ijy any Force from, what is lo neceflary to the Society, and wlierein the Safety and Prefervation of the People confifts, the People have a Right to re- move it by Force. In all States and Conditions the true Remedy of Force without Authority, is to oppofe Force to it. The ufe of Force without Authority, always puts him that ufes it into a State of War, as the Aggreffor, and renders him li- able to be treated accordingly. i'^6. The Po-cuer of ajfembling and difmiffing the Legiflative, placed in the Execu- tive, gives not the Executive a Superiority over it, but is hduciary Truft placed in him, for the Safety of the People, in a Cafe where the Uncertainty, and Va- riablenefs of hum.an Affairs could not bear a flcady fixed Rule. For it not be- ing pofTible, that the firft Framers of the Government fhould, by any Forefight, be' fo much Mailers of future Events, as to be able to perfix fo juft Periods of Return and Duration to the AJfemblies of the Legiflative, in all times to come, that might exaftly anfwer all the Exigencies of the Common-wealth ; the beft Remedy could be found for the Defed, was to truft this to the Prudence of one who was always to be prcfent, and whofe Bufinefs it was to watch over the publick Good. Conftant jrequent Meetings of the Legiflative, and long Continuations of their Aifemblies, without neceflary Occafion, could not but be burthenfome to the People, and muft necefl'arily inTime produce more dangerous Inconveniencies, and yet the quick Turn of Aftairs might be fometimes fuch as to need their prefent Help : Any Delay of their conveining might endanger the Publick; and fometimes too their Bufinefs might be fo great, that the limited Time of their fitting might be too fliort for their Work, and rob the Publick of the Benefit which could be had only from their mature Deliberation. What then could be done in this Cafe to prevent the Community from being expofed fome time or other to eminent Ha- zard, on one fide or the other, by fixed Intervals and Periods, fet to the meeting and acting of the Legiflative, but to entruft it to the Prudence of fome, who being prefent, and acquainted with the State of publick Affairs, might make Ufe of this Prerogative for the publick Good? And where elfe could this be fo well placed as in his Hands, who was intrufted with the Execution of the Laws for the fame End ? Thus fuppofing the Regulation of Times for the affembling and fitting of the Legiflative, not fettled by the original Conftitution, it naturally fell into the Hands of the Executive, not as an arbitrary Power depending on his good Pleafure, but with this Truft always to have it exercifed only for the publick Weal, as the Occurances of Times and Change of Affairs might require. Whether fet- tled Periods of their Conveining, or a Libert) left to the Prince for convoking the Legi~ flative, or perhaps a Mixtm'e of both, hath the leaft Inconvenience attending it, "tis not my Bufinefs here to enquire, but only to fhew, that though the Execu- tive Power may have the Prerogative of convoking and diffolving fuch Conventions of tht Legiflative, yet it is not thereby fuperior to it. 1^7- Things of this World are in fo conftant a Flux, that nothing remains long in the fame State. Thus People, Riches, Trade, Power, change their Stations, Flourifhing mighty Cities come to Ruin, and prove in Time negle-fted defclate Corners, whilft other unfrequented Places grow into populous Coun- tries, fiU'd with Wealth and Inhabitants. But Things not always changing equal- ly, and private Intereft often keeping up Cuftoms and Privileges, when the Rea- Ibns of them are ceafed, it often comes to pafs, that in Governments, where part of the Legiflative confifts of Reprefentatives chofen by the People, that ih Trad; of Time this Reprefentation becomes very unequal and difproportionate to the Reafons it was firft eftablifh'd upon. To what grofs Abfurdities the fol- lowing of Cuftom, when Reafon has left it, may lead, we may be fatisfied, when we fee the bare Name of a Town, of which there remains not fo much as the Ruins, where fcarce fo much Houfing as a Sheepcoat, or more Inhabitants than a Shepherd is to be found, fends as many Reprefentatives to the grand Aflem- bly of Law-makers, as a whole County numerous in People, and powerful in Riches. This Strangers ftand amazed at, and every one muft confefs needs a Remedy. Though moft think it hard to find one, becaufe the Conftitution of the Legiflative being the original and fuprcme Aft of the Society, antecedent to all politivc Laws in it, and depending wholly on the People, no inferior Power can of G I V I L - G O V E R N II E N T, , can alter it. And therefore the People, when, the Legi/lutive is once conditutcd, having in fuch a Gcnernment as we have been fpcaking of, «o 7Vii-(?r to ad as long as the Go\crnmcnt (lands : this Inconvenience is thought incapable of a Remedy. 158. Salus Populi Suprema Lex, is certainly fo jufl and fundamental a Rule, that he, who finccrely follows it, cannot dangcroufly err. If therefore the Executive, who has the Power of convoking the Lcgiflativc, obferving rather the true Pro- portion, than fafllion of Reprefentntion, regulates, not by old Cuftom, but true Reaibn, the Number of Members, in all Places, that ha\e a Right to be diRincS- ly reprefented, wliich no part of the People however incoi-porated can pretend to, but in Proportion ^o the Afliftance which it aitords to the Publick, it cannot I?e judg'd to have let up a new Lcgiflative, but to have reftored the old and true one, and to have rectified the Diforders, v/hich SuccelPiOn of Time liad infeni'ibly, as well as inevitably introduced. For it being the Intereft, as well as Intenton of the People, to have a fliir and equal Reprefentntii>e ; whoever bjings it neareft to that, is an undoubted Friend to, and Eftablifher of the Government, and can- not mifs the Conient and Approbation of the Community. Prerogatizie being nothing but a Power in the Hands of the Prince, to provide for the luiblick Go>'d, m fuch Cafes, which depending upon unforefeen and uncertain Occur- lences, certain and unalterable Laws could not fafely dired ; whatfoever fliall be dnne manifellly for the good of the People, and the eftaolifliing the Govern- r-.ent upon its true Foundations, is, and always will be juft prerogative. The Power of erecting new Corporations, and therewith ne-eo Keprefentatives, carries wn.il it a Suppofition, that in Time the Meafiires of Repreferitatim might vary, and thofe Places have a juft Right to reprefented which before had none ; and by the fame Reafon, thoie ceafe to have a Right, ar.d be too inconfiderable for fuch a Privilege, which before had it. 'Tis not a Change from the piefent Stare which periiaps Corruption or Decay has introduced, that makes an Inroad upon the Gv\ernment, but the Tendency of it to injure or oppre's the People, and to iet up one Part, or Party with a Diftindion from, and an unec]ual Subjedion of the reft. Whatfoever cannot but be acknowledg'd to be of Advantage to the Society, and People in general, upon juft and lalling Meafures, will always, when done, juftify itfelf j and whenever the People fliall chufe their Reprefeyuatives upon juft and undeniably equal Meafures, fuitable to the orginal Frame of the Government, it cannot be doubted to be the Will and Ad of the Society who- ever permitted or caufed them fo to do. CHAP. XIV. Of PREROGATIVE. ijp. 'VU'HERE the legiflative and executive Power are in diftind Hands, »» (as they are in all moderated Monarchies, and well-framed Govern- ments) there the Good of the Society requires, that feveral Things fliouki be left to the Difcretion of him, that has the executixe Power. For the Leo-iilators not being able to forefee and provide by Laws, for all that may be ufeful to the Community, the Executor of the Laws having the Power in his Hands, has by the common Lawof Nature a Right to make ule of it for the good of the Societ\- i.i many Cafes, where the municipal Law has given no Diredion, till the Le.o-ifla- tive can conveniently be aflembled to provide for it. Many Things there are which the Law can by no Means provide for, and thofe muft necell"aril\' be left to the Difcretion of him that has the executive Power in his Hands, to be or- dered by him as the publick Good and Advantage fliall require : Nay, 'tis fie that the Laws themlelves fliould in fome Cafes give way to the executive Power or rather to this fundamental La^v of Nature and Government, viz.. That as much as msy be, a!l the Members of the Society are to be preferved. For fince many Accidents may happen, wherein a ftrid and rigid Obfervation of the Laws n-iay do Harm ; (as not to pull down an innocent Man's Houfe to fton the Fire when the next to it a burning) and a Man may come fometimes within the \ 1. II. C c 2 reach 2C4 of Civil-Government. reach of the Law, which makes no Diftindion of Perfons, by an Aftion that may ^sCcrvc Reward and Pardon ; "tis ht the Ruler fliould have a Power, in many Cafes, to mitigate the Severity of the Law, and Pardon Ibme Offenders : For the Eadof Goveymnent being the Prcjetvativnoj all, as much as maybe, even the Guilty arc to be fpaa'cd, where it can prove no Prejudice to the Innoncenr. I Co. 'J his Power to act according toDiicretion, for the Pnlick Good, without the Picfcription of the Law, and lometimes even againft it, is that v/hich is called Pferogative. For fince in fome Governments the Law-making Power is not ahvavs in teirg, and is uiii;dly too numerous, and lb too flow, for the Difpatch rcquilite to Execution : And becaufe alio it is impoflible to foreCee, and lo by Laws to provide for all Accidents and Neceffities that my concern the Publick; or to make iuch Laws as will do no harm, if they are executed with an inflexible Rigour, on all Occalions, and upon all Perfons that may come in their Way, tiierefore there is a Latitude left to the executive Power, to do many things of Ciioicc which the Laws do not prelcribe. i6i. This Power, whilft employed for the Benefit of the Community, andfui- tably to the Truft and Ends of the Government, is imdoubed Prerogative, and never is queftion'd. For the People are very feidom or never fcrupulous or nice in the Pomt ; they are far from examining Prerogative, whilft it is in any tole- rable Degiee employ 'd for the Ufe it was meant, that is, for the Good of the People, and not manifeftly againft it. But if there comes to be a Q^ieftion be- tween the executive Power and tiie People, about a thing claim'd as a Prerogative ; the Tendency of the Exercife of luch Prerogative to the Good or Hurt of the People will eafily decide that Queftion. 162. It is ealy to conceive, that in theLifancy of Governments, when Com- mon-wealths diltered little from Families in Number of People, they differed from iliem too but little in Number of Laws; And the Governors, being as the Fa- thers of them, watching over them for their Good, the Government was almofl all Prer(g:itive. A few eftablifli'd Laws ferv'd the Turn, and theDifcretion and Care of the Ruler iupply'd the reft. But ^vhen Miftake or Flattery prevail'd with weak Princes to make Ule of this Power for private Ends of their own, lind not for the publick Good, the People were fain, by exprels Laws, to get Pre- rogative determined in thofe Points wherein tli.ey found Diladvantage from it : And thus declared Limitations of Prerogative whereby the People found neceflary in Cafes which they and their Anccftors had left, in the utmoft Latitude, to the Wifdom of thole Princes, who made no other but a right Ufe of it, that is, for the Good of the People. 165. And therefore they have a very wrong Notion of Government, who fay, that the People have incroacb'd i/pou the Prerogative, when they have got any part of it to be detined by politive Laws. For in fo doing they have not pulled from the Prince any thing that of Right belong'd to him, but only declared that that Power v.'hich they indefinitely left in his or his Anceftors Hands, to be exercifed for their Good, was not a thing which they intended him when he ufed it other- wife. For the End of Government being the good of the Community, whatfo- ever Alterations aie made in it, tending to that End, cannot be an Incroacli- jnem upon any bod}', fmce no body in Government can have a Right tending to any "other End. And thofe only are Licroachments, which prejudice or hinder the publick Good. Thofe who fay otherwife, fpeak as if the Prince had a diftinct and fcparate Intereft from the Good of the Community, and was not made for it, the Root and Sourfe from which fpring almoft all thofe Evils and Dif-^ orders which happen in kingly Governments. And indeed if that be fo, the Peo- ple under his Government are not a Society of rationl Creatures, entered in- to a Community for their mutual Good ; they are not fuch as have let Rulers over themfelves, to guard and promote that Good ; but are to be look'd on as an Herd of inferior Creatures under the Dominion of a Mafter, who keeps them and works them for his own Pleafure or Profit. If Men were fo \oid of Rea- fon, and brutifh, as to enter into Society on fuch Terms, Prerogative might in- deed be, wliat fome Men would have it, an arbitrary Power to do things hurt- ful to the People. 164. But fince a rational Creature cannot be fuppofed, when Free, to put him- felf into Subjection to another, for his ov.'n Harm : (Though where he finds a good of C I V I L -G o V E R ?^ M fe ^j ti aojf good and wife Ruler, he m;iy not perhaps think it cither ncccflary orufcful, to lee preciie Bounds to his Power in all things) Prerogative can be nothing but the Peoples permuting their Rulers to do ieveral things of their own free Choice, wheie tijc Law was iilent, and fometimes too againft the dirctft Letter of the Law, for cue publickGood; and their acquiel'cing m it when fo done. For as a good Prnice, wno is mindful of the Truft put into his Hands, and cnicful of the Oood of lus People, cannot have too much Prerogatrje, that is, Power to do good: So a weak and ill Prince, who would claim that Power which his Prcdeccflbrs cxercued without the Dire6:ion of the Law, as a Prerogative belonging to him by Rigat of his Office, which he may cxercife at hisPlealure, to make or promote an Inteiell diftinct from that of the Publick, gives the People an Occafion to 'claini their Right, and limit that Power, which, whilft it was cxercifcd for their Good, they weie content fliould be tacitly allowed. 165. And theiefore he that will look into the HJjlury of England, will find, thit Prerogative was always largefi in the Hands of ourwifell; and bed Princes ; becaule the People cbferving the whole Tendency of their Actions to be the publick Good, contefied not what was done without Law^ to that End ; or if any human Jraiky or Miftake (for Princes are but Men made as others) appear'd in fome Imaii Declinations from that End ; yet 'twas vifible, the Main of their Conduft tended to nothing but the Care of the Publick. The People therefore finding Reaibn to be latished with thefe Princes, whenever they adcd without or con- trary to t!ie Letter of the Law, acquielced in what they did, and, without the lealt Complaint, let them enlarge their Prerogative as they pleafed, judging rightly, thnt ttiey dkhnothing herein to the prejudice of their Laws, fince they adted con- formable to thi Foundation and End of all Laws, the publick Good. 166. Such God-like Princes indeed had fome Title to arbitrary Power, by that Argument, that v/ould prove abfolute Monarchy the befl: Government, as thc.t "which God himi'elf governs the Univerfe by ; becauie fuch Kings partake of his Wiidom and Goodnefs. Upon this is founded that Saying, That the Reigns of good Princes have always been moft dangerous to the Liberties of their People, tor when their Succedors, managing the Government with difterent Thoughts, would draw the Actions of thole good Rulers into precedent, and make them the Standard of their Pnrogative, as if what had been done only for tlie good of the People, was a Right in them to do, for the Harm of the People, if they fo pleafed; it has often occafion'd Conteft, and fometimes publick Diforders, be- fore the People could recover their original Right, and get that to be declared not to be Prerogative, which truely was never fo : Since 'tis impofTible that any body in the Society fliould ever have a Right to do the People Harm ; though it be very poffible, and rcafonablc, that the People fliould not go about to fet any Bounds to the Prerogative of thofe Kings or Rulers, who themlelves tranfgrefled not the Bounds of the publick Good. For Prerogative is nothing int the Poiuer of doing publick Good zvitlmit a Rule. 167. The Power of calling Parliaments in England, as to prccife Time, Place, and Duration, is certainly a Prerogative of the King, but ftill with this Truft, that it fhall be made ufe of for the good of the Nation, as the Exegencies ol the Times, and Variety of Occafions Iliall require. For it being impoilible to foreiee which fhould always be the fitteft Place for them to afl'emble in, and what the beft Seafon ; the Choice of thefe Avas left with the executive Power, as might be moft fubfervient to the publick Good, and beft fuit the Ends of Parliaments. 168. The old Qiicftion will be ask'd in this Matter of Prerogative. But u7;o fhaS be Judge when this Power is made a right ufe of? I anfwer ; Between an exe- cutive Power in Being, with fuch a Prerogative, and a Lcgiflati\e that depends upon his Will for their conveining, there can be no 'Judge on Earth : As there can be none between the Legiflative and the People, fliould either the Executive or the Legiflative, when they have got the Power in their Hands, dcfign, or go about to enflave or deftroy them. The People have no other Remedy in this, as in all other Cafes where they liave no Judge on Earth, but to appeal to Heaven. For the Rulers in fuch Attempts, exercifing a Power the People never put into their Hands, (who can never be fuppoicd to confent that any body fliould rule o- vcr them for their Harm) do that which they have not a Right to do. And where the Body of the People, or any fingle Man is deprived of their Right, or is under the 2c5 0/ C I V I L - G ; ^ :i N M e n t. the Exercife of a Power without Right and have no Appeal on Earth, then they have a Liberty to appeal to Heaven, whenever they judge the Caufe of fuf- ficient Moir.ent. And therefore tho'the People tamot be Judge, foas to have by the Conftituticn of that Society any I'uperior Power, to determine and gi\e cfteai\e Sentence in the Cafe ; yet they have, by a Law antecedent and para- mount to all poiitive Laws of Men, relerv'd that ultimate Determination to them- fe.ves which belongs to all Mankind, where there lies no Appeal on Earth, 'viz.. to jud^e, whether they have juft Caufe to make their Appeal to Heaven. And this Judgment they cannot part with, it being cut of Man's Power fo to fub- ir.ic himielf to another, as to give him a Liberty to defiioy him; God and Nature never allowing a Man fo to abandon himfelf, as to neglect his own Piefeiva- tion : And fince he cannot take away his own Life, neither can he give another Power to take it. Nor let any one think, this lays a perpetual Foundation for Diforder; for this operates not, till the Inconveniency isio gi^eat that the Majority feel it, and are weary of it, and Hnd a Neceflity to ha\e it amended. But this the Executive Power, or wife Princes never need come in the Danger of : And 'tis the 'Jhing of all others, they have moft need to avoid, as of all others the moft perilous. CHAP. XV. Of Paternal, Political^ and Defpotical Power, confider'd together. 169.' I ""Hough I have had Occafion to fpeak of thefe feparately before, yet the -■- great Miftakes of late about Government, having, as I fuppofe, arifen from confounding thei'e diftinct Powers one with another, it may not, perhaps, be amifs to conlider them here together. 170. Fhfi then, paternal or parental Power is nothing but that which Parents have over their Children, to govern them for the Childrens Good, till they come to the Ufe of Reafon, or a State of Knowledge, wherein they may be fuppofed capable to underftand that Rule, whether it be the Law of Nature, or the mu- nicipal Law of their Country, they are to govern themfelves by : Capable, I fay, to know it, as well as feveral others, who live as Freemtn under that Law. The Aftcdion and Tendernefs which God hath planted in the Breafts of Parents towards their Children, makes it evident, that this is not intended to be a le- vere arbitrary Government, but only for the Help, Inftruction, and Prefen^ati- on of their Offspring. But happen it as it will, there is, as I have proved, no ■reafon why it Hiould be thought to extend to Life and Death, at any time over their Children, more than over any body elfe ; neither can there be any Pretence why this parental Po-u:sr fliould keep the Child when gi-o^vn to a Man, in fubjection to the Will of his Parents, any farther than the having received Life and Educa- tion from his Parents, obliges him to Refpect, Honour, Gratitude, Affiflance, and Support all his Life to both Father and Mother, And thus, 'tis true, the Paternal is a natural Government, but not at all extending itfelf to the Ends and Jurifdictions of that, which is Political. The Poiuer of the Father doth not reach at all to the Property of the Child, which is only in his own difpofing. 171. Secondly, Political Pov:er is that Power, which every Man having in the State of Nature, has given up into the Hands of the Sceiety, and therein to the Governors, whom the Society hath fe:: over itfelf, with this exprefs or tacit Truft, That it Ihall be employed for their Good, and the Prefen-ation of their Pro- perty : New this Power, which every Man has in the State of Nature, and which he parts with to the Society, in all I'uch Cafes, where the Society can fecure him, is to ufe fuch Means, for the Prefeningof hisown Property, as he thinks good, and Nature allows him ; and to punifli the Breach of the Law of Nature in others fo, as (according to the beft of his Reafon) may moft conduce to the Preferva- tion of himl'elf, and the reft of Mankind. So that the End and Meafure of this Power, when in every Man's Hands in the State of Nature, being the Prefen'ation of all of his Society, that is, all Mankind in general, it can have no other End or Al.'afure, when in the Hands of the Magiftrates but to preferve the Members of that of C I V r L -G O V E R X At E N T. 2O7 that Society in their Lives, Liberties, and Poflcfllons i and fo cannot be an ab- lolute, arbitrary Power over their Lives and Fortunes, which are as much as poflible tobepreierv'd ; but a Power to 7iidke I.aivs, and annex fuch Penalties to them, as may tend to the Prcl'crvation of the whole, by cutting oft" thofe Parts, and thofe only, which are fo corrupt, that they tiireaten the Sound and Healthy, without which no Se\erity is lawluL And tWis Puiver hm its Oiiginnl only from Compafl and Agreement, and the mutual Confent of thofe who make up the Community. 172. "Tljirdly, Defpotical Poiver is an abfolute, arbitrary Power one Man has over another, to take away his Life, whenever ho pleai'cs. This is a Power, which neither Nature gives, for it has made no fuch Diflindlion between one Man and another; nor Compaft can convey, for Man not having fuch an Arbitrary Power over his own Life, cannot give another Man fuch a Power over it ; but it is the effeci only of Forfeiture, which the Aggrelfor makes of his own Life, when he puts himfelf into the State of War with another. For having c]uiticd Reafon, Wiiich God hath given to be the Rule betwixt Man and Man, and the common Bond whereby Humankind is united into one Fellowfliip and Society ; and hav- ing renounced the Way of Peace which that teaches, and made ufe of the Force of War, to com pa fs his unjuft Ends upon another ; where he has no Right, and ib revolting from his own Kind to that of Beafts, by making Force, which is theirs, to be his Rule of Right, he renders himfelf liable to be deftroy'd by the irjur'd Perfon, and the reft of Mankind, that will join with him in the execution of Juftice, as any other wild Beaft, or noxious Brute with whom Mankind can have neither Society nor Security. And thus Captives, taken in a juft and law- ful War, and fuch only, are fuhjeSl to a defpotical Power, which as it arifes not from Compact, fo neither is it capable of any, but is the State of War conti- nued. For what Compaft can be made with a Man, that is not Mafter of his own Life ? What Condition can he perform ? And if he be once allowed to be Ma- iler of his own Life, the defpotical, arbitrary Poiver of his Mafter ceafes. He that is Mafter of himfelf, and his own Life, has a Right to the Means of pre- ferving it; fo ihut as foon as CompaEl enters. Slavery ceafes, and he fo far quits his abfolute Power, and puts an End to the State of War, who enters into Condi- tions with his Captive. 173. Nature gives the firft of thefe, vizj. paternal Power to Parents for the Bene- fit of their Children during their Minority, to fupply their want of Ability, and tinderftanding how to manage their Property. (By Property I muft be underftood here, as in other Places, to mean that Property which Men have in their Perfons as well as Goods) Voluntary Agreements gives the fecond, viz,. Political Povcer to Gover- nors for the Benefit of their Subjects, to fecure them in the Pofleffion and Ufe of their Properties. And Forfeiture gives the third defpotical Power to Lords for their own Benefit, over thofe Avho are ftripp'd of all Property. 174. He, that fhall confider the diftinctRife and Extent, and different Ends of thefe feveral Powers, will plainly fee, that paternal Power comes as far fhort of that of the- Magi/Irate, as defpotical exceeds it ; and that abfolute Dominion, however placed, is fo far from being one kind of civil Society, that it is as inconfiftent with it, as Slavery is with Property. Patcrtal Power is only where Minority makes the Child incapable to manage his Property ; Political where Men have Property in their own Difpofal ; and defpotical over fuch as have no Property at all. CHAP. XVI. Of CONQUEST. 175.' I ""Hough Governments can originally have no other Rife than that be- -■- fore-mention 'd, nor Polities he founded on any thing hut the Confeitt of the People ; yet fuch has been the Diforders Ambition has filled the World with, that in the Noife of War, which makes fo greata Part of theHiftory of Mankird, this Confent \s little taken Notice of : And therefore many have miftaken the Foice of Arms, for the Confent of the People; and reckon Conqueft as one of ihe Originals 2o8 of Civil-Government* OvigiTinl?; of Governircnt. But Couqucft is as far from fetting up any Government, as dcmclilhingan Houie is from building a new one in the Place. Indeed it of- ten makes way for a new Frame of a Common-wealth, by deftroying the lormer ; but, without Confent of the People, can never credt a new one. 17(5. That the Jrgrejfjy, who puts himfelf into the State of War, with ano- thei', and unjuftly invades another Man's Right, cnn by fuch an unjuft War, ne- •ver con-.e to have a Right okjcv the Conquered, will be eafily agreed by all Men, who will not think, that Robbers and Pyrates have a Right of Empire over whomfoe- \erthcy have Force enough tomafter, or that Men are bound by Promifes, which unla^viu! Force extorts from them. Should a Robber break into my Houfe, and with a Dagger at my Throat, make me feal Deeds to convey my Eftate to him, would this give him any Title ? Juft fuch a '.fitle by his Sword, has an unjuft Con- queror, who forces me into Submifllon. The Injury and the Crime is equal, whe- ther committed by the Wearer of a Crown, or Ibme petty Villain. The Title of the Offender, and the Number of his Followers make no Difference in the Offence, unlefs it be to aggravate it. The only Difference is, great Robbers pui.idi little ones, to keep them in their Obedience, but the great ones are re- warded with Laurels and Triumphs, becaufe they are too big for the weak Hands of Juflice in this^A'orld, and have the Power in their own PoffefTion, which fnould punifli Offenders. W'hat is my Remedy againft a Robber, that fo broke into my Houfe ? Appeal to the Law for Juftice. But perhaps Juftice is deny'd, or I am crippled and cannot flir, robb'd and have not the Means to do it. If God has taken away all Means of feeking Remedy, there is nothing left but Patience. But my Son, when able, may feek the Rcliet of the Law, W'hich I am denied : He or his Son may renew h\s Appeal, till he recover his Right. But the Con- quered, or their Children have no Court, no Arbitrator on Earth to appeal to. 'I hen they may Appeal, as Jephtha did to Heaven, and repeat their Appeal, till thev recovered the native Right of their Anceftors, which was, to have fuch a Legiflative over them, as the Majority fhould approve, and freely acquifce in. If it be objected, this would caufe endlefs Trouble ; 1 anfwer, no more than Juftice dees, where file lies open to all that appeal to her. He that troubles his Neighbour without a Caufe, is punifh'd for it by the Juftice of the Court he appeals to. And he that appeals to Heaven, muft be fure he has Right on his fide : and a Right too that is worth the Trouble and Coft of his Appeal, as he will anfwer at a Tribunal, that cannot be deceived, and will be fure to retribute to every one according to the Mifchiefs he hath created to his Fellow-Subjefts , that is, any part of Mankind. From whence 'tis plain that he that Conquers in an un~ juft War can thereby have no "Title to the Subjection and Obedience of the Conquered. J J J. But fuppofing Viftory favours the right Side, let us confider a Conque- ror in a Lrxfnl War, and fee what Power he gets, and o^er whom. Fir ft, 'Tis plain he gets no Power by his Conqueft over thofe that conquered with him. They that fought on his Side cannot fuffcr by the Conqueft, but muft at leaft be as much Freemen as they ivere before. And moft commonly they ferve upon Terms, and on Condition to fhare with their Leader, and enjoy a Part of the Spoil, and other Advantages that attend the conquering Sword : Or at leaft have a Part of the fubdued Country beftowcd upon them. And the conquering People are not I hope to be Slaves by Conqueft, and wear their Laurels only to fliewthey are Sacrifices to their Leader's Triumph. They that found abfolute Monarchy upon the Title of the Sword make their Heroes, who are the Founders of fuch Monarchies, arrant Draiv-can-Sirs, and forget they had any Officers and Soldiers that fought on their Side in the Battles they w^on, or afliftcd them in the fubduing, or fhnred in polfe fling the Countries theymafter'd. Wc are told by fome, that the Englift) Monarchy is founded in xhs Norman Conqueft, and that our Princes liave thereby a Title to abfolute Dominion: Which if it were true, (as byHiftory it appears other\vife) and that William had a Right to make War on this Ifland; yet his Dominion by Conqueft could reach no farther than to the Saxons and Britains, that were then Inhabitants of this Country. 'We Norinans that came with him, and helped to conquer, and all defcended from them, are Freemen and no Subjects by Conqueft j let that give what Dominion it will. And if I or any Body elfe fhall claim Freedom, as derived from them, it will be very hard to prove the contrary: And 'tis plain, the Law that has made no Diftinftion be- tween Of C I V I L - G O V E R Is M E N T. 2 09 t\V(?en the one and the other, intends not there fliould be any Difference in their Fieedom or Privileges. 178. But fuppofing, which feldom happens, that tlie Conquerors and Con- quered never incorporate into one People, under the fame Laws and Freedom. Let us fee next what Pozver a lawjiil Conqueror has over the Subdued .- And that I lay is purely defpotical. He has an abiblutc PoAver over the Lives of thole, who by an unjuft War Iia\c forfeited them ; but not over the Lives or Fortunes of thofe, who engaged not in the War, nor over the Poffcffions even of thofe, who were actually engaged in it. ijp. Secondly, I lay then the Couqueror gets no Power but only over thofe j' who have actually aflifted, concurr'd, or contented to that unjuil Force, that is uled agninft him. For the People having given to their Governors no Power to do an u j'ufl. ihing, fuch as is to make an unjuft W^ar, (for they never had fuch a Power in themfelves :) They ought not to be charged, as guilty of the Vio- lence and Urjuftice, that is committed in an imjull War, any farther, than they aftuall) abet it; no more, than they are to be thought guilty of any Violence or Oppreffion their Governors fliould ufe upon the People themfelves, or any part of their Fellow-Subjefts, they have impowered them no more to one, than to the other. Conqaeroi's, 'tis true, feldom trouble themfelves to make the Di- flindiion, but they willingly permit the Confulion of VVartofweep all together; but yet this alters not the Right : For the Conqueror's Power over the Lives of the Conquered, being only becaufe they have uled Force to do, or maintain an Injuftice, he can have that Power only over thofe, who have concurred in that Force, all the reft are innocent ; and he has no more Title over the People of that Country, who have done him no Lijury, and fo have made, no Forfeiture of their Lives, than he has over any other, who without any Lijuries or Pro- vocations, have lived upon fair Terms with him. 1 80, 'Thirdly, The Poiver a Conqueror gets over thofe he overcomes in a juf? H-^nr^ is ferjecily defpotical ; he has an abfolute Poxver over the Lives of thofe, who by putting themfelves in a ftate of War, have forfeited them ; but he has not there- by a Right and Title to their Polleffions. This I doubt not, but at firft Sight Vv'ill feem a ftrangeDoftrine, it being fo quite contrary to the Practice of the World ; there being nothing more familiar in fpeaking of the Dominion of Countries, than to fay luch an one conquer'd it. As if Conqueft, without any more ado, convey'd a Right of Pofl'ellion. But when we conlider, that the Pradice of the ftrong and powerful, how univerfal foever it may be, is feldom the Rule of Right, however it be one part of the Subjection of the Conquered, not to argue againft the Conditions, cut out to them by the conquering Sword. 181. Tho' in all War there be ufually a Complication of Force and Damage, and the Aggreflor feldom fails to harm the Eftate, when he uies Force againil the Perfons of thofe he makes War upon; yet 'tis the Ufe of Force only that puts a Man into the ftate of War. For whether by Force he begins the Injury, or elfe having quietly, and by Fraud, done the L:jury, he refufes to make Repara- tion, and by Force maintains it, (which is the fame thing, as at frft to have done it by Force) 'tis the unjuft Ufe of Force, that makes the War. For he that breaks open my Houfe, and violently turns me out of Doors ; or havingpeaceably got in, by Force keeps me out, does in eflefl; the fame thing; fuppofing we are in fuch a ftate, that we have no common Judge on Earth, whom I may appeal to, and to whom we arc both obliged to fubmit : For of fuch I am now fpeaking. Tis the taijufl Ufe of Force then, that puts a Man into the fiate of War with ano- ther, and thereby he, that is guilty of it, makes a Forfeiture of his Life. For quitting Reafon, which is the Rule given between Man and Man, and ufing Force, the Way of Beafts, he becomes liable to be deftroyed by him he ufes Force againft, as any lavage ravenous Beaft, that is dangerous to his Being. 182. But becaufe the Mifcarriages of the Father are no Faults of the Children, and they maybe rational and peaceable, notwithftanding the Brutifhnefs and In- juftice ol the Father; the Father, by hisMiicarriages and Violence, can foiieit but his own Life, but involves not his Children inhis Guilt or Deftrudion. His Goods, which Nature that willeth the Prefervation of all Mankind as much as is polilible, hath made to belong to the Children to keep them from perifhing, do llill continue to belong to his Children. For fuppoling them not to liave jovn'd Vol. IL D d ■ hi 2 1 0/ C I V I L - G O V E R N M E N T. It the War, either through Infancy, Abfence, or Choice, they have nothing ti forfeit them: nor has the Conqueror any Right to take them away, by tiie bare Title of having fubbued him, that by Force attempted his Deftru(;tion ; thougli perhaps he may liave fome Right to them, to repair the Damages, he has iu- ftaired bythe VVar, and the Defence of his own Right; whicli how far it reaches to tlie Pofleflions of the Conqueied, we flmll fee by and by. So that he that ^7 CuiUj,7ie/l has a Right ever a Man's Perjun todeflroy him if he pleafes, has not thereby a Right over his Eftate to Poflefs and enjoy it. For it is the brutal Force the Ag- grcilor has ufed, that gives his Adverfary a Right to take away his Life, and de- Itroy him if he pleaies, as a noxious Creature, but 'tis Damage fuftain'd that alone gives him Title to another Man's Goods : For though I may kill a Thief that lets on me in the Highway, )et I may not (which leems lefs) take away his Money, and let him go; this would be Robbery on my fide. His Force, and the ftate of War he put himfelf in, made him forfeit his Life, but gave me no Title to his Goods. The Right then oi dnqHcJi extends cnly to the Lives of thofe who join'd in the War, not to their Eftates, but only in order to make Repara- tion for the Damages received, and the Charges of the War, and that too with Refervationof the Right of the innocent Wife and Children. 183. Let the Conqueror have as miich Juflice on his Side, as could be fuppofed,' he has no Right to feize more than the vanquiflied could forfeit ; his Life is at the Victor's Mercy, and his Service, and Goods he may appropriate, to make him- felf Reparation ; but he cannot take the Goods of his Wife and Children ; they too had a Title to the Goods he enjoy'd, and their Shares in the Eftavc he pof- feffed. For Example, I in the State of Nature (and all Common-wealths are in the State of Nature one with another) have injured another Man, and refufing to give Satisfactionj it comes to a State of War, wherein my defending by Force, what I had gotten unjuftly, makes me the Aggreflor. I am conquered : My Life, "tis true, as forfeit, is at Mercy, but not my Wives and Childrens. They made not the War, nor aflifted in it. I could not forfeit their Lives, they were not mine to forfeit. My Wife had a Share in my Eftaie, that neither could I forfeit. And my Children alfo, being born of me, had a Right to be maintain- ed cut of my Labour or Subftance. Here then is the Cafe ; The Conqueror has a Title to Reparation for Damages received, and the Children have a Title to their Father's Eftate for their Subfillence. For as to the Wife's Share, whether her own Labour, or Compact ga\e her a Title to it, 'tis plain, her Husband could not forfeit what was hers. What muft be done in the Cafe ? I anfwer ; The fundamental Law of Nature being, that all, as much as maybe, fhould be pre- ferv'd, it follows, that if there be not enough fully to fatiify both, i/Zz.. for the Conqueror's Lojfes, and Childrens Maintenance, he that hath, and to fpare, muft remit fomething of his full Satisfaction, and give way to the prelling and prefe- rable Title of thofe^ who are in danger to perifh without it. 184. But fuppofing the Charge and Damages of the IVar are to be made up to the Conqueror, to the utmoft Farthing ; and that the Children of the Vanquifhed, fpoiled of all their Father's Goods, are to be left to ftarve and perifh ; yet the fatisfying of -ivhat fliall, on this Score, be due to the Conqueror, will fcarce give him a T'itle to any Country he jhall conquer. For the Damages of War can fcarce amount to the Value of any confiderable Trad of Land, in any part of the World, where all the Land is poflefled, and none lies Wafte. And if I have not taken away the Conqueror's Land, which, being vanquifhed, it is impoffible I fhould ; fcarce any other Spoil I have done him, can amount tothe Value of mine, fuppofing it equally cultivated, and of an Extent any way coming near, what I had over-run of his. TheDeftruftion of a Years Produft or two, (for it feldom reaches four or five) is the utmoft Spoil, that ulually can be done. For as to Money, and fuch Riches, and Treafure taken away, theie are none of Natures Goods, they have but a fantaftical imaginary Value : Nature has put no luch upon them : They are of no more account by her Standard, than the Wampompeke of the A- mericans to an European Prince, or the Silver Money of Europe would have been formerly to an Ainerican. And five Years Produft is not worth the perpetual In- heritance of Land, where all is poilefled, and none remains wafte, to be taken up by him, that is diflbiz'd : Which will be eafily granted, if one do but take away the imaginary Value of Money, the Difproportion being more, than between five and 0/ClVIL-GoV-ERNMEKT. 2U and five hundred. Though, at the fame time, half a Years Produfl: is more Worth, than the Inheritance, v/here there being more Land, than the Inhabitants poffefs, and mf.ke ulc of, any one has Liberty to make ufe of the Wade : But there Con- querors take little Care to polTefs themfelves of the Lands of the l^anquijhed. No l)amage ihercrcire, that Men in the State of Nature (as all Princes and Govern- ment:, are in relererce to one another) fufter from one another, can give a Con- queror Pov.'cr to dilpoffefs the Pofterity of the Vanquifhed, and turn chem out o£ that Inheritance, which ought to be thcPolTeflion of them and their DefccndantS to all Generations. The Conqueror indeed will be apt to think himfelf Mailer : And 'tis the very Condition of the Subdued not to be able to dilputc their Right. EuL if that be .ill, it gives no other Title than what bare Force gives to the Stronger over the Weaker : And, by this Reafon, he that is ftrongeft will have a Right to whatever he pleafes to feize on. 18). Over thofe then that joined with him in the War, and over thofe of the lubdued Country that oppofed him not, and the Pofterity even of thofe that did, the Conqueror, even in a juft War, hath, by his Conqueft no Right of Do- jniniuH : They are free from any Subjedtion to him, and if their former Govern- ment be dillolved, they are at Liberty to begin and erect another to themfelves. 1 8(5. The Conqueror, 'tis true, ufually, by the Force he has over them, com- pels them, with a Sword at their Breafts, to ftoop to his Conditions, and fub- mit to fuch a Government as he pleafes to afford them ,* but the Enquiry is. What Right he has to do fo ? If it be faid, they fubmit by their own Conlent, then this allows their own Confent to be necejfary to give the Conqueror aT'itle to rule over them. It remains only to be confidered, whether Promifes extorted by Force, without Right, can be thought Confent, and how far they bind. To which I fhall fay, they l^ind mt at all ; becaufe whatfoever another gets from me by Force, I ftill retain the Right of, and he is obliged prefently toreftore. He that forces my Horfe from me, ought prefently to reftore him, and I have ftill a Right to re- take him. By the fame Reafon, he that forced a Promife from me, ought pre- fently to reftore it, /. e, quit me of the Obligation of it j or I may refume it my felf, /. e. chufe whether I will perform it. For the Law of Nature laying an O- bligation on me only by the Rule fhe prefcribes, cannot oblige me by the Viola- tion of her Rules : Such is the extorting any thing from me by Force. Nor does it at all alter the Cafe to fay, I gave my Promife, no more than it excufes the Force, and partes the Right, when I put my Hand in my Pocket, and deliver my Purfe my felf to a Thief, who demands it with a Piftol at my Breaft. 187. From all w^hich it follows, that the Government of a Conqueror, impofed by Force on the Subdued, againft whom he had no Right of War, or who joined not in the War againft him, where he had Right, has no Obligation upon them. 188. But let us fuppofe, that all the Men of that Community being all Mem- bers of the fame Body politick, may be taken to have join'd in that unjuft War wherein they are fubdued, and fo their Lives are at the Mercy of the Conqueror. 189. I fay, this concerns not their Children who are in their Minority. For fince a Father hath not, in himfelf, a Power over the Life and Liberty of his Child, no Ac^t of his can poffibly forfeit it. So that the Children, whatever may have happened to the Fathers, are Freemen, and the ablolute Power of the Con- queror reaches no farther than the Perfons of the Men that were lubdued by him, and dies with them; and fliould he govern them as Slaves, fubjected to his abfolute arbitrary Power, \\Qhas no fuch Right of Du?ninion over their Children. Hfc can have no Power over them but by their own Confent, whatever he may drive them to fay or do; and he has no lawful Authority, whilft Force, and not Choice, compels them to SubmilTion. 190. Every Man is born with a double Right : Firfi, A Right of Freedom to his Perfon, which no other Man has a Power over, but the free Difpolal of it lies in himfelf. Secondly, A Right hefoie any other Man, to inherit with his Bre- thren liis Father's Goods. 191. By the firftofthefe, a Man is naturally free from Subjeftion to any Go- vernment, tho' he be born in a Place under its Jurifdidtion. But if he difclaim the lawful Government of the Country he was born in, he muft alfo quit the Right that belong'd to him by the Laws of it, and the Pofleflions there defcend- ing to him from his Anceftors, if it v.'ere a Government made by their Confent. Vol. il. D d 2 l^i.ii'i r\2 0/ C I V I L -G O V p. R N M E N T. ipz. By the fccond, the Inhabitants of any Country, who are defcendcd, and dc3"ive a Ticleto their Eftates from thofc who are fubdued, ar.d had a Govern- nient forced upon them againft their free Confents, retain a Right to the Pojfifpon of their. Ancefiors, though they confcnt not freely to the Government, whofe hard Conditions were by Force impofed on the Pofleflors of that Country. For the firll Cmqiteror never having had a Title to the Land of that Country, the People who are the Defcendants of, or claim under thofe who were forced to fubmit to the Yoke of a Government by Conftraint, have ahv^ays a Right to fhake it off, and and free themfelves from the Ufurpation or Tyranny which the Sword hath brought in upon them, till tiicir Rulers put them under fuch a Frame of Go- vernment as they willingly and of choice confent to. Who doubts but the Gre- cian Chriftians, Defcendants of the ancient Polfeffors of that Country, may juft- ly caft off theTiirhiJh Yoke wliicli they ha\c folong groaned under, whenever tiiey have an Opportunity to do it ? For no Go\ernment can have a Right to Obe- dience from a People who have not freely confented to it ; which they can never be fuppofed to do, till either they are put in a full flate of Liberty, to chuie their Government and Governors, or at leaft till they have fuch {landing Laws, to which they have by themfelves or their Reprefentatives given their free Con- fent, and alfo till they arc allow'd tlieir due Property, which is fo to be Pro- prietors of what they have, that no body can take away any Part of it without their own Confent, without which. Men under any Govcrnm.ent are not in the ftate of Freemen, but are direct Slaves under the Force of War. 195. But granting that the Conqueror in a juft War lias a Right to the Eftates, as well as Power over the Perfons, of the Conquered i which, tis plain, he hath not : Nothing of ahfolute Pozver will follow from hence, in the Continuance of the Government : Becaufe the Defcendants of thefe being all Freemen, if he grants them Eftates and PoflefTions to inhabit his Country, (without which it would be worth nothing) whatfoever he grants them, they have, fo far as it is granted. Property in. The Nature whereof is, that without a Mans oivn Confent it cannot be taken from him. 1^4. Their Perfons are fee by a native Right, and their Properties, be they moreorlefs, are their oiun, and at their o-mz difpofe, and not at his ; or elfe it is no Property. Suppofing the Conqueror gvles to one Man a thoufand Acres, to him and his Heirs for ever, to another he lets a thoufand Acres for his Life, under the Rent of 50/. or 500/. per Ann. Has not the one of thefe a Right to his thou- fand Acres for ever, and the other, during his Life, paying the faid Rent ? And hath not the Tenant for Life a Property in all that he begets over and above his Rent, by his Labour and Liduftry, during the faid TeiTn, fuppofing it to be double the Rent ? Can any one fay, the King, or Conqueror, after his Grant, may by hisPowerof Conqueror take away all, or part of the Land from theHeirs of one, or from the other during his Life, he paying the Rent ? Or can he take away from either, the Goods or Money they have got upon the faid Land, at hisPlea- fure } If he can, then all free and voluntary ContraSls ceafe, and are void in the World ; there needs nothing to diffolve them at any time, but Power enough : And all the Grants and Promifes oiMen in Po-wer, are but Mockery and Collufion. For can there be any thing more ridiculous than to fay, I give yond yours ua this for ever ; and that in the fureft and moft folemn W^ay of Conveyance can be devifed : And yet it is to be underftood, that I have a Right, if I pleafe, to take it away from you again to Morrow ? 195. I will not difpute now, whether Princes are exempt from the Laws of their Country ; but this I am fure, they owe Subjeftion to the Laws of God and Nature. No Body, no Power, can exempt them from the Obligations of that eternal Law. Thofe are fo great, and fo llrong, in the Cafe of Projnifes, that Oninipotency itfelf can be tied by them. Grants, Promifes, and Oaths, are Bonds that hold the Almighty : Whatever fome Flatterers fay to Princes of the World, who all together, with all their People joined to them, are, in Comp^arifon o£ the Great God, but as a Drop of the Bucket, or a Duft on the Balance, incon- fiderable, nothing! '-■•^196. Thelhort of the Cafe in Conqueft is this. The Conqueror, if he have a juft Caufe, has a defpotical Right over the Perfons of all, that aftually aided, and concurred in the War againft him, and a Right to make up his Damage and Coft ou: of C I V I L - G O' V E R N M E N T. 2 1 out of their Labour and Eftatcs, ib lie injure not the Right of any other. Over the reft of the People, if there were any tliat confented not to the \Var, and over the Children of the Captives themfelves, or the Poflellions of cither, he has no Power ; and fo can ha\e, by vertne of Conq.'/cft, no lavjjul 'Title himfelf to Dominion over them, or derive it to his Pofterity; but is an Aggreflbr, if heat- tempts upon their Properties, and thereby puts himf(?lf in a State of War a- gainft them, and has no better a Right of Principality, he, nor any of his Suc- cclfors, thzn Hingar, or HiMa, the b.7Kw had here \n England; or SpaytK.!is,\\^6. he conquered Italy, would have hadj which is to have their Yoke cafl; oft, as foon as God fl-iall give thofe under their Subjedion Courage and Opportunity to do it. Thus, notwithflianding whatever Title the Kings of Ajjy.ia liad over 'Jiidah, by the Sword, Ciodaffifted Hcz.ekiah to throw oft' the Dominion of that conquer- in"- Empire. And the Lord -was ruith Hez^ekiah, and he frofpered ; vjhenfore he v^ent forth, and he rebelled againft the King of AJfyria, and ferved him not, 2 Kings xviii. 7. Whence it is plain, thatftiakingoft'a Power, which Foice, and not Right hath fet over any one, though it hath the Name oi Rebellion, yet is no Offence before God, but is that which he allows and countenances, though even Promifes and Cove'nants, when obtain'd by Force, have inter\cncd. For 'tis very prob:ible, to any one that reads the Stoiy of Ahax. and Hez^tkiah attentively, that the Ah fyrians fubdued Ahaz,, and depofed him, and made //ixc^/W? King in his Father s Life-time ; and that Hezekiah by Agreement had done him Hojnage, and paid him Tribute all this time. CHAP. xvir. OfUSVRPATION. i97- A S Conqueft may be called a foreign Ufurpation, fo Ufurpation is a kind -**■ of domeftick Conqueft, with thisDifterence, that an Ufurper can ne- ver have Right on his fide, it being no Ufurpation, but where one is got into the Poffeifion of -what another has a Right to. This, fo far as it is Ufurpation, is a Change only of Perfons, but not of the Forms and Rules of the Government : For if the Ufurper extend his Power beyond what of right belonged to the lawful Princes, or Governors of the Common-wealth, 'tis Tyranny added to Ufurpation. 198. In all lawful Governments, the Defignation of the Perfons, who are to bear Rule, is as natural and neceftary a part as the Form of the Govern- ment itfelf, and is that which had itsHftablifhment originally from the People; the Anarchy being much alike, to have no Form of Government at all ; or to agree, that it fhould be Monarchical, but to appoint no Way todefign the Per- fon that fhal! have the Power, and be the Monarch. Hence all Common-wealths, with the Form of Government eftabliflied, have Rules alfo of appointing thoie, who are to have any Share in the publick Authority, and fettled Methods ot con- veying the Right to them. For the Anarchy is much alike to have no Form of Go- vernment at all ; or to agree that it fhall be Monarchical, but to appoint no way to know or defign the Perlbn that fhall have the Power, and be the Monarch. Whoever gets into the Exercife of any part of the Power, by other ways than what the Laws of the Community have prefer ibed, hath no Right to be obeyed, though the Form of the Common-wealth be ftill preferved ; fince he is^ not the Perfon the Laws have appointed, and confequently not the Perfon the People have confented to. Nor can fuch an Ufurper, or any deriving from him, e\'er have a Title, till the People are both at liberty to confent, and have actually confented to allow, aud confirm in him the Power he hath till then uiurped. C H A P. 214 0/ Civil-Government. CHAP. XVIII. Of T Y R A N N r. jpp. \ S Ufurpation is the Exercife of Power, which another hath a Right to ; -'*- io "Tyrnriny is the Exercife vj Puiuer bey ond Right, whicii no Body can ha\e a Right to. And this is making ule of the Power any one has in his Hands, not for the good of chofe who are under it, but for his n\xn private icparate Advan- tage. When the Governor, however intitled, makes not the Law, but his Will the Rule ; and his Commands and Actions are not directed to the Prefervation of the Properties of his People, but the Satisfaftion of his own Ambition, Re- v^enge, Covetoulnefs, or any other irregular Pa fTion. 200. If one can doubt this to be Truth, or Reafon, becaufe it comes from the obfcure Hard of a Subject, I hope the .Authority of a King willmakeit pafs with him. King James the Firft, in his Speech to the Parliament 1603, tells them thus, I will ever prefer the IVealof the Publick, and of the whole Common-wealth, in mak- ing of good Laws andConfiitutions, to any particular and private Ends of mine. "Think- ingever the Weak!) andlVealof the Commm-wealth to be my great efl Weal and worldly Fe- licity ; a Point wherein a lawful King doth direclly differ jrom a Tyrant. For I do ac- knowledge, that thefpecial and greatefl Point oj Difference that is between a rightful Kingy and an ufurping 'Tyrant, is this. That whereas the proud and ambitiom Tyrant doth think^ his Kingdom and People are only ordained for Sa'ufaElion of his Deffres and unreafonable Appetites ; the righteom and juft King doth by the contrary acknowledge /}i?nfelf to be or- dained for the procuring of the Wealth and Property of his People. And again, in his Speech to the Parliament 1609, he hath thefe Words, The King binds himfelf by a double Oath, to the Obfervation of the jundamental Laws of his Kingdom. Tacitly, as by being a King, and fo bound to proteB as well the People, as the Laws of his Kingdom, and e.\prejly by his Oath at his Coronation ; fo as every jufl King, in a fettled Kingdom^ is bound to obferve that Paction made to his People, by his Laws in framing his Govern- ment agreeable thereunto, according to that PaBion which God made with Noah after the Deluge. Hereafter, Seed-time and Harvefl, and Cold and Heat, and Summer andWin- ter, and Day and Night, /hall not ceafe while the Earth remaineth. And therefore a King governing in a fettled Kingdom, leaves to be a King, and degenerates into a Tyrant, as foonas he leaves off to rule according to his Laws. And a little after. Therefore all Kings that are not Tyrants, or perjured, will be glad to bound thejJifelves within the Li- inits of their Laws. And they that perfwade them the contrary, are Vipers, and Pefis both agninfi them and the Common-wealth. Thus that learned King, who well un- tierftood the Notions of Things, makes the Difference betwixt a King and a Ty- rant to confift only in this. That one makes the Laws the Bounds of his Power, and the Good of the Publick, the End of his Government i the other makes all give way to his own Will and Appetite. 201. Tis a Miftake to think this Fault is proper only to Monarchies ; other Forms of Government are liable to it, as well as that. For where-ever the Power, that is put in any Hands for the Government of the People, and the Prefervation of their Properties is applied to other Ends , and made ufe of to impoverifli, harafs, or fubdue them to the arbitrary irregu- lar Commands of thofe that have it : There it prefently becomes Tyranny, -whe- tlier thofe that thus ufe it are one or many. Thus we read of the Thirty Ty- rants at Athens, as well as one at Syracufe ; and the intolerable Dominion of the Decemviri at Rotne was nothing better. 202. Where-ever Law ends. Tyranny begins, if the Law be tranfgrefled to another's harm. And whofoever in Authority exceeds the Power given him by the Law, and makes ufe of the Force, he has under his Command, to compais that upon the Subject, which the Law allows not, ceafes in that to be a ISlagiftrate, and ading without Authority, may be oppoied, as any other Man, who by Force in- vades the Right of another. This is acknowledged in fubordinate Magiftrates. He that hath Authority to feize my Perfon in the Street, may be oppofed as a 1 liief and a Robber, if he endeavours to break into my Houfe to execute a Writ, notwith- 0/ Civil-Government. 215 notwithflancling that I know, lie has fuch a Warrant, and fuch a Legal Autho- rity, as will impower him to arreft mc abroad. And why this fliould not hold in the highefl:, as wcl! as in the moft inferior Magiftratc, 1 would gladly be inform- ed. It is reafonabic, that the eldcft Brother, bccaufe he has the greateftpart of his Father's Eftate, fliould thereby have a Right to take away any of his younger Brother's Portions ? Or that a rich Man, who poiiclfed a wliole Country, Hionld from thence have a Right to leize, when he pleafed, the Cottage and Gar- den of his poor Neighbour? The being rightfully pofl'effed of great Power and Riches exceedingly beyond the greateft part of th.e Sons of y^^aw, is fo far from being an Excufe, much lefs a Reafon, for Rapine and OpprcfUon, which the en- damaging one another without Authority is, that it is a great Aggravation of it. For the exceeding the Bounds of Authority, is no more a Right in a great, than a petty Ofiicer; no more juftifiable in a King than a Conftable : But is fo much the worle in him, in that he has more Truih put in him, has already a much greater Share than the reft of his Brethren, and is fuppoled, from the Advan- tages of his Education, Employment, and Counfellors, to be more knowing in the Meafuies of Right and Wrong. 203. May the Commands then of a Prince be oppofed ? May he be refilled as of- ten as any one fhall find himfell aggrieved, and but imagine he has not a Right done him ? This will vinhinge and overturn all Polities, and inllead of Govern- ment and Order, leave nothing but Anarchy and Confuhon. 204. To this I anfwer : That Force is to be oppufed to nothing, but to unjuft ard unlawful Forti?; whoever makes any Oppofirion in any other Cafe, draws on himlelf a juft Condemnation both from God and Man; and fo no fuch Danger or Confufion will follow, as is often fuggefted. For, 205. Frrfi, As in fome Countries, the Perfon of the Prince by Law is facred ; and fo whatever he commands or does, his Perfon is ftiU free from all Qiieftion or Violence, not liable to Force, or any judicial Cenfure or Condemnation. But yet Oppofition may be made to the illegal Acts of any inferior Officer, or otiie: commifTioned by him, unlefs he will by aftually putting himfelf into a State of War with his People, diifolve the Governm.ent, and leave them to that Defence, which belongs to every one in the ftate of Nature. For of fuch things who can tell what the End will be ? And a Neighbour Kingdom has fiiewed the World an odd Example. In all other Cafes the Sacrednejs of the Perfon exempts him fro7n all Imcnvemencies, whereby he is fecure, whilft the Government flards, from all Violence aid Harm whatf >ever ; than which there cannot be a w.ier Cr,r,fu':uLion. For tne Harm he can do in his own Perfon not being likely to iippren often, nor to extend it felf far; nor being able by his fingle Strength to luDvert the Laws, nor opprefs the Body of the People, fliould any Prince have ib much ¥'eaknefs, and ill Nature as to be willing to do it, the Inconveniency of fome particular Mifchiefs, that may happen fometimes, when a headv Prince comes to the Throne, are well rccompenfcd, by the Peace of the Publick, and Se- curity of the Government, in the Perfon of the Chief Magiftrate. thus fet out of the reach of Danger: It being fafer for the Body, that fome few private Men fhould be lometim.es in danger to fufi'er, than that the Head of the Republick ijiould be eafily, and upon flight Occafions expofed. 206. Secondly, But this Privilege belonging only to the King's Perfon, hinders not but ihey may be queftioned, oppofed, and refifted, who ufe unjuft Force, though they pretend a Commiffion from him, which the Law authorizes not. As is plain in the Cafe of him, that has the King's Writ to arreft a Man, which is a full Commiffion from the King ; and yet he that has it cannot break open a Man s Houie to do it, nor execute this Command of the King upon certain Days, nor in certain Places, though this Commiflion have no fuch Exception in it, but they are the Limitations of the Law, which if anyone tranfgrefs, the King's Com- miflion excufes him not. For the King's Authority being given him only by the Law, he cannot impower any one to aft againft the Law, or juftify him, by his Conmiflion info doing. The Commiflion, or Command of any Alngiftrate, ivhere be has m Authority, being as ■z/o/iand infignificant, as that of any private Man. The difference between the one and the other, being that the Magiftrate has fome Au- thority fo far, and to fuch Ends, and the pri\ ate Man has none at all. For 'tis not the Commijfwn, but the Authrity, that gives the Right of afting ; and againfl the 2l6 0/ C I V I L - G V E R N M E N T. //•efi Rme a^.tii?/} R':bd- lion, and the probableft Means to hinder it. For Rebellion being an Oppolition, not to Perfons, but Authority, which is founded only in the Conftiiutions and Lawsof the Government; thofe whoever they be, who by Force break through, and by Force juftity their Violation of them, are truly and properly Rebels. For VvrhenMen by entering into Society and Civil-Government; have excluded Force, and introduced Laws for the Prefervation of Property, Peace, and Unity amongft themfelves, thofe who fet up Force again in Oppolition to the Laws, do rebellare, that is, bring back again the ftate of War, and are properly Rebels : Which they who are in Power, (by the Pretence they have to Authority, the Temptation of Force they have in their Hands, and the Flattery of thofe about them) being likelieft to do; the propereft Way to prevent the Evil, is to fliew them the Danger and Injuftice of it, who are under the greateft Temptation to run in- to it. 227. In both the forementioned Cafes, when either the Legiflative is changed or the Legiflators aft contrary to the End for which they were conftituted ; thofe who are guilty are guilty of Rebellion. For if any one by Force takes away the eftablilh'd Legiflative of any Society, and the Laws by them made, purfuant to their Truft, he thereby takes away the Umpirage, which every one had confen- ted to, for a peaceable Decifion of all their Controverfies, and a Bar to the ftate of War amongft them. They who remove, or change the Legiflative, take a- way this decifive Power, which no Body can have, but by the appointment and confent of the People; and fo deftroying the Authority, which People did, and no Body elfe can let up, and introducing a Power, which the People hath not authorized, they ad-unlly introduce a fiate ofJVar, which is that of Force without Authority: And thus by removing the Legiflative eftablifh'd by the Society, (in whofe Decifions the People acquiefced and united, as to that of their own Will) they unty the Knot and expofe the People anew to the fiate oflViV. And if thofe who by Force take away the Legiflative, are Rebels, the Legiflators themfelves, a? has been fhewn, can be no lefs efteemed fo ; when they, u^io ^vere let up for the Proteftion, and Prefervation of the People, their Liberties and Properties, fliall by Force invade and endeavour to take them away ; and fo they putting them- ■ felves into a ftate of War with thofe, who made them the Protedors and Guar- dians of their Peace, are properly, and with the greateft Aggravation, R-^bellan- tes. Rebels. 228. But if they \\\\o Cay it lays a Foundation for Rebellion, mean that it may oc- cafion Civil Wars, or inteftine Broils, to tell the People they are abfolved from Obedience, when illegal Attempts are made upon their Liberties or Proper- ties, and may oppofe the unlawful Violence of thofe, w^ho were their Magi- ftrates, when they invade their Properties contrary to the Truft put in them ; and that therefore this Doctrine is not to be allow'd, being fo deftrudiveto the Peace of the World. They may as well fay upon the fame Ground, that honcft Men may not oppofe Robbers or Pirats, becaufe this may occafion diforder or blood- fhed. If any Mifhief come in fuch Cafes, it is not to be charged upon him who defends his own Right, but o?; hijn, that invades his Neighbours. Ifthr innocent honeft Man muft quietly quit all he has for Peace fake, to him, who will lay violent Hands upon it, I deiire it may be confidej'd, what a kind of Peace there will be in * the 222 0/ Civil-Government. the World, which confifls only in Violence and Rapine; and which is to be maintain'd only for the benefit of Robbers and Oppreflors. Who would not think it an admirable Peace betwixt the Mighty and the Mean, when the Lamb, without Refiftance, yielded his Throat to be torn by the imperious Wolf ? Poly- pbemns's Den gives us a perfect Pattern of fuch a Peace, and fuch a Government wherein Uhjfes and his Companions had nothing to do, but quietly to fuffer themfelves to be devour'd. And no doubt Uhjfes, who was a prudent Man, preach 'd up Paffive OMiaice, and exhorted them to a quiet SubmifHon, by re- prefenting to them of what concernment Peace was to Mankind- and by Ihew- ing the Inconveniencies might happen, if they fhould offer to refift Polyphemus^ who had now the Power over them. 229. The End of Government is the Good of Mankind; and which isbefl for Mankind, that the People fliould be always expos'd to the boundlefs Will of Ty- ranny, or that the Rulers fliould be fometimes liable to be expos'd, when they grow exorbitant in the Ufe of their Power, and employ it for the Deftruftion, and not the Prefervation of the Properties of their People? 230. Nor let any one fay, that Mifchief can arife from hence, as often as it fliall pleafe a buify Head, or turbulent Spirit, to defire the Alteration of the Government. 'Tis true, fuch Men may ftir, whenever they pleafe, but it will be only to their own jufl; Ruin and Perdition. For till the Mifchief be grown general, and the illDefigns of the Rulers become vifible, or their Attempts fen- fible to the greater part, the People, who are more difpofed to fuffer, than right themfelves by Rcfiftance, are not apt to ftir. The Examples of particu- lar Iiijuflice, or OpprefTion of here and there an unfortunate Man, mo\es them not. But if they univerfally have a Perfuafion, grounded upon manifeft Evi- dence, that Defigns are carrying on againft their Liberties, and the general courfe and tendency of things cannot but give them ftrongSufpicions of the Evil Intention of their Governors, who is to be blamed for it? Who can help it, if they, who might avoid it, bring themfelves, into this Sufpicion ? Are the Peo- ble to be blamed, if they have the Sence of rational Creatures, and can think of things no otherwife, than as they find and feel them? And is it not rather their Fault, who puts things into fuch a Pofture, that they would not have them thought to be as they are ? I grant, that the Pride, Ambition, and Turbulency of private Men have fometimes caufed great Diforders in Common-wealths, and Fadions have been fatal to States and Kingdoms. But whether the Mifchief hath oftenerhtgun in the Peoples Wantonnefs, and a Defire to caft off the lawful Autho- rity of their Rulers; or in the Ruhr's Infolence, and Endeavours to get, and exercife an Arbritrary Power over their People; whether Oppreffion, or Difo- bedience gave the firft Rife to the Diforder, I leave, it to impartial Hiftory to determine. This I am fure, whoever, either Ruler or Subjeft, by Force goes about to invade the Rights of either Prince or People, and lays the Foundation for overturning the Conftitution and Frame oi any Jjifi Government, is highly guil- ty of the greateft Crime, I think, a Man is capable of, being to anfwer for all thofe Mifchiefs of Blood, Rapine, and Defolation, which the breaking to pieces of Governments bring on a Country. And he who does it, is juftly to be elieem- ed the common Enemy and Peft of Mankind; and is to be treated accord- ingly. 231. That SubjeEis or Foreigners attempting by Force on the Properties of any People, may be refifledvfhh Force, is agreed on all Hands. But that Magiftratesy doing the fame thing, may be reffled, hath of late been denied : As if thofe who had the greateft Privileges and Advantages by the Law, had thereby Power to break thofe Laws, by which alone they were fet in a better Place than their Brethren : Whereas their Offence is thereby the greater, both as being ungrateful for the greater fhare they have by the Law, and breaking alfo that Truft, which is put into their hands by their Brethren. 232. Whofoever ufes Force -without Right, as everyone does in Society, who does it without Law, puts himfelf inzo a fiate of War with thofe, againft whom he fo ufes it, and in that ftate all former Ties are cancelled, all other Rights ceafe, and every one has a Right to defend himfelf and to rejifi the Aggrejfor. This is fo evident, that Barclay himfelf, that great Aflertor of the Power and Sa- crednefs of Kings, is forced to confefs. That it is lawful for the People, in * fome 0/ClVlL-GoVERNMENt. 22]' fome Cafes, to reftfl their King; and that too in a Chapter, wherein he pretends to flic vv, that the Divine Law fiiuts up the People from all manner of Rebellion. Whereby it is evident, even by his own Doftrine, that, fince they may in fome Cafes reftfl, all refitting of Princes is not Rebellion. His Words are thefe. Qiiod Jiquis dicat, Ergone populus tyraiinka: crudelitati & furori jugulum fimper prabubit ? Ergone multitudo civitates fiias fame, fevro, & flamma vaflari, feqtie, conpiges, & li- beros fortima: ludibrio & tyranni libidini exponi, inqua: omnia ijita: pericula omnefque mi- ferias & molefliai a Rege deduci patientiir ? Nam illis quod ojtini animantiutn goneri eft d natura tribiitum denegnri debet, lit fc. 'uim vi repellant, fefeq; ab injuricl tueantur ? Huic brenjitur refponfimt Jit, Popiilo univerfo negari defenjiunem, qua: juris naturales efl, neque tdtionem qua: prater naturam efl adverfus Regem concedi debere. Quapropter fi Rex non infiiigularis tantiim perfonai aliquot privatum odium exerceat, Jed corpus etiam Reipublica, cujus ipfe caput efl, i. e. tottim populum, vel injignnm aliquam ejus partem immani & into- leranddfavitid feu tyrannide divexet ; populo, quidem hoc cafu refiflendi ac tuendife ab inju- ria poteflas competit, fedtuendi fe tantum, non enim in principem invadendi : & reflituendx injura iUata, non recedendi a debitd reverentid propter acceptam injuriam. Pra:femein denique impetiim propulfandi non vim' prater it am ulcifcendi jm habet. Horum enim alte- rum d natura eft, ut vitam fcilicet, corpufque tueamur. Alterian vero contra naturam, ut inferior dc fuperiori fupplicium fumat. Quod itaque populus malum, antequam faEium fit, impedire poteft, ne fiat, id poflquam faBum efl, in Regem author em feeler is vindicare non potefl : Populus igitur hoc amplius quam privatus qiiifpiam habet : Quod huic, vel ipfis adverfariis judicibus, excepto Buchanano, nullum nifi in patientia remedium fuperefl. Cum ille fi intolerabilis tyrannus efl (modicum enim ferre omnino debet) refiflere cum reve- rentid pojjit, Barclay contra Monarchom. L. 3. c. 8. In Englifl} thus. 255. But if any one fbotild ash, Mufl the People then always lay themfehes open to the Cruelty and Rage of Tyranny ? Mufl they fee their Cities pillaged, and laid in AfljeSy their IVifes and Children expofed to the Tyrant's Ltifl and Fury, and themfehes and Fa- milies reduced by their King to Ruin, and all the Miferies of Want and Opprefflon, and yet fit flill ? Mufl Men alone be debarred the common Priviledge of oppofing Force -with Force, which Nature allows fo freely to all other Creatures for their Prejervationfrom In- jury .? / anfwtr : Self-defence is a Part of the Law of Nature ; nor can it be denied the Community, even againfl the King himfelf : But to revenge themfehes upon him, fnufl by no means be allowed them ; it being not agreeable to that Law. Wherefore if the King floall fhew an Hatred, not only to jome particular Perfons, but fets himfelf againfl the Body of the Common-wealthy whereof he is the Head, and floall, with intolerable ill Ufage, cruelly tyrannize over the whole, or a confiderable part of the People, in this Cafe the People have a Right to refifl and defend themfehes from Injury : But it mufl be with this Caution, that they only defend themfehes, but do not attack their Prince : "I hey jnay repair the Damages received, but mufl not for any Provocotion exceed the Bounds of due Reve- rence and RefpeEl. T'hey may repulfe the prefent Attempt, but mufl not revenge pafl Vio~ lences. Fur it is natural for us to defend Life and Limb, but that an Inferior flmtld puniflj a Superior, is againfl Nature. 'The Mifchief which is defigned them, the People may prevent before it be done, but when it is done, they muft not revenge it on the Kingy though Author of the Villany. This therefore is the Priviledge of the People in general, above what any private Perfonhath; that particular Men are allowed by our Adverfaries . themfehes, (Buchanan only excepted) to have no other Remedy but Patience ; but tlye Body cf the People may with Refpe^ refifl intolerable Tyranny ; for when it is but moderate, they ought to endure it. 234. Thus far that great Advocate of Monarchical Power allows of Refi", fiance. 235. 'Tistrue, he has annexed two Limitations to it, to no purpofe; Firfl, he fays, it muft be with Reverence. _ Secondly, it muft be without Retribution, or Puaifliment; and the Reafon he gives is, Becaufe an Inferior eanmt ptmifj a Superior, Firft, 2 24 0/ Civil-Government. Pirfl, How to rejiji Force without flriking a^ain, or how to firike with Reverencel will need Ibme Skill to make Intelligible. He that fhall oppofe an Aflault only with a Shield to receive the Blows, or in any more relpeftful Pofture, without a Sword in his Hand, to abate the Confidence and Force of the Aflailant, will quick- ly be at an end of his Rejiflana', and will find fuch a Defence ferve only to draw on himfelf the worfe Ufage. This is as ridiculous a Way of rejlfling, as 'Juvenal thought it of fighting; ubi tu pulfas, ego vapulo tantum. And the Succefs of the Combat will be unavoidably the fame he there defcribes it : Libertas pauperis hac efl : Piilfatus rogat, & pugnis concifus, nclorat, Ut liceat paucis cum dentibiis inde reverti. This will always be the Event of fuch an imaginary Rejiftance, where Men may not ftrike again. He therefore who may rejifl, mujlbe allowed to ftrike. And then let our Author, or any Body elfe join a knock on the Head, or a cut on the Face, with as much Reverence and RefpeB as he thinks fit. He that can reconcile Blows and Reverence, may, for ought I know, deferve for his Pains, civil, re- fpedful Cudgeling, where-ever he can meet with it. Secondly, As to his Second, an Inferior cannot punifi a Superior; that's true, gene- rally fpeaking, whilft he is his Superior. But to refift Force with Force, being the State of JVar that levels the Parties, cancels all former Relation of Reverence, RefpcLl:, and Superiority : And then the Odds that remains is. That he who op- pofes the unjuft Aggreffor, has this Superiority over him, that he has a Right, when he prevails, to punifh the Offender, both for the Breach of the Peace, . and all the Evils that followed upon it. Barclay therefore, in another Place, more coherently to himfelf, denies it to be lawful to refift a King in any Cafe. But he there Afligns two Cafes, whereby a King may un-king himfelf. His Words are, Qliid ergo, nulline cafm incidere pojfunt quibus populo fefe erigere atque in Regent im- potentius dominantem arma capere & invadere jure fuo fuaque Authoritate liceat ? Nulli certe quamdiu Rex manet. Semper enim ex divinis id obftat, Regem honorificato ; & qui poteftati refiftit, Dei ordinationi refiftit : Non alias igitur in eum populo poteftas eft quam fi id committat propter quod ipfo jure rex ejfe definat. Tunc enim fe ipfe principatu exuit atque in privatis conftituit liber : Hqc modo populus & fuperi'.} »ffici- tur, reverfo ad eum fc. jure illo quod ante regem inauguratum interregna bubuit. At funt paucorum generum comjniffa ejufmodi qtta hunc effeBum pariunt. At ego cum flurima animo per luftrem, duo tantum invenio, duos, in quam, cafus quibus rex ipfofaclo ex Rege non regem fe facit & oinni honore & dignitate regali atque in fubditos poteftate deflituit ; quorum etiam meminit Winzerus. Horum unm eft. Si regnum difperdaty quemadmodum de Nerone fertur, quod is nempe fenatum populumque Romanum, atque adeo urbem ipfam ferro flammaque vaftare, ac novas fibi fedes querere decrevijfet. Et de Caligula, quod palam denunciarit fe neque civem neque principem fenatui ainplius fore, inque animo habuerit interempto utriufque ordims EleEliffimo quoque Alexandrian! commigrare, ac ut populum uno i^ interimeret, unam ei cervicem optavit. Talia cum rex aliqiiis miditatur & molitur ferio, omnem regnandi curam & animum ilico abji- cit, ac proinde imperium in fubditos amittit, ut dominus fervi pro dereliBo habiti domi- nium. 236. Alter cafus eft, ft rex inalicujus clientelam fe contulit, ac regnum qued Hberu?n a majoribm & populo traditum accepit, aliena ditioni mancipavit. Nam tunc quamvis forte non eA mente id agit populo plane ut incommodet : Tamcn quia quod pracipuum eft regi^ dignitatis amiftt, ut fummus fcilicet in regno fecundum Deum fit, tx folo Deo inferior, atque populum etiam totmn ignorantem vel invitum, cujus libertatein firtam kJ teElam confervare debuit, in alterius gentis ditionem & poteftatem dedidit ; hac velut quadam regni fib alienatione effecit, ut nee quod ipfe in regno imperium habuit retineat, nee in eum cut collatum voluit, juris quicquam transferat ; atque ita eo faclo liberu?n jam & fua potefta- tis populum relinqttity cujus rei exemplum unum annaks Scotici fuppeditant. Barclay con- tra Monarchom. L. 3. c. 16. Which 0/ Civil-Government. S25 Which in Engl ijh runs thus, 237. What then, Can there no Cafe happen wherein the People ma) of Right, and by their cwn Authority help themfelves, take Arjns, and fet upon their King, imperiaufly domi- neering ovor them? None at all, zuhilfi he remains a King, Honour the King, and he that refills the Power, refills the Ordinance of God ; are Divine Oracles that ■will never permit it. 'The People therefore can never come by a Po-^er over him, nn- lefs he does fomething that ynakes hi?n ceafe to be a King. Fur then he dive/Is hi7nfe!j, oj his Crowt and Dignity, and returns to the State of a private Man, and the People become Free and Superior, the Power "which they had in the Interregnum, before they crowned him King, devolving to them again. But there are but few Mifcarriages which bring the Matter to this State. After confidering it well on all Sides, lean find but two. Tivo Cafes there are, I fay, whereby a King, ipfo fafto, becomes no King; and lofes all Power and regal Authority over his People; which are alfo taken Notice of by W'in- zerus. . 77jf firfi is. If he endeavour to overturn the Government, that is, if he have a Purpofe and Defign to ruin the Kingdo?n and Common-wealth, as it is recorded of Nero, that he refolved to cut off the Senate and People of Rome, lay the City wajle with Fire and Sword, andthen remove tofome other Place. And 0/ Caligula, that he openly declar' d^ that he would be no longer a Head to the People or Senate, and that he had it in his "Thoughts to cut off the worthieft Men of both Ranks, and then retire to Alexandria : And he wifo'd that the People had but one Neck, that he might difpatch them all at a Blow. Such Dejigns as thefe, when any King harbers in his Thoughts, and ferioufly pro- motes, he immediately gives up all Care and Thought oj the Commm-wealth ; and conse- quently forfeits the Power of governing his Subjefls, as a Mnfler does the Do?ninion over his Slaves whom he hath abandon d, 238. The other Cafe is. When a King makes himfelf dependent of another, and fnb- jeEis his Kingdom which his Ance/lors left him, and the People put free into his Hands, to the Dominion of another. For however perhaps it tnay not be his Intention to Prejudice the People; yet becaufe he has hereby lofi the principal Part of regal Dignity, \-iz. to ie next and immediately under God, Supreme in hif Kingdom : and alfo becaufe he betray' d or forced his People, whofe Liberty he otight to have carejully preferved, into the Power and Dofninion oj a foreign Nation. By this as it were Alienation of his Kingdom; he Imnfelf lofes the Power he had in it before, without transferring any the leafi Right to thofe oh whom he would have beflowed it ; and jo by this Acl fits the People free, and leaves them at their own difpofal. One Example of this is to be found in the Scotch Annals. ■ 239. In thefe Cafes Barclay, the great Champion of Abfolute Monarchy, is forced to allow, that a King may be reftjled, and ceafis to be a King. That is, in fhort, not to mlutiply Cafes. In whatfoevei' he has no Authority, there he is no King, and may be rejified : For wherefoever the Authority ceafes, the King ceafis too, and becomes like other Mfen who have no Authority. And thefe two Cafes he Inftances in, differ little from thofe above-mentioned, to be deftruftive to Govefn- ments, only that he has omitted the Principle from which his Doftrine flow's; and that is the Breach of Truft, in not preferving the Form of Government agreed on, and in not intending the End of Government itfelf, which is the Publick Good, and Prefervation of Property. When a King has dethroned himfelf, and put himfelf in a State of War with his People, what fliall hinder them from profecuting him who is no King, as they would any other Man, who has put himfelf into a State of War with them ? Barclay, and thofe of his Opini- on, would do well to tell us. This farther I defire may be taken notice of out of Barclay, that he fays. The Mifchief that is defigned them, the People may prevent be- fore it be done, whereby he aWows Ref/Iance when Tyranny is but in Defign. Such Dejigns as thefe (fays he) when any King harbours in his Thoughts and firioujh promotes, he immediately gives up all Care and Thought of the Common-wealth; fo thjJt according to him, the negleft of the publick Good is to be taken as an Evidence of fucli Defign, or at leaft for a fufficient Caufe of Refijiance. And the Reafon of all, he gives in thefe Words, Becaufe he betray d or forced his People whofe Liberty he ought carefully to have preferved. W hat he adds into the Power and Dominion of a foreign Nation, fignifies nothing, the Fault and Forfeiture lying in the Lofs of their L/- Vol. II. F f bertr. 226 0/ Civil-Government. berty, which he ought tohavefrefer-ved, and not in any Diftinftion of the Perfons to whole Dominion they were Ibbjccted. The Peoples Right is equally invaded, and their Liberty loft, whether they are made Slaves to any of their own, or a Foreign Nation ; and in this lies the Injury, and againft this only have they the Right of Defence. And there are Inftances to be found in all Countries, wMch fhew, that 'tis not the change of Nations in the Perfons of their Governors, but the change of Government, that gives the Olfence. Bilfon, a Bifllopof our Church, and a gieat Stickler for the Power and Prerogative of Princes, does, if I miftake not, in his Treatile of Chriflian Subjection, acknowledge. That Princei may forfeit their Pozuer, and their Title to the Obedience of their Subjefts ; and if there needed Authority in a Cafe where Reafon is fo plain, I could lend my Reader to BraBon, Fortefue, and the Author of the Mirrour, and others. Wri- ters that cannot be fulpefted to be ignorant of our Government, or Enemies to it. But I thought Hooker alone might be enough to fatisfy thofe Men, who relying on him for their Ecclefiaftical Polity, are by a ftrange Fate carry 'd to deny thole Principles upon which he builds it. Whether they are herein made the Tools of cunninger Workmen, to pull down their own Fabrick, they were beft look. This I am fure, their Civil Policy is fo new, fo dangerous, and fo deftrudive to both Rulers and People, that as former Ages never could bear the broach- ing of it ; fo it may be hoped, thole to come, redeemed from the Impolitionsof thefe ii^^/'i/aK Under-taskmafters, will abhor the Memory of fuch fervile Flat- terers, who whilft it feemed to ferve their Turn, refolv'd all Government into abfoluLe Tyranny, and would have all Men boj:n to, what their mean Souls fit- ted them for. Slavery. 240. Here, 'tis like, the common Queftion will be made, IVho Jhall be judge, whether the Prince or Legiflative ad: contrary to their Truft ? This, perhaps, in afi'ecied and faiftious Men may fpread amongft the People, when the Prince only makes ufe of his due Prerogative. To this I reply; The People fhall be Judge; for who fliall be Judge whether the Truftee or Deputy afts well, and according to the Truft repofed in him, but he who deputes him, and muft, by having de- puted him, have ftill a Power to difcard him, when he fails in his Truft ? If this be reafonable in particular Cafes of private Men, why fhould it be other- wife in that of the greateft Moment, where the Welfare of Millions is concerned, and alfo where the Evil, if not prevented, is greater, and the Redrefs very diffi- cult, dear, and dangerous ? 141. But farther, this Quefton, (IVhofiallbe Judge ?) cannot mean, that there is no Judge at all. For where there is no Judicature on Earth, to decide Con- troverlies amongft Men, God in Heaven is Judge. He alone, 'tis true, is Judge of the Right. But every Man is Judge for himfelf as in all other Cafes, fo in this, whether. another hath put himl'elf into a State of War with him, and whe- ther he fliould appeal to the fupreme Judge, as Jephtha did ? 242. If a Controverfy arife betwixt a Prince and fome of the People,in a Matter, where the Law is filent, or doubtful, and the Thing be of great Confequence, I fliould think the proper Umpire, in fuch a Cafe, fhould be the Body of the Peo- ple. For in Cafes where the Prince hath a Truft repofed in him, and is di£- penfed from the common ordinary Rules of the Law i there, if any Men find themfelves aggrieved, and think the Prince afts contrary to, or beyond that Truft, ivho fo proper to judge as the Body of the People, (who, at firft, lodg'd that Truft in him) how far they meant it fliould exterid ? But if the Prince, or who- -' ever they be in the Adminiftratation, decline that Way of Determination, the Appeal then lies no where but to Heaven. Force between either Perfons, who have no known Superior on Earth, or which permits no Appeal to a Judge on Earth, being properly a State of War, wherein the Appeal lies only to Hea- ven, and in that State the injured Party mufl judge for himfelf, when he will think fit to make ufe of that Appeal, and put himfelf upon it. 243. To conclude. The Power that every Individual gave the Society, when he entered into it, can never revert to the Individuals again, as long as the So- ciety lafts, but will always remain in the Community ; becaufe without this, there pan be no Community, no Common-wealth, which is contrary to the cii- ( ginal Agreement : So alio when the Society hath placed the Legiflative in any Allemblv of Civil-Government. Affemblyof Men, to continue in them and their Succefibrs, with Direftion and Authority for providing fuch Succeffors, tl.'e Lcgiflative can never revert to the Peo- ple vvhilll that Government lafts: Becaufe having provided a Legiflative with Power to continue for ever, they ha\'c given up their Political Power to the Legidative, and cannot refume it. But if they have fet Limits to the Duration of their Legiflative, and made this fupreme Power in any Perfon or Alfembly, only temporary : Or elle, when by the Mifcarriages of thofe in Authority,^ it is forfeited ; upon the Forfeiture, or at the Determination of the Time let, n reverts to the Society, and the People have a Right to act as Supreme, and conti- nue the Legiflative in themfclves ; or ereft a new Form, or under the old Form place ic in new Hands, as they think good. 227 tol 11. Ff 2 The THE C O N T E N T S of Book I. Chap. I-' a '^HE ImroduElion Page 102 I Chap. II. of Paternal and Regal Power p. 103 M. Chap. III. of Adam's 7'itle to Sovereignty, l'} Creation p. 106 Chap. IV. of Adam's 'Title to Sovereignty, by Donation, Gen. i. 28. p. 109 Chap. V. of Adam's Title to Sovereignty, by the Subjetiion of Eve y>. 116 Chap. VI of Adam'.f Title to Sovereignty, by Fatherhood p. 1 ip Chap. VII. of Fatherdood and Propriety, conjider'd together as Fountains of Sovereignty p. 127 Chap. VIII. of the Conveyance of Adam's Sovereign Monarchical Power p. 129 Chap. IX. of Monarchy, by Inheriance from Adam p. 130 Chap. X. Oj the Heir to Monarchical Power of Adam P- ^37 Chap. XI. IViio Heir P- 138 THE CONTENTS of Book II. Chap. If I '^ HE JntroduEiion Page ijjj -■- Chap. II. Of the State of Nature p. 160 Chap. 111. of the State of IVar P- i<^? Chap. IV. of Slavery p. 155 Chap. V. Of Property ibid. Chap. VI. of Paternal Power p. 172 Chap. VII. of Political or Civil Society p. 1 80 Chap. VIII. of the Beginning of Political Societies P- 185 Chap. IX. of the Ends of Political Society and Gove-rnment p. ipj Chap. X. of the Forms of a Common-wealth p. 154 Chap. XI. of the Extent of the Legijlative Poroer p. 195 Chap. XII. of the Legijlative, Executive, and Federative Power of the Common-wealth p. 199 Chap. XIII. of the Subordination of the Powers of the Common-wealth p. 200 Chap. XIV. of Prerogative p. 205 Chap. XV. of Paternal, Political, and Defpotical Power, conjidered together p. 2o5 Chap. XVI. of Conquefl p. 207 Chap. XVII. of Ufnrpation P- 21J Chap. XVIII. of Tyranny p. 214 Chap. XIX. of Diffolution of Governments P- ^^7 The End of the C o N T E N T s, A LET^ LETTER CONCERNING T O L ER AT I O N: Humbly Submitted, &c. Ea efi fumma ratio & fapientia boni civis commoda civium non devellergf atq; omnes aquitate eadem continere. Cic. de Officiis. 23* I ^mjim}miM^fiMfsmmi^.{i^ms^& TO THE READER. H E Enfuing Letter concerning Toleration, firfl printed in Latin this very Tear, in Holland, has already been tranflated both into Dutch and French. So general and fpeedy an Appro- bation may therefore be/peak its favourable Reception /k England. / think indeed there is no Nation under Heaven, in luhich fo much has already been faid upon that Subject, as Ours. But yet certainly there is no People that ftand in more need of having fomething further both faid and done amongfl them, in this Point, than We do. Our Government has not only been partial in Matters of Religion ; but thofe alfo who have fuffered under that Partiality, and have therefore endeavoured by their Writings to •vindicate their own Rights and Liberties, have for the mofi Part done it upon narrow Principles, fuited only to the Interefts of their ownSeBs. 7'his narrownefs of Spirit on all Sides has undoubtedly been the principal Occajion of our Miferies and Confujions. But whatever have been the Occajion, it is now high 'Timg ,tofeekfor a thorough Cure. We have need of mure generous Remedies than what have yet been made ufe of in our Diflemper. It is neither Declarations of Indulgence, nor Afts of Comprehenfion, fiuh as have yet .been praElifed or projected amongji us, that can do the Work. 'The fir ft will but palliate, the fecqnd encreafe our Evil. Abfolute Liberty, Jufl and True Liberty, Equal and Impartial Liberty, is the Thing that we fiand in need of. Now tho' this has indeed been much talked of, I doubt it has not been much underftood ; / am fure not at all praClifed, either by our Governors towards the People in general, or by any dijfenting Parties of the People towards one another. I cannot therefore but hope that this Difcourfc, which treats of that SubjeB, how- ever briefly, yet more exaSily than any we have yet feen, detnonftrating both the Equi- tablenefs and PraBicablenefs of the ihing, will be efleemed highly feafonable, by all Men that have Souls large enough to prefer the true Intereft oj the Publick, bejore that of a Party. It is for the Ufe of fuch as are already fo fpirited, or to infpire that Spiiit into thofe that are not, that I have tranflated it into ow Language. But the Thing itfetf is fo fl)ort, that it will not bear a longer Preface. I leave it therefore to the CuiifideratioH . of my Countrymen, and heartily wijh they may make the Ufe of it that it appears to bt defgnedfor. A L E T- 222 A LETTER CONCERNING T O L E R A T I O NJ Luk 25- Honoui'cd Sir,' I N C E you are pleafed to enquire what are my Thoughts about the mutuale Toleration of Chriftians in their different Profeflion, of Re- igion, I muft needs anfwer you freely. That I elleem that Tolera- tion to be the chief charaderiftical Mark of the True Church. For vvhatfoever fome People boaft of the Antiquity of Places and Names, or of tne Pomp of their outward Worfhip; Others, of the Reformation of their Difcipline; All, of the Orthodoxy of their Faith; (for everyone is Orthodox to himfelf Thefe things, and all others of this nature, are much rather Marks of Men ftriving for Power and Empire over one another, than of the Church of Chrift. Let any one have never lb true a Claim to all thefe Things, yet if he be deftitute of Charity, Meeknefs, and Good-will in general towards all Mankind, even to thofe that are not Chriftians, he is certainly yet fliort of being a true 22. Chriftian himielf I'he Kings of the Gentiles exercife Lurdflnp over them, faid our Sa- viour to his Difciples, but ye jloall not be fo. The Bufinefs of true Religion is quite another thing. It is not inftituted in order to the ereding of an external Pomp, nor to the obtaining of Ecclefiaftical Dominion, nor to the exerciling of compulfive Force; but to the regulating of Mens Lives according to the Rules of Vertue and Piety. Whofoever will lift himfelf under the Banner of Chrift, muft in the firft place, and above all things, make War upon his own Lufts and Vices. It is in vain for any Man to ufurp the Name of Chriftian, without Holi- sTim. 2.neis of Life, Purity of Manners, Benignity and Meeknefs of Spirit. Let 1 9- every one that nameth the Name of Chrifi, depart from Iniquity. "Thou, when thou art Luk. 22. converted, flrengthen thy Brethren, faid our Lord to Peter. It would indeed be very hard for one that appears careiefs about his own Salvation, to perfuade me that he were extreamly concern'd formine. For it is impofliblethat thofe fhould iincercly and heartily apply themfelves to make other People Chriftians, who have not really embraced the Chriftian Religion in their own Hearts. If the Goipel Jind the Apoftles may be credited, no Man can be a Chriftian without Charity, and without that Faith -which Works not by Force but by Love. Now I ppeal to the Confciences of thofe that perfccute, torment, deftroy, and kill other Men upon Pretence of Religion, whether they do it out of Friendfhip and Kindnefs towards tliem, or no: And I fliall then indeed, and not till then, believe they do fo, when I flnll fee thofe fiery Zealots coriefting, in the lame manner, their Friends and familiar Acquaintance, for the manifeft Sins they commit againft the Precepts of 3 2, A Letter concerning Toleration^' 235 ef the Gofpel; when I rtiall fee them profecutc with Fire and Sword the Msnv bei s of their own Communion that are tainted with enormous Vices, and without A:Tiendment are in dant^er of eternal Perdition; and when I fliail fee them thus exprefs their Love and Defirc of the Salvation of their Souls, by the Infli<^tion of* Torments, and Exercife of all manner of Cruelties. For if it be out of a Prin- ciple of Charity, as they pretend, and Love to Mens Souls, that they deprive them of their Eft'ates, maim them with corporal Punifliments, ftarve and torment them in noifome Prifons, and in the end even take away their Lives : I fay, if all this be done merely to make MenChriftians, andprocure their SaIvation,why then do they furfer Whoredom, Fraud, Malice, andfncb like Enormities, which (according to Rom^ 1^ the Apoiile) manifellly relifh of heathenifh Corruption, to predominate fo much and abound amongfl; their Flocks and People? Thefe, and fuch like things, are certainly more contrary to the Glory of God, to the Purity of the Church, and to the Salvation of Souls, than any confcientious Diflent from Ecclefiaftical Deci- lion, or Sepration from Publick Worfhip, whilft accompained with Linocency of Life. Why then does this burning Zeal for God, for the Church, and for the Salvation of Souls; burning, I fay, literally, with. Fire and Faggot; pafs by thofe moral Vices and Wickednelfes, without any Chaftifement, v/hicli are ac- knowledged by ail Men to be dianietrically oppofite to the Profeffion of Chriftia- nity; and bend all its Nerves either to the introducing of Ceremonies, or to the eltablifhment of Opinions, which for the moft part are about nice and intricate Matters, that e.xceed the Capacity of ordinary Underftandings .> Which of the Parties contending about thefe things is in the right, which of them is guilty o£ Schifm or Herefy, whether thofe that domineer or thofe that fufter, will then at laft be manifeft, when the Caufe of their Sepration comes to be judged of He certainly that follows Chrift, embraces his Doftrine, and bears his Yoke, tho' he forfake both Father and Mother, feparatefrom the publick Aflemblies and Cere- monies of his Country, or whomfoever, or wliatfoever elfe he relinquifhes will not then be judged an Heretick. Now, tho' the Divilions that arc amongfl Sefts fhould be allowed to be never fo obftruftive of the Salvation of Souls; yet neverthelefs Adultery, Fornica- tion, Uncle annefs, Lafci'vioufnefs, Idolatry, and fuch like tlings' cannot he denied CdX- ^ to be IVorh of the Flefi; concerning which the Apoftle has exprefly declared, that they -who do them fliall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Wliofoever therefore is fincerely folicitious about the Kingdom of God, and thinks it his Duty to en- deavour the Enlargement of it amongft Men, ought to apply himfelf with no lefs Care and Induftry to the rooting out oftheie Immoralities, than to the Extirpa- tion of Sefts.^ But if any one do otherwife, and whilft he is cruel and implacable towards thofe that differ from him iii Opinion, he be indulgent to fuch Iniquities and Immoralities as are unbecoming the Name of a Chriftian, let fuch a one talk never fo much of the Church he plainly demonftrates by his Aftions, that ^tisa-' nother Kingdom he rims at, and not the Advancement of the Kingdom of God. _ That any Man fhould think fit to caufe another Man, whofe Salvation he hear- tily defires, to expire in Torments, and that even in an unconverted Eftate, ■would, I confefs, feem very ftrange to me, and, I think, to any other alfo. But nobody, furely, will ever believe that fuch a Carriage can proceed from Chari- ty, LoAe, or Good-will. If any one maintnin that Men ought to be compel- led by Fire and Sword to profefs certain Doarines, and conform to this or that exterior Worfhip, without any regard had unto their Morals; if any one en- • deavour to convert thofe that are erroneous unto the Faith, by forcing tliem to profefs things thai ihey do not believe, and allowing them topradife things that theGofpel does not permit; it cannot be doubted indeed but fuch a one is defi- rousto have a numerous Aflembly joined in the fame Profeflion with himfelf; but that lie principally intends by thofe Means to compofe a truly Chriftian Church, is altogether incredible. It is not therefore to be wondered at,, if thofe who do not really contend for the Advancement of the true Religion, and of the Church of Chrift, makeufe of Arms that do not belong to the Chriftian War- fare. If like the Captain of our Salvation, they fincerely delired the Good of Souls, they would tread in the Steps, and follow the peiied Example of that Prince of Peace, who fent out his Soldiers to the fubduing of Nations, and ga- thering them into his Church, not armed with the Sword, or other Inftruments Vol. IL G g ^)f - 2 ^4 -^ Letter concerning Toleration. of Force, but prepared with the Gofpcl of Peace, and with the exemplary Holl-^ nefs of their Convcrfation. This was his Method. 'J'ho' if Infidels were to be converted by Force, if thofc that are cither blind or obflinatc were to be drawn oif from their Errors by armed Soldiers, we know very well that it was much more cafy for him to do it with Armies of heavenly Legions, than for any Son of the Church, how potent foever, with all his Dragoons. The Toleration of thofe that differ from others in Matters of Religion, is fo agreeable to the Gofpelof Jefus Chrift, and to the genuine Reafon of Mankind, that it feems monftrousfor Men to be fo blind, as not to perceive the NeceiTity and Advantage of it, in fo clear a Light. I will not here tax the Pride and Am- bition of fome, the Paflion and uncharitable Zeal of others. Thefe are Faults from which human Affairs can perhaps fcarce ever be perfeftly freed ; but yet fuch as no body will bear the plain Imputation of, without covering them with fome fpccious Colour; and fo pretend to Commendation, whilft they are carried away by their own irregular PaHIons. But however, tliat fome may not colour their Spirit of Perfecution and unchriRian Cruelty, with a Pretence of Care of the Publick Weal and Obfervation of the Laws ; and that others, under Pretence of Religion, may not feck Impunity for their Libertiniim and Licentioufnefs; in a Word, that none may impolbeicher upon himfelf or others, by the Pretences of Loyalty and Obedience to the Prince, or of Tendernefs and Sincerity in the Worfliip of God; I efteem it above all Things necelfary to diftinguifli exactly the Bulinefs of Civil-Government from that of Religion, and to fettle the juft Bounds that lie between the one and the other. If this be not done, there can be no End put to the Controverfies that will be always ariling between thofe that have, or at leaft pretend to have, on tlie one fide, a Care of the Common- wealth. The Common-wealth feems to me to be a Society of Men conftituted only for the procuring, preferving, and advancing their own Civil Interefls. Civil Interefls I call Lile, Liberty, Health, and Indolency of Body ; and the Pofleflion of outward Things, fuch as Money, Lands, Houfes, Furniture, and the like. It is the Duty of the Civil Magiflrate, by the impartial Execution of equal Laws, to fecure unto all the People in general, and to every one of his Subjects in particular, the juft Pofleflion of thefe Things belonging to this Life. If any one prefume to violate the Laws of Publick Juftice and Equity, eftablifhed for the Prefervation of thofe Things, his Prefumption is to be check'd by the Fear of Pu- nilhment, confiftingof the Deprivation or Diminution of thofe Civil Interefts, or Goods, which othenvife he might and ought to enjoy. But feeing no Man >does willingly fuffer himfelf to bepunifhcdby the Deprivation of any part ol his Goods, and much lefs of his Liberty or Life, therefore is the Magiftrate armed with the Force and Strength of all his Subjects, in order to the Punifhment of thofe that violate any other Man's Rights. Now that the whole Jurifdiftion of tlie Magiftrate reaches only to thefe Civil Concernments; and that all Civil Power, Right and Dominion, is bounded and confined to the only Care of promoting thefe Things; and that it neither can nor ought in any manner to be extended to the Salvation of Souls, thefe following Confiderations feem unto me abundantly to demonftrate. Firfi, Becaufe the Care of Souls is not committed to the Civil Magiftrate, any more than to other Men. It is not committed unto him, I fay, by God ; be- caufe it appears not that God has ever giA en any fuch Authority to one Man over another, as to compel any one to his Religion. Nor can any fuch Power be vefted in the Magiftrate by the Confent of the People; becaufe no Man can fo far abandon the Care of his own Salvation, as blindly to leave to the Choice of any other, whether Prince or Subjeft, to prefcribe to him what Faith or Worfliip he fliall embrace. For no Man can, if he would, conform his Faith to the Dilates of another. All the Life and Power of true Religion confill in the outward and full Perfuafion of the Mind; and Faith is not Faith without believing. What- ever ProfefTion we make, to whatever outward Worfhipwe conform, if we are not fully fatisfied in our own Mind that the one is true, and the other well-plea- fingunto God, fuch Profeffion and fuch Praftice, far from being any Furtherance, are indeed great Obftaclcs to our Salvation. For in this Manner, inftead of expi- ating A Letter cone em mg Toleration. 2?<: ating other Sins by the exercife of Religion, I fay, in offering thus unto God Ahnighty fuch a \Vorf|-iip as vvc cftcem to be difplcafing unto him, we add unto the Number of our other Sins, thofc alfo of Hypocrify, and Contempt of his Divine Majcfty. In the fcond Place. The Care of Souls cannot belong to the Civi]-Ma"iflrate becaufe his Power confifts only in outward Force ; but true and lining Reli- gion confifts in the inward Perfuafion of theMind, without whicli nothing can-be v acceptable to God. And fuch is the nature of the Underftanding, that it can- not be compelled to the Belief of any thing by outward Force. Confilcation of Eibte, Imprifonment, Torments, nothing of that Nature can have any fuch Ef- ficacy ns to make Men change the inward Judgment that they have framed of Things. It may indeed be alledged, tJiat the Magiftrate may make ufe of Arguments, and thereby draw the Heterodox into the VVay of Truth, and procure their Sal- vation. I grant it; but this is common to him with other Men. In teaching, inftructing, and redrefling the Erroneous by Reafon, he may certainly do ivhat becomes any good Man to do. Magiftracy does not oblige him to put oft" either Humanity or Chriflianity. But it is one thing to perfuade, another to com- mand; one thing to prefs with Arguments, another with Penalties. This Civil Power alone has a Right to do; to the other Good-will is Authority enough. Every Man has Commiffion to admonifh, exhort, convince another of Error, and by Reafoning tc draw him into Truth : But to give Laws, receive Obedience, and compel with the Sword, belongs to none but the Magiftrate. And upon this Ground I aiErm, that the Magiftrate's Power extends not to the eftablifliingof any Articles of Faith, or Forms of Worfliip, by the Force of his Laws. For Laws are of no Force at all without Penalties, and Penalties in this Cafe are ab- folutely impertinent; becaufe they are not proper to convince the Mind. Nei- ther the ProfeiTion of any Articles of Faith, nor the Conformity to any outward Form of Worfliip, (as has been already faid) can be available to the Salvation of Souls, unlefs the Truth of the one, and the Acceptablenefs of the other unto God, be thoroughly believed by thofe that fo profeli and praftife. But Penalties are no ways capable to produce fuch Belief It is only Light and Evidence that can work a Change in Mens Opinions ; which Light can in no manner proceed from corporal Sufferings, or any other outward Penalties. In the third Place, The Care of the Salvation of Mens Souls cannot belong to the Magiftrate ; bec^^fe, though the rigour of Laws and the Force of Penalties were capable to convince and change Mens Minds, yet would not that help at all to the Salvation of their Souls. For there being but one Truth, one way to Hea- ven ; what Hopes is there that more Men would be led into it, if they had no Rule but the Religion of the Court, and were put under the Necefllty to quit the Light of their own Reafon, and oppofe theDidates of their own Confcienccs, and blindly to refign up themfelves to the Will of their Governors, and to the Religion, Tvhich either Ignorance, Ambition, orSuperftition had chanced to e- ftablifhinthe Countries where they were born ? In the Variety and Contradiftion of Opinions in Religion, wherein the Princes of the World are as much divided as in their Secular Interefts, the narrow Way would be much ftraitened ; one Country alone would be in the right, and all the reft of the World puC under an Obligation of following their Princes in the Ways that lead to Deftruftion ; and that which heightens the Abfurdity, and very ill fuits the Notion of a Deity, Men would owe their eternal Happinefs or Mifery to the Places of their Nativity. Thefe Confiderations, to omit many others that might have been urged to the fame Purpofe, feem iwito me fufficient to conclude that all the Power of Ci^^il- Government relates only to Mens Civil-Interefts, is confined to the Care of the Things of this World, and hath nothing to do with the World to come. Let us now confider what a Church is. A Church then, I take to be a voluntary Society of Men, joining themfelves together of their own accord, in order to the publick worfliipping of God, in fuch maimer as they judge acceptable to him, and effediual to the Salvation of their Souls. I fay it is a free and Voluntary Society. Nobody is born a Member of any Church ; otherwife the Religion of Parents would defcend unto Children, by the fame Right of Inheritance as their Temporal Eftates, and every one would hold Vol. XL G g z his 2 ? i5 A Letter concerning Toleration. his Fairh by the fame Tenure he does his Lands; than which, nothing can be imagined more abfurd. 'J hus therefore that Matter {lands. No Man by Nature i.^ bound unto any particular Church or Seft, but every one joins himfclf volunta- rily to that Society in which he believes he has found that ProfefTion and W oiftiip which is truly acceptable to God. The Hopes of Salvation, as it was the only Caufe of his Entrance into that Communion, foitcan be the only Reafon of his flay there. For if afterwards he difcover any thing either erroneous in the Do- ctrine, or incongruous in the VVorfliip of that Society to which he has join'd him- felf, why fhould it not be as free for him to go out as it was to enter? No Mem- ber of a religious Society can be tied with any other Bonds but what proceed from the certain Expeftation of eternal Life. A Church then is a Society of Members voluntarily uniting to that End. It follows now that we confider what is the Power of this Qiurch, and unto what Laws it is fubjeft. Forafmuch as no Society, how free foever, or upcwi whatfoever flight Oocafi- on inftituted, (whether of Philofophers for Learning, of Merchants for Com- merce, or of Men of Lcifure for mutual Converfation and Difcourfe,) no Church or Company, I fay, can in the Icaft fubfift and hold together, but will prefently diflolve and break in pieces, unjefs it be regulated by fame Laws, and the Menv- bers all confent to oblerve fome Order. Place, and Time of Meeting muft be a- greed on; Rules for admitting and excluding Members muft be eflabliftied ; Di- ftindtion of Officers, and putting Things into a regular Courfe, and fuch like, cannot be omitted. But fince the joining together of feveral Members into this Church-Society, as has already been demonftrated, is abfolutely free and fponra- neous, it necelfarily follows, that the Right of making its Laws can belong to none but the Society it ielf, or at leaft (which is the fame thing) to thofe whom the Society by common Confent has authorifed thereunto. Some perhaps may objeft, that no fuch Society can be faid to be a true Church,' unlefs it have in it a Bifhop or Presbyter, with ruling Authority derived from the very Apoftles, and continued down to the prefent Times by an uninter- rupted Succeffion. To thefe I anfwer. In the firfl Place, Let them fliew me the Edift by which Chrift has impofed that Law upon his Church. And let not any Man think me impertinent, if in a Thing of this Confequence, I require that the Terms of that Edift be very exprefs and politive. For thePromifehe has made us, that tc/jerf- foever tivo or three are gathered together in his Name, he mil be in the midft of tfxm, iecms to imply the contrary. Whether fuch an Alfembly wan^any thing neceC- fary to a true Church, pray do you confider. Certain I am, that nothing can be there wanting unto the Salvation of Souls; v/hich is fufficient to our Purpafe. Next, Pray obferve how great have always been the Divifions amongftevea thofe who lay fo much Strefs upon the divine Liftitution, and continued SucceC- fion of a certain Order of Rulers in the Church. Now their very Diifention unavoidably puts us upon a Nece/lity of deliberating, and confequently allows a liberty of chufing that, which upon Conlideration we prefer. And in the lafl Place, I confent that thefe Men have a Ruler in their Church," eftabliflied by fuch a long Series of Succeflionas they judge necefl'ary ; provided I may have liberty at the fame time to join my felf to that Societ)', in which I amperfwaded thofeThingsare to be found which are ne-ceflary to the Salvation of my Soul. In this manner ecclefiaftical Liberty will be prefened on all Sides, and no Man will have a Legiflator impofed upon him, but whom himfelf has chofen. But fince Men are fo felicitous about the true Chm'ch, I would only ask them here by the way, if it be not more agreeable to the Church of Chrift, to make the Conditions of her Communion confift in fuch things, and fuch things only, as the Holy Spirit has in the Holy Scriptures declared, in exprefs Words, to be necelfary to Salvation ; I ask, I liiy, whether this be not more agreeable to the Church of Chrift, than for Men to impofe their own Inventions and Interpreta- tions upon others, as if they were of divine Authority, and toeftablifli by Ec- clefiaftical Laws, as abfolutely neceflary to the Profeflion of Chriftianity, fuch things as the Holy Scriptures do either not mention, or at leaft not exprefly comm'nnd.' Whpfoever requires thofe Things iji order to Ecclefiaftical Communi- on, A Letter concerning Toleration. 237 bn, which Chrift docs not require in order to Life Eternal, he may perhaps in- deed conftiture a Society accommodated to his own Opinion and his own Advan- tage, but liow that can be called the Church ol' Chrift, which is eftablifhed upon Laws that are not his, and which excludes luch Perlons from its Communion, as he will one Day receive into the Kingdom of Heaven, I undeifland not. But this being not a proper Place to enquire into the Marks of the true Church, I will only mind thofe that contend foearnellly for the Decrees of their own So- ciety, and that cry out continually the Church, the Church, witli as much Noifc, and perhaps upon the fame Principle, as the £/'/'fy?';v«Si!verfmiths did for their Diana; this, I fay, I defire to mind them of, that the Gofpel frequently declares that the true Dilcipies of Chrift muft fufter Perfecution ; but that the Church of Chrift fhould perfecute others, and force others by Fire and Sword, to cm- brace her Faith and Dodtrine, 1 could never yet find in any of the Books of the New Teftament. The End of a Religious Society (as has already been faidj is the publick Wor- fliipof God, and by Means thereof the Acquifition of Eternal Life. All Difci- pline ought therefore to tend to that End, and all ecclefiaftical Laws to be there- unto confined. Nothing ought, nor can be tranfcfted in this Society, relating to the Pofl'eflion of civil and worldly Goods. No Force is here to be made ufe of, upon any Occafion whatfoever: Force belongs wiiolly to the Civil-Magiftrate, and the Pofl'e/Iion of all outward Goods is fubjeft to his Jurifdiftion. But it may be ask'd. By what Means then Ihall Ecclefiaftical Laws be efta- blifhed, if they muft be thus deftituteof all compullivc Power? 1 anfvver. They muft be eftablifli'd by Means fuitable to the Nature of fuch Things, whereof the external Profeffion andObfervation, if not proceeding from a thorough Convifti- on and Approbation of the Mind, is altogether ufelefs and unprofitable. The Arms by which the Members of this Society are to be kept within their Duty, are Exhortations, Admonitions, and Advices. Ifby thefe Means the Offenders will not be reclaimed, and the Erroneous convinced, there remains nothing far- ther to be done, but that fuch ftubborn and obftinate Perfons, n'ho give no Ground to hope for their Reformation, fliould be caft out and feparated from the Society. This is the laft and utmoft Force of Ecclefiaftical Authoi-ity : No other Punifh- ment can thereby be inflifted, than that, the Relation ceafing between the Body and the Member which is cut off, the Perfon fo condemned ceafes to be a Part of the Church. Thefe things being thus detennin'd, let us enquire in the next Place, How far the Duty of Toleration extends, and what is required from every one by it ? And fir fi, I hold. That no Church is bound by the Duty of Toleration to re- tain any fuch Perfon in her Bofom, as after Admonition, continues obftinately to offend againft the Laws of the Society. For thefe being the Condition of Commu- nion, and the Bond of the Society, if the Breach of them were permitted without any Animadverfion, the Society would immediately be thereby diffolved. But reverthelefs, in all fuch Cafes, Care is to be taken that the Sentence of Excommu- nication, and the Execution thereof, carry with it no rough Ufage, of Word or Aftion, whereby the ejefted Perfon may any wife be damnified in Body or Eftate. For all Force (as has often been laid) belongs only to the Magiftrate, nor ought any private Perfons, at any Time, to ufe Force ; unlefs it be in Self- defence againft unjuft Violence. Excommunication neither does nor can, deprive the excommunicated Perfon of any of thofe civil Goods that he formerly poffeffed. All thofeThings belonged to theCivil-Government,and are under theMagiftrate's Proteftion. The whole Force of Excommunication confifts only in this, that the Refolution of the Society in that Refpefl: being declaird, the Union that was between the Body and fome Member comes thereby to be diffolved ; and that Re- lation ceafing, the Participation of fome certain Things, which the Society com- municated to its Members, and unto which no Man has any civil Right, comes alfo to ceafe. For there is no civil Lijury done unto the excommunicated Perfon, by the Church-Minifter's refufing him that Bread aud Wine, in the Celebration of theLord's-Supper, which was not bought with his, but other Men's Money. Secondly, No private Perfon has any Right, in any manner to prejudice another Perfon in his civil Enjoyments, becaufe he is of another Chursb or Religion. All the Rights and Franchifes that belong to him as a Man, or as a Denifon, are in- Tiolably ! A Letter concerning '.T o l e r a t i o m. ciolably to be prefervcd to him. Thefc are not the Bufinefs of Religion. No Violence nor Injury is to be offered liim, whether he be Chriftian or Pngan. Nay, we mud not content our felves with the narrow Meafures of bare Juftice :' Charity, Bounty, and Liberality muft be added to it. This the Gofpel enjoins, this Reafondircfts, and this that natural Fellowfhip we are born into requires of us. If any Man err from the right Way, it is his own Misfortune, no Injury to thee: Nor therefore art thou to punifh him in the Things of this Life, be- caufe thou fuppofell he will be miferable in that which is to come. What I fay concerning the mutual Toleration of private Perfons differing fi'oin one another in Religion, I underftand alfo of particular Churches; which (land. as it were in the fame relation to each other as private Perfons among themfehes, nor has any one of them any manner of Jurifdiction over rtny other, jio not even- when the Civil-Magiftrate, (as it fometimes happens) comes to be of this or the other Communion. For the Civil-Government can give no new Right to tha Church, nor the Church to the Civil-Government. So that whether the Magi- ftrate join himfelf to any Church, or feparate from it, the Church remains al- ways as it Wastjcforc, a free and voluntary Society. It neither requires the Pow- er of the Sword by the Magiftrate's coming to it, nor does it lole the Riglit of Inftruction and E>:communication by his going from it. This is the fundamental and immvtnble Right of a fpontancous Society, that it has Power to remove any of its Meinbers that tranfgrefs the Rules of its Inflitution : But it cannot, by the AccelTion of any new Members, acquire any Right of Jurifdifton over thofe that are not joined with it. And therefore Peace, Equity, and Friendfhip, are always mutually to be obfervcd by particular Churches, in the fame manner as by private Perfons, without any Pretence of Superiority or Juriiiliction over one another. That the Thing maybe made yet clearer by an Example; let us fuppofe two Chui'ches, the one of Annimans, the other of Cahinijls, refiding in the Cityof Conflantimple. Will any one fay, that either of thefe Churches has Right to de- prive the Members of the other of their Eftates and Liberty, (as we fee praftifed elfewhere) becaufe of their differing from it in fome Doftrines and Ceremonies, vvhilft the Turks in die mean while iilently ftand by, and laugh to fee vnth what inhuman Cruelty Chriftians thus rage againft Chriftians? But if one of thefe Churches hath this Power of treating the other ill, I ask which of them it is to whom that Power belongs, and by what Right ? It will be anfwered, undoubtedly. That it is the Orthodox Church which has the Right of Authority over the Er- roneous or Heretical. This is, in great andfpecious Words, to fay juft nothing at all. For every Church is Orthodox to it felf ; to others Erroneous or Here- tical. For whatsoever any Church believes, it believes to be true ; and the con- trary unto thqfe things, it pronounces to be Error. So that the Controverfy between thefe Churches about the Truth of their Dodrines, and the Purity of their Worfliip, is on both Sides equal ; nor is there any Judge, either at Conjlan- timple, or elfewhere upon Earth, by whofe Sentente it can be determined. The Deciiion of that Queftion belongs to the fupreme Judge of 'all Men, to whom alfo alone belongs the Punnifhment of the Erroneous. In the mean while, let thof© Men confider how heinoufly they Sin, who, adding Lijuftice, if not to their Error, yet certainly to their Pride, do raflily and arrogantly take upon them to mifufe the Servants of another Mafter, who are not at all accountable to them. Nay, further : If it could be manifeft which of thefe two diffenting Churches were in the Right, there would not accrue thereby unto the Orthodox any Right ofdeftroying the other. The Churches have neither any Jurifdiftion in worldly Matters, nor are Fire and Sword anyproperlnftruments wherewith to convince Mens Minds of Error, and inform them of the Truth. Let us fuppofe, nererthe- lefs, that the Civil-Magiflrate inclined to favour one of them, and to put his Sword into their Hands, that (by his Confent) they might chaftize the Diffenters as they pleafed. Will any Man fay, that any Right can be derived unto a Chri- ftian Church, over its Brethren, from a Turkifi Emperor? An Infidel, who has himfelf no Authority to punifh Chriftians for the Articles of their Faith, can- not confer fuch an Authority upon any Society of Chriftians, nor give unto them a Right which he has not himfelf. This would be the Cafe at ConfiantinopJe. And the Reafoa of tljc tiling is the fame in any Chriftian Kingdom. The Civil Power A Letter cdncerning Toleration^ 239 Power is tlie fame in every place : Nor can that Power, in the Hands ot" a Chri- ftian Prince, confer any greater Authority upon the Churcli, than in the Hands of a Heathen; which is to fay, juft none at all. Ncverthclefs, it is worthy to be obfervcd and lamented, that the mofl: violent of thcfc Defenders of the 'J 'ruth, the Oppofers of Errors, the Exclaimersagainft Schifm, do hardly ever let loofc this their Zeal for God, with which they are fo warmed and inflamed, unlefs where they have the Civil Magiftrate on their fide. But fo foon as ever Court-favour has given them tiie better end of the Staff, and they begin to feci tiiemfelves the ftrongcr, then prefently Peace and Charity are to be laid afide: Othcrwife, they arc religioully to be oblerved. Where they have not the Power to carry on Perfecution, and to become Mafters, there they de- iire to live upon fair Terms, and preach up Toleration. When tliey are not ftrengthncd with the Civil Power, then they can bear mofl patiently, and un- movedly, the Contagion of Idolatrj', Superftition, and Herefy, in their Neigh- bourhood; of which, in other Occalions, the Intereft of Religion makes them to be extreifkly apprehenfive. They do not forwardly attack thofe Errors which are in fafliion at Court, or are countenanced by the Government. Here they can be content to fpare their Arguments: which yet (with their Leave) is the only right Method of propagating Truth, which has no fuchWay of prevailing, as when ftrong Arguments and goodReafon, are joined with the Softnefs of Civi- lity and good Ufage. No body therefore, in fine, neither fingle Perfons, nor Churches, nay, nor even Common-wealths, have any juft Title to invade the Civil Rights and World- ly Goods of each other, upon Pretence of Religion. Thofe that are of another Opinion, would 4o well to confider with themfelves how pernicious a Seed of Difcord and War, how powerful a Provocation to endlefs Hatreds, Rapines, and Slaughters, they thereby furnifh unto Mankind. No Peace and Security, no not fo much as Common Friendfliip, can ever be eftablifhed or preferveda- mongft Men, fo longas this Opinion prevails. That Dow/nicu is founded in Grace^ and that Religion is to be propagated by Force of Arms. In the third Place: Let us fee what the Duty of 'J'oleration requires from thofe who are diftinguiflied from the reft of Mankinti, (from the Laity, as they pleafe to call us) by fome Eccleliaflical Charafter and Office; wheihcr they be Bifliops, Priefts, Presbyters, Minifters, or however elfe dignified or diftinguiflied. It is not my Bufinefs to enquire here into the Original of the Power or Dignity of the Clergy. This only 1 fay. That whence-foever their Authority be fprung, fince it is Ecclefiaftical, it ought to be confined within the Bounds of the Church, nor can it in any manner be extended to Civil Affairs; becaufe the Church itfelf is a thing abfolutely feparate anddiftinft from the Common-wealth. The Boundaries on both fides are fixed and immoveable. He jumbles Heaven and Earth together, the Things moft remote and oppofite, who mixes thefe two Societies; which are in their Original, End, Bufinefs, and in every thing, perfeftly diftinft, and infinite- ly different from each other. No Man therefore, with whatfoever Ecclefiaftical Of- fice he be dignified, can deprive another Man that is not of his Church and Faith, either of Liberty, or of any Part of his worldly Goods, upon the account of that Difference between them in Religion. For whatfoever is not lawful to the whole Church, cannot, by any Ecclefiaftical Right become lawful to any of its Members. But this is not all. It is not enough that Ecclefiaftical Men abftainfrom Vio- lence and Rapine, and all manner of Perfecution. He that pretends to be a Suc- ceflor of the Apoftles, and takes upon him the Otfice of Teaching, is obliged al- fo to admonifli his Hearers of the Duties of Peace, and Good-will towards all Men; as well towards the Erroneous as the Orthodox; towards thofe that dif- fer from them in Faith and Worifhip, as vvell as towards thofe that agree with theni therein: And he ought induftrioufly to exhort all Men, whctherprivate Perfons or Magiftrates, (if any fuch there be in his Church) to Charity, Meeknefs, and Toleration; and diligently endeavour to allay and temper all that Heat, and unreafonable averfenefs of Mind, which either any Man's fiery Zeal for his own Seft, or the Craft of others, has kindled againft Diffenters. I will not undertake to reprefent how Iiappy and how great would be the Fruit, both in Church and State, if the Pulpits every where founded with this Doftrine of Peace and Tolera- tion j left I Ihould feem to refleft toofeverely upon thofe Men whofe Dignity I delire i4<3 ^ Letter concerning T o L e r a t i 6 .sr. defire not to detraft from, nor would liave it diminifhed either by others or tliemlclves. Kutthislfay, That thus it ought to be. And if any one that pro- lelfcs himlelf to be aMinifter of the Word of God, a Preaclier of the Gofpel of Peace, teach otherwife, he cither underftands rot, or neglects the Eufinefs of his Calling, and fliall one Day give account thereof unto the Pjince of Peace. If Chriftians are to be admoniflied that they abllain from all manner of Revenge, even after repeated Provocations and multiplied Injuries, how much more oughc they who fuffer nothing, who have had no harm done them, forbear Violence, and abftain from all manner of illUi'age towards tliofe from wliom they have re- ceived none. This Caution and 'J'emper tliey ought certainly to ule towards thofe who mind only their own Bufinels, and are foiicitious lor nothing but that (whatever Men think of them) they may worfliip God in that manner which they are perfuadcd is acceptable to him, and in which they have the ftrongefl; Hopes of Eternal Salvation. In private domeftick Affairs, in the Management of Eftates, in the Concervation of Bodily Health, every Man may conlider what fuits his own Conveniency, and follow what Courfe he likes beft. No Man complains of the ill Management of his Neighbours Affairs. No Man is an- gry with another for an Error committed in fowing his Land, or in mar- rying his Daughter. No Body correfts a Spendthrift for confuming his Sub- fiance in 'I'averns. Let any Man pull down, or build, or make whatlbe- ver Expenfes he pleafes, no body murmurs, no body controuls him; he has his Liberty. But if any Man do not frequent the Church, if he do not there conform his Behaviour exadly to the accuftomed Ceremonies, or if he brings not his Children to be initiated in the Sacred Myfteries of this or the other Congre- gation, this immediately caufes an Uproar. The Neighbourhood is filled with Noife and Clamour. Every one is ready to be the Avenger of fo great a Crime, And the Zealots hardly have the Patience to refrain from Violence and Rapine, fo long till the Caufe be heard, and the poor Man be, according to Form, con- demned to the lofs of Liberty, Goods, or Life. Oh that our Eccleiiaftical Ora- tors, of every Seft, would apply themfelves with all the ftrength of Arguments that they are able, to the confounding of Mens Errors! But let them fpare their Perfons. Let them not fupply their want of Reafons with the Liflruments of Force, which belong to another Jurifdidion, and do ill become a Churchman's Hands. Let them not call in the Magiftrate's Authority to the aid of their Elo- quence, or Learning; left, perhaps, whiift they pretend only Love for the Truth, this their intemperate Zeal, breathing nothing but Fire and Sword, be- tray their Ambition, and fhew that what they defire is Temporal Dominion. For it will be very difficult to perfuade Men of Senfe, that he, who with dry Eyes, and Satisfaction of Mind, can deli\ er his Brother to the Executioner, to be burnt alive, does fincerely and heartily concern himfelf to fave that Brother from the Flames of Hell in the World to come. In the lafl place. Let us now confider what is the Magiftrate's Duty in the Bufinefs of Toleration: which certainly is very conliderable. We have already proved. That the Care of Souls does not belong to the Ma- giftrate: Not a Magifterial Care, I mean (if I may fo call it) which confifts in prefcrlbing by Laws, and compelling by Punifhments. But a charitable Care, which coniifts in teaching, admonifhing, and perfuading, cannot be de- nied unto any Man. The Care therefore of every Man's Soul belongs un- to himfelf, and is to be left unto himfelf. But what if he neglect the Care of his Soul ? lanfwer. What if he negleft the Care of his Health, or of his Eftate, which things are nearlier related to the Government of the Magiftrate than the other ? Will the Magiftrate provide by an exprefs Law, that fuch an one fhall not become poor or fick ? Laws provide, as much as is pofllble, that the Goods and Health of Subjects be not injured by the Fraud and Violence of others; they dp not guard them from the Negligence or Ill-husbandry of the Pofledors themfelves. No Man can be forced to be rich or healthful, w^hether he will or no. Nay, God himfelf will not fave Men againft their Wills. Let us fuppofe, however, that fome Princes were deiirous to force his Subjefts toaccu- mukte Riches, or to preferve the Health and Strength of their Bodies. Shall it be provided by Law, that they muft confult none but Roman Phyhcians, and Ihall every one be bound to live according to their Prefcriptlons ? What, Ihall no A Letter concerning Toleration. '^ 4 ^ ro Potion, no Broth, be tnkcn, but what is prepared either in the Vatican, fu- pofe, or in a Geneva Shop ? Or, to make theie Subjects rich, fliall they all be cblig'd by Law to become Merchants, or Muficians ? Or, (hall every one turn Victualler, or Smith, becaui'c there are fome that maintain their Families plen- tifully, and grow rich in thole ProfeflTions? But it m«y be faid, there are a thou- fand Ways to Wealth, but one only Way to Heaven. 'Tis well faid indeed, efpe- ciallv by thole that plead for compelling Men into this or the other Way. For if there were feveral Ways that lead thither, there would not be fo much as a Pretence left for Compullion. But now if I be marching on with my utmofi: Vigour, in that Way which, according to the Sacred Geography, leads ftreight to Jen/ fa/em ; Why am I beaten and ill ufed by others, becaufe perhaps, 1 wear not Buskins ; becaui'e my Hair is not of the right Cut ; becaufe perhaps I have not been dipt in the right Fafhion ; becaufe I eat Flefli upon the Road, or fome other Focd which agrees with my Stomach ; becaufe I avoid certian By-ways, which feem unto me to lead into Briars and Precipices; becaufe amongfl: the feve- ral Paths that are in the fame Road, I chufe that to walk in which feems to be the ftreightefl: and cleaneft ; becaufe I avoid to keep Company with fome Travel- lers that are lefs grave, and otliers that are more fower than they ought to be; or in fine, becaufe I follow a Guide that either is, or is not, cloathed in White, or crowned with a Mitre? Certainly, if we confider right, we fhall find that for the moft part they are fuch frivolous Things as thefe,that (without any Preju- dice to Religion or the Salvation of Souls, if not accompanied with Superftition or Hypocrify) niight either be obferved or omitted; I fay, they are fuch-like Things as thefe, which breed implacable Enmities amongft Chriftian Brethren, who are all agreed in the fubftantial and truly fundamental Part of Religion. But let us grant unto thefe Zealots, who condemn all Things that are not of their Mode, that from thefe Circumftances are different Ends. What fhall we conclude from thence ? There is only one of thefe which is the true Way to Eter- nal Happinefs. But in this great Variety of Ways that Men follow, it is ftill doubt- ed which is the right one. Now neither the Care of the Common-wealth, nor the right enafting of Laws,doesdifcover this Way that leads to Heaven more certainly to the Magiftrate, than every private Man^s Search and Study difcovers it unto himfelf. I have a weak Body, funk under a languiihing Difeafe, for which (I fup- pofe) there is one only Remedy, but that unknown. Does it therefore belong unto the Magiftrate to prefcribe me a Remedy,becaufe there is but one, and becaule it is unknown ? Becaufe there is butoneWay for me to efcapeDeath,will it therefore be fafe for me to do whatfoever the Magiftrate ordains ? Thofe Things that every Man ought fincerely to enquire into himfelf, and by Meditation, Study, Search, and his own Endeavours, attain the Knowledge of, cannot be looked upon as the peculiar Pofleflion of any Sort of Men. Princes, indeed, are born Superior unto other Men in Power, but in Nature equal. Neither the Right, nor the Art of Ruling, does neceffarily carry along with it the certain Knowledge of other Things; and leaft of all of true Religion. For, if it were fo, how could it come to pafs that the Lords of the Earth (hould differ fo vaftly as they do in Religious Matters ? But let us grant that it is probable the Way to eternal Life may be better known by a Prince than by his Subjefts ; or at leaft, that in this Incerti- tude of Things, the fafeft and moft commodious Way for private Perfons, is to follow his Didates. You will fay, what then ? If he ftiould bid you follow Mer- chandife for your Livelihood, would you decline that Courfe for fear it fhould not fucceed? I anfwer : I would turn Merchant upon the Prince's Command, be- caufe in cafe I fliould have ill Succefs in Trade, he is abundantly able to make up my Lofs fome other Way. If it be true, as he pretends, that he defires I fhould thrive and grow rich, he can fet me up again when unfuccefsful Voyages have broke me. But this is not the Cafe, in the Things that regard the Life to come. If there I take a wrong Courfe, if in that refpecl I am once undone, it is not in the Magiftrate's Power to repair my Lois, to eafe my Suffering, nor to reftore me in any Meafure, much lefs entirely to a good Eftate. What Security can be given for the Kingdom of Heaven ? Perhaps fome will fay that they do not fuppofo this infalible Judgment, that all Men are bound to follow the Affairs of Religion, to be in the Civil Magi- ftrate, but in the Chiyrch, What the Church has determinedj that the Civil Vol. IL H h Magiftrate 242 -A Letter concerning Tolerationt. Magiftrate orders to beobfcrvcd; arxihe Provides by his Authority that no bo-- dy ihall either aft or believe, in the Bufinefs of Religion, otherwife than the Church teaches. So that the Judgment of thofe Things is in tlie Church. 'Jhe Magiftratc himfelf yields Obedience thereunto, and requires the like Obedi- ence from others. I anfvver : Who fees not how frequently the Name of the Church, which was venerable in the Time of the Apoftles, has been made ufe of to throw Dull in the Peoples Eyes, in the following Ages ? But however, ia the prefent Cafe it helps us not. The one only narrow Way which leads to Heaven is not better known to the Magiftrate than to private Pcrfons, and therefore I canuot fafely take him for my Guide, who may probably be as igno- rant of the Way as my felf, and who certainly is lefs concerned for my Salva- tion than I my i'clf am. Amongft fo many Kings of the Je~d)5, how many of them were there wliom any Ifraelite, thus blindly following, had not iallen into Idola- try, and thereby into Dcflruiftion? Yet neverthelcls, you bid me be of good Cou- rage, and tell me that all is now fafe and fecure, becaufe the Magiftrtae does not now enjoin thcObfervance of his own Decrees,in Matters of Religion, but only the Decrees of the Church. Of what Church I befeech you? Of that certainly which likes him bcft. As if he that compels me by Laws and Penalties to enter into this or the other Church, did not interpofe his own Judgment in the Matter. What Difference is there whetiier he lead me himfelf, or deliver me o\^er to be led by others ? I depend both Ways upon his Will, and it is he that determines both Ways of my eternal State. Would an Ifralite, that had worfhipped Baal upon the Command of his King, have been in any better Condition, becaufe fome body had told him that the King ordered nothing in Religion upon his own Head, nor commanded any thing to be done by his Subjects in Divine Worfhip, but what was approv'd by the Counfel of Priefts, and declared to be of Divine Right by the DoiSors of their Church? If the Religion of any Church become therefore true and faving, becaufe the Head of that Seft, the Prelates and Priefts, and thofe of that Tribe, do all of them, with all their Might, extol and praife it; what Religion can ever be accounted erroneous, falfe and deftrudive? I am doubtful concerning the Do6tnnt o{ the Socmians, I am fufpicious of the Way of Worlhip praftifcd by the Papiflj, or Ltitherans ; will it be ever a Jot fafer for me to join either to the one or to the other of thofe Churches, upon the Magi- ftrate's Command, becaufe he Commands nothing in Religion but by the Au- thority and Counfel of the Doftors of that Church ? But to fpeak the Truth, we muft acknowledge that the Church (if a Convention of Clergymen, making Canons, mull be called by that Name) is for the moft part more apt to be influenced by the Court, than the Court by the Church. How the Ciiurch was under the Viciffitude of Orthodox and Ariitn Emperors, is very well known. .Or if thofe Things be too remote, our modem Englifi Hiftory af- fords us frefh Examples, in the Reigns of Hemy the Sth, Ed-xard the 6th, Mary^ &T\dElix.nleth, how eafily and fmoothly the Clergy changed their Decrees, their Articles of Faith, their Form of Worfhip, every Thing according to the Inclina- tion of thofe Kings and Queens. Yet were thofe Kings and Queens of fuch different Minds in Point of Religion, and enjoined thereupon fuch different Things, that no Man in his Wits (I had almoft faid none but an Atheift) will prefume to fay that any (incere and upright Worfhipper of God could, with a fafe Confcience, obey their feveral Decrees. To conclude. It is the fame Thing whe- ther a King that prefcribes Laws to another Man's Religion, pretend to do it by his own Judgment, or by the ecclefiaftical Authority and Advice of others. The Deeifions of Churchmen, whole Differences and Difputes are fufficiently known, cannot be any founder, or fafer than his : Nor can all their Sufferages joined together, add a new ftrength to the Civil Pow'er. Tho' this alio muft be taken notice of, that Princes feldom have regard to the Suffrages of Ecclefiafticks that are not Favovirers of their own Faith and Way of Worfhip, But after all, the primipal Coufukration, and which abfolutely determines this Controverfy, is this. Although the Magiftrate's Opinion in Religion be found, and the Way that he appoints be truly Evangelical, yet, if 1 be not thoroughly perfuadcd thereof in my own Mind, there will be no Safety for me in "following it. No Way whatfoever that 1 fhall walk in againft the Di- lates of my Confcience, will ever bring me to the Manfions of the Bleffed. I may grow rich by an Art that J take no: Delight in ; I may be cured of fome Difcafe A Letter concerning Toleration.' z^-^ Difcafes by Remedies that I have not Faith in; but I cannot be faved by a Re- ligion that I diftruft, and by aWorfliip that I abhor. It is in vain for an Un- believer to take up the outward Shevir of another Man's Profcffion. Faith only, and inward Sincerity, are the Things that procure Acceptance with God. The moft likely and moft approved Remedy can have no Efteft upon the Patient, if his Stomach rejeft it as foon as taken. And you will in vain crani a Medicine down a lick Man's Throat, which his particular Conftitution will be furc to turn into Poifon. In a Word. Whatfoevcr may be doubtful in Religion, yet this at leaft is certain, tliat no Religion, wliich 1 believe not to be true, can be either true, or profitable unto me. In vain therefore do Princes compel their Subjefts to come into their Church-Communion, under Pretence of faving their Souls. If they believe they will come of their own Accord: if they believe not, their coming will nothing avail them. How great ibever, in fine, may be the Pretence of Good- will and Charity, and Concern for the Salvation of Mens Souls, Men cannot be forced to be faved whether the will or no. And therefore, when all is done, they muft be left to their own Confciences. Having thus at length freed Men from all Dominion over one another in Mat- ters of Religion, let us now confider what they have to do. All Men know and acknowledge that God ought to be publickly worfhipped. Why othcrwifedo they compel one another unto thcpublick Aifemblies ? Men therefore conftituted in this Liberty, are to enter into fome religious Society, that they meet together, not only for mutual Edification, but to own to the World that they worfliip God, and offer unto his divine Majcfty fuch Service as they themfelves arc not afhamed of, and fuch as they think not unworthy of him, nor unacceptable to him; and finally that by the Purity ot Doftrine, Holinefs of Life, and decent Form of Worfhip, they may draw others unto the Love of the true Religion, and perform fuch other Things in Religion, as cannot be done by each private Man apart. Thefe religious Societies I call Churches : andthefe I fay the Magiftrate ought to tolerate. For the Bufinefs of thefe Aifemblies of the People is nothing but what is lawful for every Man in particular to take care of; I mean the Salvation of their Souls : nor in this Cafe is there any Difference between the National Church, and other feparated Congregations. But as in every Church there are two Things cfpecially to be confidered ; The outward Form and Rites of Worfliip, And the Doftrines and Articles of Faith ; thefe Things muft be handled each diftindly ; that fo the whole Matter of To- leration may the more clearly be underftood. Concerning outward lVorfl)ip, 1 fay (in the firft place) that the Magiftrate lias no Power to enforce by Law, either in his own Church, or much lefs in another, the • Ufe of any Rites or Ceremonies whatfoe\er in the Worfliip of God. And this, not only becaufe thefe Churches are free Societies, but becaufe whatfoever is pradifed in the Worfliip of God, is only fo {ax juftihable as it is believed by thofe that praftife it to be acceptable unto him. Whatfoever is not done with that Aifurance of Faith, is neither well in it fclf, nor can it be acceptable to God. To impofe fuch things therefore upon any People, contrary to their own Judgment, is in effefl; to command them to oftcnd God ; which, confidering that the End o£ all Religion is to pleafe him, and that Liberty is eilcntially necelfary to thac End, appears to be abfurd beyond Exprefllon. But perhaps it may be concluded from hence, that I deny unto the Magiftrate all manner of Power about indifferent Things; which if it be not granted, the whole Subjeft-matter of Law-making is taken away. No, I readily grant that' mdifterent Things, and perhaps none but fuch, are fubjefted to the Legiflative Power. But it does not therefore follow, that the Magiftrate may ordain what- foever he pleafes concerning any thing that is indifferent. The publick Good is the Rule and Mcafure of all Law-making. If a Thing be not ufeful to the Com- mon-wealth,tho' it be never fo indifferent, it may not prefently beeftablifliedby Law. And farther : Things never fo indifferent in their own Nature, when they are brought into the Church and Worfliip of God, are removed out of the Reach of the Magiftrate's Jurifdidion ; becaufe in that Ufe they have no Connexion at all with Civil Affairs. The only Bufinefs of the Church is the Salvation of Souls: and it no ways concerns the Common-wealth, or any Member of it, that this, or the other Ceremony be there made ufe of. Neither the Ufe, nor the Omiflion Vol. II. H h 3 of 244 -^ Letter concerning Toleration^ of any Ceremonies, in thofc Religious Aflemblies, does either advantage or pre- judice the Life, Liberty, orEflatc of any Man. For Example : Let it be grant- ed, that the wafliing of an Infant with Water is in itfelf an indifferent 'J'hing. Let it be granted alio, that the Magiftrate underftand fuch Wafhing to be pro- fitable to the curing or preventing ol any Difeafe the Children are fubject unto, and cftecm the Matter weighty enough to betaken Care of by a Law, in that Cafe he may order it to be done. But will any one therefore fay, that a Magi- ftrate has the fame Right to ordain, by Law, that all Children fhall be baptized by Priefts, in the facred Font, in order to the Purification of their Souls ? 'Jhe extrem.e Difference of thefe two Cafes is vifible to every one at firft Sight. Or, let us apply the Lift Cafe to the Child of a jftio, and the Thing fpcaks itfelf. For what hinders but a Chriftian Magiftrate may have Subjefts that are Jews? Now if we acknowledge that fuch an Injury may not be done unto a Jew, as to compel him, againft his own Opnion, to praftile in his Religion a Thmg that is in its Nature indifferent j how can we maintain that any thing of this kind may be done to a Chriftian. Again : Things in their own Nature indifferent cannot, by any human Autho- rity, be made any Part of the Worfhipof Godj for this very Reafon; becaufe they are indifferent. For, fince indifferent Things are not capable, by any Vir- tue of their own, to propitiate the Deity; no human Power or Authority can confer on them fo much Dignity and Excellency as to enable them to do it. In the common Affairs of Life, that Ufe of indiflferent Things which God has not forbidden, is free and lawful ; and therefore, in thofe Things human Authority has Place. But it is not fo in Matters of Religion. Things indifferent are not otherwife lawful in theWorfliip of God than as they are inftituted by God him- felf; and as he, by fome pofitive Command, has ordain'd them to be made a part of that Worfhip which he will vouchfafe to accept at the Hands of poor finful Men. Nor when an incenfed Deity fhall ask us, fVho /ms required thefe, or fuch like T'hings at your Hands ? Will it be enough to anfwer him, that the Magiftrate commanded them. If civil Jurifdiction extend thus far, what might not law- fully be introduced into Religion? What Hodge-podge of Ceremonies, what fu- perftitious Inventions, built upon the Magiftrate's Authority, might not (againft: Confcience) be impofed upon the Worfhippers of God? For the greateft part of thefe Ceremonies andSuperftitions conlifts in the religious Ufe of fuch Things as are in their own Nature indifferent : nor are they finful upon any other Account than becaufe God is not the Author of them. The fprinkling of Water, and the Ufe of Bread and Wine, are both in their own Nature, and in the ordinary Oc- ' cafions of Life, altogether indifferent. Will any Man therefore fay that thefe Things could have been introduced into Religion, and made a part of divine Worflilp, if not by divine Inftitution ? If any human Authority or civil Power could have done this, why might it not alfo enjoin the eating of Fifh, and drink- ing of Ale, in the holy Banquet, as a part of divine Worfhip ? Why did not the fprinkling of Blood of Beafts in Churches, and Expiations by Water and Fire, and abundance more of this kind? But thefe Things, how indifferent foever they be in common Ufes, when they come to be annexed unto divine Worfhip, without divine Authority, they are as abominable to God, as the Sacrifice of a Dog. And why a Dog ib abominable ? What Difference is there betiveen a Dog and a Goat, in refped; of the divine Nature, equally and infinitely diftant from all Affinity with Matter; unlefs it be that Qodrequired the Ufe of one in his Worlhip, and not of the other? We fee therefore that indifferent Things, how much foever they be under the Power of the civil Magiftrate, yet cannot upon that Petence be introduced into Religion, and impofed upon religious Aflemblies; becaufe in the Worfhip of God they wholly ceafe to be indifferent. He that worfhips God, does it with Defign to pleafe him and procure his Favour. But that cannot be done by him, who, upon the Command of another, offers unto God that which he knows will be difpleafing to him, becaufe not commanded by himfclf This is not to pleale God, or appeafe his Wrath, but willingly and knowingly to provoke him, by a manifcft Contempt ; which is a Thing abfolute- ly repugnant to the Nature and End of Worlhip. But it will be here asked : If nothing belonging to divine Worfhip be left to human Difcretion, how is it then that Churches themfclves have the Power of ordering A Letter concerning Toleration. 245 ordering any thing about the Time and Place of Worfliip, and the like? To this lanfvvcr ; I'hat in religious Worfilip we mud diflinguilh between what is pare of the Worfhip it felf, and what is but a Circumflance. That is a part of the Worfliip which is believed to be appointed by God, and to be weli-plcafing to him; and therefore that is necellary. Circumftances are fuch Things which, tho' in general they cannot be feparated from Worfhip, yet the particular Inftances or Modifications of them are not determined ; and therefore they arc indifferent. Of this Sort are the Time and Place of Worfhip, Habit and Pofture of him that worfhip?. Thefe are Circumftances, and perfeftly indifferent, where God has not given any exprcfs Command about them. For Example : Amongft the Jniis, the Time and Place of their Worfhip, and the Habits of thofe that officiated in it, were not m.ere Circumftances, but a part of riie Worfliip it felf; in which if any thing were defeftive, or different from thelnftitution, they could not hope that it would be accepted by God. But thefe, to Chriftians under the Liberty of the Gofpel, are mere Circumftances of Worfliip, which the Prudence of every Church may bring into fuch Ufe as fhall be judged moft fubfervient to the End of Order, Decency, and Edification. But, even under the Gofpel, thofe who believe the Firft, or the Seventh Day to be fet apart by God, and confecrated ftill to his Worfhip, to them that Portion of Time is not a firaple Circumftance, but a real Part of divine Worfhip, which can neither be changed nor neglected. In the next Pla:e : As the Magiftrate has no Power to impofe by his Laws, the Ufe of any Rites and Ceremonies in any Church, fo neither has he any Power to forbid the Ufe of fuch Rites and Ceremonies as are already received, approv- ed, and praftifed by any Church : Becaufe if he did fo, he would deftroy the Church it felf : the End of whole Inftitution is only to worfliip God with Free- dom, after his own Manner, You will fay, by this Rule, if fome Congregations fhould have a mind to facri- fice Infants, or (as the primitive Chriftians were falfly accufed) luftfully pollute themfelves in promifeous Uncleannefs, or praftife any other fuch heinous Enor- mities, is the Magiftrate obliged to tolerate them, becaufe they are committed in a religious Affembly? I anfwer. No, 'Thefe things are not lawful in the ordi- nary Courfe of Life, nor in any private Houfe ; and therefore neither are they fo in the Worfliip of God, or in an religious Meeting. But indeed if any People congregated upon account of Religion, fhould be defirous to facrifice a Calf, I deny that that ought to be prohibited by a Law, Meliboens, whofe Calf it is, may lawfully kill his Calf at Home, and burn any Part of it that he thinks fit. For no Injury is thereby done to any one, no Prejudice to another Man's Goods. And. for the fame Reafon he may kill his Calf alio in a religious Meeting, Whether the doing fo be well-pleafing to God or no, it is their Part to confider that do it. The Part of the Magiftrate is only to take Care that the Common- wealth receive no Prejudice, and that there be no lujury done to any Man, either in Life or Eftate, and thus what may be fpent on a Feaft, may be fpent on a Sacrifice, But if Paradventure fuch were the State of Things, that the Intereft of the Common-wealth required all Slaughter of Beafts fhould beforbornfor fome while, in order to the encreafing of the Stock of Cattel, that had been deftroyed by fome extraordinary Murrain ; Who fees not that the Magiftrate, in fuch a Cafe, may forbid all his Subjects to kill any Calves for any Ufe whatfoever ? Only 'tis to be-obfen'ed, that in this Cafe the Law is not made about a religious, but a poli- tical Matter : Nor is the Sacrifice, but the Slaughter of Calves thereby pro- hibited. By this we fee what difference there is between the Church and the Common- wealth. Whatfoever is lawful in the Common-wealth, cannot be prohibited by the Magiftrate in the Church. Whatfoever is permitted unto any of his Subjefts for their ordinary Ufe, neither can nor ought to be forbidden by him to any Sect o£ People for their religious Ufes. If any Man may lawfully take Bread or Wine,^ either fitting or kneeling in his own Houfe, the Law ought not to abridge him of the fame Liberty in his religious Worfhip ; tho' in the Church the Ufe of Bread and Wine be very different, and be there applied to the Myfteries of Faith, and Rites of divine Worfliip. But thofe Things that are prejudicial to the Common- weal of a People in their ordinary Ufe, and are therefore forbidden by Laws,thofe Things ought not to be permitted to Churches in their facred Rites. On^/ ^"^^ Magiftrate 2^6 A Letter concerning Toleratiok. Magiftracc ought always to be very careful that he do not mi fufe his Authority,' to llie Opprcitionof any Church, under Pretence of Publick Good. It may be faid, What if a Churcli be idolatrous, is that alio to be tolerated by the Magiftrate ? I anfwer, What Power can be given to the Magiftrate for the Suppreflion of an idolatrots Church, which may not, in l^ime and Place, be made uie of to the Ruin of an orthodox one? For it muft be remembred, that the Civil Power is the fame every where, and the Religion of every Prince is or- thodox to himfelf. If therefore lUch a Power be granted unto the Civil Magi- ftrate in Spirituals^ as that at Geneva, (for Example) he may extirpate, by Vio- lence and Blood, the Religion which is there reputed idolatrous; by the fame Rule another Magiftrate, in fome neighbouring Country, may opprefs the Refor- med Religion; and, \n India, the Chriftian. The Civil Power can either change every thing in Religion, according to the Prince's Plcafure, or it can change no- thing. If it be once permitted to introduce any thing into Religion, by the Means of Laws and Penalties, there can be no Bounds put to it; but it will in the fame manner be lawful to alter every thing, according to that Rule of Truth which the Magiftrate has framed unto himfelf. No Man whatfoever ought therefore to be deprived of his Terreftrial Enjoyments, upon account of his Religion. Not even Americans, fubjefted unto a Chriftian Prince, are to be puniflied either in Body or Goods, for not embracing our Faith and Worfhip. If they areperfuaded that they plcafe God in obferving the Rites of their own Country, and that they ihould obtain Happinefs by that Means, they are to be left unto God and them- felves. Let us trace this Matter to the bottom. Thus it is : An inconfide- rable and weak Number of Chriftians, deftitute of every thing, arrive in a Pagan Country ; thele Foreigners befeech the Inliabitants, by the Bowels of Humanity, that they would fuccour them with the Necefl'aries of Life; thofe Neceflaries are given them. Habitations are granted, and they all join together, and grow up into one Body of People. The Chriftian Religion by this Means takes Root in that Country, and fpreads itfelf ; but does not fuddenly grow the ftrongeft. While Things are in this Condition, Peace, Friendfhip, Faith, and equal Juftice, arc prefervcd amongft them. At length the Magiftrate becomes a Chriftian, and by that Means their Party becomes the moft powerful. Then immediately all Compafts are to be broken, all Civil Rights to be violated, that Idolatry may be extirpated: And unlefs thefe innocent Pagans, ftrid: Obfervers of the Rules of Equity and the Law of Nature, and no ways offending againft the Laws of the Society, I fay unlefs they will forfake their ancient Religion, and embrace a new and ftrange one, they are to be turned out of the Lands and Pofleffions of their Forefathers, and periiaps deprived of Life itfelf. Then at laft it ap- pears what Zeal for the Church, joined with the Deiireof Dominion, is capa- ble to produce ; and how eafily the Pretence of Religion, end of the Care of Souls, fei"vesfora Cloak to Covetoufnefs, Rapine, and Ambition. Now whofoever maintains that Idolatry is to be rooted out of any Place by Laws, Punifhments, Fire and Sword, may apply this Story to himfelf For the Reafonof the Thing is equal, both in America and Europe. And neither Pagans there, nor any diflenting Chriftians here, can with any Right be deprived of their worldly Goods, by the predominating Faftion of a Court-Church : nor are any Civil Rights to be either changed or violated upon the account of Reli- gion in one Place more than another. But Idolatry (fome fay) is a Sin, and therefore not to be tolerated. If they faid it were therefore to be avoided, the Inference were good. But it does not follow, that becaufe it is a Sin it ought therefore to be puniflied by the Magi- ftrate. For it does not belong unto the Magiftrate to make ufe of iiis Sword in punifhing every thing, indifterentlj', that he takes to be a Sin againft God. Co- vetoufnefs, Uncharitablenefs, Idlenefs, and many other things are Sins, by the Confent of Men, which yet no Man ever faid were to be punifli'd by the Magi- ftrate. The Reafon is, becaufe they are not prejudicial to other Mens Rights, nor do they break the publick Peace of Societies. Nay, even the Sins of Lying and Perjury are no where punifhable by Laws ; unlefs in certain Cafes, in which the real Turpitude of the Thing, and the Offence againft God, are not confide red, but only the Injury done unto Mens Neighbours, and to the Common-wealth. And what if in another Country, to a Mahometan or a Pagan Prince, the Chri- ftian A Letter concerning Toleration. 24' ftian Relit^lon feemfilfe and offenfivc to God ; may not the Chriftians for the lame Reafon, and after the fame Manner, be extirpated there ? But it may be urged farther, That by the Law of /l^u/i-i Idolaters were to be rooted out. True indeed, by the Law of Mo/i'j ; but that is not obligatory to us Chriftians. No body pretends that every thing, generally, enjoined by the Law of Mofes; ought to be praftifed by Chriftians, but there is nothing more frivo^- lous than that common Diftinftion of Moral, Judicial, and Ceremonial Law, which Men ordinarily make ufe of. For no politive Law whatfoever can oblige any People but thofe to whom it is given. Hear Ifraeli fufficiently reftrains the Obligation of the Law of Mofes only to that People. And this Confideration alone is Anl'wer enough unto thofe that urge the Authority of the Law of Mofes ; for the inflicting of capital Puniflimcnts Upon Idolaters, But however, I will examine this Argument a little more particularly. The Cafe of Idolaters, in refpedt of the yewijh Common-wealth, falls under a double Confideration. Thefirfl is of thofe, who, being initiated in the Mofaical Rites, and made Citizens of that Common-wealth, did afterwrrds apoftatife from the Worfhip of the God of Ifrael. Thefe were proceeded againft as Tray- tors and Rebels, guilty of no lefs than High-Treafon. For the Common-wealth of the Jews, difterent in that from all others, was an abfolute Theocracy .- Nor Was there, or could there be, any Difference between that Common-wealth and the Church. The Laws eftablifh'd there concerning the Worfhip of one Invifible Deity, were the Civil Laws of that People, and a Part of their Political Govern- ment, in which God himfelf was the Legiflator. Now if any one can fliewme where there is a Common-wealth, at this Time, conftituted upon that Founda- tion, I will acknowledge that the Ecclefiaftical Laws do there unavoidably become a Part of the Civil; and that the Subjefts of that Government both may, and ought to be kept in ftrift Conformity with that Church, by the Civil Power. But there is abfolutely no fuch Thing, under the Gofpel, as a Chriftian Common- wealth. There are, indeed, many Cities and Kingdoms that have embraced the Faith of Chrift, but they have retained their ancient Form of Government ; n'ith which the Law of Chrift hath not at all meddled. He, indeed, hath taught Men how, by Faith and good Works, that they may attain eternal Life. But he in- ftituted no Common-wealth. Heprefcribed untohis Followers no new and pe- culiar Form of Government, nor put he the Sword into any Magiftrate's Hand, with CommilTion to make ufe of it in forcing Men to forfake their former Reli- gion, and receive his. iffOH^/y, Foreigners, and fuch as were Strajigers to the Common-wealth oi Ifrael, were not compell'd by Force to obfei-ve the Rites of the MofaicaJ Law. But, on the contrary, in the very fame Place where it is order 'd, that an Ifcaelite that roas an Idolater fljould be put to Death, there it is provided that Strangers Jhould not be •vexed nor opfrejfed. I confefs that the feven Nations that pofiefs'd the Land which was promiled to the Ifraelites, were utterly to be cut off. But this w'as not fingly becaufe they were Idolaters. For if that had been the Reafon, why were the Moabites and other Nations to be fpared? No; the Reafon is this. God being in a peculiar manner the King of the Jevjs, he could not fuft'er the Adoration of any other Deity (which was properly an Aft of High-Treafon againft himfelf) In the Land of Canaan, which was his Kingdom. For fuch a manifeft Revolt could no ways confift with his Dominion, which was perfeSly Political, in that Country. All Idolatry was therefore to be rooted out of the Bounds of his Kingdom ; be- caufe it was an Acknowlengment of another God, that is to fay, another King ; againft the Laws of Em.pire. The Inhabitants were alfo to be driven out, that the entire Pofleffion of the Land might be given to the. Ifraelites. And for the like Reafon the Emims and the Horims were driven out of their Countries by the Children of Efaii and Lot ; and their Lands, upon the ikme Grounds, given by God to the Invaders. But tho' all Idolatry was thus rooted out of the Land of Canaan, yet every Idolater was not brought to Execution. The whole Family of Rahah, the whole Nation of the Gibeonites, articled with Jupjuab, and were allow- ed by Treaty : And there were many Captives amongft the yeios, who were Ido- laters. David and Solomon fubdued many Countries without the Confines of the Land of Promife, and carried their Conquefts as far as Euphrates. Amongft lb many Captives taken, ofniany Nations reduced under their Obedience, we find not 2^^ A Letter concerning Toleration. not one Man forced into the Je-wiJJ} Religion, and the Worfhip of the True God, and puniflied for Idolatry, tho' all of them were certainly guilty of it. If any one indeed, becoming a Profclyte, defired to be made a Denifon of their Common-wealth, he was obliged to fubmit to their Laws ; that is, to embrace their Religion. But this he did willingly, on his own accord, not by Conllraint. He did not unwillingly fubmit, to fhew his Obedience ; But he fought and foli- cited for it, as a Privilege. And as foon as he was admitted, he became fub- jecl to the Laws of the Common-wealth, by which all Idolatry was forbidden within the Borders of the Land of Canaan. But that Law (as I have faid) did not reach to any of thole Regions, however fubjefted to the Jews, that were lituated without thofe Bounds. Thus far concerning outward Worfhip. Let us now confider Articles of Faith. The Articles of Religion are fome of them PraHical, and fome Speculative. Now, fcho' both Sorts confift in the Knowledge of Truth, yet thefe terminate fimply in the Underftanding, thofe influence the Will and Manners. Speculative Opi- nions, therefore, and Articles of Faith (as they are called) which are required only to be believed, cannot be impofed on any Church by the Law of the Land. For it is abfurd that Things fhould be enjoined by Laws, which are not in Mens Power to perform. And to believe this or that to be true, does not depend up- on our Will. But of this enough has been faid already. But (will fome fay) let Men at leaft profefs that they believe. A fweet Religion indeed, that ob- liges Men to diflemble, and tell Lies both to God and Man, for the Salvation of their Souls ! If the Magiftrate thinks to fate Men thus, he feems to under- ftand little in the Way of Salvation. And if he does it not in order fo fave them, why is he fo follicitous about the Articles of Faith, as to enaft them by a Law? Farther, The Magiftrate ought not to forbid the preaching or profefTing of any fpeculative Opinions of any Church, becaufe they have no manner of relation to the Civil Rights of the Subjefts. If a Roman Catholick believe that to be really the Body of Chrift, which another Man calls Bread, he does no Injury thereby to his Neighbour. If a Jew do not believethe NewTeftament to be the Word of God, he does not thereby alter any thing in Mens Civil Rights. If a Heathen doubt of both Teftaments, he is not therefore to be puniflied as a pernicious Ci- tiien. The Power of the Magiftrate, and the Eftates of the People, may be equal- ly fecure, whether any Man believe thefe Things or no. I readily grant, that thefe Opinions are falie and abfurd. But the Bufinefs of Laws is not to provide for the Truth of Opinions, but for the Safety arid Security of the Common- wealth, and of every particular Man's Goods and Perfon. And fo it ought to be. For the Truth certainly would do well enough, if flie were once left to fhift for herfelf "She feldom has received, and I fear never will receive much Affift- ance from the Power of Great Men, to whom flie is but rarely known, and more rarely welcome. She is not taught by Laws, nor has fhe any need of Force to procure her Enterance into the Minds of Men. Errors indeed prevail by the Alliftance of foreign and borrowed Succours. But if Truth makes not her Way into the Underftanding by her own Light, fhe will be but the weaker for any borrowed Force Violence can add to her. Thus much for Speculative Op'.nions. Let us now proceed to PraBical ones. A Good Life, in which conlifts not the leaft Part of Religion and true Piety, concerns alfo the Civil-Government : and in it lies the Safety both of Mens Souls, and of the Common-wealth. Moral Aftions belong therefore to the Jurifdiftion both of the outward and inward Court ; both of the Civil and Domellick Go- vernor ; I mean both of the Magiftrate and Confcience. Here therefore is great Panger, left one of thefe Juriidictions intrench upon the other, and Dilcord ■arife between the Keeper of the Publick Peace and the Overfeers of Souls. But if what has been already faid concerning the Limits of both thefe Governments be rightly confidered, it will eafily remove all Difficulty in this Matter. Every Man has an' immortal Soul, capable of eternal Happinefs or Mifery : whofe Happinefs depending upon his believing and doing thofe Things in this Life, which are necelfary to the obtaining of God's Favour, and are prefcribed by God to that "End ; k follows from thence, ift. That the Obfervance of thefe :Jrhirigs is the higheft Obligatiop that lies vipon Mankind, and that our utmoft Care, A Letter concerning Toleration. 249 Care, Application, and Diligence, ought to be cxercifcd in the Search and Per- formance of them ; Becaufe there is nothing in this World tliat is of any Conli- deration in comparifon with Eternity. 2dly, l hat iccing one Man docs not vio- late the Right of another, by his erroneous Opinions, and undue Manner of Worfliip, nor is his Perdition any Prejudice to another Man's Affairs; tiicreforc the Care of each Man's Salvation belongs only tohimfelf But I would not have this underftood, as if I meant hereby to condemn all charitable Admonitions, and atfeftionate Endeavours to reduce Men from Errors ; which are indeed the greateft Duty of a Chriftian. Any one may employ as many Exhortationsand Arguments as he pleafes, towards the promoting of another Man's Salvation. But all Force and Compulfion are to be forborn. Nothing is to be done impc- rioufly. No body is obliged in that Matter to yield Obedience unto the Admo- nitions or Injunctions of another, farther than he himfelfis perfuaded. Every Man, in that, has the fupreme and abfolute Authority of Judging for himfelf. And the Reafon is, becaufe no body elfe is concerned in it, nor can receive any Prejudice from his Conduft therein. But bcfides their Souls, which are Immortal, Men have alfo their Temporal Lives here upon Earth ; the State whereof being frail and fleeting, and the Du- ration uncertain : they have need of fcveral outward Conveniencies to the Sup- port thereof, which are to be procured or preferved by Pains and Induflry. For thofe Things that are neceflaryto the comfortable Support of our Lives, are not the fpontaneous Products of Nature, nor do offer themfelves fit and prepared for our Ufe. This Part therefore draws on another Care, and neceffarily gives another Employment. But the Pravity of Mankind being fuch, that they hadra- ther injurioufly prey upon the Fruitsof other Mens Labours, than take pains to provide for themfelves ; the Necellity of preferving Men in thePofl'efTionof what honeft Induftry has already acquired, and alfo of preferving their Liberty and Strength, whereby they may acquire what they farther want; obliges Men to en- ter into Society with one another; that by mutual Afliftance and joint Force, they may fecure unto eachother their Properties, in the Things that contribute to the Comfort and Happinefs of this Life ; leaving in the mean while to every Man the Care of his own Eternal Happinefs, the Attainment whereof can neither be facilitated by another Man's Induftry, nor can the Lofs of it turn to another Man's Prejudice, nor the Hope of it be forced from him by any external Violence. But forafmuch as Men thus entring into Societies, groundod upon their mntual Compafts of Afliftance, for the Defence of their Temporal Goods, may never- thelefs be deprived of them, either by the Rapine and Fraud of their Fellow-Ci- tizens, or by the hoftile Violence of Foreigners ; the Remedy of this Evil con- fifts in Arms, Riches, and Multitude of Citizens ; the Remedy of the other in Laws; and the Care of all Things relating both to one and the other, is com- mitted by the Society to the Civil Magiftrate. This is the Original, this is the Ufe, and thefe are the Bounds of the Legiflative (which is the Supreme) Power in every Common-wealth. I mean, that Provifion may be made for the Security of each Man's private Pofl'eflions ; for the Peace, Riches, and publick Commodities of the whole People ; and, as much as poffible, for the Increafe of their inward Strength, againft foreign Invafions. Thefe Things being thus explain'd, it is eafy to underftand to what End the Legiflative Power ought to be direfted, and by what Meafures regulated; and that is the temporal Good and outward Profperity of the Society; which is the fole Reafon of Mens entring into Society, and the only Thing they feek and aim at in it. And it is alfo evident what Liberty remains to Men in reference to their eternal Salvation, and that is, that every one fiiould do what he in his Confcience is perfuaded to be acceptable to the Almighty, on whofe good Plea- lure and Acceptance depends their eternal Happinefs. For Obedience is due in the firft place to God, and afterwards to the Laws. But fome may ask, IVhat if the Magiflrate jhojild enjoin any thing by his Authority that appears unlawful to the Confcience of a private Perfun ? I anfwer, that if Govern- ment be faithfully adminiftred, and the Counfels of the Magiftrate be indeed di- refted to the publick Good, this will feldom happen. But if perhaps it do fofall out, I fay, that fuch a private Perfon is to abftain from the Adion that he judges unlawful ; and he is to undergo the Punifhment, which it is not unlawful for him Vol. II. I i to 02 5 ^ Letter concerning Toleration. to bear. For the private Judgment of any Pcrfon concerning a Law enaftcd in Political Matters, for the publick Good, does not take away the Obligation of that Law, nor deferve a Difpenfation. But if the Law indeed be concerning Things that lie not within the Verge of the Magiftrate's Authority ; (as for Example, that the People, or any Party amongft them, fliould be compell'd to embrace a ftrange Religion, and join in the Worfhip and Ceremonies of another Church,) Men a]C not in thefe Cafes obliged by that Law, againft their Confci- cnces. For the Political Society is inftituted for no other End, but only to fe- cure every Man's Pofleffion of the Things of this Life. The Care of each Man's Soul, and of the Things of Heaven, which neither does belong to the Common- wealth, nor can be fubjeded to it, is left entirely to every Man's felf. Thus the Safeguard of Mens Lives, and of the Things that belong unto this Life, is the Bufinels of the Common-wealth ; and the preferving of thofe Things unto their Owners, is the Duty of the Magiftrate. And therefore the Magiftrate cannot take away thefe worldly Things from this Man, or Party, and give them to that ; nor change Propriety amongft Fellow-Subjefts, (no not even by a Law) for a Caule that has no relation to the End of Civil-Government ; I mean for their Religion; which whether it be true or falfe, does no Prejudice to the worldly Concerns of their Fellow-Subjefts, which are the Things that only belong unto the Care ol the Common-wealth. But zvhat if the Magiftrate believe fuch a Law as this to be for the publick Good ? I anfwer: as the private Judgment of any particular Perfon, if erroneous, does not exempt him from the Obligation of Law, fo the private Judgment (as I may call it) ol the Magiftrate does not give him any new Right of impofing Laws upon his Subjects, which neither was in the Conftitution of the Government granted him, nor ever was in the Power of the People to grant : much lefs, if he make it his Bu- finefs to enrich and advance his Followers and Fellow-Seftaries, with the Spoils of others. But what if the Magiftrate believe that he has a Right to make fuch Laws, and that they are for the publick Good ; and his Subjefts believe the con- trary ? Who fliall be Judge between them ? I anfwer, God alone. For there is no Judge upon Earth betiveen the Supreme Magiftrate and the People. God, I fay, is the only Judge in this Cafe, who will retribute unto every one at the laft Day ac- cording to his Deferts ; that is, according to his Sincerity and Uprightnefs in en- deavouring to promote Piety,and the publick Weal and Peace of Mankind. But what fliall be done in the mean while ? I anfwer : The principal and chief Care of every one ought to be of his own Soul firft, and in the next place, of the publick Peace : tho' yet there are very few will think 'tis Peace there, where theyfeeall laid wafte. There are two forts of Contefts amongft Men ; the one managed by Law, the other by Force : and thefe are of that nature, that wherethe one ends, the other always begins. But it is not my Bufinefs to enquire into the Power of the Magiftrate in the different Conftitutions of Nations. I only know what ufually happens where Con- troverfies arife, without a Judge to determine them. You will fay then, the Magi- ftrate being the ftronger will have his Will,and carry his Point. Without doubt. But the queftion is not here concerning the doubtfulnefs of the event,but the rule of right. But to come to Particulars. I fay, Firft, No Opinions contrary to human Society, or to thofe moral Rules wliich are neceffaiy to the Prefervation of Civil Society, are to be tolerated by the Magiftrate. But of thefe indeed Examples in any Church are rare. For no Sect can eafily arrive to fuch a degree of madnefs,as that it fhould think fit to teach,for Doftrines of Religion, fuch things as manifeftly undermine the Foun- dations of Society,and are therefore condemned by thejudgment of all Mankind : be- caufe their own Litereft,Peace,Reputation,every thing would be thereby endanger'd. Another more fecrct Evil, but more dangerous to the Common-wealth, is wlien Men arrogate to themfehes, and to thofe of their own Seft, fome peculiar Prerogative cover'doverwithafpeciousfhewof deceitful words, but ineffeftoppofite to the Civil Right of the Community. For Example. We cannot find any Sect that teaches ex- prelly and openly, thatMennrenot obliged to keep their Prom ifej thatPrincesmay be dethroned by thofe that differ from them in Religion i or that the Dominion of all things beiangsonly to themfelves. Forthefethings,propofedthusnakedlyand plain- ly, would loon draw on them the Eye a n d Hand of the Magiftrate, and awaken all the care of the Commonwealthtoawatchfulnefs againft thefpreadingoffodangerous an Lvi!. Butneverthelefs, we find thofe tliat fay the fame things, in other words. What die do they mean, who teach that Frt7>/; isnotto be kept ivith Hereticks ? Thelrmeaning, forfooth. A Letter concerning Toleration. zji fbrfooth, is that the Privilege of breaking Faith belongs unto themfelves: For they de- clare all that are not of their Communion to be Hereticks, or at lead may declare them fo vvhenfoever they think fit. What can be the meaning of their afierting that K/figs exco}nmunkated forfeit their Crovjns and Kingdoms? It is evident that they thereby arro- gate unto themfelves the Power of depo/ing Kings: bccaufe they challenge the Power of Excommunication, as the peculiar Right of their Hierarchy. 'I'hat Dominion is founded in Grace, is alfo an Alfertion by which thofe that maintain it do plainly lay claim to the Poffefnon of all Things. For they are not fo vvanting to themfeh es as not to believe, or at leaft as not to profefs themlelves to be the truly pious and faithful. Thefe therefore, and the like, who attribute unto the Faithful, Religious and Ortho- dox, that is, in plain terms, unto themfelves, any peculiar Privilege or Power above other Mortals, in civil Concernments; or who upon Pretence of Religion, do chal- lenge any manner of Authority over fuch, as are not ailociated with them in their Ec- cleliaftical Communion; I fay thefe have no right to be tolerated by the Magiftrate; as neither thofe that will not own and teach thcDuty of tolerating All Men in Matters of mere Religion. For what do all thefe andthe like Doctrines lignify, but that they may, and are ready upon any occafion to feize the Government, and poflefs themfelves of the Eftates and Fortunes of their Fellow-Subiefts; and that they only ask leave to be tolerated by the Magiftrate fo long, until they find themfelves ftrong enough to effeft it? Again: That Church can have no right to be tolerated by the Magiftrate, which is conftituted upon fuch a Bottom, that all thofe who enter into it, do thereby ipfo facio, deliver themfelves up to the Proteftion and Service of another Prince. For by this means the Magiftrate would give way to the fettling of a foreign Jurifdiftioh in his own Country, and fuffer his own People to be lifted, as it were, for Soldiers againft his own Government. Nor does the frivolous and fallacious Diftinft ion between the Court and the Church afford any Remedy to this Inconvenience; efpecially when both the one and the other are equally fubjed to the abfolute Authority of the fame Perfon ; who has not only Power to perfuade the Members of his Church to whatfo- ever he lifts, either as purely Religious, or in order thereunto, but can alfo enjoin it them on pain of eternal Fire. It is ridiculous for any one to profefs himfelf to be a Mahumetan only in his Religion, but in every thing elfe a faithful Subject to a Chri- ftian Magiftrate, whilft at the fame time he acknowledges himfelf bound to yield blind Obedience to the Mufti o{ Cunfiaminople ; who himfelf is entirely obedient to the 0«o- man Emperor, and frames the feigned Oracles of that Religion according to his Plea- fure. But this Mahumetan living amongft Chriftians would yet more apparently renounce their Government, if he acknowledged the fame Perfon to be Head of his Church, who is the fupreme Magiftrate in the State. Lafily, Thofe ai*e not at all to be tolerated who deny the Being of a God. Promi- fes. Covenants, and Oaths, which are the bonds of human Society, can have no hold upon an Atheift. The taking away of God, tho' but even in Thought, diflblves all- Befides alfo, thofe that by their Atheifm undermine and deftroy all Religion, can have no Pretence of Religion whereupon to challenge the Privilege of a Toleration. As for other praftical Opinions, tho' not abfolutely free from all Error, if they do not tend to eftablifh Domination over others, or Civil Impunity to the Church in which they are taught, there can be no Reafon why they fhould not be tolerated. It remains that I fay fomething concerning thofe Affemblies which being vulgar- ly called, and perhaps having fometimes been Conventicles, and Nurferies of Faftions and Seditions, are thought to afford the ftrongeft matter of Objection againft this Doftrine of Toleration. But this has not happened by any thing peculiar unto the Genius of fuch Alfemblies, but by the unhappy Circumftances of an opprefled or ill- fettled Liberty. Thefe Accufations would foon ceafe, if the Law of Toleration were once fo fettled, that all Churches were obliged to lay down Toleration as the Foun- dation of their own Liberty; and teach that Liberty of Confcience is every Man's natural Right, equally belonging to Diflentcrs as to themfelves ; and that no body ought to be compelled in matters of Religion either by Law or Force. The Eftablifh- ment of this one thing would take away ail ground ofCompIaints and Tumults upon account of Confcience. And thefe Caufes of Difcontents and Animofities being once removed, there would remain nothing in thefe Affemblies that were notmore peacea- ble, and lefs apt to produce Difturbance of State, than in any other Meetings what- foever. But let us examine particulary the Heads of thefe Accufations. Vol.U. lis You'll 52 A Letter concerning To l e r a 1 1 on. You'll fay. That JJJimbUes and Meetings endanger the Publkk Peace, and threaten the Commvii-wealth. 1 anivver: If this be fo, why are there daily i'uch numerous Meetings in Markets, and Courts of Judicature? Why are Crowds upon the Ex- change, and a Concourfe of People in Cities fuftered? You'll reply; Thole are Civil Aflemblics; but Thefe we objeft againft, aie Ecclefiaftical. lanl'wcr: 'Tis a likley thing indeed, that fuch AU'emblies as are altogether remote from Civil Affairs, fhould be moft apt to embroil them. O, but Civil Allemblies are compofed of Men thac ditlerfrom one another in Matters of Religion; but thele Eccledaflical Meetings are of Perfons that are all of one Opinion. As if an Agreement in Matters of Religi- on, were in efteft a Confpiracy againll the Common-wealth; or as if Men would not be fo much the more warmly unanimous in Religion, the lefs Liberty they had of flfl'embling. But it will be urged ftill. That Civil Ailemblies are open, and free for any one to enter into; whereas religious Conventicles are more private, and thereby give Opportunity to clandeftine Machinations. I anfwer. That this is not ftriftly true: For many Civil Allemblies are not open to every one. And itlonie religious Meetings be private, who are they (I beieech you) that are to be blamed for it? thofc that delire, or thofe that forbid their being publick? Again; You'll fay, that religious Communion does exceedingly unite Mens Minds and Aftedions to one ano- ther, and is therefore the more dangerous. But if this befo, why is not the Ma- giftrate afraid of his own Church; and why does he not forbid their Allemblies, as things dangerous to his Government? You'll fay, Becaufe he himlelf is a Part, and even the Head of them. As if he were not alfo a Part of the Common- wealth, and the Head of the whole People. Let us therefore deal plainly. The Magiflrate is afraid of other Churches, but not of his own; becaufe he is kind and favourable to the one, but levere and cruel to the other. Th^^ he treats like Children, and indulges them even to VVanton- nefs. Thole he ufes as Slaves; and how blamelefly foever they demean them-» i'elves, recompenfes them no otherwife than by Gallies, Prifons, Confifcations and Death. 'I'hefe he cherifhes and defends: Thofe he continually fcur^es and op- prelfes. Let him turn the Tables: Or let thofe Diflenters enjoy but the fame Privi- leges in Civils as his other Subjeds, and he will quickly find that thefe religious Meetings will be no longer dangerous. For if Men enter into feditious Confpira- cies, 'tis not Religion infpires them to it in their Meetings; but their Sufferings and Opprellions that make them willing to eafethemfelves. Juft and moderate Go- vernments are every where quiet, every where fafe. But Opprefllon raifes Ferments and makes Men ftruggle to caft off an uneafy and tyrannical Yoke. I know that Seditions are very frequently raifed upon Pretence of Religion. But 'tis as true that, for Religion, Subjefts are frequently ill treated, and live miferably. Believe me, the Stirs that are made, proceed not from any peculiar Temper of this or that Church or religious Society; but from the common Difpofition of all Mankind, who when they groan under any heavy Burthen, endeavour naturally to Ihake off the Yoke that galls their Necks. Suppofe this Bufinefs of Religion were let alone, and that there were fome other Diftinftion made between Men and Men, upon ac- count of their different Complexions, Shapes, and Features, fo that thofe who have black Hair (for example) or grey Eyes, fhould not enjoy the fame Privileges as o- ther Citizens; that they fhould not be permitted either to buy or fell, or live by^ their Callings; that Parents fliould not have the Government and Education of their own Children ; that all fhould either be excluded from the Benefit of the Laws, or meet with partial Judges; can it be doubted but thefe Perfons, thus diftinguiflaed from others by the Colour of their Hair and Eyes, and united together by one com- mon Perfecution, would be as dangerous to the Magiftrate, as any others that had af- fociated themfehes merely upon the account of Religion ? Some enter into Compa- ny for Trade and Profit: Others, for want of Bufinefs, have their Clubs for Claret. Neighbourhood joins fome, and Religion others. But there is one only thing which gathers People into feditious Commotions, and that is Opprcllion. You'll fay; What, will you have People to meet at divine Service ^^a/?;/? f/'f Ma- giftrate's tVilR 1 anfwer; Why, I pray, againft his Will? Is it not both lawful and neceffary that they fhould meet? Againft his Will, do you fay? That's what I com- plain of That is the very Root of all the Mifchief Why are Aflemblics lefs fuffer- able in a Church than in a Theatre or Market?^ Thofe that meet there are not ei- ther more vicious, or more turbulent, than thofe that me«t elfewhere. The Bufi- A Letter concerning Toleration". ^ y^ nefs in that is, that they are ill ufed, and tlierefore they are not to be fuffered. Take away the Partiality that is ufed towards them in Matters of common Right j change the Laws, take away the Penalties unto which they are fubjefted, and all things will immediately become fale and peaceable ; nay, thofe that are averfe to the Religion of the Magiftrate, will think thcmfelves fo much the more bound to maintain the Peace of the Common-wealth, as their Condition is better in that Place than elfewhere; and all the feveral feparate Congregations, like fo many Guar- dians of the Publick Peace, will watch one another, that nothing may be innovated or changed in the Form of the Government: Becaufe they can hope for nothing better than what they already enjoy; that is, an equal Condition with their Fellow- Subjefts, under a jull and moderate Government. Now if that Church, which agrees in Religion with the Prince, be efteemed the chief Support of any Ci- vil Government, and that for no other Reafon (as has already been fhewn) than becaufe the Prince is kind, and the Laws are favourable to it ; hov7 much greater will betheSecurity of Government, where all good SubjeSs, of whatfoever Church they be, without any Diftinftion upon account of Religion, enjoying the fame Fa- vour of the Prince, and the fame Benefit of the Laws, /hall become the common Support and Guard of it; and where none will have any occafion to fear the Seve- rity of the Laws, but thofe that do Li juries to their Neighbours, and offend againft the Civil Peace ? That we may draw towards a Conclufion. The Sum of aU we drive at is, 'that every Mm may enjoy the fame Rights that are granted to others. It is permitted to woifhip God in the Roman manner ? Let it be permitted to do it in the Geneva Form alfo. Is it permitted to fpeak Latin in the Market-place ? Let thofe that have a mind to it, be permitted to do it alfo in the Church Is it lawful for any Man in his own Houfe, to kneel, ftand, fit, orufe any other Poflure; andtocloath himfelf in white or black, in fhort or in long Garments ? Let it not be made unlawful to eat Bread, drink Wine, or wafh with Water in the Church. In a Word : What- foever things are left free by Law in the common Occafions of Life, let them remain free unto every Church in Divine Worfhip. Let no Man's Life , or Body, or Houfe, or Eftate, furfer any manner of Prejudice upon thefe Accounts, Can you al- low of the Presbyterian Difcipline? Why fliould not the £/'//to/' Is their Dodrine more falfe, their Worfhip more abominable, or is the 2 54 A Letter concerning Tolerations the Civil Pence more endangered, by their meeting in publick than in their private Houles? But iTthcle things may be granted to jffiuj and /■'-'/(jiiKr, I'urcly the Condition of any Chriftians ought not to be worfe than theirs in a Chriftian Common-wealth. ■ You'll lay, perhaps, yes, it ought to be: Becaufe they are more inclineable to Faftions, Tumults, and Civil-Wars. 1 anfwer : Is this the Fault of the Chrifiian Religion? If it be fo, truly the Chriftian Religion is the worft of all Religions, and ought neither to be embraced by any particular Perfon, nor tolerated by any Com- mon-wealth. For if this bethe Genius, this the Nature of the Chriftian Religion, to be turbulent, and deftru6tive to the Civil Peace, that Church it felf which the Mflgiftrace indulges, will not always be innocent. But far be it from us to fay any fuch thing of that Religion, which carries the greateft Oppofition to Covetoufnefs, Ambition, Difcord, Contention, and all manner of inordinate Defires; and is the moft modeft and peaceable Religion that ever was. We muft therefore feek another Caufe of thofe Evils that are charged upon Religion. And if we confider right, we fliall rind it to coniift wholly in the Subjed that I am treating of. It is not the Diverfuy of Opinions, (which cannot be avoided j but the Refufal of Toleration to thofe that are of different Opinions, (which might have been granted) that has pro- duced all the Buftles and Wars, that have been in the Chriftian World, upon ac- count of Religion. The Heads and Leaders of theChurch, moved by Avarice and infatiable Delire of Dominion, making ufe of the immoderate Ambition of Magi- ■ftrates, and the credulous Superftition of the giddy Multitude, have incenfed and a- nimated them againft thofe that diflent from themfelves ; by preaching unto them, contrary to the Laws of the Gofpel, and to the Precepts of Charity, that Schifma- ticks and Hereticks are to be outed of their Pofleflions, and deftroyed. And thus have they mixed together, and confounded two Things, that are in themfelves moft: different, the Church and the Common-wealth. Now as it is very difficult for Men patiently to fufter themfelves to be ftript of the Goods, which they have got by their honeft Induftry; and contrary to all the Laws of Equity, both human and divine, to be delivered up for a Prey to other Mens Violence and Rapine; efpecial- ly when they are otherwife altogether blamelefs; and that the Occalion for which they are thus treated, does not at all belong to the Jurifdiction of the Magiftrate, but intirely to the Confcience of every particular Man ; for the Conduct of which he is accountable to Grd only; what elfe can be expected, but that thefe Men, growing weary of the Evils under which they labour, fhould in the end think it lawful for them to relift Force with Force, and to defend their natural Rights (which are not forfeitable upon account of Religion) with Anns as well as they can ? That this has been hitherto the ordinary Courfe of Things, is abundantly evident in Hifto- ry : And that it will continue to be fo hereafter, is but too apparent in Reafon. It cannot indeed be otherwife, fo long as the Principle ol Perfecution for Religion fhall prevail, as it has done hitherto, with Magiftrate and People; and fo long as thofe that ought to be the Preachers of Peace and Concord, flaall continue, with all their Art and Strength, to excite Men to Arms, and found the Trumpet of War. But that Magiftrates Ihould thus fuffer thefe Incendiaries, and Difturbers of the Publick Peace, might juftly be wondered at ; if it did not appear that they have been invited by them unto a Participation of the Spoil, and have therefore thought fit to make ufe of their Covetoufnefs and Pride, as means whereby to increafe their own Power. For who dees not fee that thefe Good Mm are indeed more Minifters of the Govern- ment, than Minifters of the Gofpel; and that by flattering the Ambition, and fa- - vouring the Dominion of Princes and Men in Authority, they endeavour with all their Might to promote that Tyranny in the Common-wealth which otherwife they fhould not be able to eftablifh in the Church ? This is the unhappy Agreement that we fee between the Church and State. Whereas if each of them would contain itfelf within its own Bounds,theoneattending to the worldly Wei fare of the Common-wealth, the other to the Salvation of Souls, it is impoffible that any Difcord fliould ever have hapned between them. Sed, fudet hac opprobria, &c. God Almighty grant I be- fecch him, that the Gofpel of Peace may at length be preached, and that Civil Ma- giftrates growing more careful to conform their own Confciences to the Law of God, and lefs folicitous about the binding of other Mens Confciences by human Laws, may like Fathers of their Country, divert all their Counfels and Endeavours to promote tmiverfally the civil Welfare of all their Children ; except only of fuch as are arrogant, ungovernable, and injurious to their Bretheren and that all ecclefiaftical Men, who boaft A Letter concerning Toleration. 255 boafl thcmfelves to be the Succcflbrs of the Apoftlcs, walking peaceably and modeflly in the Apoftle's Steps, without intermeddling with State-Art'airs, may apply thcmfelves wholly to promote the Salvation of Souls. Farewe^. TJErhaps it may not be amifs to add a few Things concerning fferejj and Schifnt. ^ A Turk is not, nor can be, either Hcretick or Schifmatick, to a Clniftian: and if any Man fall oft' from the Chriftian Faith to Mahumetifm, he does nor thereby become a Heretick or Schifmatick, but an Apoftate and an Infidel. Th is no body doubts of. And by this it appears that Men of different Religions can- not be Hereticks or Schifmaticks to one another. We are to enquire therefore, what Men are of the fame Religion. Concerning which, it is manifeft that thofe who have one and the fame Rule of Faith and Worfhip, are of the fame Religion: and thofe who have not the fame Rule of Faith and Worfliip, are of different Religions. For fince all Things that belong unto that Religion are contained in that Rule, it follows neceflarily that thofe who agree in one Rule, arc of one and the fame Religion: and vice versa. Thus Turks and Chrifiians are of different Religions : becaufe thefe take the Holy Scrip- tures to be the Rule of their Religion, and thofe the Alcoran. And for the fam e Reafon, there may be different Religions alfo even amongft Chrifiians. The P a- pifis and Lutherans, tho' both of them profefs Faith in Chrift, and are therefor e called Chrifiians, yet are not both of the fame Religion : becaufe thefe acknow- ledge nothing but the Holy Scriptures to be the Rule and Foundation of their Religion ; thofe take in alfo Traditions and the Decrees of Popes, and of thefe together make the Rule of their Religion. And thus the Chrifiians of St. John, (as they are called) and the Chrifiians of (7fwt;rt are of different Religions : be- caufe thefe alfo take only the Scriptures j and thofe I know not what Tradi- tions, for the Rule of their Religion. This being fettled, it follows ; Firfl, That Herefy is a Separation made inEccle- fiaflical Communion between Men of the fame Religion, for fome Opinions no way contained in the Rule itfelf. A.vid Secondly, That amongfl thofe who acknowledge nothing but the Holy Scriptures to be their Rule of Faith, Herefy is a Separation made in their Chriflian Communion, for Opinions not contained, in the exprefs Words of Scripture. Now this Separation may be made in a twofold manner. I. Wlien the greater Part, or (by the Magi flrate's Patronage) the flronger Part of the Church fepa rates itfelf from others, by excluding them out of her Communion, becaufe they will not profefs their Belief of certain Opinions which are not the exprefs Words of the Scripture. For it is not the Paucity of thofe that are feparated, nor the Authority of the Magiflratc, that can make any Man guilty of Herefy. But he only is an Heretick who divides the Claurch in- to Parts, introduces Names and Marks of Diflinftion, and voluntarily makes a Separation becaufe of fuch Opinions. 2. When any one fcparates himfelf from the Communion of a Church, becaufe that Church does not publickly profefs fome certain Opinions which the Holy Scriptures do not exprefly teach. Both thefe are Heretiiks, iecaufe they err in Fundamentals, and they err obflinately againfl Knowledge. For when they have determined the Holy Scriptures to be the only Foundation of Faith, they neverthelefs lay down certain Propofitions as Funda- mental, which are not in the Scripture : and becaufe others will not acknowledge • thefe additional Opinions of theirs, nor build upon them as if they were neceilary and fundamental, they therefore make a Separation in the Church ; either by with- drawing thcmfelves from others, or expelling the others from them. Nor does it fignify any thingforthem to fay that their Confeffions and Symboles are agree- able to Scripture, and to the Analogy of Faith. For if they be conceived in the ex- prefs Words of Scripture, there can be no queftion about them ; becaufe thofe things are acknowledged by allChriflianstobe of divine Infpiration, and therefore funda- mental. But if they fay that the Articles which th£y require to be profefs'd, are Con- fequences deduced from the Scripture; it is undoubtedly well done of them who be- li€!ve and profefs fuch things as feem unto them fo agreeable to the Rule of Fa/th. But it would be very ill done to obtrude thofe Things upon others, unto whor.i they do not feem to be the indubitable Doctrines of the Scripture. And to make a SeparatioQ 2^6 A Letter concerning Toleration. Separation for luch Thingsas thefe, which neither are nor can be Fundamen- tal, is to become Hereticks. For 1 do not think there is any Man arrived to that Degree of Madnefs, as that he dare give out his Confequences and Inter- pretations of Scripture as divine Infpirations, and compare the Articles of Faith that he has framed according to his own Fancy with the Authority of Scripture. I know there are fome Propofitions fo evidently agreeable to Scripture, that no Body can deny them to be drawn from thence : but about thofe therefore there can be noDifterence. This only 1 iay, that however clearly we may think this or the other Doftrine to be deduced from Scripture, we ought net therefore to jmpofe it upon others, as a necellary Article of Faith, becaufe we believe it to be agreeable to the Rule of Faith ; unlefs we would be content alfo that other Doftrines fhould be impofed upon us in the fame manner ; and that we fhould. be compell'd to receive and profefs all the different and contradi(5tory Opinions of Lutherans, Cahinijis, Remonjlrams, Atiahnptijls, and other Sects, winch the Contrivers of Symbols, Syftems, and Confefllons, are accuftomed to deliver to their Followers, as genuine and neceflary Deduftions from the Holy Scripture. I cannot but wonder at the extravagant Arrogance of thofe Men, who think that they themfelves can explain Things neceflary to Salvation more clearly than the Holy Ghoft, the eternal and infinite Wifdom of God. Thus much concerning Hcrefy ; which Word in common Ufe is applied only to the doftrinal Part of Religion. Let us now confider Schifm, which is a Crime near a-kin to it. For both thefe Words feem unto me to fignify an ill-grounded Separation in Ecdefiaftical Communion, made about 'Things not necejfary. But fince Ufe, which is the fupreme Law in Matter of Language, has determined that Herefy relates to Errors in Faith, and Schifm to thofe in Worfhip or Difcipline, we muft confider them under that Diftinftion, Schifm then, for the fame Reafons that have already been alledged, is nothing elfe but a Separation made in the Communion of the Church, upon account of fomething in Divine Worfhip, or Ecdefiaftical Difcipline, that is not any ne- ceffary Part of it. Now nothing in Worfhip or Difcipline can be neceflary to Chriftian Communion, but what Chrift our Legiflator, or the Apoftles, by In- Ipiration of the Holy Spirit, have commanded in exprefs Words. In a Word: He that denies not any thing that the Holy Scriptures teach in exprefs Words, nor makes a Separation upon occafion of any thing that is not manifeftly contained in the facred Text j however he may be nick-named by any Seft of Chriftians, and declared by fome, or all of them, to be utterly void of true Chriftianity ; yet in deed and in truth this Man cannot be either a Heretick or Schifmatick. Thefe Things might have been explained more largely, and more advantage- oufly ; but it is enough to have hinted at them, thus briefly, to a Perfon of your Parts. A S£^ A SECOND L E T T E R CONCERNING TOLERATION K k 59 TO THE AUTHOR O F T H E Argument of the 'Letter concernmg Toleratiojt, briefly confidered and anfvjered. SIR, y^^^^i OU will pardon me if I take the fame Liberty with you, that you ^vl^^j have done with the Author of the Letter concerning Toleration ; to confider your Arguments, and endeavour to fhew you the Miftakesof them. For lince you have fo plainly yielded up the Queftion to him, and do own that the Severities he would difluade Chriftians from, are Vzg. ti2) utterly unapt, and improper to luring Men to embrace that Truth which miift fanje them : 1 13, 14. am not without fome Hopes to prevail with you, to do that your felf, which you fay is the only juftifiable Aim of Men differing about Religion, even in the ufe of the fevereft Methods, viz,. Carefully and impartially to -weigh the whole Matter, and thereby to remove that Prejudice which makes you yet favour fome Remains of Per- fecution : Promifing my felf that fo ingenious a Perfon will either be convinced by the Truth which appears fo very clear and evident to me ; or elfe confefs, that, were either you or I in Authority, we fhould very unreafonably and very unjuftly ufe any Force upon the other, which difter'd from him, upon any Pretence of want of Exa- mination. And if Force be not to be ufed in your Cafe or mine, becaufc unreafona- ble, or unjuft ; you will, I hope, think fit that it fhould be forborn in all others, where it will be equally unjuft and unreafonable ; as I doubt not but to make it ap- pear it will unavoidably be, wherc-ever you will go about to punifli Men for want of Confideration. For the true way to try fuch Speculations a$ thefe, is to fee how they will prove when they are reduc'd into Practice. The firft thing you feem ftartled at, in the Author's Letter, is the Largenefs of the Toleration he propofes : And you think it ftrange that he would not have fo much as a Pagan, Malmmetan, or 'jew, excluded fro^n the Civil Rights of the Common-wealth, be- Pag; 'i\ caufe of his Religion. We pray every Day for their Converfion, and I think it our Duty fo to do : But it will, I fear, hardly be believed that we pray in earneft, if we exclude them from the other ordinary and probable Means of Converfion ; either by driving them from, or perfecuting them when they are amongft us. Force, you al- low, is improper to convert Men to any Religion. Toleration is but the removing that Force. So that why thofe fliould not be tolerated as well as others, if you wifh their Converfion, I do not fee. But you fay, Ic feems hard to conceive horu the Author of that Letter fmuld think to do any Service to Religion in general, or to the Chriftian Rc^ ligion, by recommending and perfuading fuch a Toleration. For how much foever itf^a. gj may tend to the Advancement of T'rade and Cotnmerce, (which fome feem to place above all other Co njt derations) J fee no reafon, from any Experiment that has been made, to expeEi that true Religion would be a Gainer by it ; that it would he either the better preferved, the inore widely propagated, or rendered any whit the more fruitful in the Lives of its Profejfors by it. Before I come to your Doubt itfelf, Whether true Vol. IL K k 3 Religion 2.66 -A Second Letter concerning Toleration. Religion would he a Gainer by fuch a 'Toleration; give me leave to take Notice, that if, by othe) Conjiderations, you mean any thing but Religion, your Parcnthcfis is wholly befides the Mattery and that if you do not know that the Author of the Letter places the Advancement of Trade above Religion, your Infinuation is very uncharitable. But I go on. Tou fee no reafcn, you fay, frojn any Experiment that has been made, to expeSl that true Religion -would be a Gainer by it. True Religion and Chriflian Religion are, I fuppofe, to you and me, the fame thing. But of this you have an Experiment in its firfl appearance in the World, and feveral hundreds of Years after. It was then better pre ferv'd, more uidely propagated (in proportion) and render'd more jruitjul in the Lives (f irs Pr of cjf or s,^tha.n ever fincc ; tho' then Jews and Pagans were tolerated, and more than tolerated by the Governments of thofe Places where it grew up. I hope you do not imagine the Chriflian Religion has loft any of its firft Beauty, Force, or Reaf )nablencfs, by having been almoft 2000 Vcnrs in the World ; that you fhould fear it fliculd be lefs ablenow tofhift for it felf, without the help of Force. I doubt not but vou look upon it ftill to be the Poiver and IVifdom of God for our Salvation; and therefore cannot fufpeft it lefs capable to prevail now, by its o;vn Truth and Light, than it did in the firft Ages of the Church, when poor contemptible Men, without Authority, or the Countenance of Authority, had alone the Care of it. This, as I take it, has been made ufe of by Chriftians generally, andby fome of our Church in particular, as an Argument for the Truth of the Chriftian Religion ; that it grew and fpread, and prevailed, without any Aid from Force, or the Affiftance of the Pow- ers in being. And if it be a Mark of the true Religion, that it will prevail by its oivn Light and Strength, (but that falfe Religions will not, but have need of Force, and foreign Helps to fupport them) nothing certainly can be more for the Advantage of true Religion, than to take away Compulfion every where. A.nd therefore it is no more hard to conceive how the Author of the Letter /hould think to do Service to Religion in general, or to the Chriflian Religion, that it is hard toconceive thathe fhould think there is a true Religion, and that the Chriflian Religion is it ; which its Profelfors have al- ways own'd not to need Force, and have urged that as a good Argument to prove the truth of it. The Inventions of Men in Religion need the Force and Helps of Men to fupport them. A Religion that is of God u'ants not the Affiftance of Human Au- thority to make it prevail. I guefs, when this dropp'd from you, you had narrow'd your Thoughts to your own Age and Country : But if you will enlarge them a little be- yond the Qonfine:^ o£ England, I do not doubt but you will eafily imagine that if in Italy, Spain, Portugal^ &c. the Inquifition ; and in France their Dragooning ; and in o- ther Parts thofe Se\erities that are ufed to keep or force Men to the national Re- ligion were taken away ; and inftead thereof the Toleration propos'd by the Author were fet up, the true Religion would be a Gainer by it. The Author of the Letter fays, Truth would do wcS enough, if /he were once left tofhift for her felf She fddoni hath received, and he fears never will receive much Affiftance from the Poiver of great Men, to whom ft}e is rarely known, and more rarely welcome. Errors in- deed prevail, by the Affiftance of foreign and borrowed Succours. Truth makes way into out Under ft anding, by her owti Light, and is but the weaker for any borrowed Force that Violence can add to her. Thefe Words of his (how hard foever they may feem to you) may help you to conceive how he fiould think to do Service to true Religion, by recommending and per- fuading fuch a Toleration as he propofed. And now, pray tell me your felf, ^vhether you do not think True Religion would be a Gainer by it, if fuch a Toleration efta- blifli'd there, would permit the Doftrine of the Church of England to be freely preached, and its Worfhip fet up, in any Popifh, Mahumetan, or Pagan Country ? If you do not, you have a very ill Opinion of the Religion of the Church of England, and muft own that it can only be propagated and fupported by Force. If you think it would gain in thofe Countries, by fuch a Toleration, you are then ot the Au- thor's Mind, and do not find it fo hard to conceive how the recommending fuch a To- leration, might do Service to that which you think True Religion. But if you allow fuch a Toleration ufeful to Truth in other Countries, you muft find fomething very pe- culiar in the Air, that muft make it lefs ufeful toTru.th m England. And 'twill favour of much Partiality, and be too abfurd, I fear, for yciu to own, that Toleration will be advantageous to True Religion all the World ov^r, except only in this Ifland ; Though, I muchfufpeft, this, as abfurd as it is, lies at the bottom; and you build all you fay, upon this lurking Suppofition, that the national Religion now m England, back'd A Second Letter concerning Toleration. xfSv back'd by the Publick Authority of the Law, is the only true Religion, and therefore no other is robe tolerated, Wliich being a Supnofition, equally unavoidable, and equally juft in other Countries, (unlefs we can imagine that every where but in Eng-' land Men believe what at the fame time they think to be a Lie) will in other Places exclude Toleration, and thereby hinder Truth from the means of propagating it felf. What the Fruits of Toleration are, which in the next Words you complain do remain fij II among us, and which you fay £/w no Encouragement to hope for any Advantages from it; what Fruits, I fay, thefe are, or whether they are owing to the want orwide- ncfs of Toleration among us, we fhall then be able to judge, when you tell us what they are. In the mean time I will boldly fay, that if the Magiflrates will fe- verelyand impartially fet themfelves againft Vice, in whomfoever it is found, and leave Men to their own Confciences, in their Articles of Faith, and Waysof Wor- Ihip ; True Religion will be fprcad -wider, and be ?nore fruitful in the Lives of its Profef- fors, than ever hitherto it has been, by the Impofition of Creeds and Ceremonies. You tell us, that no Man can fail of finding the way to Salvation, who feeks it as he Pag; j\ ought. I wonder you had not taken notice, in the Places you quote for this, how ive are direfted there to the right way of feeking. The Words (John vii. 17.) are; If any Man will do his Will, he JJmU know of the DoElrine whether it be of Cod. And, Pfalm XXV. 9. 12, 14. which are alfo quoted by you, tell us. The Meek will he guide in Judgment, and the Meek zvill he teach his Way. What Man is he that feareth the Lord, him pall he teach in the way that he Jlmll chufe. The Sea-et of the Lord is zuith them that fear hi?n, and he will fiew them his Covenant. So that thefe Places, if they prove what you cite them for, that no Man can fail of finding the Way of Salvation, who feeks it as he ought ; they do alfo prove, that a good Life is the only Way to feek as we ought, and that therefore the Magiftrates, if they would put Men upon feekirg the Way of Salvation as they ought, fhould, by their Laws and Penalties, force them to a good Life : A good Converfation being the readieft and fureft Way to a right Underftanding. Punifhments and Severities thus apply^d, we are fure, are both practicable, juft, andufeful. How Punifhments will prove in the way you contend for, we fhall fee when we come to confidcr it." Having given us thefe broad Marks of your Good-will to Toleration, you tell us, PagT 3^ ' 'Tis not your Defign to argue againft it, but only to enquire what our Author offers for the proof of his AJfertion. And then you give us this Scheme of his Argument. 1 . There is but one Way of Salvation, or but one True Religion. 2. No Man can be faved by this Religion, who does not believe it to be the True Religion'. 5. This Belief is to be wrought in Men by Reafon and Argument, not by outward Force and Compulfiun. 4. Therefore all fuch Force is utterly of no ufe for the promoting True Religion, and the Salvation of Souls. 5 . And therefore no body can have any Right to ufe any Force or Coinpulfion, for the bring-^ ing Men to the True Religion. And you tell us, the whole Strength of what that Letter urged for the Purpofe of it, lies in this Argument, which I think you have no more reafon to fay, than if you flrould tell us, that only one Beam of a Houfe had any Strength in it, when there are feveral others that would fupport the Building, were that gone. The Purpofe of the Letter is plainly to defend Toleration, exempt from all Force ; efpecially civil Force, or the Force of the Magiftrate. Now if it be a true Confe- quence that Men mufl: be tolerated, if Magiftrates have no Commiffion or Authority to punifij them for Matters oj Religion; then the only ftrength of the Letter lies not in the Unfitnefs of Force to convince Mens Underftanding. Vid. Let. p. 234. Again ; If it be true that Magiftrates being as liable to Error as the reft of Mankind, their ufing of Force in Matters of Religion, would not at all advance the Salvation of Man- kind, (allowing that even Force could work upon them, and Magiftrates had Au- thority to ufe it in Religion) then the Argument you mention is not the only one in that Letter, of ftrength to prove the Nece(fity of Toleration. V. Let. p. 235. For the Argument of the unfitnefs of Force to convince Mens Minds being quite taken away, either of the other would be a ftrong Proof for Toleration. But let us con- fider the Argument as you have put it. The two fir ft Propofitions, you fay, >'o« agree to. As to the third, you grant thatVzg.^^ Force is very improper to be ufedto induce the Mind to ajjent to any Truth. But yet you deny. ^^* , 4 ^^tond Letter concerning To le r a t i on. deny, that Force 'is jitierly ufekfs for the promoting true Religion, and the Sahatiok 0/ mens Souls ; v;]iich you call tlic Autlior's ^th Piopofition ; but indeed that is not the Author^s, ^fjj Propofition, or aiiy Propofition of his, to be found in the Pages you quote, or any where elfe in the whole Letter, either in thofe Terms, or in tlieSenfe y^'l take it. In the 245^/7 Page, which you quote, the Author is fhewing that the iviagiftrate has no Power, that is not Right, to make ufe of Force in Matters of Religion, for the Salvation of Mens Souls. And the Reafon he gives for it there, is, becaule Force has no Efficacy to convince Mens Minds; and that without a full perfuafion of Mind, the ProfelTion of the true Religion it felf is not ac- ceptable to God. Upon this Ground, fays he, / affirm that the Magiflrate's Powe;' extends not to the eflallifking any Articles of Faith, or Forms of TVorJloip, by the Force of his Laws. For Laws are of no Force at all without Ptnahies ; and Penalties in this cafe are abfolutely impertinent, becaufe they are not proper to convince the Mind. And fo again, Pag. 243. which is the other Place you quote, the Author fays; Whatfoever may be doubted in Religion, yet this at lea/l is certain ; that no Religion which I believe not to he true, can he either true, or profitable unto me. In vain therefore do Princes compel their Stib^eBs to come into their Chur:h-Com?nunion, under the Pretence of faving their Souls. And more to this Purpofe. But in neither of thofe Paflages, nor any where elfe, that I remember, does the Author fay that it is impoffible that Force fhould any way, at any time, upon any Perfon by any Accident, be ufeful towards the pro- moting of true Religion, and the Salvation of Souls ; for that is it which you mean by utterly of no ufe. He does not deny that there is any thing which God in hisGood- rcfs does not, or may not, fometimcs, gracioufly make ufe of, towards the Salvation of Mens Souls (as our Saviour did of Clay and Spittle to cure Blindnefs) and that To, Force alfo may be fometimes ufeful. But that which he denies, and you grant, is, that Force has any /'i'o/ie/-£^tv7(,7 to enlighten the Underftanding, or produce Be- lief. And from thence he infers, that therefore the Magiftrate cannot lawfully com- pel Men in Matters of Religion. This is what the Author fays, and what I ima- gine will always hold true, whatever you or any one can fay or think to the contrary. Pag. 15. That which you fay is. Force indirecily, and at a difiance may do fome Service. What }'ou mean by doing fervice at a difiance, towards the bringing Men to Salvation, or to embrace the "Truth, I confefs I do not underftand ; unlefs perhaps it be what o- thers, in Propriety of Speech, callhy Accident. But be it what it will, it is fuch a Service as cannot be afciibed to the direct and proper Efficacy of Force. And fo, fay you. Force, indirecily, and at a difiance, may do fome Service. I grant it : Make your bed of it. What do vou conclude from thence, to your Purpofe ? That there- fore the Magiftrate may make ufe of it ? That I deny, that fuch an indirect, and at a difiance Ufefulnef, will authorize the Civil Power in the ufe of it, that will never be prov'd. Lofs of Eftate and Dignities may make a proud Man humble : Sufferings and Imprifonment may make a wild and debauch'dMan fober : And fo thefe things may indirecily, and at a difiance, be ferviceable towards the Salvatirn of Mens Souls. I doubt i:ot but God has made fome, or all of thefe, the Occafiuns of good to many Men. But will you therefore infer, that the Magiftrate may take away a Man's Honour, or Eftate, or Liberty, for the Salvation of his Soul; or torment him in this, that he may be happy in the other World ? What is otherwife unlawful in it felf (as it certainly is to punifli a JvLin without a Fault) can never be made lawful by fome Good that, indirecily, and at a diflance, or if you pleafe, indirecily and by accident, may follow from it. Running a Man through may fave his Life, as it has done by chance, openingalurkinglmpofthumc. But will you fay therefore, that this is lawful,' juftifiable Clururgery ? The Gallies, 'tis like, might reduce many a vain, loofePro- teftant to Repentance, Sobriety of Thought, and a true Senfe of Religion : And the Torments they fuffer'd in the late Perfecution, might make feveral confider the Pains of Hell, and put a due cftimate of Vanity and Contempt on allthingsof this World. But will you fay, becaufe thofe Punilliments might, indireEily, and at a Difiance, ferve to the Salvation of Mens Souls, that therefore the King of France had Right and Authority to make ufe of them > If your indireEl and at a difiance Serviceablenefs, may authorize the Magiftrate to ufe Force in Religion, all the Cruelties ufed by the Heathens againft Chriftians, by Papifts againft Protcftants, and all theperfe- cuting of Chriftians one amongft another, are all juftifiable. But what if I fliould tell you now of other Effet3:s, contrary Effefts, that Punifh- ments in Matters of Religion may produce; andfomay ferve to keep Men from the Truth A Second Letter concerning T o l l e r a t i o x. 2^3 Truth and from Sahation ? What then will become of your mlirecl and at adijlame Ufefii/nefs ; For in all Pleas for any thing becaufe of its Ufefulmfs, it is not enough to fay as you do, (and is the utmoft that can be faid for it) that it may be fervkea-'Pag. ij; l>/e : But it mull be confidered not only what it may, but what it is likely to pro- duce. And the greater Good or Harm likely to come from it, ought to determine of the Ufe of it. To fliew you what Effefts one may expeft from Force, of what Vjefiilnefs it is to bring Mm to embrace the Tlttth, be pleafed to rend what you your felf have writ. / cannot but remark, fay you, that thefe Methods (viz. difrivii?g-p^g_ x^;; Men of their Eftates, corporal Punifiments, ftarving and tormenting them in Prifons, and in the End even taking away their Lives, to make them Chriftians) are fo very i/n- f roper in refpecl to the Dejign of them, that they nfually produce the quite contrary Effe"^. For whereas all the Ufe which Force can have for the advancing true Religion, and the Salvation of Souls, is (as has already been fiewed) by difpojing Men to fubmit to In- flruciion ; and to give a fair Hearing to the Reajons which are offer' d for the enlight- ning their Minds, and difcovering the Truth to them ; thefe Cruelties have the Misfor- tune to be commonly look'd upon m fo juft a Prejudice againfl any Religion that ufes them, as -makes it needkfs to look any farther into it ; and to tempt Men to rejeB it, as both falfe and deteflable without ever vouchfafng to confder the rational Grounds and Motives of it. T'his Effecl they feldom fail to work upon the Sufferers of them. And as to the Spectators, if they be not beforehand well infirucled in thofe Grounds and Mo- tives, they will be much tempted likewife, not only to entertain the fame Opinion of fuch a Religion, but withal to judge much more favourably of that of the Sufferers ; who, they will be apt to think, would not expofe themfelves to fuch Extremities, wine!) they might avoid by Compliance, if they were not thoroughly fatisfy'd of the f^fiice of their Caufe. Here then you allow that taking away Mens Efiates, or Liberty, and Corpo- ral Punifiments, are apt to drive away both Suffrers and Spectators, from the Re- , ligon that makes ufe of them, rather than to it. And ib tliefe you renounce. Now if you give up Punifliments of a Man, in his Perfon, Liberty, and Eftate, I think we need not ftand with you, for any other Puniflmients that may be made ufe of. But, by what follows, it feems you flielter your felf vuuler the Name of Severities. For moderate Punifiments, as you call them in another Place, you th\nk ?nay be ferviceable ; indireEily, and at a Difiance ferviceable, to bring Men to the Truth. And I fay, any fort of Punifliments difproportion'd to the Offence, or where there is no Fault at all, will alwa.y she Severity, unjuftifiable Severity, and will be thought fo by the Sufferers and By-ftanders ; and fo will ifually produce the Effects you have mention 'd, contrary to the Defign they are ufed for. Not to profeis the National Faith, whilft one believes it not to be true; nor to enter into the Church- Communion with the Magiftrate,as long as one judges the Doftrine there profefs'd to be erronlous, or the Worfhip not fuch as God lias either prefcrib\l, or will ac- cept ; this you allow, and all the World with you muft allow, not to be a Fault. But yet you would have Men puniflied for not being of the National Religion j that is, as you your felf confefs, for no Fault at all. Whether this be not Severity, nay fo open and avow'd Injuftice, that it will give Men a jtifi Prejudice againfl the Religi- Pacr. j t,' en that ufes it, and produces all thofe ill Effefts you there mention, I leave you to confider. So that the Name of Severities, in Oppofition to the moderate Puniflnnents you fpeak for, can do you no Service at all. For where there is no Fault, there can be no moderate Punijhment : All Punifliment is immoderate, where there is no Fault to be punifhed. But of your ?noderate Pnnifljment vv^e Ihall have Occafion to fpeak more in another Place. It fuffices here to have fliewn, that, whatever Punifliments you ufe, they are as likely to drive Men from the Religion that ufes them, as to bring them to the Truth j and much more likely i as we fliall fee be- fore we have done : And fo, by your own Confellion, they are not to be uled. One thing in this Palfage of the Author, it feems, appears «/^»- A Second Letter concerning Toleration. it vpould be tifcful to rouze and awaken Men if one flioukl come to diem from the Dead. But he was miftakcn. And vve are tolu, that if Men \\ ill nut hearken to Mo- fes and the Prophets, the Means appointed, neither will the Strangenel's nor Terror of one coming from the Dead perfuadc them. If what we are apt to think ufeful, were thence to be concluded fo, we fhould (1 iear) be obliged to believe the Miracles pre- tended to by the Church of Rurne. For Miracles, we know, were once tifeful for the promoting true Religion, and the Salvation of Souls ; which is more than you can fay for your political Punifliments : But yet we muft conclude that God thinks them not ufelulnow; iinlefi lue ujill fay (that which ■without J/npiety cannot be /aid) that 4he -wijc and benign Difpofer and Governor of all "Things does not now ufe all ufeful Means for promoting his own Honour in the World, and the Good oj Souls. I think this Confe- quencewill hold, as well as what you draw in near the fame Words. Let us not therefore be more wife than our Maker, in that flupendious and fuper- natural Work of our Salvation. The Scripture, that reveals it to us, contains all that we can know, or do, in order to it : and where that is lilent, 'tis in us Prefump- tion to direft. When you can fhew any Commiflion in Scripture, for the ufe of Force to compel Men to hear, any more than to embrace the Doctrines of others that dift'er from them, we fliall have reafon to fubmit to it, and the Magiftrate have fome ground to fet up this new way of Periecution. But till then, "twill be fit for Mark 4. us to obey that Precept of the Gofpel, ^vhich bids us take heed what we hear. So that 24. hearing is not always fo ufeful as you fuppofe. If it had, we fliould never have had fo direft a Caution againft it. 'Tis not any imaginary Ufefulnefs, you can fuppofe, which can make that a punilhable Crime, which the Magiftrate was never autho- rized to meddle with. Go and teach all Nations, was a Commiffion of our Saviour's : But there was not added to it, Punifli thole that will not hear and confider what you fay. No, but if they will not receive you,J}}ake off the Dufi of your Feet ; leave them, and apply your felves to fome others. And St. Paul knew no other Means to make Men hear, but the Preaching of the Gofpel ; as will appear to any one -(vho will read Romans the loth, 14, &c. Faith comet h by Hearing, and Hearing by the Word of God. You go on, a^d in favour of yAir beloved Force, you tell us it is not only ufeful Pas. 6. but needful. And here, after having at large, in the four following Pages, fet out the Negligence or Averfion, or other Hinderances that keep Men from examining, with that Application and Freedom of fudgnmit xhty fjoiild, the Grounds upon which xhty take up and perffl in their Religion, you come to conclude Force neceflajy. Your Words Pag. 10. are: If ]\Ien are generally averfe to a due Confideration of "Things, where they are mo^i concerned to uje it ; if they ufually take up their Religion without examining it as they ought, and then grow fo opiniati-je and fo fliff in their Prejudice, thai neither ths gen" tlefl Adtmnitions, nor the moft earnefi Intrenties, fliall ever prevail with them afterwards to do it ; what Aleans is there left (bejides the Grace oj God) to reduce thofe of them that are got into a wrong M/'ay, but to lay Thorns and Briars in it? That fmce they are deaf to all Perfuafions, 'the Uneafmefs they meet with may at leafi put thetn to a /land, and incline them to lend an Ear to thofe who tell them they have mijlaken their Way, and offer to Jheji) them the right Way. What Means is there left, fay you, but Force. What to do ? To reduce Mm, who are out of it, into the right Way. So you tell us here. And to that, I fay, there is other Means befides Force ; that which was appointed and made ufe of from the beginning, the Preaching of the Gofpel. But, fay you, to make them hear, to ?nake them confider, to make them examine, there is no other Means but Punifliment ; and therefore it is neceffary. I anfwer. ijl. What if God, for Rcafons beft known to himfelf, would not have Mencompell'd to hear; but thought the good Tidings of Salvation, and the Propo- fals of Life and Death, Means and Inducements enough to make themhear, and con- fider, now as well as heretofore? Then your Means, your Punifiments, are not necel- fary. What if God would hav.e Men left to their Freedom in this Point, if they will hear, or if they will forbear, will you conftrain them ? Thus we are fure he did Ezek. II. with his own People : And this wlien they were in Captivity: And 'tis very like were S 7' ill treated for being of a different Religion from the National, and fo were puniflied as DilTenters. Yet then God expefted not that thofePunifhmentsfhould force them to hearken more than at other times : As appears hy Ez,ek. 3. 11. And this aUo is the Metiiod of the Gofpel. We are A7nbaffadors forChrijl ; as if God did befeech byus,-n3e pray in Chri/i's/kad, fays St. Paul, 2 Cor. 5. 20. If God had thought it necelfary to have Men punilh'd to make them give Ear, hs could have call'd Magiftrates to be Spreaders end A Second Letter concerning Toleratioi^. '^fa and Minidcrs of the Gofpcl, as wellaspoor Fiflicr-mcn, or A?/// a Pcrfecutor, who yet wanted not Power to punifli, where Punifhment was necttifary, as is evident iii Ananias and Suppl.nra, and tlie mct^uows Corinthian. idly. \\ hat if God, foreieeing this Force n^ould be in the Hands of Men as pafjlo^ Kate, as Innnmiyfome, as lial^le to the PycJudiiL' and Errur as the I'cft of their Brethren did not think it a proper Means to bring Men into //;^ right IVay ? ^dly. What if there be other Means? Then yours ceaies to be ncceflary, upon the account tliat there is no Means left. For you your fcif allow, That the Grace ofGod is another Means. And I fuppofc you will not deny it to be both a proper and lufli- cient Means ; and which ismore, theonly Means; fuch Means as can work by itlelf, and without which all the Force in the World can do nothing. God alone can open the Ear that it may hear, and open the Heart that it may underftand : and this he does in his own good Time, and to whom he is gracioully pleas'd ; but not accord in" to the Will and Fancy of Man, when he thinks fit, by PuniHiments, to compel his Brethren. If God has pronounced againft any Perlbn or People, wliat he did acraiiift the yews, (If. 6. lo.) Make the Heart of this People fat, and make their Ears heavy, and Jhut their Eyes ; le/i they fee ivith their Eyes, and hear zvith their Ears, and underftand -with their Hearts, and convert, and be healed : Will all the Force you can ufe, be a Means to make them hear and underftand, and be converted ? But, Sir, to return your Argument ; You fee no other Means left (taking theJVorld as we now find it) to make Men throughly and impartially examine a Religion, which they embraced upon fuch Inducements as ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, and with lit- tle or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it. And thence you conclude the ufe of Force by the Magiftrate upon Dilfenters, neceffary. And, I fay, / fee no other Means left (taking the IVorld cu %ve now find it, wherein the Magiflrates never lay Penalties, for Matters of Religion, upon thofe of their own Church, nor is it to be expeiSed they ever fhould ;) to make Men of the National Church, any where, through- ly and impartially examine a Religion, which they embraced upon fuch InduceTfiems cis ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, and therefore with little or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it. And therefore, I conclude the ufe of Force by Dilfenters upon Con- formifts neceflary. I appeal to the World, whether this be not as juft and natural a Conclufion as yours. 'Jhough, if you will have my Opinion, I think the more r other Mens j and I grant the End is good, if you can find the Means to procurf; it. But why it fhould not be put out of the Power of other Mens Hu- mour oi- Prejudice, as well as their own, wants (and will always want) a Rcafon to provp. Would it not, I befeech you, to an indifferent By-[lander, appear /fttwozo- or Pre- judke, or ibmething as bad; to fee Men, who profeis a Religion reveal'd from Hea- ven, and which they own contains all in it neceffary to Salvation, exclude Men from tneir Comm.union, and perfecute them with the Penalties of the Civil Law, for not joining in the ui'e of Ceremonies which are nowhere tobc found in that reveal'd Reli- gion ? Would it not appear Humour or Prejudice, or fomc fuch thing, to a fober impartial Heathen ; to fee Chriftians exclude and perfecute one of the fame Faith for Things which they themfelves conlefs to be indifferent, and not worth conten- ding for ? Prejudice, Humotir, Pajjlon, Lujls, Imprejpuns of Education, Reverence aiid Pug. 6.j^ Admiration of Perfvns, worldly Refjpetls, Love of their own Choice, and the like, (to which 8, 9, lo. you juftly impute many Mens taking up, and perfifting in their Religion) are in- deed good Words ; and fo, on the other fide, are thefe following ; Truth, the right MAiy, enlightning Reafon, found Judgment ; but they fignify nothing at all to your Pur- poie, till you can evidently and unqueftionably fliew the World that the latter (viz. Truth and the right Way, ijc) are always, and in all Countries, to be found only in the National Church ; and the former (viz. Pajfion and Prejudice, Sec.) only amongft the Dilfenters. But to go on : Sometimes it is, To bring Men to take fuch care as they ought of their Salvation. What p^g 22' Ca}e is fuch as Min ought to take, vvhilft they are out of your Church, will be hard for you to tell me. But you endeavour to explain your felf, in the followino- Words ; that they may not blindly leave it to the Choice neither of any other Perfon, nor yet of their own Lujls and Palfions, to prefcribe to them what Faith or what JVoifnp they flmll embrace. You do well to maJce ufe of Punifhment to fhut Pajfion out of the Choice : becaufc you know fear of Suffering is no Pajfion. But let that pafs. You would have Men puriiflicd, to bring tlmn to take fuch Care of their Salvation, that they may not blindly leave it to the Choice of any other Perfon to prefcribe to them* Are you fincere ? Are you in earneft ? Tell mc then truly : Did the Magiftrate or Natio- nal Church, anywhere, or yours in particular, ever punifli any Man, tobringhim to have this Care vvhich, you lay, he ought to take oj his Salvation ? Did you ever pu- nifh any Man, that he might not blindly leave it to the Choice of his Parifh-Prieft or Bifllop, or the Convocation, what Faith or Worfnp he fmild e7nbrace ? 'Twill be fuf- peded Care of a Party, or any thing elfe rather than Care of the Salvation of Mens Souls; if, having found out fo ufeful, fo ncccjfary a Remedy, the only Method there /> Pag. 12,' room left for, you will apply it but partially, and make Trial of it only on thofewho you have truly leaft Kindnefs for. This will, unavoidably, give one Reafon to ima- gine, you do not think fo well of your Remedy as you pretend, who are fo fparing of it to your Friends ; but are very free of it to Strangers, who in other Things are " ufed very much like Enemies. But your Remedy is like the Helleborafier, that grew in the Woman's Garden for the cure of Worms in her Neighbour's Children : For truly it wrought too roughly, to give it to any of her own. Methinks your Chari- ty, in yourprefent Perlecution, is much what as prudent, as juftifiable, as that good Woman's. I hope I have done you no Injury, that I here fuppofe you of the Church of England. If I have, I beg your Pardon. It is no Offence of Malice, I affure you : For I fuppofe no worfe of you, than I confefs of my felf. Sometimes this Punifhment that you contend for, is to bring Men to a^ according to P^a. 22.' Reafon and found Judgment. Terti/a e Coc'o ceciditCato. Vol II. M m 2 This 2 7*5 ^ Second Letter concerning Toleration. This is Reformation indeed. If you can help us to it, you will defene Statues to be erected to you, as to the Reftorer of decay'd Religion. But if all Men have nor kcajm unci foimd 'yutlg}iwit, -vvill Punifliment put it into them ? Befides, concerning this Matter, Mankind is fo divided, that he ails according to Realvn aud jouKd'Judg- 7hi.iuatAushuyg, who would be judged to do the quite contrary at Ed'mhurgh. Will Punifliment make Men know what is Reufvn and Joitnd 'Judgment ^ If it will not, 'tis inipofliblc it fhould make them a^ according to it. Ren/on and found judgment are the Elisir it felf, the univerfal Remedy : And you may as reafonably punifli Men to bring Pag. 26, them to have the Philofopher's Stone, as to bring them to a^l aaording to Reafon and fuiihd Judgnnm. Sometimes it is, To put Men upon a ferimts and impartial Examination of the Con-' troverfy befxecn the Magijlrate and them, r^hich is the ii'ay jor them to come to the Kno-j^ledge of the "Truth. But what if the Truth be on neither fide (as I am apt to imagine you will think it is not, where neither the Magiftrate nor the Dilfenter is cither of them of your Church} how will the examining the Cvntroiierfy betv:een the Magijlrate and him be the zvay to come to the Knowledge of tlte Trtith ? Suppofe the Con- trbv erfy between a Lutheran and a Papift ; or, if you pleafe, between a Presbyterian Magiflratc and a Quaker Subjcdt, IVill the examining the Controverfy between the Ma- giftrate and the Dijfenting Subject, in this Cafe, bring him to the Kno-wledge of the Truth? If you fay yes, tlien you grant one of thei'e to have the Truth on his fide. For the examining the Controverfy between a Presbyterian and a Quaker,Ieaves the Controver- fy either of them as with the Church oi' England, or any other Church, untouched. And fo one, at leaft, of thofc being already cv7ne to the Knowledge of the Truth, ought not to be put under your Difcipline of Punifliment ; which is only to bring him to the Truth. If you fay no, and that the examining the Controverfy between the Magijlrate and the Diffenter, in this Cafe, will not bring him to the Knowledge of the Truth; you confefs your Rule to be falfe, and your Method to no Purpofe. To conclude, your Syftem is, in fliort, this . You would have all Men (laying afide Prejudice, Honour, Paffion, dTf. ) examine the Grounds 0/ their Religion, and fearch for the Truth. 'Jhis, I confefs, is heartily to be wifh'd. The Means that you propofe to make Men do this, is that Dilfenters fliould be punifhed to make them do fo. It is as if you had faid : Men generally are guilty of a Fault ; therefore let one Scft, who have the ill luck to be of an Opinion dirfercnt from the Magiftrate, be punifhed. This at hrft fight fhocks any who has the leaft fpark of Senfe, Reafon or Juftice. But ha- ving fpoken of this already, and concluding that upon fecond Thoughts, you your felf will be afhamed of it ; let us confider it put fo as tobe confiftent with common Senfe, and with all the Advantage it can bear; and then let us fee what you can make of it. Alcir are negligent in examining the Religions they embrace, refuje, or perjijl in ; therefore it is fit they jI}ould be piinijljed to make them do it. This is a Confcquence indeed which may without defiance to common Senfe, be drawn from it. This is the Ufe, the only Ulc, which you think Puniflinent can indirectly, and at a dijiance ha\e, in Mat- ters of Religion. You would have Men by Pun ifliments driven to examine. What? R'Aigivn. 'Jo what End ? to bring them to the Knowledge of the Truth. But I anfwer. Fiijl, Every one has not tlie Ability to do this. Secondly, Every one has not the Opportunity to do it. Would you have every poor Proteftant, for Example, In the Palatinate, examine throughly ; whcth.cr the Pope be infallible ; or Head of the Church whether there be a Purgatory; whether Saints are to be pray'd to, or the Dead pray'd for; whether the Scripture be the only Rule of Faith ; whether there be no Salvation out of the Chuich ; and whether there be no Church without Bifliops ; and an hundred other Qiicftions in Controverfy between the Papiftts and thofe Proteftants; and when he had mafter'd thei'e, go on to fortify himfelf againft the Opinions and Objections of other Churches he diflcrs from? This, which is no fmall Task, muftbedone; before a Man can hav e brought his Religion to the Bar oj Reafon, and given it a fair Trial there. And if you will punifli Men till this be done; the Countryman muft leave otf plowing and fowing, and betake himfelf to the ftudy of Greek and Latin ; and the Artifan muft fell his Tools, to buy Fathers and School-men, and leave his Family to ftarve. If fomething Ids than this will fatisfy you, pray tell me what is enough. Have they confidercd and examined enough, if they arefatisfied thcmfelves where the Truth lies. ^ If this be the Limits of their Examinaii m, you will find few to punifli; unlefs you will punifli them to make them do vvhat they have dong already. For, however he came A Second Lcito' concerning ToLT.p.ATiON. 27*/ came by his Religion, there is fcarce any one to be found who does not own him- felf fatisfied that he is in the right. Or elfe, muft tliey be puniflied to make them amjider and examine till they embrace that which )ou choofe for Truth? If this be io, what do you but in eftecS; choofe for them, when yet you u'ould have Men puniflied, To bring them to fucb a Care of their Souls, that no other Per/on might ^i^i- ~~^ choofe for them? Kit be Truth in general you would have them by Puniflimcnts dri- ven to feek; that is to offer Matter of Difpute, and not a Rule of Difciplinc. For to punifh any one to make him feektill he find Truth, without a Judge of Truth; is to punilh for you know not what; and is all one as it you fhould whip a Scholar to make him find out the fquare Root of a Number you do not knou'. I wonder not therefore that you could not refolve with your felt what Degree of Severity you would have ufed, nor how long continued ; when you dare not fpeak out directly whom you would have puniflied, and are tar from being clear to what End they ftiould be under Penalties. Confonant to this Uncertainty, of whom, or what to be puniflied ; you tell us, T'hat there is m quefiion of the Succefs of this Method. Fone -will certainly do, 7/ y mo-'^^a j,' derate Penalties. They lie under them ; but whether they have confider'd or no (for 14, that you cannot tell,) they flill continue Dilienters. What is to be done no^\ ? Why, the incurable are to he left to God, as you tell us, P. 12. Your Punifhmeiics were not meant to prevail en the defperatcly Perverje and Objiinate, as you tell us here. And ib whatexer be the Succefs, your Punifliments are however juflified. You have given us in another Place, fomething like another Boundary to your moderate Penalties : But when examined, it proves ^ufl like the reft, trifling only, in good Words, fo put togd!ther as to have no direft Meaning,' an Art very much in trfe amongft fome fort of learned Men. The Words are thefe ; Such Penalties m pan. 26, may not te?npt Perfous who have any Concern for their Eternal Salvation, (and thofe who have none, ought not to be confidered) to renounce a Rcligioti -which they believe to be true, or profefs ine -which they do not believe to be fo. If by any dm^ern, you meaq a true, Concern for their Eternal Salvation, by this Rule you may make your Punifliijients as gi'eat as you plcafe ; and all the Severities you have diklaim'd may be brought in play again : For none of thofe will be able to make a Man, -j:ho is truly concerned Jar his Eternal Salvation, renounce a Religion he believes, to be true, or profefs tne he dees not believe to be fo. If by thofe -who have any Concern, you mean fuch who have fome faint Wifhes for Happinefs hereafter, and would be glad to have Things go well with them in the other World, but will venture nothing in this World for it ,• thefe the moderateft Punifliments you can imagine, will make change their Religion. If by any Concern, you mean whatever may be between thefe two ; ehe Degrees are fo infinite, that to proportion your Punifliments by that, is to have no Meafure of them at all. One thing I cannot but take notice of in this Paffage, before I leave it : And that is that ycu fay here, T'ljofe -who have no Concern for their Salvation, deferve not to be ccnjidered. In oilier Parts of your Letter you pretend to have Companion on the Carelefs, and piovide Remedies for them : But here, of a fudden, your Charity fails you ; and you give them up to Eternal Perdition, without the leaft Regard, the leaft Pity, and iliy ti^ey deferve not to be confdercd. Our Saviour's Rule was, 'the Jick, and not the -whole, need a Phyficinn. Your Rule here is, Thofe that are Carelefs, are not to be confidered, but are to be left to themfelves. This would feem ftrange, if one did not obl'crve what drew you to it. You pcrceiv'd that if the Magiftrate was to uie no Punifliments but fuch as would make no body change their Religion, he was to ufe none at all : For the Carelefs would be brought to the National Church, with any flight Punifliments ; and when thev are once there, you ai'e, it feems, fatisfied, and look no farther after them. So that by your own Mea- fures, // the Carelifs, and thoje uV';o have no Concern for their Eternal Salvation, are to be regarded and taken care of; if the Salvation of their Souls is to be promoted, there is to be no Punifliments ufedatall : And therefore you leave them outaswt to be conjidered. There remains yet one thing to enquired into, concerning the Meafure of the Punifliments, and that is the length of their Duration. Moderate Punijhmems that are continued, tliat Men find no end of, know no way out of, fit heavy, and become immoderately uneafy. D.'Jfenters you would ha\e puniflxd, to make them confider. Your Penalties have had the Erfeft on them you intended ; they have made them confider ; and they have done their utmoft in conlidering. What now muft be done with them ? They muft be punifh'd on ; for they are ftill Diffenters. If it were juft, if you had reafon at firft to punifli a Diflenter, to make him confider, when you did not know but that he had coufdered already ; it is as juft, and you have as much realon to punifli him on, even when he has perform'd what your Punifliments was deligned for, when he has confidered, but yet remains a Diffentei*. For I may juftly luppofc, and you muft grant, that a Man may remain a Diflenter, after 2.8o A Second Letter concerning Toleration. after all the Confiderations yotlr moderate Penalties can bring him to ; when we fee greater Punifhmcnts, even thofe Severities you diibwiij as too great, are notable to make Men confider ib far as to be convinced, and brought over to the National Church. It" your Punilhments may not be inflidcd on Men, to make them confider, who have, or may ha\e confidercd already for ought you know; then Diffenters are never to be once puniflicd, no more than any other ibrt of Men. If Difleniers are to be puniflved, to make them confider, vvhether they have confidered or no; then their Pu- nilTiments, tho" they do coH/^fr,muft never ceal'e, as long as they are DifTenters, which whether it be to punifh them only to bring them to conlider, let all Men judge. This I am fure; Punifhments, in your Method, muft either never begin upon Diifcnters, or never ceafe. And fo pretend Moderation as you pleafe, the Punilhments which your Method requires, muft be either very immoderate, or none at all. And now,you having yielded to our Author,and that upon very good Reafons which P^g- ^h yo" your ^'^^^ urge, and which I fhall fet down in your own Words, T'lmt to profecute ^4' Men with Fire and Sxuord, or to deprive them of their Eflates, to maim the?n -with cor- poral Puniflments, to ftarve and torture them in noifom Prifons, and in the end even to take away their Lives, to make them Chrifiians, is but an ili waj of expreffing Mens Dejire of the Salvation of tiiofe whom they treat in this manner. And that it will be very dijfi- tuh to perfuade Men of Senfe, that he who with dry Eyes and jatisfaclion of Mind can deli- ver his Brother to the Executioner, to be bhrnt alive, does fence-rely and heartily concern himfelf to five that Brother from the Flames oj Hell in the IVorld to come. And that ihefe Methods are fo very improper, in refpeti to the Defegn of them, that they ufually produce the quite contrary Effecl. For whereas all the life which Force can have for the advancing true Religion, and the Salvation of Souls, is (as has already been Jhewed) by difpofeng Men to fubrnit to Infirticiion, and to give a fair Hearing to the Reafons which Oi-e offered, for the enlightniiig their Minds, and dijcovering the T'ruth to them, thefe Cruel- ties have the misfortune to be commonly look'd upon as fo jufl a Prejudice againfe: any Re- ligion that ife them, as makes it needlefs to look any farther into it ; and to tempt Men to reje^ it, as both falfe and deteflable, without ever vouchfafing to confider the rational Grounds and Motives oj it. "This EffeB they Jeldom fail to work upon the Sufferers of them; and as to the Speclators, if they be not before-hand well infiruSied in thofe Grounds and Motives, they will be much tempted likewife, not only to entertain the fame Opinion offuch a Religion, lut withal to judge much more favourable of that oj the Sufferers : who they will be apt to think, would not expofe themfelves to fuch Extremities, which they might avoid by Compliance, if they were not throughly fatisfeed of the Juftice of their Caufe. And upon thefe Reafons you conclude. That thefe Severities are utterly unapt and improper for the bringing Men to eynbrace that T'ruth which muft fave them. Again, you have Paf. 21. acknowledged, T'hat the Authority of the Magife:rate is not an Authority to compel any one Pag. 2^. to his Religion. And again, T^hat the Rigor of Laws, and Force oj Penalties are not capa- Pag. 2'5. ble to convince aiid change Mens minds. And yet farther, "That you do nut require that Men flmild have no Rule, but the Religion of the Court ; or that they foould be put un- der a Neceffity to quit the Light of their own Reafon, and oppofe the Diiiates oj their ozvn Confciences, and blindly refign up themfelves to the IVill of their Governors ; but that the Power you afcribe to the Magi/irate, is given him to bring Men not to his 6wn, but to. the true Religion. Now you having, I fay, granted this, whereby you direftly condemn and abolifli all Laws that have been made here, or any where elfe (that ever I heard of) to compel Men to Conformity; I think the Author, and w^holoever elfe are moft for Liberty of Confcience, might be content with the Toleration you allow, by con- demning the Laws about Religion, now^ in force; and reft fatished, until you had made your new Method confiftent and practicable, by telling the World plainly and directly ; 1 . Who arc to be Punifhed, 2. For what. 3. With what Punifhments. 4. How long. «;. What Advantage to true Religion it would be, if Magiflrates every where did fo punifh. 6. And laftly, Whence the Magiftrate had Commiilion to do fo. When you have done this plainly and intelligibly, without keeping in the uncer- itinty of general Exprcflions, and without fuppoiing all alongyour Church in the right, and your Religion the true; (which can no more be allow'd to you in this Cafe, whatever A Second Letter concerning ToLERATiONi 281 whatever your Church or Religion be, tlian it can be to a Papifl or a Lutheran, a Presbyterian, or an Anabaptift; nay no more to you, than it can be allowed to a Jew ora Mahometan); when, 1 fay, you have by fettling thefe Points, fram'd the Parts of your new Engine, fet it together, and nicw'd that it will work, without doing more harm than'good in the World; 1 think tiien Men may be content tofubmit to it. But imagining this, and an Engine to fhcw the perpetual Motion, will be found out together; I think 1 oleration in a very good State,_notwith{landing your Anfwerj wherein you having faidfo much for it, and for ought I fee, nothing againft it; unlefsail impracticable Chimera be, in your Opinion, fomething mightily to be apprehended. We have now feen and examined the main of your Treatifc; and therefore 1 think I might here end, without going any farther. But, that you may not think yourfclf, or any of your Arguments negleftcd,! will go over the remainder,and give you my Thoughts on every thing I fliall meet with in it, that feems to need any anfwer. In one place you argue aigainft the Author thus: If then the Author's Fourth Propojition, as you call it, "uiz,. That Force is of no ufc for promoting true Religion and the Salv^ition of Souls, te not true (ai perhaps by this time it appears it is not) then the lafl Propojition, luhich'^^Z' ^''v is built tipon it, muft fall ivith it: Which lafl Propofition is this, viz. That nobody can have any Right to ufe any outward Force or Compuljion, to bring Men to the true Religion, and fo to Salvation. If this Propofition were built, as you alledge, upon that which you call his fourth, then indeed if the fourth fell, this built upon it would fall with it. But that not being the Author's Propohtion, (as I have fliew'd) nor this built wholly on it, but one other Reafons, (as I have already prov'd, and any one may fee in feveral parts of his Letter, particularly P. 234, 23).) what you alledge falls of it felf. The bufinefs of the next Paragraph is to prove, That if Force be ufeful, then fame body niufl certainly have a right to ufe it. Thefirft Argument you go about to prove it by is this. That Ufefulncfs is as good an Argu7ncnt to prove there is fomeivhere a right to ufe it, as Ufelejnefs is to prove no body has fuch a Right. If you confider the Things of whofe Ufefulnefs or Ufelefnefs we are fpeaking, you will perhaps be of another mind. It is Punifliment, or Force ufed in punifliing. Now all Punifhment is fome Evil, fome Inconvenience, fome Suffering; by taking away or abridging fome good thing, which he who is punifhed has otherwile a right to. Now to juftify the bring- ingany fuchEvil upon any Man, two things are rcquifite. Firft, That he who does it has Commiflion andPower fo to do. Secondly, That it be directly ufeful for the pro- curing fome greater Good. Whatever Punifhment one Man ufes to another, with- out thefe two Conditions, whatever he may pretend, proves an Injury and Injullice, and fo of right ought to have been let alone. And therefore, thougii Ufefulnefs (which is one of the Conditions that makes Punifliments jufl) when it is away, may hinder Punifhments from being lawful in any body's hands ; yet Ufefulnefs, when prefent (being but oneof thofe Conditions (cannot give the other, which is a Com- mifTion to punifh ; without which alfo Punilliment is unlawful. From whence it follows. That though ufelefs Punifliment be unlawful from any hand; yet ufeful Pu- nifhment from every hand is not lawful. A Man may have the Stone, and it may be tafeful (more than indireBly, and at a diflance ufeful) to him to be cut ; but yet this Ufefulnefs will not juflify the mofl skilful Chirurgeon in the World, by Force to make him endure the Pain and Hazard of cutting; becaufe he has no Commiflion, no Right without the Patient's ow^n confent to do fo. Nor is it a good argument cutting will be ufeful to him; therefore there is a right fomewhere to cut him, whether he will or no? Much lefs will there be an Argument for any right, if there be only a pofTibi- lity that it may prove ufeful indireElly and by accident. Your other Argument is this ; If Force or Punif.nnent be of neceffary ufc, then it muft he acknowledged, that there is a right fomewhere to ufe it; unlefs tve will fay (zvhat without Impiety cannot be f aid) that the wije and benign Difpofer and Governor of all "Things has not furnijlxd Mankind with competent Means for the pro?noting his own Honour in the IVorldy and the good of Souls. If your way of arguing be true ; 'tis demonflration, that Force is not o£ necejfary ufe. For I argue thus, in your form. We mufl acknowledge Force not to be of neceffary ufe ; unlefs we zvill fay (what without Impiety cannot bejaid) that the wife Difpofer and Governor of all Things did not, for above 300 Years after Chriff, furnifli his Church with competent Means fur pro?noting his own Hcnour in the JVorld, and the good of Souls. ' Tis for you to confider whether thefe A rguments be conclufive or no. This I am fure ; the one is as conclufive as the other. But if your fuppofed Ufefulnejs places a right fomewhere to ufe it, pray tell me inwhofe hands it places it in Tloij, Perjia, ox China, or any Country Vol. 11. N n wher« , 2^2 A Second Letter concerning Toleration. where Chriftians of different Churches live under a Heathen or Mahometan Sovereign ? And if you cannot tell me in whofe Hands it places it there, (as I believe you will find it pretty hard to do) there are then (it feems) fome Places where (upon your Suppofition of the neceffary Ufefulncfs of Force) the -wife and benign Governor and Difpofer of all T^hings, has not furniJI/d Men with competent Means for proinoting his own Honour, and the good of Souls ; unlefs you will Grant, that the wife benign Difpofer and Governor of all T'hings, hath for the promoting of his Honour, and the good of Souls, placed a Power in Mahometan or Heathen Princes, to punifh Chriftians, to bring them to conjider Reafons and Arguments proper to convince them. But this is the Advantage of fo fine an Invention, as that of Force doing fome Service indirectly, and at a dijlance; tvhich Ufefulncfs, if we may believe you, places a Right in Mahometan or Pagan Plinces hands, to ufe Force upon Chriftians ; for fear left Mankind in thofe Countries, fhould be unfumifl/d zuith Means for the promoting God's Honour and the Good of Souls. Pag. It;. F^i' '^hus you argue , If there be fo great Ufe of Force, then there is a Right fomeivhere to Pag. 1 6. "-^ '^' -^"^ ^i ^^-^'^ be fuch a Right fomewhere, where fiould it be but in the Civil Sove- reign ? Who can deny now, but that you have taken Care, great Care, for the pro- moting of Truth and the Chriftian Religion ? But yet it is as hard for me, I confefs, and I believe for others, to conceive how you fhould think to do any Service to Truth and the Chriftian Religion, by putting a Right into Mahometans or Heathens hands tO' punifh Chriftian Religion ; as it was for you to conceive howthe Authorflmdd thinkto do any Service to 'Truth, and the Chriflian Religion, by exempting the Profeifor of it from Pu- ftifliment every where ; fince there are more Pagan, Mahometan, and erroneous Princes in the World, than Orthodox ; Truth, and the Chriftian Religion (taking the JVorld as we find it) is fure to be more puniflied and fupprefs'd, than Error and Falfliood. The Author having endeavourM to fliew that no body at all, of any Rank or Conditi- on, had a Power to punifli, torment, or ufe any Man ill, for Matters of Religion; you Pag. 17. tell us yoT do not yet underftand, why Clergymen are not as capable of fuch Poxver as other Men. I do not remember that the Author any where, by excepting Ecclefia- fticks more than others, give you any occafion to fhew your Concern in this Point. Had he forefeen that this would have touch'd you fo nearly, and that you fet your Heart fo much upon the Clergy's Power of punifhing; 'tis like he would have told you, he thought Ecclefiafticks as capable of it as any Man; and that if forwardnefs and diligence in the exercife of luch Power may recommend any to it. Clergymen, in the opinion of the World, ftand faireft for it. However, you do well to put in your Claim for them, tho' the Author excludes them no more than their Neighbours. Nay, they muftbe allow'd the Pretence of the faireft Title. For I never read of any Seve- rities that were to bring Men to Chrift, but thofe of the Law of Mofes ; which is therefore call'd a Ptv/iTgo^z/e. {Gal. 3. 14.) And the next Verfe tells us, "That after that Riith is come, vje are no longer tinder a Schoolmafter. But yet if we are ftill to be dri- ven to Chrift by a Rod, 1 fhall not envy them the Pleafure of wielding it: Only I delire them, when they have got the Scourge into their Hands, to remember our Sa- viour, and follow his Example, who never us'd it but once; and that they would, like him, employ it only to drive vile and fcandalous Traffickers for the things of this World, out of their Church, rather than to dri\'e whoever they can into it. Whether that latter be not a proper Method to make their Church what our Saviour there pronounced of the Temple, they who ufe it were beft look. For in Matters of Reli- giofl, none are fo eafy to be driven, as thofe who have nothing of Religion at all; and next to them, the Vicious, the Ignorant, the Worldling, and the Hypocrite ; who caj-e for no more of Religion but the Name, nor no more of any Church, but its Profperity and Power; and who, not unlike thofe defcrib'd by our Saviour, (Luke 2, 47.) for a Shew come to, or cry up the Prayers of the Church, That they may (lev: ir Widows, and other helplefs People's Houfes. I fay not this of the ferious Pre- fefl'ors of any Church, who are in eraneft in Matters of Religion. Such I value, who confcientioufly, and out of a fincerePerfuafion, embrace any Religion, tho' different from mine, and in a Way, I think, miftaken. But no body can have reafon to think o- therwife than what I have faid, of thofe who are wrought upon to be of any Church, by fecular Hopes and Fears. Thofe trnXy place Trade above all other Confiderations, and merchandize with Religion itfelf, who regulate their Choice by worldly Profit andLofs. You endeavour to prove, againft the Author, that Civil Society is not inftituted only tor Civil Ends, /. e. The procuring, preferving, and advancing Mens Civil Inte- Pag. 18, vefts. Your Words are ; Imufi fay^ that our Author does but beg the Queflion, when he njfiymi A Second Letter concerning ToLZRATidN. 283 nfftrma that the Common-v^salth is cr.ijlitJited only Jur the pyocurhig, prcfcyji ;:<:,, n;id nJ'i.aU' cing of the Civil Interejl^- of the Metnbers of it. That Qmmtm-'veahhi are inftituted for thefe Ends, m Man -will deny. But if there be any other Ends befides thefe,^ a'taina- He by the Civil Society aud Go'vemment, there is no renfon to affirm. That theje are the cnly Ends for -which they are defined. Doubt lef Common -zceahhs are inf stated for the attaining of all the Benefits ivhich Political Government can yield. And therefore, ii the Spiritual, and Eternal Inter eft <: of Men may any -way be procured or advanced by Political Govanment, the procuring and advancing thofe Interefts miift in all reafon be reckcnd among the Ends of Civil Societies, and Jo, conjeqncntly, fall within the cu7npajs of the Magiftrate's jKrifdiciion. I have let down your Words at large, to let the Reader fee, That you of all Men had the lenll realon to tell tlie Author, he does but be" the Queflion ; unlels you mean to juftify your felf by the Pretence of his Ex- ample. You ar"ue thus. If there be any other Ends attainable by Civil Society, then Civil Interefts are not the only Ends for which Common-iuealths are inftituted. And how do you prove there be other Ends? Why thus, Doubtlefs Common-wealths are inftitu- ted for the attaining of all the Profits zvhich political Government can yield. Wliich is as clear a Demonftration, as Doubtlefs can make it to be. The Qiieftion is. Whe- ther Civil Society be inftituted only for Civil Ends? You fay No; and your Proof is, Becaufe, Doubtlefs it is inftituted for other Ends. If I now fay, Doubtlefs this is a good Argument ; is not every one bound without more ado to admit it for fuch ? If not, Doubtlefs you are in Danger to be thought to beg the Queftion. But not withftanding you fay here, That the Author begs the Qiieftion, in the follow- in" Page you tell us, 'Ihat the Author offers three Confiderations which feem to him abun- dantly to demonftrate, that the Civil Power neither can, nor ought in any manner to be ex- tended to the Salvation of Souls. He does not then beg the Qiteftion. For the Queft ion being, Whethe-r Civil Intereft be the only End of Civil Society, he gives this Reafon ior the Nega- tive; That Civil Power has nothing to do with the Salvation of Souls; and offers three Confiderations for the Proof of it. For it will always be a goodConleqiience, that if the Civil Power has nothing to do with the Salvation of Souls, then Civil Intereft is the only End of Civil Society. And the reafon of it is plain; becaufe a Man having no other Intereft, but either in this World or the World to come; if the End of Civil Society not to a Man's Intereft in the other World, (all which is comprehended. in the Salvation of his Soul) 'tis plain, that the fole End of Civil Society is Civil Intereft, under which the Author comprehends the good Things of this Woi'ld. And now let us examine the Truth of your main Pofition, viz. That Civil Society is inftituted for the attaining all the Benefits that 7n ay any way yield. Which, if true, then this Pofition muft be true, viz,. That all Societies whatfoever are inftituted for the attaining all the Benefits that may any way yield ; there being nothing peculiar to Civil Society in the Cafe, why that Society fhould be inftituted for the at- taining all the Benefits it can any way yield, and other Societies not. By which Ar- gument it will follow. That all Societies are inftituted for one and the fame End : /. e. for the attaining all the Benefits that they can any way yield. By which Account there will be no Difference between Church and State; a Common-wealth and Ar- my; or between a Family and the Eaft-Lidia Company; all which have hitherto been thought diftinft forts of Societies, inftituted for different Ends. If your Hy- pothefis hold good, one of the Ends of the Family muft be to preach the Gofpel, and adminifter the Sacraments ; and one Bufinefs of an Army to teach Languages, and propagate Religion; becaufe tliefe arc Benefits fome way or other attainable by thole Societies : Unlefs you take want of Commilfion and Authority to be a I'uffici- ent Impediment : And that will be fo too in other Cafes. 'Tis a Benefit to have true Knowledge and Phiiofophy embraced and aflented to, in any Civil Society or Government. But will you fay, therefore, that it is a Be- nefit to the Societ}', or one of the Ends of Government, that all who are not Peri- pateticks Ihould be punifhed, to make Men find out the Truth, and profels it. This indeed might be thought a fit W^ay to make fome Men embrace the pcripatetick Phi- iofophy, but not a proper Way to find the Truth. For, perhaps peripatetick Phi- iofophy may not be true; perhaps a great many have not Time, nor Parts to ftu- dy it: perhaps a great many who ftudied it, cannot be convinced of the Truth of it : And therefore it cannot be a Benefit to the Common- wealth^^ nor one of the Ends of it, that thefe Members of the Society fliould be difturb'd and difeas'd to no Purpofe, when they are euiltv of no Fault. For juft the fame Re;ifon, it cannot Vol. II. ^ - ^ r\ ^ be 284 -^ Second Lettef concerning Toleration. be a Benefit to Civil Society, that Men fllould be puniflied in Denmark, for not being Lutherans ; in Gene'va, lor not being Cahinijls ; unci in Viamay for not being Papi/ls ; as a Means to make them find out the true Religion. For fo, upon your Grounds, Men mud be treated in thoie Places, as well as in England, for not be- ing of theC/v/rc/j of Engliind. And then, I befeech you, conlider the great Benefit will accrue to Men in Society by this Method ; and 1 fuppofe it ivill be a hard thing for you to prove, 'J liat ever Civil-Governments were inftituted to puniih Men for not being of this, or that Se6t in Religion j howe\er by accident, indirccll), and at a dijlance, it may be an Occafion to one perhaps of a thoufand, or an hnndred, to fludy that Controvcrfy, which is all you expe6: from it. If it be a Benefit, pray tell me what Benefit it is. A Civil Benefit it cannot be. For Mens Civil Intciefts are difluib'd, injur'd, and impair'd by it. And what Sfhitual Benefit that can be to any Multitude of Men, to be puniflied for diflenting from afalfeor erroneous Pro- fefiion, I would have you find out : unlefs it be a Spiritual Benefit to be in danger to be driven into a wrong way. For if in all differing Seds, one is in the wrong, 'tis a hundred to one but that from which one difl'ents, and is puniflied for diflenting from, is the wrong. I grant it is paft doubt, 'i'hat the Nature of Man is fo covetous of Good, that no one would have excluded from any Aftion he does, or from any Inftitution he is concerned in, any manner of Good or Benefit that it might any way yield. And if this be your Meaning, it will not be denied you. But then you fpeak very impro- perly, or rather very miftakenly, if you call fuch Benefits as may any way (i.e. in- diretili, and at a dijlance, or by accident) be attain'd by Civil or any other Society, the Ends for which it is inftituted. Nothing can in yeaf.n he reckon d amcngft the Ends of any Society, but what may in reafon be fuppofed to be deligned by thofe who enter into it. Now no body can in reafon fuppofe, that any one entred into Civil Society for t[\c procuring, Jecuring, or advancing the Salvation of his Soul; when he, for that End, needed not the Force of Civil Society. The procuring, therefore, fe- ciiring, and advancing the Spiritual and Eternal Interefi of Alen, cannot in reafon be reckon d amcngfi the Ends of Civil Societies ; tho' perhaps it might fo fall out, that in fome particular Inftancc, fome Man's ipiritual Intereft might be advanced by your or any other way o( apphing Civil Force. A Nobleman, whole Chapel is decayed or fallen, may make ufe of his Dining-room for Praying and Preaching. Yet what- ever Benefit were attainable by this ufe of the Room, no body can in reafmi reckon this amongfl the Ends jor iil)ich it iviis built : no more tlian the accidental breeding of fome Bird in any part of it (tho' it were a Benefit it yielded) could in reajvn be reckon'd among the Ends of building the Houfe. But, fay you, Doubtlcjs Conmwn-xuealths are infiituted for the attaining of all the Benefits vjhich Political Govermnent i an yield; and therefore if the Spiritual and Eter- nal Interefls vf Men may any uay he procur'd or advanced by Political Govennnent, the procuring and advancing thofe luterefis, inufl in all reafon be recond a?ncngfi the Ends of Civil Society, and fo confequently fail ivithin the cotnpafs of the Magijlrate's Jurifdiflion. Upon tlie fame Grounds, I thus reafon. Doubtlef Churches are in- ftituted for the attaining of all the Benefits which Ecclcfiaftical Government can yield : And therefore, if the Temporal and Secular Interefts of Men may any xuay be procured or advanced by Ecclcfiaftical Polity, the procuring and advancing thofe Interefts muft in all realbn be reckoned among the Ends oi Religious Societies, and fo confequently fall within the compafs of Churchmens Jurifdiftion. The Church of Rofne has openly made its Advantage of Secular Intercfis to be procured or advanced, indirectly, and at a diftnnce, and in vrdine ad fpiritualia ; all which ways (if I mi- ftake not Englifiy) are comprehended under your any v:ay. But I do not remember that any of the Reformed Churches have hitherto directly profeifed it. But there is a Time for all things. And if the Common-wealth once invades the fpiritualEnds of the Church, by meddling with the Salvation of Souls (which flie has always been fo tender of) who can deny, that the Church fliould have Liberty to make herfelf fome Amends by Reprifals ? But, Sir, however you and I may argue from wrong Suppofitions, yet unlefs the Apoftle, (£/'/i. 4.J where he reckons up the Church-Officers which Chrift hath infti- tuted in his Church, had told us they were for fome other Ends than tor the pcr- fefling vf the Saints, fur the Work of the Miniflry, fur the edifying of tie Body of Chrijl ; the advancing of their fecular Interefts will fcarce be allovv'd to be their Bu- finef$ A Second Letter concerning To l e r a t^ o at, 2 S 5 fincfs or wiil.ihi the cofipqfs of their 'Jurifdiclivii. Nor till it can be flieu'n tliat Ci- vil Society is inftituted for Spiritual Ends, or that tlio MagifLrate has CommiHlon to interpofc his Authority, or ufc Force in Matters of Religion 5 your Suppofitioa of Spiritual Benefits indireflly and at a dijlance attainable by Political Government will never prove the advancing of thofe Interefls by Force, to be the Magiflraie's Bufinefs, and to fall within the compafs of his Jurifdiciion. And till then, the Force of the Arguments which the Author has brought againii: it, (in the feventh and fol- lowing Pages of his Letter) will hold good. Common-wealths, or Civil Societies and Government?, if you will believe the ju- dicious Mr. Hooker, are as St. Peter calls them (i Pet. 2. 13.) a>9;&T(Vn kiIj,- the Contrivance and Inftitutionof Man ; and he fliews there for what End; viz.. Jur the PiinijJmtcnts oj t-vil Doers, and the Praife of theTn that dovjell. I do not find any wJiere that It is for the Punifliment of thole who are not in Church-Communion witli the Magiflrate, to make tliem fludy ControAerhes in Religion, or hearken to thole wlio will tell them t]:ey have ynifiaken there M'^ay, and vjfer to JIxvj them the right one. You muft fhew them fuch a Commiflion, if you lay it is from God. And in all So- cieties infticuted by Man, the Ends of them can be no other than what the Inftitu- tors appointed ; which I am fure could not be their Spiritual and Eternal Intereti. For they could not ftipulate about thefe one with another, nor fubmit thislntereft to the Power of the Society, or any Sovereign they fhould fet over it. There are Nations in the M^efl-Indies, which have no other End of their Society, but there mu- tual Defence againft their Common Enemies. In thefe, their Captain, or Prince is fovereign Commander in time of War; but in time of Peace, neither he nor any body elfe has any Authority over any of the Society. You cannot deny but other, even temporal Ends, are attainable by thefe Common-wealths, if they had been other- wife inftituted and appointed to thofe Ends. But all your faying, doubtlefs Com- ■mon-zceahhs are injlituted for the attaining^ of all the Benefits -which they can yield will not give Authority to any one, or more, in fuch a Society, hy Political Government or Force, to procure diredly or indireflly other Benefits than that for which it was inftituted : And therefore, thei-e it jails not zvithin the cuj/ipafs of thofe Princes Jurif- diBicns to punifli anyone of the Society for injuring another; becaufe he has no Commiflion fo to do ; whatever Reafon you may think there is, that that fliould be reckoned amongft the Ends of their Society. Buttoconclude: Your Argument has that Defeft in it which turns it upon your felf. And that is, that the procuring and advancing the Spiritual and Eternal Inte- re/i of Souls, your way, is not a 5lFBf/f to the Society : And fo, upon your own Sup- polition, tlie procuring and advancing the Spiritual Intcrejl of Souls, any luay, can- not be one of the Ends of Civil Society ; unlels tiic procuring and advancing the Spi- ritual Intereft of Souls, in a way proper to do more Harm tiian Good towaj-ds the Salvation of Souls, be to be accounted fuch a Benefit as to bo one of the Ends of Civil Societies. For that yours is fuch a way, 1 have proved already. So that were it hard to prove that Political Government, whole only Inftrumcnt is Force you have faid againft it. Which is enough for my prefent Purpofe. Your next Page tells us. That this reafoning of the Author, \\z.That the Power Vs.'g. ig^ of the Magiflrate cannot be extended to the Salvation of Souls, becaufe the Care of Souls is not committed to the Magiflrate ; is proving the thing by it felf. As if you' fhould fay, vyhen I tell you that you could not extend your Power to meddle with the Money of a young Gentleman you travelled with, as 'J'utor, becaule the Care of his Money was not commitcd to you, were proving the thing by it lelf. For it is not neceOary that you fhould have the Power of his Money ; it may be intrufted to a Steward who travels with him ; or it may be left to himielf If you have it, it is but a delegated Power. And in all delegated Powers, I thought this a fair Proof ; you have it not, or cannot ufe it, (which is what the Author means here by extended to) becaufe it is not_ committed to you. In the fumming up of this A'rgument, (P. 18.) the Author lays, No body therefore, in fine, neither Coinmoii-wealths, &c. hath any "Title to invade the Civil Rights and n'orldly Goods of another, upon Pretence of Religion. Which is an Expolition of what he means in the begining of the Argu- ment, by the Magiflrate' s Power cannot be extended to the Salvation of Souls. So that it" . 2^6 A Second Letter concerning Toi.eratiox. if we take thefe lafl: cited Words equivalent to thofc in the forn-scr Place, !iis Proof ivill ftand thus, T'he Magiflratc I.uts tio T'itle to invade the Civil Right or IVorldU Goods of any one, upon Preteme of Religion ; becaufe the Care of Souls is not coTKVtitttd to him. This is the fame in theAuthor's Senfe with the former. And whethcrei- ther this, or that, be a proving the fame T'inng by it felf v/c muft leave to others to judge. You quote the Author's Argument, which he brings to prove that the Care of Pag. 21. Souls is not committed to the Magiftrflte, in thefe Words, It is not commitedto hhn by God, becaufe it appears not that God has ever given any ft/ch Authority to cue Aiitn ever another, as to compel any one to his Religion. This, when firft I read it, I confefs, I thought a good Argument. But you Hiy, tl)is is quite befides the Bufmifs ,- and the Reafon j'ou gi^'e, is. For the Authority of the Magijlrate is not an Authority to compel any one to his Religion, but only an Authority to procure all hi( Subjects the Means of difovering the Way of Salvation, and to procure withal, as 7mich as in him lies, that none remain ignorant oj it, ike. I fear. Sir, yoti foi'get your felf. The Author ivas not writing againft your new Hypothelis, before it was known in the World. He may be exctifed if he had not the Gift of Prophecy, to argue againft a Notiftn which was not yet ftartcd. He had in vieW only the Laws hither- to made, and the Punifllments (in Matters oi Religion) in ufe in the World. The Penalties, as I take it, are lain on Men for being of different Ways of Religion. Which what is it other, but to compel them to relinquifh their own, and to con- form themfelves to that from which they differ ? If this be not to coinpel them to the Magijlrate' s Religion, pray tell us n'hat is ? This riiuft be neceffarily fb under- ftood ; unlefs it can be luppofed that the Law intends not to have that done, which with Penalties it commands to be done : or that Punifhments are not Compulfion, not that Compulfion the Author complains of. The Law fays. Do this and live; embrace this Doftrine conform to this Way of Worfhip, and beat eafe, and free; or elfe be fined, imprifoned, baniflied, burnt. If you can fliew among the Laws that have been made in£K^/flK^,concerningRe]igion, (and I think I may fay any where elfe) any one that puniflies Men for not having impartially examind the Religion they harje ernhracd, or rcfus'd, I think I may yield )ou the Caufe. Law-makers have been ge- nerally wifer than to make Laws that could not be executed: and therefore their Laws were againft Non-Conformifts, which could be known; and not for impartial Examination, which could not. "Twas not then bejides the Author's BuJInefs, to bring an Argument againft the Perfecutions here in fafliion. He did not know that any one who was fo free as to acknowledge that the Magijlrate has not an Authori- ty to compel any one to his Religion, and thereby at once (as you have done) give up all the Laws now in force againft Difl'eniers, liad yet Rods in ftore for them, and by a new Trick would bring them under the Lafli of the Law, when the old Preten- ces were too much exploded to ferve any longer. Have you never heard of fuch a thing as the Religion eflablifl)ed by Law ? Which is, it feenis, the lawful ReI;g:on of a' Country, and to be comply'd with as fuch. There being fuch Things, fuch Notions yet in the World, it was not quite befides the Author's Bufinefs to alledge, that God never gave fuch Authority to one Man ever another, as to compel any cm to his Religion. I will grant, if you pleafe, Religion eftdblif}!d by Law is a pretty odd Way of fpeakin" in the Mouth of a Chriftian ; (and yet it is much in lafhion) as if the Mflgiftrate s Authority could add any Force or Sanction to any Religion, whe- ther true or falfe. I am glad to find you have fo far coniidered the Magijlrate' s Au- thority, that you agree with the Author, that he hath none to compel Men to his Religion. Much lefs can he, by any Eftablifliment of Law, add any thing to the Truth or Validity of his own, or any Religion whatfoever. It remains now to examine, -whether the Author's Argument will not hold good, even againft Punifllments in your Way. For if the Magijlrate's Authority as you lig. 21. here fay, only to procure all his SubjeCls, (mark what you fay, ALL HIS SUB- JECTS) the Means of difcovering the IVay of Salvation, and to procure withal, as ?nuch as in him lies, that NONE remain ignorant of it, or refufe to embrace it, either for want of ufing thoje Means, or by reafon of any fuch Prejudices as may ren- der them ineffcBual. If this be the Magiftrate's Bufinefs, in reference to ALL HIS SUBJECTS; I defireyou, or any Man elfe, to tell me how this can be done by t!x Application of Force'only to a Part of them; unlefs you will ftill vainly fup- pofc Ignorance, Negligence, or Prejudice, only amongft tliat Part which any where dif- fers A Second Letter concerning Toleration". zZj fers from the Magiflrate. If thofe of the MagiRrate's Church may be igimant of the ■way of Salvation; If it be poffible there may be amongO: them, thofe who refufe to e?7i- Irace it, either for want of ufing thofe Means, or by renfon of any fuch Prejudices as may render them imffecliial : What, in this cafe, becomes of the Magiflrate' s Authority to procure all hisSubjeEis the Means of difcovering the -way of Salvation? Muft thefe of his Subjefts be ncglefted, and left without the Means he has Authority to procure them? Or mull he ufe Force upon them too ? And then , pray, fhew mc liow tliis can be done. Shall the Magiftrate punifh thofe of his own Religion, to procure them the Means of difcovering the luay of Salvation, and to procure as much as in him lies that they remain not ignorant of it, or refufe not to embrace it? Thefe are fuch Contradi- (Sions inPrafticc, this is fuch Condemnation of a Man's ownReligion, as noonecan expeft from the Magiflrate ; and I dare fay you defire not of him. And yet this is that he muft do, Ij his Authority be to procure all his SubjeBs the Means of difcovering the •way to Salvation. And if it be fo needful, as you fay it is, that he fhould ufe it, I am {xLYe Force cannot do that ti.ll it be apply 'd wider, and Punilhment belaid upon more than you would have it. For if the Magistrate be by Force to procure, as much as in him lies, that none remain ignorant of the way of Salvation; muft he not punifh all thofe who are ignorant of the way of Salvation ? And pray tell me how is this any way pra- aicable, but by fuppofing none in the National Church ignorant, and all out of it ignorant of the way of Salvation Which, what is it, but to punirti Men barely for not being of the Magiftrate's Religion ; The very Thing you deny he has Authority to do ? So that the Magiflrate having, by your own Confeffion, no Authority thus to ufe Force; and it being otherways imprafticable for the procuring all his Subje^s the Means of difcovering the way of Salvation ; there is an end of Force. And lb Force being laid afide, either as unlawful, or unprafticable, the Author's Argument holds good againfti^^rcf, even in your Way of applying it. p But if you fay, as you do in the foregoing Page, That the Magiftrate has Authority ^^" °° to lay fuch Penalties upon thofe who refufe to embrace the DoEirine of the proper Miniflers of Religion, and to fubmit to their Spiritual Government, as to make them bethink them- felvesfoasnot to be alienated from the'frmh. (For as for foolifi Humour, and unchari- table Prejudice, &c. which are but Words of courfe that oppofite Parties give one ano- ther, as Marks of Diflike and Prefumption, I omit them, as fignifying nothing to the Queftion; being fuch as will^with the fame Reafon be retorted by the other Side;) Againft that alfo the Author's Argument holds. That the Magiftrate has no fuch Au- thority, ifl, Becaufe God never gave the Magiftrate an Authority to be judge of Truth for another Man in Matters of Religion : and fo he cannot be judge whether any Man be alienated from the Truth or no. zdly, Becaufe the Magiftrate had never Authority given him to lay any Penalties on thofe who refufe to e?nbrace the Dotirine of the proper Miniflers of his Religion, (or of any other; or to fubmit to their fpiritual Government., more than on any other Men. To the Author's Argument, that the Magiftrate cannot receive fuch Authority from the People; becaufe no Man has Power to leave it to the choice of any other Pag. iv. Man to chufe a Religion for him; you give this pleafant Anfwer. As the Power of the Magifl-rate, in reference to Religion, is ordained for the bringing Men to take fuch care as they ought of their Salvation, that thay may not blindly leave it to the Choice, neither of any other Perfon, nor yet of their own Lufls and Paffions, to prefcribe to them what Faith or Worft}ip they ft>al/ embrace: So if we fuppofe this Power to be vefled in the Magiflrate by the confent of the People; this will not import their abandoning the Care of their Salvation, but rather the contrary. For if Men in chufing their Religion, are fo generally fubjeB, as has been fhewed, when left wholly to themfelves, to be fo much fwayd by Prejudice and Pajflon, as either not at all, or not fufficient'ly to regard the Reafons and Motives which ought alone to determine their Choice; then it is every Mans true Inter eft ^ not to be left wholly to himfelf in this Matter ; but that Care flmild be taken, that in an Affair of fo vafl Concernment to him, he may be brought even againfl his own Inclina- tion, if it cannot be done otherwife, (which is ordinarily the Cafe) to aEi according to Reafon and found Judgment. And then what better Courfe can Men take to provide for this, than by vefling the Power I have defer ibed, in him who bears the Sword f Where- in I befeech you confider ; ifl. Whether it be not pleafant, that you fay the Power of the Magiflrate is ordain d to bring Men to take fuch Care ; and thence infer, Then it is every one's Inter eU to veR fuch Power in the Magiflrate ? For if it be the Power of the Magiflrate, it is his. And what need the People veB it in him, unlefs there be need 288 A Second Letter concerning Toleration. need, and it he the left Courfe they can take, to wjl a Puwer in the Magijlrate, which he has already? 2dly, Another pleafant thing you here lay, is; That the Power of the Magijhates is to bring Afcn to fuch a Care of their Salvation^ that they may mt blindly leave it to the Choice^ of any Perfon, or their own Lv.fls or Paffions, to prcfribe to them what Faith or Wurp?ip they fl)all embrace ; And yet that 'tis their hefi Courfe to veft a Power in the Magi/irate, liable to the fame Ijtfts, and PafCions as themleives, to chule for them. For if they veft a Power in the Magiftrat« to punifh them, when they diffcnt from his Religion ; to bring than to aB, evm againjl their own Inclination, ac- cording to Reafon and found 'Judgment ; which is, (as you explain your liilf in another place) to bring them to conjider Reafuns and Arguments proper and fnjficient to convince them : How far is this from leaving it to the Choice of amthe-r Man to prcfribe to them what Faith or Wu)fl}ip they f.mll embrace? Efpccially if we confider, that you think it Pag. 27.3 ftrange thing, T'hat the Author would have the Care of every Mans Soul left to himfelf alone. So that this Care being veiled in the Magiftrate with a Power /o punifj Men to make tijem confider Reafons and Arguments proper and fuffictcnt to convince them of the Truth of his Religion ; the Choice is evidently in the Magiftrate; as much as it can be in the Power of one Man to chufe for another what Religion he fhall be of, which conlifts only in a Power compelling him by Punifliments to embrace it. I do neither you nor the Magiftrate Injury, when I fay that the Power you give the Magiftrate of punifnng Men, to ?nake them conjider Reafons and Arguments proper and fufficient to convince them, is to convince them of the Truth of his Religion, and to bring them to it. For Men will never, in his Opinion, nci according to Rea- fon and found Judgment, (which is the thing you here fay Men Jlwuld be brought to by the Magiftrate, even againft their own Inclination) till they embrace his Religion. And if you have the Brow of an honcft Man, you will not iay the Magiftrate will ever pu- nifh you, to bring you to confider any^ other Reafons and Arguments, but fuch as are pro- per to convince you of the Truth of his Religion, and to bring you to that. Thus you fhift forwards and backwards. You fay The Magiftrate has no Power to punift) Men, to compel them to his Religion; but only to compel them to confider Reafons and Arguments proper to convince them of the Truth of his Religion, which is all one as to fay, no bo- dy has Power to cliufe your way for you to Jerufalem; but yet the Lord of the Mannor has Power to punifli you, to bring you to confider Reafons and Argimients proper and fufficient to convince you. (Of what?) That the Way he goes in, is the right, and io to make you join in Company, and go along with him. So that, in effeft, what is all your going about, but to come at laft to the fame place again ; and put a Pow- er into the Magiftrate's hands (under another Pretence) to compel Men to his Reli- gion; which ule of Force, the Authoriy has fufficiently overthrown, and you your felf ha\e quitted. But I am tired to follow you fo often round the fame Circle. You fpeak of it here as the moft deplorable Condition imaginable, that IsAenfiould Pag. 22i be left to themfelves, and mt be forced to conjider and examine the Grounds of their Re- ligion, and fearch impartially and diligently after the Truth. This you make the great Mifcarriage of Mankind. And for this you feem folicitous, all through your Trea- tife, to find out a Remedy ; and there is fcarce a Leaf ^'herein you do not ofter yours. Pag. 7. But what if, after all, now you fliould be found to prevaricate? Men have contri- ved to themfelves, fay you, a great variety of Religions : 'Tis granted. T'hey feek not the T'ruth in this Matter with that application of Mind, and that freedom oj Judgment v^hich is requijite : 'Tis confefl'ed. All the J'alfe Religions now on foot in the World, have taken their Rife from the flight and partial Conflderation, which Men have contented themfelves with, in fearching after the true; and Men take them up, and perjifl in them for want of due Examination : Be it fo. T'here is need of a Retnedy for this, and I have found one rvhofe Sticcefs cannot be queftioned : Very well. What is it ? Let us hear it. Who, Diffenters muft be puniftyed. Can any body that hears you fay fo, believe you in carneft ; and that want of Examination is the thing you would have amended, when want of Examination is not the thing you would have puniflied ? If want of Examination be the Fault, want of Examination muft be puniflied ; if you are, as you pretend, fully fatisfied, that Punifliment is the proper and only Means to remedy it. But if, in all your Treatife, you can fliew me one place, where you fay That the ig- norant, the carelefs, the inconfiderate, the negligent in examining throughly the T'ruth of their own and others Religion, &c. are to be puniflied ; I will allow your Remedy for a good one. But you have not laid any thing like this; and which is more, I tell you before-hand, you dare not fay it. And whilft you do not, the World has reafon to A Second Letter concerning Toleration. i8^ to judge, that however want of Examination be a general Fault, which you with great Veheincncy have exaggerated; yet you uie it only for a Pretence to punifh Dif- Icnters; and either diftruft your Remedy, tliat it will not cure this Evil, orelfecarc not to have it generally cur a. This evidently appears from your whole Management of the Argument. And he that reads your Treatife with Attention, will be morecon- firm'd in this Opinion, when he ftiall find, that you (who are fo earned to have Men punifh'd, to bring them to confider and examine, that fo they may difcover the IVay to Salvation) have not laid one Word of confidering, fearcliing, and heakned to the Scripture ; which had been as good a Rule for a Chriflian to have fent them to, as to Reafons and Argurnents Proper to convince them, of you know not what ; Ai to the InJlruHion and Government of the proper Minijlers of Religion, which who they are. Men are vet far from being agreed ; Or as to the Imjormativn of thofe, -who tell them they have miftaken their Way, and offer to fiew them the right ; and to the like uncertain and dangerous Guides ; which were not thofe that our Saviour and the Apoftles fent Men to, but to the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures, fur in them you think you have eternal Life, fays our Saviour to the unbelieving perfecuting j^ftfj, (John j. 35J.J And 'tis the Scriptures which St. Paul fays, are able to make vjife unto Salva- tion, (2 Tim. 5. 15.) Talk no more, therefore, if you have any Care of your Reputation, how much 'it is every Man's Interefl not to be left to himfelf, without Moleftation, without Pijnifljment in Matters of Religion. Talk not of bringing Men to embrace the "Truth that ynujl fave them, by putting them upon Examination. Talk no more of Force and Puni]j)mcnt, as the only Way left to bring Men to examine. 'Tis evident you mean nothin?^ lefs. For, the' want of Examination be the only Fault you complain of, and Punifiment be in your Opinion the only Way to bring Men to it ; and this the whole Defign of your Book ; yet you have not once propofed in it, that thofe, who do not impar- tially examine, fhould be forced to it. And, that you may not think I talk at ran- dom, when I fay you dare not ; I will, if you pleafe, give you fome Reafons for my faying fo. Firji, Eecaufe, if you propofe that all fhould be puniflied, who are ignorant, who have not ufed fuch Con/ideration as is apt and proper to manijefl the Truth ; but have been determined in the Choice of their Religion by Imprejfons of Education, Admi~ ration of Perfons, worldly RefpeEls, Prejudices, and the like incompetent Motives ; and- ha'je taken up their Religion, without examining it as they ought ; you will propofe to iiave fe- verai of your own Church (be it what it will) punifhed ; wiiich would be a Propo- fition too apt to oftend too many of it, for you to venture on. For whatever need there be of Reformation, every one will not thank you for propofing fuch an one as muft begin at (or at leaft reach to) the Houfe of God. Secondly, Becaufe, if you fliould propofe that all thofe who are ignorant, carelefs and regligent in examining, fhould be punifhed, you would have little to fay in this Queftion of Toleration. For if the Laws of the State were made as they ou^ht to be, equal to all the Subjefts, without Diftinftion of Men of different Profeffions in Rehgion; and the Faults to be amended by Punifhments, were impartially puniflied, in all who are guilty of them ; this would immediately produce a perfed: Toleration, or ihew the Ufelefnefs of Force in Matters of Religion. If therefore you think it fo necefiary, as ycu fay, for the promoting of true Religion, and the Salvation of Souls, that Men fhould be puniflxd to tnake them examine ; do but find a Way to apply Force to all that have not throughly and itnpartially exatnined, and you have my Confent. For tho' Force be not the proper Means of promoting Religion ; yet there is no better Way tofhew the Ufelefnefs of it, than the applying it equally to Mifcarriages, in whcmfoever found ; and not to diftinft Parties or Perfuafions of Men, tor the Re- formation of them alone, when others are equally faulty. Thirdly, Becaufe, without being for as large a Toleration as the Author propofes, you cannot be truly and fincerely for a free and impartial Examination. For ivhoever examines, muft have the Liberty to judge, and follow his Judgment ; orelfeyouput him upon Examination to no Purpofe. And whether that will not as well lead Men from, as to your Church, is fo much a Venture, that by your Way of Writing, "tis evident enough you are loath to hazard it ; and if you are of the National Church, "tis plain your Brethren will not bear with you in the Allowance of fuch a Liberty. You muft therefore either change your Method ; and if the Want of E.\amination be that great and dangerous Fault you would have correfted, you muft equally punifh Vol. IL Oo all 29^ •^ Second Letter concerning Toleration!! all that are equally guilty of any Negicft in this Matter, and then take your only Means, your beloved Furce, and make tiie bell of it; or elle you mull put oil your Mask, iind confels that you deiign not your Punifhments to bring Men to Examination, but to Conformity. For the Fallacy you have ufed is too grols to pals upon this Age. What follows topag. 26. I think I have confidered llifficiently already. But there you have found out lomething worth notice. In this Page, out of abundant Kind- nefs, when the Diflenters have their Heads (without any Caule) broken, you pro- Tag. 26. \icle them a Plaifter. For, fay you. If upon fitch Examination of the Matter, (/. e. brought to it by the Magiflrate's Punifliment) they chance to find, that the "Truth does not lie en the Magiflrate's Side ; they have gain d thm much however, even by the Migiflrate sT inifapplying his Poiver, that they know Letter than they did before, where the Truth does lie. Which is as true, as if you Ihould fay. Upon Examination I fold fuch an one is out of the Way to York; therefore I know better than I did before, that I am in the right. For neither of you may be in the right. This were true indeed, if there were but two Ways in all ; a right and a wrong. But where there be an hundred Ways, and but one right ; your knowing upon Examination, that that which I take is wrong, makes vou not know any thing better than before, that yours is the right. But if that be the bcfl Reafon you have for it, "tis ninety eight to one ftill againft you, that you are in the wrong. Belides, he that has been puniflied, may have examin'd before, and then you are fure he gains nothing. However, you think you do well to encourage the Magiflrate in punifliing, and comfort the Man who has fufter'd unjuflly, by fliewing what he ihfWgain by it. Whereas, on the contrary, in aDif- courfe of this Nature, where the Bounds of right and wrong are enquired into, and fhould be eftablifhed, tlie Magiftrate was to be fliew'd the Bounds of his Authority, and warn'd of the Injury he did when he mifapplies his Power, and punifh''d any Man who deferv'd it not; and not be foothM into Injuftice, by Conlideration oi Gain that might thence accrue to the Sufferer. Shall we do Evil that Good may come of it"* There are a Sort of People who are very wary of touching upon the ^lagiftrate's Euty, and tender of fhewing the Bounds of his Power, and the Injuftice and ill Coul'equences of his 7;;//?//'/;/)i;?? it; at leaft, fo long as it is mifapply'd in favour of them, and their Party. I know not whether you are of their Number. But this I am fure ; you have the Misfortune here to fall into their Miftake. The Magi- ftrate, you confefs, may in thisCalfe mifapply his Power ; and inftead of reprefenting to him tlie Injuftice of it, and the Account he muft give to his Sovereign, one Day, of this great Trull put into his Hands, for the equal Protection of all hisSubjefts: You pretend Advantages which the Sufferer may receive from it : And lb inftead of difheartning from, you give Encouragement to, the Mifchief. Which, upon your Principle, join'd to the natural Thirft in Man after arbitrary Power, may be car- ried to all manner of Exorbitancy, With fome Pretence of Right. Pag. i-^. For thus ftands your Syftem. If Force, i. e. Punifiment, 7nay be any way ufeful for Pag. 16. '^'^ promoting the Salvation of Souls, there is a Right fomewhere to ufe it. And this Right (fay you) is in the Magifirate. Who then, upon your Grounds, may quickly find Reaion, where it fuits his Inclination, or ferves his Turn, to punifli Men direftly to bring them to his Religion. For if he may ufe Force, becaule it may be, indirecllyy and at a Diftance, anyway, ufeful towards the Salvation of Souls, towards the procur- ing any Degree of Glory ; why may he not, by the fame Rule, ufe it where it may be ufeful, at leaft indireCily, and at a Diftance, towards the procuring a greater De- gree of Glory t For St. Paul allures us, that the AffliElions of this Life work for us a far ?ncre exceeding IVeight of Glory. So that why fhould they BOt be punifhed, if in the wrong, to bring them into the right Way ; If in the right, to make them by their Surterings Gainers oi a far 7nore exceeding Weig/jt oj Glory? But whatever you la\' of Piaiijhmtnt being lawful, becaiife indireElly, and at a Di (lance it may be uieful; I iuppofe, upon cooler: Fhoughts, you will be^pt to 1 ufpeiS; that, however Sufferings may promote the Salvation of thole who make a good Ufe of them, and to let Men lurcr in the right Way, or higher in a State of Glory ; yet thole who make Men un- duly iuffcr, vvilL have the heavier Account, and greater Weight of Guilt upon them, to link them deeper in the Pit of Perdition j and that therefore they fhould be warn'd to take Care of lb uling their Power. Becaufe whoever be Gainers by it, they theinfelves will (witliout Repentance and Amendment) be lure to be Lofers. But by granting th-xt the Magiflrate ?nifapplies his Power, when he punifhes thole who ha\ e the Right oji their Side, whether it be to bring the.m to his own Religi- OUj A Second Letter concerning Toleration^ 29 i on, or ^vlictlicr it be to bring them to conjiikr Rmfuns and Arguments proper to convince them, you grant all that the Author contends tor. All that he endeavours, is t(j flievv the Bounds of Civil Power; and that in punifhing others for Religion, the Magiftrate fnifapplief the Force he has in liis Hands, and lb goes beyond Right, be- yond the Limits of his Power. For I do not think the Author of the Letter lb vain (I am lure for my part I am not) as to hope by Arguments, though ne\er fo clear, to reform prcfently all the Abufes in this Matter ; efpecially whilft Men of Art, ...and Religion, endeavour fo induftrioufly to palliate and difguifc, wliat T} ut!i,. yet, fometimes, unawares forces from them. Do not think I make a wrong Ufe of your faying, the Magifirate 7iiifappl/es his Pozver, when I fay you therein grant all that the Author contends for. For if the Magiftrate mifapplies, or makes a wrong Ufe of his Power, when he puniflics in Mat- ters of Religion any one who is in tiie right, though it be but to make him confidcr, (as you grant he does) he alfo mifapplies, or makes wrong Ufe of his Power, when he puniflies any one, whomfoever in Matters of Religion, to make him confider. For every own is here Judge for himfelf, what is right; and in Matters of Faith, and Religious Worfhip, another cannot judge for him. So that to punifli any one in Matters of Religion, though it be but to make him confider, is by your own Con- fefTion beyond the Magiftrate's Power. And that punifhing in Matters of Religi- on is beyond the Magiftrate's Power, is ivl)at the Author contends for. You tell us in the following Words, All the Hurt that comes to them by it, is only theVzg. 26; fuffering fome tolerable Inconveniences, for their following the Light 0/ their own Reafon, and the Dictates of their ozvn Confcicnces ; which certainly is no fiich Mifchief to Mankind, as to 7nale it more elegible that there floould be no fiich Power vefted in the Magifirate, but the Care of every Mans Soul fl.mnld be left to himfelf alone (as this Author demands it fimuld be ; ) that is, that every Man flMuld be fuffer'd, quietly, and ivithout the leafl Muleflation, either to take no Care at all of his Soul, if he be fo pleafed ; or in doing it, to follow his own groundlefs Prejudices, or unaccountable Humour, or any crafty Seducer, whom he may think fit to take for his Guide. IVhy j]}ould not the Care of every Mans Soul be left to himfelf, rather than the Magifirate ? Is the Magifirate like to be more concerned for it ? Is the Magifirate like to take more Care of it? Is the ])dagifir ate commonly more careful of his own, than other Men are of theirs > Will you fay the Magifirate is lefs expos'd in Matters of Religion, to Prejudices, Humours, and crafty Seducers, than other Men? \i you cannot lay your Hand upon your Heart, and flty all this, what then will be got by the Change ? And why may not the Care of every Mans Soul be left to himfelf? Efpecially, if a Man be in fo much Danger to mifs the Truth, who is fuffer' d quiet- ly, and without the leafi Moleflation, either to take no Care of his Soul, if he be fo pleafed, or to follow his own Prejudices, &c. For if want of MuLfiation be the dangerous State, wherein Men are likelieft to mifs the right Way ; it muft be confeifed, that of all Men, the Magifirate is moft in Danger to be in the wrong, and fo the unfitteft (if you take the Care of Men s Souls fro?n themfelves) of all Men, to be intruded with it. For he never meets with that great and only Antidote of yours againft Error, which yoia here call Moleflation. He never has the benefit of your fovereign Remedy, Pu- nifi)ment, to make him confider ; which you think fo necelfary, that you look on ic as a moft dangerous State for Men to be without it ; and therefore tell us, 'tis every Mans true Intereft, not to be left wholly to himfelf in Matters of Religion. Thus, Sir, I have gone through your whole Treatife, and as I think, have omit- ted nothing in it material. If I have, I doubt not but I fhall hear of it. And now I refer it to your felf, as well as to the Judgment of the World, whether the Au- thor of the Letter, in faying no body hath a Right ; or you, in faying, the Magi- ftrate hath a Right to ufe Force in Matters of Religion ; has moft Reafon. In the mean time, I leave this Requeft with you : 'I'hat if ever you write again, about the Means of bringing Souls to Salvation, (which certainly is the beft Delign anyone can employ his Pen in) you would take Care not to prejudice fo good a Caufe, by ordering it fo, as to make it look as if you writ for a Party. I am, SIR, May 27, 16^0. Your irKifl Humble Servant, PHILANTHROPUS. Vol. 11. O 3 A T H I R A THIRD LETTER FOR TOLERATION, To the Author of the THIRD L E T T E P. CONCERNING 1 oleratioii. The Render may he ^leafed to take notice, thai V, li Stands for the Letter concerning Toleration. A, For the Argument of the Letter concerning Toleration briefly confider'd and anfwcr'd. L. 2. The Seco;id Letter concerning Toleration^ Pag. The Pages of the Tliird Letter concerning Toleration'; ^9S. A THIRD LETTER FOR TOLERATION. SIR, CHAP. I. H E Bufinefs which your Letter concerning Toleration found me in- gaged in, has taken up fo much of the Time my Health would allow me ever fince, that I doubt whether I fhould now at all have troubled you or the World with an Anfwer, had not foriie of my Friends, fuf- ficiently fatisfied of the Weaknefs of your Arguments, with repea- ted Inftances, perfuaded me it might of Ufe to Truth in a Point of fo great Mo- ment, to clear it from thofe Fallacies which might perhaps puzzle fome unwary Readers ; and therefore prevailed on me to lliew the wrong Grounds and miftaken Reafonings you make ufe of to fupport your new Way of Perfecuticn. Parden me. Sir, that I ufe that Name, which you are lo much offended at : For if Punifhment be Punifhment, though it come fhort of the Difcipline of Fire and Faggot, 'tis as certain that Puniflmient for Religion is truly Perlecution, though it be only fuch Puniflament as you in j-our Clemency think fit to call moderate and convenimt Penalties. But however you pleafe to call them, I doubt not but to let you fee, that if you will be true to your own Principles, and ftand to what you have faid, you muft carry ' your fome Degrees of Force (as you phrafe it) to all thofe Degrees which in Words ' you declare againft. You have indeed in this lall Letter of yours, altered the Queflion ; for fag. 26. you tell me the Queftion between us, is, IVhether the Magiflrate hath any Right to tife Force to luring Men to the true Religion ? Whereas you your felf own the Qiieftion to be, IVhether the Magiflrate has a Right to ife Force in Matters of Religion ? Whether this Pag. 76,' Alteration be at all to the Advantage of Truth, or your Caufe, we fhall fee. But hence you take Occafion all along to lay load on me for charging you with the Ab- ■ furdities of a Power in the Magiftrates topunifli Men, to bring them to their Reli- gion : Whereas you here tell us they have a Right to ufe Force only to bring Men to the true. But whether I were more to blame to fuppofe you to talk coherently and mean Senfe, or you in exprefling your felf fo doubtfully and uncertainly, where you Avere concerned to be plain and direft, I fhall leave to our Readers to judge; only here in the Beginning I fhall endeavour to clear my felf of that Imputation, I fo of- ten meet with, of charging on you Confequences you do not own, and arguing againfl: an Opinion that is not yours, in thofe Places, where I fhew how little Advantage it would be to Truth, or the Salvation of Men's Souls, that all Magiftrates fhould have a Right to ufe Force to bring Men to imbrace their Religion. This I fliall do by proving, that if upon your Grounds the Magiflrate, as you pretend, be obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to the true Religion, it will neceflarily follow, that every Magiftrate, 2^6 A Third Letter concerning Toleration!! Magiftrate, vvlio believes his Religion to be true is obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to his. fag. :5I. You tell us. That by the Law of Nature the Magi flr ate is invefled -with coaflive Pother, and obliged to ufe it jor all the good Purpofes which it might ferve, and for which it fI}ould be fotmd needful, even for the reftrainingoj falfe and corrupt Religion : And that it is the Pag. 31. Magiftrate's Da/y, to which he is commiffioned by the Law of Nature, but the Scripture does not properly give it him. I fuppole you will grant me, that anything laid upon the Magiflrateas a Duty, is fome Way or other prafticable. Now the Magiflrate being obliged to ufe Force in Matters of Religion, but yet fo as to bring Men only to the true Religion, he will not be in any Capacity to perform this Part of his Duty, unlefs the Religion he is thus to promote, be what he can certainly know, or elfe what it is fufficicnt for him to believe to be the true : Either his Knowledge or his Opinion mufl: point out that Religion to him, which he is by Fvrce to promote; or elfe he' may promifcuoufly and indifferently promote any Religion, and punifh Men at a Venture, to bring them from that they are in, to any other. This laft I think no body has been fo wild as to fay. If therefore it mufl; be either his Knowledge or his Perfnafion that muft guide tile Magiflrate herein, and keep him within the Bounds of his Duty ; if the Magi- ftrates of the World cannot know% certainly know the true Religion to be the true Religion ; but it be of a Nature to exercife their Faith, Tfor where Vifion, Know- ledge and Certainty is, there Faith is done away) then that which gives them the laft Determination herein, muft be their own Belief, their own Perfuailon. To you and me the Chriftian Religion is the true, and that is built (to mention no other Articles of it) on this, that Jeius Chrift was put to death at Jeyufalem, and rofe again from the Dead. Now do you or I know this, (I do not ask with what Afl'urance we belie\e it, for that in the higheft Degree not being Knowledge, is not what we now inquire after) Can any Magiftrate demonftrate to himfelf (and if he can to himfelf, he does ill not to do it to others) not only all the Articles of his Church, but the fundamental Ones of the Chriftian Religion ? For whatever is not capable of Dcmonftration (as fuch remote Matters of Fad are not) is not, unlefs it be felf- evident, capable to produce Knowledge, how well grounded and great foever the Af^ furance of Faith may be wherewith it is received; but Faith it is ftill, and not Know- ledge ; Perfuafion, and not Certainty. This is the higheft the Nature of the Thing will permit us to go in Matters of revealed Religion, which are therefore called Mat- ters of Faith : A Perfuafion of our own Minds, fhort of Knowledge, is the laft Refult that determines us in fuch Truths. ^Tis all God requires jn the Gofpel for Men to be faved : and 'twould be ftrange if there were more requir'd of the Magiftrate for the Direftion of another in the Way toSalvation, than isrequired of himfor hisown Sal- vation. Knowledge then, properly fo called, not being to be had of the Truths ne- ceftary to Salvation, the Magiftrate muft be content with Faith and Perfuafion for the Rule of that Truth he will recommend and inforce upon others ; as well as of that whereon he v/ill venture his own eternal Condition. If therefore it be theMagiftrates Duty to ufe Force to bring Men to the true Religion, it can be only to that Religion which he believes to be true: So that if Force be at all to be ufed by the- Magiftrate in Matters of Religion, it can only be for the promoting that Religion which he only believes to be true, or none at all. I grant that a ftrong Aflurance of any Truth fettled upon prevalent and well-grounded Arguments of Probability, is often called Knowledge in popular Ways of talking : But being here to diftinguifh between Knowledge and Belief, to what Degrees of Confidence foever raifed, their Boun- daries muft be kept, and their Names not confounded. I know not what greater Pledge a Man can give of a full Perfuafion of the Truth of any thing, than his ven- turing his Soul upon it, as he does, who fincerely imbraces any Religion, and re- ceives it for t:"ue. But to what Degree foever of Afl'urance his Faith may rife, it ftill comes fhort of Knowledge. Nor can one now, I think, arrive to greater Evidence of the Truth of the Chrifti.m Religion, than the firft Converts in the Time of our Savi- our and the Apoftles had; of whom yet nothing more was required but to believe. ■ But fuppofing all the Truths of the Chriftian Religion neceffary to Salvation could be fo known to the Magiftrate, that in his Ufe of Force for the bringing Men to embrace thefe, he could be guided by infallible Certainty ; yet I fear this would not ler\e your Turn, nor authorize the Magiftrate to ufe Force to bring Men in England, or A Third Letter for Toleratio]n% z^- orany where elfe, into the Communion of tlic National Church, in which Ceremo- nies of human Inftitution were impofed, which could not be known, nor (beinp confeffcd things in their own Nature indiftercnt) fo much as thought necefliiry to Salvation. But of this I fhall have occafion to fpeak in another Place : all the Ulc I make of it here, is to fliew, that the Crofs in Baptilln, kneeling at the Sacrament, and fuch like things, being impoflible to be known necellary to Salvation, a certain Knowledge of the Truth of the Article of Faith of any Churcli, could not authorize the Ma- giftrate to compel Men to embrace the Communion of that Church, wherein anv thing were made neceflary to Communion, which he did not know was necellary to Slavation. By what has been already faid, I fuppofe it is evident, that if the Magiflrate be to ufe Force only for promotmg the true Religion, he can have no other Guide but his own Perfuafion of what is the true Religion, and mull be led by that in his Ufe of Force, or elfe not ufe it all in Matters of Religion. If you take the latter ofthefe Confequences, you and I are agreed : if the former, you muft allow all Magillrates, of whatfoever Religion, the Ufe of Force to bring Men to theirs, and fo be inv^olved in all thole ill Conlequences which you cannot it feems admit, and hoped to decline by your ufelefs Diftinftion of Force to be ufed, not for any, but for the true Relicrion. 'T'is the Duty, you fay, oj the Magiflrate to ufe Force for promoting tJie true Religi- on. And in feveral places you tell us, he is obliged to it. Perfuade Magillrates in general of this, and then tell me how any Magiflrate fliall be reftrained from the Ufe of Force, for the promoting what he thinks to be the true? For he being periuaded that it is his Duty to ufe Force to promote the true Religion, and being alio periua- ded his is the true Religion, What Hiall Hop his Hand ? Muft he forbear the Ufe of Force till he be got beyond believing, into a certain Knowledge that all he requires Men to embrace, is neceflary to Salvation ? If that be it you will ftand to, you have my Confent, and I think there will be no need of any other Toleration. But if the believing his Religion to be the true, be fufficient for the Magiftrate to ule Force for the promoting of it, will it be fo only to the Magillrates of the Religion that you profefs ? And muft all other Magiftrates fit ftill, and not do their Duty till they have 5'our Permilfion ? If it be your Magiftrate's Duty to ufe Force for the promoting the Religion he believes to be the true, it will be every Magiftrate's Duty to ufe Force for the Promoting what he believes to be the true, and he lins if he does not receive and promote it as if it were true. If you will not take this vipon my Word, vet I deiire you to do it upon the ftrong Reafon of a very judicious and reverend Prelate of the prefent Church of England, In a Difcotirfe concerning Confcience, printed in "to, 87. f. 1 8. You will find thefe following Words, and much more to this Purpofe : Wiiere a Man is miftaken in his 'Judgment, even in that Cafe it is always a Sin to aB againft it. "Though -we fljould take that for a Duty ivhich is really a Sin, yet fo long as -we are thus ferfuaded, it will be highly Criminal in us to aft in ContradiBion to this Perfuajton : and the Reafon of this is evident, becaufe by fo doing, -we wilfully aEi againft the heft Lifht which at prefent we have for the Direction of our Anions. So that when all is done the immediate Guide of our Actions can be nothing but our Confcience, our judgment and Perfuafion. If a Man, for Inftance, fhould of a Jew become a Chriflian, whilft yet in his Heart he believed that the Mcjfiah is not yet come, and that our Lord Jefus was an hn- poftor : Or if a Papifl ftwuld renounce the Communion of the Rojnan Church, and join with ours, whilft yet he is perf ended that the Roman Church is the only Catholick Church and that our Reformed Churches are Heretical or Schifmatical ; though now there is none of us ' ■ that wiU deny that the Men in both thefe Cafes have made a good Change, as having changed a falfe Religion for a true one, yet for all that I dare fay we ftoould all agree they were both of them great Villains for making that Change, becaufe they made it^not upon honeft principles, and in Purfuance of their Judgment, but in direci ContradiElion to both. So that it being the Magiftrate's Duty to uje Force to bring Men to the true Religion ■ and he being periuaded his is the true, I fuppofe you will no longer queftion but^that he is as much obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to it, as if it were the true. And then Sir, I hope you have too muchRefpeft for Magiftrates, not to allow them tobefieve the Religions to be true which they profefs. Thefe things put together, I defire you to confider whether ij Magiftrates are obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to the true Re- ligion, every Magiftrate is not obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to that Religion he believes to be true 'i Vol. 11. P P This 2(^?> A Third Letter ^ or Toleration. Tliis being fo, I hope 1 linvc not argued fo wholly befides the Purpore, as you a)I through your Letter acciile me, for charging on your Doftrine all the ill Coni'e- qucncos, all the Prejudice itu'ouldbe to the true Religion, that Magiftrates fhould have Power, to uie Force to bring Men to tlieir Religions: And I prcfuinc you ^viIl tliinkyour f'elf concerned to give to all thefe Places in the.fiyfl andfavnd Letter con- Fag. 24. cerning'Tolerntim, which Hiew the Inconveniences and Abfurdities of fuch an Ufa of Force, fon-e ntlier AniWer, than tliat you are jvr pioiijhmg only fuch as rejeci the true Religion. l'i:at 'tis pl'iin the Force you /peak of is not Force, my IVay applied, i. e. applied to the true promoii^ig the true Religion only, but to the promoting all the National Religions in Pag. 2p. f/j^ 14/orld. And again, to my arguing tliat Force your Way applied, if it can propa- gate any Religion, k is likelier to be the falle than the true, becauie few of the Magi- ftrates of the World are in the right Way. You reply, This would have been to the Pur- pqfe, if ycu had afferied that every Magijlrate may nje Force your indirect JVay (or any Way) to bring Men to his omn Religion, whatever it be. But if you alierted no fuch thing, Pag. 17, (as no Man yovi think, but an Atheift will ajfert it) then this is quite befides the Bufinefs. This is the great Strength of your Anfwer, and your Refuge almoft in every Page. So that I prefume it reafonable to expeft that you lliould clearly and directly an- fwer what I have here faid, or elfe find lomc other Anfwer tiian what you have done to xhc feccnd Letter concerningToleration. However acute you are in your Way in fcveral Places on this Occalion, as p. 11,12. for my Anfwer to which 1 fhall re- fer y(iU to another Place. To my Argument againft Force, from the Ma giftrate's being as liable to Error as Pag. I ■5. the red of Mankind, you anfwer. That I might have confldered that this Argument con- cerns none but tlnfe who ajfert that every Magijlrate has a Right to ufe Force to promote his own Religicn, whatever it be, which you think no Man that has any Religion will ajfert. I fuppofe you may think now this anfwer will fcarce fcrve, and you muft ailert either no Magi'ftrateto iinve Right to promote his Religion by Force, or elfe be involv'd in the Condemnation ycu pafs on thofe who affert it of all Magiftrates. And here I think, as to the Decifion of the Qiieftion betwixt us, I might leave this Matter : bucchere being in your Letter a great many other grofs Miftakes, wrong Suppofiti- on.s, and fallacious Arguings, which in thofe general and plaufible Terms you have made ufe of in fe\ eral Places, as beft ferved your Turn, may poffibly ha\e impofed on yourfelf, as well as chcy are fitted to do fo on others, and therefore will deferve to have Ibme Notice taken of them ; I fhall give my lelf the Trouble of examining your Letter a little farther. 'J'o my faying, " It is not for the Magiftrate, upon an Imagination of its Ufeful- " nefsj to make ufe of any other Means than what the Author and Finiflrerof our Pag. 31. " Faith had direftcd ; you reply. Which how true foever, is not, I think, very much to the Pi-rpofe. For if the Magijlrate does only afjijl that Minijlry which our Lord has ap~ pointed, by vfingfe much of his coaclive Power for the Furthering their Service, as common Experience di [covers to be ufeful and neccffaryfor that End ; there is no manner of Ground to fay, that " upon an Imagination of its Ufefulnefs, he makes ufe of any other Means ■ " for the Salvation of Men's Souls, than what the Author and Finifiier of our Faith *' has direfted. 'T'is true indeed, the Author and Finiflier of our Faith has given the Mai'jh-ate no new PoTver or Commifion, nor was there any Need that he fhould, (if himfalf had Irnd any 'Temporal Pozcer to give : ) for he found hint already, even by the Law of Na- ture, the Minifter of God to tiie People for Good, and bearing the Sword not in vain, i. e. vejled with coaclive Power, and obliged to ufe it for all the good Purpofes which it jnight ferve, and for which it fl.wuld be found needful ; even Jvr the Rcjlraining offalfe and corrupt Religion ; as Job long before (perhaps before any Part of the Scriptures were writ- ten) acknowledged, when he faid, that the IVorjhipping the Sun or the Moon, was an Ini- quity to be punifhed by tlie Judge. But though our Saviour has given the Magljhates no new Power, yet being King of Kings, he espe£is and requires that they fljould jubmit thcmjehes to his Scepter, and ufe the Power which always belonged to them, for his Service, and for the advancing his Spiritual Kingdom in the World. And even that Charity wliich cur great Majler fo earneflly recomjnends, and fo Jlricily requires of all his Dijeiples, as it obliges all Men to feek and promote the Good of others, as v^ell as their own, efpccially tbefr Spiritual and Eternal Good, by fuch Means as their Jlveral Places and Relations enable them to ufe ; fo does it efpecicdiy oblige the Magijlrate to do it as a Magillraic, j. e. by that . l>inc:er which enables him to do it above the Rate 0/ other M*n. So A Third Letter /or To l e r a t i o n. 299 So far therefore is the Chriflian Magi fir ate, when he gives his helping Hand to the Fur- therance of the Gofpcl, by laying convenient Penalties upon fuel) as rejeil it, or any part of it from ufing any other Means Jor the Salvation of Mens SouL, than what the Author and Fiiiiflier of our Faith has dircfted, that he does no more than his Duty to God, to his Redeemer, and to hii Subjecls, rerjuires of him. The Sum of your Reply amounts to this, that by the Law of Nature the Magiftrate may make ufe of his coa(!tivc Power where it is ufejul and necejfaryfov the Good of the People. If it be from the Law of Mature, it muft be to all Magidrates equally : And then I ask whether this Good they are to promote without any new Power or Cotmniffton from our Saviour, be what they think to be fo, or what they certainly know to be fo. If it be what they think to be fo, then all Magillrates may ufe Force to bring Men to their Religion : And what Good this is like to be to Men, or of what Ule to the true Religion, we have ell'ewhere coniidered. If it be only that Good which they certainly know it to be fo, they will be very ill enabled to do what you require ot them, which you here tell us is to affifl that Miniflry which our Lord has appointed. Which of the Magiftrates of your Time did you know to have fo well ftudied the Controverfies about Ordination and Church-Government, to be io well verfed in Church-Hiftory and SuccelTion, that you can undertake that he certainly knew which was the Miniflry which our Lord had appointed, either that of Rnme, or t\\at o{ Sweden, whether the Epifcopacy in one Part of this Ifland, or the Presbytery in another, were the Miniflry which our Lord had appointed? If you fay, be- ing firmly peifuaded of it, be fufficient to authorize the Magiftrate to ufe Force; you with the Atheifls, as you call them, who do fo, give the People up in every Coun- try to the coaftive Force of the Magiftrate to be employ 'd for the aflfling the Mini- fiers oi his Religion : And King Lewis of good Right comes in with his Dragoons; for 'tis not much doubted that he as ftrongly believ'd his Popifh Priefts and Jefuits to be the Miniflry which our Lord appointed^ as either King Charles or King 'James the Second believed that of the Church of England to be fo. And of what Ule fuch an Exercife of the coaftive Power of all Magiftrates, is to the People, or to the true Re- ligion, you are concerned tofhew. But 'tis (you know) but to tell me, lonlytrifley and this is all anfwered. What in other Places you tell us, is to make Men hear, conjider, fludj, embrace, and bring Men to the true Religion, you here do very well to tell us is to affifl the Miniflry : And to that 'tis true, common Experience difcovers the Magiflrate's coaBive Force to be ufeful and neccffary, viz,, to thofe who taking the Reward, but not over-bufyincf themfelves in the Care of Souls, hnd it for their Eafe, that the Magiflrate's coaftive Power fhould fupply their want of Paftoral Care, and be made ufe of to bring thofe into an outward Conformity to the National Church, whom cither for want or Abi- lity, they cannot, or want of due and friendly Application, join'd with an exem- plary Life, they never fo much as endeavoured to pre^'ail on heartily to embrace it. That there may be fuch Neglects in the beft-conftitued National Church in the World, the Complaints of every knowing Bifhop of our Church, in a late Difcourfe of the PASTORAL CARE, is too plain an Evidence. Without fo great an Authority I fhould fcarce have ventured (though it layjufl in my Way) to have taken notice of what is fo vifible, that it is in every one's Mouch, for fear you fhould have told me again, that I made myflfan Occafim to (l}ew my good Will toward the Clergy. For you will not, Ifuppofe, fufpect that eminent Pre- late to have any ill Will to them. If this were not fo, that fome were negligent, I imagine the Preachers of the true Religion (which lies, as you tell us, lb obvious and expofed, as to be eaiily di- ftinguifh'd from the falfe) would need or delire no other Affiftance from the Magi- ftrate^s couc^ive Power, but what lliould be direfted againftthe Irregularity of Mens Lives ; their Lufls being that alone, as you tell us, that makes Force neceflary to ai- fift the true Religion ; which, were it not for our depraved Nature, would by its Light and Reafonablenefs have the Advantage againft all falfe Religions. You tell tis too. That the Magiftrate may impofe Creeds and Ceremonies ; iruieed Pag. 13.' you fay found Creeds, and decent Ceremonies, but that helps not your Caufe : For who muft be Judge ot that found, and that decent .? If the Impofer, then thofe Words fignify nothing at all, but that the Magiftrate may impofe thofe Creeds and Ce- remonies which he thinks found and decent, which is in efted: fuch as he thinks fit. Indeed you telling us a little above, in the fame Page, that it is a Vice not to wor~ Vol. H. P P 2 fljip 5 CO A Third Letter for Toleration. f}'ip Cod in JVays prefcribed by theje to -whom God has left the Ordering offuch Matters ; you fcem to make otiicrs judges of wliat \s fui^nd and decent, and die Magiflrate but the Executioner ot their Decrees, v/itli the Ajjifiance of his LOciclive I'o-wer. A pretty Foundation to eflablifh Creeds and Ceremonies on, that God has left the Ordering of them to thofe who cannot itnpofe them, and the Impofmg of them to thole who cannot order them. But flill the lame Difficulty leturns; for after tliey have prejhibedy muft the Magiftratc judge them to he found and decent, ormuflhe impofe them, tho' lie judge them not Jotmd or decent ? If he muft judge them lb himfelf, we are but wlicre we were : It he muft impofe them when prefcribed, though lie judge them not fund nor decent, 'tis a pretty fort of Drudgery is put on the Magiftrate. And how far is this fhort of implicite Faith? But he muft not judge what is fund and decent, he muft judge at leaft who are thofe to whom God das left the Ordering cj fuch Matters; and then the King of France is ready again with iiis Dragoons for the /o?(7Zi^Dn(ftrine, and decent Ctremonies of his Prefcribers in the Council of Trent, and that upon this Ground, with as good Right as any other has for the Pretcriptions of any oihers. Do not miftake me again, Sir; I do not fay, he judges as right; but 1 do fay, that whilft he judges the Council of Trent, or the Clergy of Rome to be thoi'e to -whom God has left the Ordering of thofe Matters, he has as much Right to follow their Decrees, as any other to follow the Judgment of any other Set of mor- tal Men whom he believes to be fo. But whoever is to be Judge of what is found or decent in the Cafe, I ask, Of what Ufe and Neceffity is it to impofe Creeds and Ceremonies? For that UfeaaA Neceljlty is all the ConimilTion you can find the Magiftrate hath to ufe his coadive Power to impofe them. 1. Of what Ufe and NecefTity is it among Chriftians that own the Scripture to be the Word oi God and Rule of Faith, to make and impofe a Creed ? What Com- miffionfor this hath the Magiftrate from the Law of Nature ? God hath given a Revelation that contains in it all Things neceflary to Salvation, and of this his Peo- ple are ail pcrfuaded. What Neceffity now is there ? How does their Good require it, that the Magiftrate fhould fingle out, as he thinks fit, any Number of thole Truths as more neceflary to Salvation than the reft, if God himfelf Iras not done h ? 2. But next, are thefe Creeds in the Words of the Scripture, or not? K they are, they are certainly fund, as containing nothing but Truth in them : And lb they weie before, as they lay in the Scripture. But thus though they contain no- thing but found Truths, yet they may be imperfeft, and fo unfound Rules of Faith, fince they may require more or lefs than God requires to be believed as neceflary to Salvation. For what greater NecelTity, I pray, is there that a Man fliould believe that Chrift fuffered under Pontius Pilate, than that he was born at Bethlehem of "Judah ? Both are certainly true, and no Chriftian doubts of either : But how comeS one to be made'an Article of Faith, and impofed by the Magiftrate as necellary to Salvation, (for otherwife there can be no Neceffity of Impolition) and the other not? Do not miftake me Iiere, as if I would lay by that Summary of the Chriftian Re- ligion, which is contained in that which is called the Apoftle's Creed ; which tho* no body, who examines the Matter, will have Reafon to conclude of the Apoftles compiling, yet is certainly of reverend Antiquity, and ought ftill to be preferved in the Church. I mention it not to argue againft it, but againft your Impofition, and to fliew that even that Creed, though of that Antiquity, though it contain in it all the Credenda neceflary to Salvation, cannot yet upon your Principles be impofed by the coercive Power of the Magifirate, who even by the Commiffion you have found out for him, can ufe his Force for nothing but what is abfolutely neceflary to Sal- vation. But if the Creed to be impofed be not in the Words of Divine Revelation ; then it is in plainer, more clear and intelligible Expreffions, or not : If no plainer, what Necefllty of changing thofe, which Men infpired by the Holy Ghoft made ufe of? If you lay, they are plainer ; then they explain and determine the Senfe of fbme obfcuie and dubious Places of Scripture, which Explication not being of Divine Revelation; though found to one Man, may be unfound to another, and cannot be impofed as 'Frurhs neceflary to Salvation. Befides that, this deftroys what you tell Pa^ 29. us of the Ohvioiifnefs of all Truths neceffary to Salvation. And A Third Letter for Toleration.' 501 And as to Rites and Ceremonies, are there any necelVary to Salvation, which Chrid has not inftituted? If not, how can the Magiflrate impofe them ? Wliat Comniil- lion has he from the Care he ouglit to hase/or the Salvatiun oj Mem Suuls, to ufc his coatlive Force for the EftabliflTiment of any new ones which our Lord and Saviour (with due Reverence be it ipoken) had forgotten ? He inftituted two Rites in his Church ,■ can any one add any new one to tiieni ? Chrift commanded fimply to bap- tize in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft ; but the ligning of the Crofs, how came that neceflary ? Hianan Authority ivhicb is necejfary to affiji the "Truth againjl the Corruption oj hximan Nnture, lias made it fo. But "tis a deient Cere- mony. I ask, is it fo decent that the Adminiftration of Baptifm, fimply, as our Sa- viour inflitutcd, would be indecent without it? If not, then there is no Reafon to impoi'e it i'or Decency's fake ; for there can be no Reafon to alter or add any thing to the Inftitution of Chrift, or introduce any Ceremony or Circumflance into Religion for Decency, where the Aftion would be decent without it. The Commsnd to do all things decently, Jind in Order, ga\'e no Authority to add to Chrift's Inllitutionany new Ceremony, it only prefcribed the Manner how, what was netelTary to be done in tiie Congregation, fhould be there done, viz.. after fuch a Manner, that if it were omitted, there would appear fome Indecency, ivhereof the Congregation or collec- tive Body was to be Judge, for to them that Rule was given : And if that Rule ^^o beyond what I have faid, and gives Power to Men to introduce into Religious Worfhip whatever they fliall think decent, and impofe the Ufe of itj 1 do not fee how the great^ft Part of the infinite Ceremonies of the Church of Ro7ne could be com- plained of, or refufed, if introduced into another Church, and there impofed by the Magiflrate. But it fuch a Power were given to the Magiftrate, that whatever he thought a decent Ceremony, he might de mvo impoi'e, he would need fome exprefs ^ Commiffion from God in Scripture, lince the Commiflion you fay he has from the Law of Nature, will never give him a Power to inllitute new Ceremonies in the Chriftian Religion, which, be thty decent, or what they will, can never be neceflary to Salvation. The Gofpel wns to be preached in their Aflemblies; the Rule then was, that the Habit, Gefture, Voice, Language, &c. of the Preacher (for thefe were neceflary Circum.ftances of the Aftionj fhould have nothing ridiculous or indecent in it. The Praifes of God were to be lung ; it muft be then in fuch Poftures and Tunes as be- came the Solemnity of that Adion. And fo a Convert was to be baptized, Chriil inftituted the elfential Part of that Aftion, which was wafhing with Water in die Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft ; in which Care was alfo to be had, that in the doing this nothing fhould be omitted that preferved a Decency in all the Cii- cumftances of the Aftion. But no body will fay, that if the Crofs were omitted, that upon that Account there would be any thing indecent in Baptifm. What is to be done in the AiTemblies of Chriftians, for the Salvation of Souls, is fufEciently prefcribed in Scripture : But iince the Circumftances of the Actions were lo various, and might in feveral Countries and Ages have different Appearances (as that appears decent in one Country which is quite contrary in another) concerning them there could be no other Rule gi\en than what is, viz,, decently, in Order, and to Edification ; and in avoiding Indecencies, and not adding any new Ceremonies, (how decent foever) this Rule conlifts. I judge no Man in the Ufe of the Crofs in Baptifm. The Impofition of that, or any other Ceremony not inftituted by Chrift himfelf, is what I argue againft, and fay, is more than you upon your Principles can make good. Common Senfehas fatished all Mankind, tiiat it is above their Reach to determine what Things in their own Nature indifferent, were fit to be made ufe of in Religion^ and would be acceptable to the fuperior Beings in tlieir Worfhip, and therefore they have every where thought it neceflary to derive that Knowledge from the immediate Will and Di<5tatesof the Gods themfelves, and have taught that their Forms of Reli- gion, and outward Modes of Worfhip were founded upon Revelation, no body daring to do fo abfurd and infolent a thing, as to take upon him to prefume with himfelf, or toprelcribe toothers by his own Authority which fliould in thefe indifferent and mean Things be worthy of the Deity, and make an acceptable Part of his Worlhip. In- deed they all agreed in the Duties of natural Religion, and we find them by com- mon Confent owning that Piety and Virtue, that clean Hands, and a pure Heart not polluted with the Breaches of the Law of Nature was the beft Worfhip of the Gods. Reafon ^02 A Third Letter for Toleration. Reafon difcovered to them that a good Life w.is the moft acceptable thing to the Dei- ty; this the common Light of Nature put pall Doubt. But for their Ceremonies and outward Performances, for them tliey appeal always to a Rule recci\ ed from the immediate Direction of the fuperior Powers themlehes, there they made ui'e, and had need of Revelation. A plain Confellion of Mankind that in tlieie Things wc have neither Knowledge to diicern, nor Authority to preicribe : 'J'hat Men cannot by their own Skill find out what is fit, or by their own Power make any thing worthy to be a Part of religious Worfhip. 'Tis not for them to invent and impofe Ceremo- nies that fhall recommend Men to the Deity. 'Twas fo obvious and vifible, that it became Men to have Leave from Godhimfelf, before they dared to offer to the di- vine Majefly any of thefe triHing, mean, and to hmi ufclels 'J'hings, as a grateful and valuable Part of his Worfliip, that no body any where amongff the various and ftrange Religions they lead Men into, bid fuch open Defiance to common Senfe, and the Reafon of all Mankind, as to prefume to do it without vouching the Appoint- ment of God himi'clf Pinto, who of all the Heathens, feems to have had the mod ferious Thoughts about Religion, lays that the Magiftrate, or whoever has any Senfe, will never introduceof his own head any new Rites into his Religion, for which he gives this convincing Reafon; /or, lays he, I'c ?nnfi kriozu it is impoffihk j or Jmman Nature to knoijj anything certainly concerning thefe Matters. Epinom. poft medium. It cannot therefore buc be Matter of Aftonifliment, that any who call themfeh-es Chriflians, who have fofure, and fo full a Revelation, which declares all the Counfel of God concerning the Way of attaining etcnial Salvation, fhould dare by their own Authority to add any thing to what is therein prefcribed, and impofe iton others as a necelfary Part of religious Worfliip, without the Obfervance of which human Inventions, Men Ihall not be permitted the publick VVorlhip of God. If thofe Rites and Cerem.onies prefcribed to the Je-u's by God himfelf, and delivered at the fame Time, and by the fame Hand to the Je-^s that the moral Law was, were call'd beggarly Elements under the Go- fpel, and laid by as ufelefs and burthenfome, what fhall we call thofe Rites which have no other Foundation, but the Will and Authority of Men, and of Men very often, w^ho have not much Thought of the Purity of Religion, and praftifed itlefs. Bccaufe you think your Argument for the Magiftrate 's Right to ufe Force has not had its due Conlideration ; I fhall here fet it down in your own Words, as ic \.V. i6.ftands, and endeavour to give you Satisfadion to it. You lay there. If fuch a De- gree of outzvard Force as has been mentioned, be of great and even neceffary Ufe, for the ad- vancing thvfe Ends, (as taking the World as -we find it, I think it appears to be,) then it mitfi be acknoivledg d that there is a Right fomewhere to ufe it for the advancing thofe Ends, utilefs we will fay (what without Impiety cannot be faid) that the wife and benign Difpojer and Governor of all Things has not farnified Mankind with competent Means for the promot- ing his own Honour in the fVorld, and the Good of Souls. And if there be fuch a Right fomewhere, whc re fhould it be, but where the Power of compel- ling refidcs ? T'hat is principally, and in reference to the Publick in the Civil Sovereign. Which Words, if they have any Argument in them, it in Ihort ftands thus. Force is ufful and neceffary : The good and wife God (who without Lnpiety cannot be fuppofed not to have furniflxd Men with competent Means for their Salvation} has. therefore given a Right to fome Men to ufe it, and thofe Men are the Civil Sovereigns. To mi-ke til is Argument of any Ufe to your Purpofe, you muft fpeak a little more diftinAly, (for here you, according to your laudable and fafe Way of Writing, aie wvap'd up in the Uncertainty of general Terms) and mufl tell us, befides the End for which it is ufeful and neceffary, to whom it is tifful and neceffary. Is itufeful attd neceffary to all Men ? That you will not fay, for many are brought to embrace the true Religion by bare Preaching, without any Force. Is it then neceflary to all thofe, and thole only, who, as you tell us, rejeB the a-ue Religion tendred with fufficient Evi- dence, or at hafi fo far manifejied to them, as to oblige them to receive it, and to leave t}:e?7t "without Excufe if they do not ! To all therefore, who rejefting the true Religion fo tendered, are without Excufe, your moderate Force is ufeful and neceffary. But is it to all thofe competent, i. e. fhfficient Means ? That 'tis evident in Matter of Fact, it is not ; for after ail, many ft and out. 'Tis like you will fay, which is all you have to fay, that thofe are fuch, to whom, having refifted this laft Means, moderate Fqi'ce, God always refufeth his Grace, without which no Means is efficacious. So that your competent ut laft, are only fuch Means as are the utmoft that God has ap- pointed A Third Letter for TollrationI ^ci pointed, and will have ufed, and which when Men refift, they are without Excufe, and fhall never after have the Affiflance of Iiis Grace to bring them to that "Tmtl) they have rejijlcd, and To be as the Apoftic, 2T7>;z. 3.8. calls liich, Men of corrupt Minds , reprobate anceniing the Fdith. II then it fliall bo, that the Day of Grace fliall be over to ail thofe who rejccl the I'mth maiiifcjlcd to them, with luch Evidence, as leaves them ■withojit Excufe, and that bare Preaching and Exhortation fliall be according to the good Plea fure of the Ix^nign Dilpofer of all things, enough (when ncglefted} to make their Hearts Jat, their Ears heavy, and flmt their Eyes that they fhould not perceive nor tm- derftand, nor be converted that Godfionld heal them. I fay, if this fhould be the Cafe, then your Force, wliatever you imagine of it, will neither be coinpetent, ttfcful, nor necejfary. So that it will reft upon you to prove that your moderate Degrees of Force are thofe Means of Grace which God will have, as neccffary to Salvation, tried up- on every ore before he will pafs that Sentence in Ifiiah, Make his Heart fat, &c. and that your Degree of moderate Force is that beyond which God will ha\e no other or more powciful Means ufed, but that thofe w^hom that works not upon, fliall be left reprcbate ccnce:ning_Faith. And till you have proved this, ycu will in vain pretend your moderate Force (whatever you might think of it, if you had the orderiijg of thai- Matter in the Place of God) to be ttfcful, necejfary, and competent Means. For if Preaching, Exhortation, Inftruftion, &c. as lecms by the whole Current of the Scripture, (and it appears not thsit If liah, in the Place above-cited, tnade their Hearts fat with any thing but his Words) be that Means, which when rejected to fuch a Degree, as he fees fit, God will punifli w^ith a /?p/'>-o^r;/e Mind, and that there be no other Means of Grace to come after ; you muil confefs, that whate\ cr good Opi- nion you have of your moderate Force after this Sentence is pafied, it can do no good, have no Efficacy neither direcfly nor indireflly, and at a di/lauee, towards the bringing Men to the Truth. If your moderate Force be not that prccife utmoft Means of Grace, which when ineftedual, God will not afford his Grace to any other, then your moderate Force is not the competent Means you talk of. This therefore you muft prove, that Preachin" alone is riot, but that your moderate F'orce join'd to it, is that Means of Grace, which when neglefted orrefifted, God will a (lift no other Means with his Grace to bring Men into the Obedience of the Truth ; and this let me tell you, you muft prove by Revelation. For it is impoflible to know, but by Revelation, tl:e juft Mea- iures of God's Long-fufiering, and what thofe Means are, which when Mens Cor- ruptions have rendered ineffeftual, his Spirit fliall no longer ftrive with them, nor his Grace affift any other Means for their Converlion or Salvation. When you have done this, there will be fomc Ground for you to talk of your moderate Fjrce, as the Means which God's Wifdom and Goodncis is engaged to furnifli Men with ; but to fpeak of it, as you do now, as if it were that both necejjary and competent Means, that it would be an Imputation to the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, if Men were not furniflied with it, when 'tis evident, that the greateft Part of Mankind ha\'e always been deftitutc of it, will I fear be not cafily cleared from that Impiety you mention; for tho' the Magiftratc had the Right to ufe it, yet where-cver that moderate Foree was not made ufe of, there Men were not furniflied with your competent Means of Salvation. ' Tis neceffary for the Vindication of God's Juftice and Goodnefs, that thofe v;h-^ mifcarry fliould do fo by their own Fault, that their Deftrut^tion fliould be from themfelves, and they left inexcufable : But pray how will you fliew us, that it is ne- ccflary, that any who ha\e refifted the Trudi tendred to them only by Preaching- fliould be faved, any more than it is necellary that thofe who have refifted the Truth when moderate Force has been joined to the fame Preaching, fhould be faved ? They are inexcufable one as well as the other, and thereby have incurred the Wrath of God, under which he may juftly leave the one as well as the other ? and therefore he; cannot be faid not to have been furniflied with competent Means of Salvation, who having rejected the Trutli preached to liim, has never any Penalties laid on him by the Magiftrate to make him confider the Truths he before rejeded. All the Strefs of your //y/iof/.ie/iJ for the Neceflity of Force, lies on this, That the Majority of Mankind are not prevailed on by Preaching, and therefore the Goodnefs and WifHom of God is obliged to furnifli them with fomemore effedual Means, as voii think. But who told you that the Majority of Mankind fhould ever be brought'in- to the ftrait Way, and narrow Gate? Or that Force in your moderate Degree was the neceffary and competent, i. e. die juft tit Means to do it, neither over nor under, bye 504 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. but that tliar only, and notliing but that could do it? If to vindicate liis Wifdom and Goodnci's God nnift furnifli Mankind with other Means, as long as the Majority, yet unwrought upon, Hiali give any lorward Uemandcr Occalion to ask, IVhat other 'Mer.ns isthcie left 'f He muft alfo aiter }our 7noclerate Penalties have left the greater Part of Mankind unprevailed on, be bound to furnifli Mankind witli higher Degrees of Force upon this Man's Demand: and thofe Degrees of Force proving ineffectual to the Majority to make them truly and fincerely ChriAians, God muft be bound to furnifli the Worldagain with a new Supply of Miracles upon the Demand of another W'il'e Controulcr, who having fet his Heart upon M iracles, as you have yours on Force, will demand uhat other Means is there left but Miracles. For 'tis like this laft Gent, would take it \ ery much amifs of you, if you fliould not allow this to be a g(Jod and unqueftionable Way of arguing; or if you fhould deny that after the utmoft Force had been ufed. Miracles might not<\ofome Service at leaft, indireclly and at a dijlaitce, towards the bringing Men to embrace the Truth. And if you cannot frove that Mi- racles may not thus do fome Service, he will conclude juft as you do, that the Caufe is his. Let us try your Method a little farther. Suppofe that when neither the gentle/I Admo- nitions, nor the mofl earneft Imreaties wiH prevail, fomething elfe is to be done as the only Means left. What is it muft be done? What is this nectjfary competent Means that Pag. 10. yoi-i tell Its of? It is to lay Briars and T'horns in their Way. This therefore being iuppofed neceflary, you fay, there mufl fomezuhere be a Right to ufe it. Let it be fo. Suppofe I tell you that Right is in God, who certainly has a Power to lay Briars and "Thorns in the Way of thofe who are got into a -dircng one, ivhencver he is gracioufly pleafed tiiat other Means befides Inftruftions and Admonitionsfhouldbeufedto reduce them. And we may as well expeft that thofe Thorns andBriars laid in their Way by God's Pro\'idence, without telling them for what End, fliould work upon them as eftcftually, though indireBly, and at a difiance, as thofe laid in their Way by the Magi- ftrate, without telling them for what End. Gcd alone knows where it is neceflary, and on whom it will be ufeful, which no Man being capable of knowing, no Man, tho' he has coercive Power in his Hand, can be fuppofed to be authorized to ufe it by the CommiHion he has to do Good, on whomfoever you fliall judge it to be 0/ great and even necejfary Ufe: No more than your judging it to be oi great and even mccffary Ufe, would authorize any one, who had got one of the Incifion-Knives of the Flofpital in his Hand, to cut thofe for the Stone with it, whom he could not know needed cutting, or that cutting would do them any good, when theMafterof the Hofpital had given him no exprefs Order to ufe his Incifion-Knife in that Operation; nor was it known to any but the Mafter, who needed, and on whom it would be ufeful; nor would he fail to ufe it himfelf where-ever he found it nccelfary. Be Force of as great and neceffary Ufe as you pleafe ; let it be fo the competent Means for the promoting the Honour of God in the World, and the good of Souls, that the Right to life it mitft neceflarily be fomewhere. This Rgiht cannot pofTibly be, where you would have it, in the Civil Sovereigns, and that for the very Reafon you give, viz.. becaufe it muft be -where the Pozcer of compelling refides. For fince Civil Sove~ reigns cannot compel themfelves, nor can the compelling Power of one Civil Sovereign reach another Civil Sovereign, it will not in the Hands of the Civil Sovereigns reach themoftconfiderablePartof Mankind, and thofe, who both for their own and their Subjefts Good, have moft need of it. Befides, if it go along with the Power of com- pel/ing, it muft be in the Hands of all Civil Sovereigns alike: which by this, as well as feveral other Reafons 1 have given, being avoidable to be fo, this Right will be fo far from ufeful, that whatever Efficacy Force has, it vAU be employed to the doing more Harm than Good ; fince the greateft Part of Civil Sovereigns being of falfe Religions, Force will be employed for the promoting of thofe. But let us grant what you can never prove, that though all Civil Sovereigns have compelling Power, yet only thofe of the true Religion have a Right to ufe Force in Matters of Religion: Your own Argument of Mankind being unfurnified (which is Impiety to fay) with competent Means for the promoting the Honour of God, and the Good of Souls, ft ill prefl'es you. For the compelling Power of each Civil Sovereign not reaching beyond his own Dominions, the Right of ufing Force in the Hands only of the Orthodox Civil Sovereigns, leaves the reft which is the far greater Part of the World, deftitute A Third Letter for Toleration^ 305 deftitute of this youi- neccflary and competent Means for promoting the Humiir of God in the World, and the Goad of Sviils. Sir, I return you my Thanks for having given me this Occafion to take a Review of your Argument, which you told mc 1 had miftaken i which 1 liopc I now have not, and have anfwered to your SatisHidion. Iconfcfsl miftookwhen 1 laid that cutting being judg'd ufeful, could not autho- rize even a skilful Surgeon to cut a Man without any farther CommifTion : for it fhould have been thus ; that though a Man has tlie Inftruments in his Hand, and Force enough to cut with, and cutting be judg'd by you of great and even necejfary Ufe in the Stone; yet this, without any farther CommifTion, will not authorize any one to ufe his Strength and Knife in Cutting, wlio knows not who has the Stone, nor has any Light or Meafures to judge to whom Cutting may be necefl'ary or ufeful. But let us lee what you fay in anfwer to my Inftance : i. That the Stone does not al- Pag. c".' v:a)s kill, though it be not cured ; but Men do often live to a great Age with it, and die at laft of other Dijlcmpers. But Averjjun to the true Religion is certainly and inevitably rmr- talto the Soul, if not cured, and fo of abfulute Ntceffity to be cured. Is it of abfolute Necejjity to be cured in all ? If fo, will you not here again think it requifite that the v^ife and be- nignDifpofer andGovernor of all things, {honldfurnifl) competent Means io'i:\w\\nx. iso{ abfolute NecejTity ? For will it not be Impiety to fay, that God hath left Mankind unfurmfljed of competent, i.e. fufficient Means {or what is abfolutely neceffary ? For it is plain in your Account, Men have not been furniflied ivith fufficient Means for what is of abfolute Neccffity to be cured in all, if in any of them it be left uncured. For as you allow none to be fufficient Evidence, but what certainly gains Alfent ; fo by the fame Pag. <:i, Rule you cannot call xh&t fufficient Means which docs not work the Cure. It is in vain to fay, the Means were fufficient, had it not been for their own Fault, when that Fault of theirs is the very Thing to be cured. You go on ; And yet if toe fljouldVzg. <3, fuppofe the Stone as certainly deflruBive of this Temporal Life, as that Averfion is of Mens Eternal Salvation : even fo the Neceffity oj curing it luonld be as much lefs than the Necefjlty vf curing that Averfion, as this Temporal Life falls fjort in Value of that -which is Eternal. This is built upon a Suppofition, that the Neceffity of the Means is encreafed by the Value of the End, which being in this Cafe the Salvation of Mens Souls, that is of infinite Concernment to them, you conclude Salvation abfolutely necejfary : which makes you fay that Averjton, &c. being inevitably mortal to the Soul, is of abfolute Neceffity to be cured. Nothing// of abfolute Neceffity but God: whatfoever elfe can be faid to be of Neceffity, is fo only relatively in refpeft to fomething elfe ; and there- fore nothing can indefinitely thus be faid to be of abfolute Neceffity, where the thing it iclates to is not abfolutely neceflary. We may fay, tVifdom and Power in God are abfolutely neceffary, becaufe God himfelf is abfolutely necejfary : but we cannot cnidelv fay, the curing in Men their Averfion to the true Religion, is abfolutely necejfary, becaufe it is not abfolutely neceffiiry that Men fiiould be faved. But this is very pro- per and true to be faid, that curing this Averfion is abfolutely neceffary in all that fhall be favcd. But I fear that would not ferve your Turn, though it be certain that your abfulute Neceffiity in this Cafe reaches no farther than this, that to be cured of this Averfion is abfolutely necejfary to Salvation, and Salvation is abfolutely neceflary to Happinefs ; but neither of them, nor the Happinefs it felf of any Man can be faid to be abfolutely necejfary. This Miflake makes you fay, that fuppofing the Stone certainly deflruCiive of this Tem- poral Life, yet the Neceffity of curing it would he as much lefs than the Neceffiity of curing that Averfion, as this Temporal Life falls Jlmt in Value uf that which is Eternal. Which is quite otherwife : for if the Stone will certainly kill a Man without Cutting, is as ' abfolutely neceffary to cut a Man of the Stone for the faving of his Life, as it is to cure the Averfion for the faving of his Soul. Nay, if you have but Eggs to fry. Fire is as abfolutely necelfary as either of the other, though the Value of the End be in thefe Cafes infinitely different ; for in one of them you lofe only your Dinner in the other your Life, and in other your Soul. But yet in thcfe Cafes, Fire, Cutting and Curing that Averfion, are each of them abfolutely and equally neceflary to their rcipedive Ends, becaufe thofe Ends cannot be attained without them. You fay farther. Cutting for the Stone is not always necejfary in order to the Cure : Pag. <■>- But the Penalties you fpeak of are altogether neceffary (without extraordinary Grace) to '' cure that pernicious and otherwife untra[iaile Averfion. Let it be fo ; but do the Sur- geons know who has this Stone, this Averfion fe, that i;.will certainly defiroy him Vol.11. aq " unlefs ^ o5 ^ Third Letter for To l i: k a t i o n. unlefs he be cut ? Will you undertake to tell when the Averjiun is fuch in any Man, that it is incurable by Preaching, Exhortation and Intreaty, if his Spiritual Phyfi- cian will be inftant with him in Seafon, and out of Sealbn ; but certainly curable, if moderate Force be made ufe of? Till you are fure ot the former of thefe, you can jie\ er fay, your moderate Force is nectjjavy : Till you arc llire of the latter, you can never lay, it is cmipetent Means. What you will determine concerning extraordina- ry Cirice, and when God bellows that, 1 leave you to confider, and fpeak clearly of it at your Lcifurc. Pag. 53. You add, That e\-en where Cutting for the Stone is necejfary, it is withal hazardous by 7ny Confcffton. But your Penalties can no "way endanger or hurt the Soul, but by the Fault of him that undergoes them. If the Magiftrate ufe Force to bring Men to the true Re- ligion, he muft judge which is the true Religion ; and lie can judge no other to be it but that which he believes to be the true Religion, which is his own Religion. But for the Magiftrate to ufe Force to bring Men to his own Religion, has fo much Danger in it to Mens Souls, that by your own Coniefllon, none but an Atheifl will lay that Magiftrates may ufe Force to bring Men to their own Religion. This I fuppofe is enough to make good all that I aimed at in my Inftancc of Cut- ting for the Stone, which was, that though it were judg'd ufeful, and I add now nece[]aryto cut Men for the Stone, yet that was not enough to authorize a Surgeon to cut a Man, but he muft have befides that general one of doing Good, fome more fpecial Commiflion ,• and that which I there mentioned, was the Patient's Confent. Pag. ^4. But }'0U tell me, "That though, as things now fiand, no Surgeon has any Right to cut his calculous Patient withotit his Confent ; yet if the Magi/irate jhuld by a publick Law appoint and authoriz.e a competent Nu7nber of the moft Skilful in that Art, to "vifxt fuch as labour under that Difeafe, and to cut thofe (whether they confent or not) whofe Lives they unani- moufty pidge it impoffble to fave otherwife : you are apt to think I/hould find it hard to prove that in fo doing he exceeded the Bounds of his Power ; And you are fure it would be as hard to prove that thofe Artifts would have no Right in that Cafe to cut fuch Perfons. Shew luch a Law from the great Governour of the Univerfe, and I fhall yield that your Surgeons fliall go to work as faft as you pleafe. But where is the publick Law ? Where is the competent Number of Magiflrates skilful in this Art, who mufi unanimoujly judge of the Difeafe and its Danger ? You can Ihew nothing of all this, yet you are fo liberal of this Sort of Cure, that one cannot take you for lefs than cutting More- craft himfelf But, Sir, if there were a competent Number of skilful and impar- tial Men, who were to ufe the Licifion-Knife on all in whom they found this Stone of Averfion to the true Religion ; what do you think, would they jfind no Work in your Hofpital } Averfion to the true Religion you fay is of abfolute Neceffity to be cured : What I befeech you is that ti-ue Religion ? that oi the Church o{ England ? For that you own Pag. II. to be the only true Religion, and whatever you fay, you cannot upon your Principles nameany other N-ational Religion in the World, that you will own to be the true. It being then of abfolute Necejfty that Mens Averfion to the National Religion of England fliould be cured : Has all Mankind in whom it has been abfolutely neceffary to be cured, been furnifhed with competent and neceffary Means for the Cure of this A^-erfion .? In the next Place, what is your neceffary and fufficient Means for this Cure that is of abfolute Necefpty ? and that is moderate Penalties made ufe of by the Magiftrate, where the National is the true Religion, and fufficient Means axe provided for all Mens In- flruciion in the true Religion. And here again I ask. Have all Men to whom this Cure is of abfolute Neceffity, been furnifhed with this neceflary Means ? Thirdly, How^ is your neceffary Remedy to be applied ? And that is in a Way wherein it cannot work the Cure, though we Ihould fuppofe the true Religion the National every where, and all the Magiftrates in the World zealous for it. To this true Religion, fay you. Men have a natural and ^re^t Averfion of abfolute Neceffity to be cured, and the only cure for it is Force your \Vay applied, /. e. Penalties muft be laid upon all that dilfent from the National Religion, till they conform. Why are Men averfe to the true? Becaufe it crofies the Prorits and Pleafures of this Lifej and for the fame Reafon they have an Averfion to Penalties: Thefe therefore, if they be oppofcd one to another, and Penalties be fo laid that Men muft quit their Lufts, and heartily embrace the true Religion, or elfe endure the Penalties, there may be fome Efficacy in Force towards bringing Men to the true Religion : But if there be no Oppofitioji A Third Letter for ToLEKATiON. 507 Oppofition between an outward ProfefTion of the true Religion, and Mens Lufls ; Pe- nalties laid on Men till they outwardly conform, are not a Remedy laid to the Dif- eafe. Punifhments fo applied have no Oppofition to Mens Lufls, nor from thence can be expefted any Cure. Men mud be driven from their Averfion to the true Reli- gion by Penalties they have a greater Averfion to. This is all the Operation of Force. But if by getting into tl e Communion of the Notional Church they can avoid the Pe- nalties, and yet retain their natural Corruption and Averfion to the true Religion, what Remedy is there to the Difeale by Penalties fo applied ? You would, you fay, have Men made uneafy. 'J'his no doubt will work on Men, and make them endeav^our to get out of this uneafy State as foon as they can. But it will always be by that Way wherein they can be moft eafy ; for "tis the Uneafinefs alone tiiey fly from, and there- fore they will not exchange one Uneafinefs for another ; not for a greater, nor a ne- qual, nor any at all, if they can help it. If therefore it be fo uneafy for Men to mortify their Lufls, as yen tell us, lubkh the true Religion requires of them, if they embrace it Pag. f'. in earneft : But which outward Conformity to the true Religion, or any National Church, does not require, what need or ufe is there of Force applied fo, that it meets not at all with Mens Lufts, or Averfion to the true Religion, but leaves them the Liberty of a quiet Enjoyment of them, free from Force and Penalties in a legal and approved Conformity ? Is a Man negligent of his Soul, and will not be brought to confider ? Obftinate and will not embrace the Truth } Is he carelefs, and will not be at the Pains to examine Matters of Religion ? Corrupt, and will not part with his Lufts, which are dearer to him than his Firft-born ? 'Tis but owning the National Profeffion, and he may be 'lo fiill : If he conform, the Magiftrate has done puni/hino-, he is a Son of the Church, and need not confider any thing farther for fear of Penalties they are removed, and all is well. So that at laft there neither being an abfolute NecelTity that Averfion to the true Religion Ihould in all Men be cured : Nor the Magi- ftrate being a competent Judge who have this Stone of Averfion, or who have it to that Degree as to need Force to cure it, or in whom it is curable, were Force a proper Remedy as it is not : Nor having any Commiffion to ufe it, notwithftanding what you have anfwered : It is ftill not only as, but 7nore reafonable for the Magiftrate, upon Pretence of its Ufefulnefs or Neceflity, to cut any one for the Stone without his own Confent, than to ufe Force your Way to cure him of Av'erfion to the true Religion. To my Qiieftion, In whole Hands this Right (we were a little above fpeaking of) was in "Turkey, Perfia or China? you tell me, Tou anfwer roundly and plainly, in the Hands of the Sovereign, to ufe convenient Penalties for the Promoting the true Religion.Vae. <<', I will not trouble you here with a Queftion you will meet with elfewhere ; Who in thefe Countires muft be Judge of the true Religion ? But I will ask, Whether you or any wife Man would have put a Right of ufing Force into a Mahumetan or Pagan Prince's Hand, for the promoting of Chriftianity ? which of Pagans or Mahume- tans would have done otherwife ? But God, you lay, has done it, and you make it good by telling me in the fol- lowing Vv'ords, If this flartle me, then you mufl tell me further, that you look upon the fupreme Pover to be the fame all the JVorld over, in what Hands foever it is pla- ced , and this Right to be contained in it : And if thofe that have it do not ufe it m they ought, but inflend of promoting true Religion by proper Penalties, fet themfelves to enforce Mahumetanifm vr Paganifm, or any other falfe Religion: AH that can or that needs be faid to the Matter, is, that God ivill one Day call them to an Account for the NegleEi of their Duty, fur the DifJxnour they do to /mn, and for the Souls that perifJ? by their Fault. Your taking this Right be a Part of the fupreme Power of all Civil Sovereigns, ( which is the thing in Queftion ) is not, as I take it, proving it to be fo. But let us take it fo for once, what then is your Anfwer? God will one Day call thofe Sovereigns to an Account for the Neglect of their Duty. The Queftion is not, What God will do with the Sovereigns who have negleiSted their Duty ,- but how Mankind is furnifjed with your competent Means for the promoting of God's Honour in the IVorld and the good of Souls in Countries where the Sovereign is of a wrong Religion? For there, how clearly Ibever the Right of ufing it be in the Sovereign, yet as long as he ules not Force to bring his Subjects to the true Religion, they are deftitute of yourfo;«- petent Means. For I imagine you do not make the Right to ufe that Force but the actual Application of it by Penal Laws to be your tifeful and necejfary Means. For if you think the bare ha\ ing that Right be enough, if that be your ftifficient Means without the aftual Ufe of Fore, we readily allow it you. And (as I tell you '*lfe- 3 o 8 A Third Letter for Toleration. where) I fee not then what need you had of Miracles to fupp/y the W.im of the Ma- gijlrate's Affijiame, till Chriflinnity -was fupported and encouraged by the Laus of the Em- pire : For, by your own Rule, the Magiftrates of the World, during the three hrft Centuries after the Publifhing the Chriftian Religion, had the fame Right, if that had been enough, that they have now in Turkey, Perji a, or China. That this is all that can he faid in this Matter, I eafily grant you j but that it is all that needs be faid to make good your Doftrine, I muft beg your Pardon. In the fame Sentence wherein you tell nie, I flyottld have added Neceffity to Uffiil- itefs, I call it ncccflary Ufefulnefs, which 1 imagine is not much different. But that with the following Words wherein my Argument lay, had the ill Luck to be over- feen ; but if you pleafe to take my Argument, as I have now again laid it before |. you, it will ferve my Turn. o ' P* In your next Paragraph you tell me, That -what is faid by me is with the fame In- genuity I have ufed in other Places ; my Words in that Place are thefe : " The Au- " thority having endeavoured to fhew that no body at all, of any Rank or Condition, " had any Power to punifh, torment, or ufe any Man ill for Matter of Religion : " You tell us, you do not jtnderfland zvhy Clergymen are not as capable of fuch Power " as other Men : Which Words of mine containing in tliem nothing but true Matter of Fad, give you no Reafon to Tax my Ingenuity : Nor will what you alledge make it otherwife than fuch Power; for if the Power you there ^ea^- of, were externally co- nnive Power, is not that the fame Power the Author was fpeakingof, made ufe of to thofe Ends he mentions of Tormenting and Punifliing? And do not you own that thofe who have that Power, ought to punifh thole whooftend in rejecting the true Religion? As to the remaining Part of tlaat Paragraph, Ifhallleave the Reader to judge whether I fought any Occajion fo much as to name the Clergy; or whether the Itching of your Fingers to be handling the Rod, guided not your Pen to what was nothing to the Purpofe : For the Author had not faid any thing fo much as tending to exclude the Clergy from fecular Employments, but only (if you will take your own Report of it) that no Eccleiiaftical Officer, as luch, has any externally coafti\ e Power ; whereupon you cry out, that you do not yet under/land why Ecclejta/iicks or Clergymen are not as capable of fuch Power as other Men. Had you flood to be Con- ftable of your Parifh, or of the Hundred, you might have had Caufe to vindicate thus your Capacity, if Orders had been objected to you; or if your Aim be at a Juftice of the Peace, or Lord Chief Juftice of England, much more. However you muft be allowed to be a Man of Forecaft, in clearing the Way to fecular Power, if you know your felf, or any of your Friends defirous of it : Otherwife I confefs you ha\'e Reafon to be on this Occafion a little out of Humour, as you are, for bringing this Matter in Queftion fo wholly out of Seafon. Now will (I fear) the ill-fitted Excufe you bring, A. p. 1 7. give your felf, or -one who confults the Places in both yours and the Author's Letter, a much better Opinion of it. However I cannot but thank you for your wonted In- genuity, in faying, that it fecms I wanted an Occafion to fiew my good IVill to the Clergy, and fo I made my felf one. And to find more Work for the excellent Gift you have this Way, I defire you to read over that Paragraph of mine again, and tell me, whether you can find any thing faid in it not true ? Any Advice in it that you your felf would difown ? any thingthat any worthy Clergyman that adorns his Function is concerned in ? And when you have fet it down in my Words, the World fliall be Judge, whether I have (hewed any ill Will to the Clergy. Till then I may take the Liberty to own, that I am more a Friend to them and their Calling, than thofe a- amongft them, who fhew their Forwardnefs to leave the Word of God to ferve other Em- ployments. The Office of a Minifter of the Gofpel requires fo the whole Man, that the very looking after their Poor was by the joint Voice of the Twelve Apoftles, AGs 4. 2. called, leaving the Word of God, and ferving of Tables. But if you think no Mens Faults can be fpoken of without /// Will, you will make a very ill Preacher : Or if you think this to be fo only in fpeaking of Miftakes in any of the Clergy, there muft be in your Opinion fomething peculiar in their Cafe, that makes it fo much a Fault to mention any of theirs ; which I muft be pardoned for, lince I was not aware of it : And there will want but a little cool Refleftion to convince you, that had not the prefent Church of £Kg/^K^ a greater Number in Proportion, than poffibly any o- ther Age of the Church ever had, of thofe who by their pious Lives and Labours in their Miniftry adorn their ProfefTion, fuch bufy Men as cannot be content to be Di- vines without being Lay-men too, would fo little keep up the Reputation which ought A Third Letter for ToLTLRATiON, 509 ought to diftinguifh the Clergy, or preferve the Efteem due to a holy, z.e. a fepa- rate Order, that no body can fhew greater good Will to them, than by taking all Oc- cafions to put a Stop to any Forvvardnels, to be meddling out of their Calling. This I fuppofe made a learned Prelate of our Church, out of Kindnefs to the Cler- gy, mind them of their Stipulation and Duty in a late Treatife, and tell them that the Pajlural Care is to be a Mans entire Bnjinefs, and to pojfefs both his "Thoughts and his 'Time. Di fc. of Paft. Care,/). 121. To your faying, That the Magifirate may lay Penalties upon thofe who refufe to e}n-A.p.2o. trace the DoElrine of the proper Miniflers of Religion, or are alienated from the Truth : I anfvvered, "God never gave the Magifirate an Authority to be Judge of Truth L.i.p.iS/. " for another Man. This you grant; but withal fay, That if the Magifirate knows p^fy 5, the Truth, though he has no Authority to judge of Truth for another Man ; yet he may be Judge whether other Men be alieated from the Truth or no; and fo may have Autho- rity to lay fome Penalties upon thofe whom he fees to be fo, to bring them to judge more Jincerely for tbemfehes. For Example, The DoEirine of the proper Miniflers of Reli- gion is, that the three Creeds, Nice, Aihanafim\, and that commonly called the A~ poftles Creed, ought to be thoroughly received and believed : As alfo that the Old and New Teftament cantain all things neceifary to Salvation. The one of thefe Do- Brines a Papifi Subjeft embraces not ; and a Socinian the other. What now is the Magifirate by your Commiffion to do ? He is to lay Penalties upon them, and con- tinue them : How long ? Only 'till they coniform, /. e. till they profefs they embrace thefe Doftrines for true. In which Cafe he does not judge of the Truth for other Men : he only judges that other Men are alienated from the Truth. Do you not now admire your own Subtilty and Acutenefs ? I that cannot comprehend this, tell you my dull Senie in the Cafe. He that thinks another Man in an Error, judges him, as you Phrafe it, alienated from the Truth, and then judges of Truth and Falfhood only for himfelf. But if he lays any Penalty upon others, which they are to lie under till they embrace for a Truth what he judges to be fo, he is then fo far adjudge of Tuth for thofe others. This is what I think to Judge of Truth for another, means: If you will tell me what elfe it fignifies, I am ready to learn. You gram, you fay, God never gave the Magifirate any Authority to be Judge of Truth for another Man : and then add. But how does it follow frotn thence that he can- not be Judge, whether any Man be alienated from the Truth or no ? And I ask you, who ever faid any fuch thing did follow from thence? That which I fay, and which you ought to dilprove, is. That whoever punifhes others for not being of the Reli- gion he judges to be true, judges of Truth for others. But you prove that a Man may be Judge of Truth, with having Authority to Judge of it for other Men, or to pre- fcribe to them what they flyall believe ; wliich you might ha\'e fpared, till you meet with fome body that denies it. But yet your Proof of it is worth remembring : ReElum ( fay you ) efi Index fui & obliqui. And certainly whoever does but know the Truth , may eajily judge whether other Men be alienated from it or no. But though Re- Bum be Index fui & obliqui , yet a Man may be ignorant of that which is the right, and may take Error for Truth. The Truth of Religion, when known, fhews what contradicts it is falfe : But yet that Truth may be unknown to the Magifirate, as well as to any other Man. But you conclude ( I know not upon what ground ) as if the Magifirate could not mils it, or where furer to find it than other Men. Ifuppole you are thus favourable only to the Magifirate of your own Profeflion, as no doubt in Civility a Papift or a Presbyterian would be to thofe of his. And then infer; And therefore if t/w Magifirate knows the Truth, though he has no Authority to judge of Truth for other Men, yet he may be Judge whether other Men be alienated from the Truth or no. Without doubt ! who denies it him ? 'Tis a Privilege that he and all Men have, that when they know the Truth, or believe the Truth, and have embraced an Error for Truth, they may judge whether other Men are alienated from it or no, if thofe other Men own their Opinions in that Matter. You go on with your Inference, Andfo jnay have Authority to lay fome Penalties upon thofe whom he fees to befo. Now, Sir, you go a little to fafl. This he cannot do without ma- king himielf Judge of Truth for them : The Magifirate, or any one, may judge as much as he pleafes, of Mens Opinions and Errors ; he in that judges only for himfelf : But as loon as he ufes Force to bring them from their own to his Opinion, he makes him- felf Judge of Truth for them ; let it be to bring them to judge more fincereh fir tbem- fehes, as you here call it, or under what Pretence or Colour foever ; for that, what you ^10 A Third Letter for Toleration. you fay, is but a Pretence, the very ExprelTion difcovers. For does any one ever judg« infinccicly /or hmfelf, that he needs Penalties to make him judge more fmcerely for himfeljl A Man may judge wrong for himlblf, and may be known or thought to do ib : But who can cither know or fuppofe another is not fincere in the Judgment he makes for himfelf, or (which is the fnme thing) that any one knowingly puts a Mixture of Falfhood into the Judgment he makes ? For as fpeaking infincerely is to fpeak other- wife than one thinks, let what he fays be true or falfe ; fo judging infincerely muft be to judge otherwiie than one thinks, which I imagine is not very feafible. But how im- proper foever it be to talk of judging infincerely for one's felf, it was better for you in that Place to fay. Penalties were to bring Men to judge more fmcerely, rather than to fay, more rightly, or more truly : for had you faid, the Magiftrate might ufe Pe- nalties to bring Men to judge more truly, that very Word had plainly dikovered, that he. made himielf a fudge of 'Truth for them. You therefore wifely chofe to fay what might beft cover this Contradiftion to your felf, whether it were Senfe or no, which perhaps vvhilft it founded well, every one would not ftand to examine. One thing give me leave here to obferve to you, which is,That when you fpeak of the Entertainment Subjefts are to give to Truth, ;. e. the true Religion, you call it Believing; but this in the Mag'ftrate you call Knowing. Now let me ask you, Whe- ther any Magiftrate, who laid Penalties on any whodiflented from what he judged the true Religion, or as you call it here, were Alienated from the Truth, was or could be determined in his judging of that Truth by any Afiurance greater than Believing ? When you have refolved that, you will then fee to what Purpoie is all you have faid here concerning the Magiftrate's km-wing the Truth ; which at laft amounting to no more than the Allurance wherewith a Man certainly believes and receives a thing for true, will put every Magiftrate under the fame, if there be any Obligation to ufe Force, whilft he believes his own Religion. Befides, if a Magiftrate knows his Religi- on to be true, he is to ufe Means not to make his People believe, but know it alfo ; Knowledge of them, if that be the Way of entertaining the Truths of Religion, be- ing as necellary to the Subjefts as the Magiftrate. I never heard yet of a Mafter of Mathematicks, who had the Care of informing others in thofe Truths, who ever went about to m.ake one believe one of Euclid's Propofitions. Pag- ^'S) The Pleafantnefs of your Anfwer, notwithftanding what you fay, doth remain ftill 66- the lame ; for you making, (as is to be feen j the Power of the Magiftrate ORDAIN- A. p. 22. £ £) j-gy fjj^ bringing Men to take fuch Care as they ought of their Salvation ; the Reafon why it is every Mans Imerefl to veft this Power in the Magiftrate, muft fuppofe this P(nver fo ordained, before the People vefted it ; or elfe it could not be an Argument for their vefting it in the Magiftrate. For if you had not here built upon your fun- damental Suppoiition, that this Power of the Magiftrate is ordained by God to that End, the proper and intellible Way of expreffing your Meaning had not been to fay A. p. 22. ^s you do; As the Pov:er of the Magiftrate is ordained for bringing, &cc. fo if we fuppofe this P WE R vefted in the Magiftrate by the People : in which VVay of Speaking this Poiver of the Magiftrate is evidently fuppoled already Ordained. But a clear Way of making your Meaning underftood, had been to fay, That for the People toordain iuch a Power of the Magiftrate, or to veft fuch a Power in the Magiftrate, (which is the fame thing) was their true Intereft : but whether it were your Meaning or your Ex- preffion that was guilty of the Abfurdity, I fhall leave it with the Reader. As to the other pleafant thing of your Anf^ver, it will ftill appear by barely reciting r..i.p.':RS.it : the pleafant Thing I charge on you is, that you fay, That the Power of the Ma- A- p. 22. giftrate is to bring Men to fiuh a Care of their Salvations that they may mt blindly leave it to the Choice of' any Perfm, or their oxm Lufts or Paffions, to prefcribe to them what Faith or IVorft.yp they ft:>all embrace ; and yet that 'tis their beft Courfe to veft a Pow- er in the Magiftrate liable to the fame Lufts and Paffions as themfelves, to chufe for them. To this you anfwer, by asking where it is that you fay that it is the Peoples beft Courfe to veft a Power in the Magiftrate to choofe for them. That you tell me / do not pretend to fhew ^ If you had given your felf the Pains to have gone on to the End of the Paragraph, or will be pleafed to Read it as I have here again let it down for your Peruial,you will find that I at leaii pretended to ft.tew it : My Words are thefe ; "If " they veft a Power in the Magiftrate, to punilli them when they diifent from his *' Reli'^ion, to bring them to aft even againft their own Inclination, according to Reafon and found Judgment, which is (as you explain your felf in another Place)_ to bring them to tonfider Reafons and Arguments proper and fuffuient to convince them ; how far is tliis from leaving A Third, Letter /o?^ Toleration^ 311 " leaving it to the Choice of another Man to prefcribe to them what Faith or Wor- " fhip they fliall embrace ? Thus for you cite my Words, to which let me join the remaining Part of the Paragraph, to let you fee that I /'mfWt-^ wjZ'fiu that the Courfc you propol'ed to the People as bell lor them, was to vejl a Power in the Magi- flrate to cimfe for them. My Words wiiich follow thole where you left off, are thele; " Efpecially if we confider, that you think it a ftrangc thing, that the Author -would "• have the Care of Man's Soul left to hi?nfelf. So that this Care being veiled in the ^'^'P'*^^' " Magiftrate, with a Power to piinifl) Men to make them confider Reafons and Arguments *' proper and fuffic/ent to convince them oi the Truth oi his Religion; the Choice is cvi- " dently in the Magiftrate, as much as it can be in the Power of one Man to chufe for " another what Religion he fliall be of; which confiftsonly in a Power of compel- " ling him by Punifliments to embrace it. But all this you tell me, i< juft nothing to P^S- ^^^ my Purpofe : Why I befeech you ? Becaufe you [peak not of the Magijhate's Religion, but of the true Religion, and that propofed ivith fnfficient Evidence. The Cafe in fliort is this: Men are apt to be milled by xhc'w Paffions, Ltifls, and other Men in the Choice of their Religion. For diis great Evil you propofe a Reme- dy, which is, That Men (tor you muft remember you are here fpeaking of the Peo- ple putting this Power into the Magiftrate's Hand) fliould chufe Ibme of their Fel- low-Men, and give them a Power by Force to guard them, that they might not be alienated from the "Truth by their own Pafftom, Ijijh, or by other Men. So it was in the firft Scheme; or, as you have it now, topunifli them, whenever they rejected the true Religion, and that propofed with fufficient Evidence of the Truth of it. A pretty Remedy, and manifeftlyefteftual at firft light: That becaufe Men were all promifcuoufly apt to be milled in their Judgment, or Choice of their Religion, by Paffion, Lnfi, and other Men, therefore they fliouId chufe fome amongft themfelves, who might, they and their Succelfors, Men made juft like themfelves, punijl) them -when they rejeEied the true Religion. If the blind lead the blind, both Jlmll fall into the Ditch, fays our Saviour. If Men apt to be mifled by their Paffions and Lufls, will gaurd themfelves from falling into Error, by Punifliments laid on them, by Men as apt to be mifled by PalTions and Lufts as themfelves, how are they the faferfrom falling into Error? Now hear the infallible Remedy for this Inconvenience, and admire ; the Men to ivhom they have given this Power, muft not ufe it, till they find thofe who gave it them in an Error. A Friend, to whom I fliewed this Expedient, anfwered. This is none : For why is not a Man as fit to judge for himfelf when he is in an Error, as another to judge for him, who is a liable to Error himfelf? I anfwered. This Power however in the other can do him no harm, but may indiretlly, and at a diflance, do him good ; be- caufe the Magiftrate who has this Power to punifli him, muft never ufe it but when he is in the right, and he that is punifh'd is in the wrong. But, faid my Friend, who fliall be Judge whether he be in the right or no ? For Men in an Error think themfelves in the right, and that as confidently as thofe who are moft fo. To which I replied, No body muft be Judge; but the Magiftrate may kno-v when he is in the right. And fo may the Subject too (faid my Friend) as well as the Magiftrate, and therefore it was as goodftill be free from aPunifliment, that gives a Man no more Security from Error than he had without it. Beiides, faid he, who muft be Jud^e whether the Magiftrate knovv3 or no ? For he may miftake, and think it to be Know- ledge and Certainty, when it is but Opinion and Belief It is no matter, for that in this Scheme, replied I, the Magiftrate, we are told, 7}my know w^hich is the true Religion, and he muft not ufe Force but to bring Men to the true Religion ; and if he does, God will one day call him to an Account for it, and fo all is fafe. As fafe as beating the Air can make a thing, replied my Friend : for if believing, being alfured, confidently being perfuadcd that they know that the Religion they pro- fefs is true, or any thing elfe fliort of true Knowledge will ferve the turn, all Ma- giftrateswill have this Power alike, and fo Men will be well guarded, or recovered from falfe Religions, by putting it into the Magiftrate's Hand to punifli them u'/;«j they have alienated themfelves from it. If the Magiftrate be not to punifli Men but when he knows, i, e. is infallibly cer- tain (for fo is a Man in what he knows) that his National Religion is all true, and knows alfo, that it has been propofed to thofe he puniflies with fufficient Evidence of the Truth oj it : 'Twould have been as good this Power had never been given him, fince he will ne\ er be in a Condition to exercife it ; and at beft it was given him to no Purpofe, lince thofe wlio gave it him were one with another as little indifpofed to confider 12 A Third Letter for Toleration. coiifidcr impartially, examine diligently, fludy, find, and infallibly know the Truth as he. But, laid he at parting, to talk thus of the Magiftrate's punifliing Men that reject the true Religion, without telling us, who thofe Magiflratcs are, who have a Power to judge wiiich is the true Religien, is to put this Power in all Magiftrate's Hands alike, or none. For to fay he only is to be Judge wliich is the true Religi- on, who is of it, is but to begin the Round of Enquiries again, which can at laft end no where but in every one's fuppoling ins own to be it. But, faid he, if you will continue to talk on thus, there is nothing more to be done with you, but to pity or laugh at you, and fo he left me. i allure you. Sir, I urged this Part of your Hypothefis, with all the Advantage I thouglit 5'our Ani'u'cr afforded me ; and if I have erred in it, or there be any Way to get out of the Strait (if Force muft in your Way be ufed) either of the MagiRrate's punifliing Men for rejefting the true Religion, without judging which is the true Religion ; or elfe that the Magiftrate fhould judge which is the true Religion ; which Way ever of the two you Ihall determine it, 1 fee not of what Advantage it can be to the People (to keep them from chufing amifs; that this Power of punifhing them fliould be put into the Magiftrate's Hands. And then, if the Magiftrate muft jucigc which is the true Religion, (as how he fhould without judging, punifli any one who rejefts it, is hard to find) and punifh Men who rejeft it till they do embrace it, Het it be to make them confider, or what you plcafe) he does, I think, chufe their Religion for them. And if you have not the Dexterity to chufe the National Religion where-ever you are, I doubt not but you would think fo too if you were in France, though there were none but moderate Penalties laid on you to bring you even againft your c-an Iiicliiiativn to act according to what they there call Reafun and found Judgment. U'hat Paragraph and mine to which it is an Anfvver, runs thus. L. 3. fag. i\ I do neither " you nor iheMagiftrateIn jury, ' when I iky that the Power you " give the Magiftrate o{ prinijh- " ing Men to 7nake them conjtder " Reafvns and Arguments proper " and jujficient to convince them, "is to convince them of the **• Truth of his Religion, and " to bring them to it. For Men will never, in his Opinion, afl " according to Re a/on and found " j^'"/^'«t'«, (which is the thing you here fay Men fjould be " brought to by the Magiftrate, *' even againft their ozun Inclina- " tion) till they embrace his Re- ligion. And if you have the " Brow of an honeft Man, you " will not fay the Magiftrate " will ever punifh )ou, to bring " you to cunfider any other Rea- *' fons and Arguments, but fuch " as are proper to convince you " of the Truth of his Religion, " and to bring you to that. " 'Jhus you fliift forwards and *' backwards. You fay, 77;eMz- * giflraie has no Power to puniftj Men to compel them to his Re- ligicn; but only to compel them to confukr Reafns and Argu- ments proper to convince them " of |hc Truth of his Religion ; V which L. 3. pag. 6j. But it feems you have not done with this yet: Fur you fay, jwi do neither me nor the Ma- giftrate Injury, when you fay that the Power I give the Magiftrate, of punifhing Men to make them con- fider Reafons and Arguments proper and fufficient to convince them, is to convince them of the truth of his Religion, (whatever that be) and to bring them to it. IVhich feems a little ftrnnge andpleafmt too. But thus you prove it: For Men will never, in his Opinion, aft according to Reafon and found Judgment, till they embrace his Religion. And if you have the Brow of an honeft Man, you will not fay the Ma- giftrate will ever punifli you, to bring you to con-? fider any other Reafons and Arguments but fuch as are proper to convince you of the Truth of his Re- ligion, and to bring you to that. Which (befides the pie af ant Talk of fuch Reafons and Arguments as are proper and fufficient to convince Men of the Truth of the Magiftrate's Religion, though it be a falfe one) is juft as much as to fay. It is fo, becaufe in the Magiftrate's Opinion it is fo ; and becaufe it is not to be expected that he will aSi againft his Opi- nion. As if the Alagiftrate's Opinion could change the Nature of Things, and turn a Power to promote the true Religion, into a Power to promote a falfe one. No, Sir, the Magiftrate's Opinion has no fuch Vir- tue. It may indeed keep him jrom exercifing the Power he has to promote the true Religion ; and it ?nay lead him to abtife the Pretence of it, to the pro- moting a falfe one : But it can neither deftroy that Power, nor make it any thing but what it is. And therefore, xvhatever the Magiftrate's Opinion be, his Power was given him (as the Apoftles Power was to them) for Edification only, not for Diftrudion : And A Third Letter fur Toleration. 313 ^' which is all one as to fay, no Arid it inns nlivajs be f.ihl of him, (vj'.it S-. Piul " Body has Power to chufe your J.udoj himfelf) that /lecau doiiothingagTinftthe " way for you to j^t't7(/7/f?/K^ People in any other Science, would at the End of fevcn or twenty Vears find them very little advanced in it. And bating perhaps fome 'J'erms and Phrafes belonging to it, would be as far from all true and ufeful Know- ledge of it as when they firft began. Whether it be fo in Matters of Religion, thoi'e w!io have the Opportunity to obferve muft judge. And if it appear that amongft thole of the National Church there be very many lb ignorant, that there is nothing more frequent than for the Minifters themlelves to complain of it, it is manifeft from thole of the National Church (whatever may be concluded from DifTcnters) that the Mi'Mii of InJlruElion provided by the Law, are not fufficient, unlefs that be fuf- Hcient Means of Inftruction, which Men of fufficient Capacity for other things, may live under many Years, and yet know very little by. If you fay it is for want of Confideration, muft not your Remedy of Force be ufed to bring them to it ? Or how will the Magiftrate anfwer for it, if he ufe Force to make Dillenters confider, and let thofe of his own Church perilll for want of it ? This being all one can well underftand by your fitjficient Means of InfiruEiion, as you there explain it, I do not fee but Men have no Averdon to be inftrufted, may yet fail of it, notwithftanding fuch a Provifion. Perhaps by exercijing the true Religion with one Accord under the Direcii(^n of the Mini/iers of it in ptiilick AJfemblies, you mean fome- thing farther; but that not being an ordinary Phrafe, will need your Explication to make it underftood. CHAP. II. Of the Magijlrate's Commijfion to ufe Force in Matters of Religion. I HOUGH in the foregoing Chapter our examining your Doftrine concerning -*- the^ Magiftrates, who may or may not ufe Force in Matters of Religion, we have in feveral Places happened to take notice of the Commiffion whereby you au- thorize Magiftrates to att ; yet we fhall in this Chapter more particularly confider that Commiffion. You tell us. To ufe Force, in Matters of Religion, is a Duty of Pag- 3<;7 the Magiftrate as old as the Lazv of Nature, in which the Magiftrate' s Commiffion lies : for the Scripture does not properly give it him, but fuppofes it. And more at large you give us an Account of the Magiftrate's Commiffion in thefe Words : 'T'is true indeed, the Pag, 31. Author and Finifher of our Faith has given the Magiftrate no new Power or Commiffion : nor was there any need that he ft}ould, (if himfelf had any Temporal Power to give : ) For he found him already, even by the Law of Nature, the Minifter of God to the People fur Good, and bearing the Sword not in vain, i, e. invefted with coaBive Power, and obliged to life it jor all the good Purpofes which it might ferve, and for zvhich it fiwild be found needful ; even for the Reflraining offalfe and corrupt Religion : as Job long before (perhaps before any Part of the Scriptures were written) acknowledged, vchen he faid, that the Worftjipping the Job it. Sun or the Moon, was an Iniquity to bepuniflied by the Judge, But though our Sa-^^> ^7'^^' viour has given the Magiftrates no new Power; yt being King of Kings, he expeSis and requires that they fiould fubmit themfelves to his Scepter, and ufe the Pozver which always be- longed to them, for his Service, and for the Advancing his fpiritual Kingdom in the World. And even that Charity which our great Mafter fo carneftly reco?nmends, andfo ftriBly re- quires of all his Difciples, as it obliges all Men tofeek and promote the Good of others, as well as their own, efpecially their Spiritual and Eternal Good, by fuch Means as their feveral Places and Relations enable than to ufe: fo does efpecially oblige the Magiftrate to do it as a Magi- ftrate, i. e. by that Power which enables him to do it above the Rate of other Men. So Jar therefore is the Chriftian Magiftrate, when he gives his Helping-hand to the Fur- therance of the Gofpel, by laying convenient Penalties upon fuch as rejeSi it, or any Part Vol. II. S f yf ^2i A Third Letter for ToLYRAT iq-nI of it, from th' Tijsng my other Means fur the Salvation of Mens Souls, than -what the Au- thor and Fmij])er oj our Faith has directed, that he does no more than his Duty to God, to his Redeemer, and to his SubjeEls requires of him. Chriji, fay you, has given no new Power or Commiffion to the Magiflrate : and for this you give feveral Reafons. i. Inhere was no need that he foould. Yet it I'ccnis flrange that the Chriflian Magiflrate alone fhould have an Exercife of coaclive Poxver in Mat- ters of Religion, and yet our Saviour fhould fay nothing of it, but leave them to that Commiilion which was common to them with all other Magiftrates. The Chri- ftian Religion in Cafes of lefs Moment is not wanting in its Rules ; and I know not whether you u'ill not charge the New Teftament with a great Defeft, if that La\T alone which teaches the only true Religion, that Law which all Magiftrates who are of the true Religion, receive and embrace, fhould fay nothing at all of fonecef- fary and important a Duty to thofe who alone are in a Capacity to difcharge it, but !ea\'e them only to that genei'al Law of Nature, which others who are not qualified to ufe this Force, have in common with them. This at Icaft feems needful, if a new Commiflion does not, that the Chriflian Magi^ flrates fliould have been inftrufted what Degree of Force they fhould ufe, and been li- mited to your moderate Penalties : fince for above thefe 1200 Years, though they have readily enough found out your Commiffion to ufe Force, they never found out your moderate Ufe of it, which is that alone which you afl'ure us is ufejul and necejfary. 2. You fay. If our Saviour had any 'Temporal Power to give ; whereby you feem to give this as a Reafon why he gave not the Civil Magiftrate Power to ufe Force in Matters of Religion, that he had it not to give. You tell us in the fame Para- Matt. c8.g''^p!''j '^hat he is King of Kings ; and he tells us himfelf, That all Power is given unto jS. him in Heaven and in Earth : So that he could have given what Power, to whom, and to what Purpofe he had pleafed : and concerning this there needs no If. 3. For he found him already by the Lnzu of N^iture invefled with coaclive Poiver, and obli- ged to life it for all the good Purpofs which it might ferve, and for which it fhould be found needful. He found alfo Fathers, Husbands, Mafters, invefted with their diftinft Powers by the fame Law, and under the fame Obligation ; and yet he thought it needful to prefcribe to them in the Ufe of thofe Powers : But there zvas no need he flmdd do fo to the Civil Magiftrates in the Ufe of their Power in Matters of Religion } be- caufe tho' Fathers, Husbands, Mafters, were liable to Excefs in the Ufe of theirs, yetChriftian Magiftrates were not, as appears by their having always kept thofe mo- '(■. Civil Interefls of a great Number of People, which are the allowed Ends of the Common-wealths, to the uncertain Expedation of fome Service to be done indirectly and at a diflance to a far lefs Number, as Experience has always fliewed thofe really converted to the true Religion by Force to be, if any at ail, cannot be one of the Ends of the Common-wealth. Though the advancing of the fpiritual and eternal late- rcfl be of infinite Advantage to the Perfons who receive tliat Benefit, yet if it can be thought a Benefit to the Common-wealth when it is procured them wicli thedimi- mifhing or deftroying the Civil Interefls of great Numbers of their Fellow-Citizens, then the Ravaging of an Enemy, the Plague, or a Famine may be laid to bring a Benefit to the Common-wealth : For either of thefe may indirectly and at a diflance do fome Service towards the advancing or procuring the fpiritual and eternal Interefl of fome of thofe who fuffer in it. In the two latter Paragraphs you except agaihfl: my want of Exaftnefs, in fettingPag. ^yi down your Opinion I am arguing againft. Had it been any way to take off the Force of what you lay, or that the Reader could have been mifled by my Words in any Part of the Queftion I was arguing againft, you had had Reafon to complain : If notj, you iiad done better to have entertain'd the Reader with a clearer Anfwer to my Argument, than fpent your Ink and his Time needlefly, to Ihew fuch Nicenefs, My Argument is as good againft yoiir Tenet in your own Words, as in mine which you except againft : Your Words are, Doubtlefs Common-wealths are inflit'uted for A., p. ig. the attaining all the Benefits which Political Govermnent can yield ; and therefore if the fpi- ' ° * ritual and eternal Interefi of Menmay any way be procured or advanced by Political Govern- ment, the procuring and advancing thofe IntereRs tnuR in all Reafon be reckon d amongfi the Ends of Civil Societies. To xvhich I anfwer'd. That if this be fo, " Then this Pofition muft be true, viz,. L.z.p.zSj.' " That all Societies whatfoever are inRitutedfor the attaining all the Benefits that they may " any way yield ; there being nothing peculiar to Civil Society in the Cafe, why that *' Society fhould be inflituted for the attaining alt the Benefits it can any way yield and " other Societies not. By which Argument it will follow, that all Societies are in- " ftituted for one and the fame End, /. e. for the attaining all the Benefits that they can. " any way yield. By which Account there will be no Difference between Church and " State, a Common-wealth and an Army, or between a Family and the Eafi-hdiii " Company ; all which have hitherto been thought diftinft Sorts of Societies, infti- "^ tuted for different Ends. If your Hypothefis hold good, one of the Ends'of the ' Faniiiymuft be to preach the Gofpel, and adminifter the Sacraments; and one " Bulincfs of an Army to teach Languages, and propagate Religion ; becaufe " thefe are Benefits fome way or other attainable by thofe Societies; unlefs you " take want of Commiflion and^ Authority to be a fufficient Impediment : And " that will be fo in other Cafes. To which you reply. Nor will it follow fromVig. -8= hence, that all Societies are inflituted for one and the fame End, (as yoii i?nagine it will) ' ' unlefs you fuppofe all Societies enabled by the Power they are endued with to attain tlye fame End, which I believe no Man hitherto did ever affirm. And therefore not- withflanding this Pofition, there may be flill as great a Difference as you' pleafe hetiveen Church and State, a Com?non-wealth and an Army, or between a Family and the Eaft - India Company. IVhich feveral Societies, as they are inftituted for different Ends, fo are they likewife furnifl)ed with different Powers proportionate to their refpeclive Ends. In which the Reafon you give to deftroy my Inference, I am to thank you for, if you underftood the Force of it, it being the very fame I brino; to Ihew that my Inference from your Way of argvaing is good, I fay, that fron^ yovsf 328 A Third Letter /(^r To l e r a t 1 x. your Way of Rcafonings about the Ends of Government, " It would follow that '' nil Societies were inftituted for one and the fame End ; unlefs you take \Vant^ 330 A Third Letter for Toleration. The Benefits to the Common-U'ealth arc, i. T^/mt the true Religion that thii Method propagates, makes good Mm, and good Men are always the bejl Subjeih, and ojien procure the Favour of God to the Society they are Members of. Being forward enough to grant that nothing contributes fo much to the Benefit of a Society, as that it be made up of good Men, I began prefently togive in to your Method, which promifcs fo fuje a Way to make Men io ftudy the true Religion, that they cannot mifs the being cwz- •vincedof the Truth of it, and fo hardly avoid being really of the true Religion, and confequently good Men. But that I might not miftakc in a thing of that Confe- quence, I began to look about in thofe Countries where Force had been made ufe of to propagate wiiat you allowed to be the true Religion, and found Complaints of as great a Scarcity of good Men there as in other Places. A Friend whom I dil- courfed on this Point, faid, it might poflibly be that the World had not yet had the Benefit of your Method ; becaui'e Law-makers had not yet been able to find that juft Temper of Penalties on which your Propagation of the true Religion was built ; and that therefore it was great Pity you had not yet difcovered this great Secret, but "twas to be hoped you would. Another, who flood by, faid, he did not fee how your Method could make Men it wrought on, and brought to Conformity, better than others, unlefs corrupt Nature with Impunity were like to produce better Men in one outward ProfefTion than another. To w'hich I replied, That we did not lock on Conform ifts through a due Medium; for if we did with you allow it prefumable that all who conformed did it upon CunviBion, there could be no juft Complaint of the Scarcity of good Men : And fo we got over that Difficulty. The fecond Benefit you fay your Ufe of Force brings to the Common-wealth, is. That this Care in any Comjnon-ivealth, of God s Hunctir and Mens Sahation, entitles it to his fpecial Proteciion and Bleffing. Then cext&'mly &\\ Cornm^n-isiealrbs, that have any regard to the ProteEiion and Bleffing of God, will not neglect to intitk themfehes to it, by ufing of Force to promote that Religion they believe to be true. But I befeech you what Care is this of the Honour oj God, and Mens Salvation, you fpeak of? Is it, as you have owned it, a Care by Penalties to make Men outwardly conform, and without any farther Care or Enquiry to prefume that they do it upon Cvnviciion, and with a fincere embracing of, and Obedience to the Truth ? But if the Honour of God and Mens Salvation, conlifts not in an outward Conformity to any Religion, but in fomething farther, what Bleffing they may expeft whofe Care goes fo far, and then prcfane the reft, which is the hardeft Part, and therefore leaft to he prtfinnedy Chap.48. the Prophet 'Jeremy W\\\ tell you, who fays, Curfed be he that does the IVrkofthe Lord 10. mgligrntly : Which thofe who think it is the Magiftrate's Bufinefs to ufe Force to bring Men heartily to embrace the 'Truth that miifi fave them, were beft ferioufly to confider. Pa<'. • 338 A Third Letter for Tollratiot^. the South and North Parts cftiblifhing Churches upon the Dift'crcnccs of only whe- ther fewer or more, thus and tlwis chofen, fhould govern i though the Revelation they both pretend be their Rule, fay nothing direftly one way or t'other: each contending with fo much Eagernefs, that they deny each otJicr to be Cliurches of Chrifl, that is, in eft'e(^t, to be true Chriftians ? To which if one fhould add 'i'ran- lubftantiation, Confubftantiation, Real Prefence, Articles and Diftinctions ict up by Men without Authority from Scripture, and other lefs Dilfercnces, (which good Chriftiansmay dilfent about without endangering their Salvations) ejlablijhed by Lavj in the feveral Parts of Chriflendom : I ask. Whether the Magiftrate interpofuig in Matters of Religion, and edablifliing National Churches by the Force of Penalties of Civil Laws, with their diftindi ("and at hoinc reputed necelfary) Confeffions and Ceremonies, do not by Law and Power authorize and perpetuate Sects among Chriftians, to the great Prejudice of Chriftianity, and Scandal to Liiidels, more than any thing that can arile from a mutual Toleration, with Qiarity and a good Life ? Thofe who have fo much in their Mouths, x.\\q Amhors of Sccis and Dii'ifiotis, with "fo little Advantage to their Caufe, I fhall delire to conlider, whether National Churches eftablifhed as now they are, are not as much Sects and Divilions in Chri- ftianity, as fmaller Collections, under the Namcof diftind Churches, are in refpcft of the National? Only with this Difference, that thefe Sub-divifions and difcoun- tcnanced Seds, wanting Power to enforce their peculiar Doctrines and Difcipline, ufually live more friendly like Chri&ians, and leem only to demand Chrillian Li- berty ; whereby there is lefs Appearance of unchriftian Divifion arrong them ; Whereas thofe National Sefts, being backed by the Civil Power, which they never fail to make ufe o-f, at leaft as a Pretence of Authority over their Brethren, ufual- ly breathe out nothing but Force and Perfecution, to the great Reproach, Shame, and Diflionour ot the Chriftian Religion. I faid, " That if the Magiftrates would feverely and impartially fet themfelves " againft Vice in whomfover it is found, and leave Men to theix own Confciences " in their Articles of Faith, and Ways of WorChip, true Religion would fpread wi- " der, and be more fruitful in the Lives of its Profeffors, than ever hitherto it has " done by the impofing of Creeds and Ceremonies. Here I call only Immorality of Manners, Vke; you on the contrary, in your Anfwer, gi\e the Name of Vice to ^ 3g- ^3' Errors in Opinion, and Difference in Ways of Wovfliip from the National Church : For this is the Matter in queftion between us, exprefs it as you pleafe. This being a Conteft only about the Signification of a fhort Syllable in the Englifl} Tongue, we muft leave to the Mafters of that Language to judge which of thefe two is the proper Ufe of it. But yet, from my ufing the Word Vicey you conclude prefently, (taking it in your Senfe, not mine) that the Magiftrate has a Power in England (for England we are fpcaking of) topunifli Dilfenters from the National Religion, becaule it is &Vice. I will, if you pleafe, in what I faid, change the Word /^nc into that I meant by it, and fay thus, [If the Magiftrates will feverely and impartially fet themfelves againft the Difhonefty and Debauchery of Mens Lives, and fuch Immoralities as I contra-diftinguifli from Errors in fpeculative Opinions of Religion, and Ways of Worfliip : ] and then pray fee how your Anfwer will look, for thus it runs ; Itfeems then svhhyou tlx r ejecting the true Religion, and refufmg to worfI.>ip God in decent IVays pre- fcribed by thofe to tv/mn God has left the Ordering of thofe Matters, are n»t comprehended in the Name Vice. But you tell me, Jf I except thefe Things, and will not allow than to be called by the Na?ne of Vice, perhaps other Men may think it as renfonable to except fonse ether Things [i. e. from being called Vices] ■vhicb they have a Kindnejs for : For IriftancCy fome may perhaps except arbitrary Divorce, Polygamy, Concubinage, fimple Fornication, ov Marrying idthin Degrees thought forbidden: Let them except thefe, and if you will, Drunkennefs, Theft, and Murder too, from the Name of Fice ; nay, call them Vertucs : Will they, by tlieir calling them fo; be exempt from the Magiftrate 's Power of puniftiing them ? Or can they claim an Impunity by what I have faid? ^ Will thcie Immoralities by the Names any one fhall give, or forbear to give them, become Articles of Faith, or Ways of IVo^P'ip ^ Which is all, as I expreily iay in the Words you here cite of mine, that 1 would have the Magiftrates leave Men to their own Confciences in. But, Sir, you have, for mc. Liberty of Confcience to ufe Words iji what Senfe you pleafe j only 1 tliink, where ano- ther is Goncerned, it favours more of Ingenuity and Love sf Truth, rathev tomind the A Third Letter for Toleration^ 5?c» the Scnfe of him that fpeaks, than to make a Duft and Nolle with a miftakcn Word, if any fuch Advantage were given you. You fay, T'hat fame Men would through Carelefnefs never acquaint themfehes with the "Truth which mttft fave them, without being forced to do it, which (you fuppofc) may be ve}-y true, notwithfianding that (as I fay) fome are called at the third Hour, fome at the ninth, and fome at the eleventh Hour ; and whenever they are called, they embrace all the Truths ne- cejfary to Salvation. At leaji I do not fl.)ew why it may not : And therefore this may be no Slip for any thing I havefaid to prove it to be one. This I take not to be an Anfwer t<^ my Aigument, which was. That fince fome are not called till the eleventh Hour, no body can know who thofe are, who would never acquaint themfelvcs with thofe Truths that mufl fave tlyem, without Force, which is therefore necelfary, and may indireEily and at a diftance do them fome Service. Wiiether that was my Argument or no, I leave die Reader to judge : But that you may not miftake it now again, I tefl you here it is fo, and needs another Anfwer. Your Way of ufing Punifliments in fhort is this, That all that conform not to the National Church, where it is true, as in England, fhould be punifned; what for ? To make them conftder. This I told you had Ibmething of imprafticable. 'j o whicli you reply, That you ufed the Word ow/y in another Senfe, which I miftook: Whether I miftook your Meaning in the Ufe of that Word or no, or whether it Pag. 24, was natural fo to take it, or whether that Opinion whicli I charged on you by that Miftake, when you tell us, That not examining, is indeed the next End for which^^%- 4^, they are punifhed, be not your Opinion, let us leave to the Reader : For when you have that Word in what Senfe you pleale, what I faid will be neverthelel's true, . 275. concerning thofe who by your Scheme are to be punifhed, you having thought tit to anfwer any thing, I fhall here again offer it to your Confideration. " Let us inquire, Firft, Who it is you would have be punifhed. In the Place " above-cited, they are thofe who are got into a wrong Way, and are deaf to all Perfiiajions . " If thefe are the Men to be punifhed, let a Law be made againft them : you have " my Confent ; arid that is the proper Courfe to have Offenders puniflied. For you " do not, I hope, intend to punifli any Fault by a Law, which you do not name " in the Law; nor make a Law againft any Fault you would not have punifh- " ed. A Third Letter for Toleration. 543 " cd. And now, if you arc fincerc, and in carneft, and are (as a fair Man fhould " be) for what your Words plainly fignify, and nothing clfe ; what will fuch a Law " i'erve for ? Men in the -ujrmg Way are to he piiniflu'd : But who arc in. the ivrong ll^ay, " is the Queftion. You have no more Reafon to determine it againft one, who dif- " fcrs from you, than he has to conclude againft you, wlio dift'er from him : No, not " tho' )"ou have the Magiftrate and the National Churdi on your Side. For if to " differ from them be to be in the -wrong JVaj ; you who are in the right Way in England, " will be in the ivrong Way in Frame. Every one here muft be Judge for himfelf : And " your Law will reach no body, till you have convinced him he is in theivrotigWay : " And then there will be no need of PuniHiment to make him confider ; unlefs you " will affirm again what you have denied, and have Men punifhcd for emjjracing the " Religion they believe to be true, when it differs from yours or the publick. " Befidcs being in the wrong Way, thofe who you would have punifhed, muft be " fuch us are deaf to all Perfiiafions. But any fuch, I fuppofe, you will hardly find^ " who hearken to no body, not to thofe of their own Way. If you mean by deaf to " all PLvfuafiom, all Perfuafions of a contrary Party, or of a different Church; fuch, " I fuppofe, you may abundantly find in your own Church, as well as elfewhere ; ' " and I prefume to them you are fo charitable, that you would not have them pu- " nifhed for not lending an Ear to Seducers. For Conftancy in the Truth, and Per- *' feverance in the Faith, is (I hope) rather to be encouraged, than by any Penal- " ties check'd in the Orthodox. And your Church doubtlefs, as well as all others, " is Orthodox to it felf in all its Tenets. If you mean by all Perfnafion, all your " Perfuafion, or all Perfuafion of thofe of your Communion ; you do but beg the " Qiieftion, and fuppofe you have a Right to punlfli thofe who differ from, anctwill " not comply with you. " Your next Words arc. When Men fly from the Means of a right Information, and ' -wil/ notfo much as conjider how reafonahle it is throughly and impartially to examine a Re- " ligion, which they embraced upon fuch Inducements as ought to have no Sway at all in the '^ Matter, and therefore ivith little or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it ; What " humane Method can be ufed to bring them to aH like Men, in an Affair of fuch Confequence, ' and to make a wifer and more rational Choice, but that of laying fuch Penalties upon them^ ' as may balance the Weight of thofe Prejudices which inclined them to prefer a falfe Way " before the true, and recover thetn to fo much Sobriety and RefleUion, as ferioufly to put the Qjtefiion to themfelves. Whether it be really worth the while to undergo fuch Inconveniencies jor adhering to a Religion, which, for any tlung they know, may be falfe, or for rejecting another (if that be the Cafe) which, for any thing they know, may be true, till they have brought to the Bar of Reafon, and given it a fair 'Trial there ? Here you again bring in fuch as prefer a falfe Way before a true : To which having anfwered already, " I fliall here fay no more, but. That fince our Church will not allow thofe to be in A falfe Way who are out of the Church oi Rome, becaufe the Church of Rone " (which pretends Infallibility) declares hers to be the only true Way ; certainly no " one of our Church (nor any other, which claims not Infallibility) can require " any one to take the Teftimony of any Church, as a fufficient Proof of the " Truth of her own Doftrine. So that true and falfe (as it commonly happens, '' when we fuppofe them for our felves, or our Party) in eifeft, fignify juft nothing, " or nothing to the Purpofe ; unlefs we can think that tnle or falfe in England, " which will not be fo at Rome or Geneva; zii&Vifaverfa. As for the reft of the ' Defcription of thofe, on whom you are here laying Penalties ; I befeech you con- " fider whether it will not belong to any of your Church, let it be what it will. " Confider, I fay, if there be none in yoiu" Church who have embraced he)- Reli- " gion upon fuch Inducements as ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, and there~ "fore with little or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it ; who have not been inclined by Prejudices ; who do not adhere to a Religion which, for any thing they ' know, may be falfe ; and wlio have rejeEled another, which, for any thing they know, ?nay be true. If you have any fuch in your Communion, (and 'twill be an admifa- ' ble, tho' I fear but a little Flock that has none fuch in it) confider well what you have done. You have prepared Rods for them, for which I imagine they will con you no Thanks. For to make any tolerable Scnfe of what you here propofe, it muft be underftood that you would have Men of Religions punifhed, to make them confider Whether it be really worth the while to undergo Juch Inconveniencies for adlxring to a Religion, which f«r any thing thes know may be falfe. If you hope to avoid .!' chat. 344 -^ Third Letter for Tf>LERATio'v. " that, b.y what you have faid of true ami fulfe ; and pretend that the fu[-»pofed Pre- "Jeieme oj the tnw IV'iy in your Church, ouglit to preferve its Members Jrom your " Punifliment; you manifcllly trifle. For every Church's Teliimony, that ic has " cholen the tritaJVay, mufl be taken for itfelf; and then none will be liable ; and " your new Invention of Pun ifliment is come to nothing: Or clie the diftering " Churches Tcltimonies niuft betaken one for another i and then they will be all " out of the true PVay, and your Church need Penalties as well as the rell. S.o that, " upon your Principles, they muft all or none be punifhed. Chufe which you pleafe; " one of them, I think, you cannot efcape. " What you fay in the next Words j Where Injhiiclioyi is flifly refujed, and all Ad- " monitions and Perjunjions prove vain and ineffeBual ; ditters nothing but in the Way " of expreffing, from Deaf to all Perjuafvms : And lb that is anfwered already. " In another Place, you give us another Defcription of thoie you think ought to " be puniflicd, in tliefe \\ ords ; "Thofe who rejiije to embrace the Dotlrine, and fiibmit to " the Spiritual Government oj the proper Minijiers of Religion, nho by fpecial Dejignation, " are appointed to exhort, admcnifi, reprove, &c. Here then, thofe tobe punilheJ, rtre " Juch whorejuje to ernbrace tie Doclrine, and jubmit to the Government oj the proper Mi- " nijlers oj Religion. Whereby we are as mucli ftill at Uncertainty as we were be- *' fore, who thofe are who (by your Scheme, and Laws futable to it) are to be pu- " niflied; fince every Church has, as it thinks, \ts proper Minijiers oj Religion : And " if you mean thofe that refufe to embrace the Doflrine, and fiibmit to the Govermnem of " the Minijiers qf another Church ; then all Men will be guilty, and muft be punifhed, " even thole of your own Church as well as otiicrs. If you mean thofe -ivhu refufe, &:c^ *' the Minijiers of their own Church, very few will incur your Penalties : But if by thefe "proper Minifien of Religion, the Minifters of fome particular Church are intended, " why do you not name it ? Why are you lb referved in a Matter, wherein, if you " fpeak not out, all the reft that you fay will be to no purpofe ? Are Men to be " punifhed tor rejuftng to ejnbrace the Dofirine, and fibmit to the Government of the pro- *' per Minijiers of the Church oj Geneva? For this time (fince you have declared no- " thing to the contrary) let me fuppofe you of that Church ; and then I am fure, " that is it that you would name .- for of what ever Church yovt are, if you think the Minifters of any one Church ought to hearkened to, and obeyed, it muft be " thofe of your own. There are Pcrlons to be punifhed, you fay : This you con- " tend for all through your Book, and lay lb much Strefs on it, that you make the " Prefervation and Propagation of Religion, and the Salvation of Souls, to depend " on it : And yet you defcribe them by fo general and equivocal Marks, that, un- " lefs it be upon Suppolltions which no body will grant you, I dare fey, neither *' you nor any body elie will be able to find one guilty. Pray find me, it you can, " a Man whom you can judicially prove (for he that is to be puniflied by Law, *•' muft be lairly tried) is in a wrong Way, in refped: ot his Faith ; I mean, who is " deaf to all Perfunjions, who jiies from all Means oj a right Information, who rej'ufes to em- *' brace the Doclrine, andjubmit to the Government of the Sphitual Paflors. And when " you have done that, I think I may allow you what Power you pleafe to puniih " him, without any Prejudice to the Toleration the Author of the Letter pro- " pofes. " But why, I pray, all this boggling, all this loofe talking, as if you knew not what *'■ you meantj or durft not fpeak it out ? Would you be for punifhing fome body, you *' know not whom ? I do not think (o ill of you. Let me then fpeak out lor you. " Tlie Evidence of the Argument has convinced you that Men ought not to be per- *' fecuted for their Religion ; That the Severities in ufe among Chriftians cannot be " defended ; That the Magiftrate has not Authority to compel any one to his Reli- *' gion- This you are forced to yield. But you would fain retain fome Power in " the Magiftrate's Hands to punifliDiflenters, upon a new Pretence, r/i. not for hav- " ing embraced the Dottrine and Worfhip they believe to be true and right, but for *' not liaving well confidered their own and the Magiftrate's Religion. 'Jo fhew you *' that I do not fpeak wholly without Book, give me leave to mind youof onePaf- " fage of yours : the Words are, Penalties to put them upon a ferious and impartial Ex- " amination of the Cvntroverfy between the Magiflrate and them. Though thefe Words " be not intended to tell us who you would have punifhed, yet it may be plainly " inferr'd from them. And they more clearly point out whom you aim at, than " all the foregoing Places , where vou fceni to ( and Ihould ) defcribe them. " For A Third Letter for ToLERATioi^. 345 ** For they are fuch as between whom and the Magijlrate there is a Comrove rjy ; that is, " in fhort, who differ from the Magiftnuc in Religion. And now indeed you have " given us a Note by which thefe you would have puniflicd, may be known. We *' have, with much ado, found at laft whom it is wc may prefume you would have *' punifhed. Which in other Cafes isufually not very difficult: becaufe tlicre the " Faults to be amended, eafily defign the Perfons to be corrected. But yours is a " new Method, and unlike all that ever went before it. *' In the next Place, let us fee for what you would have them punifticd. You tell " us, and it will eafily be granted you, that not to examine and weigh impartially and *' zvithotit Prejudice or Pa/Jion, (all which, for Shortnefs-fake, we will cxprefs by this " one Word Conftder) the Religion one ejnbraces or refitfes, is a Fault v^cry common, and " very prejudicial to true Religion, and the Salvation of Mens Souls. But Penalties " and Punifhments are very neceflary, fay you, to remedy this Evil. " Let us now fee how you apply this Remedy. Therefore, fay you, let all Dif- " fenters be punifhed. Why ? Have no Diifenters confidcred of Religion .' Or ha\c *' all Conformifts confidercd ? That you your felf will not fay. Your Projeft tliere- " fore is juft as reafonable, as if a Lethargy growing Epidemical in England, you *' ftiould propofeto have a Law made to blifter andfcarify, and fliavethe Heads of " all who wear Gowns ; tho' it be certain that neither all who Wear Gowns are " Lcthargick, nor all who are Lethargick wear Gowns. "Dii te, Damajippe, Deaq; Verum ob eonJilin7n donent tonfore. " For there could not be certainly a more learned Advice, than that one Man fhould *' bepull'd by the Ears, becaufe another is afleep. This, when you have con fider'cl V of it again, (for I find, according to your Principle, all Men have now and then " need to be jogg'd) you will, I guefs, be convinced is not like a fair Phyfician, to ap- " ply a Remedy to a Difeafe j but, like an engaged Enemyj to vent one's Spleen upon " a Party. Common Sen fe, as well as common Juftice, requires, that the Remedies *' of Laws and Penalties fhould be direfted againft the Evil that is to be removedj " where-ever it be found. And if the Puniftiment you think fo neceflary, be (as " you pretend) to procure the Mifchief you complain of, you muft let it purfue, and " fall on the Guilty, and thofeonly, in what Company foever they are ; and not, " as you here propofe, and is the higheft Injuftice, punifti the innocent coK/?^mK^Dif- ** fenter, with the Guilty; and on the other fide, let the inconfJer ate g\i\\iy Conior- " mift 'fcape, with the innocent. For one may rationally prefume that the National " Church has fome, nay, more, in proportion of thofe who little conlider or con- " cern themfelves about Religion, than any Congregation of Diifenters. For Con- " fcience, or the Care of their Souls, being once laid afide ; Intereftj of Courfe, " leads Men into that Society, where the Proteftion and Countenance of the Go- " vernment, and Hopes of Preferment, bid faireft to all their remaining Defires. " So that if carelefs, negligent, inconfiderate Men in Matters of Religion, who, " without being forced, would not conjider, are to be rouzed into a Care of their Souls, " and a Search, after Truth, by Punifliment; the National Religion, in all Coun- " tries, will certainly have a Right to the greateft Share of thofe Punifhments, at " leafl, not to be wholly exempt from them. This is that which the Author of the Letter, as I remember, complains of, and " that j'uftly, viz,. "That the pretended Care of Mens Souls always exprejfes it felf, in thofe who would have Force any way tnade ufe of to that End, in very unequal Methods ; fome " Perfons being to be treated with Severity, whilfi others guilty of the fame Faults, are not: " to be fo much as touched. Though you are got pretty well out of the deep Mud, *' and renounce Punifhments directly for Religion ; yet you ftick ftill in this Part " of the Mire ; whilft you would have Diifenters punifhed to make them conjtder, " but would not have any thing done to Conformifts, though never fo negligent in " this Point of Confidering. The Author's Letter pleafed me, becaufe it is equal to " all Mankind, is direft, and will, 1 think, hold every-vvhere ; which I take to " be a good Mark of the Truth. For I fhall always fufpeft that neither to comport " with the Truth of Religion, or the Defign of the Gofpel, which isfliitcd to only " fome one Country or Party. What is the True and Good in England, w ill be True ' and Good at Rome too, in China or Geneva. But whether your great and only J Method for the propagating of Truth, by bringing the inconfiderate by Punifh- Vol IL X X " ments 5 4 6 ^ Third Letter for To l e r a t i o n.' " ments to conjider, would (according to your Way of applying your Punifliments on- ly to Diflcnters from the National Religion) be of ufe in tlioie Countries, or any " where but where you fuppofe the Magilhate to be in the riglic, judge you. Pray, " Sir, confider a little, whether Prejudice has not fome Share in your Way of argu- *' ing. For this is your Polition ; Men are generally negligent in examining the GrounJi " of their Religion. This I grant. But could there be a more wild and incoherent *' Ccnfequence drawn from it, than this ; "Therefore Diffenters mufl be }>unip.ied ? All this you are pleas'd to pafs over without theleaft Notice : But perhaps you think you have made me full Satisfaction in your Anfwer to my Demand, Who are to be punifli'd > We will here therefore confider that as it ftands, where you tell us. Tag. 48. 7)x)/e who are tobe puniflied according to the whole Tenor of your Anfwer, are no other but Jtich, as having jnfficient Evidence tender' d them of the true Religion, do yet reject it : -whe- ther utterly refitftng to confider that Evidence, or not conftdering as they ought, viz. -with fuch Care and Diligence as the Matter deferves and requires, and -with honejfi and unbiaffed Minds ; and what Difficulty there is in this, you fay you cannot imagine. You promifed you Pag. 46. •would tell the World who they were, plainly and directly. And though you tell us, you cannot imagine what Difficulty there is in this your Account of who are to be pu- nifhed, yet there are fome Things in it, that make it to my Apprehenfion not very plain and direct. For firft they muft be only thofe who have the true Religion tender' d them with fiijficient Evidence : Wherein there appears fome Diffuuhy to me, who fhall be Judge vihatisthe true Religion : and for that, in every Country 'tis moft probable the Magiftrate will be. If you think of any other, pray tell us. Next there feems {ome Difficulty to know, who fhall be Judge what \s Jufftiient Evidence. For where a Man is to be punifhedby Law, he muft be convifted of being guilty ; which fince in this Cafe he cannot be, unlefs it be proved he has had the true Religion ttnder'd to him with ftifftcient Evidence, it is neceflhry that fome body there muft be Judge what is the true Religion, and what is fufficient Evidence ; and others to prove it has been fo tender' d. If you were to be of the Jury, we know what would be your Verdift eon- Pag. 51. cerning fufficient Evidence, by thefe Words of yours. To fay that a Man who has the true Religion propofed to him zvith fiifficient Evidence of its 'Truth, may confider it as he oughtj or do his utmoft in confidering, and yet not perceive the "Truth of it, is neither more nor lefs, than to fay that Jufficient Evidence is not fiifficient : For what does any Man mean by fiiffcient Evidence, but juch as will certainly win Affmt where-ever it is duly confidered ? Up- on which his conforming, or not conforming, would without any fiuther Queftions determine the Point. But whether the reft of the Jury could upon this be able ever to bring in any Man guilty, andfo liable to Punifliment, is a Queftion. Fur iffuf- ficient Evidence beor\\y that which certainly wins AJJent, where-ever a Man does his ut- moft in confidering, 'twill be very hard to prove that a Man who reje<5ts the true Reli- gion, has had it tender'd with fiifficient Evidence, becaufe it will be very hard to prove he has not done his utmoft in confidering it. So that notwithftanding all you have here faid, to puniflr any Man by your Method is not yet fo very prafticable. But you clear all in your following Words, which fay, There is nothing tnore evident than that thoje who rejeEl the true Religion, are culpable, and deferve to be punifljed. By whom ? By Men : That's fo far from being evident, as you talk, that it will require better Proofs than I ha\ e yet feen for it. Next you fay, 'Tis eafy enough to know when Men reject the true Religion. Yes, when the true Religion is known, and agreed on what fhall be taken to be fo in judicial Proceedings, which can fcarce be till 'tis agreed who fhall determine what is true Religion, and what not. Suppofe a Penalty fnould in the Univerfity be laid on thofe who rejefted the true Perepatick Doftrine, could that Law be executed on any one, unlefs it were agreed who ftiould be Judge what was the true Perepa:ick Doftrine ? If you fay it may be known out of Ariftotk's Writings: Then I anfwer, that it would be a more reafonable Law to lay the Pe- nalty on any one, who rejefted the Doftrine contained in the Books allowed to be Ariftotle's, and printed under his Name. You may apply this to the true Religion^ and the Books of the Scripture, if you pleafe : Though after all, there muft be a Judge agreed on, to determine what Doftrines are contained in either of thofe Writings, before the Law can be prafticable. Pag. 48. But you go on to prove, that it is eafy to know when Men reject the true Religion .- For, fay you, that requires no more than that we know that that Religion was tender'd to them with fiffiiient Evidence of the Truth of it. And that itjnay be tender' d to Men xsith ■ fuch Evidence, and that it may be known when it is fo tender'd, thejt Things, yoii lav, you take leave here to fitppofe. You fuppole then more than can be allowed you. For that It A Third Letter for Toleration, 347 it cnn be judicially known that the true Religion has been tender' dtn any omi^ithfufficient Evidence, is what I deny, and that for Reafons above-mentioned, which, were there no other Difilculty in it, were fufficient to fhew the Unprafticablenefs of your Method. ■ You conclude this Paragraph thus. Which is all that needs be faid upon this Head to fl}ew the Confijlency and Praflicablenefs of this Method : And ixhat do you any where fay againfl this ^ Whether I fay anything or noagainftit, I will bring a Friend of yours that will lay that Diflenters ought to be Pimifhed for being out of the Communion of the Church of England. I will ask you now, how it can be proved that fuch an one is guilty of rejeding the one only true Religion ? Perhaps it is becaufe he fcruples the Crofs in Baptifm, or Godfathers and Godmothers as they areufed, or kneeling at the Lord's Supper ; perhaps it is becaufe he cannot pronounce all damn'd that believe not all Athamifmi\ Creed, or cannot join with fome of thofe Repetitions in oUr Com- mon-Prayer, thinking them to come within the Prohibition of our Saviour, each of which fhuts a Man out from the Communion of the Church of England, as much as if he denied Jefus Chrift to be the Son of God. Now, Sir, I befeech you, how can it be known, that ever fufficient Evidence was tender'd to fuch a Diflenter to prove, that what he rejefts is a Part of that one only true Religion, which unlefs he be of, he cannot be faved ? Or indeed how can it be known, that any Diflenter rejefts that one only true Religion, when being punifhed barely for not conforming, he is never asked, what Part it is he diflents from or rejefts ? and fo it may be fome of thofe things which I imagine will always want fufficient Evidence to prove them to be Parts of that only one true Religion, without the hearty Embracing whereof no Man can be faved. G H A P. IV. What Degrees of Pmiflment. T T O W much fcever you have endeavoured to reform the Doftrine of Perfecution ■*• •■■ to make it ferve your Turn, and give it the Colour of Care and Zeal for the true Religion in the Country where alone you are concern 'd it fhould be made ufeof i yet you have laboured-in vain, and done no more, but given the old Engine a nevV" Varnifli to fet it oft' the better, and make it look lefs frightful : For by what has been faid in the foregoing Chapters, I think it will appear, that if any Magiftrate have Power to punifli Men in Matters of Religion, all have ; and that Diflenters from the National Religion muft be punifhed every where or no where. The horrid Cruelties that in all Ages, and of late in our View, have been committed under the Name, and upon the Account of Religion, give fo juft an Offence and Abhorrence to all who have any Remains, not only of Religion, but Humanity left, that the World isalha- med to own it. This Objeftion therefore, as much as Words or Profeffions can do, you have laboured to fence againft it ; and to exempt your Defign from the Sufpicion of any Severities, you take Care in every Page almoft to let us hear of Moderate Force, Moderate Penalties ; but all in vain : and I doubt not but when this Part too is exami- ned, it will appear, that as you neither have, nor can limit the Power of Punilhing to any diftinct Sort of Magiftrates, nor exempt from Punifhment the Diflenters from ". any "National Religion : So neither have, nor can you limit the Punifhment to any Degree fhort of the higheft, if you will ufe Punifhments at all in Matters of Religion. ■ What you have done in this Point befides giving us good Words, I will now examine. You tell me, I have taken a Liberty which will need Pardon, becaufe I fay, " You " have plainly yielded the Queftion by owning thofe greater Severities to beimpro-Pag. « " per and unfit. But if I fhall make it out, that thofe are as proper and fit as your Moderate Penalties ; and that if you will ufe one, you muft come to the other, as will appear from what you yourfelf fay : whatever you may think, I fhall not imagine other Readers will conclude I have tahen too great a Liberty, or fhall much need Pardon, For if as you fay in the next Page, Authority ?nay reafmably and juftly ufe fome Degrees Pag. ^ of Force where it is needful ; I fay they may alfo ufe any Degree of Force whero it is needful. Now upon your Grounds , Fire and Sword , tormenting and undoing, and thofe other Punifhments which you condemn, will be needful, even Vol. II. X X 3 w 3^J5 A Third Letter for Toleration. to Torments of the higheft Severity, and be as npcefTary as thofe moderate Penalties which you will not name. For I ask you, to what Purpofe do you uie any Degree of Force ? Is is to prevail with Men to do fomething that is in their Power, or that is not ? 'J"he latter 1 fuppole you will not lay, till your Love of Force is (b increafed, that you fhall think it necelTary to be made ule of to produce Impoffibi- litics : If Force then be to be ufed only to bring Men to do what is in their Power, what is the Neccdity you aflign of it ? only this, as I remeniber, -viz,. That when vcntle Admonitions and earnefl Entreaties will not prevail, -uiliat other Means is there left kit Force ? And I upon the fame ground Reply ; If lefler Degrees of Force will not prevail, what other Means is there left but greater; If the loweft Degree of Force be neceflary where gentler Means will not prevail, becaufe there is no other Means left; higher Degrees of Force are Neceflary, where lower will not prevail, for the fame Reafon. tjnlefs you will fay all Degrees of Force work alike ; and that lower Penalties prevail as much on Men as greater, and will equally bring them to do what is in their Power. If fo, a Phlip on the Forehead, or a Farthing Mulft, may be Pe- nalty enough to bring Men to what you propofe. But if you fhall laugh at thefe, as being for their Smalnefs infufficient, and therefore will think it neceflary to increafe them, I fay, where-ever Experience fhews any Degree of Force to be infufficient to prevail, there will be ftill the fame neceflity to increafe it. For where-ever the End is mcejfary, and Force is the Means, the only Means left to procure it, both which you fuppofe in our Cafe, there it will be found always neceflary to increafe the De- grees of Force, where the lower prove ineffeftual, as well till you come to the higeft ai when you begin with the loweft. So that in yourprefent Cafe I do not wonder you ufe fo many Shifts, as I fhall fhew by and by you do, to decline naming the higheft Degree of what you call Moderate. If any Degree be neceffary, you cannot aflign any one (condemn it in Words as much as you pleafe) which may not be fb, and which you muft not come to the Ufe of. If there be no fuch Neceflity of Force as will juftify thofe higher Degrees of it, which are Severities you condemn^ neither will it juftify the Ufe of your lower Degrees. Vi". 7. If) as you tell us, falfe Religions fre^iail againfl the true, merely by the Advantage they have in the Corniption and Pravity of humane Nature left to itfelj unbridled by Au- thority. If the not receiving the true Religion be a Mark and EfFeft merely of the Prevalency of the Corruption of humane Nature ; may nor, nay, muft not the Magi- ftrate, if lefs will not do, ufe his utmoft Force to bring Men to the true Religion ? his Force being given him to fupprefs that Corruption ; efpecially fince you give it for a Meafure of the Force to be ufed, that it muft be fo much, as zuithout which or- dinarily they will not e?nbrace the Truth that mufl fave them. What ordinarily figni- fies here to make any determinate Meafure is hard to guefs ; but fignify it what it will, fo much Foroe muft be ufed, as without which Men will not embrace the Truth ; which, if it fignify any thing intelligible, requires, that where lower Degrees will not do, greater muft.be ufed, till you come to what will ordinarily do ; but what that yr- dinarily is, no Man can tell. If one Man will not be wrought on by as little Force as another, muft not greater Degrees of Force be ufed to him? Shall the Magiftrate who \s obliged to do what lies in him, be excufed, for letting him be damn'd, without the Ufe of all the Means was in his Power ? And will it be fufficient for him to plead, that though he did not all that lay in him, yet he did what ordinarily prevailed^ or what prevailed on feveral others. Force, if that be the Remedy, muft be pro- portioned to the Oppofition. If the Dofe that has frequently wrought on others, will nor purge a Man whofe Life lies on it, muft it not therefore be made fufficient and efteftual, becaufe it will be more than what is called ordinarily ? Or can any one fay the Phyfician has done his Duty, who lets his Patient in an extraordinary Cafe perilh in the Ufe of only moderate Remedies, and pronounces him incurable, before he has tried the utmoft he can with the powerfulleft Remedies which are in his reach ? Having renounced Lofs of Eflate, Corporal Puniflment, Imprifmment, and fuch fon Pag. 19. of Severities, US unlit to be ufed in Matters of Religion; you ask, U'^ill it follow from hence that the Magiftrate has no Right to ufe any Force at all ? Yes, it will fol- low, till you give fome Anfwer to what I fay in that Place, wz,. That if you give up Puniflimencs of a Man in his Perfon, Liberty and Eftate, I think we need not Jiaid with you for any Puntftjment may be made ufe of. But this you pafs by without any notice. I doubt not but you wiU.here think you have a ready Anfwer, by telling me. A Third Letter for Tolek at J on, 349 me, you ircan only depriving Men of their Eflates, mnimitjg them xvith corporal Pii- nipyments. Starving and Tormenting them in noifome Prifons, and other f'ucli Severities whicli you liavc by name excepted ; but loiuer Penalties may yet be ufcd, for Penal- Pag. i. ties is the Word you carefully ufe, and difciaim that oi Punip?ment, as if you difown- ed the thing. 1 wifli you would tell us too by name, what thofe lower Penalties are you would have ufed, as well as by name you tell us tiiofe Severities you difallow. They may not mni?n a Man with corporal Punifl)ments ; may they ufe any corporal Punifliments at all ? They may not fiarve and torment thetn in noifome Prifons for Re- ligion ; that you condemn as much as I. May they put thera in any Prifon at all ? They may net deprive Men of their Eflates ; I fuppofe you mean their whole Eftates : May they take away half, or a quarter, or an hundred Part ? 'Tis ftrange you fhould be able to name the Degrees of Severity that will hinder more than promote the Pro- grcfs of Religion, and cannot name thofe Degrees that will promote rather than hinder it; that thole who would take their Mea lures by you, and follow your Scheme, might know how to proceed fo, as not to do more Harm than Good : For fince you are fo certain, that there are Degrees o{ PuniJ/j?nents or Penalties that will do Good, and other Degrees of them that will do Harm ; ought you not to have told us, what that true Degree is, or how it may be known, without which all your goodly Scheme is of no ufe ? For allowing all you have faid to be as true as you would have it, no Good can be done without ftievying the juft Meafure of Punifliment to be ufed. If the Degree be too great, it will, you confefs, do Harm : Can one then not err on the other hand, by uiing too little > If you fay fo, we are agreed, and I de- fire no better Toleration. If therefore too great will do Harm, and too little, in your Opinion will do no Good, you ought'to tell us the juft Mean. This I prefled upon you ; whereof that the Reader may be Judge, I fhall here trouble him with the Repetition. " There is a third Thing, that you are as tender and referv'd in, as either naming L. i p.iyf ; ■" the Criminals to be punifhed, or pofitively telling us the End for which they fhould *' be puniflied ; and that is, with what fort of Penalties, what Degree of Punifhment *' they fhould be forced. You are indeed fo gracious to them, that you Renounce *' the Severities and Penalties hitherto made ufe of. You tell us, they fhould be but A. p. 14.' *' Moderate Penalties. But if we ask you what are Moderate Penalties, you confefs *' you cannot tell us : So that by Moderate here, you yet mean nothing. You tell A. p. i+. *' us. The outward Force to Le applied , Jhould be duly tempered. But what that due " Temper is, you do not, or cannot fay; andfo, in effeft, it fignifies juft nothing, " Yet if in this you are not plain and direft, all the reft of your Defign will fignify " nothing. For it being to have fome Men, and to fome End, punifhed ; yet if it *' cannot be found what Punifhment is to be ufed, it is (notwithftanding all you have "faid) utterly ufelefs. You tell us modeftly. That to determine precifely the y^yZA. p. 12. " Meafire oj the Punifhment, will require fome Conjideration. If the Faults were pre- " cilely determined, and could be proved, it would require no more Confideration " to determine the Meafure of the Punifhment in this, than it would in any other " Cafe, where thofe were known. But where the Fault is undefined, and the Guilt " not to be proved, (as I fuppofe it will be found in this prefent Bufinefs of exa- " mining) it will without doubt require Confideration to proportion the Force to the " Defign : Juft fo much Confideration as it will require to fit a Coat to the Moon, " or proportion a Shoe to the Feet of thofe who inhabit her. For to proportion a " Punifliment to a Fault that you do not name, (and fo we in Charity ought to *' think you do not yet know) and a Fault that when you have named, it will bei " impoffibie to be proved who are or are not guilty of it, will, I fuppofe, require " as much Conjideration as to fit a Shoe to Feet whofe Size and Shape are not *' known. " However, you offer fome Meafures whereby to regulate your PunifhmentS ; which " when they are looked into, will be found to be juft as good as none, they be- " ingimpoflible to be any Rule in the Cafe. The firft is. So much Force, orfuch^^p, i^: " Penalties as are ordinarily fufficient to prevail with Men of common Difcretion, " and not defperately perverfe and ohftinate, to weigh Matters of Religion carefully and " impartially, and without which ordinarily they will not do this. Where it is to be " obferved : " Firft, 350 ^ Third Letter for T o l e r a t i o k". " FirftjTIiat who are thcfe Men oicoimnon Difcreiion, is as hard to know, as to know " what is a fit Degree of Punilhmcnt in the Cafe ; and lb you do but regulate ens " Uncertainty by another. Sonic Men will be apt to think, that he vvlio \v;!i not " -weigh Matters of Religion, whicli are of infinite Concernment to him, without Pu- " nifliment, cannot in Reafon be thought a Man oi common Difcation. Many Woman " oi common Difcretion enough to manage the ordinary Aftkirs of their Families, are " not able to read a Page in an ordinary Author, or tounderftandandgive an Account " what it means, when read to them. Many Men of comjtton Difcretion in tlieir Cai- " lings, are not able to judge when an Argument is conclufive or no ; much lefs to " trace it througli a long Train of Confequences. What Penalties fl}all be fujfuioit to "prevail with fuch (who upon Examination, I fear, will not be found to make the " leaft Part of Mankind) to examine and -ueigh Matters oj Religion carefully and im- " partially ? The Law allows all to have common Difcretion, for whom it has not " provided Guardians or .Be^/^w. So that, in effeft, your Men of common Dijcretiotif " are all Men, not judg d Idiots or Madmen : And Penalties Jnficient to prevail -with " Men of common Difcretion, are Penalties fufficient to prevail with all Men but Idiot.s " and Madmen. Which what a Meafure it is to regulate Penalties by, let all Men ." of common Difcretion judge. " Secondly, You may be pleafed to confider, that all Men of the fame Degree of " Difcretion, are not apt to be moved by the fame Degree of Penalties. Some are of " a more yielding, fome of a more ftift Temper ; and what is fufficient to prevail on " one, is not half enough to move the other ; though both Men of common Difcreti- " on. So that common Difcretion will be here of no Uie to determine the Meafure of " Punifhment : efpecially, when in the fame Claufe you except Men defperately per- " verfe and obftinate ; who are as hard to be known, as wdiat you feek, I'/z.. the juli " Proportions of Punifhments necelTary to prevail liith Men to confider, examine, and " -weigh Matters of Religion ; wherein, if a Man tells you he has confidered, he has " tueighed, he has examined, and fo goes on in his former Courfe, "tis impoffible for " you ever to know whether he has done his Duty, or whether he be defperately per- " verfe and obflinate. So that this Exception fignifies juft nothing. " There are many things in your Ufe of Force and Penalties, different from any " I ever met with elfewhere. One of them, this Claufe of yours concerning the Mea- " fure of Punifhments, now under Confideration, offers me ; wherein you proportion *' your Punifliments only to the Yielding and Corrigible, not to the Perverie and Ob- ** ftinate ; contrary to the common Difcretion which has hitherto made Laws in other " Cafes, which levels the Punifhments againft refraftory Offenders, and never fpares *' them becaufe they are obftinate. This however I will not blame as an 0\er-fight *' in you. Your new Method, which aims at fuch impracticable and inconfiftent " Things as Laws cannot bear, nor Penalties be ufeful to, forced you to it. The Ufe- " lefsnefs, Abfurdity, and Unreafonablenefs of great Severities, you had acknowledg- " ed in the foregoing Paragraphs : Diffenters you would have brought to confider hy " Moderate Penalties ; they lie under them ; but whether they have confidered or no, " (for that you cannot tell) they ftill continue Diffenters. What is to be done now ? A. p. II. " Why, the Incurable are to be left to God, as you tell us. Your Punifhments were not " meant to prevail on the defperately Perverfe and Obftinate, as you tell us here. And " fo whatever be the Succefs, your Punifhments are however juftified. The Fulnefs of your Anfwer to my Queftion, With -what Ptiniftments ? made you poffibly pafs by thefe two or three Pages without making any particular Reply to any thing I faidin them : we will therefore examine that Anfwer of yours, where Pag . n_ you tell us. That having in your Anfwer declared that you take the Severities fo often mentioned (-which either deftroy Men, or make them miferable) to be utterly unapt and improper (for Reafons there given) to bring Men to embrace the Truth that iH:ifl fave them : but jnft how far within thofe Bounds that Force extends it felf, which is reaRy ferviceable to that End, you do not prefiime to determine. To determine how far Moderate Force reaches, when it is neceflary to your Bufinefs that it fiiould be deter- mined, is not prefuming : You might with more Reafon have called itprefiming, to talk of Moderate Penalties, and not to be able to determine what you mean by them ; or to promife, as you do, That you will tell plainly and direBly, with what Punijb- ments ; and here to tell us. You do not prefume to determine. But you give a Rea- fon for this Modefty of yours, in wliat follows, where you tell me, I havt not jZv aw any Caufe -why you fmild. And yet you may find in what is above repeated to you, thefe A Third Letter for Toleration", 35* thefe Words, " If in this you are not plain and direft, all the rcfl: oC your Defign " willfignify nothing. But had I failed in fliewing any CauU u% you fi'oM ; and your Charity would not enlighten us, unlefs driven by my Reafons, I darelayyer. If I have -aot fiezvn any Caufe -why you Jbould determine in this Point, I can/Z'fuj aCaufe ■why you fhould not. For I will be anfwerable to you, that you cannot name any Degree of Pun ifliment, which will not be either fo great, as to come among thole you condemn, and (hew what your Moderation, what your Averhon toPerfecution is; or elfetoo little to attain thofeEnds for which you propofc it. But whatever 'you tell me, that I have j7;fw« no Caufe why you fiould determine, I thought it might have palled for a Caufe why you fliould determine more particularly, that Tas you will hnd in thole Pages) I had proved that the Meafures, you offer whereby to regu- late your Punifhments, are juft as good as none. Your Meafures in your Argument conJjJered, and which you repeat here again, are in thefe Words; So much Force, or fuch Penalties as are ordinarily fiqjicicm to prevail Vzg. ^p. with Men of common Difcretion, and not defperately perverfe, to weigh Matters of Religion carefully and impartially, and without which ordinarily they will not do this ; Jo much Force, or fuch Penalties may fitly and reafonally be iifed for the promoting true Religion in the World, and the Salvation of Souls. And what jufl Exception this is liable to, you do not underftand. Some of the Exceptions it is liable to, you might have feen in what I have here again caufed to be reprinted, if you had thought them v.'orth your No- tice. But you go on to tell us here, That when you fpeak of Men of com7mn Difcre-lhiL tiott, and not de^erately perverfe and obfiinate, you think 'tis plain enough, that by cotnmon Difcretion you exclude not Idiots only, and fuch as we iifually call Madmen, but likewije the defperately Perverfe and Obfiinate, who perhaps may well enough deferve that Name, though they be not wont to be fent to Bedlam. Whether by this you have at all taken oft" the Difficulty, and fhewn your Meafure to be any at all in the Ufe of Force, I leave the Reader to judge. 1 asked, Since grcitt ones are unfit, what Degrees of Puniftiment or Force are to be ufed ? You an- Iwer, So much Force, and fuch Penalties as are ordinarily fufficient to prevail with Mot of ordinary Difcretion. I tell you 'tis as hard to know who thofe Men oi common Dijcre- tionai-e, as what Degree of Puniflimenc you would have ufed; unlefs we will take the " Determination of the Law, which allows ^11 to have common Difcretion, for " whom it has not provided Guardians or Bedlam : So that in Effeft, your Men of " common Difcretion are all Men not judg'd Idiots or Madmen. To clear this, you tell us. When you fpeak of Men of common Difcretion, and not defperately perverfe and vbfiinate, you think 'tis plain enough, by common Difcretion you exclude not Idiots only, and fuch as are ufually called Madmen, but likewife the defperately perverfe and obfiinate. It may be you did, for you beft know what you meant in writing : But if by Men of common Difcretion, you excluded the defperately perverfe and obfiinate, let us put what you meant by the Words, Men of cojnmon Difcretion, in the Place of thofe Words themlelves, and then according to your Meaning, your Rule {lands thus; Penalties ordinarily fufficient to prevail with Men not defperately perverfe and obfiinate, and with Men not defperately perverfe and obfiinate: So that at laft, by Men of common Difcretion, ei- ther you excluded only Idiots and Madmen ; or if we muft take your Word for it, that by them you excluded likewife the defperately perverfe and obfiinate,^ and fo meant fomething elfe; 'tis plain, you meant only a very ufelefs and infignificant Tau- tology. You go on, and tell us. If the Penalties you fpeak of, be intended for the «<;% Pag. 4p Mens unreafonable Prejudices and Refra^orinefs againfi the true Religion, then the rea- fon why the defperately perverfe and obfiinate are not to be regarded in tneafinng thefe Penalties, is very apparent. For as Remedies are not provided for the Incurable, jo in the preparing and tempering thm. Regard is to be had only to thofe for whom they are defigned. Which, true or falfe, is nothing to the Purpofe, in a Place where you profel's to inform us, what Punifiyments are to be ufed. We are enquiring who are the defperately perverfe and obfiinate, and not whether they are to be punilh- ed or no. You pretend to give us a Rule to know what Degrees of Force are to be ufed, and tell us, it is fo much as is ordinarily fufficient to prevail with Men of common Difcretion, aud not defperately perverfe and obfiinate. We again ask. Who are your Men of common Difcretion .? You tell us, fuch as are not Midjnen or Idiots, or defperately perverfe and obfiinate. Very well ; But who are thofe defperately perverfe and obfiinate ? How ftiall we know them ? And to this you 5 52 A Third Letter for TomiRation. 3'ou tell us, they are mt to Le n'gardcd in mcafityhig t/wfc Penalties. Wlicreby certainly we ha\e got u plf.in Mealure oi your nwderatp Penalties. No, not yet, you go ^3- '\'^ on ill the next Paragraph to perfect it, where you fay, '£o prevent a little Cavity It may be neeilfiil to note that there a;e Degrees of Perverfenefs and Oliflinac^, and that Men may be perverje and vbjlinate ivithout being defperately fo. So tlien now we ha\e your Mealure compleat ; and to determine the juft Degrees of Punifhinents ; and to clear up the Doubt, wlio are the defperately perverfe and obflinate, we need bul be told tliat there a-.r Degrees of Perverfenefs and Objlinacy ; and that Men jnay be perz'erft and vbjlinate -without being defperately fo : And that therefore fame perverfe and obftiuate Perfons may be tlmigin curable, though fuch as are defperately fo, cannot. But does aJU this tell us wlio are the defperately perverfe and objlinate ? Which is the Thing we Avant to be inlormcd in ; nor till you have told us that, have you remo\'ed the Objection. ilut if by defperately perverfe and objlinate, you will tell us, you meant thofe, that arc not wrought upon by your moderate Penalties, as you feem to intimate in your Reafon, why tiie defperately perverfe and obftinate are not to be regarded in meafuriiig <'S' 49- thefe Penalties : For, iky you, as Remedies are mt provided for the incurable ; fo in pre- paring and tempering them. Regard is to be had only to thofe for -whom they are dejigaed. So that by the defperately perverje and objlinate, you will perhaps fay 'twas plain yoa meant the incurable; for you ordinarily fhift off the Doubtfulnefs of one Place, by appealing tons doubtful an ExpreHion in another. If you fay then, that by Jefpe- rately perverje and objlinate, you mean Incurable ; I ask you again by what inctirable ? By your loruer Degrees of Force ? For I hope where Force is proper to work, tbofe who are not wrought on by lower Degrees, may yet be by higher. If you mean fo, tlien your Anfwer Avill amount to thus much. Moderate Penalties are fuch as are fuf- iicient to prevail on thofe who are not defperately perverfe and objlinate. 'The defperaa- ly perverfe and objlinate are thofe who are incurable, and the Incitralle are thofe 0a whom moderate Penalties are not fufficient to prevail : Whereby at laft we have got a fure Mealure of what are moderate Penalties ; juft fuch an one, as if having a love- raign univerfal Medicine put into your Hand, which will never fail, if you can hit the right Dofe, which tiie bn enter tells you muft be moderate : You ftiould ask him what was the moderate Quantity it is to be given in ; and he fhould anfwer. In fudh a Quantity as was ordinarily fiff.cient to work on common Conftitutions, and not^- Jperately perzrrfe and objlinate. And to you asking again. Who were of defperately per- verje and objlinate Conilkuuons? It fliould be anfwered, Thofe that were iiKiuable. And who ivei^c incurable .<* Thofe whom a moderate Quantity would not work on. And thus to your Satifaftion, you know the moderate Doi^t by the defperately perverfe /aid objlinate ; and the defperately perverfe and obftinate by being incurable ; and the Iucura~ ble by the moderate Dole. For if, as you fay. Remedies are not provided for the iaca- rable, and none but moderate Penalties are to be provided, is it not plain, that yon mean, that all that will not be wrought on by your moderate Penalties, are in your Senfe incurable .<" I'o eafe you, Sir, of juftifying your felf, and fhewing that I have miflaken yoia, ipa[fing thefe Ends ? Which as we fliall li;e in another Place, you have alligned various enough. I fhall only notice of two or three often repeated by you, and thofe are to make Men hear, to make Men confider, to make Men confider as they ought, i. e. as you explain it, to make Men confider ib, as not torejeEi. The Grear- nefs of the Force then, according to this Meafure, mull hefufjiciait to make Men hea^^ Jufficient to make Men confider, andftificient to make Men embrace the true Religi' -n. And now the Magiftrate has all your Rules about the Meafures of PunUhnicnrs to be ufed, and may conridently and fafely go to work to cftublifli it by !.£-,• : for he having tliefe Marks to guidt; him, that they muft be great enough ordinarily ;o prevail with thofe who are not Idiots or Madmen, nor defperately perverfe and obfiinate, great enou^ ordinarily to prevail with Men to hear, confider, and embrace the true ReligicUy and yet not fo great as might tempt Perfons, who have any Concern for their eternal Sai-va- tion, to renounce a Religion ivhich they believe to be true, or profcjs one which they do not believe to be fo : Do you not think you have fufficiently inftrucied him in your Mean- ing, and enabled him to find the juft Temper of his Puniflimcnts according to your Scheme, neither too much, nor too little ? But however you may be iatisheJ with them, I luppofe others, when it comes to be put in Pra(!n:ice, will by thefe Meafures (which are all I can find in your Scheme) be fcarce able to find, what arc the Puuifh- ments you would have ufed. In Eutopia there is a Medicine call'd Hiera Picra, which 'tis fuppofed would cure a troublefome Difeafe of that Country : but it is not to be given, but in the Dofe pre- fcribed by the Law, and in adjufting the Dofe lies all the Skill: For if you give too much, it heightens the Diftemper, and fpreads the mortal Contagion ; and if too little, it does no good at all. With this Difficulty the Law-makers have been per- plexed thefe many Ages, and could not liglit on the right Dofe, that would work the Cure, till lately there came an Undertaker, who would fliew them how they could not miftake. He bid them then prefcribe fo much, as would ordinarily be efieclual upon all that were not Idiots or Madmen, or in whom the Humour was not defperately perverfe and obflinate, to produce the End for which it was defigned ; but not io much as would make a Man in Health, who had any Concern for his Life, fall into a mortal Difeafe. Thefe were good Words, and he was rewarded for them : but wlien by them they came to fix the Dofe, they could not tell whether it ought to be a Grain, a Dram, or an Ounce, or a whole Pound, any more than before; and fo the Dofe of their Hiera Picra, notwithftanding this Gentleman's Pains, is as uncertain, and that foveraign Remedy as ui'elefs as ever it was. Pag. fo. In the next Paragraph you tell us, You do not fee what more can be required to jufti- fy the Rule here given. So quick a Sight needs no Speftacles. Fur if I de^nand that it fhould exprefs what Penalties particularly are fuch as it fays inay fitly and reafonubly be ufd ; this I mufi give you leave to tell me is a very unreafonable Demand. It is an unreafonable Demand, if your Rule be fuch, that by it I may know without any more ado, the particular Penalties that are fit ; otherwife it is not unreajable to dejnand them by Name, if your Marks be not fufficient to know them by. But let us hear your Reafon, For what Rule is there that expreffes the Particulars that agree with it ? And it is an admirable Rule with which one can find no Particulars that agree ; for I challenge you to inftance one: A Rule, you fay, // intended Jor a common Meafure by which Particulars are to be examined, and therefore mufi neceffarily be general. So gene- ral, loofe, and inconfiftent, that no Particulars can be examined by it : For again I challenge you, or any Man living, to meafure out any Punifliment by this your common Meafure, and ellablifli it by a Law. You go on ; And thofe to whom it is gi- ven, are juppofed to be able to apply it, and to judge of Particulars by it. Nay it is often jeen that they are better able to do this than thoje that give it : And jo it is in the prejent Cafe^ the Rule hereby laid down is that by which you fappofe Governors and Law-givers ought to examine A Third L etter for T o l l r a i' i o n. ^55 esamine the Penalties they nfe for the promnttjig the true Religion, and the Salvation of Soiih. Such a Rule it ouj^lit to be I grant, and fucli an one is dcfircd : but that yours is fuch a Rule as Magidrates can take any Meafure by, ibr the Punifliments they are to fettle by Law, is denied, and you are again defircd to fhew. You proceed ; But certainly no P^- fo- Man doubts but their Prudence and Experience enables than to ufe and apply it letter than other Men, and to judge more exaBly what Penalties do agree with it, and what do not ; and therejore you tl.iink I mujl escufe you // ) ou do not take upon you to teach them what it becomes you rather to learn jroni thefn. If we are not to doubt but their Prudence and Experience enables Magiflrates to judge bcfl what Penalties are fit, you have indeed given us at laft a way to know the Meafure of Punifhments to be ufed : but ic is fuch an one as puts an End to your Diflinftion of Moderate Penalties : For no Ma- giftrates that I know, when they once began to ufe Force to bring Men to their Reli- gion, ever ftopp'd till they came to fonie of thofe Severities you condemn; and if you pretend to teach them Moderation for the future, with Hopes to fucceed, you ought to have fiiewed them tlie juft Bounds, beyond which they ought not to go, in a Model fo wholly new, and befides all Experience. But if it be to be determined by their Prudence and Experience, whatever Degrees of Force they fhall ufe, will always be the right. Law-makers and Governors however beholden to you for your good Opinion of their Prudence and Experience ; yet have no reafon to thank you for your Complement, by giving fuch an Exercife to their Prudence and Experience, as to put it upon them to find out the juft Meafures of Punifliments by Rules you give them, which are fuch, that neither your felf, nor any body elfe can find out any Meafures by. The other Part of your Complement will be fufpefted not to be fomuch out of your abundant Refpeft to Law-makers and Governors, as out of the great Regard you have to your felf; for you in vain pretend you forbear to name any particular Punifhments, beca ufe you will not take upon you to teach Governors and Law-makers, when you your felf own in the fame Breath, that you are laying down Rules by which they are to proceed in the Ufe of Penalties for promoting Religion, which is little different from teaching : and your whole Book is nothing elle but about the Magiftrate's Power and Duty. I excufe you therefore for your own fake from naming any particular Punifhments by your Rules : for you ha\e a Right to it, as all Men have a Right to be excufed from do- what is impoilible to be done. Since therefore you grant that thofe Severities you have named, are more apt to hinder than promote trtie Religion; and you cannot affignany Meafures of Punifhment (ftiort of thofe great ones you have condemned) which are fit to promote it, I think it Argument enough to prove againft you, that no Punifliments are fit, till you have fhewed fome others, either by Name, or fuch Marks as they may certainly be knovvn by, which are fit to promote the true Religion : and therefore nothing you have faid there, or any where elfe, will ferve to fhew that 'tis with little Reafon, as you tell nie, Pag. t^. that I fay, " that //'your indireB and at a diftance Serviceablenefs may authorize the " Magiftrate to ufe Fore in Religion, all the Cruelties ufed by the Heathens againft " Chriftians, by Papifts againft Proteftants, and all the perfecuting of Chriftians one " amongft another, are all juftifiable. To which you add. Not to take notice at prefent how oddly it founds, that that which authorizes the Magiflrates to ufe Moderate Penalties to p7-omote the true Religion, /hould juftify all the Cruelties that ever were ufed to promote Heathenifm or Popery. As oddly as it founds to you, it will be evidently true, as long as that which authori- z,es one, authorizes all Magiftrates of any Religion, which they believe to be true, to ufe Force to promote it ; and as long as you cannot aflignany Bounds to your Mo- derate Punifliments, ftiort of thofe great ones ; which you therefore are not able to do, becaufe your Pri nciples, whatever your Words deny, will carry you to thofe Degree* of Severity, which in Profeflion youcoK^f/;^.- and this, whatever you do, Idare fay 6very confidering Reader befides you will plainly fee. So that this Imputation is not fd unreafonable, fince it is evident, that you muft either renounce all Puniftiment what- soever in Religion, or make ufeof thofe you condemn : for in the next Page you tell us, Pag. i«' That all who have fujficient Means of InftruBion provided for them, may juflly be puni- flxd for not being of the National Religion, where the true is the National Religion ; be- caufe it is a Fault in all fuch not to be of the National Religion. In England then, for Example, not to be of the National Religion is a Eault, and a Fault to be puniflxd by the Magiftrate. The Magifttate, to cure this Fault, lays, on thofe who diflent, a Vol II. Yya lower 3 5^ ^ Third Letter for Toleratio"N. lower Degree of Penalties, a Fine of i d. per Month. This proving infufflcienr, what is the Magiilrate to do ? If he be obliged, as you fay, to amend this Fault by Penal- ties, and that low one of i d. per Month be not fufficient to procure its Amendment, is he not to increafe the Penalty ? He therefore doubles the Fine to 2 d. per Month. This too proves inefteftual, and therefore 'tis ftill for the fame Reafon doubled, till it come to i r. 5 .<■. 10/. 100/. 1000/. None of thefe Penalties working, but yet by being conftantly levied, leaving the Delinquents no longer able to pay, Imprifon- mcnt and other corporal Punifhments follow to enforce an Obedience, till at laft this gradual Increafe of Penalties and Force, each Degree whereof wrought on feme few, rifes to the higheft Severities againft thofe who ftand out. For the Magiftrate, who is obliged to corrcd: this Vice, as you call it, and to do -what in him lies to cure this Fault, which oppofes their Salvation ; and who (if I miftake not, you tell us) is Pag. 8. anfwerable for all that may follow from his negleci, had no reafon to raife the Fine from 1 ^. to 2 d. but becaufe the firft was inefteftual : And if that were a fufficient Reafon for railing from the firft to the fecond Degree, why is it not a fufficient to proceed from the Iccond to the third, and fo gradually on .> I would fain have any one fliew me, where, and upon what ground, fuch a gradual Increafe of Force can ftop, till it come to the utmoft Extremities. If therefore Dilfenting from the Church of England, be a Fault to be punifhed by the Magiftrate, I defire you to tell me, where he fhall hold his Hand ; to name the Sort or Degree of Punifhment, beyond which he ought not to go in the Ufe of Force, to cure them of that Fault, and bring them to Conformity. Till you have done that, you might have fpared that Pa?. 19. Paragraph, where you fay. With -what Ingenuity I draw you in to condemn Force in ge- neral, only becaufe you acknowledge the ill EffeEls of Profecuting Men with Fire and Sword, &c. you 7nay leave every Man to judge. And I leave whom you will to judge, whether from your own Principles it does not unavoidably follow, that if you con- demn any Penalties, you muft condemn all, as I have fhewn ; if you will retain any, you muft retain all ; you muft either take or leave all together. For, as I have faid, and Pa". 10. you deny not, " Where there is no Fault, there no punifhment is Moderate ; fo I add. Where there is a Fault to be correfted by the Magiftrate's Force, there no Degrre of Force, which is ineffeftual, and not fufiicicnt to amend it, can be immoderate ; ei- pecially if it be a Fault of great Moment in its Confequences, as certainly that muft; be, wfiich draws after it the Lofs of Mens Eternal Happinefs. You will, 'tis likely, be ready to fay here again, (for a good Subterfuge is never to be forfaken) that you except the defperately perverfe and obflinate. I defire to know for what Reafon you except them ? Is it becaufe they ceafe to be Faulty ? Next I ask you. Who are in your Senfe the defparately perverfe and obflinate ? Thole that i s. or 5 s. or 5 /. or 100 /. or no Fine will work upon ? Thofe who can bear lofs of Eftate, but not lofs of Liberty ? or lofs of Liberty and Eftate, but not corporal Pains and Torments ? or all this, but not lofs of Life ? For to thefe Degrees do Men diffe- rently ftand out. And fince there are Men wrought on by the Approaches ol Fire and Faggot, which other Degrees of Severity could not prevail with, where will you bound your defperately perverfe and obflinate ? The King of France, though you will «llow him not to have Truth of his fide, yet when he came to Dragooning, found few fo defperately perverfe and obflinate, as not to be wrought on. And why Ihould Truth, in which your Opinion wants Forc6, and nothing but Force, to help it, not have the Alliftance of thofe Degrees of Force, (when lefs will not do to make it pre- vail) which are able to bring Men over to falfe Religions, which have no Ught and Strength of their own to help them > You will do well therefore to confider whether your Name of Severities, in Oppofition to the Moderate Piinifljments you fpeak of, has or can do you any Service; whether the Diftindion between compelling and coaclive Pag. 41. Power be of any ufe or difference at all. For you deny the Magiftrate to have Power Pag 27 ^o compel: And you contend for his Ufe of his coaSiive Power ; which will then be a good Diftinftion, when you can find a Way to ufe coaBive, or, which is the fame, compelling Power without Compulfion. I defire you alfo to confider, if in Matters of Religion, Punifhments are to be employed, becaufe they maybeuieful, whether you can ftop at any Degree that is inefTteftual to the End which you propofe, let that End be what it will. If it be barely to gain a Hearing, as in fome Places you feem to fay, I think for that fmall Punifhments will generally prevail, and you do well to put that and Moderate Penalties together. If it be to make Men confider, as in o- ther Place's you fpeak, you cannot tell when you have obtained that End. But if - ; your A Third Letter /or To L e r a t i o N. 357 your End be, ivliich you feem mod to infift on, to make Men conjlder as they ought, i. c. till they ejnbrnce, there are many on whom all your Moderate Penalties, all un- der thofe Severities you condemn, are too weak to prevail. So that you mufi: either confefs, not conjtdering fo m to embrace the true Religion, i. e. not conjidering as one ought, is no Fault to be puniHied by the connive Force of the Magifirate ; or elfe you muft refume thofe Severities wliich you have renounced : Chufe you whether of the two you plcafe. Therefore 'twas not fo much at random that I faid. That thither at lafl Pefecu- ^- ^- ?• tion muft come. Indeed from ivhat you had faid of falling under the Stroke of the^ ^' Sivord, which was nothing to the Purpofe, I added, " Tliat if by that you meant " any thing to the Bulinefs in Hand, you feem to have a Reicrve for greater PunilTi- a. p i;. ments, when lefs are not fufficient to bring Men to be convinced. Which hath produced this warm Reply of yours; And will you ever pretend to Confcience or Mo-V^i. n. dojly after this ? For I befeech you. Sir, -what IVords could I have ufed more exprefs or ejfeBual to fignify, that in my Opinion no Dijfenters from the true Religion ought to be punijbed -with the Sword, but fuch m choofe rather to rebel againfl the Magiftrate, than to fubmit to lejfer Penalties .<* (For how any flootild refufe to fubmit to thofe Penalties, but by rebelling againfl the Magifirate, J fnppofe you zvill not undertake to tell me.) 'Twas for this very Purpofe that I ufed thofi fj/ords to prevent Cavils , {as I was then fo fmple as to think I might : ) And I dare appeal to any Man of common Senfe and com- mon Honeftv, zvhether they tire capable of any other Meaning. And yet the very thing which 1 p plainly elifclaim in them, you pretend (without fo much as offering to /hew hoxv) to colleEi from them. " Thither, you fay, at laft, (viz,, to the taking away " Mens Lives for tlie faving of their Souls) Pefecution muft come : As you fear, " notwithftanding jwy talk of Moderate Punifhments, I my felf inumate in thofe " Words : And if I mean any thing in them to the Bufinefs in hand, I feem to have *' a Referve for greater Punifliments, when lefl'er are not fufficient to bring Men to be *' convinced. Sir, I flrndd expeSi fairer Dealing frojn one of your Pagans or Maho- metans. But I fhall only add, that I would never wiflj that any Man who has underta- ken a bad Caufe, firndd more plainly confefs it than by ferving it, as here (and not here only) you ferve yours. Good Sir, be not fo angry, left to obferving Men you increafe the Sufpicion. One may, without Forfeiture of Modefty or Confcience, fear what Mens Principles threaten, though their Words difclaim it. Noncomformity to the National, when it is the true Religion, as in England, is a Fault, a Vice, fay you, to be correfted by the coaciive Power of the Magifirate. If fo, and Force be the pro- per Remedy, he muft increafe it, till it be ftrong enough to work the Cure; and muft not negled: his Duty (for fo you make it) when he has Force enough in his Hand to make this Remedy more powerful. For where-ever Force is proper to work on Men, and bring them to a Compliance, its not producing that Efteft can only be imputed to its being too little : And if fo, whither at laft muft it come, but to the late Methods of procuring Conformity (and as his moft Chriftian Majefty called it, of faving of Souls) in France, or Severities like them, when more Moderate ones cannot produce it ? For to continue inefficacious Penalties, infufficient upon Trial to mafter the Fault they are applied to, is unjuftifiable Cruelty ; and that which no bo- dy can have a Right to ufe, it ferving only to difeafe and harm People, without a- mending them : For you tell us, they fhould be fuch Penalties as fhould make them^^Z- 44* uneafy. He that fliould vex and pain a Sore you had, with frequent drefling it with fome moderate, painful, but inefficacious Plaifter, that promoted not the Cure, would ' j'uftly be thought, not only an ignorant, but a difhoneft Surgeon. If you are in the Surgeon's Hands, and his Help is requifite, and the Cure that way to be wrought, Corrofives and Fire are the moft merciful, as well as only juftifiable Way of Cure, when the Cafe needs them. And therefore I hope I may ftill pretend to Modefty and Confcience, though I fhould have thought you fo rational a Man, as to be led by your own Principles ; and fo honeft, charitable, and zealous for the Salvation of Mens Souls, as not to vex and difeafe them with inefficacious Remedies to no pur- pofe, and let them mifs of Salvation, for want of more vigorous Profecutions. For if Conformity to the Church of England be neceifary to Salvation, (for elfe what NecefTity can you pretend of punifhing Men at all to bring them to it ?) it is Cruelty to their Souls (if you have Authority for any fuch Means) to ufe fome, and not to ufe fufficient Force to bring them to conform, And I dare fay you are fatisfied, that 3 $Z A Third Letter for To l E R a t i on. thnt the F.cmJ) Difcipline of Drngooning would have made many in England Confor- mifts, whom youv lurcer Ptnnhio will not prevail on to he fo. But to inform you that my Apprehenfious were not fo wholly out of the Way, I be- ''■'g- .'+• fccch you to read here, what you have writ in thefe Words, l-'w ho'djcoafidcml) jo- ever you tell me here, that it is mire than I can fay fir my Political Punifhmcnts, that they were ever ufelul for the promoting true Religion ; J appeal to all vbfeyving Pe,- Jiii'S, Zi-hether ivhcye-ever true Religicn or found Chriflianity has been Nationally received and cftahlifhed by moderate Penal Latus, it ha.< not always lofl Ground by the Relaxation of thoje Laivs : IVhether Seels or Herejies, (even the ivilde/i and moji abfurd) and even Epicurifm and Atheifm, have not continually thereupon fpread themfelves ; and -whether tie very Spirit and Lije oj Chriflianity has not fenjibly decayed, as well as the Number oj found Profjjors of it been daily lejfend upon it : Not to fpeak oj -what at this time cur Eyes cannot but fee, jor fear of giving Offi.nce ; though I hope it "will be none to any that have a jufl Concern jor T'rtith and Piety, to take notice of the Books and Pamphlets which miv fly fo thick about this Kingdom, manifeftly tending to the multiplying of Seels ml Divijions, and even to the promoting uj Scepticifm in Religion among us. Here you bemoan the decaying State of Religion nmongft us at prefent, by reafon of taking oft the Penalties from Proteftant Diflenters : And I befeech you what Penalties were they ? Such whereby many have been ruined in their Fortunes ; fuch whereby many have loll; their Liberties, and fome their Lives in Prifons ; fuch as have fent fome into Banifhment, ftripp'd of all they had. Thefe were the Penal Laws by which the National Religion was Eftablifh'd in England; and thefe you call Moderate: For you fay, IVhere-ever true Religion or found Chriflianity hcu been Nationally received and efla~ bliflxd by Moderate Penal Laws ; and I hope you do not here exclude England from having its Religion fo E/labliflxd by Law, which we fo often here of; or if to ferve the prefent Occafion, you fhould, would you alio deny, that in the following Words you fpeak of the prelent Relaxation in England ? where after your Appeal to all obi'erv- ing People for the dilmal Confequences, which you fuppofe to have everywhere fol- lowed from fuch Relaxations, you add thefe pathetical Words, Not to fpeak oj' what at this time our Eyes cannot but fee, for j ear oj giving Offence ; So hea\y does the pre- fent Relaxation fit on your Mind ; whicli iince it is of Penal Laws you call Moderate^ I iliall fhew you what they are. In the lirft Year of Q. Elizabeth, tiiere was a Penalty of i j-. a Sunday and Holi- day laid upon e\ery one, who came not to the Common-Prayer then Eflabliflied. 'J'his Penalty of i i. a time not prevailing, as was defired, in the Twenty third Year of her Reign was increafed to zol. a Month, and Imprifonment for Non-payment within three Months after Judgment given. In the Twenty ninth Year of £//'z,. to draw this yet clofer, and make it more forcible, 'twas enacted. That whoever upon one Convidion did not continue to pay on the 20/. per Month, without any other Conviiftion or Proceedings againft him till he fubmitted and conformed, (hould forfeit nil his Goods, and two Thirds of his Land for his Life. But this being not yet thought fufficient, it was in the Thirty fifth Year of that Queen compleated, and the Moderate Penal Laws, upon which our National Religion was Eflablifljed, and whole Relaxation you cannot bear, but from thence date the Decay of the very Spirit and Lije of Chriflianity, were brought to Perfeftion. For then going to Conventicles, or a Month's Abfence from Church, was to be punifhed with Imprifonment, till tl>e Offender conformed ; and if he conformed not within three Months, then he was to abjure the Realm, and forfeit all his Goods and Chattels for ever, and his Lands and Tenements during his Life : And if he would not abjure, or abjuring, did not depart the Realm within a Time prefix'd, or returned again, he was to fufter Death as a Felon. And thus your Moderate Penal Laws flood for the Eflabliflied Religion^ till their Penalties were, in relpeft of Proteftant Diifenters, lately taken oft". And now let the Reader judge whether your Pretence to Moderate Punilhments,or mySuf- picion of what a Man of your Principles might have in ftore for Difienters, have more of Mudefly or Confcience in it ; fince you openly declare you regret for the ta- king away fuch an Effablifliment, as by the gradual Increafe of Penalties reached Mens Eftates, Liberties and Lives ; and which you muft be prefumed to allow and approve of, till you tell us plainly, where, according to your Meafures, thofe Penal- ties Hiould ; or, according to your Principles, they could have ftopp'd. You tell us. That where this only true Religion, viz.. of the Church of E/igAW, is I'eceivcd, other Religions ought 10 be difouraged injome meafire. A pretty Ex- preflioa A Third Letter for Toleration^ 55^ preffion for Undoing, Imprifonment, Baniflimcnt, for thofe have been fome of the DijlouYUgetiUHts given to Difl'enters here in England. You will again, no doubt, cry aloud, that you tell me you midc7nn thelc as much as I do. If you heartily con- demn them, I wonder you fhould fay fo little to difcourage them ; I wonder you are fo filent in reprefenting to the M^igiftrate the Unlawfulnefs and Danger of ufing them, in a Diicourfe where you are treating of the Magiftrate's Power and Duty in Matters ui Religion ; efpecialiy this being the Side on which, as far as we may guefs by Experience, their Prudence is apteft to err : But your Modefly, you know» leaves all to the Magiftrate's Prudence and Experience on tiiat Side, tlio' you over and over again encourage them not to negled their Duty in the Ufe of Force, to which you let no Bounds. You tell us, Certainly no Man doubti but the Prudence and Experience of Governors and^^g- fo- Laiu-givers ei/ab/ey tijem to uje and apply it, viz,, your Rule tor the Meafure of Pu- ilifliments, which I have fiiewed to be no Rule at all ; And to judge jnore exaclly what Penalties do agree with it ; and therefore you niuji be excufed if you do not take upon you to teach them what it becomes you rather to learn jrotn them. If your Modcfty be luch, and youthen did what became you, you could not but learn from your Governc s and Law-givers i andfo be fatisfied till within this Year or two, that thofe Penal- ties which they meafured out for the Eftabliftiment of true Religion, though : y reach'd to Mens Eftates, Liberties and Lives, were fuch as were fit. Bui v.iiat you have learned of your Law-makers and Governors fince the Relaxation, or what Opinion you have of their Experience and Prudence now, is not fo eafy to iay. Perhaps you will fay again, that you have in exprefs Words declared agaiuft Fire and Sword, lofs of Eflate, maiming with corporal Piinijloments, ftarving and tormenting iu, noijome Prifons ; and one cannot either in Modefty or Confcience disbelieve you : Yet ia the fame Letter you with Sorrow and Regret fpeak of the Relaxation of fuch Pe- nalties laid on Nonconformity, by which Men have loft their Eftates, Liberties, and Lives too, in noifome Prifons, and in this too muft we not believe you ? I dare fay, there are very few who read that Paflage of yours, fo feelingly it is pcnn'd, who want Modefly or Confcience to believe you therein to be in earneft ; and the ra- Pag. 34; ther, becaufe what drops from Men by Chance, when they are not upon their Guard, is always thought the beft Interpretation of their Thoughts. You name /,«/]■ of Eft ate, of Liberty, and of Tormenting, which is corporal Piinifiment, as if you \\&vt againft them : Certainly you know what you meant by thefe Words, when you laid, you condemn d them ; was it any Degree oi Lofs of Liberty or Eftate, any Degree of corporal Puniftnnent that you condemn'd, or only the utmoft, ex fome Degree between thefe } unlefs you had then fome Meaning, and unlefs you pleafe to tell us, what that Meaning was ; where 'tis, that in your Opinion the Magiftrate ought to ftop, who can believe you are in earneft ? This I think you may and ought to do for our Information in your Syftem, without any Apprehenlion that Governors and Law-makers will deem themfelves much taught by you, which your Modefty makes you fo cautious of. Whilft you refufe to do this, and keep your felf under the Mask of moderate, convenient, and fufficient Force and Penalties, and other fuch like uncertain and undetermin'd Punifliments, I think a confciencious and fober Dilfenter might cxped fairer dealing from one of my Pagans or Mahometans, as you pleafe to call them, than from one, who fo profefles Moderation, that what Degrees of Force, what kind of Punifhments will fatisfy him, he either knows not, or will not declare. For your moderate and convenient may, when you come to interpret them, fignify what Punifhments you pleafe : For the Cure being to be wrought by Force, that \vill be convenient, which the Subbornnefs of the Evil requires ; and that moderate, which is but enough to work the Cure. And therefore I fhall re- turn your own Complement, T'hat I would never wiftj that any Man who has under- taken a bad Caufe, fl)ould more plainly confefs it than by ferving it, as here (and not here mly) you ferve yours. I fhould beg your Pardon for this Sort of Language, vvere: it not your own. And what Right you have to it, the Skill you fliew in the Ma- nagemet of general and doubtful Words and Expreflions, of uncertain and unde- termined Signification, will, I doubt not, abundantly convince the Reader. An In- ftance we have in the Argument before us : For I appeal to any fober Man, whop^, fliall carefully read what you write, where you pretend to tell the World plainly and dire^ly what Puniflmcnts arc to be ufed by your Scheme, whether after having weighed 5^0 A Third Letter for ToLERATio-s. weighed" all you fay concerning that Matter, he can tell, what a Nonconform ill is to cxped from you, or find any Thing but fuch Acutenefs and Strength as lies in the Uncertainty and Referve of your Way of talking ; which whether it be any way futed to your Modefty and Confcieme, where you have undertaken to tell us -what the Punifnnents are, whereby you would have Men brought to embrace the true Reli- gion, I leave you to confider. Pag- 3+. If having faid, JVhere-cver true Religion or found Chiflianity I. a i been Nationally receiv- ed and eftablifl}ed by moderate Penal Laws ; you ftiall for your Defence of the Eftablifli- ment of the Religion in England by Law, fay, which is all is left you to fay, that though fuch fevere Laws were made, yet it was only by the Execution of moderate Penal Laws, that it was eftabli(hed and fupported : But that thofe fevere Laws that touch'd Mens Eflates, Liberties and Lives, were never put in Execution. Why then do you fo ferioufly bemoan the Lofs of them ? But I advife you to make uie of that Plea, for there are Examples in the Memory of Hundreds now living, of every one of thofe Laws of Queen Eliz,abeth being put in Execution ; and pray re- member, if by denying it you require this Truth to be made good, 'tis you that force the publifhing of a Catalogue of Men that have loft there Eftates, Liberties and Lives in Prifon, which it would be more for the Advantage of the Religion efta- blified by Law, fhould be forgotten. But to conclude this great Accufation of yours : If you were not confcious to your felf of fome Tendency that Way, why fuch an Outcry ? Why was Modefty and Con~ fcience call'd in Queftion ? Why was it lefs fair Dealing than you could have expeEled from a Pagan or Mahometan, for me to fay, if in thofe IVordi " you meant any thing " to the Bufinefs in Hand, you feemedto have a Referve for greater Punifhments? Your Bufinefs there being to prove, that there was a Power vefted in the Magiftratc to ufe Force in Matters of Religion, what could be more befides the Bufinefs in hand, than to tell us, as you interpret your Meaning here, that the Magiftrate had a Power to ufe Force againft thofe who rebell'd (for whoever denied that) whether Diflenters or not Difl'enters ? Where was it queftion'd by the Author or me, that •whoever rebell'd, were to fall under the Stroak of the Magiftrate' s Sword? And therefore without Breach of Modefty or Confcience, I might fay, what I again here repeat, *' That if in thofe Words you meant any Thing to the Bufinefs in hand, you leem- " ed to have a Referve for greater Punifliments. One Thing more give me leave to add in Defence o{ my Modefty and Confcience, or rather to juftify my lelf from having guefl'ed fo wholly befide the Matter, If I fhould have faid, (which I did not) that I feared you had a Refe-rve for greater Puniflnnems. For L.i.p.i69.I having brought the Inftances oi Ananias and Sapphira, to fhew that the Apoftles wanted not Power to punifh, if they found it neceflary to ufe it j you infer, that Pag. 38. therefore Punijbmems may be fometimes neceftary. What Punifhments I befeech you, for theirs coft them their Lives ? He that, as you do, concludes from thence, that therefore Punifhments may be fometimes neceffary, will hardly avoid (whatever he fays) to conclude capital Puniftyinents neceffary : And when they are neceffary, it is you know the Magiftrate's Duty to ufe them. You fee how natural it is for Men to go whither their Principles lead them, tho' at firft Sight perhaps they thought it too far. If to avoid this, you now fay you meant it of the Punifhment of the inceftuous Corinthian, whom I alfo mentioned in the fame Place ; I think, fuppofing your felf to lie under the Imputation of a Referve of greater Punifhments ; you ought in Prudence to have faid fo there. Next you know not what Punifhment it was the inceftuous Cow;f/)MK, underwent, but it being /or the DeftruEliou oftheFleft}, it feems to be no very light one : And if you will take your Friend St. Auftins Word for it, as he in the very Epiftle you quote tells you, it was a very fevere one, making as much Difference between it, and the Severities Men ufually fuffer in Prifon, as there is between the Cruelty of the Devil and that of the moft barbarous Jailor : So that if your moderate Puniftments will reach to that laid on the inceftuous Corinthian for the Deftruftion pf the Flefli, we may prefume them to be, what other People cal! Severities. CHAR A Third Letter /(^r To L e r a x i o n- ^ 6 1 CHAP. V. Hovp long your 'PuniPrMents arc to continued TH E Meafure of Punifliments being to be ellimated as well by the Length of their Duration, as the Intenfenefs of their Degrees, 'tis fit we take a View alfo of your Scheme in this Part. " I told you that moderate Puniflments that are continued, that Men find noEnd I •-•P--7S " of, know no Way out of, fit heavy, and become immoderately uneafy. Difienters " you would have punifhed, to make them conjider. Your Penalties have had the Ef- " feft on them you intended ; they have made them conjider ; and they have done their " utmoft in confidering. What now muft be done with them ? They muft be pu- " nifhedon, for they are flill DifTenters. If it were juft, and you had Reafon at " firft topunifh a DilVenter, to make him conjider, when you did not know but that " he had confidered already ; it is as juft, and you have as much Reafon topunifh " him on, even when he has performed what your Punifliment was defigned for, and " has confidered, but yet remains a Diifenter. For I may juftly fuppofe, and you " muft grant, that a Man may remain a Diifenter after all the Confideration your " moderate Penalties can bring him to ; when we fee great Punifhments, even thofe " Severities you difown as too great, are not able to make Men conjider fo far as to " be convinced, and brought over to the National Church. If your Punifhments may " not be inflicted on Men, to make them conjider, who have or may have confidered " already, for ought you know ; then Dilfcnters arc never to be once punifhed, no *' more than any other Sort of Men. If Difienters are to be punifhed, to make them " conjider., whether they have confidered or no ; then their Punifhments, tho' they " do conjider, muft never ceafe as long as they are Difienters, which whether it be " to punifh them only to bring them to conjider, let all Men judge. This I am fure ; " Punifhments in your Method, muft either never begin upon Difienters, or never " ceafe. And fo pretend Moderation if you pleafe, the Punifhments which your " Method requires, muft be either very immoderate, or none at all. But to this you lay nothing, only for the adjufting of tiie Length of your Punifhments, and therein vindicating the Confiftency and Prafticablenels of your Scheme, you tell us, "/hat as long as Men rejeSl the true Religion dulypropofed to them, fo long they offend and de- Pag. j-i. fernje PuniJJoment, and therefore it is but juft that fo long they jhould be left liable to it. You promifed to anfwer to this Queftion, amongft others, plainly anddireBly. The Que- ftion is, How long they are to be punifhed ? And your Anfwer is, Jt is but juft that Pag. 46. ^0 long they ftxuld be liable to PiiniJIment. This extraordinary Caution in fpeaking out, if it were not very natural to you, would be apt to make one fufped, it was accom- modated more to fome Difficulties in your Scheme, than to your Promife of anfwer- ing plainly and direElly ; or poffibly you thought, it would not agree to that CharaiSer of Moderation you affume, to own, that all the Penal Laws which were lately here in Force, and whofe Relaxion you bemoan, fhould be conftantly put in Execution. But your Moderation in this Point comes too late. For as your Charity, as you tell us in the next Paragraph, requires that they be kept fubje^ to Penalties : So the Vlitchful Charity of others in this Age hath found out Ways to encourage Informers, and put it out of the Magiftrate's Moderation to ftop the Execution of the Law againft Difienters, if he fhould be inclined to it. We will therefore take it for granted, that if Penal Laws be made concerning Religion, (for more Zeal ufually animates them than others) they will be put in Execution : And indeed I have heard it argued to be very abfurd, to make or con- tinue Laws, that are not conftantly put in Execution. And now to fhew you how well your Anfwer confifts with other Parts of your Scheme, I fhall need only to mind you, that if Men muft be punijhed as long as they rejefl the true Religion, thofe whopunifli them, muft be Judges what is the true Religion. But this Objection, with fome other, to which this Part of your Anfwer is obnoxious, having been made to you more at large elfewhere, I fhall here omit, and proceed to other Parts of your Anfwer. Vol. II. t 2 YoM ^6z A Third Letter for To l e r a t i o n . Pa", fo. ^^" begin with your Reafon for the Anfwcr you afterwards give us in the Words I lafl: quoted : Your Rcalon runs thus ; Fur certainly nothing is more rcafonnble than that Men Jhotthl ['t jubji'ci to Piiniflifnent as long as they continue to offend. As lung m Aten re- ject the true Religion tender' d the?n with fiijficient Evidence oj the Truth of it, fo long 'tit certain they offend. It is certainly very reafonable, that Men fhould he fubjeci to Pu- niflrment from thofc they offend as long as they continue to offend : But it will not from hence follow, that thole who offend God, are always fiibje^lto Piniifljment from Men. For if they be, why does not the Magiftrate punifh Envy, Hatred and Malice, and all Upcharitablencls ? If you anfwer, becaufe they are not capable of judicial Proofs : I think I may iay 'tis as eafy to prove a Man guilty of Envy, Hatred or Unchari- taWencfs, as it is to prove him guilty of rejecting the true Religicn tender' d him with fiiffuicnt Evidence of the Truth of it. But if it be his Duty to punifh ail Offences againfl God, why does the Magiftrate never punifli Lying, which is an Orfence againft God, and is an Offence capableof being judicially proved ? Iris plain therefore that it is not the Senfe of all Mankind, that it is the Magiftrate's Duty to punifh all Of- fences againft God ; and where it is not his Duty to ufe Force, you will grant the Magiftrate is not to ufe it in Matters of Religion, becaufe where it is necellixry, it is his Duty to ufe it ; but where it is not neceflary, you your lelf fay, it is not law- ful. It Avould be con\cnient therefore for you to reform your Propofition from that loofe Generality it now is in, and then prove it, before it can be allowed you to be to your Purpoie ; though it be never fo true, that you know not a greater Crime a Man can be guilty of, than rejecting the true Religion. P^g- j-i- You go on with your Proof, that fo long as Men rc']ed. the true Religion, &c. (b long they offend, andconfequeutly may juftly be punifhed j Becaufe, iay yon, it is im- pojfible for any Man, innocently to reject the true Religion, Jo tender' d to him. Fur whoever rejects that Religion fo tender d, does either apprehend and perceive the Tiuth of it, or loe does not. If he does, I know not what greater Crime any Man can be guilty of. If he does not perceive the Truth of it, there is no Account to be given of that, but either that he ftmts his Eyes agninfi the Evidence zvhich is offer' d him, and will not at all confider it ; or that he does not conjtder it as he ought, viz. with fuch Care as is requifite, and with a Jincere Defire to learn the Truth ; either of which does manifcjUy involve him in Guilt. To fay here that a Man wlm has the true Religion propofed to him with fu^cient Evidence of its T'ruth, may confider it as he ought, or do his utmoft in coniideniig, and yet not percei^ie the Truth of it; is neither more nor lefs, than to fay, that fifficient Evidence is not fafficient Evidence. For what does any Man mean by fufficient Evidence, but fuch as wilt - certainly win Affent wliere-ever it is duly conjidered ? 1 fnall not trouble my felf here to examine when requifite Care, duly confidered, and fuch other Words, which bring one back to the fame Place from whence one fet out, are caft up, whether all this fine Reafoning will will amount to any thing, but beg- ging what is in the Queftion : But fhall only tell you, that what you fay here and in other Places about J ufjicient Evidence, is built upon this, that the Evidence where- with a Man propofes the true Religion, he may know to be fuch, as will not fail to gain the Aifent of whofoever does what lies in him in confidering it. This is the Suppofition, without xvhich all your Talk oi fufficient Evidence will do you no Service, try it where you will. But it is a Suppofition that is far enough from carrying with it fufficient Evidence to make it be admitted without Proof. Whatever ^«?w any yinris Affent, one may befui'e \i?lA. fufficient Evidence in relpeS of that Man : But that is far enough from proving it Evidence fufficient to prevail on ano- ther, let him confider it as long and as much as he can. The Tempers of Mens Minds; the Principles fettled there by Time and Education, beyond the Power of the Man himfelf to alter them ; the different Capacities of Mens Underftandings, and the ftrange Ideas they are often filled with, are fo various and uncertain, that it is im- pofTible to find that Evidence (efpecially in Things of a mixed Difquifition, depending on fo long a Train of Confequences,as fome Points of the true Religion may) which one can confidently fay will he fufficient for all Men. "Tis Demonftration that 31 876 is the Produft of 94671 72 divided by 197, and yet I challenge you to find one Man of a thou- fand, to whoin you can tender this Propofition with demonftrative or fufficient Evidence to convince him of the Truth of it in a dark Room ; or ever to make this Evidence ap- pear to a Man, that cannot write and read, fo as to make him embrace it as a Truth, if another whom he hath more Confidence in, tells him it is not fo. All the de- monftrative A Third Letter for Toleration* -^6i monftrativc Evidence the Thing has, all the Tender you can make of it, all the Conjl-^ deration he can employ about it, will never be able to difcover to him that Evidence which fhall convince him it is true, unlets you will at threefcore and ten (for that may be the Cafe) have him negleft his Calling, go to School, and learn to write and read, and caft Account, which he may be able to attain to. You fpeak more than once of Mens being brought to lay afide their Prejudices to make them confider as they ought, and jutlge right of Matters in Religion j and I grant without doing fo they cannot : But it is impoffible for Force to make them do it, unlefs it could fhew them, which are Prejudices in their Minds, and diftinguifli them from the Truths there. \V,ho is there almoft that has not Prejudices, that he does not know to be fo ; and what can Force do in that Cafe ? It can no more remove them, to make way for Truth, than it can remove one Ti-uth to make way foranotherj or rather remove aneftablifh'd Truth, or that which is look'donas an unqueftionable Principle (for fo are often Mens Prejudices) to make way for a Truth not yet known, nor appearing to be one. 'Tis not every one knows, or can bring himfelf to Des Cartes' s Way of doubting, and ftrip his Thoughts of all Opinions, till he brings them to felf-evident Principles, and then upon them builds all his future Tenets. Do not think all the World, who are not of your Church, abandon themfelves roan utter Carelefncfs of their future State. You cannot but allow there are ma- ny Turks who fincerely feek Truth, to whom yet you could never bring Evidence fuf- ficient to convince them of the Truth of the Chriftian Religion, whilft they looked on it as a Principle not to be queftion'd, that the Alcoran was of Divine Revelation. This poflibly you will tell me is a Prejudice, and fo it is ; but yet if this Man fhall tell you 'tis no more a Prejudice in him, than it is a Prejudice in any one amongfl: Chri- ftians, who having not cxamin d it, lays it down as an unqueftionable Principle of his Religion, that the Scripture is the Word of God ; What will you anfwer to him ? And yet it would fhake a great many Chriftians in their Religion, if they fhould ]ay by that Prejudice, and fufpend their Judgment of it, until they had made it our to themfelves with Evidence fufficient to convince one who is not prejudiced in Favour of it; and it would require more Time, Books, Languages, Learning and Skill, than falls to moft Mens Share to eftablifti them therein, if you will not allow them, in this fo diftinguifhing and fundamental a Point, to rely on the Learning, Knowledge and Judgment of fome Perfons whom they have in Reverence or Admiration, This tho' you Pag. 44, blame it as an ill Way, yet you can allow in one of your own Religion, even to that Degree, th.it he may be ignorant of the Grounds of his Religion. And why then may you not allow it to a Turk, not as a good Way, or as having led him to the Truth ; but as a Way, as fit for him, as for one of your Church to acquiefce in ; and as fit to exempt him from your Force, as to exempt any one of your Church from it ? To prevent your commenting on this, in which you have fliewn fo much Dexterity, give me leave to lell you, that for all this I do not think all Religions equally true or equally certain. But this, I fay, is impoffible for you, or me, or any Man, to know, whether another has done his Duty in examining the Evidence on both Sides, when he embraces that Side of the Queftion, which we (perhaps upon other Views) judge falfe : and therefore we can have no Right to punifh or perfecute him for it. In this, whether and how far any one is faulty, muft be left to the Searcher of Hearts, the great and righteous Judge of all Men, who knows all their Circumftances, all the Pow- ers and Workings of their Minds; where 'tis they fincerely follow, and by what De- fault they at any time mifs Truth : And he, wearefure, will judge uprightly. But when one Man fhall think himfelf a competent Judge, that the true Kt\\~ ^\on \s ^ro^poitd W\t\i Evidence fufficient for another ; and thence fhall take upon him to punifh him as an Offender, becaufe he embraces not (upon Evidence that he the Propofer judges fufficient) the Religion that he judges true, had need be able to look into the Thoughts of Men, and know their feveral Abilities : Unlefs he will make his own Underftanding and Faculties to be the Meafure of thofe of all Man- kind, which if they be no higher elevated, no larger in their Comprehenfion, no morcDifcerning, than thofe of fome Men, he will not only be unfit to be a Judge in that, but in almoft any Cafe whatfoever. But fince, i . You make it a Condition to the making a Man an Offender in not be- ing of the true Religion, that it has been tendered him with fufficient Evidence. 2. Since you think it fo eafy for Men to determine when the tnae Religion has been tender 'd to any one with fufficient Evidence. And 3. Since you pronounce it Impiety to fay Vol, IL Zz 2 that ^^4 A Third Letter for Toll?. ATiO]^. A. p \(, ^^'^ ^"'^ '•"^''^^ "'^^ furnifhed Mankind "with competent Means for the prowothtg/Hs oiuh Homiiv itttheiVorld, u>id t/ie Good of Souls. Give ire leave to ask you a Quefiion or two. I . Can any one be i.a\ed without atihachig tlie one only true Religion ? i. Were any of the Americans of that one only true Relrgion,w\^n the Europeans firft came amongft them? S- U'hether any of the Americans, before thc'Cf.r/Jh\ms came ainongfl them, had ofend- ed}n rejecting the true Religion tcndred with lufiicient Evidence ? When you have t^iought upoii, and fairly anlwerd thefe Queflions, you will be fitter to determine, how competent a Judge Man is, what is fufficient Evidence ; who do offend in not being of the true Religion ; and what Punifhments tliey are liable to for it. But methinks here, where you fpend almofl a whole Page upon the G/we of re- jeftingthetrue Religion duly tendred, and the Punifhment that is juftly d\ie to it tVom the Magiftrate, you forget your felf, and the Foundation of your Plea for Force; whixrh is, that it is necejfary : which you are fo far from proving it to be in this Cafe of punilhing the Offence of rejefting the true Religion, that in this very Page yeu diftinguilhed it from what is necejfary; where you tell us, Xonr Defign doet rather oblige you /o confider how long Men may need Pumifhment, than how long it maylejujl topunijjythem. So that tho' they offend, yet if they do not Kef Time, but prevail not at all, make no Imprcfflou ; they are repeated as many times • more. A Third letter fdrTbtLER A'Hih^, 3^5 '•iVjore, bbtrare'fttil'found ihefef^ual': Pray tell'mea Reafoh why fuch a_Man is con- cluded io defperately pevverfe and obftmqti, that greater Degrees .vyill not work ujpon Him ; 'biitySt hot'fo ^defpei'^d'tely'pe'r'verfe^and' ohflindtt, ]^\it' t\\o.t the fame Degrees repeated jrra'yHvbrk upon him'? I ■\^/iU not'urge'here, that this is to pretend to know thejuft •Degfeebf Piinrrtinierit thtit '^vill cir will not work on any one, which I fliould imagine a pretty intricate Bufmefs: Biit ihis I have to lay, that if you can think it realbn- tiblc and "ufefal to comihue a "Man feveral Years, nay his whole Life, under the IFme -fepeatek 'Panifhirierit's, ^Jvithout going any higher, tho' they work not at ail; liechufe 'tis poffiblefome time or other they may work on him ; why is it not as rea- ^ofiaWe aiid irieful (I arh fare it is much more juflifiable &x\A charitable) to leave him %-H his -Lrfe ufider the Meians, \vhich all agree God has appointed, without going any higlier, becaufe 'tis not impolTible that fome time or other Preaching, and a Word 'iiSoken 'in dueSeafon, may work upon him ? For why fhould you defpair of the Succefs of Preaching and PeVfnafion upon a fruitlefs Trial, and thereupon think "ycur itif authorized to tife Force ; and yet not lb defpair of the Succefs of mode- rite Force, as after Years of fruitlefs Trial, to continue it on, and not to pro- ceed to higer Degrees of Punifhiticnt, you are concerned for the Vindication of ybtir Syllem to Ihew a Reafon. I miehtion the Trial of Pl-eacHihg and Perfuafion, to fhew the Unreafonableneis 'of ydur i^ypo"thefis, fuppofing fuch a Trial made : Not that in yours, or the com- mbfi Method, there is or can Be tl fait Trial made what Preaching and Perfuafion tan dp. For Care is taken by Piinifhment and ill Treatment, to indiipofe and turn aWiy Mens Minds, and to ddd Averfion to their Scruples j an excellent Way to fofteii Mens Inclinations, and tem{)er them fbr the Impreffion of Arguments and En- teaties; tho' thefe two are only talked of: For I cannot but wonder to find you mention, as you do, giving Ear to Adimnhiom, Entreaties and Perfuajions, when thefe 3re felddfn, if ever made Ule of, but ih Places, where thofe, who are to be wrought ofl By them, fl,re knovl^n to bk out bf hearing ; nor can be expected to come there, till by fuch Meslhs they have beeh wrought on. 'Tjs not i^ithoiit reafon therefok ySii cinnot part with your Penalties, and would have rio Efid ^ut to your Puniftiments, but continue them on ; fince you leave fo much to theri-' Operation; dM make fo little ufe of other Means to work upon Diffenters. CHAP. vr. 6/ the End for ivhich Force is to be ufed, jUiE th^ fliDuld read the. Beginning of your Argument conjide/d, would think ic ■*^ in ^airneft to be your Defign to have Force employed to make Men Terioufly dbnfidtr,- arid- nbthing: elfe : But he that Ihall look a little farther, into it, and to that' add- alio your Deteiice bf It, will find by the Variety of Ends you defign ymir Force for,- that either you know not well what you would have it for, or elfe, vvhatever 'twas- youaimed" at, you called it ftill by that Name which beft fitted the Gccafion, and" w:ould- feiVe" beft. in that Place to recommend the Ufe of it. You ask'm^,' Whether the Mildnefs ahdGentlenefi of the Gofpet defiroys the coaliive PoiuerV^ig. 17J of; the Magiftrat^ ?' Fanfwer, as you fiippofe, No: Upon which you infer, T'hen it feMs the Mngifirate rkay tife j^s coaEiive Power , w/thout offending againft the Mildnefs and Gentlenefs of the Go/pel. Yes, where he has Commilllon and Authority to ufe it. Andfo, fsy youv'/V viill conffi xHell' enoitgh -with the Mildnefs and Gentlenefs of the Gofpel for the Mngifirate to' vfe hi\ coaEiive Power to procure them [I fuppofe you mean the Mi- nHlere and Preachers of the National Religion] a //fanH^ where their Prayers and Eh- trtaiies- will not do it. No, it Will not'confift with the gentle and mild Method of the Gofpel, unlefs the Gofpel hasdirefted it, or fomethingelfe tofupply its want, till" it-could'be had; Asfor Miracles, whichyou pretend to have fupplied the wane of Force in the firft'Ages of Chrlflianity, you will find that confidered in another Place'. But, Sir, fhew me a'Couhtry where the Miniflers and Teachers of the Na- tional and True Religion go abbut with Prayers and Entreaties to procure a Hearing^^ and cannot obtain it, and thereT think I need not ftand with you for the Magi- itrate to ufe Force to procure it them ; but that I fear will not fen'e your Turn. To 5^6 A Third Letter for Toleration. To (htvf the Inconfiftency and Unprafticablcnefs of your Method, I had Taid, L.I P-173-" Let usnowfee to whatEnd theymuftbe punifhed : ' A. p. j-. " Sometimes it is, To luring them to conjtder thofc Rcafom and Arguments -which arepro- " per tmd fu^chnt to convince them: Of what? That it is not eafy to fet Grantham " Steeple upon Pr««/'s Church ? Whatever it be you would have them convinced of, " you are not willing to tell us ; and fo it may be any thing. A. p. 10. " Son-.etimes it is. To incline them to lend an Ear to thofe who tell them they havemi- " [taken their JVa), and offer to fl}ew them the right. Which is, to lend an Ear to all who A. V. 2-- " '^■^^'^ ^"*'"''''' ^'^^"■' '" Religion, as well crafty Seducers, as others. Whether this be for A. p. 2 j! " the procuring the Sakation of their Souls, the End for which you Hiy this Force is to be " ufcd, judge you. But this lam fure, \Nhoever w'lW lend an Ear to all -who tell them ^ ^ " the) are out of the IVay, will not have much Time for any other Bufiriefs. ' ' ' "■ " Sometimes it is, To reco'ver Men to fo ?nuch Sob, iety and Refleciion, as ferioujly to put " tl"^ Qjie/lion to themfehes. Whether it be really worth their while to undergo fuch Incon- " leniences, for adhering to a Religion which, for any thing they know, may befalfe ; or for rejeEiing another (ij that be the Cafe) which, for ought they know, may be true, till they have brought it to the Bar of Re af on, and given it a fair Trial there. Which in ftlort " amounts to thus much, viz.. To make them examine whether their Religion be true, and " fo worth the holding, under- thofe Penalties that are annexed to it. Diflenters are indebted " to you for your gieat Care of their Souls. But what, I befeech you, fhall be- " come of thofe of the National Church, every where (which make far the greater " Part of Mankind) who have no fuch Punifhments to make them conftder ; who ^ ^, " have not this only Remedy provided for them, but are left in that deplorable Condi- ' ■ " tion, you mention, oi being fuffered quietly, and without Molefation, to take no Care " at all of their Souls, or in dcing of it to Jollow their own Prejudice, Humours, or fome " crafty Seducers 1 Keed not thofe of the National Church, as well as odiers, bring " their Religion to the Ear of Re af on, and give it a fair Trial there? And if they need " todofo, (as they mufi, if all National Religions cannot be fuppofed true) they " will always need that which you fay is the only Means to make them do fo. So that . . p. 12. n jj y^j^ ^j.^ fure, as you tell us, that there is need of your Method ; I am fure, there is " as much need of it in National Churches, as any other. And fo, for ought I " can fee, you muft either punifti them, or let others alone; unlefs you think it " reafonable that the far greater Part of Mankind fhould conftantly be without that ".Sovereign and only Remedy, which they Hand in need of equally with other People. A. p. 15. " Sometimes the End for which Men muft be punifhed is, to difpufe them to fubmit " to lifhiMitn, and to give a fair Hearing to the Reajons are offrr'd for the enliglrtning their " Minds, and difcvering the Truth to them. If theii" own Words may be taken for " it, there areas few Diflenters as Conformifts, in any Country, who will not pro- " fefs they have done, and do this. And if their own Words may ijot be taken, who, " I pray, muft be Judge ? You and ycur Magiftrates ? If fo, then it is plain you pu- " nifh them not to difpofe them to fubmit to InJiruSlion, but to your InflruSiion ; not tg "difpofe them to give a fair Hearing to Reafons offer' d for the enlightning their Minds, but " to give an obedient Hearing to your Reafons. If you mean this, it had been fairer " and fliorter to have fpoken out plainly, than thus in fair Words, of indefinite Sig- " nification, to fay that which amounts to nothing. ForwhatSenfe is it, topunift " a Man to difpofe him to fubmit to Inflrutiion, and give a fair Hearing to Reafons of- " fer'dfor the enlightning his Mind, and difcovering Truth to him, who goes two or three " times a Week feveral Miles on purpofe to do it, and that with the Hazard of his " Liberty or Purfe ; unlefs you mean your Inftrttclions, your Reafons, your 'Truth i. " Which brings us but back to what you have difclaimed, plain Perfecution for dif- " fering in Religion. A. p. 14. «' Sometimes this is to be done. To prevail with Men to weigh Matters of Religion " carefully and impartially. Difcountenance and Punifhment put into one Scale, with " Impunity and Hopes of Preferment put into the other, is as fure a Way to make a " Man zvtigh impartially, as it would be for a Prince to bribe and threaten a Judge " to make him judge uprightly. i. p. 20. " Sometimes it is, To make Men bethink themfehes, and put it out of the Power of any " foolijh Humour, or unreafonable Prejudice, to alienate them from Truth and their own Hap- ''■ pinefs. Add but this, to put it out of the Power of any Humour or Prejudice of their own, or other Mens, and I grant the End is good, if you can find the Means to procure ir. But why it fhould n»t be put out of the Power of other Mens jL'd ifi " Humour A Third Letter for Toleration. 3^-7 " Humour or Prejudice, as well as their own, want (and will always want) u Reafon " to prove. Would it not, I befeech you, to an indifferent By-ftander, appear //"«- " moiir or Prejudice, or ibmething as bad ; to lee Men who profefs a Religion reveal'd " Ij-oni Heaven, and which they own contains all in it ncceflary to Salvation, ex- *' elude Menfrom their Communion, andperfecute them with the Penalties of the " Civil Law, for not joining in the Ufc of Ceremonies, which are no where to be " found in that reveal'd Religion ? Would it not appear Humour or Prejudice, or fome " fuch Thing, to a fober impartial Heathen; to fee Chriftians exclude and perfe- " cute one of the fame Faith, for Things which they themlelves confefs to be indif- " ferent, and not wortli the contending for ? Prejudice, Humour, Pajjion, Lufis, Ln-^- P Befides, concem- " ing this Matter Mankind is fo divided, that he a^s according to Reafon and found " Judgment at Aufpurg, who would be judged to do the quite contrary at Edinburgh. " Will Punifhment make Men know what is Reafon and fotind Judgment .? If it *' will not, 'tis impoflible it fliould make them aSi according to it. Reafon and "found Judgment are the Elixir it felf, the univerfal Remedy: And you may as ^' realbnably 5 ^8 A Third Letter for Toluk at i on. " reafonably punifh Men to bring them to have the Plulofopher'i Stone, as to l>,mg A. p 16. " them to acl according to Reafon and found 'Judgment. " Sometimes it is, To put Mot upon a ferious and impartial Examination of the (Jmro- " "verfy between the Magiftratt- and them, -which is the Way for them to come to the Kno-w- " ledge of the Truth. But what if tlie Truth be on neither Side, (as I am apt to ima- " gine you will think it is not, where neither the Magiftrate nor the Diflcnters ci- " ther of them of your Chaurch,) how will the examining the Controverfy between the " Magi/irate and liim he the IVay to come to the Knoiuledge of the Truth? Suppofe the *' Controverfy between a Lutheran and a Papi/l; or, if youpleafe, between a Presby- " terian Magiftrate and a Quaker Subjeft. Will the examining the Controverfy between " the Magiftrate and the dijfenting SiibjeB, in this Cafe, bring him to the Knowledge of " the Truth ? If you fay, Yes, then you grant one of tliefe to have the Truth on his " Side. For tlie examining the Controverfy between a Presbyterian and a Quaker^ *' leaves the Controverfy either of them has with the Church of England, or any " other Churcii, untouched. And fo one, at leaft, of thofe being already come to " the Knowledge of the Truth, ought not to be put under your Difcipline of Punilh- " ment ; wliich is only to bring him to the Truth. If you fay. No, and that *' the examining the Controverfy between the Magiftrate and the Diffenter, in this Cafe, '' will not bring him to the Knowledge of the Truth ; you confefs your Rule to be falfe, " and your Method to no purpofe. " To conclude, yourSyftemis, in fliort, this. You would have all Men (laying " zCidc Prejudice, Humour, Pajfton, Sec.) examine the Grounds of their Religion, andfearcfj " for the Truth. This, I confefs, is heartily to be wifh'd. The Means that you " propofe to make Men do this, is, that Diflcnters Ihould be punifhed to make them " do fo. It is as if you had faid. Men generally are guilty of a Fault : therefore " let one Sed, who ha\e the ill Luck to be of an Opinion different from the Magi- " ftrate, be punifhed. This, at firft Sight, fhocks any one who has the leaft Spark " of Senfe, Reafon, or Juftice. But having fpoken of this already, and concluding " that, upon fecond Thoughts, you your felf will be afliamed of it ; let us confider " it put lb as to be confiftent with common Senfe, and with all the Advantage it " can bear, and then let us fee what you can make of it. Men are negligent in exa~ " mining the Religions they embrace, reftife, or perjift in; therefore it is fit they jUuld bepu- " nified to make them do it. This is a Confequence indeed which may, without JDe- " fiance to common Senfe, be drawn from it. This is the Ufe, the only Uie, " which you think Punilhment can indireElly and at a Diftance have in Matters of " Religion. You would have Men by Puniftiments driven to examine. What ? " Religion. To what End ? To bring them to the Knowledge of the Truth. But I " anfvver. " Firft, Every one has not the Ability to do this. " Secondly, Every one has not the Opportunity to do it. " Would you have every poor Proteftant, for Example, in tht Palatinate, exainine " throughly whether the Pope be infallible, or Head of the Church j whether there be " a Purgatory; whether Saints are to be pray'd to, or the Dead pray'dfor; whether " the Scripture be the only Rule of Faith ; whether there be no Salvation out of the " Church ; and whether there be no Church without Biftlops ; and an hundred other " Queftions in Controverfy between the Papifts and thoi^e Proteftants : And when he " had mafter'd thefe, go on to fortify himfelf againft the Opinions and Objeftions of other Churches he differs from ? This, which is no fmall Task, muft be done, before a Man can have brought his Religion to the Bar of Reafon, and given it fair Trial there. And if you will punilh Men till this be done, the Countryman muft leave ofi" plowing and fowing, and betake himfelf to the Study of Greek and Latin ; and the Artifan muft fell his Tools, to buy Fathers and Schoolmen, and leave his Family to ftarve. If fomething lefs than this will fatisfy you, pray tell me what is enough. Have they confider'd and examined enough, if they are fatisfied them- felves where the Truth lies ? If this be the Limits of their Examination, you will find few to punifh ; unlefs you will punifh them to make them do what they have done already. For, however he came by his Religion, there is fcarce any one to be found who does not own himfelf fatisfied that he is in the right. Or elfe, muft they be punifhed to make them confider and exan>ine, till they " embrace that which you chufe for Truth ? If this be fo, what do you but in '' effect A Third Letter fur ToLCRATiOiV. 3^9 " effefl: chufe for them, when yet you vvculd have Men punifhed, to bring tliem to fuchh. p. ■>.^, " a Care of their Souls that no otl'^r Per/on 7night cimfe for them ? If it be Truth in general " you would have them by Puninimcnts driven to fcek ; that is to offer Matter ol " Difpute, and not a Rule of Difcipline. Forte punifh any one to make him feek " till he find Truth, without a Judge of Truth, is to punifli for you know not " what; and is all one as if you fliould v/hip a Scholar to make liiin find out the " Iquare Root of a Number you do not know. I wonder not therefore that you could " not refolvc with your felf what Degree of Severity you would haveufcd, nor how *' long continued ; when you dare not fpeak out directly whom you would have pu- " nilhcd, and are far from being clear to what End they flrould be under Pe- " nalties. " Confonant to this Uncertainty, of whom, or what, tobepuniHicd ; you tell us,' " T'hat there is no Quefliun of the Succefs of this Method. Force will certainly do, if duly A." f. ii- " propo; lined to the Defign of it. " What, I pray, is the Defign of it ? I challenge you, or any Man living, out of *' what you havefaid in your Book, to tell me diieftly what it is. In all other Pu- " nifliments that ever I heard of yet, till now that you have taught the World a *' new Method, the Defign of them has been to cure the Crime they are denounced " againfl: ; and fo I think it ought to be here. What, I befeech you, is the Crime " here? Diifenting? That you fay not, any where, is a Fault. Befides, you tell • " us. That the Magiflrate hath not an Authority to compel any one to his Religion. And A." p. ji' " tliat you do not require that Men j}}ould have no Rule but the Religion of the Country. And A. p. ij-. " the Power you afcrihe to the Magiflrate is given him to bring Men, not to his own, but A. p. i6. " to the true Religion. If difl'enting be not the Fault ; is it that a Man does not exa- " mine his own Religion, and the Grounds of it > Is that the Crime your Punifh- " ments aredefigned to cure ? Neither that dare you fay, left you difpleafe more " than youfatisfy with your new Difcipline. And then again, (as I faid before) " you muft tell us how far you would have them examine, before you punifh them *' for not doing it. And I imagine, if that were all were required of you, it would " be long enough before you would trouble us with a Law, that fliould prefcribe to " every one how far he was to examine Matters of Religion ; wherein if he fail'd, " and came ftiort, he was to be punifli'd i if he performed, and went in his Exami- " nation to the Bounds fet by the Law, he was acquitted and free. Sir, wken you con- " fider it again, you will perhaps think this a Cafe referv'd to the Great Day, when *' the Secrets of all Hearts fliall be laid open. For I imagine it is beyond the Power " or Judgment of Man, in that Variety of Circumftances, in refpeft of Parts, " Tempers, Opportunities, Helps, &c. Men are in, in this World, to determine " what is every one's Duty in this great Bufinefs of Search, Enquiry, Examination, " or to know when any one has done it. That which makes me believe you will be " of this Mind, is, that where you undertake for the Succefs of this Method, if rightly A. p. u; *' ufed, it is with a Limitation, upon ftich as are not altogether incurable. So that when " your Remedy is prepared accourding to Art, (which Art is yet unknown) and *' rightly apply'd, and given in a due Dofe, (all which are Secrets) it will then in- *' fiUlibly cure. Whom ? All that are not incurable by it. And fo will a Pippin- " Poflet, eating Fifli in Lent, or a Presbyterian Lefture certainly cure all that are *' not incurable by them. For I am fure you do not mean it iviJl cure all, but thofe " Kho are abfolutely incurable ; becaufe you your fclf allow one Means left of Cure^ " when yours will not do, viz. The Grace of God. Your Words are, TVhat Means is A. p. to; " there left (except the Grace of God) to reduce them, but to lay Thorns and Briars in their " way ? And here alfo, in the Place we were confidcring, you tell us. The Incurable A. p. ii. " are to be left to God. Whereby, if you mean they are to be left to thofe Means " he has ordained for Mens Converfion and Salvation, yours muft never be made " ufeof: For he indeed has prefcribed Preaching, and Hearing of his Word; but " as for thofe who will not hear, I do not find any where that he has commanded " that they fliould be compelled or beaten to it. I muft beg my Reader's Pardon for fo long a Repetition, which I n^as forced to, that he might be Judge whether what I there faid, either deferves no Anfu'er, or be fully anfwer'd in that Paragrapli, where you undertake to vindicate your Method Pag. 4S. from all Imprafticablenefs and Inconfiftency chargeable upon it,in reference to the End for which you would have Men puniftied. Your Words are, Vox whzx.} By which, you Vol. 11, A a fi lay, 370 -^ Third Letter for To l t r a t i o x. fay, you perceive I mean two 'Things : For fumetimes \ [peak of the Fault, and fonielimes of the End /or xvhicb Men are to be pintifl.K'd, (andfomctinies I plitinly c.nfiund them.) Now ij it he enquiredy For what Fault Men are to be pjtnified .'' vou nnfii:er, Fjr reje^ling the true Religion, after fujficient Evidence tcnder'd thsin of the "Truth of it : IVhich certainly, is a Fault, and deferves PuniJI.mient. But if I enquire for vhat End ftich as do rejeci the true Religion, are to be piinijl.ied? ybu fay. To bring thefn to embrace the true Religion; and in order to that to bring them to conftder, and that carefidly and impartially, the Evidence ivhich is offered to convince them of the Truth of it : Which are undeniably jufl and excel- lent Ends ; and which, through God's Bleffing, have often been procured, and may yet be pro- cured by convenient Penalties infliSledfor that Purpofe. Nor do you know of any Thing I fay againfl any Part of this, which is not already anfwercd. Whether I in this confound two Things diftinft, or you dillinguifli where there is no Difference, the Readcj- may judge by what I have faid clfewhere. 1 fhall here only confider the Ends of Punifhing, you here again in your Reply to me aflign j and thofe, as I find them fcattered, are thefe. Pag. 17. Sometimes you fpeak of this End, as if it were barely to gain a Hearing to thofe who by Prayers and Intreaty cannot : And thofe may be the Preachers of an\' Religion. But I fuppofe you mean the Preachers of the true Religion. And who I befecch you nnifl; be Judge of that ? Pag. 18. IVinre the Law provides fufficient Means of In/lruflion for all, as well as Punifmem for Diffenters, it is plain to all concerned, that the Puniflm:ent is intended to make them conft- der. What ? The Means the Law provides for their Inftru6tinn. Who then is Jud^e of what they are to be inflruded in, and the Means of Inflruftion, but the Law- Maker > Pag- 37- I^ 'S to bring Men to hearken to InflrtiSlion. From whom ? From any body ? And to conftder and examine Matters of Religion as they ought to do, and to bring thofe who are out of the right 1-Vay, to hear, conftder, and embrace the Truth. When is this End attained, and the Penalties which are the Means to this End taken oft? When a Man con- iorms to the National Church. And who then is Judge of what is the Truth to be embraced, but the Magiftrate ? Pag. 26. It is to bring Men to conjider thoft Reafons and Arguments which are proper and fufficient to convince them ; but which, without being forced, they would not con/ider. And when have they done this ? When they have once conformed : For after that there is no Force ufed to make them confider farther. Pag. 40. It is to make Men conjider as they ought ; and that you tell us, is fo to confider, as Pag. 28. to be moved heartily to embrace, and to rejeEl Truth necejfary to Salvation. And when is the Magiftrate, that has the Cure of Mens Souls, and does all this for their Salva- tion, fatisfied that they have fo confidered ? As foon as they outwardly join in Communion with the National Church. Pag. 2. It is fo bring Men to conjider and exa^nine thofe Controverftes which they are bound to conjider and examine, i. e. thofe wherein they cannot err without difjonotiring God, and endangering Pag. c8. ^^•"'''' "'^''^ "^'^ other Mens Salvations. And to fludy the true Religion with fuch Care and Di- ligence as they might and ought to life, and with an bonejl Mind. And when, in your Opinion, is \t prefumable that any Man has done all this? Even when he is in the Communion of your Church. Pag. fi. It is to cure Mens unreafonable Prejudices and RefraBorinefs againfl, and Averjion to the true Religion. Whereof none retain the leaft Tinfture or Sufpicion, who are once got within the Pale of your Church. Pag. 30, If ij ff) bring Men into the right Way, into the Way of Salvation, which Force ^ ■ does, when it has conducted them within the Church - Porch, and there leaves them. Pag. 2(5. jj. jj to bring Men to embrace the Truth that miift fave them. And here, in the Para- P^g- 49. graph wherein you pretend to tell xxsfor what Force is to be ufed, you fay, It is to bring Men to embrace the true Religion, and in order to that to bring them to cvnftder, and that care- Jully a}{d i?npartially, the Evidence which is offered to convine them of the Truth of it, wlmh, P^g- 47- as you fay, are tindeni able jufl and excellent Ends ; but yet fuch as Force in your Method can never practically be made a Means to, without fuppofing what you fay you have no need to fuppofe, wz,. That your Religion is the true ; unlefs you had ra- ther every where to leave it to the Magiftrate to judge which is the right Way, what is the true Religion ; which Suppofition , I imagine, will lefs accom- modate you than the other. But take Wiiich of ther.t you will, you nuift add thi« A Third Letter /o^ To L e r a t i o N% 3 ^ t this other Suppofition to it, harder to be granted you tlian cither of the fornicr, %iz^. That thole who conform to your Church here, (if you make your felf the Judge) or to the National Church any where, (if you make the Magiilratc judge of the Trtuh that miift fave Men) and thofc only have attained chcfe Ends. The Magii^rate, you lay, is obliged to do what in him lies to bring a// his Sub- jects to examine carefully and impartially ATatten of Religion, and to conjider them as they ought, i. e. fo as to embrace the 'truth that mujl fave them. The proper and ne- ceffary Means, vou fay, to attain thefe Ends is Force. And your Method of ufing this Force is to puniflT all the Diflenters from the National Religion, and none of tliofc who outwardly conform to it. Make this Practicable now in any Country in the Worlds without allowing the Magiftrate to be Judge what is the truth that innfi fave them, and without fuppofing alio, that whoever do embi'acc the outward ProfefTion of the National Religion, do in their Hearts embrace, i. e. believe and obey the truth that mtifl fave them ; and then I think nothing in Government can be too hard for your Undertaking. You conclude this Paragraph in telling me, You do not know of any thing I fay <^- Pag. 49 gain/l any Part of this, which is not already anfwered. Pray tell me where 'tis you have anfwered thofe Objedions I made to thole feveral Ends which you alTigned in your Argument confidered, and for which you would have Force ufed, and which I have here reprinted again, becaufe I do not find you fo much as to take notice of them: And therefore the Reader muft judge whether they needed any Anfwer or no. But to fhew that you have not here, where you promife and pretend to do it, clear- ly and diretlly told us for what Force and Penalties are to be ul'ed, I fhall in the next Chapter examine what you mean by bringing Men to embrace the true Religion. CHAP. VII. Of your bringing Men to the true Religion* TR U E Religion is on all Hands acknowledged to be fo much the Concern and Intereft of all Mankind, that nothing can be named, which fo much effeftual- ly befpeaks the Approbation and Favour of thePublick. The very intitling one's felf to that, fets a Man on the right fide. Who dares qucftion fuch a Caufe, or oppofe what is offered for the promoting the true Religion ? This Advantage you have fecured to your felf from unattentive Readers, as much as by the often repeat- ed mention of the true Religion, is pofTible, tliere being fcarce a Page wherein the true Religion does not appear, as if you had nothing elfe in your Thoughts, but the bringing Men to it for the Salvation of their Souls. Whether it be fo in earneft, we will now fee. You tell us, li^hatever Hardfiips fome falfe Religions may t'jnpofe, it will however al-^^g- 7- ways be eafier to carnal find lVorldly-7ninded Men, to give even the firft-born for their tranfgrejfions, than to mortify the Lufls f-om which they fpring, which no Religion but the true requires of them. Upon this you Ground the Neceflity of Force to bring Men to the true Religion, and charge it on the Magiftrate as his Duty to ufe it to that End. What now in Appearance can e.xprefs greater Care to bring Men to the true Religion } But let us fee what you fay in p. 54. and we fhall find that in your Scheme nothing lefs is meant : there you tell us, the Magiftrate infliEis the Penal- ties only upon them that break the Laws : And that Law requiring nothing but Con- formity to the National Religion, none but Nonconformifts are punifhed. So that unlefs an outward Profeffion of the National Religion be by the Mortification of Mens Lufts harder than their giving their Firfl-born for their tranfgrejjion, all the Penalties you contend for concern not, nor can be intended to bring Men effeftually to the true Religion ; fince they leave them before they come to the Difficulty, which is to mortify their Lufls, as the true Religion requires. So that your bringing Men to the true Religion, being to bring them to Conformity to the National, for then you have done with Force, how far that outward Conformity is from being heartily of the true Religion, may be known by the Diftance there is between the eafieft and Vol. II. A a a -5 the 5 7 i ^ Third Letter for Toleration. the haTticft thing in the World. For there is nothing eafier, than to profefs Tn Words ; nothing liartlor, than to fubdue the Heart, and bring Thoughts and Deeds into Obedience of the 'Jruth : The latter is what is required to be of the true Religion ; the other all that is required by Penalties your way applied. If you fay, Conformifts to the National Religion are required by the Law Civil and Ecclefiaflical, to lead good Li\ OS, which is the difficult Part of the True Religion : I anfwer, Thcfe are not the Laws we are here fpeaking of, nor thole which the Defenders of Toleration complain of, but the Laws that put a Diftindion between outward Conformifts and Noncon- form rfts : and thofe they fiiy, whatever may be talked of the true Religion, can never be meant to bring Men really to the True Religion, as long as the true Religion is, and is confelTed to be a Tiling of fo much greater Difficulty than outward Con- formity. Miracles, fay you, fupplicd the want of Force in the beginning of Chriflianity ; and therefore lb far as they lupplied that Want, they muft be fublervient to the fame End. The End then was to bring Men into the Chriftian Church, into which they were admitted and received as Brethren, when they acknowledged that Jefus was the Chrift, the Son of God. Will that ferve the Turn ? No : Force muil be ufed to make Men embrace Creeds and Ceremonies, i. e. outwardly conform to the Doftrine and \^'orfhip of your Church. Nothing more than that is required by your Pe- nalties ; nothing lefs than that will excufe from Punifhment ; that, and nothing but that, will ferve the Turn ; that therefore, and only that, is what you mean by the True Religion you would have Force ufed to bring Men to. L 1 r '60 ^^ hen I tell you, " You have a very ill Opinion of the Religion of the Church of ' " England, and muft own it can only be propagated and fupported by Force, if you do " not think it would be a Gainer by a general Toleration all the World over : You ask, Pag. lo. if/i,y you may not have as good an Opinion of the Church of England 'j, as you have of Noah'i- Religion, nntrSithfianding you think it cannot now be propagated or fupported xvithout ujing feme kinds or degrees cf Force. When you have proved that Noah\ Religion, that from eight Ferfons fpread and continued in the World till the Apoftles Times, as I have proved in another place, ims propagated and fupported a\\ that while hy your kinds or decrees of Force, you may have ibme reafon to think as -well of the Religion of the C/mrch fc/^England, as you have 0/ Noah's Religion, though you think it cannot l>e propagated and fupported without fume kinds or degrees oj Force. But till you can prove that, you cannot upon that Ground fay you have reafon to Lave fo good an Opinion of it. P.T^. 1 1 Ycu tell me, Jfl will take your JVordfor it, you ajfure me you think there are many other Countries in the World befides England, where my Toleration would be as little ufeful to T^ruth as in England. If you will name thofe Countries, w^hich will be no great Pains, I will take your Word for it, that you believe Toleration there would be prejudicial to Truth : but if you will not do that, neither I nor anybody elfe can believe you. I will give you a Reafon why I fay fo, and that is, Becaufe no body can believe that, upon your Principles, you can allow any National Religion, differing from that of the Church of England, to be true ; and where the National Religion is not ttue, we have already yourConfent, as in Spain ar\6. Italy, &c. for Toleration. Now that you cannot, without Renouning your own Principles, allow any National Religion, differing from that eftablifli'd here by Law, to be true, is evident : For why do you punifli Nonconformifts here ? To bring them, fay you, to the True Religion. But what if they hold nothing, but what that other differing National Church does, fhallthey be neverthelefs punifhed if they conform not ? You will certainly fay. Yes : and if fo, then you muft either fay, they are not of the True Religion, or elfe you muft own you punifli thofe, to bring them to the True Religion, whom you allow to be of the True Re- ligion already, p You tell me. If I own with our Author, that there is but one True Religion, and I ^^ "' owning my felf to be of the Church 0/ England, you cannot fee how I can avoid fuppojing, that the National Religion now in England, back'd by the publick Authority of the Law^ u the only True Religion. If I own, as I do, all that you here expeft from me, yet ic will not ferve to draw that Conclufion from it, which you do, viz.. That th0 National Religion now in England is the only True Religion; taking the true Religion in the Scnie that I do, and you ought to take it. I grant that there is but one True Religion in the World.which is that whofe Doftrine and Worfhip are neceffary to Salvation. I grant too that the true Religion, neceffary to Salvation, is taught and profeffed in the ■ Cliurch of England: and yet it will not follow from hcnccj that the Religion of the Church A Third Letter /or To L e r a t i Ni 3 ■/ 3 Cliurch of England, as eflabliflyed by LaWy is the only true Religion ; if there be any thing cftablifhed in the Church of England by Law, and made pare of its Religion, which is not neceflary to Salvation, and which any other Church, teaching and profeffing all that is neceflary to Salvation, docs not i cceivc. If the National Religion Jiotv in England, back'd by the Authority of the Lazv, be, as you would have it, the only true Religion; lo the only true Religion, that a Man cannot be faved without being of it. Pray reconcile this, with what you fay in the immedia- tely preceding Paragraph, viz,. That there are many other Countries in the IVorld -where my Tolorationivotildbe as little nfefulMs in England. For if there be other National Religions differing from that of £w//zW, which you allow to be true, and wherein Men may be faved, the National Religion of England, as now ejfablijhed by Law, is not the only true Religion, and Men may be faved without being of it. And then the Magiftrate can upon your Principles have no Authority to ufe Force to bring Men to be of it. For you tell us. Force is not lawful, unlefs it be neceflary; and tlierefore the Magiftrate can never lawfully ufe it, but to bring Men to believe and pradife what is neceflary to Salvation. You mull therefore either hold, that there is nothing in the Doctrine, Difcipline and Ceremonies of the Church of England, as it iseftablifhed by Law, but what is neceflary to Salvation : Or elfe you muft reform your 'I'erms of Communion, before the Magiftrate upon your Principles can ufe Penal- ties to make Men confider till they conform ; or you can fay that the National Religion of England is the only true Religion, though it contain the only true Religion in it; as poflibly moft, if not all, the difl^ering Chriftian Churches now in the World do. You tell us further in the next Paragraph, That wherc-ever this only true Religion, i.e. Pag. n." the National Religion now in England, is received, all other Religions ought to be difcou- raged. Why I beleech you difcourag'd, if they be true any of them? For if they be irue,\vhat Pretence is there for Force to bring Men who are of them to the true Religion? If you fay all other Religions, varying at all from that of the Church of Englnndy are falfe ; we know then your Mcafure of the one only true Religion. But that your Care is only of Conformity to the Church of England, and that by the true Religion you mean nothing elfe, appears too from your Way of exprelling your felf in this Paflage, where you own that you fuppofe that as this only true Religion (to wit, the Na- Ibid, tional Religion now in England, back'd with the publick Authority of Law) ought to be received where-ever it is preached; fo where-ever it is received, all other Religions ought to be difcotiraged in fame Menfure by the Civil Powers. If the Religion eftablifh'd by Law in England, be the only true Religion, ought it not to be preached and received eve- ry where, and all other Religions difcouragcd throughout the World? And ought not the Magiftrates of all Countries take Care that it fliould be fo? But you only fay, where-ever it is preach'd it ought to be received; and where-ever it is received,other Re- ligions ought to be difcouraged,which is well futed to your Scheme for enforcingCon- formity in England, but could fcarce drop from a Man whofe Thoughts were on the true Religion, and the promoting of it in other Parts of the World. Force then muft be ufed in England, and Penalties laid on Diflenters there. For what ? to bring them to the true Religion, whereby it is plain you mean not only the Do- ftrine but Difcipline and Ceremonies of the Church of England, and make them a Part of the only true Religion : Why elfe do you punifli all Diflenters for rejefting the tnie Religion, and ufe Force to bring them to it? When yet a great, if not the greateft Part of Diflenters in England own and profefs theDodrine of the Church of England as firmly as thofe in the Communion of the Church of England. They therefore , though they believe the fame Religion with you, are ex- cluded from the true Church of God , that you would have Men brought to, and are amongft thofe who reject the true Religion. I ask whether they are not in your Opinion out of the way of Salvation, who are not joined in Communion with the true Church ? And whether there can be any true Church without Bifhops ? If fo, all but Conformifts in England that are of any Church in Europe, befides the Lutherans and Papifts, are out of the way of Salvation, and fo according to your Syftem have need of Force to be brought into it : And thefe too, one for their Dcftrine of Tranfubftantiation, the other for that of Confubftantiation, (to omit other things vaftly differing from the Church oi England) you will not, I fup- pofe, allow to be of the true Religion : And who then are left of the true Religion but the Church oi England? For tht Abyfjlnes have too wide a Difference in many Points for me to imagine, that i? one of thofe Places you mean where Toleration would do Harm / 374 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. flarm at itiel/ as in England. And I think the Religion of the Greek Church can fcarce be iuppofed by you to be the true. For if it fliould, it would be a ftroug In- fiance ngainil your Aflertion, that the true Religion cannot fubfift, but would quickly beeftcctually extirpated without the AfTiftance of Authority, fince this hasfubfifted without any fuch y\/Iill.ance now above 200 Years. I take it then for granted, (and others v/itli me cannot but do the fame, till you tell us, what other Religion there is of any Church, but that of England, which you allow to be the true Religion) that all you fay of bringing Men to the true Religion, is only bringing them to the Reli- gion of the Church of ^England. If I do you an Injury in this, it will be capable of a very eafy Vindication r for it is but naming that other Church differing from that of England, which you allow to have the true Religion, and I fhall yield my felf con- 'f-g- "• vinc'd, and fliall allow tliei'e Words, i;/z,. T'he National Religion now in England, back'd by the publick Authority vf Law, being the only true Religion, only as a little hafty Sal- ly of your Zeal. In the mean time 1 fhall argue with you about the Ufe of Force to bring Men to the Religion of the Church of England, as eftablifhed by Law : fince it is more cafy to know what that is, than what you mean hy the true Religion, if you mean any thing elfe. To proceed therefore ; in the next place I tell you, by ufing Force your Way to bring Men to the Religion of the Church of England, you mean only to bring them to an outward Profeflron of that Religion ? and that, as I have told you elfewhere, be- caufeForeufed your Way, being applied only to Diilenters, and ceafing as foon as they conform, (whether it be intended by the Law-maker for any thing more or no, which \xe have examined in another Place) cannot be to bring Men to any thing more than outward Conformity. For if Forcebe ufed to Diflenters, and them only, to bring Men to the true Religion, and always as foon as it has brought Men to Conformity, it be taken rtf, and laid afide, as having done all is expefted from it i 'tis plain, that by bringing Men to the true Religion, and bringing them to outward Conformity, you mean tlie fime thing. You ufe and continue Force upon Diilenters, becaufe you ex- pect fome Efteft from it : when you take it oft, it has wrought that Effed:, or elfe be- iu If want of Examina- " tion be the Fault, want of Examination muft be " punilhed ; if you are, as you pretend, fully fa- " tisfied that Punifhment is the proper and only " Means to remedy it. But if in all your Trea- " tife you can fliew me one Place, where you " lay that the Ignorant, the Carelefs, the Inconfi- " derate, the Negligent in examining throughly the " Truth of their own and others Religion, &c. are to " be punillied, I will allow your Remedy for a good " one. But you have not faid any Thing like this; " and which is more, I tell you before-hand, you " dare not fay it. And whilft you do not, thd " World has Reafon to judge, that however want "of L. 5. p. (58. Tottr next Para- graph runs high, and charges me with nothing lefs thanTicvavlca.- tion. Fur whereas, as you tell me, Ifpeak of it here as the mcfi deplorable Cmditivn imaginable, that Men fiwild be left to them- felves, and not be forced to con- jider and examine the Grounds of their Religion, and fearch im- partially and diligently after the Truth, &c. It ferns all the Re- medy I offer, is no more than this, Diftenters muft be punillied. Upon which thus you infult ; Can any body that hears you fay fo, believe you in ear- neft, '&C. Now here I acknow- ledge, that though want or neg- leSl of Examination be a general Fault, yet the Method I propnfe for curing it, does not reach to all that are guilty of it, but is limited to thofe who rejeEl the true Religion, propofed to thejn with fu^icient Evidence. But then to let you fee how little Ground you have to fay that 1 prevaricate in this Matter, I fl}all only dcftre you to conjider, what it is that the Author and 7ny felf were enquiring after : For it is not, IVhat Courfe is to be taken to confirm and ejlablifl} thofe in the Truth, who have al- ready embraced it ? Nor^ How they jnay be enabled to propa- gate it to others, (for both which Purpofes J have already acknow- ledged it very ufeful, and a Thing much to be dejired, that all fucb Perfns iH A Third Letter for Toleration. Joh. 5--?9-a a a Tim. 3." If. e the Fruits of a free Toleration, /. e. Men are divided in their Opinions and Ways of Worfhip. Ditfcrences in the Ways of Worfhip, wherein there is nothing mixed incon(i{lent with the true Religion, will not hinder Men from Salvation, who fin.:erely follow the beft Light they have ; which they are as likely to do under Tole- ration as Force. And as for difference of Opinions, fpeculative Opinions in Religi- on, I think I may fafely fay, that there are fcarce any where three confidering Men (for 'tis want of Confideration you would punifh) who are in their Opinions through- cut of the fame Mind. Thus far then, if Charity be prefcrved, (which it is like- lier to be where there is Toleration, than where there is Perfecution) though with- out Uniformity, I fee no great reafon to complain of thole ill Fruits of Toleration. But Men will run, as they did in the late Times, into dangerous and deftru'clivc Er- rors, and extravagant IVays of IVorfiip. As to Errors in Opinion ; If Men upon To- leration be fo apt to vary in Opinions, and run fo wide one from another, 'tis evi- dent they are not fo averfe to thinking as you complain. For 'tis hard for Men, not under Force, to quit one Opinion and embrace another, without thinking of them. But if there be danger of that ; It is moft likely the National Religion ftiould fweep and draw to it felf the loofe and unthinking Part of Men ; who without Thought, as well as without any Contefl: with their corrupt Nature, may embrace the Profefllon of the countenanced Religion, and joyn in outward Communion with the great and ruling Men of the Nation. For he that troubles not his Head at ail about Religion, what o;her can fo well fuit him as the National ; with which the Cry and Peifer- ments go ; And where (it being, as you fay, prefumal^le that he makes that his Pro- {e^iion upon Conviction, and that he is in earneft,) he is fure to be Orthodox without the Pains of examining, and has the Law and Government on his fide to make it good that he is in the right ? But Seducers, if they be tolerated, will be ready at hand, and diligent ; and Men win hearken to them. Seducers furely have no Force on their Side, to make People hearken. And if this be fo, there is a Remedy at hand, better than Force, if you and your Friends will ufe it, which cannot but prevail ; and that is, let the Minifters of Truth be as diligent ; and they bringing Truth with them, Trutli obvious and eafy'P^g- ^9- to be under/food (as you fay what is necejjary to Salvation is) cannot but prevail. But Seducers are hearken'd to, becauie they teach Opinions favourable to Mens " Lulls. Let the Magiftrate, as is his Duty, hinder the Practices which their Lull; would carry them to, and tlie Advantage will be ftill on tlie Side of Truth. After all. Sir, if as the Apoftle tells the Corinthians, (i Cor. 11.19.) There mujl he Harejies amongfl you, that they uhich are approved may be made manijefi ; wh-ch, I be- feech you, is beft for the Salvation of Mens Souls ; that they fliould enquire, hear, examine, conjider, and then liave the Liberty to profefs what they are perfuaded of ; or, that having confider'd, they fliould be forced not to own nor follow their Perfua- lions; or elfe, that being of the National Religion, they fliould go ignorantly on without any Confideration at all ? In one Cafe, if vour Penalties prevail, Men are forced Vol. ir. i) d d' 2 to 39^ - A Third Letter /or Toleration. to adc contrary to their Confciences, which is not tlieWay to Salvation ; and if the Pe- nalties prevail not, you have the fame Fruits, Sefts and Herefies,as under Toleration: In the other, 'tis true, thofe ignorant, loofe, unthinking Coniormifts, do not break Company with tliole who embrace the Truth that will lave them ; but 1 fear can no more be laid to have any Share in it, than thole who openly did'ent from it. For 'tis not being in the Company, but having on the Wedding-Garment, that keeps Mea from being bound Hand and Foot, and call into the dreadful and eternal Prilbn. Png. 1(5. You tell us, Force has a proper Efficacy to procure the Enlightning of the Underfland- ing, and the ProdttBion of Beliefs 'viz.. by making Men confider. But your afcribing Mens Averfion to examine Matters of Religion, to the Corruption of their Nature ; Force, your Way apply *d, ( i. e. lb that Men avoid the Penalties by an outward Con- formity,) cannot have any proper Efficacy to procure Confideration ; Cnce Men may outwardly conform, and retain their Corruption, and Averfion to Confideration ; and. upon this Account, Force, your Way apply'd, is ablblutely impertinent. But farther; If Force has fuch a proper Efficacy to procure the ProduBion of Be- liej, it will do more Harm then Good, employ 'd by any but Orthodox Magiflrates. But how to put it only into Orthodox Hands, is the Difficulty. For I think I have proved, that if Orthodox Magiflrates may, and ought to ufe Force, for the promot- ing their Religion, all that think themlelves Orthodox are obliged to ufe it too. And this may ferve for an Anfwer to all you have faid, p. i6. I having faid. Whatever indireft Efficacy there be in Force apply'd by the Magi- L.i.p.iyj.ftrate your Way, it makes againft.you; Force ufed by the Magi/irate, to bring Men to confider thofe Reafons and Arguments which are proper and fufficient to convince them, but ■which, -without being forced, they "would not confider ; may, fay you, be ferviceable indi- reElly and at a diflance , to make Men embrace the Truth which muft fave them. " And thus, I lay, it may he ferviceable to bring Men to receive and embrace Fall- Pag. 27. " hood, which will deftroy them. To this you with great Triumph reply, Hon; Sir, may Force be ufed by the Magi/Irate, to bring Men to conjider thofe Reafons and Argu- ments -which are proper and ftifficient to convince them , be ferviceable to bring Men to em- brace Fa/fiood, fuch Falfljood as -will deftroy the?n ? It feems then, there are Reafuns and Ar- guments -which are proper and fiffficient to convince Men of the Truth of Falflmd, ivhich -will deftroy them. M'^hich is certainly a very extraordinary Difcovery , though fuch as no Mutt can have any Reafvn to thank you for. In the firft Place, let me ask you. Where did you find, or from what Words of mine do you infer that notable Propofition, That there are Reafuns and Arguments pro- per and fufficient to convince Men of the Ttuth of Falftjood ? If a Magiftrate of the True Religion may ufe Force to make Men confider Reafons and Arguments pro- per to convince Men of the Truth of his Religion, may not a Prince of a falfe Re- ligion ufe Force to make Men confider Reafons and Arguments proper and fufficient to convince them of what he believes to be time ? And may not Force thus be fer- viceable to bring Men to receive and embrace Falfhood ? In the next Place, Did you, who argue with h much School-Subtilty, as if you drank it in at the very Fountain, never hear of fuch an ill Way of arguing as a conpinBis ad divifa ? There are no Arguments proper and fufficient to bring a Man into the Belief of what is in itfelf falfe, whilft he knows or believes it to be falle ; therefore there are no Arguments proper and fufficient to bring a Man into the Belief of what is in itfelf falfe, which he neither knows nor believes to be fo. A Senior So- phifter would be laugh'd at for fuch Logick. And yet this is all you fay in that Sen- tence you ered for a Trophy, to convince Men of the "Truth ofFalftmod; which though not my Words, but fuch as you in your Way fupply from what I laid, you are exceed- ingly pleafed with, and think their very repeating a Triumpli. But though there are no Arguments proper and fufficient to convince Men of the Truth of FalftMod, as Falf- hood ; yet I hope you will allow that there are Arguments proper and fufficient to make Men receive Falfhoods for Truths; why elfe do you complain of Seducers? And thofe who embrace Falflioods. for Truths, do it under the Appearance of Truth, mifled by thofe Arguments which make it appear fo, and fo con\ ince them. And that Magiflrates, who take their Religion to be true, though it be not fo, may with Force urge fuch Arguments, you will, I think, grant. But you talk as if no body could ha\e Arguments proper and fufficient to convince mother, but he that was of your Way, or your Church. 1 his indeed is a new and ve- ry A Third Letter for ToLERATiois, ^9^ ry extynordina,\ Dlfcovery, and fuch as your Brethren, if you can convince t\\c.m. of it, ivill have Rcajim to thmik you for. For if any one was ever by Arguments and Rea- fons brought off, or feduccd from your Church, to be a DifTenter, there were then, I think, kiafim.i and Aigiimmts proper and fujjuient to convince liim. I will not name to you again Mv. R )nulds, becaufe you have Charity enough to queftion his Sin- cerity. 'J"hoiigh his leaving his Country, Friends, and Acquaintance, may htpre- finnd as great a Mark of his being convinced and in earneft, as it is for one to write for a National Religion in a Country where it is uppermoft. I will not yet deny, but that, in you, it may be pure Zeal for the True Religion, which you would have afTiftcd ^vith the Magiftrate's Force. And fince you feem fo much concerned for your Sincerity in the Argument, it muft be granted you deferve the Character of a well-meaning Man, who own your Sincerity in a Way fo little advantageous to your Judgment. But if Mr. Reynolds, in your Opinion, was mifled by corrupt Ends, or fecular Intereft ; what do you think of a Prince now living? Will you doubt his Sincerity^ or that he was convinced of the Truth of the Religion he profefled, who ventured Three Crowns for it ? What do you think of Mr. Chil/ingworth, when he left thd Church of England for the Romijh Profeflion ? Did he do it without being convinc'd that that was the right? Or was he convinc'd with Reafons and Arguments, not pro- per or fufficient to convince him ? But certainly this could not be true, becaufe, as you fay, p. 25. the Scripture does not teach anything of if. Or perhaps thofe that leave your Communion dc ic al- ways without being convinc'd, and only think they are c«hi//«cV when they are not; or are convinc'd with Argwnents not proper and fufficient to convince them. If no bod yean convince another, but he that has Truth on his fide, you do more Honour to the firfl nndfecond Letter concerning Toleration, than is for the Advantage of yourCaui'e, when you impute to tliem the Increafe of SeSis and Herejies amongft us. And there are fome, even of the Church of England, have profelfed themfelves fo fully fa- tisfied by the Reafons and Arguments in the firft of them, that though I dare not be pofitive to you, whofe Privilege it is to convince Men that they are convinced; yet I may fay, 'tis a.s prefumahle they are convinced, having owned it, sls }t is prefu?na- ble that all tliat are Conformifts are madefo upon Reafon and ConviElion. This, I fuppofe, may ferve for an Anfwer to your next Words, T'hat God in his ^ jufl fudgmcnt -will fend ftich as receive not the Love of Truth, that they may be favcd, but rejeci it for the Pleafure they have in Unrighteoitjnefs, h^iye^ctv ^rXAvnt^ fi^ong De- luf.on, i. e. fuch Reafons and Arguments cu v)ill prevail zcith Men, fo difpofed, to believe a Lie, that they may be damn'd ; this you confefs the Scripture plainly teaches us. But that there are any fuch Reafons or Arguments as are proper and fufficient to convince or fatisfy any, but fuch refolute and obdurate Sinners, of the Truth of fuch Falfhood as •will deflroy them, is a Puftion which you are fire the Scripture doth not teach us ; and zchich, ycu tell me, ivhen I have better conjider'd it, you hope I luill not undertake to maintain. And yet if it be not ?naintainable, what I fay here is to no Purpofe : For if there be no fuch Reafons or Arguments as here -we fpeak of, 'tis in vain to talk of the Ma- gifrate's ufng Force to make Men confider them. But if you are Rill of the Mind, that no Magiftrate but thofe who are of the True Religion, can have Arguments back'd with Force, proper and fufficient to con- vince i and that in England none but refolute obdurate Sinners evtr {oviook or forbore the Communion of the Church of England, upon Reafons and Arguments that fatisfy or convince t\\cxx\; I fhall leave you to enjoy fo charitable an Opinion. But as to the Ufefulneis of Force, your Way applied, 1 fhall lay you down again the fame Argument I ufed before i thougli in Words lefs fitted for your Way of Reafoning on th°m, now 1 know yoi^i" Talent. If there be any Efficacy in Force to bring Men to any Pcrluafion, it will, your Way apply'd, bring more Men to Er- ror than to Truth. Your Way of ufing it is only to punifli Men for not being of the National Relit^ion ; which is the only Way you do or can apply Force, without a Toleration. Nonconformity is the Fault that is punifli'd ; which Fault, when it ceafes, the Purifliment cenfes. But yet to make them confider, is the End for which they arepunifli'd ; but whether it be or be not intended to make Men confider, ic alters iiothirg in the Cafe. Now I fay, that fince all Magiftrates who believe their Religion to be true, are as much obliged to ufe Force to bring their Subjefts to it, as if it were true ; and fince moft of the National Religions of the World are er- roneous ; 3inft that wdiich you afflgn as the great Hindrance to the true Religion, and which tlierefore, in your Opinion, makes Force neceflary to aflift it. For there being no Neceffity that Men fhould lea\e either their Vices or Cor- ruption, or ib much as their Ignorance, to get within the Pale of the Church ; Force, ycxir Way apply'd, ferves only to bring them (even in the few Chrifiian and. Orthodox Countries) to the Profeflion, not to the Knowledge, Belief or Prattice, of thetrue Religion. 1< u fay corrupt Nature inclines Men from the true Religion tofalfe ones; and m -derate Force is requifite to make fuch Men confider. But fuch Men as, cut of corrupt Nature, and for their Eafe and carnal Pleafures, chule an erroneous Reli- gion vyithout confidering, will again, as foon as they can find their Choice incom- moded by thofe Penalties, confult the fame corrupt Nature and carnal Appetites, and without confidering any thing further, conform to that Religion w'heje ciiey can befl enjoy themfelves. "Tis only the confcientious Part of Diilenters, luch as dif- fent not out of Indulgence to corrupt Nature, but out of Perfuafion, who will not conform without confidering as they ought. And therefore your Argument from corrupt Nature is out of doors. If moderate Penalties ferve only to work on thofe who are led by corrupt Nature, they are of no Ufe but to fill the Church witli Hy- pocrites ; that is, to make thofe Men worfe Hypocrites than they were before, by a new Ad of Hypocrify, and to corropt the Manners of the reft of the Church, by their Converfe with thefe. And whether this be for the Salvation of Souls, as is pretended, or for feme other End, that thePriefts of all Religions have generally lb earnellly contended for it, I leave to be confider'd. For as for thofe who diilent out of Perfuafion, I fufpeft your moderate Penalties will have little effeci: upon them. For fuch Men being awed by the Fear of Hell-fire, if that Fear will not make them confider better than they have done, moderate Penalties will be too weak to work upon them. ''Tis well if Dragooning and Martyring can doit. Pag. i6. Bat ygii acjj^ j[jay it not be n-ue never thelefs\ that Force your way applied may be fer-viteahle indirecrly, and at a dijlance, to bring Men to embrace the T'rutb vihich may fave them ? xvhiih is all yon are concerned here to make good. So that if it may poffibly happen that it fhould ever bring two Men to embrace the Truth, you have gain'd your Point, and overthrown Toleration, by the Vjejtilnefs and Neceffity there is of Force. For withcut being forced thefe two Men would never ha\ e confidered : Which is more yet than you know, unlefs you are of his private Council, who only can tell when the Sea- fcn of Grace is paft, and tl^e Time that Preaching, Intreaty, Inftrudion and Per- P2g. i8. fy-ifjoi-^ fVj^jl iiever after prevail upon a Man. But whatever you are here concerned to 7iinke good, are you not alfo concerned to remember what you fay ; where declaring againfc tlie Magiftrate's having a Power to ufe what may any way, at any TiraCj upon any Perfon, by any Accident, be ufeful towards the promoting the true Reli- gion, you fay. Who fees not that however fuch Means 7night chance to hit right in fame few Cafes, yet, upon the whole Matter, they would certainly do a great deal more harm than good; And in all Pleas (making uie of my Words) /V any T'bing becaufe of its Uj<^fiiliufs, it is mt enough to fay that it may be ferviceable, but it tnufi be confidered, not only what it may. A Third Letter for Toleration. 399 niay, hut "what it Is likely to produce ; and the greater Good or Harm like to come from it^ ought to determine the Ufe of it ? You proceed and tell me. That I, not content to fay that Force your Way applied Pag. 26, (i. e. " to bring Men to embrace the T'rmh which mnft five them) may be ferviceable to " bring Men to embrace Falfhood which will deftroy them ; and fo is proper to do as much Harm as Good, (which feems firange enough ;) I add (to increafe the fVunder) " that " in your indireft Way it is much more proper, and likely to make Men receive and " embrace Error, than the Truth : And that, 1. Becaufe Men out of tlic right Way " are as apt, and I think I may fay apter, to ufe Force than others ; Which is, donbt- " lefs, an irrefragable Demonfiration, that Force ufed by the Mag/fir ate to bring Men to " receive and embrace the Truth which mufi fave them, is much more proper and likely " to make Men receive Error than the Truth. And then you ask me, Huw we come to talk here of what Men out oj the right Way are aft to do, to bring others into their (i. e. a wrong) Way ; where we are only enquiring, what may be done to bring Men to the right Way. For you mufi put me in Mind, you fay, that this our Qiiefiion, viz. Whe- ther the Magiflrate has any Right to ufe Force, to bring Aim to the true Religion. Whe- ther the Magiftrate has a Right to ufe Force in Matters of Religion, as you more tru- ly ftate it, (p. 78.) is the main Queftion between us, I confefs. But the Qiieftion here between us is about the Ufefulnefs of Force your Way apply'd ; which being to punifh Diflenters as Diflenters to make them conlider, I fhew'd would do more harm than good. And to this you were here anfwering. Whereby, Ifuppofe, it is plain that theQueftion here is about the Ufefulnefs of Force, fo apply'd. And I doubc not but my Readers, who are not concerned, when the Queftion in Debate will not ierve your Turn, to have another fubftituted, will take this for a regular and natural Way of arguing, wz.. " That Force, your Way apply'd is more proper and likely to *' make Men embrace Error than the Truth ; becaufe Men out of the right Way *' are as apt, I think I may fay apter, to ufe Force than others. You need not then ask as you do. How we come to talk of Men out of the right Way. You fee how. If you do not, I know not what Help there is for your Eyes. And I muft content my lelf that any other Reader that has Eyes, will not mifs it. And I wonder that you fhould : fince you know I have on feveral Occafions argued againfl; the Ufe of Force in Matters of Religion upon a Suppofition, that if any one, then all Magiftrates have a juft Pretence and Right to ufe it ; which has ferved you in fome Places for Mat- ter of great Reproof, and in others of Sport and Diverfion. But becaufe fo plain a thing as that was fo ftrange to you, that you thought it a ridiculous Paradox to fay. That for all Magiftrates to fuppofe the Religion they believed to be true, was e- qually juft and reafonable ; And becaufe you took no notice of the Words adjoin'd that proved it, viz,. " Unlefs we can imagine every where but in England, [or where the National Religion is the true] Men believe what at the fame time they think to be a Lie, I have taken the Pains to prove it to you more at large in another Place, and therefore fhall make bold to ufe it here as an Argument againft Force, viz.. That if it have any Efficacy, it will do more Harm than Good ; " Becaufe " Men out of the right Way are as apt, or apter to ufe it : And I fliall think it a good one till you have anfwered it. It is a good and a fure Way, and fhews a Zeal to the Caufe, ftill to hold faft the Conclufion, and whatever be in Debate, return ftill to one's old Pofition. I arguing againft what you fay for the Ufe of Force, viz^. 'Th&x. Force ufed not to convince by its a, p.,, own proper Efficacy, but only to make Men confider, might indireSlly and at a difiance do fome Service towards the bringing Men to embrace the Truth ; After other Arguments againft it, I fay, that whatever Efficacy there is in Force, your Way apply'd, (/. e. To punifh all, and none but, Dillenters from the National Church) makes againft L.i.p.264. " you t And the firft Reafon I give for it, is in thefe Words ; " Becaufe Men out of " the right Way are as apt or apter to ufe Force than others. Which is what you ^'^'P"^^^" are here anfwering. And what can be done better to anfwer it, than to the Words I have above-cited, to fubjoin thefe following ? Now whereas our Author fays, that Penal- p^^ ^^ ties or Force is abfolutely impertinent in this Cafe, becaufe it is not proper to convince the ^' Mind -J To which, you anfwer, that though Force be not proper to convince the Mind, yet it is not abfolutely impertinent in this Cafe, becaufe it may however, do fome Service towards the bringing Men to embrace the Truth which muft fave them, by bringing them to conjider thofe Reafons and Arguments which are proper to convince the Mind ; and which, without being forced, they would mt conjider. Here 1 tell you, "No, but it is much more pro- 409 ^ Third Letter for ToL-ERATio-^. " per and likely to make Men receive and embrace Error than Trutli ; becaufc Men " out ol" the right Way are as apt, and perhaps apter, to yfe Force than others. \^'hich you tell me, is as good a Proof you believe as the thing would admit : For other- ■vcifc, you fappofe I would have given you a better. And thus you have certainly <»ain'd the Cauie. Fur I having proved that Force, your way apply'd, whatever Efficacy it had, would do more Harm than Good, have not fufficiently proved that it cannot do fomc Service towards the bringing Men to embrace the Truth ; And therefore it is not abfuhite- ly impirtinent. But lince you think this not enough to prove the Ule of Force in Mat- ters of Religion impertinent, I fliall farther fheW you that Force, apply'd your Way to make People conjider, and fo to make them embrace the Truth, is impertinent. Your Way is to lay Penalties on Men for Nonconformity, as you fay, to make Men conjider : Now here let me ask any one but you, Whether it be not utterly impertinent fo to lay Penalties on Men, to make them conjider, when they can avoid thofe Penalties without confidering? But becaufe it is not enough to prove Force, yourV/ay ap- ply'd, utterly impertinent, I (hall fhcw you in the next place, that were a Law made topunifli not barely Nonconlormity, but Nonconfideration, thofe Penalties laid on not confidering, would be utterly impertinent ; becaufe it would never be proved that a Man had not confider'd the Arguments offer'd him. And therefore all Law-makers till you, in all their Penal Laws about Religion, laid all their Penalties upon not em- bracing; and 'twas againft that, that our Author was arguing when he faid Penal- ties, in this Cafe are aDlblutely /w/'em«fw ; becaufe they are not proper to convince the Mind. For in that Cafe, when Penalties are laid on Men for not embracing, ^ris plain they are uled as a Means to make Men embrace : Which, fince thofe who are carelefs in Matters of Religion can do without confidering, and thofe who are con- fcientious cannot do without Conviction ; and fince Penalties can in no wife convince; this Ufe of them is abiblutely impertinent, and will always be fo till you can fhew a Way how they can be ufed in Religion, not as Motives to embrace, but as Motives bai'ely to make Men confider. For if you punifh them on when they tell you they have confidered your Arguments, but are not convinced by them, and you judge of their having not confidered by nothing but their not embracing, 'tis plain you ufe Penalties inlfead of Arguments to convince them ; fince without Conviction, thofe who cur Author pleads for, cannot embrace ; and thofe who do embrace without Convi- ction, 'tis all one as if they did not embrace at all, they being not one Jot the more in the W^ay of Salvation ; and fo Penalties are abfolutely impertinent. But embracing in the Senfe of the Law, and yours too, when you fay Men have not confidered as they ought as long as they rejeli, is nothing but outward Conformity, or an outward Pro- feilion of embracing, wherewith the Law is fatisfied, and upon which the Penalties ceafe. Now Penalties ufed to make Men in this Senfe embrace, are abfolutely imper- tinent to bring Men to embrace in Earneft, or, as the Author calls it, believe : Be- caufe an outward Profeflion, which in this Cafe is the immediate End to which Penalties are direfted, and beyond which they do not reach, is no proper Means to produce in Men Confideration, Convifition, or Believing. What can be more iynpertinint than to vex and difeafe People with the Ufe of Force, to no purpofe.? And that Force muft needs be to no purpofe, which is fo apply'd as to leave the End for which it is pretended to be ufed, without the Means which is ac- knowledg'd neceffary for its Attainment. That this is fo in your way of ufing Force, A. p. 6, will eafily appear from your Hypothefis. You tell us at large in your Argument con- - ^i-fide/d, that Mens Lufts hinder them from even impartial Confideration and Esamination of Matters in Religion: And therefore Force is neceffary to remove this Hindrance. Yovi tell us likewile at large in yoMV Letter, that Mens corrupt Nature and beloved Lufts hinder them alfo from embracing the true Religion, and that Force is necelfary P.ig. 6.8. likewife to remove this Obftacle. Now in your Way of ufing Force, wherein Penal- ties are iaid on Men till, and no longer than till, they are made outwardly to conform. Force is fo apply'd, that notwithftanding the Intention of the Law-maker (let it be what it will) neither the Obftacle to impartial Examination, rifing from Mens Lufls, nor the Averfion to the embracing the true Religion, arifingfrom Mens corrupt Na- ture, can be removed : unlefs they can be removed without that, which you fuppofe neceflary to their Removal. For fince a Man may conform, without being under the NecefTity q{ itnpartial Examining or Embracing on the one Hand,or fuftering the Penalties on the other; it is unavoidable, that he fhould neither impartially exaniine nor em- brace, if Penalties are necelfary to make him do either ; becaufe Penalties, which are the A Third Letter for ToLERATioi^. ^oi the neceflary Remedies to remove thofe Hindrances, were never apply'd. to them ; and lb thole Obllacles not being removed for want of their neceflary Remedy, mud continue on to hinder both Examining and Embracing. For Penalties cannot be ufcd as a Means to any End, or be apply'd to the procuring any AiStion to be done, which a Man froni his Lufts or any other Caufe, has an Averfion to, but by putting them as it were in one Scale as a Counter-balance to that Averfion, and the Aiflion in the other Scale, and putting a Man under the Neceffity of chuling the one or the other : Where that is not done, the Penalty may be avoided, the Averfion or Obftacle hath nothing to remove ir, and fo the Adionmuft remain undone. So that if Penalties be ncccllary to make Men impartially exc;?«/w(? and really embrace ; if Penalties are not fo laid on Men as to make the Alternative to be either fuffcring the Penalties or conforming, it is impoflible that Men, who without Penalties would not impartially examine or renWy e7nbrace the true Religion, fhould ever do either; and then I befeech you con- fider whether Penalties, your Way apply'd, be impertinent or no. The Neceffity of Penalties is only where there is Ibme Inclination or Biafs in a Man, whencefoever arifing, that keeps him from doing fomething in his Power, which he cannot be brought to without the Inconveniences of Ibme Penal Infliction. The Efficacy of Penalties lies in this, that the Inconvenience to be futfer'd by the Penalties over-balance the Biafs or Inclination which leans the Man the other way, and fo removes the Obftacle : And the Application of this Remedy lies only input- ting a Man under the neceifary Choice either of doing theAftion, or fuiiering the Penalty: So that in whatever Cafe a Man has not been put under that Neceflicy, there Penalties have never been apply'd to the procuring that Action : For the Obfta- cle or Averfion to it, has never had it its neceifary Remedy. Perhaps you will fay it is not abfolutely impertinent, becaufe it may poffibly do fame Service indirectly and at a dijhince, and be the Occafion that fome may confider and embrace. If whatever may by Accident contribute to any End, maybeufed not imper- tinently as a Means to that End, nothing that I know can be impertinent; and a Penal- ty of 1 2 ^. a time laid on them for being drunk, may be faid, to be a pertinent Means, to make Men Cartejians, or Conformifts : becaufe it may indirectly and at a difiance do fome Service, by being an Occafion to make fome confider their milpending their Time ; whereby it may happen that one may betake himfelf to the Study of Philofo- phy, where he may nieet with Arguments proper and fit to convince him of the Truth of that Philofophyj as another betaking himfelf to the Study of Divinity, may confider Arguments proper and fit to tnake him (whether it htm England, Holland or Denmark) of the National Profeilion, which he was not of before. Juft thus, and no otherwife, does 12 d. a Sunday, or any other Penalty laid on Nonconformity, make Men ftudy and embrace the true Religion ; and whatever you will call the Service it does, dired: or indirect, near or at a difiance, 'tis plain it pro- duces that Effect, and conduces to that End merely by Accident; and therefore muft be allow'd to be impertinent to be ufed to that Purpofe. That your Way of ufing Force in Matters of Religion, even in a Country where the Magiftrate's is of the true Religion, is abfolutely m/ifm'«eB/; I fhall farther fhew you from your own Pofitions. Here in the Entrance give me leave to obferve to you, that you confound two Things very different, viz.. your Way of applying Force, and the End for which you pretend you ufe it. And this perhaps may be it which contributes to caft that Mift about your Eyes, that you always return to the fame Place, and ftick to the fame grofs Miftake. For here you fay. Force, your Way applied, i. e. to bring Men to Pjg. 2(S. embrace the T'ruth which mufifave the?n : but. Sir, to bring Men to einbrace the T'ruth, is not your Way of applying Force, but the End {or which you pretend k is applied. Your Way is to punifh Men (as you fay) moderately for being Diflenters from the National Re- ligion ; this is your VVay of ufing Force. Now if in this Way of ufing it, Force does Sei-vice merely by Accident, you will then, I fuppofe, allow it to be abfolutely imper- tinent. For you fay. If by doing Service by Accident, I mean doing it but feldom, and be-? ig- i?, fide the Intention of the Agent, you affure me, that it is not the "Thing you jnean when you fay Force may indirectly, and at a difiance, do fom.e Service, For in that Ufe of Force, which you defend, the Effect is both intended by him that ufes it, and withal, you doubt not, fo of- ten attain d, as abundantly to manifefi the Ufefulnefs of it . Whereby "tis plain the two Marks, whereby you diftinguifh'd your indireB and at a difiance UfefulnefSj from that Vol. II. E e e ■ xvhich Pat 46 1 ; • A Third Letter for To l e r a t 1 >?♦ which is /')' .feculent, arc tliat, that by Accident docs Service but fcldom, and befides the Intention of the Agent, but yours the contrary. '■ Firft, as to the Intention, you tell us, in the Ufe of Force, which you defend, the Ef- fects iiiicndcd by him that ufes it; that is, thofe who made Laws to punifli Noncou- formifts, dcfigned thofe Penalties to make all Men, under tlieir Power, confide;- fo as to be convinced of and embrace the 'Truths that f. wild five them. If one fhould ask you how you know it to be their Intention, can you fay, they ever told you fo ? If they did not, then fo far you and 1 know their Intentions alike. Did they ever fay fo in thofe Laws ? Nor that neither. Thofe vers'd then in the Interpretations of Laws, will tell you nothing can be known to be the Intention of the Law-makers in any Law, of which the Law is wholly filent : That Way then you cannot know it to have been their /«^i?Kf/oK, if the Law fays nothing of it. Whatever was thz Intention of former Law-makers, if you had read with Attention the laft Ad of Uniformity of Car. 2. printed before the Common-Prayer Book, I conclude you would have been better fatisfied about the Intention of the then Law-makers in that Law : for I think nothing can be plainer to any one who will look into that Statute, than that their only End in that Law was, what they have exprefled in thefe Words. And to the End that Uniformity in the publick IVorJI.np if God (ishich is fo much defired) may be fpeedily effecied; which was driven with fuch Speed, that if all concerned had Opportunity to get and perufe the then eftablifh'd Liturgy, 'tis certain they had not over-much Time ferioufly and deliberately to confider of all the Parts of it before the Day fet for the Ufe of it. But you think, they ought to have intended, and therefore they did : And I think they neither ought, nor could, in making thofe Laws, intend fo unprafticabie a Thing ; and therefore they did not. Which being as certain a Way of Knowledge as yours, if you know it by that Way ; "tis poflible you and I may at the fame Time know Contraries. But you know it, by their having provided fufficient Means of InjlruBion for all under their Care in the True Religion ; (o( this fiifftcient Means, we have Ibmething to fay in another Place.) Penalties laid exprefly on one Fault, have no Evidence that they are defigned to mend another, tho' there are fufficient Means provided of mending it, if Men would make a fufficient Uie of them ; unlefs thofe two Faults are fo connefted, as one cannot be mended without the other. Now if Men cannot con- form, without fo conjidering as to be convinced of, and embrace the Truth that rnufl five them, you may know that Penalties laid on Nonconformity, were intended to make Men fo confider: But if Men may conform, without fo conjidering, one cannot know nor conclude thofe Penalties were intended to make Men fo conftder, whatever Provi- fion tliere is made of Means of InflruEiion. But you will fay, it is evident that Penalties on Nonconformifts, were intended to make them ufe thefe Means of Inftruftion, becaufe they are intended for the bring- ing Men to Church, the Place of Inftruction. That they are intended to bring Men to Church, the Place of Preaching, that I grant ; but that thofe Penalties that are laid on Men, for not coming to Church, can be known thereby to be intended to make Men fo confder, as to be convinced and embrace the True Religion, that I deny : And it is utterly impoffible it fhould be fo, if what you fay be true, where you tell us. That the Magijlrates concern themfelves for Compliance or Conformity, only as the Fruit of their ConviBion. If therefore the Magifirates are concerned for Mens Confortnity, only as the Fruit of their ConviBion, and coming to Church be that Confoi-mity ; coming to Church cannot be intended as a Means of their Conviftion : Unlefs it be impended they ihould be convinc'd, before they are convinc'd. But to fhew you, that you cannot pretend the Penalty of Laws for Conformity, to proceed from a Care of the Souls of all under the Magiftrate's Power, and fo to be in- tended to make them all confider, in any Senfe. Can you, or any one know, or fup- pofe, that Penalties which are laid by the Law on Nonconformity, are intended to make all Men confider ; where 'tis known that a great Number, under the Magi- ftrate's Power, are difpenfed with, and privileged from thofe Penalties? How ma- ny, omitting the 7'"^"S are there; for Example, in the King of £h^/(«A'/'s Dominions, under his Care and Power, o( the IValloon, and French Church ; to whom Force is ne- ver apply'd, and they live in Security from it? How many Pagans are there in the "g. 22. X A Third Letter for Toleration. 46^ the Pliiiirations, many whereof born in his Dominions , of whom there was never any Care taken, that they fhould fo much as come to Church, or be in the leaft in- flrufted in the Chriftian Religion? And yet muft we believe, or can you pretend, that the Magiflrate's Ufe of Force, againft Nonconform ifts, is to make ali \\\$ Sub- jects confidcr, fo as to be convinc d of, and embrace the Truth that mufi fave them ? If you fay, in your Way you mean no fuch Indulgence: I anfwcr, the QLieftion is not of yours, but the Magiih'ate's Intention ; though what your Intention is, who would have the want of Confideration, or Knowledge, in Conformifts, exempt from Force, is vifiblc enough. Again, Thofe Penalties cannot be fuppofed, to be mended to m:\keTsAe.n conjider ; which are laid on thofe, who have, or may have already confidered ; And fuch you muft grant to be the Penalties laid in England, on Nonconformifts ; unlei's you will deny, that any Nonconformift has, or can confider, fo as to be convinced, or believe, and eniLrace the Truth that muft fave him. So that you cannot vouch the Intention of the Maglftrate, where his Laws fay nothing; much lefs affirm, that Force is in- tended to produce a certain End in all his SubjeiSs, which is not applied to them all, and is applied to fome who have attained that End already : Uniefs yoU have a Privilege to affirm, againft all Appearance, whatfoever may ferve your Caufe. But to learn fome Moderation in tliis, I fhall fend you to my Pagans and Alabome- tans. For whatever charitable Wiihes Magiftrates may fometimes have in their Thougiits, (which I meddle not with ;) no body can fay, that in making the Laws, or in the Ul'e of Force, we are fpeaking of, they intended to make Men confider and examine, fo as to be convinced of , and heartily to embrace the T'ruth that mufi fave them^ but he that gives himfelf the Liberty to fay any thing. 'i he Service that Force does, indirectly, and at a dtflance ; you tell us in the fol-p^g jg lo\Ving Page, is to make People apply themfelves to the Ufe of thofe Means, and Helps, ■which are proper to make them -what they are dejigned to be. In the Cafe before us. What are Men defigned to be ? Holy Believers of the Gofpel in this World, with- out which no Salvation, no feeing of God in the next. Let us fee now, whe- ther Force, your Way applied, can be fuiied to fuch a Defign, and fo intended for that End. You hold. That all out of the National Church, where the Religion of the Na- tional Church is true, fliould be punifhed, and ought to have Force ufed to them : And again, you grant That thofe v/ho are in the Communion of the National Church, Pag. 64.1 ought not to be punifhed, or be under the Stroke of Force; nor indeed in your Way can they. If now the EffeB be to prevail with Men, to confider as they oughty fo that they may become what they are defigned to be : How can any one think, that you, and they who ufe Force thus, intend, in the Ufe of it, that Men fhould really be Chriftians, both in Pcrfuafion and Practice, without which there is no Salvation i if they leave oft Force before they have attained that Effect ? Or how can it be imagi- ned, that they intend any thing but Conformity by their Ufe of Force ; if they leave oft the Ufe of it as foon as Men conform ? Uniefs you will fay that an outward Con- formity to the National Church, whofe Religion is the True Religion, is fuch aa embracing of the Truth as is fufficient to Salvation ? Or that an outward Profeffion of the Chriftian Religion is the fame with being really a Chriftian ; which poffibly you will not be very forward to do, when you recoiled what you meet with in the Sermons, and printed Difcourfes, of Divines of the Church oi England, concerning the Ignorance and Irreiigion of Conformifts themfelves. For Penalties can never be thought, by any one (but he that can think againft common Senfe, and what he pleafes) to be intended iox any End; which by that Conftitution, and Law whereby they are impofed, are to ceafe before that End be attained. And will you fay, that Jill who are conformable, have fo well confidered, that they believe, and heartily em- brace the Truths of the Gofpel, that mv.fl fave them: When perhaps it will be found that a great many Conformifts do not fo much as underftand them ? But the Igno- rance or Irreligicufnefs to be found amongft Conformifts, which yourWay of talking forces me in fome Places to take notice of, let me here tell you once for all, I lay not the Blame of upon Conformity , but upon vour Ufe of Force to make Men con- form. For whatever the Religion be, true or fltlfe, it is natural for Force, dnd Pe- nalty, fo applied, to bring the Irreligious, and thofe who are carelefs and uncon- cerned for the True, into the National Prnfcffion : But wliether it be fitter for fuch to be kept out, rather than by Force to be driven into the Communion of anv Church, VoL U. E.e ..- a ' and ^ (-54 ^ ^^■'"'^ Letter for Toleration. and owned as Members of it, thofe who have a due Care and Refpcct for truly re- ligious and pious Conformifts, were bed conlidcr. But farther, if, as you fay, the Oppofition to the True Religion lies only in Mens LuRs, it having L/i;/;/ and Strength enough (were it not for that) to prevail : And it is upon that Account only that Force is necejfary., there is no Neccflity at all to ufe Force on Men, only till they conform, and no farther: Since I think you will not deny, but that the Carruptio}] of Humane Nature is us great in Conformifts as in Non- conformifts; in the Profclfors of, as in the Diflenters from, the National Religion. And therefore either Forte was not necelfary before, orelfe it is necelfary ftill, after Men are Conformifts : Unlcis you will fay, that it is harder for a Man to be a Pro- felfor, than a Chriftian indeed : And that the True Religion, by its own Light and Strength, can, without the Help of Force, prevail over a Man's Lufts, and the Cor- ruption of his Nature ; but it has need of the Help of Force, to make him a Con- formift, and an outward Profeflbr. And lb much for the Efecl, which is mended l/y him that ufes it in that Ufe oj Force which you defend. The other Argument you bring to (hew, that your indirect, and at a diflance Ufe- fulnefs of Force your Way apply'd, is not by Accident, is the frequent Succefs of it. Which I think is not tiic true Mark of what is not by Accident : For an Etfecft ma/ nothe by Accident, though it has never been produced but once ; and is certainly as little by Accident the rirlt time, as when it has been produced a thoufand times. That then, by which any thing is cxcufed from being by Accident, is not the frequency of the Event, but that whereon the frequency of the Event depends,when frequent Tri- als are made j and that is the proper, natural, direft Efficacy of the Caufe or Means, which produces the Eft'cft. As in the Cafe before us. Penalties are the Caufe or Means ufed to produce an End ; the proper and immediate Efted; of Penalties, is to produce fome Pain or Inconvenience; and the natural Efted of that, is to make a Man, who naturally fiies from all Pain or Inconvenience, to endeavour to aicid it; v;hereby it naturally and direnper- tinent to be ufed as a Means, which can contribute nothing at all to the End for which it is uled. The End here, is to make a Man a true Chriftian, that he may be faved ; and he is then, and then only, a true Chriftian, and in the Way of Salvation, when he believes, and with Sincerity obeys the Gofpel. By the i^th Article of the Churcli of England, you hold, that WORKS DONE BEFORE THE GRACE OF CHRIST, AND THE INSPIRATION OF HIS SPIRIT, ARE NOT PLEASING To GOD; FOR AS MUCH AS THEY SPRING NoT OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, NEITHER DO THET MAKE MEN MEET To RECEIVE GRACE, (OR AS The SCHOOL AUTHOPvS SAT] DESERVE GRACE OFCONGRUlTt; TEA RATHER, FOR THAT THEY ARE NoT DONE AS GOD HAS WILLED AND COMMANDED THEM TO BE DONE, WE DOVBT NoT BUTTHET HAVE The nature of sin Now if it be impertinent touie Force to make a Man do more than he can, and a Man can do nothing to procure Grace, unlefs Sin can procure it; and without Grace, a Man cannot believe, or live lo as to be a trae Chriftian, it is certainly wholly itnpertinent to ufe Force to bring a Man to be tnily a Chriftian. To hear and conftder, is in Mens Power, you will lay, and to that Force may be pertinent ; 1 grant to make Men hear, but not to make them ccnjider in your Senle, which you tell us, is to conjider fo as to embrace; if you mean hy embracing any thing but outward Conformity : And that according to your Article, contributes nothing to the attaining of Grace ; becaufe without Grace, your Article fays it is a Sin ; and to conform to, and outwardly profefs a Religion which a Man does not uncierftand ar.d heartily belie\ e, every one, I think, judges to be a Sin, and no fit Means to procure the Grace of God. Pjg- 31. But you tell us , Tl:at God denies his Grace to none -xho feriotifty ask it. If that be io, mechinks Force fliould mcft properly and pertinently be ufed to make Men ferioujly - f>ray to God jor Grace. But how, I befeech you, will this ftand with your x 3?/; Ar- ticle ? Fcr if you mean hy ferioujly ; fo as will snake his Seeking acceptable to God, that cannot be, becaufe he is fuppofed yet to want Grace which alone can make it ac- ceptable : And if his asking has the Nature of Sin, as in the Apticle you do not doubt but it has, can you expett that Sinning fhould procure the Grace of God ? You will I fear here, without fome great Help in a very nice Diftinftion from the School-Au- thors, be forced either to renounce your Article in the plain Senfc of it, and fo become a Dilfenter from the Church of England, or elfe acknowledge Force to be wholly im- pertinent to the Bufinefs of true Religion and Salvation. Another Reafon I gave againft the Ufefuhief of Force in Matters of Religion, was, " Becaule the Magiftrates of the World, bring few of them in the right Way, (not " one often, take which lide you will) perhaps not one of an hundred, being of the " true Religion ,■ ' Tis likely your indireft Way of ufing Force would do an hundred, Pa'^. 27. or at leaft ten times as much Flarm as Good. To which you leply, IVhich would have been to the Purpofe, if you had ajferted, that every Magifirate may ufe Force, your indi- rtfl Way ( or any Way ) to bring Men to his oivn Religion , ivhntever that be. But if \ou ajjcrt no fucb thing , ( as no Alan you think but an Athei/i 11 ill ajfert it) then this is quite bejide the Bufmejs. I think I have proved, that if Magiftrates of the True Religion may ufe Force to bring Men to their Religion, every Magiftrate may ufe Force to bring Men to his own Religion, when he thinks it the true: And then do you look where the Atheif?n wYll light A Third Letter for Toleration* 40^ In the next Parngraph, having quoted tliefc following Words of mine; where I fay, " Under another Pretence, you put into the Magifti'ate's Hands as mucli Power " to force Men to his Religion, as any the openeft Pcrfecutors can pretend to. I " ask whnt Difference is there between punifiling tiieni to bring them to Mafs, and " punifhingthem to bring them to confider thole Reafons and Arguments which are " proper and lufticient to convince them that they ought to go to Mafs? You reply; A Qi/c/lion which yoic fi)id/ then think your f elf obliged to anjiver, -when I have produced thofe^^S- *7' ReaJons and Arguments which are /rti/^er and fitjficient to convince Men that they ought to go to Muff. But if you had not omitted the tiiree or four immediately preceding Lines, (an Art to lerve a good Caufe, which puts me in mind of my Pagans and Ma- hometans) the Reader would have feen tliat your R.ep!y was nothing at all to my Ar- gument : My Words were thefe. " Efpecially, if you confider, that as the Magiftrate will certainly ufe it [Force] " to force Men to hearken to t\\e. prope-r Minifters of his Religion, let it be what it will; " fo you liaving fet no Time nor Bounds to this Conlideration of Arguments and " Reafons fliort of being convinced, you under another, &c. My Argument is to fliew of what Advantage Force, your Way apply'd, is like to be to the true Reli- gion, fince it puts as much Force into the Magiftrate's Hands as the openeft Perfe- cutors can pretend to, which the Magiftrates ol wrong Perfuafions may and will ule as well as thofe of the true ; becaule your Way fets no other Bounds to cnnfi- deriug fliort of complying. And then I ask, " What Difference there is between " punifliing you to bring you to Mafs, or punifhing you to confider thofe Reafm " and ArguweHts which are proper and fufficient to convince you that you ought to go " to Mais? To which you reply. That it is a Qiiefiion you fiall then think your felf chlig'd to anfiver, zvhen I have produced thofe Reajuns and Aygtiments that are proper and jujficiem to convince Men that they ought to go to Mafs. Whereas the Objection is the lame. Whether there be or be not, Reafons and Arguments proper to convince Men, tliac they ought to go to Mafs; for Men muft be puniflied on till they have fo confi- dered as to comply: And what Difference is there then between punifhing Men to bring them to Mais, and punifhing them to make them confider fo as to go to Mafs ? But cho' I pretend not to produce any Reafons and Arguments proper and fufficient to convince you or all Men, that they ought to go to Mafs ; yet do you think there are noneproper and fufficient to convince any Men ? And that all the Papi/ls in the World go to Mafs without believing it their Duty? And whofoever believes it to be his Duty, docs it upon Reafons and Arguments, proper and fufficient to convince him (tho' perhaps not to convince another) that it is fo, or elfe I imagine he would never believe it at all. What think you of thofe great Numbers of Japanefes, that refilled all Sorts of Torments, even to Death it felf, for the Romip Religion ? And had you been in France fome Years fince, who know's but the Arguments the King of France produced might have been proper and fujficient to have convinced you that you ought to go to Mafs ? I do not by this, think you lefs confident of the Truth of your Reli- gion, than you profefs to be. But Arguments fet on with Force, have a ftrange Efficacy upon human Frailty; and he muft be well affured of his own Strength, who can peremptorily affirm, he is fure he fliould have ftood, what above a Million of People funk under: Amongft which, 'tis great Confidence to fay, there was not one fo well perfuaded of the Truth of his Religion, as you are of yours; tho' fome of them gave great Proofs of their Perfuafion in their Sufferings for it. But what the itecejfary Method of Force may be able to do, to bring any one, in your Senfe, to any Religion, /. e. to an outward ProfelTion of it, he that thinks himfelf fecure againft, muft have a greater Affurance of himfelf, than the Weaknefs of decayed and depra- ved Nature will well allow. If you have any Spell againft the Force of Arguments, driven with Penalties and Punifliments, you will do well to teach it the World; for it is the hard Luck of well-meaning People to be often mifled by them, and even the confident themfelves have not feldom fallen under them, and betrayed their Weaknefs, To my demanding, if you meant Reafons and Argumetits proper and fufficient to con- vince Men oi the Truth, why did you not fay fo? You reply. As if itiiiere polp.ble for^^g- ^f- any Man that reads your Anfwer, to think othenvife. Whoever reads that Paffage in your ^. p. 5. cannot poffibly think you meant to fpeak out, and poffibly you found Ibme Difficulty to add any Thing to your Words (which are thefe. Force iifed to bring a. p. ^, Men to confider Rcafins and Arguments proper and fcffkient to convince them) that might determine their Senfe. For if you had faid, to convince them of Truth ; then the , Magiftrate 4o8 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. Mngi Pirate mud have made Laws, and/is/ft/Fone to make Men fearcli after Truth in general, and that would not have lerved your Turn : If you had laid to convinw them of the Truth of the Magiftrate's Religion, that would too manifeftly have put the Power in every Magiftrate's Hands, which you tell us, none but an Atluijl v:ill fay. If you had laid, to convince them of the Truth of your Religion, that had looked too rediculous to be owned, tho' it were the Thing you meant; and therefore in this Strait, vvhere nothing you could lay, would well lit your Purpofe, you wifely chufe to leave the Senle imperfedx, and name nothing they were to be convinced of, but leave it to be collected by your Reader out of your Difcourl'e, rather than add three Words to make it good Grammer, as well as intelligible Senle. Jo my laying, " That if you pretend it muft be Arguments to convince Men of " the Truth, it would in this Cal'e do you little Service; becaule the Mafs in Frame Pag. iS. " is as much fuppos'd the Truth, as the Liturgy here. You reply. So that it /mm, that in my Opinion, ivhatfoever is ftippoi'd the 'Truth, is the Truth, for otherwife thii Reafcn of mine is none at all. If, in my Opinion, the Suppofition of Truth authorizes the Magiftrnte to ule the fame Means to bring Men to it, as if it were true, my Argu- ment will hold good, without taking all to be true which fome Men I'uppoie true. According to this Anfwer of yours, to fuppofe or believe his Religion the true, is not enough to authorize the Magiftrate to ule Force, he muft know, i. e. be infalli- bly certain, that his is the true Religion. We will for once fuppofe you our Ma- gillratc, with Force promoting our National Religion. I will not ask you, Vi/'he- ther you know chat all required of Conformifts, is ncceflary to Salvation : Eut will fuppofe one of my Pagans asking you, whether you know Chrillianity to be the true Religion ? If you fay, Yes, he will ask you how you knew it ? And no doubt, but you will give the Anfwer, whereby our Saviour proved his Million, ^ohn j. 35- that the IVorks which our Saviour did bear IVitnefs of him, that the Father fmt him: '.['he Miracles that Chrift did, are a Proof of his being fent from God, and fo his Religion the true Religion. But then you will be a;ked again. Whether ycu know that. he did. thole Miracles, as well as thofe who law them done? If you anfwer. Yes; then it is plain that Miracles are not yet withdrawn, but do Hill accompany the Chrillian Religion with all the Efficacy and Evidence, that they had upon the Eye-witnefles of them, and then upon your own Grounds, there will be no Necei- lity of the Magiftrate's AlTiftance, Miracles ftill fupplying the Want of it. If you anlvvei', that Matter ot Faft done out of your Sight, at fuch a Diftance of Tnne and Place, cannot be known to you as certainly, as it was to the Eye-witnelfes of it, but that you upon very good Grounds firmly belies e it ; you are then come to be- lieving, that yours is the true Religion, and if that be fufficient to authorize you to ufe Force, it will authorize any other Magiftrate of any other Religion to ufe Force alfo. For whoever believes any thing, takes it to be true, and as he thinks upon good Grounds; and thole often who believe on the weakeft Grounds, have the ilrongeft Confidence : And thus all Magiftrates who believe their Religion to be true, will be obliged to ufe Force to promote it, as if it were the true. 'lomy fayingthat theUfefuhiefs of Force, your Way apply'd, amounts to no more Pag. i8. jjm- j.[^J5^ ji^gj. jj J5 j^Qj impoilible but that it may be ufeful. You reply, / leave it to be judgd by ivhat has been [aid; and I leave it to you your felf to judge : Only, that you may not forget, I fhall here remind you in Ihort of fome of the Reafons I have to fay fo: I. Yougrant thatForcehas no direft Efficacy to bring Men to embrace the Truth. 2. You diftinguifh the indirect, and at difiance Ufefulnefs of your Force, from that which is barely by Accident; by thele two Marks, viz.. ift. That Punilhment on Diflenters for Nonconformity, is, by thofe that ufe is, intendedto make Men confider : and 2d. That your nioderate Punilliments, by Experience, are found often fuccefsful ; and yours having neither of thele Marks, it muft be concluded to be ufeful only by Accident: L.'.. p. 2 66 and fuch an Ufefulnefs, as I faid, " One cannot deny, to Auricular Confeffion, do- " ingof Penance, going Pilgrimages to Saints, and what not? Yet our Church does not " think fit to ule them; tho' it cannot bedeny'd but they may have fome of your " indirect and at n diJianceUfefidnefs ; that is, perhaps may do fo7ne Service indireSily, and " by Accident. If the Intention of thofe that ufe them, and the Succefs they will tell you they find the Ufe of them, be a Proof of doing Service more than by Acci- dent ; that cannot be deny'd to them more than to Penalties, your Way applied. To which, let me add, that Nicenefs and Difficulty there is, to hit that juft De- gree of Force; which according to your Hypothefis, m.uft be neither fo much as to do harm, nor fo little as to be ineftciSual : for you your fclf cannot determine it. Brakes A Third Letter for Toleration. 40^^ makes it Ufefiilncfs yet more uncertain and accidental. And after all, let its Effi- cacy to work upon Mens Minds be what it will, great or little, it being fare to be employed ten, or poflibly, an hundred Times to bring Men to Error, for once that it is employ 'd to bring Men to the Truth ; and where it chances to be employ M, on the Side of Truth, it being liable to make an hundred, or perhaps a thoufand out- ward Confoimifts, for one true and lincere Convert; I leave it alfo to be judg'd what Urefuliiefs it is like to be of. To fliew the Uiefulnefs of Force, your Way apply'd, 1 faid, " Where the Law " punini'dDillcnters without telling them it is to make them conlidcr, they may thro' "Ignorance and Overiight negleft to tlo it. Your Anfwer is. But whoe the Law pro- Ptg. iS. 'vides fiijJuieiU Means of Itiflyiiflion for all, as -well as PuiiifiineM for DiJfmterSy it is fo plain to all concern d, that the PiiniPnneut is intended to make them conjider, that you fee no Danger of A^ens negleiliii^ to do it, tbro' Ignorance and Overftght. I hope you mean by conjider, fo to Qonfider as not only to embrace in an outward Profeffion (for then all you fay is but a poor Fallacy, for fuch a Confidering amounts to no more but bare outward Conformity;) but fo to conjider, fiudy and examine Matters of Religion, as really to embrace, what one is convinced to be true, with Faith and Obedience. If it be fo plain and eafy to underftand, that a Law, that fpeaks nothing of it, fhould yet be intended to make Men conjider, fearch and Jiudy, to find out the Truth that mufi fave them; I wilii you had fhew'd us this Plainnefs. Fori confefs many of all Degrees, that I purpofely ask'd about it, did not ever fee, or fo much as dream, that the Act of Uniformity, or againft Conventicles, or the Penalties in either of them, were ever intended to make Men ferioufly ftudy Religion, and make it their Bufinefs to find theTruth -which 7fiuji Jave them ; but barely to make Men conform. But perhaps you have met with Handicrafts-men, and Country-Farmers, Maid-Servants, and Day- Labourcrs, who have quicker Underftandings, and reafon better about the Inten- tion of the Law, for thefe as well others are concern d. If you have not, 'tis to be fear'd, your faying it is fo plain, that you fee no Danger of Mens neglecting to do it, thro' Ignorance or Overfight, is more for its ferving your Purpofe, than from any Experience you have, that it is fo. When you will enquire into this Matter, you will, I guefs, find the People fo ignorant amidft that great Plainnefs you fpeak of, that not one of twenty of any Degree, amongft Conformifts or Nonconformifts, ever underftood the Penalty of 1 2 J. a Sunday, or any other of our Penal Laws againft Nonconformity, to be in- tended to fet Men upon ftudying the true Religion, and impartially examine what is necelkry to Salvation. And if you would come to Hudibras's'DeciCion, I believe he would have a good Wager of it, who fhould give you a Guinea for each one who had thought fo, and receive but a Shilling for every one who had not. Indeed you do not lay, it isplain every-where, but only ^vhere the Law provides fufficient Means of Inftruciiun jor all, as well as Punijhments for Dijfenters. From whence, I think it will follow, that that contributes nothing to make it plain, or elfe that the Law has not provided fufficient Means of Inftru(5tion in England, where fo very few find this to be fo plain. If by this fujjicient Provijion of Aleans of InJlrjiSlion for ad; you mean, Perfons maintained at the publick Charge to preach, and officiate in the publick Exercife of the National Religion ; I fuppofe you needed not this Reftriftion, there being few Places which have an eitablifli'd National Religion, where there is not fuch Means oj Injlruciiun provided : If you intend any other Means of Injlruclicn, I know none Mt? ii^iii has provided in England but the jp Articles, the Liturgy, and the Scri- pture, and how either of them by it felf, or thefe altogether, with a National Cler- gy, make it plain, that Penalties laid on Nonconformity, are intended to make Men conjider, jludy and impartially examine Matters of Religion, you would do well to fliew. For Magiib-ates ufually know (and therefore make their Laws accordingly) that the People leldom carry either their Interpretation or Praftice beyond what the exprefs Letter of the Law requires of them. You -would do well alfo to fliew, that a fuffici- ent Pro\irion of Means of Inftruftion, cannot but be underftood to require an effec- tual Ufe of them, which the Law that makes that Provifion fays nothing of But on the contrary, contents it felf with fomething very fhort of it: For Conformity or coming to Cliurch, is at leaft as far from conjtdering, Jiudying and impartially examin- ing Matters of Religion, fo as to embrace the I'rutb upon ConviBion, and with an obedient Heart, as being prefent at the Difcourfe concerning ^Nlathematicks, and ftudying Mathe- maticks, fo as to become a knowing Mathematician, are diSerejit one from the other. Vol. II, F f f People 4 1 o A Third Letter for Toleration. People generally think they have done their Duties abundantly, if they have been at Church, whether they mind any Thing done there or no : This they call icrving of God, as if it were their whole Duty ; lb backward are they to underftand more, tho' it be plain the Law of God exprelly requires more. But that they have fully fatis- iicd tlic Law of the Land, no body doubts; nor is it eafy to anfwer what was repli- ed to me on thisOccafion, "viz,. If the Magiftrate intended any 'J'hing more in thofe Laws but Conformity, would he not have faid it ? To which let me add, if the Magiftrate intended Confonnity as the Fruit of Conviction, would he not have taken Ibme Care to have them inftrufted before they conformed, andexamin'd when they did? But Ws prefiimal/k their Ignorance, Corruption and Lufts, all drop off in the Church- Porch, and that they become perfed:ly good Chriftians as foon as they have taken their Seats in the Church. If there be any whom your Example or Writing hath infpir'd with Acutenefs enough to find out this ; I fufpeft the Vulgar who have fcarce Time and Thought enough to make Inferences from the Law, which fcarce one of ten of them ever fo much as reads, or perhaps underftands when read, are ftill, and will be ignorant of it : And thofe who have the Time and Abilities to argue about it, will find Reafon to think that thofe Penalties were not intended to make Men examine the Doftrines and Ceremonies of Religion; fince thofe who fhould examine, are prohibited by thofe very Laws, to follow their own Judgments, (which is the very End and Ufe of Examination) if they at all differ from the Religion eftablifh'd by Law. Nor can it appear fo plain to all concern d, that the Punifiment is intended to make them conjider and examine, when they fee the Punifhments you i'ay are to make People conjider, fpare thofe who confider and examine Matters of Religion, as little as any of the rnofl ignorant and carelefs Diffenters. To my faying, " Some Diffenters may have confider 'd already, and then Force " employ'd upon them muft needs be ufelefs ; unlefs you can think it ufeful to pu- ^^' ■ " nilh a Man to make him do that which he has done already. You reply, N* Man who rejects "Tnith necejfary to his Salvation, has conjider' d already as he ought to conjider. The Words as he ought, are not, as I take it, in the Queftion : And fo your Anfwer is, No Man who rejeSls the Truth necejfary to his Salvation, hath conjider' d, ftud'.'d or examin'd Matters of Religion. But we will let that go : and yet with that Allowance, your Anfwer will be nothing to the Pui"pofe, unlefs you will dare to fay, that all Diffenters rejeft Truth neceffary to Salvation. For without that Suppofition, that all T)\i[Qnt&vs rejeElTruth necejfary to Salvation, the Argument and Anfwer will ftand thus. It may be ufelefs to punifli all Diffenters to make them conjider, becaufe fome of them may have (OK/ier'i already. To which, the Anfwer is. Yes, fome of thera may have conjider' d already, but thofe who rejeft Truth neceffary to their Salvation, have not confider'd as they ought. L.2.p.i(57. Ifaid, " The greateft Part of Mankind, being not able to difcern betwixt Truth and " Fallhood, that depends upon long and many Proofs, and remote Confequences; nor " having Ability enough to difcover the falfe Grounds, and refift the captious andfal- " lacious Arguments of learned Men verfed in Controverfies, are fo much more expos'd " by the Force, which is ufed to make them hearken to the Information and Inftruc- " tion of Men appointed to it by the Magiftrate, or thofe of his Religion, to be led " into Falfliood and Error, than they are likely this Way to be brought to embrace " the Truth which muft fave them : by ho^v much the National Religions of the World " are, beyond Comparifon, more of them falfe or erroneous, than fuch as have God Pag. i9. " for their Author, and Truth for their Standard. You reply. If thejirjl Part of this be true, then an infallible Guide, and implicit Faith, are more necejfary than ever you thought them. Whether you conclude from thence or no, that then there will be a Neceffity of an infallible Guide, and an implicit Faith, 'tis neverthelefs true, that the greateft Part of Men are unable to difcern, as I faid, between Truth and Falfhood depend- ing, upon long and many Proofs, &c. But whether that will make an infallible Guide neceffary or no, Impofition in Matters of Religion certainly will: lince there can be nothing more abfurd imaginable, than that a Man fliould take upon him to impofe on others in Matters of their Eternal Concernment, without being, or fo much as pretending to be infallible : For colour it with the Name of conjideriitg as much as you pleafe, as long as it is to make Men conjider as they ought, and confidering a> they ought, is lb to confider, as to ejnbrace ; the ufing of Force to make Men conjider, and the ufing of Force to make them embrace any Doftrine or Opinion, is the fame Tiling : And to fhew A Third Letter for Toleration. ^ V i flicw a Difference betwixt impofing an Opinion, and ufing Force to make it beem- brac'd, would require fuch a piece of Subtilty, as 1 heard lately from a learned Manout of the Pulpit, who told us^ thattho' two Things, he named, were all one, yet for Diftinction's fake he would divide them. Your Reafon for the Nece/IIty of an infallible Guide, is. For if the gveatefl Part of Mankind k not able to difcern betwixt Truth and Fd/Jhood, in Matters concerning their Sahatim (as I miijl ?nean if Ifpeak to the Purpofe) their Condition ?ni/fi needs be very hazardous, ij they have not fome Guide or Judge', to ivhofe Determination and Direliion they may fecurely rejign themfulves. And therefore they muft refign themi'elves to the Determination and Direction of the Civil Magiftrate, or be punifhed. Here 'tis like you will have fomething again to fay to my Mudejly and Confience, for imputing to you what you no where fay. I grant it, in direft Words; but in Effeft as plainly as may be. The Magiftrate may impofe found Creeds and de- cent Ceremonies, i. e. fuch as he thinks fit, for what is found and decent he I hope muft be Judge'; and if he be Judge of what Is fund and decent, it ainounts to no more, but what he thinks fit : And if it be not what he thinks fit, why is one Ceremony prefer'd to another ? Why one Doftrine of the Scripture put into the Creed and Ar- ticles, and another as found left out ? They are Truths neceffary to Salvation. We fhall fee that in good Time : Here only I ask. Does the Magiftrate only believe them to be Truths and Ceremonies necelfary to Salvation, or does he certainly know them to be fo ? If you fay he only believes them to be fo, and that that is enough to authorize him to impofe them, you, by your own Confeflion, autiiorizc Ma- giftrates to impofe what they think neceflary for the Salvation of their Si;bjec:s Souls i and fo the King of France d\d what he was obliged to, when he laid he would have all his Subjefts faved, and fo fell to dragooning. If you fay the Magiftrate certainly know them to be neceflary to Salvation, we are luckily come to an infallible Guide. Well then, the found Creeds are agreed on; theCon- feffion and Liturgy are framed; the Ceremonies pitch'd on; and the Terms of Commu- nion thus fet up, you have Religion eftablifli'd by Law: And what now is the Subject to do? He is to conform. No; he muft firft conjider. Who bids him ccnjider? No body, he may if he pleafes, but the Law fays nothing to him of it : confidur or not conjider, if he conforms 'tis well, and he is approved of, and admitted. He does confider the beft he can, but finds fome Things he does not underftand, other Things he cannot believe, aflent or confent to. What now is to be done with him ? He muft ei- ther be punifhed on, or relign himfelf up to the Determination and Direction cf the Civil Magiftrate ; which till you can find a better Name for it, we will call implicit Faith. And thus you have provided a Remedy for the hazardous Condition of weak Underftandings, in that which you fuppofe necelfary in the Cafe, viz,, an infallible Guide and implicit Faith, in Matters concerning Mens Salvation. But you fay, For your Part, you knoii: of no fuch Guide of God* s appointing. Let that Parr. ig. be your Rule, and the Magiftrate with his coaciive Power, will be left out too. You think there is no need ofanyjuch: becaufe notwithjlanding fhe long and many Proofs and remote Confequences, the falfe Grounds, and the captious and fallacious Arguments of learned Men vers'd in Controv^erfies, with which I (as well as thvfe of the Romaa Communion) endeavour to amuf you ; thro' the Goodnefs of God, the Truth which is mcejfary to Salvation, liesfo obvious and espofd to all that ftncerely and diligently feek it, that no fuch Perfcn fnill ever fail of attaining the Knowledge of it. This then is your Anlwer, that Truths neceffary to Salvation are obvious ; fo that thofe who feek them ftncerely and diligently, are not in Danger to be mifled or expos 'd in thofe to Error, by the VVeaknefs of their Underftandings. This will be a good Anlwer to what I objected from the Danger moft are in to be led into Error, by the Magiftrace's adding Force to the Arguments for their National eftablifli'd Religions; when you have fhewn that nothing is wont to be impos'd in National Religions, but what is necelfary to Salvation; or which will a little better accommodate your Hypothefis, when you can fliew that nothing is impos'd, or requir'd for Communion with the Church of England, but what is neceffary to Salvation ; and confequently, is very eafy and obvi- ous to be known, and diftinguirti'd from Fallhood. And indeed, belides what you fay here, upon your Hypothells, that Force is lawful only becaufe it is neceffary to bring Mm to Salvation, it cannot be lawful to ufe it, to bring Men to any Thing, but what is abfolutely necelfary to Salvation. For if the Lawfulnefs of Force be only from the need Men have of it to bring them to Salvation, it cannot law- fully be uledj to bring Men to th,at which they do not need, or is not neceflary to Vol. II. F f f 2 tjieir 41 i A Third Letter for ToLiRATioisi. their 6'rt/i//7/;6Hj for in fuch an Application of it; it is not needful to tl;eiriVi/'://j//e». Can you tliercfore fay, that there is nothing requir'tl to be believed and profefs'd ia ^■^S- ~9- tlie Church of Enghmd, but what lies fu vbvioiis and expos'd to all that fiuurely and Jili- gvmly feck it, that no fiuh Per/on fljall ever fail of attaining the Knovjledge of it ? VVJiat tiiink you of St. Athanafius\ Creed ? Is the Senfe of that fo obvious and expos'd to every one who feeks it, whicii i'o many learned Men have explained lb different Ways, and which yet a great many profefs they cannot underftand? Or is it ncceffa- ry to^your or my Salvation, that you or I fhould believe or pronounce all thofe damn'd who do not believe that Creed, i. e. every Propofition in it ? which I fear would extend to not a few of the Church of England, unlefs we can think that Pcf>- ple believe, /. e. aifent to the Truth of Propoliuons, they do not at all undcrftapd. If ever youvvere acquainted with a Country Parifli, you muft needs have a flrajige Opinion of them, if you think all the Plowmen and Milkmaids at Church, under- ftood all the Propofitions in Athanajtus's Creed ; 'tis more, truly, than I fhould be apt to think of any one of them, and yet I cannot hence believe my felf authoriz'd to judge or pronounce them all damn'd: "lis too bold an intrenching on the Pre- rogative of the Almighty, to their own Mailer they (land or fall. The Doftrine of Original Sin, is that which is profefs'd, and mull be owned by the Members of the Church of England, as is evident from the Thirty Nine Articles, andleveral Palfages in the Liturgy : And yet I ask you, whether this he fa obvious and expos'd to all that diligently and ftncerely feek the Truth, that one who is in the Com- munion of the Church of England, fincerely feeking the Truth, may not raife tQ himfelf fuch Difficulties concerning the Doftrinc of Origin.il Sin as may pu22le him, tho' he be a Man of Study; and whether he may not puih his Enquiries fo far, as to be ftagger'd in his Opinion. If you grant me this, as I am apt to think you will, then I enquire wliethcr it be not true(notwith{landing what you fay concerning the Plainnefs and Obvioufnefs of Truths iieceifary to Salvation) that a great Part of Mankind may not be able todifcern be- tween 1 ruth, and Falfhood, in feveral Points, which are thought fo far to comeva their Salvation, as to be made neceflary Parts of the National Religion. If you fay it may be fo, then I have nothing farther to enquire; but fliall only advile you not to be fo fevere hereafter in your Cenfureof Mr. Reynolds, as you are, where you tell me, that the famous Infiance I give of the nuo Reynolds'^ is nat of any moynent to prove the contrary ; unlefs I can undertake, that he that erred was as Jiiuere in bis Enquiry after that Truth, as I fuppofe him able to examine and judge. You will, I fuppofe, be more charitable another time, when you have confider'd, that neither Sincerity, nor Freedom from Error, even in the eftablifh'd Doftrines of their own Church, is the Privilege of thofe who join themfelves in outward Profef- fion to any National Church whatfoever. And it is not impoffible, that one who has fubfcribed the Thirty Nine Articles, may yet make it aQueftion, Whether itmaj be truly faid that God imputes the Jirfi Sin of Adam to his Pofierity ? &c. But we are apt to be fo fond of our own Opinions, and almoft Infallibility, that we will not allow them to hejtncere, who quit our Communion ; whilfl at the fame Time we tell the World, it is prefutnable, that all who embrace it do it fincerely, and upon Con\'ic- tion ; tho we cannot but know many of them to be but loofe, inconliderate, and ignorant People. This is all the Realbn you have, when you fpeak of the Reynolds's, to fufpeft one of the Brothers more than the other : And to think that Mr. CJjU- lingivorth had not as much Sincerity when he quitted, as when he yeturn'd to the Church of England, is a Partiality, vvhich nothing can juftify without pretending to liijallibility. To fhew that you do not fancy your Force to be ufeful, but that you juJgefo upon ^^b- 54- jufl and fufficient Grounds, you tell us, the firong Probability of its Succefs \s grounded upon the Cunjideration of human Nature, and the general Temper of Mankind, apt to be -wrought tipon by the Method you fpeak of, and upon the indifputable Atteftation of Experience. The Confideration of human Nature, and the general Temper of Mankind, will teach one this. That Men are apt, in Things within their Power, to be wrought upon by Force, and the more wrought upon, the greater the Force or Punifliments are : So that where moderate Penalties will not work, great Severities will. Which Con- fideration ot human Nature, if it be a jufi Ground to judge any Force ufeful, will I fear necelTarily carry you, in your Judgment, to Severities beyond the moderate Penalties J Third Letter /t^r To l e r \ t i o N. '415 Penalties, fo often mentioned in your Syftcm, upon a firung Probability of the Succefs of greater Pun ifhments, where lefs would not prevail. But if to conjidcr fo ai> you requii'e, /'. e. lb as to embrace, and believe, be not in their Power, than no Force at all, great or little, is or can he ufeful. You niuft therefore (confider it which Way you will) cither renounce all Force as ufejul, or pull oft your Mask, and own all the Severities of the cruelcft Perfecutors. The other Reafon of your judging Force robe ufeful, you fay, ii grounded on the indifpntcible Attejlation vf Experience. Pray tell us where you have this Atteflation of Experience {or your moderate, which is the only uieful Force : Name the Country where true Religion or joimd Chriflianity has been Nationally receivd, and eftablijb d by moderate Penal Laws, that the obferi^ng Perfuns you appeal to, may know where to employ their Obfervation : Tell us how long it was tried, and what vvas the Succefs ot it ? And where there has been the Relaxation of fuch moderate Penal Laws, the Fruits Vfhcrcoi have continually been Epicurifm and Atheifm ? Till you do this, I fear, that all the World will think, there is a more indifputable Attejlation of Experience for the Suc- cefs of dragooning, and the Severities you condem, than of your moderate Method i •which we fliall compare with the King of iv-zr/ice's, and fee which is moft luccefslul in making Profelytes to Church-Conformity, (for yours as well as his reach no far- ther than that) when you produce your Examples : The confident Talk whereof, is good to countenance a Caufe, tho' Experience there be none in the Cafe. But you appeal, you fay, to all obferving Perfons, Whether luhere-ever true Religion or Pag. 34. found Chriftianity have been Nationally receivd and eflablifi'd by 7noderate Penal Laws, it has not always vifibly lofi Ground by the Relaxation of thofe Laws ? True or falfe Religions, found or unfound Chriftianity, where-ever eftablifli'd into National Religions by Pe- nal Laws, always have loft, and always will lofe Ground, /. e. lofe feveral of their coniorming Profelfors upon the Relaxation of thofe Laws. But this concerns not the true, more than other Religions i nor is any Prejudice to it; but only fhews, that many are, by the Penalties of the Law, kept in the Communion of the National Re- ligion, who arc not really convinced or perfuaded of it : And therefore, as foon as Liberty is given, they own the Diflike they had many of them before, and out of Per- fualion, Curiofity, &c. feek out and betake themfelves to fome other Profeflion. This need not ftartle the Magiftrates of any Religion, much lefs thofe of the true, fuice they be fure to retain thofe, who more mind their l^cular Intereft than the Truth of Religion, (who are every where the greater Number) by the Advantages of Countenance and Preferment : And if it be the true Religion, they will retain thofe alfo, who are in earneft of it, by the ftronger Tie of Confcience and Conviction. You go on. Whether Seels and Here fie s (even the wildejl and mofl abfurd, and even Epi- Ibid. curifm and Atheifm) have not continually thereupon fpread themfelves, and whether the very Life of Chrifiianity has not fenfibly decay' d, as well as the Number of found Profejfors of it been daily lejfend upon it ? As to Atheif?n and Epicurifm, vvhether they more fpread under Toleration, or National Religions, eftablifh'd by moderate Penal Laws, when you fliew us the Countries where fair Trial hath been made of both, that we may compare them together, we fhall better be able to judge. Epicurifm and Atheifm, fay you, are found conflantly to fpread themfelves upon the Re- laxation of moderate Penal Laws. We will fuppofe your Hiftory to be full of Inftan- ces of fuch Relaxations, which you will in good Time communicate to the World, that wants this Afliftance from your Obfervation. But were this to be juftified out of Hiftory, yet would it not be any Argument againft Toleration ; unlets your Hi- ftory can furnifh you with a new Sort of Religion founded in Atheifm. However, you do well to charge the I'preading of Atheifm upon Toleration in Matters of Religion, as an Argument againft thofe who deny Atheifm (which takes away all Religion) to have any Right to Toleration at all. But perhaps (as is ufual for thofe who think all the World fhould fee with their Eyes, and receive their Syftems for unqueftionable Verities) Zeal for your own Way makes you call all Atheifm, that agrees not with it. That which makes me doubt of this, are thefe following Words; Not to [peak o/pjg. j^.. what at this Time our Eyes cannot but fee for fear of giving Offence : Though I hope it will be none to any that have a jufi Concern for Truth and Piety, to take notice of the Books and Pamphlets which now flyfo thick about this Kingdom, 7nauif'ftly tending to the multiplying of Seels and Divifiuns, and even to the promoting of Scepticilm in Religion amongfi us. In which Number, you fay, you (hall not much need my Pardon, if you reckon the Firfi ^14 -4 Third Letter for To le r a t i o n r and Second Letter cmcerningT'uleratiuyi. Wherein, by abroad Infinuation, ycu impute the Iprciidiiig of Atbcifm among us, to the \3.x.c Rda\ativn wvaAc in Favour of Proteftant Diileiicers: And yet all that you can take notice of as a Proof of this, is the Books and Pamphlets -which mw flyfu thick about this Kingdom, manifeftl) tending to the 7nnttipl)ing vf Secis and Divijiuns, and even to the promoting of Scepticijm in Religion amongfl us ; and for Inflance, you name the Fi,fl and Second Letter concerning Toleration. If one maj' guefs at the others by thefe. The Athtifm and Scepticifm you accuie them of will have but little more in it, thnn an Oppofition to your Hypothcfisi on which, tlie whole Bu- linel's of Religion muft fo turn, that whatever agrees not with your Syflcm, muft prefently, by Interpretation, be concluded to tend to the promoting of AtLcifm or Scepticijm in Religion. For I challenge you to fhew in either of thofe two Letters you mention, one Word tending to Epicurifm, Atheifm, or Scepticijm in Religion. But, Sir, againft the next 1 ime you are to give an Account of Books and Pam- phlets tending to the proymting Scepticijm in Religion amongfl as, I fhall mind ycu of the "Third Letter concerning Toleration, to be added to the Catalogue, which ailerting and *g- 47- building upon this, that True Religion, may k' known by thoje who projejs it, to be the only True Religion, does not a little towards betraying the Chriftian Religion toScepticks. For wliat greater Advantage can be given tiiem, than to teach, that one may know the true Religion ? thereby putting into their Hands a Right to demand it to be demonftrated to them, that the Chriftian Religion is true, and bringing on tiie Pro- feflors of it to a NecefTity of doing it. I have heard it complain'd of as one great Artifice of Scepticks, to require Demonftrations where they neither could be had, nor were neceflary. But if the true Religion may be known to Alen to be fo, a Sceptick may require, and you cannot blame him if he does not receive your Reli- gion, upon the itrongeft probale Arguments, without Demonftration, And if one fliould demand of you Demonftration of the Truths of your Religfon, which I bcfeech you, would you do, either renounce your Alfertion, that it may be known to be true, or clfe undertake to demonftrate it to him } And as for the Decay of the very Life and Spirit of Chrijlianity, and the fpreading of Epicurifm amongft us : J. ask, what can more tend to the promoting of them than this Doftrine, which is to be found in the fame Letter, viz.. That it is prefumable that thofe who conform, doit upon Re af on andCcnviclion .<* When you can inftance in any Thing fomuch tending to the promoting oi Scepticifn in Religion, and Epicurifm, in- the firjl or fecond Letter concerning Toleration, we fhall have Reafon to think you have ibme Ground for what you fay. As to Epicurifm, the Ipreading whereof you likewife impute to the Relaxation of your moderate Penal Laws; That fo far as it is diftinft {lom Atheifm, I think re- gards Mens Lives more than their Religions, i. e. fpeculative Opinions in Reli- gion and Ways of Worfhip, which is what we mean by Religion, as concerned in Foleration. And for the Toleration of corrupt Manners, and the Debaucheries of Life, neither our Author, nor I do plead for it; but fay it is properly the Magi- ftrate's Bulinefs, by Punifliments to reftrain and fupprefs them. I do not therefore blame your Zeal againft Atheifm and Epicurifm ; but you difcover a great Zeal againft: fomething elfe, in charging them on Toleration, when it is in the Magiftrate's Power to reftrain and fupprefs them by more effeftual Laws than thofe for Church- Conformity. For there are thofe who will tell you, that an outward Profeflion of the National Religion, even where it is the true Religion, is no more oppofite to, or inconiiftent with Atheifm or Epicurifm, than the owning of another Religion, efpeci- ally any Chriftian Profeflion, that differs from it. And therefore, you, in vain, \mf Vile. Atheifm or Epicurifm to the Relaxation of Penal Laws, that require no more than an outward Conformity to the National Church. As to the Secis and unchriftian DivifiMs (for other Divifons there may be without Prejudice to Chriftianity) at whofe Door they chiefly ought to be laid, I have fhew'd you elfevvhere. One Thing I cannot but take notice of here, that having named Seels, Herefies, Epicurifm, Atheifm, and a Decay of the Spirit and Life of Chrijlianity, as the Fruits of Relaxation, for which you had the Attefiation of former Experience, you add thefe »g- ;+• Words, N'Jt tofpeak of what our Eyes at this Time cannot but fee, for fear of giving Of- fence. Whom is it, I befeech you, you are fo afraid of offending, if you fliould fpeak of the Epicurifm, Atheifm, and Decay of the Spirit^ and Life of Chrifianity, amongft A Third Lelter for ToLEKATiQ-^i. 415 us? But Ifec, he that is fo moderate in one Part of his Letter, that he w'lW not take upon him to teuih La-a-makers and Governors, even what they cannot know without be- ini^ taught by him, /. e. what he calls moderate Penalties or Force; may yet, in another Part ot" the lame Letter, by broad Inlinuations, ufc Reproaches, wherein 'tis a hard Matter to think Laiu-makers and Governors arc not meant. But whoever be meant, it is atleaft advifeable in Accufations that are ealier luggelled than made out, tocaft abroad the Slander in general, and leave others to apply it, for fear thofc who are named, and fo jullly oftendcd with a falfe Lnputation, fliould be entitled to ask, as in tliis Cafe, how it appears that Sects and Herejies have multiply' d Epicurifm and Atheifm fpread themfelves, and that the Lije and Spirit oj Chrijlianity is decay'd more within thefe two Years, than it was before; and that all this Mifthief is owing to the late Relaxation of the Penal Laws againft Proteftant Dilfenters ? You go on, And if thefe have always been the Fruits of the Relaxation of moderate Penal Pag. jf. Laws, made for the preferving and advancing true Religion ; you think this Conjideration alone is abundantly fuffuient to fiew the Ufefulnefs and Benefit of fuch Lazus. Fur if thefe Evils have conjlantlyfprinig from the Relaxation of thoje Laws, 'tis evident they were prevented be- fore by thofe Laws. One would think by your faying, always been the Fruits, and con- fiantly fprung, that moderate Penal Laws, for preferving the true Religion, had been the conflant PraiSice of all Chriftian Common-wealths ; and that Relaxations of them, in Favour of a free Toleration, had frequently happen'd ; and that there were Examples both of the one and the other, as common and known, as of Prin- ces that have perfecuted for Religion, and learned Men who have employ'd their Skill to make it good. But till you fhew us in what Ages or Countries your moderate Eftabliftiments were in Fafhdbn, and where they were again removed to make way for our Author's Toleration, you to as little Pui'pofe talk of the Fruits of them, as if you fhould talk of the Fruit of a Tree which no body planted, or was no where fullered to grow till one might fee what Fruit came from it. Having laid it down as one of the Conditions for a fair Debate of this Contro- L.i.p.iSi. verfy, " That it flaould be without fuppoling all along your Churcii in the right, " your Religion the true J I add thefe Words : " Which can no more be allow'd to " you IN I'm IS CASE, whatever your Church or Religion be, than it can be " to a Papifl or a Lutheran, a Presbyterian or an Anabaptijl ; nay, no more to you, than it can be allow'd to a fevj or Mahometan. To which you reply. No, Sir ? Not whatever your Church or Religion be ? T'hat feems fomewhat hard. And you think I Pag. 47; tniglit have given you fome Reafon for what I fay : For certainly it is not fo felf-evident as . to need no Proof. But you think it is no hard Matter to guefs at my Reafon, tho' I did not think ft exprefly to own it. For 'tis obvious enough, there can be no other Reajon for this Af- fertion oj mine, but either the equal 'Truth, or at leafi the equal Certainty (or Uncertain- ty) oj all Religions. For whoever confiders my Affertion, muft fee, that to jnake it good I fjall be obliged to maintain one of thefe two Things : Either, i . That no Religion is the true Religion, in Oppojition to other Religions : Which makes all Religions true or falfe, and fo cither way indifferent. Or, 2. That though fome one Religion be the true Religion, yet no Man can have any more Reafon than another Man of another Religion may have, to believe his to be the true Religion. IVhich makes all Religions equally certain, (or tincertain, whether I pleafe) andfo renders it vain and idle to enquire after the true Religion, and only a Piece oj good Luck ij any Man be of it, and fuch good Luck as he can never know that he has, till he come into the other World. Whether of thefe two Principles I will own, you know not. But certainly one or other of them lies at the botto?n with me, and is the lurking Snppojition upon which I build all that I fay. Certainly no, bir, neither of thefe Reafons you have fo ingenuoufly and friendly found out forme, lies at the bottom; but this, That whatever Privilege or Power you claim, upon your fuppofing yours to be the true Religion, is equally due to another (who fuppofes his to be the true Religion) upon the fame Claim : And therelore that is no more to be allow'd to you than to him. For whole is really the true Religion, yours or his, being the Matter in Conteft betwixt you, your fuppojing can no more determine it on your Side, than his fuppofing on his ; un- lels you can think you have a Right to judge in your own Caufe. You believe yours to be the true Religion, fo does he believe his : You fay you are certain of it, fo lays he, he is : You think you have Arguments proper and f/ficient to con- vince him, if he would confider them; the fame thinks he of his. If this Claim which is equally on both Sides, be allow'd to either, without any Proof; 'tis plain ^i6 A Third Letter for Toleration. plain he, in whofe Favour it is allow 'd, is allovv'd to be Judge in his own Caufe, which no body can have a Right to be, wlio is not at leaft infallible. If you come to Arguments and Proofs, which you muft do, before it can be determin'd whofe is the true Religion, 'tis plain your Suppofition is not allow'd. In our prefent Cafe, in uling Punifhments in Religion, your fuppofing yours to be the true Religion, gives you or your Magiftrate no more Advantage over iLPapiji, Presbyterian, or Mahometan, or more Reafon to punilh either of them for his Religi- on, than the fame Suppofition in a Papijl, Presbyterian, ov Mahometan, gives any of them, or a Magiftrate of their Religion, Advantage over you, or Realbn topunifh you for your Religion : And therefore this Suppofition, to any Purpcfe or Privilege of ufing of Force, is no more to be allow'd to vou, than to any one of any other Re- ligion. This the Words, IN THIS CASE, which I there us 'd, would have la- tished any other to have been my Meaning : But whether your Charity made you not to take notice of them, or the Joy of fuch an Advantage as this, not to under- ftand them, this is certain, you were refoh ed not to lofe the Opportunity, fuch a Place as this afforded you, of fhewing your Gift, in commenting and gueffing fhreud- ly at a Man's Reafons, when he does not think fit exprefly to ovjn them himfelf. I muft own you have a very lucky Hand at it ; and as you do it here upon the fame Ground, fo it is juft with the fame Succefs, as you in another Place have ex- ercis'd your Logick on my faying fomething to the fame Purpofe, as I do here. But, Sir, if you will add but one more to your plentiful Stock of Diftindtions, and obferve the Difference their is between the Ground of anyone's fuppofing his Reli- gion is true, and the Privilege he may pretend to by fuppofing it true, you will ne- ver ftumble at this again ; but you will find, that tho' %>on the former of thefe Ac- counts, Men of all Religions cannot be equally allow'd to fuppofe their Religions true, yet in reference to the latter, the Suppofition may and ought to be allow'd, or deny'd equally to all Men. And the Reafon of it is plain, I'iz,. Becaui'e the Aflurance wherewith one Man fuppofes his Religion to be true, being no more an Argument of its Truth to another, than vice verfd; neither of them can claim by the Aifurance, wherewith he fuppofes his Religion the true, any Prerogative or Power over the other, which the other has not by the fame Title an equal Claim to, over him. If this will notferve to fpare you the Pains another time of any more fuch Reafonings, as wc have twice had on this Subjeft, I think I fhall be forced to fend you to my Mahometans or Pagans : And I doubt whether I am not lefs civil to your Parts than I fliould be, that I do not fend you to them now. Pag. 47. You go on, and fay. But as unreafonable as this Condition is, you fee no need you have to dtcline it, nor any Occafion I had to impofe it tipon you. For certainly the making what I caff your new Method, confijlent and practicable, dues no way oblige you to fuppofe all along your Religion the true, as I imagine. And as I imagine it does : For without that Suppofition,. I would fain have you fhew me, how it is in any one Country, practicable to punifli Men to bring them to the true Religion. For if you will ar- gue for Force, as neceflfary to bring Men to the true Religion, without fuppofing yours to be it, you will find your felf under fome fuch Difficulty as this, that then it muft be firft be determin a, (and you will require it fhould be) which is the true Religion, before any one can have a Right to ufe Force to bring Men to it; which, if every one did not determine for hirafelf, by fuppofing his own the true, no body, I think, will defire Toleration any longer than till that be fettled. Ibid. You go on : No, Sir, it is enough for that Purpofe, that there is one true Religion, and but one. Suppofe not the National Religion eftablifh'd by Law in England to be that, and then even upon your Principles of its being t'feful, and that the Magi- ftrate has a CommilTion to ufe Force for the promoting the true Religion ; prove, if you pleafe, that the Magiftrate has a Power to ufe Force to bring Men to the National Religion in England. For then you muft prove the National Religion, as eftablifh'd by Law in England, to be tliat one true Religion, and fo the true Religion J that he rejefts the true Religion who diflents from any Paat of it ; and fo rejecting the true Religion, cannot be faved. But of this more in another Place. Ibid. Your other two Suppofitions, which you join to the foregoing, are, That that Re- ligion may be known by thofe who prof efs it, to be the only true Religion ; and may alfo be ma- nifefted to he fuch by them to others, fo far at liafi, as to oblige them to receive it, and to ■ leave them without Excufe, if they do not, Thofe, A Third Letter for ToLERATioi^^ ]^i'j Thefe, you fay, are Suppofitions, enough for the making your Method confijlent and praciicable. They are, I gucfs, more than enough, for you, upon them, to prove any National Religion in the World the only true Religion. And till you have prov- ed (for you profefs here to have quitted the Suppofition of any one's being true, as neceliary to your Hypothefis) ibme National Religion tohc that only true Religion, 1 vvould gladly knovt^ how it is any where pra(5ticable to ufe Force to bring Men to the true Religion. You fuppoie there is one true Religion, and but one. In tliis wc are both agreed : And. from hence, I think, it will follow, fuice whoever is of this true Religion fliall be fa- ved, and without being of it no Man fhall be faved, that upon your fecond and third. Suppofition, it will be hard to fliew any National Religion to be this only true Reli- gion. For who is it will fay, he knows, or that it is knowable, that any National Religion (wherein muft be comprehended all that, by the Penal Laws, he is required to embrace) is that oh// /!•«£■ iJe^'oK ; which if Men rejed:, they fhall; and which, if they embrace, they fhall not mifs Salvation ? Or can you undertake that any Natio- nal Religion in the World can be manifefied to be fuch, /. e. in fhort, to contain all Things neceliary to Salvation, and nothing but what is lb? For that, and that alone, is the one only true Religion, without which no body can be fxved; and which is enough for the Salvation of every one who embraces it. And therefore whatever is lefsor more than this, is not the one only true Religion, or that which there is a NeceUity for their Salvation, Men fhould be forced to embrace. I do not hereby deny, that there is any National Religion which contains all that is neceliary to Salvation, for fo doth the i?ow//7^ Religion, which is not for all that, fo much as a true Religion. Nor do I deny, that there are National Religions that contain all Things neceliary to Salvation, and nothing inconfiftent with it, and fd may be call'd true Religions. But fince they all of them join with what is neceliary to Salvation, a great deal that is not fo, and make that as necelfary to Communion, as what is necellkry to Salvation, not fuffering any one to be of their Communion, without taking all together j nor to live amongft them free from Punifhment, out of their Communion ; will you affirm, that any of the National Religions of the World, which are impofed by Penal Laws, and to which Men are driven with Force, can be faid to be, that one only true Religion, which if Men embrace, they fhall be faved; and which, if they embrace not, they fhall be damn'd ? And therefore your two Suppofitions, True or Falfe, are not enough to make it prafticable, upon your Prin- ciples of Neceffity, to ufe Force upon Diflenters from the National Religion, the' it contain in it nothing but Truth, unlefs that which is required to Communion be all receflfary to Sah^ation. For whatever is not neceliary to Salvation, there is no Ne- ceffity any one fhould embrace. So that whenever you fpeak of the true Religion, to make it to yourPurpofe, you muft fpeak only of what is necelfary to Salvation i unlefs you will fay, that in order to the Salvation of Mens Souls, it is necelfary to ufe Force to bring them to embrace fomething, that is not neceliary to their Salvation. I think that neither you, nor any body elfe, will affirm, that it is neceliary to ufe Force to bring Men to receive all the Truths of the Chnftian Religion, tho' they are Truths God has thought fit to reveal. For then, by your own Rule, you who profefs the Chriftian Religionj muft know them all, and muft be able to manifeft them toothers; for it is on that here you ground the Neceffity and Reafonablenefs of Penalties ufed to bring Men to embrace the Truth. But I fufpeft 'tis the -:^f Religion, and fo, obnoxious to Punilhment. This being fo, I would gladly fee how your Method can be any way pratticable to the Advantage of the T'rue Religion, whereof the Magiftrate every wheie muft be Judge, or elfe he can punifh no body at all. P^g- f4- You tell me that whereas I fay, that to juftify Punilhment it is requifite that it be direftly ui'eful for the procuring fome greater Good than that which it takes away ; you w'ljj} I had told you why it muft needs be dire<5tly ufefulfor that Purpofe. However exa(5t you may be in demanding Reaions of what is laid, I thought here you had nocaufe to complain ; but you let flip out of your Memory the foregoing Words of this Paf- L.z.p.iSi.fsge, which together ftands thus, " Punilhment is fome Evil, fome Inconvenience, " fome Suffering, by taking away or abridging fome good thing, which he who is pu- " nifli'd has otherwife a Right to. Now to juftify the bringing any fuch Evil upoa *' any Man, two things are requifite ; i. That he that does it has a Commiffion fo to " do. 2. That it be direftly uleful for the promoting fome greater Good. 'Tis evi- dent by thefe Words, that Punilhment brings direft Evil upon a Man, and therefore it fliould not be ufed but where it is direftly ufeful for the procuring Ibme greater Good. Li this Cafe, the Signification of the Word direcily, carries a manifeft Reafon in it, to any one who underftands what direElly means, if the taking away any Good from a Man cannot be juftified, but by making it a Means to procure a greater, is it not plain it muft be fo a Means as to have, in the Operation of Caufes and EfFeftSj a natural Tendency to that Efleft j and then it is called direElly ufeful to fuch an End : And this may give you a Reafon, why Pnnifljment mtifl be direElly ufeful for that Purpofe. I know you are very tender o? yottr indireEl and at a diflance Ufefulnefs of Force, which I have in another Place fhew'd to be, in your Way, only ufeful by Accident ; nor Pag. 5-4. will the Queftion you here fubjoyn, excufed it from being fo, viz.. JVl:>y Penalties are not as direcily uieful/or the bringing Men to the T'rue Religion, as the Rod of CorreEiioa is to drive Fuoliftmefs fro?n a Child, or to work IVifdom in him ? Becaufe the Rod works on the Will of the Child, to obey the Reafon of the Father, whilft under his Tui- tion, and thereby makes it fupple to the Dictates of his own Reafon aftenvards, and difpofes him to obey the Light of that, when being grown to be a Man, that is to be his Guide, and this is Wifdom. If your Penalties are fo ufed, I have nothing to fay to them. Your Way is charg'd to be imprafticable to thofe Ends you purpofe, which you endeavour to clear, />. 63. That there may be i&it play on both fides, thg Reader ftiall have in the fame View what we both fay. L. 2. p. 285. " It remains now to examine, whether L. 5. p. 55. But Lozu Ut- " the Author's Argument will not hold good , even tie to the Purpofe this Re- againft Punilhments in your Way. For if the Ma- queft of yours is, will quick- " giftrate's Authority be, as you here fay, only to procure aH Ij appear. For if the Ma~ " his Subjeiis (mark what you fay, ALL HIS SUB- giftrate provides fuff death [':iECrS for A Third Letter for Toleration^ 4*1 fof the InflruBion of aU his SuljeSts in the true Religi-. on ; and then requires them all, under convenient Pe^ unities, to hearken to the to Teachers and Minifiers of it , and to profefs and ex- ercife it -with one Accord, under their DireSiion , in Publick AJfemblies : Is there any Pretence to fay, that in fo doing he applies Force only to a Pare of his Sub- jeEis ; when the Law is ge-^ neral , and excepts none ? 'Tis true, the Magifirate infliEisthe Penalties in thai Cafe, only upon them that break the Law. But is that the thing you mean JECTS) the Means of difcovering the Way of Salvation, and to procure withal, as mud) as in him lies, that NONE remain ignorant of it, or rejiife to e?nbrace it, either Jor want oj ujing thofe Means , or by Reafon of any fuch Pre- " judices as may render them incffeElual. If this be the •' MagiftiTae's Bufincls, in reference to ALL HIS SUB- JECT'S; I defire you, or any Man elfe, to tell me how tiiis can be done, by the Application of Force only to a part of them; unlefs you will ftill vainly fuppole Ignorance, Negligence, or Prejudice, only a- *' mongft tiiac Part which any where differs from the " Magiftrate. If thofe of the Magiftrate's Church may " be ignorant of the IVay of Salvation ; If it be pollible there may be ampngft them, thofe who refufe to embrace " it, either for want of ufing thofe Means, or by reafon of any *' fuch Prejudices as ynay reruier them ineffetiual ; What, " in this Cal'e, becomes of the Magifirate' s Authority to *' procure all his Subjects the Means of difcovering the fVay " of Salvation ? Muft thefe of his Subjefts be negleded, " and left without the Means he has Authority to procure f/;««.<' Or muft he ufe Force upon them too? And then, by his applying Force on- " pray fhew me how this can be done. Shall the Magi- ly to a Part of his Sub- ilrace punifli thofe of his own Religion, to procure them the Means of difcovering the Way of Salvation, and to pro- cure, as 'much as in him lies, that they rejnain not ignorant of it, or refufe not to embrace it ? Thefe are fuch Con- tradictions in Practice, this is fuch Condemnation of a Man's own Religion, as no one can expeft from the Magiftrate; and I dare fay, you delire not of him. And yet this is that he muft do, If his Authority be to " procure ALL his Subjects the Means of difcovering the Way to Salvation. And if it be fo needful, as you fay it is, that he fhould ufe it ; I am fure Force cannot do that till it be apply'd wider, and Punifhment be laid upon more than you would have it. For if theiVfi^z^/- ftrate be by Force to procure, as much as in him lies, that None remain ignorant of the Way of Salvation ; muft he not punifli all thofe who are ignorant of the Way of Salvation? And pray tell me, how is this anyway practicable, but by fuppofing none in the National Church ignorant, and all out of it ignorant of the Way of Salvation ? Which, what is it, but to punifli *' Men barely for not being of the Magiftrate's Religion? 1 he very thing you deny he has Authority to do ? So that the Magifirate having, by your own Confeffion, no Authority, thus to ufe Force ; and it being otherways imprafticable for the procuring all his SubjeSis the Means of difcovering the Way of Salvation ; there is an End of '''Force. And fo Fwrce being laid afide, either as unlaw- ful, or vmprafticable, the Author's Argument holds good againft Force, even in your Way of applying it. The Backwardnefs and Lufts that hinder an impartial Examination, as you defcribe A. p. 6^ it, is general. The Corruption of Nature which hinders a real embracing the True "'> Religion, that alfo you tell us here, is univerfal. I ask a Remedy for thefe in your ^■^' -' Way. You fay the Law for Conformity is general, excepts none. Very likely, none that do not coni'orm ; but puniflies none who conforming, do neither impartially exa- mine nor really embrace the true Religion. From whence I conclude there is no Cor- ruption of Nature in thofe, who are brought up or join in outward Communion with the Church of England. But as to Ignorance, Negligence and Prejudice, you fay you 'fi^fire me , or any Man elfe, to tell what better Courfe can be takm to care them, than that je6ts> Would you have him punifi) aU indifferent- ly ? Them that obey the Law, as well as them that do not ? As to Ignorance, Neg- ligence and Prejudice , / defre you , or any Man elfe , to tell me what better^ Courfe can be taken to cure them, than that which I have mentioned. For if after all that God's Mi- nifiers , and the Magi- ftrate can do, fome will ftill remain ignorant, neg- ligent , or prejudiced ; / do not take that to ke a- ny Difparagement to it: For certainly that is. a very extraordinary Remedy, which iitf.allibly cui-es all difeas'd Perfons to whom it is ap-> plied. '• It, ^2 2 A Third Letter for Toleration. ■wlihh you /jave mentioned. If your Church can find no bettcrWay to cure Ignorance and Prejudice, and the Negligence, that is in Men, to examine Matters of Religion and heartily embrace the true, than what is imprafticable upon Conforinifts, then of all others. Con forniiUs are in the moil deplorable Eftatc. But, as I remember, you have been told of a better Way, which is, the difcourfrng with Men ferioufly and friendly about Matters in Religion, by thofe whofc Profcllion is the Care of Souls ; examining what they do underfiand, and where, cither through Lazinefs, Prejudice or Difficulty, they do ftick; and applying to their feveral Difeales proper Cures, which it is as impoffible to do by a general Harangue, once or twice a Weeic out of the Pul- pit, as to fit all Mens Feet with one Shoe, or cure all Mens Ails with one, though very wholfome, Diet-drink. To be thus in/Lmt inSenfon andoittofSeafon, fome Men have thought a better Way of Cure, than a Defire, only to have Men driven by the Whip, either in your, or tlie Magillrate's Hands, into the Sheepfold : Where when they are orce, whether they underftand or no , their Minifters Sermons ; whether they are, or can be better for them or no; whether they are ignorant and hy- pocritical Conformifts, and in that Way like to remain fo, rather than to become knowirg and fmcere Converts, fome Biftiops have thought is not fufficiently en- quired; but this no bidy is to mention, for whoever does fo, makes himfelf an 0:ca~ Jim to fhew his good Will to the Clergy. This had not been faid by me here, now I fee how apt you are to be put out of Temper with any thing of this kind, (though it be in every ferious Man's Mouth) had not you defired me to fhew you a better Way than Force, your way apply'd. And to ufe your Way of arguing, fince bare preaching, as now us'd, 'tis plain, will not do, there is no other Means left but this to deal with the corrupt Nature of Conformifts ; for Miracles are now ceafed, and Penalties they are free from; therefore, by your Way of concluding, no other being left, this of vifiting at home, conferring and inftruft- ing, and admoniflling Men there, and the like Means, propofed by the reverend Au- thor of the PafloralCare, is necefl'ary ; and Men, whole Bufinefs is the Care of Souls, are obliged to ufe it : For you cannot prove, that it cannot do fome SeiTice (I think I need not fay) indireBly and at a drjlance. And if this be proper and fufficient to bring Conformifts (notwithftanding the Corruption of their Nature) to examine impartially, and really eynbrace the Truth that muftfave them, it will remain to Ihew, Why it may not do as well on Nonconformifts (whofe, I imagine, is the common Corruption of Na- ture) to bring them to examine and embrace the Truth, that muft fave them ? And though it be not fo extraordinary a Remedy as will infallibly cure all difeafed Perfons, to ivhom it is apply'd ; yet fince the Corruption of Nature, which is the fame Difeafe, and hinders the impartial Examination, and hearty embracing the Truth that mufl fave them, is equally in both, Conformifts and Nonconformifts, 'tis reafonable to think it fhould in both have the fame Cure, let that be what it will. 30. CHAP. X. Of the Necejfity of Force in Matters of Religion. 'V'O U tell us you do not ground the Lawfulnefs offuch Force, as you take to be tifeful fo; -■- promoting the true Religion, upon the bare Ufefiilnefs offuch Force, but upon the Necejjt- ty as -well as Ufefulr.efs of it ; and therefore you declare it to be no ft Means to be ufed, ei- ther for thai Purpofe or any other, -where it is not mceffary as well as ufeful. How ufeful.Force in the Magiftrate's Hand, for bringing Men to the true Religion, is like to be, we have fhewn in the foregoing Chapter, in anfwer to what you have faid for it. So that it being proved not ufeful, it is impo/Tible it fliould be necefl'ary. However we will examine what you fay to prove the Neceflity of it. The Foundation you build on for its Neceflity we have in your Argument conjidered, where having at large dilated on Mens Inconfideratenefs in the Choice of their Religions, and their perfifting in thofe they have once chofen, without due Examination, you conclude thus; Now if this be the Cafe, if Men are fo averfe to a due Conftderation, if they ufual/y take up their Religion, without examining it as they ought, what other Means is tiie;e left? Wherein you iuppofe Force neceflary, inftead of proving it to be fo; for pre.iching and A Third Letter for Tolerations 423 and Pcrfuafion not prevailing upon all Men, you upon your own Authority think fit ibmething elfc fhould be done ; and that being refolv'd, you readily pitch on Force, becaufe you fay you can find nothing elfc, which in F.ffcft is to tell us, if the Salvation of Mens Souls were only left to your Difcretion, how you would or- der the Matter. And in your Anfwer to me, you very confidently tell us, the true Religion cannot pre- Pag. 74 •vailvsitlwut the Affiflance either of Miracles, or of Authority. I fhall here only obferve one or two Things, and then go on to examine how you make this good. The firft Thing I Hiall obicrve is, that in your Arguinent conjidered, &c. you fuppofe Force necellary only to mafter the Avcrlion there is in Men to Cunfidering^ and Exami^ nation: And here in your Anfwer tome, you make Force necelfary to conquer the Averfion there is in Men to embrace and obey the true Religion. Which are fo very different, that the former juftifies the Ufe of Force only to make Men conjider^ the other juftifies the Ufe of Force to make Men embrace Religion. If you meant the fame Thing when you writ your firft Treatife, it was not very ingenuous to exprefs your felf in fuch Words as were not proper to give your Reader your true Meaning ; it being a far different Thing to ufe Force to make Men conjider, which is an Adion ia their Power to door omit ; and to ufe Force to make them embrace, i. e. believe any Religion, which is not a Thing in any one's Power to do or forbear as he pleafes. If you fay you m.eant barely confidering in your firft Paper, as the whole Current of it would make one believe, then I fee your Hypothefis may mend, as we have feen in other Parts, and in Time, may grow to its full Stature. Another Thing I fhall remark to you, is, That in your firft Paper, befides Pi'each- ing and Perl'uafion, and the Grace of God, nothing but Force was neceffary. Here in your fecond, it is either Miracles or Authority, vvliich how you make good, we will now confider. You having faid, you had no Reafonfrom any Experiment to expeEl that the true Reli-^- P- i' gicn fiould be any way a Gainer by Toleration. I inftanced in the prevailing of the Go- '^'P"^ °' Ipel, by its own Beauty, Force, and Reafonablenefs, in the firft Ages of Chriftia- nity. You reply, that it has not the fame Beauty, Force and Reafonablenefs now, ^^S- f' that it had then, unlefs I include Miracles too, which are now ceafed ; and as you tell us, ivere not withdraivn, till by their Help Chrijlianity had prevailed to be received for the Vig. ^fi Religion of the Empire, and to be encouraged and fupported by the Laws of it. If therefore we will believe you upon your own Word, Force being neceffary (fof prove it neceffary you never can) you have enter'd into the Counfel of God, and tell us, when Force could not be had. Miracles were employ 'd to fupply its Want. I cannot Pag. ^f, hut think, fay you, its higldy probable (if we may he allowed to guefs at the Counfels of in- finite JVifdom) that God was pleafed to continue them till then, i. e. till the Laws of the Empire fupported Chriftianity, not fo much for any Necefftty there was of them all that T'ime, for the evincing the Truth of the Chrijlian Religion, as to fupply the Want of the Ma- gijlrate's Affifiance. You allow your felf to guefs very freely, when you will make God ul'e Miracles to fupply a Means he no where authorized or appointed. Hov7 long Miracles continued we fhall fee anon. Say you. If ive may be allow' d to guefs : This Modefty of yours where yoU confefs you guefs, is only concerning the Time of the continuing of Miracles ; but as to their fupplyingthe Want of coaftive Force, that you arepolitive in, both here and where yoi; tell us, IVhy Penalties were not neceffary at firfl, to ?nake Men to give Ear to pag, jg^ the Gofpel, has already been fj)ewn ; and a little after, the great and wonderfiilT'hings which were to be done for the evidencing the Truth of the Gofpel, were abundantly fuficient to procure Attention, (Jc. How you come to know fo undoubtedly that Miracles were made ufe of to fupply the Magiftrate's Authority, fince God no where tells you fo, you would have done well to fliew. But in your Opinion Force was neceffary, and that could not then be had, and foPag. ^6, God muft ufe Miracles. For, fay you. Our Saviour was no Magiflrate, and therefore could not inflicl political Punif/vnents upon any Man, fo much lefs could he impower his Apojiles to do it. Could not our Saviour impower his Apojiles to denounce or inflid Punifhments on carelefs or obftinate Unbelievers, to make them hear and confider? You pronounce very boldly methinks of Chrift's Power, and fet very narrow Limits to what at another Time you would not deny to be infinite : But it was convenient here for your prefent Purpofe, that it fliould be fo limited. But, they not being Magi- ftrates, he could not impovoer his Apofiles to inflift political PuniJ/ments. How is it of 424 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. of a fudden, tliat they muft be political Punifhments ? You tell us all that hnecejfaryf is to lay Briars ajid T'liorm in Mens IVays, to trouble and dijeafa them to make them coujider. This I hope our Saviour had Power to do, if he had found it necellary, without the Afllflance of the Magiftrates; he could have always done by his Apoftles and Mini- flers, if he had fo thought fit, what he did once by St. /%«•, have dropfd'TlMDMs and Briars into their very Minds, that fliould iiave pricked, troubled and difeafed them iufhcieiitiy. But iometimes it is Briars and T'hnnrs only that you want, fometimes it mufl be Human Means, and fometimes, as here, nothing will ferve your Turn but politiail Punijbmcnts ; juft as will bcft fute your Occaiion, in the Argument you have then before you. 'I hat the ApoRles could lay on Punifliments, as troublefome and as great as any political ones when they were necellary, we fee in Ananias and Sapphira : And he that had iJ^ Pouer given him in Heaven and in Earth, could, if he had thougiit fit, have laid Briars andThorns in the Way of all that received not his Doctrine. Pag. 36. You add, But as he could nut punifl) Men to make them hear him, fu neither -was there any need that he jliould. He came as a Prophet fent from God to reveal a new DoSlrine to the JVurld ; and therefore to prove his Miffitn, he -was to do fuch Things as could only be done by a divine Power : And the Works which he did were abundantly fufficient both to gain him a Hearing, and to oblige the World to receive his DoElrine. Thus the Want of Force and Punifiiments aie fupplied. How far? fo far as they are fuppofed neceffary to gain a Hearing, and fo far as to oblige the World to receive Chr if s Doctrine; whereby, as I fuppole, you mean fufficient to lay an Obligation on them to receive his Dcftrine, and render them inexculable if they did not : But that they were not fufficient to make all that faw them efteftually to receive and embrace the Gofpel, I think is evident, and you will not I imagine lay, that all who faw Chrift's Miracles believed on him. So tiiat Miracles were not to fupply the Want of fuch Force, as was to be continued on Men to make them confider as they ought, i. e. till they embraced the Truth that mufl five them. For we have little Reafon to think that our Saviour, or his Apoftles, contend- ed with their Negleft or Refufal by a conftant Train of Miracles, continued on to Lightfoot thofe who were not wrought upon by the Gofpel preached to them. St. Matthew ^f^Z'^rl t^'l^ "^' ^l- 57- ^hat he did not many mighty Works in his own Country, becaufe Seft +1 ^f their Unbelief; much lefs were Miracles to fupply tlie Want of Force in that Ufe ami fi. ' you make of it, where you tell us it is to punifli the Fault of not being of the true Religion : For we do not find any miraculoully punifhed to bring them in to the Gofpel. So that the Want of Force to either of thefe Purpofes not being fupplied by Miracles, the Gofpel 'tis plain fubfiftcd and fpread it felf without Force fo made uie of, and without Miracles to fupply the Want of it ; and therefore it fo far re- mains true, that the Gofpel having the fame Beauty, Force and Reafonablenefs now as it had at the Beginning, it wants not Force to fupply the Defed o£ Miracles, to that for which Miracles were no where made ufe of. And fo far, at leaft, the Expe- riment is good, and this Aflertion true, that the Gofpel is able to prevail by its own Light and Truth; without the Continuance of Force on the fame Perfon, or punifh- ing Men for not being of the true Religion, Pag. 36. You fay. Our Saviour being no Magi ftr ate, could not inflict political Punifiments ; much lefs could he e?npower his Apoftles to do it. I know not what need there is, that it fhould he. political ; fo there were fo much Punifhment ufed, as you fay, h fufficient to make Men confider, it is not necelfary it Ihould come from this or that Hand : Or if there be any odds in that, we fhould be apt to think it would come beft, and moft efi-eftuall_v, from thofe who preached the Gofpel, and could tell them it was to make them conf- der; than from the Magiftrate, who neither doth, nor according tt) your Scheme can, tell them it is to make them confider. And this Power, you will not deny, but our Saviour could have given to the Apoftles. But if there were fuch abfolute Need oi political Puniflrments, Thus or Trajan might as well have been converted, as Conflantine. For how true It is, that Miracles fup- plied the Want of Force irom thofe Days till Conflantine^ s, and then ceafed, we fhall fee by and by. I fay not this to enter boldly into the Counfels of God, or to take upon me to cenfure the Conduct of the Almighty, or to call his Providence to an Ac- cemnt; but to anfwer your faying, Our Saviour was no Magiflrate, and therefore could not injiiti political Punijhments. For he could have had both Magiftrates and political Punifhments at his Service, if he had thought fit, and needed not 10 have continued Mixacics . longer, than there was Neceffty for evincing the T'rnth of the Chriftian >Reli- gim. A Third Letter for ToL-E'it.ATio^, 425 gioti, as you imagine, to fiipply thelVant of the Magijlrate's Affiflancc, by Furce, which ''^S- 37- is uecejftiry. But how come you to know that Force is neceffary? Has God revealed it in his "Word ? no where. Has it been revealed to you in particular ? that you will not iay. What Rcafon have you for it? none at all but this, That having let down thcA. p. Nulla certe prorfus pro primsvo miraculo- iTjm exemplo. Nulla denique confciis vere primjevam elfe iidem quam novis mira- culis fufcipiunt confirmandam. The Hiftory therefore you have from him, of Miracles, fervesfor his Hypothefis, but not at all for yours. For if they were continued to fupply the want of Force, which was to deal with the Corraption of depraved Human Nature, that being with- out any great Variation in the World, conftantly the fame, there could be no reafon why f hey fhould abate and fail, and then return and revive again. So that there beino- then, as you fuppofe, no Neceflity of Miracles for any other End, but to fupply the wane of the Magifirate's Ajfiflance, they muft, to fute that End, be conftant and regularly the fame, as you would have Force to be, which is fteddily and uninterruptedly to be applied, as a conftantly neceifary Remedy, to tJie corrupt Nature of Man-- kind. If you allow the learned Dodwell's Reafons, for the Continuation of Miracles, till the Fourth Century, your Hypothefis, that they were continued to fupply the Magi- ftrate's Afliftance, will be only precarious. For if there was need of Miracles till that time to other Purpofes, the Xjontinuation of them in the Church, though you could prove them to be as frequent and certain as thofe of our Saviour and the Apo- ftles, it would not advantage your Caufe ; fince it would be no Evidence, that they were vifed for that End, which as long as there were other vifible Ufes of them, you could not, without Revelation, aflure us were made ufe of by Divine Providence to fupply the zvam of tfte Magifirate's AJfifiance. You muft therefore confute his Hypo- thefis, before you canmake any Advantageof what he fays, conceruingthe Continua- Vol. II. Hh h ,i tion 4i8 A Third Letter for Toleration. tion of Miracles, for the eltablifhing of yours. For till you can iheiv, that that which he afligns was not the End, for which they were continued in the Church j the utmolt you can fay, is, thatit maybe imagined, that onv; Rcafon of their Continuation was to jnpfly the -want of the Magijlrnte'i Afjiftuiice : But wliat you can without Proof imagine pofTible, I hope you do not expeft fliould he received as an unquefiionable Proof, that it was fo. I can imagine it poflible they were not continued for that End, and one Imagination will be as good a Proof as another. To do your Modefty right tlierefore, I muft allow, that you do faintly offer at feme kind of Reafon, to prove that Miracles were continued to fupply the ivant of the Magi- ftrate's Affiftame : And fincc God has no where declared, that it was for that End, you would perfuade us in this Paragraph, that it was lb, by two Reafons. One is, that the Truth of the Chriflian Religion being fufficiently evinced by the Miracles done by our Saviour and his Apoftles, and perhaps their immediate Succellors, there wms no other need of Miracles to be continued till the Fourth Century ; and therefore they were ufed by Gcd to fupply the -want of the Magijlrate's Affjlance. This I take to be the Meaning ofthefe Words of yours, I cannot but think it highly probable thatGodwas pleafed to continue them till then, not fo much for any Necejfity there ii-as of them all that zchile for the evincing the Truth of the Chnjlian Religion^ as to fupply the -want of the Ala- gijirate's Ajfflance. Whereby, I fuppofe, you do not barely intend to tell the World what is your Opinion in the Cafe, but uft this as an Argument, to make it probable to others, that this was the End for which Mi rnlcs were continued, which at beft will be but a very doubtful Probability to build fuch a bold Aflertion or, as this of yours is, viz,. That ttx Chriflian Religion is not able to fubjifl and prevail in the J^orld, by iti own Light and Strength, ■witlmit the Affiflance either of Force, or aftual Miracles. And therefore you muft either produce a Declaration from Heaven that authorizes you to fay, that Miracles were ufed to fupply the -want of Force, or fhew that there was no ether Ufe of them but this. For if any other Ufe can be affigncd of them, as long as they continued in the Church, one may fafely deny, that they were to fupply the ivant of Force : and it will lie upon you to prove it by fome other Way than by faying you think it highly probable. For I fuppofe you do not expeft that your thinking any thing highly probable, fhould be a fufficient Reafon for others to acquiefce in. When per- haps, the Hiftory of Miracles confidered, no body could bring himfelf to lay he thought it probable, but one whofe Hypothefis flood in need of fuch a poor Support. The other Reafon you feem to build on is this. That when Chriftianity zoas received for the Religion if the Empire, Miracles ccafed; becaufe there was then no longer any Tag. 37- need of them : which I take to be the Argument infinuated in thefe W'ords, Ccnfider- ing that thofe extraordinary Means ixere not xvithdrawn, till by their help Chriflianity had prevailed to be received for the Religion of the Empire. If then you can make it ap- pear that Miracles lafled till Chriftianity was received for the Religion of the Empirf^ without any other Reafon for the Continuation, but to fupply the -want of the Magi- ftrate's Affiflance ; and that they ceafed as foon as the Magiftrates became Chriftians ; your Argument will have fome kind of Probility, that within the Roman Empire this was the Method God ufed for the propagating the Chriftian Religion. But it will not fei-ve to make good your Pofition, That the Chriftian Religion cannot fubfift and pre- vail by its oven Strength and Light, without the Affiflance of Miracles or Authority, un- lefs you can fliew, that God made ufe of Miracles, to introduce and fupport it in other Parts of the World, not fubjeft to the Roman Empire, till the Magiftrates there alfo became Chriftians. For the Corruption of Nature being the fame without, as within the Bounds of the Roman Empire ; Miracles, upon your Hypothefis, were as necelfary to fupply the want of the Magiftrates Afliftance in other Countries as in the Roman Empire. For I do not think you will find the Civil Sovereigns were the fii-ft converted in all thofe Countries, where the Chriftian Religion was planted after Co«- ftantine's Reign : And in all thofe it will be necelfary for you to fliew us the Affiftance of Miracles. But let us fee how much your Hypothefis is favoured by Church-Hiftory. If the Writings of the Fathers of greateft Name and Credit are to be believed. Miracles were not withdrawn when Clrriflianity had prevailed to be received for the Religion of the Empire. Athanaflm, the great Defender of the Catholick Orthodox, writ the Life of his Contemporary St. Anthony, full of Miracles ; which though fome have queftion'd, yet the learned Dodiuell allows to be writ by Athanafius : and the Stile evinces it to be his, which is alfo confirmed by other Eccleliaftical Writers. Palladium A Third Letter for Toleration. 429 Palhidiiii tell us. That Amman did many Miracles : But that particularly St. Atha- nafius related in the Life 0/ Anthony, T'hat Axcvman going -with fame Monks y Anthony fiad fent to him ; luhen they came to the River Lycus, -which they -were to pafi, was afraid to ftrip for fear of feeing himfelf naked ; and ■whilfi he was in difpute of this Matter, he was taken up, and in Extafy carry' d over by an Angel, the refl of the Monks fwirnming the River, fj^hen he came to Anthony, Anthony told him he had fern fur him, hecaufe God had revealed many 'Things to him concerning him, and particularly his Tranflation. And when Amnion died, in his Retirement, Knt\iony faw his Soul carried into Heaven by An- gels. Palladius in vita Ammonis. Socrates tells us. That Anthony faw the Soul of Ammon taken up by Angels as Atha- L.4.. c.xf. nafius writes in the Life of Anthorty. And again, fays he, It feems fuperfiuous for me to relate the many Miracles Anthony did ; how he fought openly with Devils, difcovering all their Tricks and Cheats : Fur A- thanafius Bijlnp of Alexandria has prevented ?ne on that Subject, having writ a Book Soaat. 1. particularly of his Life. i. c. ii. A nthony was thought worthy of the Vifton of God, and led a Life perfeElly conformable to the Laws of Chrifl. This, whoever reads the Book, wherein is contain d the Hi/lory of his Life, will eafily knoiv ; wherein he will alfo fee Prophecy Jhining out : For he prophejied very clearly of thofe who were infeEled with the Arian Contagion, and foretold what Mif- chief from them was threatned to the Churches, God truly revealing all theje Things to him, which is certainly the principal Evidence of the Catholick Faith, no Juch Man being to be found amongfi the Hereticks. But do not take this upon my Word, but read and ftudy the Book it fdlf This Account you have from St. Chryfojiom, whom Mr. Dodwell calls the Con- Chryfofi; temner of Fables. Hom. 8. St. Hierom, in his Treatife De Viro PerfeSio, fpeaks of the frequency of Miracles ^ ^^^' ^' done in his time, as a thing paft queftion : Befides thofe, not a few, which he has left upon Record, in the Lives of Hilarion and Paul, two Monks, whofe Lives he has writ. And he that has a mind to fee the plenty of Miracles of this kind, need but read the Colleftion of the Lives of the Fathers, made by Rofweydus. Rnffin tells us, That Athanafius lodg'd the Bones of St. John Baptifl in the Wall of the Church, knowing by the Spirit of Prophecy, the good they were to do to q^ ^ the next Generation : And of what Efficacy and Ufe they were, may be concluded illumma- from the Church with the golden Roof, built to them foon after, in the place of the '^"■" f"'fle Temple of &r^/;/j. jamnovc= St. Auflin tell us. That he knew a blind Man rejlord to fight by the Bodies of the Mi- Nee ea Ian Martyrs, and fame other fuch things ; of which kind, there were fu many done in that <3ux cog- time, that many fcaped his Knowledge ; and thofe which he knew, were more than he could ""'cimus, number. More of this you may fee £/>//?. 137. poO^mus^ He farther aflures us, that by the fingle Reliques of St. Stephen, a blind IVuman re- Aug. Re- ceiv'd her Sight. Lucullus was cured of an old Fiflula ; Eucharius of the Stone; Three ^''^•l- c. Gouty Men recovered; A Lad kill' d with a Cart-wheel going over hitn, rejior'd to Life fafe q' and found, as if he had received no Hurt : A Nun lying at the point of Death, they fent mecum her Coat to the Shrine, hut fhe dying before it was brought back, was refto/d to Life by fciunt. its being laid on her dead Body. The like happened atYix^^o to the Daughter o/BASSUS ; and two others, whofe Names he fets down, were by the fame Reliques raifed from the dead. After thefe and other Particulars there fee down, of Miracles done in his time by thofe Reliques of St. Stephen, the holy Father goes on thus ; M^hat Jhall I do ? prejfed LibelH by my Promife of difpatchtng this IVork, I cannot here fet down all : And without doubt •'1=»" ^""t. many, when they Jhall read this, will be troubled that I have ojnitted fo many Particulars, ^S^s^''^^" which they truly know as well as /. For // I Jhould, pajfmg by the refl, write only the tiquisfimi'- miraculous Cures which have been wrought by this moft glorious Martyr Stephen, in the 'ia divina- Colony vf Calama, and this of ours, I/hould fill many Books, and yet fhould not take in ''""^ ""S"* all of them : But only of thofe of which there are ColleSiions publijhed, which are read to etiam no- the People : For this I took care fhould be done, when Jfaxv that Signs of Divine Power, like ftris tem- thofe of old, were FREQUENT alfo in our Times, his not now two Tears fince that Shrine K""'^"^ has been at Hippo : And many of the Books (which I certainly knew to be fo) nut being ta^TTu? publiflx'd, thofe which are publifhed concerning thofe miraculous Operations, amount to de Civ. near fifty when J writ this, Buf at Calama, where this Shrine was before^ there are Dei./.xxij, more '' 4^0 A Third Letter for Toler at i on. tnore piMif/xif, and their Number is incomparably greater. At Uzal nlfo a Colony^ and near Utica, tve know many famous 'Things to have been done by the fatne Martyr. Twooithofe Book he mentions, are printed in the Appendix o( the Xth Tome of St. Aiiftins Works o{ Plant ius Edit. One of them contains two Miracles ; the other as I remember, about fcventeen. So that at Hippo alone, in two Years time, we may count, bcfides thole omitted, there were published above 600 Miracles, and as he fays, imcomparably more at Calama : Befides what were done by otiier Reliques of the fame St. Stephen, in other Parts of the World, which cannot be fuppos'd to have had lefs Virtue than thofe lent to this Part of Africa. For the Reliques of St. Stephen, difcovered by the Dream of a Monk, were divided and fent intodiftant Countries, and there diftributed to feveral Churches. Theie may fuffice to fhew, that if the Fathers of the Church of greateft Name and Authority are to be believed. Miracles v^rere not withdrawn, but continued down to the latter end of the Fourth Century, long after Chriftianity had prevailed to be re- ceived for ti.ie Religion of the Empire. But if thele Teftimonies of Athanajim, Chryfofiom, Palladim, Rajfin, St. Hierom and St. Anfiin, will not "ferve your turn, you may find much m(^re to this Purpofe in the /;ime Authors; and, ifyoupleafc, you may confult alfo St. 5fl/^/, Gregory Nauan- z,en, Gregory Nj'ffen, St. Ambrofe, St. Hilary, Theodoret, and others. Tliis being fo, you muft either deny the Authority of thefe Fathers, or grant that Miracles continued in the Church after Chriftianity was received for the Religion of the Empire, and then they could not be to fupply the want of the Magifirate's Affifiance^ unlefs they were to fupply the want of what was not wanting ; and therefore they were continued for fome other End. Which End of the Continuation of Miracles," tvhen you are fo far inftrucSed in as to be able to afl'ure us, that it was different from that for which God made ufe of them in the rd and -i,d Centuries : when you arc fo far admitted into the Secrets of Divine Providence, as to be able to convince the World that the Miracles between the Apoftles and Conftantine' s Time, or any other Period you Hiall pitch on, were to fupply the want af the Magifirate's Affi fiance, and thofe after, for fome other Purpofe, what you fay may deferve to be confidered. 'Till you do this, you will only fhew the Liberty you take, to affert with great Confidence, though without any Ground, whatever will fute your Syftem ; and that you do not ftick to make bold with the Counfels of infinite Wifdom, to make them fubfervient to your Hypothefis. And fo I leai e you to difpofe of the Credit of Ecclefiaftical Writers, as you fliall think fit; and by your Authority toeftablini,or invalidate theirs as you pleafe. But this, I think, is evident, that he who will build his Faith or Reafonings upon Miracles deli- vered by Church-Hiflorians, will findcaufe togo no farther than the Apoftles time, or elfe not to flop at Confiantine's : fince the Writers after that Period, whofe Word we readily take as unqueftionable in other things, Ipeakof Miracles in their time with no lefs AlTurancc, than the Fathers before the ^th Century; and a great Part of the Miracles of the zd and 3^ Centuries ftand upon the Credit of the Writers of the 4f/j. So that that fort of Argument which takes and rejeds the Teftimony of the Ancients at pleafure, as may beft fute with it, will not have much force with thofe who are not difpofed to embrace the Hypothefis, without any Argument at all. 7. You grant. That the true Religion has always Light and Strength of its own, \. e. with- out the AlTifiance of Force or Miracles, fufficient to prevail with all that confider it feri~ oufly, and without Prejudice : That therefore, for which the AfEftance of Force is wanting, is to make Men confider ferioufiy, and without Prejudice. Now whether the Miracles that we have ftill. Miracles done by Chrift and his Apoftles, attefted, as they are, by undeniable Hiftory, be not fitter to deal with Mens Prejudices, than Force, and then Force which requires nothing but outward Conformity, I leave the World to judge. All the Afliftance the true Religion needs from Authority, is only a Li- berty for it, to be truly taught ? but it has leldom had that, from the Powers in be- ing, in its firft Entry into their Dominions, fince the withdrawing of Miracles : And yet I defire you to tell me, into what Country theGofpel, accompanied (as now it is} only with paft Miracles, hath been brought by the preaching of Men, who have la- . bour'd in it after the Example of the Apoftles, where it did not fo prevail over Mens Prejudices, that cts many cu were ordain d to eternal Life, confider'd and believed it. Which, as you may fee, 4^s i j.^S.wasallthe Adyance it made, even when afiifted with A Third Leiier for ToLERArio^, 431 with the Gift of Miracles : For neither then were all, or the Majority wrouglit on to confider, and embrace it. But yet tiie Golpel ivimot prevail by its own Light and Strength ; and therefore Mira- cles were to fupply the Place of Force. How was Force uied ? A Law being made, there was a continued Application of Punifhment to all thofe, whom it brought not to embrace the Doftrinc propofed. Were Miracle lb ufed till Force took Place ? For this, we fhall want more new Church-Hiftory, and I think contrary to what we read in that Part of it which is unqueftionable ; I mean in the Ach of the Apoflles, where wc Ihall find, that the then Promulgators of the Golpel, when they had preach- ed, and done what Miracles the Spirit of God directed, if they prevail'd not, they often left them : T'hen Paul and Barnabas -waxed bold, and faid it -was necejfary that A&s 13," the IVord of Gvdfimild ffi have been fpoken to you : but feeing you put it from you, and judge ■^^'■ your fehes unworthy, we turn to the Gentiles. "They fioook ojf the Dufl of their Feet againfl V'. ^ i . them, and came unto Iconmrn. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but [pake Ait'n^.^, Evil of that Way, before the Multitude departed from them, and feperated the D/fiples. Paul waspreffed in Spirit, and tejiified to the 'Jews that 'Jefm wm Chrifi ; and when they op- Afts 8. 6, pofed themfelves, and blafphemed, he /hook his Raiment, and faid unto them. Your Blood be upon ]vur own Heads, I am clean, jrom henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. Did the Chri- flian Magiftrates ever do fo, who thought it neceflary to fupport theChriilian Re- ligion by Laws? Did they ever, when they had a while punifli'd thofe, whom Pcr- fviaiumsand Preaching had not prevail'd on, give off, and leave them to themfelves, and make Trial of their Punifhment upon others ? Or in this your Way of Force and Puni/hment ? If it be not, yours is not what Miracle came to iupply the room of, and fo is not necelfary. For you tell us, they are punifh'd to make them conftder, and they can never be fuppos'd to confider /ly they ought, whilft they perjifi in rejetling; andP-ig .j-4^ therefore they are jullly punifhed to make them confider : So that not fo conjidering, ^^• being the ivj<7/f for which they are punilh'd, and the Amendment of that Fault the End which is defign'd to be attain 'd by punifhing, the Punifhment mufl continue. But Men were not always beat upon with Miracles. To this, perhaps you will reply, that the feeing of a Miracle or two, or half a Dozen, was fufficient to pro- cure a Hearing ; but that being punifh'd once or twice, or half a Dozen Times, is not ; for you tell us, the Power of Miracles communicated to the Apoflles, ferved altogether, Pag. giS. as well as Punijhment, to procure them a Hearing : Where, \{ you me&n hy Hearing, only Attention, who doubts but Punifhment may alfo procure that ? If you mean by Hear- ing, receiving and embracing, what is propos'd, that even Miracles themfelves did not etfeft upon all Eye-witnefles. Why then, I befeech you, if one be to fupply the Place of the other, is one to be continued on thofe who do rejeii, when the other was never long contined, nor, as I think we may flifely fay, often repeated to thofe, who perfifled in their former Perfuafions ? After all therefore, may not one j'uftly doubt, whether Miracles fupplicd the Place of Punifhment ; nay, whether you your felf, if you be true to your own Principles, can think fo ? You tell us, that not to join themfelves to the Church, where fujficient £^';-Pag. if. dence is offered to convince Men that it is fo, is a Fault that it cannot be unjufl to punifl:). Let me ask you now; Did the Apoftles by their Preaching and Miracles, o^er fufficient Evidence to convince Men that the Church of Chriil was the true Church ; or, which is, in this Cafe, the fame Thing, that the Dodrine they preach'dwas the true Reli- gion? If they did, were not thofe, who perfifted in Unbelief, guilty of a i^i;n him, which was neceffary for its firfi Eftabliflmcnt. By tliisRule of yours, how long v/as there need of Mi- racles to make Chriftianity llibfift and prevail ? If you wUl keep to it, you will find there was no need of Miracles, after the Promulgation of the Gofpel by Chrift and his Apoftles ; for I ask you, was it not then Co fufficiently fettled in the World, that if Men would fro?n thenceforth have done what they might and ought , in their feveral Capacities, it would have fubfiHed and prevailed without that extraordinary Ajjlfiunco of Miracles ? Unlcfs you will on this Occalion retract what you fay in other Pla- ces, viz.. that it is a Fault not to receive the True Religion, where fufficient Evidence is offered to convince Men that it is fo. If then, from the Times of the Apoftles, the Chriftian Religion has had fufficient Evidence that it is the True Religion, and Men did their Duty, i. e. receive it, it would certainly have fubfifted and prevailed, even from the Apoftles Times, Avithout that extraordinary Affittance, and then Mi- racles alter that were not neceflary. But perhaps you will fay , that by Men in their feveral Capacities , you mean the Magiftrates. A pretty way of fpeaking, proper to you alone : But even in that Senfe, it will not fei-ve your Turn. For then there will be need of Miracles, not only in the Time you propofe, but in all Times after. For if the Magiftrate, who is as much fubjeft as other Men to that Corruption of Human Nature, by which you tell us falfe Religions prevail againft the true, Ihould not do what he may and ought, fo as to be of the true Religion, as 'tis the odds he will not ; what then will become of the T'-ue Religion, which according to you cannot fubfift or prevail without either the Affifiance of Miracles or Authority ? Subjefts cannot have the Ajfiflance of Authority, where the Magiftrate is not of the True Religion ; and the Magiftrate wanthig the Affifiance of Authority to bring him to the True Religion, that want muft be ftili fup- plied with Miracles, or elfe, according to your Hypothefis, all muft go to wrack ; and the True Religion, that cannot fubiift by its own Strength and Light, muft be loft in the World. For, I prefume, you are fcarce yet fuch an Adorer of the Powers of the World, as to fay, that Magiftrates are privileged from that common Corruption of Mankind, whofe Oppofition to the true Religion you fuppofe cannot be over- come, without the Affifiance of Mirales or Force. The Flock will ftray, unlefs the Bell- weather conduft them right ; the Bell-weather himfelf will ftray, unlefs the Shep- herd's Crook and Staff (which he has as much need of as any Sheep of the Flock) keep him right. Ergo, The whole Flock will ftray, unlefs the Bell-weather have that AfTiftance which is neceflary to conduft him right. The Cafe is the fame here. So that by your own Rule, either there was no need of Miracles to fupply the want of Force, after the Apoftles time, or there is need of them ftill. But your Anfwer, when looked into, has fomething in it more excellent. I fay, a Religion that is of God, wants not the AfTiftance of human Authority to make it prevail. You anfwer. True, ivhen God takes the Matter into his oivn Hands. But whenp^g, g. once he has fufjiciently fettled Religion, fo that if Men will but do what they may and ought, it may fubffi without that extraordinary Affifiance from Heaven ; then he leaves it to their Care. Where you fuppofe, if Men will do their Duties in their feveral Capacities, true Religion, being once eftablifli'd, may fubfift without Mira- cles. And is it not as true, that if they will, \n their feveral Capacities, do wi:at they jnay and ought, true Religion, will alfo fubfift without Force ? But you are fure Magiftrates will do what they 7nay and ought to preferve and propagate the true Religion, but Subjects will not. If you are not, you muft bethink your felf how to anfwer that old Queftion. — Sed quis CUfiodiet ipfos Cufiodes ? To my having faid, that prevailing without the AfTiftance of Force, I thought was made ufe of as an Argument for the Truth of Chriftian Religion. You reply, that you hope / am mifiaken, for fure this is a very bad Argument, That the Chrifiian Re- p^g. <; ligion, fo contrary in the Nature of it, as well to Fleflj and Shod, as to the Powers of Vol. II. I i i Dark- ^^4 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. DArbicfi, fiwiild prevail as it did, and that not only without any Afftflance from Ati" thurity, Out even in fpigbt of all the Oppojiiion zvhich Anlhurity and o -wicked World, joyned ivith thofe injernal Pozvers, could make againft it. l''lji.i, I acknowledge^ has de- fe)-vedly hen injifted upon by Chrijliam as a very good Proof of their Religion, ^ut to argue the Truth of the Chrifiian Religion, from iti mere prevailing in the IVorld, without any Aid from Force, or the Affijlance oj the Pozvers in being ; as ij whatever Religion fl)ould fo prevail, mufl needs be the true Religion, (whatever may be intended) is really not to defend the Chrijlian Religion, but to betray it. How you haie mended the Ar- gument by putting in mere, vvhicli is not any where uied by me, I will not exa- mine. The Qiiellion is, whether the Chriftian Religion, fuch as it was then, (for I know not any other Chrillian Religion) and js ftill contrary to the Flcfi and Blood, and to the Pozvers of Darknejs, prevail d not without the Affiftance <.S human Force, by thofe Aids it has ftill ? This, I think, you will not deny to be an Argument ufed for its Truth by Chriftians, and fome of our Church. How far any one in the ufe of this Argument pleafes or difpieafes you, I am not concern'd. All the ufe I made of it was to fTiew, that it is confcfled that the Chrifiian Religion did prevail, v/ith- out that human Means of the coaiiive Power of the Alugijlrate, which you affirmed to be neceffary ; and this, I think, makes good the Experiment I brought. Nor wilt your fecking your Way, a Refuge, in Miracles, help you to evade it i as I have al- ready Ihcwn. p . But you give a Reafon for what you fay, in thefe following Words ; For neither does the true Religion always prevail without the Affiftance of the Powers in being ; nor is that always the true Religion, which does fo fpread and prevail. Thole who ufe the Argu- ment of its prevailing without Force, for the Truth of the Chriftian Re!igion,'tis like will tell you, that, if it be true, as you fay, that the Chrifiian Religion (which at other times does) fometimes docs not prevail without the Affiftance of thtf Powers in being, it is becaufe when it fails, it wants the due Afliflance and Diligence of the Minifters of it. How f) all they hear without a Preacher ? Flow fhall the Gofpel be Ipread and prevail, if thofe who take on them to be the Minifters and Preachers of it, either negleft to teach it others as they ought, or confirm it not by their Lives ? If therefore you will make this Argument of any ufe to you, you muft fliew, where it was, that the Minifters of the Gofpel, doing their Duty by the Purity of their Liver, and their uninterrupted Labour, in being inftant in feaibn, and cut of feafon, have not been able to make it prevail. An Inftance of this, 'tis believed you W'ill fcarce find : And if this be the Cafe, that it fails not to prevail w!:ere thoie, whofe Charge it is, negleft not to teach and fpread it with that Care, Affiduity, and Application which they ought, you may hereafter know where to lay the Blame ; Not on the want of fufficient Light and Strength in the Gofpel to prevail, (wherein methinks, you make very bold with it) but on the want of what the Apoftle requires in the Minifters of it ; fome Part whereof you may read in thefe Words to Timothy ; But thou, Man of God, follow after Right eoufncf, Godlinefs, Faith, Love, Patience, Meek- nefs : Give Attendance to Reading, to Eshortaticn, to Doflrine, Preach the Word, be in- fant in jeafon and out oj feafon ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all Long-fuffering and Do- ctrine : And more to this Purpoi'e in his Epiftles to 'Timothy and Titus. That the Chriftian Religion has prevail'd, and fupported itfelf in the World now above thefe idoo Years, you muft grant, and that it has not been by Force, isDemon- ftration. For where-ever the Chriftian Religion prevail'd, it did it, as far as we know any thing of the Means of its Propagation and Support, without the Help of that Force, moderate Force, which you fay, is alone ufeful and neceilary. So that it the Severities you condemn, be, as you conlefs, apter to hinder than pro7note the Go- fpel, and it has no where had the Affiftance of your moderate ^en:i\z\es, it muft fol- low, that it prevail'd without Force, only by its own Strength and Light, difplay'd and brought home to the Underftandings and Hearts of the People, by the Preach- ing, Entreaties, and Exhortations of its Minifters. This at leaft you muft grant, that Force can be by no means necefl'ary to make the Gofpel prevail any where, till the utmoft has been tried that can be done by Argument and Exhortations, Prayers and Entreaties, and all the friendly Ways of Perfuafion. As to the other Part of your AiVertion, .Nor is that always the true Religion that: does fo fpread and prevail. 'Tis like they will demand Inftances of you, where falfe Religions ever prevail'd againft the Gofpel, without the Affiftance of Force on the one lide, or the betraying of it by the Negligence and Carelefnefs of its Teachers, on. A Third Lett ev for Toleration. 43 5 on the other? So that if thcGofpel any where wan; s the Mngiftrate's A/Iifiancc, it is only to make the Minifters of it do their Duty. I ha\e heard of thoic, and pofli- bly there are Inftancesof it now not wanting, who by their pious Lives, peaceable and friendly Carriage, and diligent Application to the fcveral Conditions and Capa- cities of their PariHioncrs, and Screening them as much as they could from the Penal- ties of the Law, have inafliort Time fcarce left aDiifenterin a Parifli, where, not- withftanding the Force had been before ufed, they fcarce found in any other. But how far this has recommended fuch Minifters to thofe who ouglit to encourage or follow the Example, I wifh you would inform your fcif, and tlien tell mc. But who^'"''- Pafto^ fees not that a Juftice of Peace's Warrant is a fliorter, and much eaficr Way for the"' ^^^'^' Minifter, than all this ado of Inftrudion, Debates, and particular Application. ^°'' Whether it be alfomore Chriftian, or more cfFcfiiual to make real Converts, others may be apt to enquire. This, I am fure, it is not juRifiable (even by your very Principles) to be ufed till the other has been throughly tried. How far cur Saviour is like to approve of this Method in thofe whom he fends: what Reward he is like to bcftow on Minifters of his Word, ivho are forward to bring their Brethren under fuch Correftion ; thofe who call themfelves Succeflbrs of the Apoftles, will do well toconfider from what he himfelf fays to them, Lukcii.^z, For that That was fpoken particularly to the Apoftles and Preachers of the Gofpel, is, evident not only from the Words themfelves, but from St. Peter's Qiieftion. Our Saviour having in the foregoing Verfes declared in a Parable, the Neccflity of being watchful, St. Peter, ver. 41. asks him, Lmd, fpeakefi thou this Parable unto us, or even to all? To this Demand, our Saviour replies in thefe Words. TVhothenis that faith- ful and zuife Steward ivhotn his Lord f)all make Ruler ever his Houfwld, to give them their Portion of Meat in due Seafon ? BleJJed is that Servant zchom the Lord, when he cometh, fjoll find fo doing. Of a Tl'Uth, I fay unto you, he will make him Ruler over all that he hath. But, and if that Servant fay in hii Heart, my Lord delay eth his coining ; and f.'all begin to beat the Men-Servants, and Maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken. T'he Lord of that Servant will come in a Day when he looketh not for him, and at an Hour when he is not aware ; and will cut him in finder, and will appoint him his Portion with Unbelievers, of' with Hypocrites, as it is. Mat. 24. 51. But if there be any thing in the Argument for the Truth of Chriftianity^ (as God forbid there Ihould not) that it has, and confequentty can prevail without Force, I think it can fcarce be true in Matter of Faft, that falfe Religions do alfo prevail a- gainft the Chriftian Religion, when they come upon equal Terms in Competition; and as much Diligence andlnduftry is ufed by the Teachers of it, as by Seducers to falfe Religions, the Magiftrate ufing his Force on neither Side. For if in this Cafe, which is the fair Trial, Chriftianity can prevail, and falfe Religions too, 'tis poffible Contrarieties may prevail againft one another both together. To make good therefore your AfTertion, you muft fhew us, where-ever any other Religion fo fpread and prevail'd, as to drive Chriftianity out of any Country without Force, where the Minifters of it did their Duty to teach, adorn and fupport it. As to the following Words, Nor is that always the true Religion which does fo fpread^^g. Toleration then does not, whatever your Fears are, make that woful Wrack on true Religion which you talk of I fliall give you another Evidence of it, and then come to examine your great Reafon taken irom the Corruption of human Nature, ajid the Inftance you fo often repeat, and build io much on, the. Apoftacy after the Flood. Toleration, you fay, would quickly, and effeftually extirpate the true Religion throughout the IVorld. What now is the Means to prelerve true Religion in the World ? If you may be believed, "tis Force, but not all Force, great Severities, Fire, Faggot, Impriibnment, Lofs of Eftate, Oc. Ihele will do more harm tlian good ; 'tis only loxver and moderate Penalties, fome to- lerable Inconveniences, can do the Bufm ds. If then moderate Force hath not been all along. A Third Letter for Toleration. 437 fllor.g, no, noT any vvlicre, made ule of for the Prefervation of the true Reh'gion, the Maintenance and Support of the true Religion in the World, has not been ow- ing to what you oppofe to Toleration : And fo your Argument a^ainft Toleration is out of Doors. You give us in this and the foregoing Pages, the Grounds of your Fear, It is the Corruption of human Nature which oppofes the true Religion. You exprefs it thus, ^-'S- 7- Idolatry prevailing ngainfl it [the true Religion] not by its own Light and Strength, fur it coidd have nothing of either, hut merely by the Advantage it had in the Corruption and Pra~ vity of human Mnntre, finding out to it felf more agreeable Religions than the true. F^r, fay you, whatever Hardflxips fome falfe Religions may i/npoje, it wili however, ahva\s be eajier to carnal and worldly-jninded Men, to give even their Firji-born j'or their T'ranfgreffions, than to mortify their Lufts fom which they fpring, which no Religion but the true, requires of them. I wonder, faying this, how you could any longer miftake the Magiftrate's Duty, in reference to Religion, and not fee wherein /v)ve truly can and ought to be ferviceable to it. What you have faid, plainly fhews you, that the Alfiilance the Magiftrate's Authority can give to the true Religion, is in the fubduing of Lufts, and its being direfted againft Pride, Injuftice, Rapine, Luxury and De- bauchery, and thofe other Immoralities which come properly under hisCognifance, and may be correfted by Punifhments ; and not by the Impoling of Creeds and Cf;e- woK/ex, as you tell us. Sound and Decent, you might ha\e left out, whereof their Fan- fag. i;, cies, and not the Law of God, will always be Judge, and confequently the Rule. The Cafe between the true and falfe Religions, as you have ftated it, in fhort, founds thus. True Religion has always Light and Strength of its own, fujftcient to prevail Vig, 7. •with all that ferioujly conjider it, and without Prejudice. Liolatry, or fafe Religions have nothing of Light or Strength to prevail with. Why then does not the true Religion pre- vail againft the falfe, having fo much the Advantage in Light and Strength? The Counter-balance of Prejudice hinders. And wherein does that confift ? The Drun- kard muft part with his Cups and Companions, and the voluptuous Man with his Pleafures, The Proud and Vain muft lay by allExcefs in Apparel, Furniture and Attendance , and Money, the Support of all thefe, muft be got only by the Ways of Juftice, Honefty, and fair Induftry : And every one muft live peaceably, upright- ly, and friendly with his Neighbour. Here then the Magiftrate's Afliftance is wanting : Here they may and ought to interpofe their Power, and by Severities, againft Drunkennefs, Lafcivioufnels, and all Sorts of Debauchery ; by a fteady and unrelaxed Punifhment of all the Ways of Fraud and Injuftice j and by their Admi- niftration. Countenance, and Example, reduce the Irregularities of Mens Manners into Order, and bring Sobriety, Peaceablenefs, Induftry and Honefty into Fafliion. This is their proper Bufinefs every where ; and for this they have a Commi/Tioii from God, both by the Light of Nature and Revelation ; and by this, removing the great Counterpoife, which lies in Striftnefs of Life, and is fo ftrcng a Biafs, with the greateft Part, againft the true Religion, they would caft the Balance on that Side. For if Men were forced by the Magiftrate to live fober, honeft and ftrict Lives, whatever their Religion were, would not the Advantage be on the Side of Truth, when the gratifying of their Lufts were not to be obtained by forfaking her ? In Men's Lives lies the main Obftacle to right Opinions in Religion: And if you will not believe me, yet what a very rational Man of the Church of England fays in the Cafe, will deferve to be remembred. Did Religion beflow Heaven, without any ^satky'i Forms and Conditions, indifferently upon all ; If the Crown of Life was Hereditary, ai:d free Sermon of to good and bad, and not fettled by Covenant upon the Ele'ci of God only, fuch as live Ibberly, ^^'f ^"f^ "^ righteoufly and godly in this prefent World; I believe there would be no fuchT'hiizg asp^J"{'^l an Infidel among us. And without Controverfy 'tis the fVay and Means of attaining to ILa- ven, that makes profane Scoffers fo willing to let go the Expe'clation of it. ''TIS not the Ar- ticles of the Creed, but their Duty to God and their Neighbour, that is fuch an inccnffflent in- credible Legend. They will not praciife the Rules of Religion, and therefore they cannot be- lieve the Tio&ir'mes of it. The ingenuous Author will pardon me the Change of one Word, which I doubt not but futes his Opinion, tho' it did not fo well that Argu- ment he was then on. You grant the true Religion has always Light, and Strength to prevail ; falfe Religi- ons /j^i/e Kem^iV. Take away the Satisfaciion of Mens Lufts, and which then, I pray, hath the Advantage ? Will Men, againft the Light ot their Reafon, do Violence to their Uuderftandings, and forfake Trythj and Salvation too, gratis } You tell us heie. 438 A Third Letter for Toleration* here, No Religion but the true requirentf MiHt\\e.(S\i^c\i\t Task of movtifpng their Lujls^ 'J his being granted you, whnt Sen'icc will this do you to prove a NccefHty of Force to punifli all Diflcntcrs in England ? Do none of their Religions require the mortify- ing of Lufts as well as yours ? And now, let us confider your Inftancc whereon you bui^Id fo mucli, that we hear I|-g' 7- of it over and over again. For you tell us. Idolatry prevail'd, iut yet mt by the Help ag- i^. (if p^Yce^ as has been fuffidently fiieivn. And again, That Ttuth left to (I.vft for her f elf zuill not do well enough^ has been frfficiently f^ewn. What you have done to fliew this, ''^' ■ is to be feen, where you tell us, Within how jciu Generations after the Flood, thelVorfno of falfe Gods tre'vail'd againjl the Religion which Noali frojcjfcd, and taught his Children, (which was undoubtedly the true Religion) almojl to the titter Esclujlon of it, (tho' that at firfi was the only Religion in the World) without any Aid from Force, or the Affi fiance of the Pow~ ers in Being, for any thing we find in the Hiflory of thofe 'Times, as we may rcafonably be- lieve, coiifidcring that it found an Entrance into the World, and Entertainment in it, when it could have nofuch Aid, or Ajfiflance. Of which (befides the Corruption of human Nature) you fuppofe there can no other Caufe be afpgned, or none more probable than this, that the Powers then in Being, did mt do what they might and ought to have done, towards the pre- venting or checking that horrible Apofiacy. Here you tell us, that the Wurfloip of falfe Gods, within a very few Generations after the Flo'id, prp'oail d againfl tlie true Religion, nl- mofl to the utter Ex:lufiun of it. This you fay indeed, but without any Proofs; and unlefs that be fhewing, you have potj as you pretend, any way fhewn it. Out of what Records, Ibefeechyou, have you it, that the true R.eIigion was alniofl wholly extirpated out of the World, within a few Generations after the Flood? Uhe Scri- pture, the largeft Hiftory we have of thofe TimfiS, fays nothing of it; nor does, as I remember, mention any as gviilty of Idolatry, within 2 or 300 Years after the Flood. In Canaan it felf, I do not think that you can out of any credible Hiftory fhew^ that there was any Idolatry within ten or twelve Generations after Noah ^ much lefs that it had fo overfpread the World, and extirpated the true Religion, out of that Part of it, where the Scene lay of thofe Actions recorded in the Hiftory of the Bibi^ \n Abraham's Time, Melchifedeck who was King of 6'^/d';«, was aifo the Prieft of the moft High God. We read that God, with an immediate Hand, punifh'd miracu- loufly, firft Mankind, at the Confulion of Babel, and afterward Sodo7n, and four other Cities ,• bur in neither of thefe Places is there any the leaft mention of Idola- try, by which they provoked God, and drew down Vengeance on themfelves. So that truly you h^xe. fhewn nothing at all, and what the Scripture y^ew/ is agninft you : For befides, that it is plain by Melchifedeck the King of Salem, and Prieft of the moft High God, to whom Abraham paid Tithes, that all the Land of Canaan was not yet over-fpread with Idelatry, tho' afterwards in the Time of Jofbua, by the Forfeiture was therefore made to the Ifraelites, one may have Reafon to fufpect it \vere more defiled with it, than any Part of the World, Befides Salem, I lay, he that reads the Story of Abimelech, will have Reafon to think, that he alfo and his Kingdom, tho' Philiflines, were not then infefted with Idolatry. You think they, and almoft all Mankind were Idolaters, but you may be mifta- ken j and that n^hich may ferve to fliew it, is the Example of Elijah the Prophet, who was at leaft as infallible a Gueffer as you, and was as well 'inftrufted in the State and Hiftory of his own Country, and Time, as you can be in the State ol the whole World three or four thoufand Years ago. Elijah thought Idolatry had whol- ly extirpated the true Religion out of Ifael, and complains thus to God. The Chil- dren o/Tfrael have forfiken thy Covenant, thrown dozvn thy Altars, andflain thy Prophets with the Sword : and /, even I alone, am left, and they feek my Life to take it away. And he is fo fully perfuaded of it, that he repeats it again : And yet God tells him, thaj: he had there yet 7000 Knees that had not bowed to Baal, 7000 that were not Idolaters : tho' this was in the Reign of Ahab, a King zealous for Idolatry ; and in a Kingdom fet up in an idolatrous Worftlip, which had continued the National Religion, eftabliHicd and promoted by the continued Succeflion of feveral idola- trous Princes. And though the National Religions foon after the Flood were falfe, which you are far enough from proving; how does it theitce follow, that the true Religion was near extirpated? which it muft needs quite have been, before 9. St. Peter's Time, if there were fo great Reafon to fear, as you tell us, That the true Religion, without the Afliftancc of Force, would in a jnuch fborter Time, than any one that does not well confider the Mat let: vjmld imagine, be 7no/l effeclually extir- pated Pa^. 6 A Third Letter for To l e r a t i o N"» 439 pa'ted throughout the IVorld. For about 2000 Years after Noah's time, St. Peter tells U'>, T'hat in every Nation, be that jeareth God, and worketh Rigijteoufnefs, is accepted by ^^^ '°- him. By wliich Wortls, and the Occafion on which they were ip-iken, it is manifefl, ^^" that in Countries where for 2000 Years together no Force liad been uied for the fup- port of Noah's true Religion, it was not yet wholly extirpated. But that you inay not think it was fo near, that there was but one left, only Cornelius, if you will look into Ads 17.4. you will find a great Mutlitude of them at T'i)eJ]alonicn, And of the,V^. ij. devout Greeks a great Multitude believed, and conforted with Paul and Silas. And again more of them in Athens, a City wholly given to Idolatry. For that th.ofe «-:/3'//ivc/, which wc tranilatc devout, and whereof many are mentioned in the Acls, were Gen- tiles, who worfliippcd the true God, and kept the Precepts of Noah, Mr. Alede has abundantly proved. So that whatfoevcr you, -who have well ciinfidered the Matter, may imagine of the fhortncls of time, wherein Noah's Religion would be ejfeiiitally ex- tirpated throighout the tVorld, without the Afliftance of Force, we rind it at Athens, at: Philippi, at Corinth, amongft the Romans, in Antioch of Pijidia, in T'lieffalmica, above 2000 Years after, and that not fo near being extinguifh'd, but that in iome of vhofe Places the ProfelVors of it were numerous : at Thtjjalunica they are cali'd a great Multitude : at Antioch many : and how many of them there were in other Parts of the World, whereof there was no occafion to make mention in tliatfliort Hillory of the Acls of the Apoftles, who knows ? If they anfwered, in other Places, to what were found in thele, as what Rcafon is there to fuppofe they Hiould not ? I think we may i^nagine them to be as many, as there were cfteftually of the true Religion, Chrillians in £?«o/'(', a little before the Reformation, notwithflanding the Affiilance the Chriftian Religion had from Authority, after the withdrawing of Miracles. But you have a Saho, for you write warily, and endeavour to fa\e your feif on all Hands ; you fay, Ti>ere is great Reafon to fear, that without God's E XTRA RD IN A- Pa^- P RT PRO VI D E NCE, it would in a much fimrter time, than any one, who dofs not well conjtder the Matter, would imagine, be mofl effectually extirpated by it, throughout the IVorld. 'lis without doubt, the Providence of God which governs the Affairs both of the World and his Church ; and to that, whether you call it Ordinary or Extraordi- nary, you may truft the Prefervation of his Church, without the ufe of fuch MeanSj as he has no where appointed or authorized. Yc^u fancy Force neceffary to prelerve the true Religion, and hence you conclude the Magiftrate authorized, wi thout any far- ther Commiflion from God, to ufe it, li there be no other Means left ; and therefore that mufl be ufed : If Religion fhould be preferred without it, it is by the Extraordi- nary Providence of God ; where Exraordinary fignifies nothing, but begging the thing in queftion. The true Religion has been preferved many Ages, in the Church, with- out Force. Ay, fay you, that wnsby the Extraordinary Providence of God. His Pro- vidence which over-rules all Events, we eafily grant it : But why Extraordinary Pro- vidence ? becaule Force was neceffary to prelerve it. And why was Force neceffary ? becaufeotherwife, -ivhhout Extraodinary Providence, it cannot be preferv'd. In fuch Circles covered under good Words, but mifapplied, one might fhew your taking many a Turn in your anfwer, if it were fit to wade others Time to trace your Wander- ings. God has appointed Preaching, Teaching, Perfuafion, Inftruftion, as a Means to continue and propagate his true Religion in tiie World ; and if it were any where preferved and propagated without that, we might cMk his Extraordinary Providence? but the Means he has appointed being ufed, we may conclude, that Men have done their Duties, and fo may leave it to his Providence, however xve will call it, to pre- lerve the little Flock (which he bids not to fear) to the end of the World. But let us return again to what you fay, to make good this Hypothefis of yours. That Idolatry entred rirft into the World by the Contrivance, and fpread it felf by the Endeavours of private Men, without the AfTiftance of the Magiftrates, and thole in Power. To prove this, you tell us. That it found Entrance into the IVorld, and Enter-Vag. 6. tainment in it, when it could have no fuch Aid or Afffance. When was this, I befeech you, that Idolatry found this Entrance into the H'^orld ? Under what King's Reign was it, that you are fo pofitive it could have no fuch Aid or Affiflance ? If you had named the Time, the Thing (though of no great Moment to you) had beeti lure. But now we may very juftly queUion this bare Affertion of yours. For fince we find, as far back as we have any Hillory of it, that the great Men of the World were always forward to let up and promote Idolatry and falfe Religions, you ought to have given us fome Reafon Why, without Authority from Hiftory, you affirm that Idolatry, at its Enuance into tlie ^40 -A Third Letter for Toleration. the World, had not that AfTiftancc from Men in Power, which it never fail'd of af- terwards. Who they were that made Ifrael to fin, the Scripture tells us. Their Kings were fo zealous Promoters of Idolatry, that there is fcarce any one of them, that has not that Brand left upon him in Holy Writ. One of the lirft falfe Religions, whofe rife and way of propagating we have an ac- count of in Sacred Hiftory, was by an ambitious Ufurper, who, having rebell'd a- gainft his Mailer, with a falfe Title fet up a falfe Religion, to fecure his Power and Dominion. Why this might not have been done bttiomJevoboam'sDixys, and Idols fet up at other Places, as well as at Dan and Betbely to ferve politick Ends, will need, fomc other Proof, than barely faying, it could not be fo at firft. The Devil, unlefs much more ignorant, was not lefs bufy in thofe Days to engage Princes in his Favour, and to weave Religion into Affairs of State, the better to introduce his Worfliip, and fupport Idolatry, by accommodating it to the Ambition, Vanity, or Super- ftition, of Men in Power : and therefore, you may as well fay, tliat the Corrup- tion of Human Nature, as tiiat the Affiflance of the Powers in being, did not, in thofe Days, help forward falfe Religions ; becaufe your Reading has furnifli'd you with Pag. 6. no particular mention of it out of Hiftory. But you need but fay, that the fVorfijp of falfe Gods prevailed luitbout any Aid font Furce, or the Affiftance of the Powers in being, jor any thing we find in the Hifiory of thofe 'Times ^ and then you have fufficiently fijewn, what ? even that you have juft nothing to fljew for your Aflertion. But whatever that any thing is, which you find in Hiftory, you may meet with Men (whofe reading yet I will not compare with yours) who think they have found in Hillory, that Princes, and thofe in Power, firft corrupted the true Religion, by fetting up the Images and Symbols of their Predeceilbrs in their Temples : which, by their Influence, and the ready Obedience of the Priefts they appointed, were in SucceiTion of Time propos'd to the People as Objefts of their Worfhip. Thus they think they find in Hiftory that ICis, Queen o£ Egypt, with her Counfellor Tlmh, infti- tuted the Funeral-Rites of King Ofiris, by the Honour done to the Sacred Ox. They t\\\rikt\\Qy find ^io in Hiftory, that the fame 77jof/j, who was alfo K.\r.g oi Egypt in his Turn, invented the Figures of the firft Egyptian Gods, Saturn, Dagcn, fupiter Hammon, and the reft : that is, the Figures of their Statutes or Idols ; and that he inftituted the Worfliip and Sacrifices of thefe Gcds : And his Inftitutions were fo well aflifted by thofe in Authority, and obferved by the Priefts they fet up, that the W^orfhip of thofe Gods foori became the Religion of that, and a Pattern to other Nations. And here we may perhaps, with good Reafon, place the Rife and Ori- ginal of Idolatry after the Flood, there being nothing of this kind more ancient. So ready was the Ambition, Vanity, or Superftition of Princes, to introduce their Predecelfors into the Divine Worfhip of the People, to fecure to themfelves the greater Veneration from their Subjefts, as defcended from the Gods ; or to ereft fuch a Wor- fhip, and fuch a Priefthood, as might awe the blinded and feduced People into than Obedience they defired. 'Thws Ham, by the Authority of his Succeflors, the Rulers of Egypt, is firft brought for the Honour of his Name and Memory into their Tem- ples, and never left, till he is erefted into a God, and made Jupiter Hammon, &c. which Fafllion took afterwards with the Princes of other Countries. Was not the great God of the Eaftern Nations, Baal, or Jupiter Belus, one of the firft Kings of ^j^r/^ ? And which, I pray, is the more likely, that Courts, by their Inftruments the Priefts, fliould thus advance the Honour of Kings amongft the Peo- ple for the Ends of Ambition and Power ; or the People find out thcfe refined Ways of doing it, and introduce them into Courts for the enflaving themfelves > What I- dolatry does your Hiftory tell you of among the Greeks, before Phoroneus and Da- naus. Kings of the ^r^i-yw, andCecru/'j and Thefeus K.\ngs oi Attica, and Cadinus K.\ng of Thebes introduced it ? An Art of Rule 'tis probable they borrowed from the £- gyptians. So that if you had not vouch'd the Silence of Hiftory, without confult- ing it, you would poffibly have found, that in the firft Ages, Princes, by their Influ- ence and Aid, by the Help and Artifice of the Priefts they employ'd, their Fables of their Gods, their Myfteries and Oracles, and all the AfTiftance they could give it by their Authority, did fo much againft the Truth, before direft Force was grown into Fafhion, and appeared openly, that there would be little reafon of putting the Guard . . and Propagation of the true Religion into their Hands now, and arming them with Force to prornote it. That A Third Letter /(?r To l e r a T i on. .441 That this was the Original of Idolatry in the World, and that it was borrowed hy ~ other Magiftrates from the Egyptians, is farther evident in that this Worfhip was fettled '\x) Egypt, and grown the National Religion there, before the Gods of Crieff, and feveral other idolatrous Countries were bom. For though they took their Pat- tern of deifying their deccafcd Princes, Irom the Egyptians, and kept, as near as they could, to the Number and Genealogies of the £^v/'/^mk Gods ; yet thev took the Names ftiil of fome great Men of their own, which they accommodated to the My- thology of the Egrptinm. Tims, by the afliftance of tie Puwers in being. Idolatry entred into the World after the Flood. Whereof, if there were not fo clear Foot- fteps in Hiftory, why yet Hiould you not imagine Princes and Magiftrates, engaged in falfe Religions, as ready to employ their Power for the maintaining and promoting their faife Religions in thofe Days, as we find them now } And therefore, what you fay in the next Woi'ds, of the Entrance of Idolatry into the IVorhl, and the Entertain- ^^Z- ^• ment it found in it, will not pafs for fo very evident, without Proof, though you tell us never fo confidentl)', that you fuppofe, befides the Currtiption of human Nature, there can no other Caufe be afjigned of it, or none more probable than this, "That the Povjers then in being, did not what they might and ought to have done, (i. e. if you mean it to your Purpofe, ufe Force your Way, to make Men conjider, or to impofe Creeds and Ways of Worfloip) toxuards the preventing or checking that horyible Apofiacy. I grant that the entrance and growth of Idolatry, might be owning to the Negli- gence of the Powers in being, in that they did not do what they might and oic^ht to have done, in ufing their Authority to fupprefs the Enormities of Mens Manners, and correft the Irregularity of their Lives. But this was not all the afliftance they gave to that horrible Apofiacy: They were, as far as Hiftory gives us any Light, the Promoters of it, and Leaders in it, and did what they ought not have done, by fetting up falfe Religions, and ufing their Authority to eftablifli them, to ferve their corrupt and ambitious Defigns. » National Religions, cftablifh'd by Authority, and enforced by the Powers in being we hear of every where, as far back as we have any account of the rife and growth of the Religions of the World. Shew me any Place, within thofe few Generations, wherein you fay the Apoftacy prevail'd after the Flood, where the Magiftrates, being of the true Religion, the Subjefts by the Liberty of a Toleration, were led into falfe Religions, and then you will produce fomething againft Liberty of Confcience. But to talk of that great Apoftacy, as wholly owing to Toleration, when you can- not produce one Inftance of Toleration then in the World, is to fay what you pleale. That the Majority of Mankind were then, and always have been, by the Corrup- tion and Pravity of inanan Nature, led away, and kept from embracing the true Re- ligion, is paft doubt. But whether this be owing to Toleration, in Matters of Reli- gion, is the Qiieftion. David defcribes an horrible Corruption and Apoftacy in his time, fo as to fay. There is none that doth Good, no not one ; and yet I do not think pf^i j, you will fay, a Toleration then in that Kingdom was the Caufe of it. If the greateft Part cannot be ill without a Toleration, lam afraid you muft be fain to find out a Toleration in every Country, and in all Ages of the World. For I think it is true, of all Times and Places, that the broad Way, that leadeth to DeftruEiion, has had moft Travellers. I would be glad to know where it was that Force, your Way ap- ply d, /. e. with Puniihments only upon Nonconformifts, ever prevail'd to bring the greater Number into the narrow Way, that leads unto Life i which our Saviour tells us, there are few that find. The Corruption of humane Nature, you fay, oppofes the true Religion. I grant it you. There was alfo, fay you, an horrible Apofiacy after the Flood ,• let this alfo be granted you : and yet from hence it will not follow, that the true Religion can- not^ fubfift and prevail in the World without the afliftance of Force, your Way ap- ply d, till you have fhcwn, that the falfe Religions, which were the Inventions of Men, grew up under Toleration, and not by the Encouragement and AfTiftance of the Poivers in being. How near foever therefore, the true Religion was to be extinguifixd within afe-en Generatmis after the Flood, (which whether more in Danger then, than in moft Ages fince, is more than you can fliew.) This will be ftill the C^ieftion, whether the Li- berty of Toleration, or the Authority of the Powers in bemg, contributed moft to it ? And whether there can be no other, nor more proiahk Caufe afEoned, than the Vol.11. Kkk ■ want 442 A Third Letter for Toleration. want of" Force, your Way apply'd, 1 fliall leave tlic Reader to judge. This I am fure, whatever Caulesanyone elfe fhall aJJ/gn, are as well proved as yours, if they offer tlicin only as their Conjectures. Not but that I think Men could ]-un into falfe and fooiiftl Ways of Worfhip, with- out the Inftigation or AfTidance of human Authority ; but the Powers of the World, MS far ns we have any Hiftory, having been always forward enough (true Religion as little fer\'ing Princes as private Mens Lufts) to take up wrong Religions, and as for- ward to employ their Authority to impofe the Religion, good or bad, which they had once taken up ; I can fee no reafon why the not ufing of Force, by the Princes of the World, fnould be affigned as the fole, or fo much as the mo{i prohal/le Caufe of propagating the falfe Religions of the World, or extirpating the true; or how you can fo pofitively fay. Idolatry prevail'd •without aity Affijiame from th^ Povjcrs in being. '■ Since therefore Hiftory leads us to th^ Magiftrates, as the Authors and Promoters of Idolatry in tlie World, to which we may luppofc their not fuppreffing of Vice, joined as another Caufe of the Spreading of falfe Religions, you were beil confider, whether you can lt\\\ fuppofe there can no other Caufe be affigned, of the Prevailing of the Worftiip of falfe Gods, but theMagiftrate's not interpoiing his Authority in Mat- ters of Religion. For that that cannot with any Probability at all be affigned as any Caufe, I Ihall give you this farther Reafon. You impute the Prevailing of falfe Reli- gions to the Corruption and Pravity of human Nature, hft to it felf unbridled by Autho- rity. Now if Force, your Way applied, does not at all bridle the Corruption and PrO- vity of human Nature, the Magiftrate's not fo interpofing his Authority, cannot be affgned as any Caufe at all of that Apoftacy. So that let that Apoftacy have what rife, andfpread as far as youpleafe, it will not make one jot for Force, your Way applied, or fhew that that can receive any Affiftance your Way from Authority. For your ule of Authority and Force, being only to bring Men to an outward Confor- mity to the National Religion, it leaves the Corruption and Pravity of human Nature as unbridled as before ; as I have fliewn elfewhere. Vig. 7. You tell us, 'That it is not true, that the true Religion vjiH prevail by its own Ligln and Strength, without Miracles, or the Ajjiflance of the Powers in being, becaufe of the Corruption of human Nature. And for this you give us an Inftance in the Apoflacy prefently after the Flood. And you tell us. That without the Afllftance of Force it would prefently be extirpated out of the World. If the Corruption of human Na- ture be fo univerfal, and lb ftrong, that, without the Help of Force, the true Religi- on is too weak to {land it, and cannot at all prevail, without Miracles or Force ; How come Men ever to be converted, in Countries where the National Religion is falfe ? If you lay by extraordinary Providence, what that amounts to, has been fhewn. If you lay this Corruption is fo potent in all Men, as to oppofe and prevail againft the Go- fpel, not aflifted by Force or Miracles, that is not true. If in moft Men, fo it is ftill, even where Force is ufed. For I defire you to name me a Country, where the greatefl Part are really and truly Chriftians, fuch as you confidently believe Chrift, at the laft Day, will own to be fo. In £H^/flK^ having, as you do, excluded all the Diffenters, (or elfe why would you have them punilh'd, to bring them to embrace the true Reli- gion }) you muft, I fear, allow your felf a great Latitude in thinking, if you think that the Corruption of human Nature, does not fo far prevail, even amongft Confor- mifts, as to make the Ignorance, and Lives, of great Numbers amongft them, fucli as futes not at all with the Spirit of true Chriflianity. How great their Ignoi'ance may be, in the more fpiritual and elevated Parts of the Chriftian Religion, may be gueffed, by what the Reverend Bilhop, before cited, fays of it, in reference to a Rite of the Church j the moft eafy and obvious to be inftrufted in, and under- PaftoTal ftood. His Words are. In the common Management of that Holy Rite [Confirmati- Carc i'a£. ^^j y^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ vijible, that of thofe Multitudes that croud to it, the far greater Part come merely as if they were to receive the Bifiup's Blejfng, xvithout any Senfe of the Vow made by them, and of their renewing their baptifmal Engagements in it. And \i Origen were now alive, might he not find many in our Church, to whom thefe Words of his f^r'g- hiight be apply'd, M'^hofe Faith fgnifies only thus much, and goes no farther than this, I^Tix" '^^'^- '^■'^^ ^^^'^y '-"^'^ ^""^ '" ^^^ Church, and bow their Heads to the Priefts, &c. For it " ' feems it was then the Falhion to bow to the Prieft as it is now to the Altar. If there- fore you fay Force is neceffary, becaufe without it no Men will fo confider as to em- brace the true Religion, for the Salvation of their Souls, that 1 think is manifeftly falfe. A Third Letter /or Toleration. 443 falfe. If you fay it is nccrjfnry to ufc fuch Means ns will make the greateft Part fo em- brace it, you mull ule I'ome other Means than Force, your Way applied, for tiiat does not fo far work on the Majority. If you fay it is necejfary, becaufe poflibiy it may workonfome, which bare Preaching, and Periuafion, will not; I anfwer, Ifpof- fibly your moderate PuiJijJ.))ncms may work on feme, and therefore ?/)tj are necefjary, 'tis as poffiblc, that greater Punifhments may work on others, and therefore they are ncceffary, and fo on to the utmofl Severities. That the Corruption of human Nature is everywhere I'prcad, and th£lt it works, Pag. i^, powerfully in the Children of Difobedience, who receivedmt the Lwe of the T}-ut/>, but had Pkafure in U>iyigljtemifnefi ; and therefore God gives tiiem up to believe a Lie, no bo- dy, I thuik, will deny. But that this Corruption of human Nature works equally in all Men, or in all Ages; andfo, that God will, or ever did, give up all Men, not reftrained by Force, your Way modified and applied, to believe a Lie, (as all falfe Religions are) that I yet fee no Reafon to grant. Nor will this Inftancc of ^oal/s Religion, you fo much rely on, ever perluade, till you have proved, that from thofe eight Men which brought the true Religion with them into the new World there were not eight thoufand, or eighty thouiand, which retain'd it in the World, in the worft Times of the Apoftacy. And Secondly, till you have proved, that the falfe Religions of the World prevail'd, without any Aid from Force, or the AfTi- ftance of the Powers in Being. And Thirdly, That the Decay of the true Religion was for want of Force, your moderate Force, neither of which you have at all proved, as, I think it manifeft. One Conlideration more touching A'ua/;, and his Religion, give me leave to fug- geft, and that is ; If Force were fo neceflary for the Support of the true Religion, as you make it, tis ftrange, God, who gave him Precepts about other Things, fhould never reveal this to him, nor any body elfe, that I know. To this, you, who have confeiled the Scripture not to have given the Magi/Irate this CjiniuijCion, mult fay, that it is plain enough in Commiffion that he has from the Law of Nature, and fo needed not any Revelation, to inftruft the Magiftrate in the Right hehastoufe Force. I confefs the Magiftxates have ufed Force in Matters of Religion, and have been as confidently and conftantly put upon it by their Priefls, as if they had as clear a Commiffion from Heaven, as St. Peter had to preach the Gofpel to the Gentiles. But yet 'tis plain, notwithftanding that Commiffion from the i^zu) of Nature, there needs fome farther Inftruftion from Revelation, fince it does not appear, that they have found out the right Ufa of Force, fuch as the true Religion requires for its Prefervation ; and tho' you have after feveral thcufands of Years, atlali, difcovercd it, yet it is very imperfeflly, you not being able to tell, if a Law were now to be made againft thofe who have not conjider'das they ought, what are thofe moderate Penal- ties which are to be employ 'd againft them, tho' yet without that all the reft fignifies nothing. But however doubtful you are in this, I am glad to find you fo direct, in putting Mens rejefting the true Religion, upon the Difficulty they have to mortifyVig. -j, their Lujls, luhich the true Religion requires of them, and I delire you to remember it in other Places, where I have occafion to mind you of it. 'lo conclude. That we may fee the great Advantage your Caufe will receive from that Inftance, you fo much rely on, of the Apoflacy aftei" the Flood ; I fhall opnofe another to it. You fly, "ih^z Idolatry prevail" d in the World, in a feiu Generations, al-Pag.6. mcft to the utter Eyiclujhn of the true Religion, without any Aid from Furce, or Ajf fiance of the Powers in Being, by reafon of Toleration. And therelore, joz; think tiiere is great ?3,g. Since the Magiftrates, who were of falfe Reli- gions then, were furnifh'd with as much Right, if that were enough, as they are now. So that where the Magiftrates are of ialfe Religions, there you muft, upon your Principles, affirm Miracles are ftill to fupply the Want of Force ; unlefs you will fay (what without Impiety cannot be faid) that the wife and benign Difpofer and Governor oj all Things, hath not furniflyd Mankind with competent Means fr the pro- rnoting his own Honour in the World, and the Good of Souls. Now how far this will favour the Pretences of the Church of Ro7ne to Miracles in the Eaft and Weft- Indies, and other Parts not under Popifh Governments, you were beft confider. This is evident, that in all Countries where the true Religion is not received for the Religivn oj the State, and fupported and encotiraged by the Laws of it, you muft allow Miracles to be as neceflary now, as ev'er they were any where in the World, for the Supply of the Want of Force, before the Magiftrates were Chriftians. And then what Advantage your Doftrine gives to the Church of Rome, is very viiible. For they, like you, fuppofing theirs the one only true Religion, are fupplied Pag. 7. by you with this Argument for it, viz.. That the true Religion will not prevail by its own Light and Strength, without the Ajfi flame of Miracles or Authority. VVhich are the competent Means, which, without Impiety, it cannot be faid, that the wife and be- nign Difpofer and Governor of all Things, has not furniflj'd Mankind with. From wiiencc they will not think it hard to draw this Confequence ; that therefore the wife and benign Governor oj all Things, has continued in their Church the Power of Miracles (which yours does not fo much as pretend to) to fupply the Want oj the Magiftrate's /iffiftame, where that cannot be had to make the true Religion prevail. And if a Papijl fl^puld prefs you with this Argument, I would gladly know what you would reply.to him. Though this be enough to make good what I faid, yet fmce I feek Truth, more than my own Juftification, let us examine a little, what 'tis you here fay of compe- tent A third Letter for ToLERAtioN. 447 tent Means. Competent Means, you fay, are necejfnry ; kit you think no Man wili fay, all ufeful Means are fo. If you think you fpeak plain, clear dctermin'd Senfe, when you ui'cd tliis good Etiglifl) Word cotnpetent, I pity you : If you did it with Skill, I iend you to my Pagans and Mahometans. But this falc Way ot Talking, though it be not altosrether fo clear, yet it fo often occurs in you, that 'tis hard to judge, whe- ther it be Art or Nature. Now pray what do you mean by Mankind's being fur- ''^g- ^i"- iiij]/d with competent Means ? If it be lucli Means as any are prevail'd on by to em- brace the T'nith that tnitfi Jave them, Pi'eaching is a competent Means; for by Preach- ing alone, without Force, many are prevail'd on, and become truly Chriftians ; and then your Force, by your own Confeifion, is not necejfary. If by co7npetent, you un- derftand fuch Means by which all Men are prevail'd on, or the Majority, to become truly Chrijlians, I fear your Force is no cotnpetent Means. Which way ever you put it, you mull; acknowledge Mankind to bedeftituteof cotnpetent Means, or }Our moderate Force not to be that necejfary compet>etit Means : Since wh^ttxcr .Right the Magiftyates may have had any where toufe it, where-ever it has not been ufed, (let the Caufe be what it Avill that kept this Means from be- ing ufed) there tlie People have been deftitute of that Means. But you will think there is little reafon to complain of Obfcurity, you having a- buTidantly explained what you mean by competent, in faying, cofnpetent, i. e. fufficient Means. So that we have nothing to do but to find out what you mean by fufficient : and the Meaning of that Word, in your Ufe of it, you happily give us in thefe follow- ing, fVhat does any Man mean by fufficient Evidence, but fuch as will certainly win Af~^^^' ^'' fent where-ever it is duly confider d f Apply this to your Means, and then tell me, whether your Force be fuch competent, i. e. fufficient Means, tliat it certainly pro- duced embracing the Truth, where-ever it'was duly, u e. your Way apply'd ; if it did not, 'tis plain it is not your cotnpetent fiffcient Means, and fo the World, without any fuch Imputation to the Divine IVifdom and Benignity, might be without it. If you Will fay it "Was fufficient, and did produce that End wiiere-ever it was apply'd, I defire youthen to tell me whether Mankind hath been always furnifh'd with competent Means. You have it now in your Choice, either to talk itnpioujly, or renounce Force, and difcwn it to be competent Means ; one of the two I do not fee how, by your own Ar- gument, you can avoid. But to lay by your competent and fufficient Means, and to eafe you of the Uncer- tainty and Difficulty you will be in to determine what is fo, in refpefl: of Mankind ; I fuppofe it will be little lefs impious to fay, that the wife and benign Difpofer and Gover- nor hath Kotfurnijh'd Mankind with necellary Means, as to fay he hath not fumijh'd tliem with competent Means. Now, Sir, if your moderate Penalties, and nothing elfe, be, fince the withdrawing of Miracles, this necejfary Means, what will be left you to fay, by your Argument, of the IVifdom and Benignity of God in all thofe Countries, where moderate Penalties are not made ufe of? where Men are not fur- nilh'd with this Means to bring them to the true Religion? For unlefs you fay, that your moderate Penalties have been conftantly made ufe of in the World for the Support and Encouragement of the true Religion, and to bring Men to it, ever fince the withdrawing oi Miracles, you muft confei's, that not only fomc Countries, (which yet were enough againft you) but Mankind in general, have been unfurnifh'd of the tieceffivy Means for the promoting the Honour of God in the World, and the Salvation of Mens Souls. This Argument out of your own Mouth (were there no other) is fuf- ficient to fhew the Weaknefs and Unreafonablenefs of your Scheme ; and I hope the due Confideration of it will make you cautious another time, how you entitle the JVifdom and Benignity of God to the Support of what you once fancy to be of great and necefl'ary Ule. I having thereupon faid, " Let us not therefore be more wife than our Maker in L.2.p.i(JS, that ftupendous and fupernatural Work of our Salvation, the Scripture, &c. You reply, Though the Work of our Salvation be, cu I jujily call it, ftupendous Pag. 35-. and fupernatural ; yet you fuppofe no fober Man doubts, but it both admits, and or- dinarily requires the UJe of natural and human Means, in Subordination to that Grace which works it. If you had taken notice of thefe immediately following Words of mine, " The " Scripture that reveals it to us, contains all that we can know or do, in order to it; and where that is filent, 'tis Prefumption in us to direft i You would not have thought what you here fay a fufficient Anfwer : For though God does make ufe of 448 A Third Letter for ToLER AT los.. oi natural and human Means in Subordination to Grace, yet it is not for Man to make ufe of any Means, in Subordination to bis Grace, which God has not appointed, out ■of a Conceit it may do fume Service indirecily and at a di/lance. The whole Covenantand Work of Grace, is the Contrivance of God's infinite Wif- dom. What it is, and by what Means he will difpenfe his Grace, is known to us bv Revelation only ; whicii is lb little futed to human M^ifdom, that the Apollle calls it the Foolijhnefs of Preaching. In the Scripture, is contain'd ail that Revelation, and all things neced'ary for tiiat Work, all the Means of Grace : There God has declared all what he would have done for the Salvation of Souls ; and if he had tliought Force neceiiary to be join'd with the Fuolijhnefs of Preaching, no doubt but he would Icme- where or other have reveal'd it, and not left it to the Wifdom of Man : which how difproportion'd and oppofite it is to the Ways and Wifdom of God in the Gofpel, and how unfit to be trufled in the Bufinefs of Salvation, you may fee, i Cor. i. from v. 17, to the end. T'he Work of Grace admits, and ordinarily requires the ufe of natural and Intman Mean;. Pag. 3J-. I deny it not : Let us now hear your Inference ; "Therefore tilll havefloeiin that no Penal Laivs, that can be made, can do any Service towards the Salvation of Mens Souls in Sub- ordination to God's Grace, or that God has forbidden the Magi fir ate to ufe Force, (for fo you ought to put it) but you rather chufe (according to your ordinary Way) to ufe general and doubtful \\ ords ; and therefore ycu fay. To ferve him in that great Work ivith the Authority -which he has given him, there will be no occajion for the Caution I have given, not to be wifer than our Maker in that flupendous Work of our Salvation. By which Way of arguing, any thing that I cannot fhew, cannot poflibly, cannot indi- rectly and at a difiance, or by Accident, do any Service, or God has not forbidden, may be made ufe of for the Salvation of Souls. I luppofe you mean exprefly forbidden, for elfe I might think thele Words, [^Who has required this at your Hands ?'] a fufEcient Prohibition of it. The Sum of your Argument is, what cannot be Jheiv'd -not to do any Service, may be ufed ai an human Means in Subordination to Grace, in the Work of Salvation. To which I reply. That what may, through the Grace of God, fome- times do fome Service, cannot, without a farther warrant from Revelation, than Ufe- fulnefs, be rcquir'd, or made ufe of as a fubordinate Means to Grace. For if fo, then auricular Confeilion, Penance, Pilgrimages, Procellions, (Jc. which no body can fliew do not ever do any Service, at leaft, indireBly and at a difiance, towards the Salvation of Souls, may all be /uftify'd. 'Tis not enough that it cannot be fhexvn that it cannot do any Service to juftify its Ufefulnefs ; For what is there that may not, indireEily and at a difiance, or by Acci- dent, do fome Service ? To fhew that it is an human Means, that God has no where appointed, in Subordination to Grace, in the funernatural Work of Salvation, is enough to prove it an unwarrantable Boldnefs to ufe it : And much more fo in the prefent Cafe of Fvrce, which, if put into the Magiflrate's Hands with Power to ufe it in Matters of Religion, will do more harm than good ; as I think I have fufficiently fliewn. And thereiore, fmce according to you, the Magiflrate's Commiffion, to ufe Force for the Salvation of Souls, is from the Law of Nature ; which Commiflion reaches to none, fince the Revelation of the Gofpel, but Chriftian Magiftrates ; 'tis more natural to conclude, (were thcrenothingelfe in the Cafe but the Silence of Scripture) that the Chriftian Magiftrate has no fuch Power, becaufe he has no fuch Commiflion any "ivhere in the Gofpel, wherein all th'ngs are appointed neceflary to Salvation ; than that there was lb clear a Ccmmiffion given to all Magiftrates by the Law of Nature, that it is neceflary x.o fijewa Prohibition from Revelation, if one w'ill deny Chriftian Magiftrates to have that Power. Since the Ccmniiflion of the Law of Nature to Ma- giftrates, being only that general one, of doing Good according to the beft of their Judgments : if that extends to the ufe of Force in Matters of Religion, it will abun- dantly more oppofe than promote the true Religion, if Force in the Cafe has any Ef- ficacy at all, and fo do more harm than good : Which though it fhews not, (what you here demand) that it cannot do any Service towards the Salvation of Mens Souls, lor that cannot be fhewn of any thing ; yet it fhews the Differvice it does, is fo much more, than any Service can be expefted from it, that it can never be proved, that God has given Power to Magiftrates to ufe it by the Conimillion they have of doing Good, from the Law of Nature. But vvhilft you tell me. Till I have fheivn that Force and Penalties cannot do any ■ Service towards the Salvation of Souls, there will be no occaftw for the Cqutiw 1 gave you, not A Third Letter for Toleration. 449 not to be wifer than our Maker in that ftupendous and fupernatural Work, you have forgot your own ConfefIion,Tliat it is not enough to authorize the ufe of Force, that Pag. jo. it may be afeful, if it be not alfo newjfury. And when you can prove fuch Means ne- ceffary, which though it cannot be fhewn, never upon any occafion, to do any Service ; 3'et may be, and is abundantly flicwn to do fo little Service, and fo uncertainly, that if it be uled, it will, if it has any Efficacy, do more Harm than Good : If you can, I fay, prove fuch a Means as that mcejjary, I think I may yield you the Caufe. But the ufe of it has fo much certain Harm, and fo little and uncertain Good in it, that it can never be fuppos'd included or intended in the general Commiffion to the Magi- ftrates, of doing good : Which may ferve for an Anfwer to your next Paragraph. Only let me take notice, that you here make this Commiffion of the Law of Na-P^g. %f. true to extend the Ufe of Force, only to induce thofe, ixiho tvould not otherwife, to hear "what may and oiigln to move them to embrace the 'Truth. They have heard all that is offered to move them to e7nbracey i. e. believe, but are not moved : Is the Magiftrate by the Law of Nature commiffion'd to punifh them for what is not in their Power ? for Faith is the Gift of God, and not in a Man's Power : Or is the Magiftrate com- mi/Iion'd by the Lawof Nature, which impowers him ingeneral, only to do them good ? Is he, I lay, commiffion d to make tiiem lie, and profels that wiiich they do not be- lieve } And is this for their good ? If he punifh them till they embra:e, i. e. believe, he punifhes them for what is not in their Power ; if till they embrace, i. e. barely profefs, he punifhes them for what is not for their good : To neither of which, can he be com- miflion'd by the Law of Nature. To my faying, Tilt you can fhew us a CommifHon in Scripture, it will be fit for us to obey that Precept of the Gofpel, Mark 4. 24. which bids us take heed -what we hear. You reply, That this you fuppofe is only intended fur the vulgar Reader; For it^ig- jC. ought to be rendered. Attend to what you hear; which you prove out oiGrotim. What if I or my Readers are not fo learned, as to underftand either the Greek Original, or Grotitti's Latin Comment ? Or if we did, are we to be blamed for underftnnding the Scripture in that Senfe, which the National, /. e. (as you fay) the true Religion au- thorizes, and which you tell us, would be a Fault in us if we did not believe ? For if, as you fuppofe, there be fufficient Provifion made in England for inftruftingPag. 20, all Men in the Truth, we cannot then but take the Words in this Senfe, it being that which the Publick Authority has given them; for if we are not to follow the Senfe as it is given us in the Tranflation authorized by our Governors,and ufed by our Worfliip eftablifh'd by Law, but muft feek it elfewhere, 'twill be hard to find, how there is any other Provifion made for inftrufting Men in the Senfe of the Scripture, which is the Truth that muft fave them, but to leave them to their own Enquiry and Judgment, and to themfelves, to take whom they think beft for Interpreters and Expounders of Scripture, and to quit that of the true Church, which fhe has given in her Tranfiation. This is the Liberty you take to differ from the true Church, when you think fit, and it will ferve your Purpofe. She fays. Take heed -what you hear ; but you fay, the true Senfe is. Attend to what you hear. Methinks you fhould not be at fuch Variance with Diffenters ; for after all, nothing is fo like a Nonconformift as a Con- formift. Though it be certainly every one's Right to underftand the Scripture in that Senfe which appears truefttohim, yet I do not fee how you, upon your Princi- ples, can depart from that which the Church of England has given it : But you, I find, when you think fit, take that Liberty ; and fo much Liberty as that, would, I think, fatisfy all the Diffenters in England. As to your other place Scripture; if St. Pattl, as itfeemsto me in that loth to the Romans, were fhewing that the Gentiles were provided with all things neceffary to ' Salvation, as well as the Jews ; and that by having Men fent to them to Preach the Gofpel, that Provifion was made, what you fay in the two next Paragraphs will Ihew us, that you underftand, that the Greek Word a-^o^, fignifies both Hearing and Re-Pag. 5-. port, but does no more anfwer the Force of thofe two Verfes, againft you, than if you had fpared all you faid with your Greek Criticifm. The Words of St. Paul are Rom. 10. thefe ; Hotv then fljall they call on him on zuhom they have not believed? And how JIm/I i^, 17- they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? And how fball the) hear withotit a Preacher ? And how fljall they Preach, esicept they be fent ? So then Faith cofneth by Hearing, and Hearing by the Word of God. In this Deduftion of the Means of pro- pagating the Gofpel, we may well fuppofe St. Paul would have put in Miracles or Penalties, if, as you fay, one of them had been neceffary. But whether or no every Vol. IL L 1 1 . Reader 450 A Third Letter for Toleration. Reader will think St. Paul fet down in that Place all necefTary Means, I know not ; but this, I am confident, he will think, that th'' New Teftament does; a.nd then I ask, Wliethcr there be in it one Word of Force to be ufed to bring Men to be Chri- flians, or to hearken to the good Tidings oi Salvation, offer'd in the Gofpel ? To my asking, " What if God, for Reafonsbetl known tohimfelf, would not have Pag. 58. " Men compell'd ? You anfwer. If he would not have them compeli'd now Miracles are ceafeJ, as jar ns moderate Penalties compel, (otherwife you arc not concern d in the Demand) he would have told us fo. Concerning Miracles iupplying the want of Force I Jliall need to fay norli ng more here but to your Anfwer, That God would have told us fo. I fliall in few Words ftnte the Matter to you. You firfl: fuppofe Force neaff'.ry to compel Men to hear, and thereupon fuppofe the Magiftrate invefled with a Power to compel then to hear, and from thence peremptorily declare, that if God would not have Force lafed, he would have told us jo. You fuppofe alfo, that it muft be only moderate Force. Now may we not ask one, that is fo far of the Council of the Al- mighty, that he can pofitively fay what he would or would not have, to tell us, \vhe- ther it be not as probable that God, who knows the Temper of Man that he has made, who knows how apt he is not to fpare any Degree of Force when he believes he has a Commiffion to compel Men to do any think in their Power, and who knows alfo how prone Man is to think it reafonable to do fo : whether, I fay, it is not as probable that God, if he would have the Magiftrate to ufe none but moderate Force to co?npel Men to hear, would alfo have told us fo ? Fathers are not more apt than Magiftrates to ftrain their Power beyond what is convenient for the Education of their Children ; and yet it has pleafed God to tell them in the New- Teftament, of this Moderation, by a Precept more than once repeated. To my demanding, " What if God would have Men left to their Freedom in this " Point ; if they will hear, or if they will forbear, will you conftrain them.> Thus we ^3' 38. " jjj.g fuj-ehedid with his own People, O'c You anfwer, Butthof IVords, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, which we find thrice ufed in the Prophet Ezekiel, are nothing at all to my Purpofe. For by Hearing there, no Man underflands the bare giving an Ear to what was to he preach d, nor yet the conjidering it only ; but the complying xvith it, and obeying it, according to the Paraphrafe which Grotius ^/'z^ex of the IVurds. Methinks, for this once, you might have allow'd me to have hit upon fome- thing to the Purpofe, you hav^e deny^d me it in fo many other Places : If it were but for Pity, and one other Reafon; which is, that all you have to fay againft it, is, that by Hearing there, no Man underflands the bare giving an Ear to what was to be preach' d, nor yet the conjtdering it, but the complying with it, and obeying it. If I milremember nor, your Hypothefis pretends the ufe of Force to be not barely to make M.engive an Ear, nor yet to conjider, but to make them ccnfder as they ought, i. t.fo as not to re~ jeSi ; and therefore, though this Text out of Ez^ekiel, be nothing to the Purpofe againll bare giving an Ear, yet if you pleafe, let it ftand as if it were to the Purpofe againft your Hypothefis,- till you can find fome other Anfwer to it. If you will give vour felf the Pains to turn to AEis 28. 24, — 28. you will read thefe W^ords, And fome believed the 'Things that were fpoken, and jome believed not. And when they agreed not among tlwnfelves they departed, after that Paul had fpoken one Word ; Well fpake the Holy Chvfl by Efaias the Prophet, unto our Fathers, faying. Go unto this People, and fay. Hearing, ye flmll hear, and jh all not underftand; and Seeing, ye Jhall fee, and not perceive. For the Heart of this People is waxed grofs, and their Ears are dull of hear- ing, and their Eyes have they clofed ; left they flmdd fee with their Eyes, and hear with their Ears, and underftand with their Heart, and (hould be converted, and I fbould heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the Salvation of God is fent unto the Gentiles ^ and that they will hear it. If one fhould come now, and out of your Treatife, call'd The Argument of the Let- \ P- 7' fgy concerning Toleration conjider' d and anfwer' d, reafon thus. It is evident that thefe Jews have not fought the Truth in this Matter, with that Application oj Mind, and Freedom of judgment which was requijlte, whilft they fuffer'd their Lufts and PaJJtons to ft in Judgment, and manage the Enquiry. The Impreffions of Education, the Reverence and Admiration of Perfons, worldly RefpeEis, and the like incompetent Motives, have determind them. Now if this be the Caje ; if thefe Men are averje to a due Cvnftdera- tion of Things, where they are moft concern d to ufe it, WHAT MEANS IS THERE LEFT (bejides the Grace of God) to reduce them out of the wrong Way they are in, hut to lay Thorns and Briars in it I Would you not think this a good Argument to fliew A Third Letter for ToLERATiQ-N, ^^i fhew the NeccfTity of ufing Force and Penalties upon thefe Men in the Afis, who re- fufed to be brought to embrace the true Religion upon the Preaching of St. Paul? For w^at other Means was left, what human Method could be ufed to bring them to make a wifer and tnore rational Choice, but laying fuch Penalties upon them as might balance the IVeight of fuch Prejudices, which incline! them to prefer a falfe Way before the true ? Tell me, I beleech you, would you not (had you been a Chriftian Magiftrate in thole Days) have thuught your felf obliged to try, by Force, to over-balance the fVeight of Pag. n. thvfe Prejudices which inclind them to prefer a falfe IVay to the true ? For there was no other human Means left ; and if that be not enough to prove the Neceffity of ufing it, you have ao Proof of any Neceffity of Force at all. If you would iiave laid Penalties upon them, I ask you, what if God, for Rea- fons befc knoTvn to himfelf, thought it not neceflary to ule any other human Means but Preaching and Perfuaiion ? You have a ready Anfwer, There is no otiier human Means but Force, and fome other Iniman Means befides Preaching, is necelfary, /. e. in your Opinion : And is it not fit your Authority fhould carry it ? For as to Mira- cles, whecher you think fit to rank them among huinan Means or no ; or whether or no there were any fhew'd to thefe unbelieving ^exux, tofupply the Want of Force, I guefs, in this Cafe, you will not be much help'd, which ever you fuppofe : Though to one ur.biafs'd, wiio reads that Chapter, it will, I imagine, appear moft probable, that St. Paul, when he thus parted with them, had done no Miracles amongft them But you have, at the Clofe of the Paragraph before us, provided a Salvo for all, in teiiingus. However the Penalties you defend, are not fuch as can anyway be pretended Pzg. 38. to i.uLe a-'xay Mens Freedom in this Point. The Queftion is. Whether there be a Ne- ceflic" of ufing other human Means but Preaching, for the bringing Men to embrace the "truth that mufi fave them ; and whether Force be it ? God himlelf feems, in the F;aces quoted, and others, to teach us that he would have Men left to their Free- dom from any Conftraint of Force in that Point ; and you anfwer. The Penalties you defend are not fuch as can any ways be pretended to take away Mens Freedom in this Point. Tell us what you mean by thefe Words of yours, take^iway Mens Freedom in this Point ; and then apply it. I think it pretty hard to ufe Penalties and Force to any Man, without taking away his Freedom from Penalties and Force. Farther, the Penalties you think neceilary, if we may believe you your felf, are to be fuch as may balance h. p. li. the IVeight of thofe Prejudices, which incline Mean to prefer a falfe Way before a true : Whe- ther thefe be fuch as you will defend, is another Queftion. This, I think, is to be made plain, that you muft go beyond the lower Degrees of Force, and moderate Penalties, to balance thefe Prejudices. To my faying, " That the Method of the Gofpel is to pray and befeech, and L.ipifio " that if God had thought it neceflary to have Men punifh'd to make them give ear, " he could have called Magiftrates to be Spreaders of the Gofpel, as well as poor Fifh- " ermen, or Paul a Perfecutor, who yet wanted not Power to punifh Ananias and " Sapkira, and the inceftuous Corinthian. You reply. Though it be the Method of the Pag. 33. Gofpel, for the Minijlers of it to pray and befeech Men ; yet it appears from my own Words here, both that Punifments may befometimes necejfary ; and that Punifiing, and that even by thofe voho are to pray and befeech, is conftjlent with that Method. I fear. Sir, you fo greedily lay hold upon any Examples of Punifhment, when on any Account they come in your way, that you give your felf not Liberty to confider whether they are for your Purpofe or no ; or elfe you would fcarce infer, as you do from my Words, that, in your Cafe, Punifments may be fometimes neceffary. Ananias and Saphira wereL.i.p.z68. punifhed,- x^Qxeioxe it appears, fay you, that Ptmifiments may be fometimes necejfary. For what, I befeech you ? For the only End, you fay, Punilhments are ufeful in Reli- gion, /. e. to make Men conjider. So that Ananias and Saphira were ftruck dead : For what End ? To make them confider. If you had given your felf the Leifure to have relieved on this, and the other Inftance of the inceftuous Corw/j/aK, 'tis poffi- ble you would have found neither of them to have ferved very well to fhew Punifh- ment neceffary to bring Men to embrace the true Religion ; for both thefe were Pu- nilhments laid on thofe who had already embraced the true Religion, and were in the Communion of the true Church, and lb can only Ihew (if you will infer any thing concerning the Neceffity of Punilhments from them) that Punifhments may be Ibmetimes neceilary for thofe who are in the Communion of the true Church. And of that you may make your Advantage. Vol. II. L 1 1 2 As 452 A Third Letter for Toleration. As to your other Inferences from my Words, viz.. "That Puniflj'mg, and that even ly thufi'ivbo are, as Ambaliadors, to pray and befeecb. is cvnjijlmt -vjiti) that Method : When tliey can do it as the Apoftles did, by the immediate Direction and Afliflance of the Spirit of God,. I fliall.ca(ily allow it to be conjiflent with the Method of the Gofpel. If tliat will not content you, 'tis plain you have an Itch to be handling the fecular Sword; and iincc Chrill has not given you the Power you defire, you would be executing the Magiflrate's pretended Co7mniJJ] on from the Law of Nature. One Thing more let me mind you of, and.that is, that if, from the Punifhmentsof v^Kaw/aj and Saphtra, and the incefluous Comz^/i/^H, you can infer a Necefjlty of Punifhment to make Men conjider, it will follow tiiat there was a NecelTity of Punifhment to make Men conli- der, notwitiiftanding Miracles; which cannot therefore befuppos'd, to fupply the Want of Pu'^.ifhments. La.p.itfp. To my asking, " What if God, forefeeing this Force would be in the Hands of *' Men, as palfionate, as humourfome, as liable to Prejudice and Error, as the reft " of their Brechren, did not think it a proper Means to bring Men into the right P^g- 39- " Way ? You reply. But if there be any thing cf an Argument in this, it proves that there ought to be no Civil Government in the World ; and fu proving too much, proves nothing at all. This ycu fay ; but you being one of thofe Mortals which is liable to Error as well as your Brethren, you cannot expert it fhould be received for infallible Truth, till you have proved it; and that you will never do, till you can fhew, that there is as abfolute a iNecefiity of Force in the Magiftrate's Hand for the Salvation of Souls, as there is of Force in the Magiftrate's Hands for the Prefervation of Civil Society; and next, till you have proved that Force, in the Hands of Men, aspaflio- nate, and humourfome, or liable to Prejudice and Error as their Brethren, would contribute as much to the bringing Men, and keeping them in the right Way to Salvation, as it does to the Support of Civil Society, and the keeping Men at Peace in it. Where Men cannot live together without mutual In juries, not to be avoided with- out Force, Reafon has taught them to feek a Remedy in Government, which al- ways places Powerr'l^jnewhere in the Society to reftrain and punifli fuch Injuries ; which Power, , whether placed in the Community it felf, or fome chofen by the Com- munity to govern it, muft ftill be in the Hands of Men ; and where (as in the So- cieties of civiliz'd and fettled Nations) the Form of the Government places this Power out of the Community it felf, it is unavoidable, that out of Men (fuch as they are) fome fliould be made Magiftrates, and have coerfive Power or Force put into their Hands, to govern and direft the Society for the Publick Good; without which Force, fo placed in the Hands of Men, there could be no Civil Society, nor the Ends for which it is inftituted, to any Degree attain'd. And thus Govern- ment is the Will of God. 'Tis the Will of God alfo, that Men fhould be faved ; but to this, it is not neceP- fary xhAtTorcc ox coatlive Poiuer fliould be put into Mens Hands ; becaufe God can, and hath provided other Means to bring Men to Salvation : To which, you indeed fuppofe, but can never prove Force neceffary. The Paffions, Humours, Liablenefs to Prejudices and Errors, common to Magiftrates •with other Men, do not render Force in their Hands fo dangerous and unufeful, to the Ends of Societ}-, which is the Publick Peace, as to the Ends of Religion, which is the Salvation of Mens Souls. For tho' Men of all Ranks could be content to have their own Humours, Pafjlons and Prejudices fatisfied, yet when they conie to make Laws, which are to diredt their Force in Civil Matters, they are driven to oppofe their Laws to the Humours, Paffions and Prejudices of Men in general, whereby their own come to be reftrain'd : For if Law-makers, in making of Laws, did not direft them a- gainft the irregular Humours, Prejudices and PaJJions of Men, which are apt to mis- lead them ; If they did not endeavour with their beft Judgment, to bring Men from theif Humours and Pafjlons, to the Obedience and Praftice of right Reafon, the Socie- ty could not fubfift, and fo they themfelves would be in Danger to lofe their Station in it, and be expos'd to the unreftrain'd Humours, Paffions, and Violence of others. And hence it comes, that be Men as humourfome, paffionate, and prejudiced as they will, they are ftill by their own Intereft obliged to make ufe of their beft Skill, and with their moft unprejudiced and fedateft Thoughts, take Care of the Go- vernment, and endeavour to preferve the Commonwealth ; and therefore, notwith- .ftanding their Humours and Paffions, their Liablenefs to Error and Prejudice, they do- pro- A Third Letter for ToLERATiQ-^* 455 provide pretty well for tlie Support of Society, and the Power in their Hands is of Ufe to the Maintenance of it. But in Matters of Religion it is quite othcrwifc ; you had told us, about the lat- ter End of yuur^)-^«?Kf«<'C. how liable Men were in thujtng their Religion, to be mif- led by Humour, Paffion and Prejudice ; and therefore, it was not fit that in a Bufinefs of fuch Concernment they fliould be left to thcnifelves : And hence, in this Matter of Religion, you would have them fubje6ted to the coaEhve Power of the Magiftrate. But this Contrivance is vifibly of no Advantage to the true Religion, nor can ferve at all to fecure Men from a wrong Choice. For the Magiftrates, by their Humours, Preju- dices and Pnffions, (which they are born to like other Men) being as liable, and likely to be mifled in the Ciioice of their Religion, as any ol their Brethren, as conftant Experience hath always fhewn, what Advantage could it be to Mankind, for the Sal- vation of their Souls, that the Magiftrates of the World fhould have Power to ufe Force to bring Men to that Religion wliich tliey, each of them, by whatfoever Hu- mour, Paffion or Prejudice influenced, had chofen to themfelves as the true ? For what- fover you did, I think with Reverence we may fay, that God forefaw, that whatever Commiflion one Magiftrate had by the Law of Nature, all Magiftrates had: And that Commiflion, if there were any fuch, could be only to ufe their coaElive Power to bring Men to the Religion they believ'dto be true, whether it were really the true or no: And therefore 1 fhall, without taking away Government out of the World, or fo much as queftion it, ftill think this a reafonable Queftion ; " What if God, *' forefeeing this Force would be in the Hands of Men, as paffionate, as Immourfomey " as liable to Prejudice &nA Error, as the reft of their Brethren, did not think it a " proper Means, in fuch Hands, to bring Men into the right Way ? And that it needs a better Anfwer than you have given to it : And therefore, you might have fpared the Pains you have taken in this Paragraph, to prove that the Magiftrates, being liable as much as other Men to i//^OTO«r, Prejudice, Paffion unA Error, makes not Force, in his Hand, wholly unferviceable to the Adminiftration of Civil Government. Which is what no body denies : And you would have better employ 'd it to prove, that if the Magiftrate^s being as liable to Paffion, Humour, Prejudice and Error, as other Men, made Force, in his Hands, improper to bring Men to the true Religion, this would take away Government out of the World : which is a Confequence, I think, I may deny. To which let me now add. What if God forefaw, that if Force, of any Kind or Degree whatfoever, where allow'd in Behalf of Truth, it would be us'd by erring, pafionate, prejudiced Men, to the Reftraint and Ruin of Truth, as conftant Experience in all Ages has fhewn, and therefore commanded that the Tares fliould be fuffer'd to grow with the Wheat till the Harveft, when the infallible Judge fliall fever them. That Parable of our Saviour's plainly tells us. If Force were once permitted, even in Favour of the true Religion, what Mifchief it was like to do in the Mifapplica- tion of it, by forward bufy miftaken Men, and therefore he wholly forbid it j and yet, I hope, this does not take away Civil Government out of the World ? To my demanding, " What if there be no other Means? and faying, '* Then yours " ceafes to be neceliaiy upon that Account, that there is no other Means left; for the " Grace of God is another Means. You anfwer. That tho' the Grace of God be an- Pag. 39. other Means, yet it is none of the Means of which you were fpeaking in the Place I refer to, rvhich any one, who reads that Paragraph, will find to be only bmnan Aieans. In that Place, you were endeavouring to prove Force necelfary to bring Men to the true Religion, as appears ; and there having dilated for four or five Pages together upon the Carelef- nefi. Prejudices, Paflons, Lufts, Impreffions of Education, worldly Refpecis, and other the A. p. 6. likeCaufes, which you think miilead anc^^keep Men from the true Religion, you at laft, conclude Force neceflary to bring Men to it, becaufe Admonitions and Lnreaties not prevailing, there is no other Means left. To this, Grace being inftanced in as another Means, you tell us here you mean no other hu7nan Means left. So that to prove Force necelfary, you muft prove that God would have other human Means ufed belides Praying, Preaching, Perfuafion and Inftruftion ; and for this, you will need to bring a plain Direftion from Revelation for your moderate Punifli- ments ; unlefs you will pretend to know, by your own natural Wifdom, what Means God has m^-aa neceffary ; without u'hich, thofe vvhoni he hsith foreknown and Rom.8.29. predefiinated, and will in his good Time call by fuch Means as he thinks fit, according to his Purpofe, cannot be brought into the IVay of Salvation, Perhaps you have fome \\ arrant 4 54 ^ Third Letter for Toleration. Warrant we know not of, to enter thus boldly into theCounfel of Godi without wiiich, in another Man, a modeft Chriftian would be apt to think it Prefumption. You fay, there are many who are not prevai I'd on by Prayers, Entreaties and Ex- hortations to embrace the true Religion. What then is to be done? Some Degreei of Fune are necejfa,y to be uied. \\ hy ? Becaule thei'e is no other human Means left. Ma- ny are not prevail'd on by your moderate Force ; What then is to be done ? Greater Degrees of Force are neceffary, becaufe there is no other human Means left. No, fay you, God has made moderate Force neceffary, becaufe there is no other human Means left, where Preaching and Entreaties will not prevail: But he has not made greater Degrees of Force neceffary, becaufe there is no other human Means left where moderate Force will not prevail. So that your Rule changing, where the Reafon continues the fame, we muft conclude you have f''>me Way of Judging concerning the Purpofes and Ways of the Almighty in the VVork of Salvation, which every one underRands not. You would not elfc, up^n fo (light Ground as you have yet produced for it, which is nothiiig but your own Imagination, make Force, your moderate Force lo ne- A. p. i6. j;e(fjij-y^ that you bring in queftion the Wifdom and Bounty of the Difpofer andGo- ver.ibr o/all Things, as if he had not fiirmjh'd Mankind with competent Means for the pro- moting his own Haiour in the World, and the good if Souls, if your moderate Force were wanting to bring them to the true Religion i whereas you know, that mofl of the Nations of the World always were deftituce of this human Means to bring them to the true Religion. And I imagine you would be put to it, to name one now that is funiifn'd with it. ^ag, 39. Belides, if you pleafe to remember what you fay in the next Words. And therefore^ tho' the Grace of God be both a proper and fuffuient Means, and fuch as can work by it felf and without which, neither Penalties nor any other Means can do any thing ; and by Confe- quence, can make any Means effectual: How can you fay any human Means, in this fupematural Work, unlefs what God has declared, to be fo, is neceffary ? Preaching and Inftruftion, and Exhortation, are human Means that he has appointed : Thefe, therefore, Men may and ought to ufe ; they have a Commiffion from God, and may expei^t his BleiTing and the Afliftance of his Grace ; but to fuppofe, when they are uled and prevail not, that Force is neceffary, becaufe thefe are not fufEcient, is to exclude Grace, and afcribe this Work to human Means; as in effect you do, when y on caWVoYct competent audi fufficient Means, as you have done. For if bare Preach- ing by the Afliftance of Grace, can and will certainly prevail; and moderate Penal- tics, as you confefs, or any kind of Force, without the Afliftance of Grace, can do nothing. How can you fay, that Force is in any Cafe a more neceffary, or a more com- petent, or fii-fficient Means,' than bare Preaching and Inftruction ? Unlefs you can flievv us, tliat God hath promifed the Co-operation and Affiftance of his Grace to Force, and not to Preaching ? The contrary whereof, has more of Appearance. Preaching and Perfuafion are not competent Means, you fay ; Why ? becaufe, without the Co-operation of Grace, they can do nothing : But by the Afliftance of Grace, they can prevail even without Force. Force too, without Grace, you acknow- ledge can do nothing ; but join'd with Preaching and Grace, it can prevail. Why then, I pray, is it a more competent Means than Preaching, or why neceffary, where Preaching prevails not? lince it can do nothing without that, which, if joined to Preaching, can make Preaching effeftual without it. P35. 40. You go on, Tet it may be true however, that when Admonitions and Entreaties fail, there is no HUM A N Means left but Penalties, to bring prejudiced Perfons to hear and conjidcr what may convince tf}e?n of their Errors, and difcover the Truth to them : And then Penalties, will be neceffary in refpeEi to that End, as an HUMAN Means. Let it be true or not true, that when Entreaties, &c. fail, there is no HUMAN Means left but Penalties : Your Inference 1 deny, that then Penalties will be necefl'ary as an HUMAN Means. For I ask you, fince you lay fo much Strefs to fo little Purpole on HUMAN Means, is fume human Means neceffary ? If that be your Meaning, you have human Means in the Cafe, viz,. Admonitions, Entreaties, being inflant in Seajon and out of Seafon. I ask you again, Are Penalties neceffary becaufe the End could not be obtain'd by Preaching, without them? that you cannot fay, for Grace co-operating with Preaching will prevail : Are Penalties then neceffary as fure to produce that End ? Nor fo are they neceffary j for without the Affiftance of Grace, you confefs, they can do nothing. So that Penalties, neither as human Means, nor as any Means, are at all neceffary. And no^v you may underftand what I imend, by faying that the Grace of • ' ' God A Third Lettef /(?r To le r a t 1 0N4 4 5^ 5 God is the only Means ; which is the Enquiry of your next Paragraph, -vix,. this I in- P^g- ^'^^ tend, that it is the only efficacious Means, without which all human Maim is inefte- ftual. You tell me, If by \x.\ intend that it does either always, or ordinarily exclude all other l^kl. Means : you fee no ground I have to fay it. And I fee no ground you have to think I intended, that it excludes any other Means that God in his Goodncfs will beplcai'ed co make ufeof : But this I intend by it, and this, I think, I have ground to lay, that it excludes all the human Means of Force from being ncccjjary, or lb mucii as lawful to be uied,unlelsGod hath required it by fonie more authentick Declaration than your bare faying or imagining it is necellury. And you muft have more than htnnan Confidence, if you continue to mix this poor and human Contrivance of yours, with the VVifdom and Counfel of God in the Work of Salvation ; fince he having declar'd the Means and Methods to be ufed for the iaving Mens Souls, has in the Revelation of the Gofpel, by your own Confeflion, prelcribed no fuch human Means. To my laying, God alone can open the Ear that it may hear, and ope'n the Heart - that it may underftand. You reply. But by your Favour, this does not prove that he ' makes ufe of no Means in doing of it. Nor needs it : it is enough for me, il it prove's, that if Preaching and Inftruftion do not open the Ear, or the Heart, "tis not ne- cejfary any one Ihould try his Strength with an Hammer or an Auger. Man is not in this Bufinefs, (where no Means can be effe«5tual, without the Affifiance and Co-opera- tion of his Grace) to make ufe of any Means which God hath not prefcribed. You here fet up a Way of propagating Chriftianity according to your Fancy,and tell us how you would have the Work of the Gofpel carried on : YoucommifTion the Magiftrate by Arguments of Congruity ; you fliall find an Efficacy in Punifhment towards the converting of Men : you limit the Force, to be ufed to loixi and moderate Degrees ; and to Countries where fttfjicient Means of InftruElion are provided by the Law. And where the Magi flr ate' s Religion is the m;e, i. e. where it pleafes you; and all this widi<:iut any Direftion from God, or any Authority fo much as pretended from the Gofpel ; and without its being truly for the Propagation Chriftianity, but only fo much of it as you think fit, and what elfe are you pleas'd to join to it. Why elle, in the Religion you are content to have eftablifh'd by Law, and promoted by Penalties, is any thing more or lefs requir'd, than is exprefly contain'd in the New Teftament. This indeed is well fuited to any one, who would have a Power of punifhing thofe who differ from his Opinion, and would have Men compell'd to Conformity in Eng- land. But in this your fair Contrivance, what becomes of the reft of Mankind, left to wander in Darknefs out of this Goflxn, who neither have, nor (according to your Scheme) can have your necelfary Means oi Force and Penalties to bring them to embrace the Truth that muft fave them : For if that be necelfary, they cannot without a Mi- racle, either Prince or People, be wrought on without it. If a Papift at Rome, a Lutheran at 6>od/;o/7«, or ^ C&hi\n\^ at Geneva, fhould argue thus for his Church, would you not fay, that fuch as thefe look'd like the Thoughts of a poor prejudiced narrow Mind > But they may miftake, and you cannot ; they may be prejudiced, but you cannot. Say too, if you pleafe, you are confident you are in the right, but they cannot be confident that they are fo. This I am fure, God's Thoughts are not as Man's Thoughts, nor his Ways as Man's Ways, Ifa. 55.8. And it may abate any one's Con- fidence of the Neceffity or Ufe of Punifhments, for not receiving our Saviour, or his Religion, when thofe who had the Power of Miracles were told, that they knein not zvhat manner oj Spirit they were of, when they would have comjnanded dozvn Fire frojn Heaven. ]oh.g.sf- But you do well to take care to have the Church you are of, fupported by Force and . Penalties, whatever becomes of the Propagation of the Gofpel, or the Salvation of Mens Souls, in other Parts of the World, as not coming within your Hypothefis. In your next Paragraph, to prove that God does blefs the ufe of Force, you fay you fuppofe I mean, by the Words you there cite, that the Magifirate has no ground to hope Pag, ^o, that God -will blefs any Penalties that he may ufe to bring Men to hear and conftder the Doilrtne of Salvation ; or (which is the fame thing) that God does not (at leafl not or- dinarily) afford his Grace and Affijlance to the?n who are brought by fuch Penalties to hear and conjider that DoBrine, to enable them to hear and conftder it as they ought, i. e. fo as to be ?ncved heartily to embrace it. You tell me. If this be my Meaning ; then to let me fee that it is not true, you f}a!l only defire me to tell you, whether they that are fo brotight to hear and conjider, are bound to believe the Gofpel or not ?Ifl fay they are ; (and you fuppofe I dare not jay otherwife ; ) then it evidently follows, that God does afford them that Grace, which is requifite t9 enable them to believe the Gofpel : Becaufe, without that Gracej 45^ ^ Third Letter for Toleration. Grace, it is itnpofjtble for them to believe it ; and they cannot be bound to believe ivhat it is impojjlble for them to believe. To which, I (hall only anfwer, That by this irrefraga- ble Argument, it is evident, that where-cver clue Penalties have been ufcd (for thofe you tell us aicft/fficient and competent MeanO to make Men hear and confider as they ought, there all Men were brought to believe the Gofpel ; which, whether you will refolve with your fell tobe true or falfe, will be to me indifferent, and on either handequally ad\ antage your Caufe. Had you appealed to Experience for the Succef s of the Uie of Force by the Magiftrate, your Argument had not flicwn half fo much depth of The- ological Learning : But the Mifchief is, that if you will not make it all of a piece ScholaRick, and by arguing that all whom the Magiftrates ufe Force upon, are brought to conftder as ihey ought, and to all that are fo vjrought upon, God does afford that Grace ■which is requifitc; and fo roundly conclude for a greater Suocefs of Force, to make Men believe the Gofpel, than ever our Saviour and the Apoflles had by their Preach- ing and Af/ivzJef, (for that wrought not on all) your unanfwerable Argument comes to notiiing. And in truth, as you have in th's Paragraph ordered the matter, by be- wig too fparing of your abftraft Metaphyfical Realbning, and employing it but by halves, we are fain, after all, to come to the dull way of Experience ; and mufl; be force to count, as the Parfon does his Communicant^, by his Eafter-Book, how many thofe are that are fo brought to hear and confider, to know how far God bkjfes Penalties. Indeed, were it to be meafur'd by conforming, the Eafter-Book would be a good Regifter to detenu ine it. But fince you put it upon Believing, that will be of fome- what a harder Difquifition. To my faying, (upon that place cut oi Ifaiah 6. lo. Make the Heart of this People fat, lefi they under/land, and convert, and be healed) " \^'ill all the Force you can ufe be a Means to make fuch People hear and underftand, and be converted? You re- P;;g. 4t. ply. No, Sir, it zcill not. But -what then 'f IVhat if God declares that he v;ill not heal thofe vcho have long rejifted all his ordinary Methods, and made themfelves, morally fpeaking, incurable by them 1 (Which is the titmofi, you fay, I can make of the Words I quote.) Will it follow fro7n thence, that no Good can be done by Penalties upon others, who are not fo far gone in Wickednefs and Obftinacy ? Ij it will not, as it is evident it will not, to what purpofe is this fnid .<* It is faid to this purpofe, viz,, to fhew that Force ought not to be ufed at all. Thole ordinary Methods which, refifted, arepunifhed with a Reprobate Senfe, are theor- dinary Methods of Inftiuction, without Force ; as is evident by this place and many o- thers, particularly Rem. i. From whence I argue ; That what State foever you willfup- pofe Men in, either as paft, or not yet come to the Day of Grace, no Body can be jufti- fied in ufing Force to work upon them. For till the ordinary Methods of Inftruciion and Perfuafion can do no more. Force is not neceffary, (for you cannot fay what other Means is there left) and fo by your own Rule not lawful. For till God hath pronounced this Sentence here, on any one. Make his Heart fat, &c. the ordinary Means of Inftru- (ftion and Perfiaafion, may, by the Afliftance of God's Grace prevail. And when this Sentence is cnce palled upon them, and God will not afford them his Grace to heal them • (I take it, you confefs in this place) I am fure you muft confefs your Force to be wholly nfelefs, and fo utterly impertinent, unlefs that can be pertinent to be ufed, which you own can do nothing. So that whether it Tiv// /o/Atu, or no, from Mens being given up to a Reprobate Mind,for having refifted the Preaching of SalvationjT/W no goodcan be done by Penalties upon others ; this will follow, that not knowing whether Preaching may not, by the Grace of God, yet work upon them ; or wliether the Day of Grace be paft with them ; neither you nor any body elfe can fay that Force is neceffary ; and if it be not neceffary, you your felf tell us it is not to be ufed. Ihiil. In your next Paragraph, you complain of me, as reprefenting your Argument, as you fay, / commonly do, as if you allow' d any Magiffrate, of what Religion foever, to lay Pe- nalties upon all that diffent from him. Unhappy Magiftrates that have not your Al- lowance ! But to confole them, I imagine they will find that they are all under the fame Obligation, one as another, to propagate the Religion they believe to be the true, whether you allow it them or no. For to go no farther than the firft Words of your Argument, which you complain I have mifreprefented, and which you tell me run thus, When Men fly from the Means of right Information ; I ask you here, who fliall be Judge of thole Means of right Information, the Magiftrate who joins Force with them to make them be hearkned to, or no ? When you have anfwer'd that, you will have refolv'd a great Part of the Queftion, What Magiftrates are to ufe Force. But A Third Letter for Toleration. 4*^7 But that you may nut complain again of my mifreprefenting, I muft hcg my Rea- der's Leave t. . icc down your Argument at large in your own Words, ajid all you fay upon it. IVben Men ji) jrum the A^eans of a right Information, and xmll not fo miith A. p. 18. as con/tder hotv reafcnal'le it is, throughly and impartially to examine a Religion, which they embra,.ed tipon jui.h Inducements, as ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, and there- fore with little or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it ; IVhat human Method can he ufed to bring them to aSi 'ike Min, in an Affair of fuch Confequence, and to make a wifer and more rational Choice, but that of laying fuch Penalties upon them, as may balance the Weight of thofe Prejudices, which inclined them to prefer a falfe Way before the true, &c. Novo thi\ Argument, you tell me, I pretend to retort in this Manner : " And, I lay, I^^g. 4*. " iee no other Means left (taking the World as we now rind it, wherein the Magi- " ftratenever lays Penalties, for Matters of Religion, upon thoie of his own Church, " nor is it to be expefted they ever fhould) to make Men of the National Church, "anywhere, throughly and impartially examine a Religion, which they embraced " upon fuch Inducements as ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, andthere- " fore wich little or no Examination of the proper Grounds of it : And therefore, I " conclude the Ufe of Force by Dilfenters upon Conformifts neceffary. 1 appeal to " all the World, whether this be not as juft and natural a Conclufion as yours ? And you fay, you are well content the World Jhould judge. And when it determines, that there is the fame Reafon to fay, T'hat to bring thofe who conform to the National Church, to ex- amine their Rdigion, it is neceffary for Diffenters (who cannot poffibly have the caaB-ive Power, becaufe the National Church has that on its Side, and cannot be National without it) to ufe Force upon Conformifis, As there is to fay, "That where the National Church is the true Church, there to bring Diffenters { as I call them) to examine their Religion, it is neceffary for the Magiflrate (who has the coaSiive Power) to lay moderate Penalties upon them for dilfent- ing : \o\xfay, when the World determines thus, you will never pretend any more to judge •what is reajonable, in any Cafe whatfoever. For you doubt not but you may fafcly prtfume^ that the World will eafily admit thefe two "Things. 1 . That though it be very fit and defi- rable, that all that are of the true Religion, flmdd underfland the true Grounds of it ; that fa they may be the better able, both to defend themf elves againfl the Affaults of Seducers, and to reduce fuch as are out of the Way ; yet this is not flritlly neceffary to their Salvation : Be- caufe Experience fifews (as far as Men are capable to judge of fuch Matters) that many do heartily believe and profefs the true Religion, and confcientioufly pra^life the Duties of it, who yet do not underfland the true Grounds upon which it challenges their Bel/Lf: And no Man doubts, but whofoever does fo believe, profefs, and praciife the true Religion, if he perfe- •veres to the End, floall certainly attain Salvation by it. 2. That how muclifoever it concerns thofe who rejeti the true Religion (whom I may call Diflenters if I pleafe) to examine andP^g. 39, coufider why they do fo ; an^ how needful foever Penalties may be to bring them to this ; it is, however, utterly unreafonable, that fuch as have not the coatiive Pozver, fJ}ould take upon them to inflicl Penalties for that Purpofe : Becaufe, as that is not confiftent with Order and A. p. 6. Government, which cannot fiand, where private Perfvns are permitted to ufurp the coaElive Power ; So there is nothing more manifefi, than that the Prejudice which is done to Religion, and to the Interefl of Mens Souls, by deflroying Government, does infinitely outweigh any good that can poffibly be done by that which defiroys it. And whoever admits and confiders thefe Things, you lay, you are very fecure will be far enough from admitting, that there is any Parity of Reafon in the Cafes we here fpeak of, or that mine is as juft and natural a Con- clufion as yours. The Suni of what you fay, amounts to thus much. Men being apt to take up their Religion, upon Inducements that ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, and fo, with little or no Examination of the Grounds of it ; therefore Penalties are neceffary to be laid on them, to make them throughly and impartially examine. But yet Penalties need not be laid on Conformifts, in England, co make them examine ; becaufe they, and you, believe yours to be the true iveligion : Tho' it muft be laid on Presbyterians and Independents, &c. to make them examine, tho' they believe theirs to be the true Religion ; becaule you believe it not to be fo. But you give another very fubftan- tial Reafon, why Penalties cannot be kid on Conformifts, to make them examine; and that is, becaufe the National Church has the coaBive Power on its Side, and therefore they have no need of Penalties co make them examine. The National Church of France too, has the coaclive Power on its Side ; and therefore, they who are of it have no need of Penalties, any of thefn, to make them examine. Vol. II. M m m If 45^ ^ Third Letter for Toleration. A. p. II. If your Argument be e;ood, that Men take up their Religions upon wrong Induce- ments, and ivit/mn due Exmtiinathn of tie proper Grounds of it ; and that therefore they ha\e need o{ Penalties to be laid on them to make them examine, as they ought, the Grounds of their Religion ; You muft confefs there are fome in the Church of England, to whom Penalties areneceflary: Unlefs you will affirm, that all, who are in the Com- munion of the Church o( England, havefo examin'd: But that I think you will not do, however you endeavour to palliate their Ignorance and Negligence in this Mat- ter. There being therefore a need of Penalties, I fay, 'tis as neceflary that /'m- %mV«j fhould lay Penalties on the Conformifts of the Church o{ England, to make them examine, as for the Church of England to lay Penalties on the Presbyterians to niake them do fo : For they each equally believe their Religion to be true; and we iuppofe, on both Sides, there are thofe who have not duly examind. But here you think you have a lure Advantage, by faying it is not conjifimt -with the Order of Go- vernment, and {b \s impraciicalle. leafily grant it. But is yours more practicable ? When you can make your Way prafticable, for the End for which you pretend it necefikry, (viz,. ) to make all, who have taken up their Religion upon fitch Inducements, as ought to have no Sway at all in the Matter, to examine throughly and impartially the pro- ptr Grounds of it^; When, I fay, you can (hew your Way prafticable, to this End, you will have clear'd it of one main ObjeAion, and convinc'd the World that yours is a more juft and natural Conclufion than mine. If your Caufe were capable of any other Defence, I fuppofe we fhoukl not have had fo long and elaborate an Anfwer as you have given us in this Paragraph, which at laft bottoms only on thefe two Things: i. That there is in you, or thole of your Qiurch, fome Approaches towards Infallibility, in your Belief that your Religion is true, which is not to be allow'd thofe of other Churches, in the Belief of theirs. 2. Ihat it is enough if any one does but conform to it, and remain in the Com- munion of your Church : Or elfe one would think there fhould be as much need for Conformifts too of your Church, to examine the Grounds of their Religion, as for any others. Pa^. 41. To f.nderftand the true Grounds of the true Religion, is not, you fay, firiEily neceffary to Salvation. Yet, I think, you will not deny, but it is asftriEily neceffary to Salvation, as it is to conform to a National Church in all thofe Things it impofes : Some where- of, are not neceflary to Salvation; fome whereof, are acknowledg'd by all to be in- difterent ; and ibme whereof, to fome confcientious Men, who thereupon decline Communion, appear unfoundor unlawfiil. If not being firiclly neceffary to Salvation, will excufefrom Penalties in the one Cafe, why will it not in the other? And now I fhali excufe the World from determining my Conclufion to be as natural as yours : FnT 'tis pity fo reafonable a Difputant as you are, fhould take fo delperate a Refolution as never to pretend any more to judge luhat is reafonable in any Cafe what- foeVer. V.'hether you have proved that Force, ufed by the Magiftrate, be a Means pre- fcrib'd by God to procure the Gift of Faith from him, (which is all you fay in the next Paragraph,) others muft judge. In that following ; you quote thefe Words of mine. " If all the Means God has " appointed to make Men hear and confideir, be Exhortation in Seafon and out of " Seafon, &c. together with Prayer for them, and the Example of Meeknefs, and a P,„ " g^od Life ; this is all ought to be done, whether they will hear, or whether they not fo much as the leaft Intimation towards it in all the New T'eflament. Be it then true or falfe, that Force is a Means to be ufed by Men in the Abfence of Miracles, this is yet no Anfwer to my Argument; this is no Proof that "tis appointed in Scripture; which is the Thing my Argument turns on. Revelation then fails you. Let us fee now how Reafon and common Senfe, that common Light of Nature, will help you out. You then reafon thus : Bare Preaching, &c. will not prevail on Men to hear and confider ; and therefore fome other Means is neccjfary to make them do fo. Pray what do you mean by Men, or any other of thofe indefinite Terms, you have always ufed in this Cafe? Is it that bare Preaching will prevail on no Men? Does Reafon (under which I comprehend Experience too, and all the Ways of Knowledge, contrardi- ftinguifh'd to Revelation) difcoverany fuch Thing to you .^ I imagine you will not fay that; or pretend that no body was ever brought, by Preaching and Perfuafion, to hear and confider the Xl^tbs of the Gofpel, (mean by confidmn^ what you will) Vol. II. M m m 3 without 4^0 A Third, Letter for Toleration. Without other Means ufed by thofe who applied thcmfelvcs to the Care of cohvert-i ing them. To I'uch therefore as may be brought to Atv/r and twH/frfa-, without other Means, you will not fay that other Means are necelfary. In the next Place, therefore. When you fay bare Preaching will not prevail on Men, do you mean that 'twill not prevail on all Men, and therefore 'tis necelfary that Men fliould ufe other Means? Neither, I think, will Reafon authorize you to draw luch a Confecjuence : Becaufe neither will Preaching alone, nor Preaching af- fifted with Force, or any other Means Man can ule, prevail on all Men. And there- fore no other Means can be pretended to be necelfary to be ufed by Man, to do what Men by thole Means never did, nor never can do. That fome Men Ihall be faved, and not all, is, I think, paft queftion to all that iare Chriflians : And thole that fliall be faved, 'tis plain, are the Ele^. If you think not this plain enough in Scripture, 1 delire you to turn to the leventeenth of the 29 Articles of the Church of England, where you will read thefe Words : Predejli- natioH to Life is the everlajiing Purpofe of God, -whereby (before the Foundations of the World ivere laid) he hath conftamly decreed by his Counfel fecret to us, to deliver fro7n Curfe and Damnation thofe -whom he has Chofen in Cbrifl out of Mankind, and to bring them by Chrift ta cverlajling Salvation, as Vefjels made to Honour. Wherefore they -which be endued -with fo excellent a Benefit oj God, be called according to God's Purpofe by his Spirit -working in dueSeafon - "they thro' Grace obey the Calling ; they be juftifiedf'eely ; they be made Sons of God by Adoption ; they be made like the Image of his only begotten Son Jefm Chri/i ; they lualk religioujly in good Works ; and at length, by God's Mercy, they attain to everlafling Felicity. Now pray tell me whe- ther bare Preaching will not prevail on all the EleEi to hear and confider, without other Means to be ufed by Men. If you fay it will ; the Ncceility of your other Means, I think, is out of Doors. If you fay it will not ; I defire you to tell me how you do know it without Revelation ? And whether by your own Reafon you can tell us, whether any, and what Means God has made necelfary, befides what he has appointed in Scripture for the caUing his EleEl? When you can do this, we fliall think you no ordinary Divine, nor a Stranger to the fecret Counfels of the infinite wife God. But till then, your mixing your Opinion with the Divine Wifdom in the great Work of Salvation, and from Arguments of Congruity, taking upon you to declare the NeceiTity or Ufefulnefs of Means, which God has not exprelly di- reded, for the gathering in of his Eleci, will fcarce authorize the Magiftrate to ufe his coaciive Poiver for the edifying and compleating the Body of Chrifl:, which is his Church. T^hofe -whom God hath chofen in Chri/i out of Mankind, before the Fuundation of the World, are called, according to God's Purpofe, by his Spirit, -working in due SeafcHy and through Grace obey the Calling ; fay you in your Article. The outward Means that God has appointed for this, is Preaching. Ay, but Preaching is not enough; that is notlufficient Means, fay you. And I ask you how you know it ; fince the Scri- pture, which declares all that we can know in this Matter, fays nothing of the In- iufficiency of it, or of the Neceifity of any other? Nor can there be a NecelEty of any other Means than what God exprefly appoints, in a Matter therein no Means can operate effe&ually, without the Alfiftance of his Grace; and where the AfTiflance of his Grace can make any outward Means, he appoints, ef- fedual. I muft defire you here to take notice, that by Preaching, which I ufe for Short- nefs, I mean Exhortation, Inftruftion, Entreaty, Praying for, and in fine, any out-* v.rard Means ot Perfuafion in the Power of Man, ieperate from Force, ''ig- +3- You tell us here, As to the firfl Spreaders of the Gofpel, God appointed other Means, viz. Miracles, for them to ufe to induce Men to hear and confider. If by the firfi Spreaders of theGofptl, you mean the twelve Apoftles and feventy Difciples, whom Chnll himfelf fent to preach the Gofpel ; they indeed were appointed by his immediate Command, to fliew Miracles by the Power which he had bellowed upon them. But will you fay, all the Minifters and Preachers of the Gofpel had iuch a Comniiffion, and luch a Power, all along froni the Apoftles Time ; and that they, every one, did adually Ihew Miracles to induce Men to hear and confider, quite down, till Chrifiianity -was fup- ported by the La-w of the Empire ? Uulefs you could fliew this, though you could pro- duce fome well-attefted Miracles, done by fome Men in every Age till that Time, yet it would not be fufficient to prove that Miracles were appointed to be couftandy ufed to induce Men to hear and confider ; and fo by your Reafoniug, to fupply the Want of Force, till that neceflary Afliftance could be had from the Authority of the A Third Later for Tol£ration« 4^1 he Magiftrate become Chriftian. For fince It is what you build upon, that Men will not hear andcunjider upon bare Preaching, (and 1 think you will forwardly enough agree, that till C/Difiiauityiuas made the Religion of the Empire, there were thole every-where that heard the Preachers of it To little, or lo little conjider'd what they iaid, that they rejeded theGofpel ;) and that therefore Miracles or Force arcneceilaj y Means to make hlcn hear and conftder; you muft own that thofe who preach d without the Power o£ Miracles, or the coactive Power ot the Magiftrate accompanying them, were un- furnilh'd of competent and Juffuient Mean\ to make Men hear and coufider ; and i'o to bring them to the true Religion, If you will fay the Miracles done by others were enough to accompany their Preaching, to make it be heard and conjider'd; the Preaching of the Minifters at this Day is fo accompanied, and fo will need no AfTiflance of Force from the Magillrate. If the Report oi Miracles done by one MmiUer of theGo- fpel fome time before, and in another Place, were fufficient to make the Preaching often or a thofand others, be heard and conjider'd, why is it not fo now? For the Credibility and Atteftation of the Report is all that is of moment ; when Mira- cles done by others, in other Places, are the Argument that prevails. But this, I fear, will not ferve your Turn in the Bufinefs of Penalties; and whatever might fa- tisfy you in the Cafe ol Mii'acles, I doubt you would not think the Salvation of Souls fufficiently provided for, if the Report of the Force of Penalties, ufed fome time fince on one Side of the Tweed, were all that fhould aflill the Preachers of the true Religion on the other, to make Men hear and conjider. St. Paul, in his Epiftle to Titus, inftrufts him what he, and the Presbyterians he fhould ordain in the Cities of Crete, were to do for the propagating of the Gofpel, and bringing Men heartily to embrace it. His Directions are, that they fliould be blamelefs, not Rioters, not felj --willed, not foon angry, not given to IVine or Jilthy Lucre, not Strikers, not unruly ; Lovers of Hofpitality, and of good Men ; fober, jujl, holy, tempe- rate ; To be able by found Doctrine, both to exhort and convince Gain-Jayen ; In all T'hings to be a Pattern of good IVorks ; In DoElrine, P-ievjing Uncorrtiptednefs, Gravity, Sincerity, found Speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary Part may be ajhamed, having no Evil to fay of you. T'hefe T'hings fpeak, and exhort, and rebuke "with alt Authority. Avoid foolijl) QueJlions, and Genealogies, and Contentions. A Man that is an Heretick, after the firji and fecond Admonition, reject. To repay you the Favour of your Greek, it is m.fx.il'i ; which, if I may take your Liberty of receding from oui^ Tranllation, I would read avoid. The Cretans, by the Account St. Paul gives of them, were a People that would re- quire all the Means that were needful to prevail with any Strangers to the Gofpel, to hear and conjider. But yet we find nothing direded for the Support and Propagation of the Gofpel in this Ifland, but Preaching, Exhortation, Reproof, &c. with the Exam- ple of a good Life. In all this Epiftle, writ on pupofe to inftruit the Preachers of thd Gofpel, m the Means they were to ufe among the CreWKj, for their Converfion, not a Word about Miracles, their Power or Ufe : Which one would think ftrange, if they wei'e the Means appointed, and necefl'ary to make Men hear and conjider, and without which they would not do it. Preaching, Admonition, Exhortation, En- treaties, InftruCtion, by the common Light of Reafon^ were known, and natural to be ufed, to perfuade Men. There needed not be much faid to convince Men ol it. But if Miracles were a necelTary Means, it was a Means wholly new, unex- peded, and out of the Power of other Treachers. And therefore one would thinks if they were appointed for the Ends you propofe, one fhould hear fomething oi that Appointment: Since that they were to be ufed; or how; and when; was farther from common Apprehenfion, and feems to need fome particular Direction. If you fay the fame Spirit that gave them the Power of Miracles, would alfo give them the Knowledge both that they had it, and how to ufe it; I am far enough from limiting the Operations of that infinitely wife Spirit, who will not fail to bring all the Elett of God into the Obedience of Truth, by thofe Means, and in that Man- ner he fhall think neceifary. But yet our Saviour, when he fent abroad his Difci- ples, with the Power of Miracles, not only put it in their Commiifion, whereby they were infoiTned that they had that extraordinary Gift, but added Inftruftions to them in the Ufe ol it. Freely you have received, freely give ; a Caution as neceflary to the Crt'Mw Elders, in the Ufe of Miracles, if they had that Power; there being no- thing more liable to be twra'd to the Advantage of Jilthy Lucre. I do 4^* A Third Letter for Toleration; I do not queflion but the Spirit of God might give the Power, and ftir up the Miad of tlie firfl Spreaders of the Gofpel to do Mirucks oa fome extraordinary Occafion. But if they were a neceifary Means to make Men hear and confider what was preached to them, till Force llipplied their Place, and io were ordinarily to accompany the Preaching of theGoipel, (unlels it fliould be preached without the Means appointed and necefiary to make it prevail) I think, in that Cafe, we may exped: it ftiould ex- prelly have made a Part of the Preacher's Commiffionj it making a neceifary Pare of tiie effectual Execution of his Funftion. But the Apoftle, it feems, thought fit to lay the Strefs upon inftrufting others, and living well themfelves; upon being /'k/Z^k? inSeafon, andout of Seafun; and there- fore diretts all his Advices for the ordering the Cretan Church, and propagating the Gofpel there, to make them attend to thole necefiary Things of Life and Do6trine, without fo much as mentioning the Appointment, Need, or Vk of Miracles. L.i.p.t;©. I faid, " But whatever Negledt or Averfion there is in fome Men, impartially and throughly to be inftrufted ; there will, upon a due Examination (I fear) be found *' no lels a Neglecc. Which Reproach, fays he, (whatever we may I'e ) our Church is free oj ; which he proves by the Stipulation and Covenant they make with Chrifl, that they will never ceafe their Labour, Care and Diligence, till they have done all that lieth in tliemy according to their lounden Duty, towards all fuch as are, or fhould be committed to tJieir Care, to bring them to a Ripenefs of Age in Chrifl. And a Page or two after, having repeated Part of the Promife made by thofe who take Orders, he adds. In this is expreffed the fo much NEG LECT'ED, but fo necejfary Duty, which Incumbents owe their Flock in a private Way ; viftting, inflniBing, and admoni/hing ; which is one of the ?aofl ufeful and important Parts of their Duty, how generally foever it may be difufed or forgot" ten. P. 178. He fays. Every Priefl that minds his Duty will find, that no Part of it is ft ujeful as Cbatechiftical Difcourfes ; by means whereof, his People will underfland all his Ser- mons the better, when they had once a clear Notion of all thofe "Terms that mufl run through' Care, xJygm ; for thofe not being underflood, renders them all unintelligible. Another Part oj the Priefl' s Duty, he tells you, is with Relation to them that are without, who are of the Side, of the Church of Rome, or among the Dijfenters. Other Churches and Bodies are noted for their Zeal in making Profelytes ; for their reft lefs Endeavours, as well as their unlaw- ful Methods in it : They reckoning perhaps that all will be fanclified by the increajing their PAR TT; which is the trm N&^n of inflkin^ Cynerts^ iMept they bscoim at the fame titttf A Third Letter for ToleratiopJ, 4^5 trmegood Men, as -well as Votaries to a SideorCaufe. IVe are certainly very REMISS in this of both Hands. Little Pains is taken to gain either upon Papifis vr Nvmonformijls . Tije LAW HAS BEEN SO MUCH TRUSTED To, that that Method only was thought fare ; it was much valued, and others at the fame Time as much N EG LEC- TE D. And whereas, at firft, WlTHO UT FORCE OR VIOLENCE, in forty Tears Time, Fopery, Jrom being the prevailing Religion, zvas reduced to a Handful , we have now in above twice that Number of Tears, made very little Progrejs, ike. Perhaps here again you will tell me, you do not fee how this is pertinent to the prefent Qtiefiion; Which, that you may lee, give me leave to put you in mind, that neither you, nor any body elle, can pretend Force necejfary, till all the Means of Peri'ualiou have been uled, nothing neglefied that can be done by all the foftcr Ways ot Appli- cation. And iince it is your own Doftrine, that Force is not lawful, unleis where it is necefary ; the Magiftrate, upon your Principles, can neither lawiully ule Force, nor the Minifters of any National Church plead for it any where, but where they themfelves have firft done their Duties : A Draught whereof, adapted to our prcient Circumftances, we have in the newly publilh'd Difcourfe of the Pajloral Cure. And lie that Ihall prei's the Ufe of Force as neceflary, before he can anfwer it to himfelf and the World, that thofe who have taken on them the Care of Souls have performed their Duties, were beft confider, whether he does notdrawup an Accufation againft the Men of that Holy Order, or againft the Magiftrate who futfers them to ,,eg- led; any Part of their Duty. For whilft what that learned Bifhop, in the Paikges above-cited, and in other Places, mentions, is negleCied, it cannot be faid, that no other Means but Force is left ; thole, who are on all hands acknowledg'd necellary a'.d ufeful Means, not having yet been made ufe of. To vindicate your Method from Novelty, you tell me, 'tis as old as St. vVuftin. Pag. ovi- Jions for the infiruBing their People in the Truth, have likewife requir'd them under convenient Penalties ta embrace it. Which is as much as to fay, that thofe Magiftrates who uied your Method, did ufe your Method. And that certainly you may think fafely, and without fear of being gain-faid. But now I will tell you what I think, in my Turn : And that is, if you could have found any Magiftrates who had made ufe of your Method, as well as you think you have found a Divine that approves of it, you would have named thole Magi- ftrates as forwardly as you do St. Aujiin. If I think amils, pray corred me yet, and name them. That which makes me imagine you will hardly find any Examples of it, is what I there faid in thefe Words : '* All other Law-makers have conftantly taken this Me- L.i.p.i7o- •' thod ; that where any Thing was to be amended, the Fault was firft declared, and " then Penalties denounced againft all thofe, who after a Time fet, fhould be found " guilty of it. This the common Senfe of Mankind, and the very Realbn of Laws " (which are intended not for Puniftiment, but Correftion) has made fo plain, that " the fubtileft and moft refined Law-makers have not gone out of this Courfe, nor " have the moft ignorant and barbarous Nations mifs'd it. But you have out-done *' Solon and Lycurgus, Mofes and our Saviour, and are refolved to be a Law-maker of " a Way by your felf. "Tis an old and obfolete Way, and will not ferve your furn, " to begin with Warnings and Threats of Penalties, to be inflifted on thole who do " not reform, but continue to do that which you think they fail in. To allow of ■ " Impunity to the Innocent, or the Opportunity of Amendment to thofe who would " avoid the Penalties, are Formalities not worth your Notice. You are for a fnorter " and furer Way. Take a whole Tribe, and punifli them at all Adventures, whe- " ther guilty or no of the Mifcarriage which you would have amended 5 or without •' fo much as telling them what it is you would have them do, but leaving them to *' find it out if they can. All thefe Abfurdities are contained in your Way of Pro- " ceeding, and are impolfible to be avoided by any one, who will punilh Diilenters, " and only Dilfenters, to make them confider and weigh the Grounds of their Religion, *' and impartially examine whether it be true or no, and upon what Grounds they took it up; " that fo they may find and embrace the Truth that mufifave them. Thefe Abfurdities, *' I fear, rauft be remov'd, before any Magiftrates will lind your Method pradicable. I ha- 4^4 A Third Letter for ToLEKATiOf^, I having faid, " Your Method is not altogether unlike the Plea made ufe of to " excul'c the late barbarous Ulage of the Proteftints in Fiance, from being a Pcrfe- " cution for Religion, viz.. That it was not a Punifhment for Religion but for difo- " bcying the King's Laws, which requir'd them to come to Mafs : So by your Rule, " Dilienters muft be punifh'd, not for the Religion they have embraced, and the Reli- P^g- 4+- " gion, they have rejefled. In anfwer to this, in the next Paragraph, you take abundance of Pains to pro\ e, that the King of France's Laws, that require going to Mafs, are no Laws. You were beft to fay fo on the other fide of the Water. 'Tis lure the Punifhments were Puniftiments, and the Dragooning was Dragooning. And if you think that Plea excused them not, I am of your Mind. But neverthelefs am Ibid, of Opinion, as I was, that it will prove as good a Plea as yours. Which is what you argue againft in your next Paragraph, in the Words following, wherein you exa- mine the Likenefs of your new Method to this Plea. You tell me, \fiiy, by your Rule, the Dijfenters (from the true Religion, for you /peak of no other) mufl be punifly'd (or if I pleafe, fubjeEied to 7noderate Penalties, fuch as fiall make them uneafy, but neither deflroy or tindo them:) Furiuhat? Indeed I thought by your firft Book, you meant not for their Re- ligion, but to make them confider ; but here you ask me vshere it is you Jay that Dijfen- ters Jrom the true Religion, are not to be pump' d Jor their Religion^ *' So thenitfeems, in your Opinion now, Dijfenters Jrom the true Religion are to be puniflj' d, or (as you are plea- led to mollify the Exprefllon, for the Thing is the {ame) fubjetled to jnoderate Penalties Jor their Religion. Ithinklfhallnot need to prove, to any one but one of your nice Stile, that the Execution of Penal Laws, let the Penalties be great or fmall, are Punilhments. If therefore the Religion of Dijfenters from the trtte, be a Fault to be punijh'd by the Magiftrate ; Who is to judge who are guilty of that Fault ? Muft it be the Magi- ftrate every where, or the Magiftrate in fome Countries, and not in others, or the Magiftrate no where ? If the Magijirate no where is to be Judge who are Diflenters from the true Religion, he can no where punifh them. If he be to be everywhere Judge, then the King of France, or the Great "Turk, muft punilh thole whom they judge Dilienters from the tnae Religion, as well as other Potentates. If fome Ma- giftrates have a Right to judge, and others not; That yet, I fear, (how abfurd fo- ever it be) fhouldl grant it, will not do your Bufinefs. Forbefides that, they will hardly agree to make you their infallible Umpire in the Cafe, to determine who of them ha\e, and who have not this Right to judge which is the true Religion -. or if they fhould, and you fliould declare the King of England had that Right, (wz,. vvhilft he complied to fupport the Orthodoxy, Ecclefiaftical Polity, and thofe Cere- monies which you approve of; } But that the King of France, and the Great Tiirk, ^ had it not, and fo could have no Right to ufe Force on thofe they judg'd Dijfenters from the true Religion ; You ought to bethink your felf what you will reply to one that A, p. i6. fhould ufe your own Words ; If fuch a Degree of outward Force, as has been mentioned, be really of great and even necejfary Ufe, Jor the advancing of the true Religion, and Salvation " of Souls, then it muji be ackmwledg d, that in France and Turky, &c. there is a Right fomewhere totijeit, for the advancing thofe Ends ; unlefs we will fay (what without Impiety cannot be faid that the wife and benign Difpofer and Governor oj all T'hings, has not in France and Turky furnijlfd Mankind with competent Means Jor the promoting his own- Honour, and the Good oJ Souls. Pag. 44.. You go on, and tell us, they are to be punifh'd, not for following the Light of their own Reafon, nor for obeying the Di(5tates of their own Confciences, but rather Jor the contrary. For the Light of their own Reafon, . and the Dictates of their own Confcience (if their Reafon and their Confciences were not perverted and abujed) would undoubtedly lead them to the Jdtne "Thing, to which the Method you fpeak of is deftgnedto bring them; i. e. to the fame Thing to which your Reafon and your Confcience leads you. For if you were to argue with a Papijt, or a Presbyterian, in the Cafe, What Privilege have you to tell him, that his Reafon and Confcience is perverted, more than he has to tell you that yours is fo > Unlefs it be this infupportable Prefumption, that your Reafon and Confcience ought to be the Meafure of all Reafon and Confcience in all others,., which how you can claim, without pretending to Infallibility, is not eafy to dif- cern. The Diverfion you give your felf about the Likenefs and Unlikenefs of thofe two Pleas, I Ihall not trouble my felf with ; fince, when your Fit of Mirth was over, you P3g_ 45-. were forced to confefs. That as I have made your Plea for you, you diink there is no confdtrable Deference, as to f/;eFairnefs of them, excepting what arifes from the different Degrees A Third Letter for ToLERATio-i^. 4^$ Degrees of Ptmijhmm, in the French Difdplme, and your Method. But if thi French Plea he not true ; and that which I make to be yours, be not yours ; I mufl beg your Pardon, Sir, I did not think it was your Opinion, (nor do I yet remember that you any where faid in your A. &c.) that Men were to be punifh'd for their Religion ; but that it was purely to make Men examine the Relimn they had embraced, and the Religion that they had rejeSied. And if that were of moment, 1 fliould think my felf fufficiently juftified for this my Miftake, by what you fay in your Argu- ment, &c. from/'. 6. to 12. But fince you explain your felf otherwife here, I am hot unwilling to take your Hypothefis, as you from time to time fliall pleafe to reform it. You anfwer then. That to make them examine, is indeed the next End for Pag. ^.f; •which they are to bepunip'd. But what is that to my Qtieflion ? Which, if it be pertinent, demands for what Fault, not for what End, they are to be punifi'd: As appears even by my next Words. " So that they are punifli'd, not for having offended againft a Law, " (i. e. not for any Fault ; ) for there is no Law in England that requires them to ex- amine. This, I muft confefs, was to fhew, that here, as in France, whatever was pretended, yet the true Reafon why People were punifh'd, was their Religion. And it was for this Agreement, that in both Places Religion was meant, though fomething elfe was talked of, that I faid your Plea was like that made ufe of in France. But I fee I might have fpared my Pains to prove that you punifh Diflenters for their Religion, fince you here own it. You tell me, in the fame Place, I was impertinent in my Queftion, (which was this. For what then are they to be punifj'd?) that I demanded for what £«i, and not tor what Fault they are to be punifh'd. In good earneft, Sir, I was not fo fubtile as to diflin- guifh them. I always thought that the End of all Laws was to amend thofe Faults which were forbidden ; and that when any one was punifli d, the Fault for which hei was punifh'd, was the Tranfgreffion of the Law, in that Particular which was by the Law commanded or forbidden ; and the End of the PuniHiment, was the Amendment of that Fault for the future. For Example ; if the Law commanded to hear, not Hearing was the Fault punifh'd; and the End of that Punifliment, was to make the Offenders hear. If the Law commanded to examine, the Fault punifh'd, when that Law was put in Execution, ^as not Examining', and thefiw^of thePunifhment, to make the Offenders examine. If the Law commanded Conformity, the Fault was Noncon- formity, and the Endoi it to make Men conform. This was my Apprehenfion concerning Laws, and Ends of Punifhment. And I mufl: own my felf flill fo dull as not todiftinguifh otherwife between the Fault for which Men are tobepunifi'd, and the End for which they are to be punifh'd ; but only as the one is paft, the other future. The Tranfgreffion, or Fault, is an Omiffion or Aftion that a Man is already guilty of; theEnd of the Punifliment, that it be not again repeated. So that if a Man be punifh'd for the Religion he profefles, I can fee no other End for which he is punifli'd, but to make him quit that Religion. No other immediate £«i I mean ; for other remote Ends, to which this is fubordinate, it may have. So that if not examining the Religion which Men have embraced, and the Religion they have rejefted, be not the Fault for which Men are punifli'd ; I would be glad you Would fhew me how it can be the next End, as you fay it is, of their beingpunifh'd. And that you may not think my Dullnefs gives you a Labour without Ground, I will tell you the Reafon why I cannot find any other next End of Punifhment, but the Amendment of the Fault forbidden ; and that is, Becaufe that feems to me to be the End, the next End, of any Adion ; which, when obtain'd, the Aftion is to ceafe, and not ceafe till it be attain'd. And thus, I think, it is, in Punifliments or- dain'd by the Law. When the Fault forbiddon is amended, the Punifhment is to ceafe, and not till then. This is the only Way I have to know the End, or final Caufe for which any Aftion is done. If you have any other, you will do me a Kindnefs to inftruft me. This 'tis which makes me conclude, (and I think with me all thofe who have not had the Leifure and Happinefs to attain the utmoft refining of the Schools) that if their Religion be the Fault for which Diffenters are punifh'd, Exa- mijiing is not the End for which they are punifh'd, but the Change of their Reli- gion : Though Examining may, perhaps, in fome Men, precede their Change, and help to it. But that is not neceflary. A Man may change his Religion without it : And when he has chang'd, let the Motive be what it will, the End the Law aims at, is obtain'd, and the Punifhment ccafes. Soon the other fide, \{ not Hearing, not Examining, be the Fank for which Men are punifh'dj Conformity is not the next Vol. IL ' N n n End V 4^6 A Third Letter for Toleration. End for which they are punifli'd, though it may perhaps, in foine, be a Confeqiiencc of it; but Hearing and Examining inuft be underftood to be the Ench for which they arepunilh'd. If they are not the ii%/.f, why does. the Punilliment ceafe, when tJiole Endi are attained? And thus you have my 'J Noughts concerning this Matter, which perhaps will not be very pertinent (as mine have not the good Luck always to be to you) to a Man of nicer Diftinctions. But let us confider your Hypothefisas it nowftands, and fee what Advantage you have got toyour Caule by this new Explication. Dijfaneo from the true Religion are to be punip d, fay you, for their Religion. Why ? Becauie "tis a Fault. Againft whom ? Ag.iinft God. Thence it follows indeed, that God, if he pleafes, may punifli it. But how will you prove that God has given the Magiftrates of tiie Earth a Power to punifli all Faults againft himfelf? Covetoufnefs, or not loving our Neighbour as our I'elves, are Faults or Sins againft God. Ought the Magiftrate to punifh thefe > But I fliall not need to trouble you much with that Qiteftion. This Matter, I think, will be decided between us without going fo far. It the Magiftrate may punifli any one for not being of tlie true Religion, muft the Magiftrate judge what is that true Religion, or no ? If lie muft not, what muft guide him in the punifliing of fome, and not of others? For fo it is in all Places where there is a National Religion eftablifli'd by Penal Laws. If the Magiftrate be commiflion'd by the fame Law of Nature (for that is all the Commifllon you pretend to) to judge what is the true Religion, by which he is authorized to punifli diofe who diOenc from it ; Muft not all Magiftrates judge, and accordingly punifli thofe who diifent from that, which they judge the true Religion, i. e. in efted, thofe who diifent from theirs ? And if all Magiftrates have a Power to punifli thofe who are not of their Religion, I ask you. Whether it be of more Ufe orDifadvantage to the promoting true Religion, and Salvation of Souls ? And when you have refolved that Queftion, you will then be able to tell me, whether the Ufefulnefs of it (which muft be determin'd by the greater Good or Harm it is like to do) is fuch as to juftify your Dodrine about it, or the Magiftrate's Ufe of it. Befides, your making the Dillenting from the true Religion a Fault to be punifli'd by the Magiftrate, puts an End to your Pretence to moderate Funiihments ; which, in this Place, you make ufe of to diftinguifli yours from the French Method ; faying. That 3'our Method fiiniPoes Men -with Punijhments ivhich do not deferve to be called fo, "wJjen compared with thofe of the French Difcipline. But if the Diflenting from the true Religion, be a Fault that the Magiftrate is to punifli, and a Fault of chat Confequence, that it draws with it the Lofs of a Man's Soul ; I do not fee how other Magiftrates, whofe Duty it is to punifli Faults vuider their Cognizance, and by punifliing to amend them, can be more remifs than the King o{ France has been, and forbear declaring that they will have all their People faved, and endeavour by '2- • fuch Ways as he has done to effect it : Efpecially fince you tell us. That God now leaves Religion to the Care of Men, under his ordinary Providence, to try whether they will do their Duties in their feveral Capacities or not, leaving them anfwerable for all that may fol- low fro7n their NegleEi. In the Correfting of Faults, ?nalo nodo malm cuneus, is not only what is juftifiable, but what is requiiite. But of this more fully in another Place. In the next Place ; I do not fee how, by your Method, as you explain it here, the Magiftrate can punifli any one for not being of the true Religion, (though we fliould ^g- 4)- grant him to have a Power to do it) whilft you tell us. That your Method punifies Men for rejeBing the true Religion, propofed to them with fufficient Evidence, which certainly is a Fault. By this Part of your Scheme it is plain, that you allow the Magiftrate to punifli none but thofe to whom the true Religion ts propos'dwith fujp.ciene 'g- fJ- Evidence ; and fufficient Evidence, you tell us, is fuch as will certainly win AJfent where-ever it is duly confder'd. Now by this Rule, there will be very few that the Magiftrate will have Right to punifli ; fince he cannot know wliether thole who dii- fent, do it for want of due Confideration in them, or want of fufficient Evidence in. what is propofed ; unlefs you mean by due Confideration, fuch Confideration that al- ways does bring Men aftually to aflent ; which is in effeft to fay nothing at all. For then your Rule amounts to thus much. That fufficient Evidence is fuch as will certainly win AJfent where-ever it is confide/ d duly, i. e. lo as to win Aflent. This be- ing like fome of thofe other Rules we have met with, and ending in a Circle, which after you have traced, you at lafttiAd your felf juft where you were at fettingoutj 1 leav^ A Third Letter for Toleration. a^^ I leave ic to you to own as you think fit : And tell you, if by V////v confider'ajg, vou mean confidcring to his utnioft ; that tlien, that vvhicli is proposM to one Withjhijhknt Evidence to win JJJcnt, may not be fo to another. 'J'here are Propolitions extant in Ge:>mctry, vvitli tlicir J)emonftrat:ions annexed, and that with fuch ilifficient Evidence to lome Men of deep 'J'hought and Penetration, as to make them fee the Eemonftration, and give Affenu to the Truth : W'hillt there are many others, and thofe no Novices in Mathematicks, who with all the (Jonfide- ration and Attention liicy can ul'e, are never able to attain unto it. ''J'is lb in other- Parts of Truth. That wliich Iiath Evidence enough to make one Man certain, has not enough to make another lo much as guefs it to be true, the' he has fparcd jio En- deavour or Application in examining it. And therefore, if the Magiftrare be to pu- Xiiih non&hwt x]\o(t vjhorejeci the true Religion, when it has been oftci'd zvith j}^i,ieti( Evidence, I imagine he will not have many to punilh, if he will, as he ought, diftin- guifh between the Innocent and the Guilty. Upon your Forwardnefs to encourage tiie Magiflrate's ufe of Force in Matters of Religion, by its Ufefulnefs, even fo far as to pretend Advantages from what your . .; felf acknowledge the Mifapplicacion of it, I fay that " So ipilead of diflieartning L.i.p.z7i.' "from, you give Encouragement to the Mifchief; which, upon your Principle, join- " ed to the natural Thirft in Man after arbitrary Power, may be carried to all Man- *' ner of Exorbitancy, with fome Pretence of Right. To which your Reply is. That Pag. 73, you Jpeak no where l^ut oj the Ufe and Nece[fny of Fu,\e. What think you in the Place mention'd, of the Gain that you tell the Sufferers they (hall make by the Magillrate's punifhing them to bring them to a wrong Religion ? You do not, as I re.nembe'\ there fay, that Force is neceffary in that Cafe j tho" r.\\?i^ gaining, as you fay, by i-; this Advantage, that they know better than they did before, where the Truth does lie, you cannot but allow, that fuch a Mifapplication of Force may do fome Service indirecU^ and at a diftance, towards the Salvation of Souls. But that you may not think, whilft I had under Confideration the dangerous En- couragement you gave to Men in Power, to be very bufy with their Force in Mat- ters of Religion, by all the Sorts of Ufefulnefs you could imagine of it, ho^vever apply'd, right or wrong, that 1 declin'd mentioning the Necejfity you pretend of Force, becaufe it would not as well ferve to the Purpofe for which I mention its Ulefulneis ; I fhall here take it fo, that the Reader may fee what Reafon you had to complain of my not doing it before. Thus then ftands your Syftem. 'The procuring and advancing any way of thefpiritual and eternal Interefts of Men, is one of the Ends of Civil Society. And Force is put into the Magi- ftrate's Hands, as neceflary for the attaining thole Ends, where no other Means are left, *' Who then upon your Grounds may quickly find Reafon, where it futes his Incli- " nation, or ferves his Turn, to punifh Men direftly to bring them to his Religion. For if he may ufe Force becaufe it is neceffary, as being the only Means left to make Men confider thofe Reafons and Arguments, which otherwife they would not conlider. Why may he not by the fame Rule of Force, as the only Means left to procure Men Degrees of Glory, which otherwife they would not attain, and fo to advance their e- ternal Interefts > For St. Paul aifures us, that the AffiiBions of this Life work for us a far more exceeding Weight of Glory. So that whether the Magiftrate may nor, when it may ferve his Turn, argu'd thus from your Principles, judge you: Diiienters from my Re- ligion muft be punifh'd, if in the wrong, to bring them into the right Way j if in the right, to make them by their Sufferings Gainers of a far more exceeding Weight of Glory. '^''^ But you fay, Unlefs it be as neceffary for Men to attain any greater Degree of Glory, as it is to attain Glory, it will not follow, that if the Magijirate may ufe Force, becaufe it may be indireEily, &c. ufcful towards the proctiring any Degree of Glory, he may by the fame Rule ufe it where it may be in that Manner ufeful towards the procuring a greater Degree of Glory. But that there is the fame Neceffny of Mens attaining a greater Degree of Glory, as there is of their attaining Glory, no Man will affirm. For wit/ma attaining Glory, they cannot efcape the Damnation of Hell, which yet they ?nay efcape, without any greater Decree of Glory. One of the Ends of a Common-wealth is, fay you, the advancing Mens eternal Interefls. The procuring of greater Degrees of Glory, is the advancing a Man's eternal Intereft. The Ufe of Force to make Men fufter for the Truth, what' otherwife they would not fufter, is as neceffary for the attaining an higher Degree of Glory, as ufing Force to make Men confider, what otherwife they would not confi- der, is neceffary for the attaioing any Degree of Glory. But you will fa\', Attaining IbiJ, yol. I^ N n n 3 " Glory ^ ^8 A Third Letter /or Toleration. Glory is alfolutely neceffary^ but the attaining any greater Degree of Glory, however dejirablel is not fo necejfary. Now if there be not the fame NeceJJity of the one of thefe, as there is of the other, there can be no Pretence to fay, that ivhatfuer is lawful in refpecl of one of them is likewife fo in reffeB of the other. But there will always be a juft Pretence to fay, if advancing the eternal Interefls of Men be one of the Ends of a Common-wealth, and that the Force in the Magiftrate's Hands be neceifary to the attaining that End; that then the Magiftrate is obliged to ufe it; whether you will think that End abfolutely necejfary, or as necejfary as another, or no, I fhall not here trouble you again with your Miftake about what is abfolutely neceffary, having taken notice of it in another Place. Only I fhall delire you to fhew me, that the attaining of Glory is abfolutely ne- cejfary, when next Time you have Occafion to affirm it. Attaining of Glory is neceifa- ry in order to Happineis : And atttaining a greater Degree of Glory, is neceffary in order to greater Happinefs : But neither of them is abflutely necejfary, but in or- der to their refpeftive Ends. And now, though, as you fay, yo\x do not think your felf bound to take notice of ali that may be done -with fame Pretence of Right : Yet, I fuppofe, upon cooler Thoughts, when you have confider'd of what dangerous Confequence an Argument, manag'd as yours is, may be to the true Religion, and the fincere Profeflbrs of it ; and what Oc- cafion or Encouragement it may give to Men in Power warm'd with Zeal, and ex- cited by the proper Minijlers of their own Religion, to make a wrong and exorbitant Ufe of Force in Matters of Religion, you will another Time think your felf bound not to let it go abroad again without fome Caution to the Magiftrate in the Ufe of it; without one Word of Advice at leaft, that fince it is given him, as you fay, on- ly (or promoting the true Religion, he fhould take Care, and examine impartially whe- ther what he employs it for, be the one only true Religion. It being your Opinion, wiaenever he makes ufe of Force in Matters of Religion, for the promoting any Thing but tnat, he goes beyond his Commiinoii, injures his Subjefts, and endangers his own Soul. By this time, Sir, I fuppofe you fee upon what Grounds I think you have not clear'd thole Difficulties which were charg'd by me on your Method : And my Reader will fee what Reafon there was for thofc Imputations, which, with fo loud an Outcry, you laid upon me of unfair Dealing ; lince there is not one of them which cannot be made good to be contain'd either in your Book, or in your Hypothefis ; and that fo clearly, that I could not imagine that a Man who had fo far confider'd Govern- ment, as to engage in Print, in fuch a Controverfy as this, could mifs feeing it as foon as mentioned to him. One of them which very much offends you, and makes you fo often tell me what I fay is impertinent, and nothing to the Pnrpofe ; and fome- times to ufe warmer Expreffions, is, that I argue againft a Power in the Magiftrate to bring Men to his own Religion : For I could not imagine that, to a Man of any Thought, it could need proving ; that if there were a CommilEon given to all Magi- Jlrates by the Law of Nature, which obliged them to ufe Force to bring Men to the true Religion, it was riot poflible for them to put this Commiffion in Execution, vriihout being Judges what was the true Religion ; and then there needed no great Quicknefs to perceive, that every Magijlrate, when your Commilfion came to be put in Execu- tion, would, one as well as another, find himfelf obliged to ufe Force to bring Men to that which he believed to be the true Religion. But fince this was fo hard for you to fee, I now have been at the Pains to prove it, and thereby to clear ali thofe Imputations. I fhall not inftance in any other : They are all of a like Kind. Only where you complain I have not cited your Words fairly, if you can fhew that I have done it any where in this or the Second Leeter, to the Advantage of myCaufe; or to avoid any Argument in them, not anfwer'd ; if you pleafe to fhew it me, I fhall ei- ther let you fee your Miftake, or acknowledge mine. And now whether you fliall think what I have faid worth that Confideration you Pag 78 promife, to take it all for Cavils and Impertinencies, to me is very indifferent. Enjoy, if you pleafe, that fhort and eafy Way of anfwering. But if the Party you write for, be, as you fay, God, and the Souls of Men, it will require you ferioufly to weigh your Scheme, examine and put together the Parts of it, obferve its Tendency and Confe- quences; and in a Word, confider Things, and not Words. For the Party of God arid Souls needs not any Help fromObfcurity or Uncertainty of general and equivocal Terms, but may be fpoke out clearly and diftindly ; needs no Retreat in the Round of equivalent, or the Uncertainty of mifapply'd Expreffions, that may feH'e to amufe and A Third Letter for Toleration. 45^ and deceive the Unwary, but inftruiS no body; and laftly, needs no Leave nor Al- lowance from Men of Art, to dired; both Subjcds and Magiflrates to the Examination of the Scriptures, wherein God has revcal'd to the World the Ways and Means of Sal- vation. In doing of this, in a Treatife where you profek the Sul>jeSl of your Enquiry Pag. 68, ii only what Method is to be ttfed to bring Men to the true Religion ; the Party you profefs to write for, would have juftified you againft the Rules of any lawful Art ; and no Chriflian Man, of what Art foever, would have denied you that Liberty : And if I miftake not, the Party, you fay you write for, demands it of you. If you find upon a Review of the Whole, that you have manag'd your Caufe for God and the Souls of Men, with that Sincerity and Clearnefs that fatisfies your own Reafon, and you think may fatisfy that of other Men, I fhall congratulate to you fo happy a Conftitution. But if all your magnified and tteccjfary Means of Force, in the Way you contend for, reaches no farther than to bring Men to a bare outward Con- foiTnity to the Church of England, wherein you can fedately affirm, that it is pre- fumable that all that are of it are fo upon Reafon and Conviftion ; I fuppofe there needs no more to be faid to convince the World what Party you write for. The Party you -write for is God, you fay. But if all you have faid aims or amounts to nothing more, than that the Church of England, as now eftablilh'd by Law, in its Doftrines, Ceremonies and Difcipline, fliould be fupported by the Power of the Magi/irate, and Men by Force be driven into it ; I fear the World will think you have very narrow Thoughts of Godj or that that is not the Party you write for. 'Tis true, you all along fpeak of bringing Men to the true Religion. But to evidence to you, that by the only true Religion, you mean only that of the Church of England, I tell you, that upon your Principles, you cannot name any other Church now in the World, (and I again demand of you to do it) for the promoting whereof, or pu- nifhing Diflenters from it, the Magiftrate has the fame Right to ufe Force, as you pretend he has here in England. Till you therefore name fome fuch other true Church and true Religion, befides that of England, your faying, that God is the Party you write for, will rather fhew that you made bold with his Name, than that you do not write for another Party. You fay too, you write not /or fl«y P^rfj, hut the Souls of Men. You write indeed, and contend earneftly, that Men fhould be brought into an outward Conformity to the Church of England. But that they embrace that Profefllon upon Reafon and Con- viftion, you are content to have it prefumable, without any farther Enquiry or Exa- mination. And thofe who are once in the outward Communion of the National Church, however ignorant or irreligious they are, you leave there unaffilled by your only competent Means, Force ; without which, you tell us, the true Religion, by its own- Light and Strength, is not able to prevail againft Mens Lufts, and the Corruption of Nature, fo as to be confider'd as it ought, and heartily embraced. And this drop- ped not from your Pen by chance ; but you profefledly make Excufes for thofe of the National Religion, who are ignorant oi the Grounds of it, and give usReafons why Force cannot be ufed to thofe who outwardly conform, to make them confider fo as fincerely to embrace, believe and obey the Truth that muft fave them. But the Reverend Author of the Pafioral Care tells you, PAK TT is the true Name of tnaking Pag. joi/ Converts, except they become at the fame 'Time good Men. If the Ufe of Force be neceflary for the Salvation of Souls, and Mens Souls be the Party you write for ; you will be fulpefted to have betrayed your Party, if your Me- thod and necelfary Means of Salvation reach no farther, than to bring Men to out- ward Conformity, tho' to the true Church ; and after that abandons them to their. Lufis and depraved Natures, deftitute of the Help of Force, your necejfary and cofnpe- tent Means of Salvation. This Way of inanaging the Matter, whatever you intend, feems rather, in the Fitnefs of it, to be for another Party. But fince you allure us, you write for nothing but God and Mens Souls, it can only be faid you had a good Intention, but ill Luck ; fince your Scheme, put into the Language of the Country, will fit any National Church and Clergy in the World, that can but fuppofe it felf the true ; and that I prefume none of them will fail to do. You were more than ordinary referv'd and gracious, when you tell me, Thatp^ , •what Party I write for, you will not undertake to fay. But having told me, that my Letter tends to the promoting of Scepticifm in Religion, you thought ('tis like) that was fufficient to fliew the Party I write for j and fo you might fafely end your Letter 4-70 A Third Letter for Toleration. Letter with Words that looked like civil. But that you may another time be a littlt better informed what Party I write for, I will tell you. They are thofe who in eve- ry Nation fear God, work Righteoujnefs, and are accepted with him ; and not thofe who in every Nation are zealous for human Conftitutions, cry up nothing fo much as out- ward Conformity to the National Religion, and are accepted by thofe who are the Promoters of it. Thofe that I write for are thofe, who, according to the Light of their own Confciences, are every where in earned in Matters of their own Salvation, without any Defire to impofe on others ; a Party fo feldom favour'd by any of the Powers or Sefts of the World ; a Party that has fo few Preferments to beftow ; fo few Benefices to reward the Endeavour of any one who appears for it, that I con- clude I fhall eafily be believ'd when I fay, that neither Hopes of Preferment, nor a Defign to recommend my felf to thofe I live amongft, has biafled my Underftanding, or milled me in my Undertaking. So much Truth as ferves the Turn of any parti- cular Church, and can be accommodated to the narrow Intereft of fome human Con- fticution, is indeed often receiv'd with Applaufe, and the Publifner finds his Ac- count in it. But I think I may fay. Truth (in its full Latitude of thofe generous Principles of the Gofpel, which fo much recommend and inculcate univerfal Chari- ty, and a Freedom from the Inventions and Impofitions of Men in the Things o£. God,) has fo feldom had a fair and favourable Hearing any where, that he muft be very ignorant of the Hiftory and Nature of Man, however dignify 'dand diflinguifli- ed, who propofes to himfelf any fecular Advantage by writing for her at that rate. As to your Requeft in the Clofe of your Letter, 1 hope this will fatisfy you, that you might have fpar'd it ; and you, with the reft of the World, will fee that all I writ in my former was fo true, that you need not have given me any Caution for the future. As to the Pertinence of what I fay, I doubt whether I fhall pleafe you : Becaufe I find by your laft Letter, that what is brought by me to fhew the Weaknefs, Abfurdities, or Infignificancy of what you write, you are very apt to call tjnfertinent, and nothing to the Purpofe. You muft pardon me therefore, if I have endeavour'd more to pleafe other Readers than you in that Point. I hope they will find, in what I have laid, not much beiides the Matter. But to a Man who, fup- pofing himfelf in the right, builds all upon that Suppofition, and takes it for an In- jury to have that Privilege deny'd him ; to a Man who would fovereignly decide for all the World, what is the true Religion, and thereby impower what Magiftrates he thinks fit, and what not, to ufe Force ; to fuch a Man, not to feem impertinent, would be really to be fo. This makes me pleas'd with your Reply to fo many Pafla- ges of my Letter, that they were nothing to the Purpofe : And 'tis in your Choice whe- ther in your Opinion any Thing in this fhall be fo. But fince this depends upon your keeping fteadily to clear and fettled Notions of Things, feparate from Words and Expreffions ufed in a doubtful and undetermined ^^Z- 7S- Signification, wherewith Men of Art often amufe themfelves and others j I fhall not be ib unreafonable as to expeft, whatever you promife, that you fhould lay by your Learning to embrace Truth, and own what will not perhaps fute very well with your Circumftances and Intereft. I fee, my Defign, not to omit any Thing that you might think looks like an Ar- gument in yours, has made mine grow beyond the Size of a Letter. But an Anfwer to any one being very little different from a Letter, I fhall let it go under that Ti- tle, I have in it alfo endeavour'd to bring the fcatter'd Parts of your Scheme into fome Method, under diftinft Heads, to give a fuller and more diftind View of them. Wherein, if any of the Arguments, which gives Support to your Hypothefis, have efcaped me unawares, be pleafed to fhew them me 3 and I fhall either acknowledge their Force, or endeavour to (hew their Weaknefs. I am, SIR, June 10, Your mojl Humble Servant^ PHILANTHROPUS. THE 4. H E REASONABLENESS O F CHRISTIANITY As deliver'd in the SCRIPTURES. THE PREFACE. 473 H E little Satis faBion and Confiflency is to be found in mofl of the Syflems of Divinity I have met jvith, made me betake myfelf to thefole reading of the Scripture (to rvhich they all appeal) ■" for the under/landing the Chriflian Religion. What frjm thence by an attentive and unbiajfed Search I have received. Reader I here deliver to thee. If by this my Labour thou receivefl any lAghi or Confirmation in the Truth, join with me in Thanks to the Facbcr of Lights for his Condefcenfon to our Under/landings. If upon a fair and unprejudiced Examination, thou Jindefl I have miflaken the Senfe and Tenor of the Gofpel, I befeech thee, an a true Chriflian, in the Spi- rit of the Gofpel (which u that of Charity) and in the Words of So' briety, fet me right in the Do6trine of Salvation. Vol. II. O O Q THE .474 QQQ;0QQQO0QO0SiO6QQQQOQ;0O0GO0 QQ0 g)QQQOQ;QQQQg;:^ THE REASONABLENESS O F CHRISTIANITY; As delivered in the SCRIPTURES. I S obvious to any one who reads the New-Teftamenr, thar the Doftrhie of Redemption, and confequently of the Gol^ pel, is founded upon the Suppofition o{ Adam's Fall. To un- derlland therefore what we are reftored to by Jefus Chrift, we muft confider what the Scripture fhews we lofl by Adam. This I thought worthy of a diligent and unbiaifed Search : Since I found the two Extremes, that Men run into on this Point, either on the one hand fhook the Foundations of all Religion, or on the other made Chriftianity almoft nothing. For whilft fome Men would hav^e all Adam's Pofterity doomed to eternal infinite Punifhment for the Tranfgreilion of Adam, whom Millions had never heard oij and no one had authorized to tranfad: for him, or be his Reprefentative ; this feemed to othersfo little confiftent with the Juftice or Goodnefs of the Great and In- finite God, that they thought there was no Redemption neceflary, and confequently that there was none, rather than admit of it upon a Suppofition fo derogatory to the Honour and Attributes of that infinite Being ; and fo made Jefus Chrift nothing but the Reftorer and Preacher of pure Natural Religion; thereby doing Violence to the •whole Tenor of the New Teftament. And, indeed, both fides will be fufpefted to have trefpafled this way, againft the written Word of God, by any one, who does but take it to be a CoUeftion of Writings defigned by God for the Inftruftion of the illiterate bulk of Mankind in the Way to Salvation ; and therefore generally and in neceflary Points to be underftood in the plain direft Meaning of tlie Words and Phrafes, fuch as they may be fuppofed to have had in the Mouths of the Speakers, who ufed them according to the Language of that Time and Country wherein they lived, without fuch learned, artificial, and forced Senfes of them, as are fought out, and put upon them in moft of the Syftems of Divinity, according to the Notions, that each one has been bred up in. To one that thus unbiafled reads the Scriptures, what Adam fell from, is vifible, was the State of perfeft Obedience, which is called yufike in the New Teftament, though the Word which in the Original fignifies 'Jttjike, be tranflated Right eoufnefs .- And by this Fall he loft Paradife, wherein was Tranquillity and the Tree of Life, e. i. he loft Blifs and Immortality. The Penalty annexed to the Breach of the Law, with the Sentence pronounced by God upon it, fhew this. The Penalty ftands thus, Gm. ii, 17. hi as delivered in the Scriptures; ^^j In the Day tint thou cute ft thereof thou jj^ah furely die. How was this executed? He did eat, but in the Day he did eat, he did not actually die, but was turned out of Paradil'e li'om tiic 'lYee of Liie, and (hut out for ever from it, Icjt he frndd take thereof and live for ever. 'J'his fliews that tiie State of Paradifc was a State of Immortality, of Life without End, which he loil tiiat very Day that he eat : His Life began from thence to flaorten, and wafte, and to have an End ; and from thence to Jiis actual Death, was but like the Time of a Prifoner between the Sentence pall and the Exe- cution, which was in view and certain. Death then enter'd and lliewcd his Face, which beloie was (liut out, and not known. So that St. Paul, Rom. v. iz. By one Man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin ; i. e. a State of Death and Morta- lity : And, I Cor. xv. 22. In Adam all die ; i. e. by reafon of his Tranfgreffion all Men are mortal, and come to die. This is fo clear in thele cited Places, and fo much the Current of the New Tejla- ment, that no body can deny, but that the Doi^trine of the Gofpel is, that Death came on all Men by Adam's Sin ; only tliey differ about the Signification of t:ie Word Death. For fome will have it to be a State of Guilt, wherein not only he, but all his Pcllerity was fo involved, that every one defcended of him defer\'ed endlefs Tor- ment in Hell-fi]e. I fliall fay nothing more here how far, in the Appreheniions of Men, this confifts with the Juftice andCoodnefs of God, having mentioned it above: But it leems a Itrange Way of underftandiiig a Law, which requires the plained and direL-tefl. Words, that by Death fliould be meant eteiural Life in Mifery. Could any one be fuppofed by a Law, that fays. For Felony you fhall die, not that he fll.tuld lofe his Life, but be kept alive in perpetual exquifite Torments ? And would any one think himfelf fairly dealt v.ith, that was fo ufed ? To this they would have it be alfo a State of necellary finning, and provoking Gcd in every Action that Men do : A yet harder Senfe of the Word DeatI) than the other, God faysy "that in the Day thou eateji o/the forbidden Fruit, thoufindt die; i. e. thou and thy Pcllerity fhall be ever after uncapable of doing any thing, but what fliall be fiaful and provoking to me, and fliall juftly deferve my Wrath and Lidignation. Could a worthy Man be fuppofed to put fucli Terms upon the Obedience of his Subjefts, much !efs can the righteous God be fuppofed, as a Punifliment of one Sin wherewith he is difplealed, to put Man under a Neceflity of finning continually, and fo multiplying the Provocation i The Reafon of this ftrange Luerpretation we fliall perhaps find in fome miftaken Places of the Neiv T'cjlament. I muft confefs by Death here I un- derlland nothing but a ceafing to be, the lofing of all Adions of Life and Senfe. Such a Death came on Adam, and all his Pofterity by his firft Difobedience in Paradife, un- der which Death tiiey fliould have lain for ever, had it not been for the Redemption by Jefus Chrifl:. If by Death threatned to Adam were meant the Corruption of hu- man Nature in his Pollerity, "tis ftrange that the New Teflament fliould not any where take notice of it, and tell us, that Corruption feized on all, becaufeof y^r//?;«'s Tranigieffion, as well as it tells us fo of Death. But, as I remember, every one's Sin is charged upon himfelf only. Another Part of the Sentence was, Curfed is the Ground for thy fake ; in Sorrow flmlt thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life, in the Sweat of thy Faceftjalt thou eat Bread, till thou return unto the Ground: For out of it wafi thou taken; Duji thou art, and to Diift floalt thou return^ Gen.iii. 17—19. This fliews that Paradife was a Place of Blifs as well as Immortality, without Drudgery, and without Sorrow. But when Man was turned out, he was ex- pofed to the Toil, Anxiety and Frailties of this mortal Life, which fliould end in the Dufi, out of which he was made, and to which he fliould return, and then have no- more Life or Senfe than the Z)/(/? had, out of which he was made. As Adam was turned out o( Paradife, fo all his Pofterity were born out of it, out of the Reach of the Tree of Life, All like their Father Ada?n in a State of Mortality, void of the Tranquillity and Blifs o{ Paradife. Rom. v. 12. By one Alan Sin entred into the World, and Death by Sin. But here will occur the common Objeftion, that fo many flumble at: How doth it confift with the Juftice and Goodnefs of Gcd, that the Pofte- rity of Adam fliould fufter for his Sin ; the Innocent he puniflied for the Guilty ? Very well, if keeping one from what he has no Right to, be called a Punifiment ; the State of Immortality in Paradife is not due to the Pofterity of Adam more than to any other Creature. Nay, if God afford them a temporary mortal Life, 'tis his Gift, they owe to his Bounty, they could not claim it as their Right, nor does he injure them when he takes it from them. Had he taken from Mankind any Thing that Vol. IL O o a was 47^ The Reajonciblenejs of Christianity, was their Riglit; or did he put Men in a State of Mifcry worfe than not being, with- out any Fault or Demerit of their own ; this, indeed, wnuld be hard to reconcile with the Notion we have of Juftice, and much more with the Goodnefs, and otiier Attributes of the fuprcme Being, which he has declared of iiimfelf, and Reafon as well as Revelation mufl; acknowledge to be in him ; unlefs we will confound Good and Evil, God and Satan. That fuch a State of extreme irremediable 'Jorment is worfe than no Being at all, il every ones own Senfe did not determine pgainft the vain Philofophy, and foolifli Mctaphylicks of fome Men ; yet our Saviour's peremptory Decifion, Mat. xxiv. 24. has put it pafl Doubt, that one may be in fuch an Elfate, that it had been better for him not have been burn. But that fucii a temporary Life as we now ha\e, with all its Frailties and ordinary Miferies, is better than no Being, is evident by the high Value we put upon it our fehes. And therefore tho' aU die in Adam, yet none are truly punipd but for their own Deeds. Ro>n. ii.6. God -will render to every one, hoAV ? according to his Deeds. To thofe that obey Unrightcoufnefs, Indig- nation -and Wrath, Tribulation and Anguifl) upon every Soul of Man that doth Evil, \.g. ■1 Cor. v. 10. IVe mufl appear before the "Judgment-feat of Chri/l, that every une may receive the T'hiugs done in his Body, according to that he has done, vjhether it be good or bad. And Chrift himlelf, who knew for what he fhould condemn Men at the laft Day, aflures us in the two Places where he defcribes his Proceeding at the great Judgment, that the Sen- tence of Condemnation pafles only upon the IVorkers uf Iniquity, fuch as neglefted to fulfil the Law in Ads of Charity, Mat.v'u. 2^. Luke x\\\. 27. Mat.xxv.^2. And again, John v. 29. our Saviour tells the Jews, that All fial/corne forth uf their Graves, They that have done Good to the RefurreBion of Life, and they that have done Evil unto the Refurreciion of Damnation. But here is no Condemnation of any one, for what his Fore-father Adam had done, which 'tis not likely fhould have been omitted, if that fliould have been a Caule, why any one was adjudged to the Fire wi th the Devil and his Angels. And he tells his Difciples, that when becomes again with his Angels in the Glory of his Father, that then he luill render to every one according to his Works, Mat. xvi. 27. Ada-rn being thus turned out of Paraidfe, and all hisPofterity born out of it, the Confequence of it was, that all Men fhoald die, and remain under Death for ever, and fo be utterly loft. From this Eftate of Death Jefus Chrift reftores all Mankind to Life ; i Cor. xv. 22. As in Adam all die, fo in Chri/l /hall all be made alive. How this fliall be, the fame Apo- ftle tells us in the foregoing v. 21. By Man Death came, by Alan alfo came the Refurre- Eiion from the Dead. Whereby it appears, that the Lite, v/hich Jefus Chrift reftores to all Men, is that Life, which they receive again at the Refurredion. Then they re- covered from Death, which otherwife all Mankind fliould have continued under, loft for ever, as appears by St. Paul's Arguing, i Cor. xv. concerning the Refurredion. And thus Men are by the Second Adam reftored to Life again : That fo by Adam's Sin they may none of them lofe any thing, which by their own Righteoufnefs they might have a Title to. For Righteoufnefs, or an exad Obedience to the Law, feems by the Scripture to have a Claim of Right to Eternal Life, Rom. iv. 4. To Imn that worketh, i. e. does the Works of the Law, is the Reward nut reckoned of Grace, but F DEBT'. And Rev. xxii. 14. Bleffed are they ivho do his Co?/imandm:nts, that they may HAVE RIGHT to the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradife of God. If any of the Pofterity of Adam were juft, they fhall not lofe the Reward of it, eternal Life and Blifs, by be- ing his mortal Hue: Chrift will bring them all to Life again,- and then they fhall be put every one upon his own Trial, and receive Judgment, as he is found to be righ- teous or not. And the Righteous, as our Saviour fays. Mat. xx\. ^6. fmll go into eternal Life. Nor fliall any one mifs it, who has done what our Saviour direded the Lawyer, who asked, Luke x. 25. IVhat he fhould do to inherit eternal Life? Do this. t. e. what is required by the Law, and thou /halt live. On the other fide, it feems the unalterable Purpofe of the Divine Juftice, that no unrighteous Perlon, no one that is guilty of any Breach of the Law, fhould be in Pa- radile; but that the Wages of Sin (hould be to every Man, as it was to Adam, anEx- ciufion of him out of that happy State of Immortality, and bring Death upon him. And this is fo conformable to theetetnal and eftablifh'd Law of Right and Wrong, that it is fpokeof too as it could not be otherwife. St. James fays, Chap.'i. 1^. Sin when it is fini/hed bringetb forth Death, as it were by a natural and necelVary Produdion. .Sin entredinto the World, and Death by Sin, fays St. Paul, Rom. v. 12. andvi.23. The Wages of Sin is Death. Death is the Purchafe of any, of every Sin. Gal. iii. 10. Curfed is as delivered in it/?^ Scriptures.' 4'y7 is every one who continued not in all Tubings ivhicb are written in the Book of the Law to do them. And of this St. James gives a Realbn, Chap. ii. jo, n. IVhofuever flkill keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one Point, he is guilty of all : For he that faid, D) not commit Adultery, faid alfo, Do not Kill : i. e. He that ofi'ends in any one Point, iins againft the Authority which edabiiflied the Law. Here then we have the Standing and fixed Meafures of Life and Death. Immorta- lity and Blifs belong to the Righteous ; Thofe who ha\e lived in an exact ConCormity to the Law of God, are out of the Reach of Death : But an Exclufion from Paradife, and Lofs of Immortality, is the Portion of Sinners, of all rliofc who luivc anyway broke that Law, and fai'ed of a compleat Obedience to it by tlic Guilt of any one Tranfgreflion. And thus Mankind by the Law are put upon the Ifiues of Life or Death; As they are Righteous or Unrighteous ^ Jii/l ov Unjujl ; i. e. Exact Performers, or Tranfgreilors of the Law. But yet all having finned, Rom. iii. 25. and come Jbort of the Glory of God, i. e. the Kingdom of God in Heaven, which is often called his Glory, hoth Jews and Gentiles, V. 22. So that ty the Deeds of the Lav: no one could be jujlif.ed, v. 20. it follows, that no one could then have eternal Life and Blifs. Perhaps it will be demanded. Why did God give fo hard a Law to Mankind, that to the Apoftles Time no one oi Adam's Kfue had kept it } As appears by Rj7n. iii. and Gal. iii. 21, 21. Anfw. It was fuch a Law as the Purity of God's Nature requir'd, and nuiil; be the Law of fuch a Creature as Man, unlefs God would have made him a rational Creature, and not required him to have lived by the Law of Reafon, but would have countenanced in him Irregularity and Dilbbedience to that Light which he had, and that Rule which was fuitable to his Nature : Which would have been, to have au- thorized Diforder, Confufion and Wickednefs in his Creatures. For that this Law was the Laiu of Reafon, or as it is called, of Nature, we fhall fee by and by : 'uid if rational Creatures win not live up to the Rule of their Reai'on, who fhall excufe them ? If you will admit them to forfake Reafon in one Point, why no: in another? Where will you flop ? To difobey God in any Part of his Commands (and 'tis he that commands what Reafon does) is direft Rebellion; which if difpenled with in any Point, Government and Order are at an end ; and there can be no Bounds fet to the lawlefs Exorbintancy of unconfined Men. The Law therefore was, as St. P,iul tells us, Rom. vii. 21. holy, jufi and good, and fuch as it ought, and could not other- wife be. This then being the Cafe, that whoever is guilty of any Sin, fhould certainly die, and ceafe to be, the Benefit of Life reftorcd by Chrifl at the Refurreftion would have been no great Advantage, (for as much as here again Death muft have feized upon all Mankind, becaufe all had finned ; for the Wages of Sin is every where Death, as well after as before the Refurrediion) if God had not found out a Way to juftify fomc, /'. e. fomany, as obeyed another Law, which God gave, which in the Newlejlament is called the Law of Faith, Rom. iii. 27. and is oppoled to the Lawof IVorks. And therefore the Punilhment of thofe who would not follow him was to lofe their Souls, i. e. their Lives, Mzr^ viii.35 — 38. as is plain, conlider- ing the Occafion it was fpoke on. The better to underftand the Law of Faith, it will be convenient in thefirft Place to con^iilfn the Lawof Works. 'The Law of Works xh^n, in fliort, is that Law, which requires perfeft Obedience, without any Remiflion or Abatement ; So that by that Law a Man cannot be juft, or juftified without an exaft Performance of every Tit- tle. Such a perfect Obedience in the NewTejlament is termed i^Knniruini, vvhich we tranflate Righteoifnefs. The Language of this Law is. Do this and live, tranfgrefs and die. LJv. xviii. 5. Te fl)aU keep my Statutes and my Judgments, which if a Alan do he fhall live in them. Ezek. XX. II. I gave them my Statutes, andfiewed them my Judgments, which if a Man do he fiall even live in them. Mofes, fays St. Paul, Rom. x. 5. defcribeth the Righteouf- nefs which is of the Law, that the Man which doth thofe Things flnill live in them. Gal. iii. 12. The Law is not of Faith, but that Man that doth them full live in them. On tlic other fide, tranfgrefs and die; no Difpenfation, no Atonement. V. 10. Curfed is every one that contimcth not in all Things which are written in the Book of the Law to di) them. Where 47^ The Reafonahlenefs of Christianity, Where this Law of Works was to be found, the New Teflament tells us, (vit.) in the Law deiivei-ed by Mofes. John i. 17. 'The Law ivas given h Mofes, but Faith and Truth came by Jeftis Chrijl. Chap. vii. 19. ibid not Mofcs give ym the Law, fays our Saviour, and yet none of you keep the Law. And this is tlie Law wliich he Ipcaks of, where he asks the Lawyer, Luke x. 26. JVhat is written in the Law? How readeft thou ? V. 28. This do and thonfialt live. This is that which St. Paul io often ftiles the Law, without any other Diftinftinn, Rum. ii. 13. Not the Heavers of the Law are jnft before God, but the Doers of the Law are juftified. "Lis neediels to quote any more Places, his Epiftles are all full of it, efpecially this to the Romans. But the Law given by Mufes being not given to all Mankind, how are all Men Sin- ners, lince without a L^w there is no Tranfgreflion ? To this the Apoftle, v. 14. an- fwers. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law, do (i. e. find it reafonable to do) by Nature the Things contained in the Law; thefe having not the Law, are a Law unto them- felves : lV^jichf}ew the IVork of the Law v.ritten in their Hearts^ their Confciences alfo bearing witnefs, and amongfl one another their 'Tho74ghts accufmg or exi.fing. By wiiich, and other Places in the following Chapter, 'tis plain, that under tlie Law of Works is com- prehended alfo the Law of Nature, knowable by Reafon as well as the Law given by M'fes. For, fays St. Paul, Rom. iii. 5?. 23. IVe have proved both Jews and Gen- tiles, that they are all under Sin: For all have finned, and comefhort of the Glory oj God: Which they could not do without a Law. Nay, whatever God requires any where to be done without making any Allowance for Faith, that is a Part of the Law of Works. So that forbidding Adam to eat of the Tree of Knowledge was Part of the Law of Works. Only we n-.uR take notice here. That fomeoi God's politive Commands bemg for peculiar Ends, and luited to par- ticular Circumftances of Times, Places and Perfons, have a limited and only tempo- rary Obligation by vertue of God's pofirive Injunction ; fuch as was that Pait of Mo- fes's Law which concerned the outn'ard Worfliip, or political Conftirution^of the j?etw, and is called the Ceremonial and Judaical Law, in ContradiRindion to the Moral Part of itj Which being conformable to the eternal Law of Right, is of eternal Obligati- on, and therefore remains in force flill under the Gofpel ; nor is abrogated by the Law of Faith, as St. Paul fou' d fome ready to infev, Rotn. rii. 31. Do we then make void the Law through Faith ? God forbid ; yea, we eflablifi the Law. Nor can it be otherwife : For were there no Law of Works, there could be no Law of Faith. For there could be no need of Faith, which fhiuld be counted to Men for Rightcoufneis, it there were no Law to be the Rule and Meafure of Righteouf- nefs, which Men failed in their Obedience to. Where there is no Law, there is no Sin ; all are righteous equally with or without Faith. The Rule therefore of Right is the fame that ever it was, the Obligation to ob- ferve it is alfo the fame : The Difference between the Law of Works, and the Lavj of Faith is only this ; that the Law of Works makes no Allowance for failing on any Oc- cafion. Thofe that obey are righteous, thole that in any Partdifobey areunrigte- ous, and muft not e.xpeft Life, the Reward of Righteoufnefs. But by the Law of Faith, Faith is allowed to fupply the Defeat of full Obedience ; and fo th© Believers are admitted to Lite and Lnmortality as if they were righteous. Only here we mull take notice, that when St. Paul fays, that the Gofpel eftablifhes the Law, he means the Moral Part of the Law oi Mofis : For that he could not mean the Ceremonial or Political Part of it, is evident by what I quoted out of him jufl; now, where he fays, 'The Gentiles that do by Nature the Things contained in the Law, their Confciences bear- ing iuitnefs. For the Gentiles neither did nor thought of the Judaical and Ceremonial Inftitutions of Mofes, 'twas only the Moral Part their Confciences were concerned in. As for the reft, St. Paul tells the Galatians, Chap. iv. they are not under that Part of the Law, which v. 3. he calls Elements of the IVorld; and v. 9. weak and beggerly Elements. And our Saviour himlef in his Gofpel - Sermon on the Mount, tells them. Mat. v. i-j. That whatever they might think, he was not come todiffilve the Law, but to make it more full and ftrift : For that that is meant by ■^>fit^(T*i, is evident from the following Part of that Chapter, where he gives the Precepts in a ftrifter Senfc than they were received in before. But they are all Precepts of the Mo- ral Law which he reinforces. What fhould become of the Ritual Law he tells the Wo- man o{ Samaria in thefe Words, John iv. 21, 23. The Hour cometh when you J/jall neither in this Mountain, nor yet at jerufalem wor/hip the Father. But the true Worjhippers fhall ivorfyip the Father in Spirit and in Truth, for the Father fteketh fuch to worjl.vp him. Thus di delivered m the SciiiPTVKL':^. ^-jc^ Thus then as to the Law in fhort. The Civil nnd Ritua! part of the Law deliver- ed by Mi:fif obliges not Chriftians, though to the Jews it were a Part of the Law of Works; it being a part of the Law of Nature, that Man ought to obey every pofitive Law (if God, whenever he fhaft"pleafe to make any fuch addition to the Law of his Kature. But the Moral Part of Mofes's Law, or the Moral Law, Ovhich is every Where the fame, the eternal Rule of Right) obliges Chriftians and all Men every Tvhere, a. d is to all Men the ftanding Law of Wor!:s. But Chriftian Believers have the Privilege to be under the Law of Faith too ; which is that Law whereby God juftifies a Man for believing, though by his Works he be not juft or righteous, /. e. though he came fhort of Perfeft Obedience to the Law of Works. God alone does, or can, juftify or make juft thole who by their Works are not fo : Which he doth by counting their Faich for Righteoufnefs, /. e. for a compleat Performance of the Law. Rom. iv. 3. Abraha7n believed God, and it was counted to hi}}} for Righteoufnefs. V. 5 . To him that believeth on him that juflifieth the Ungodly, his Faith is counted for Righteoufnefs. v. 6. Even as David alfo defcriheth the BJeffediiefs of the Alan unto whom Gild imputeth Righteoufnefs without Works ; i.e. without a full Meafure of Works, which is exa(5t Obedience, v. 7. Saying, Elijfed are they whofe Iniquities are forgiven, and whofe Sins are covered, v. 8. Blejfed is the Man to whom the Lord zvill not im- pute Sin. Tiiis Faith for which God juftilTed Abraham, what was it ? It was the believing Goa wlien he engaged his Promife in the Covenant he made with him. This will be plain to any one who confiders thefe Places together. Gen. xv. 6. He believed in the Lord, or believed the Lord. For that the Hebrew Phrafe believing in, fignifies no more but believing, is plain from St. Paul's Citation of this Place, Rom. iv. 3. where he repeats it tiius: Abraham believed God, which he thus explains, v. 18—22. who a~ gamjt Hope believed in Hope, that he might become the Father of many Nations : Accor- ding tc flat which was fpoken, fo fly all thy Seed be. And being not weak in Faith, he con- Jiderea nut his own Body now dead, when he was about an hundred Tears old, nor yet the DeadTiefs of Sarah's Womb. He fiaggered not at the Promife of God through Unbelief; litt was flrong in Faith, giving Glory to God. And being fully perfiaded, that what he had pro}nifed, he was alfo able to perform. And therefore it ivas imputed to him for Righte- ctfnefs. By which it is clear, that the Faith which God counted to Abraham for Rigliteoufnefs, was nothing but a firm Belief of what God declared to him, and a fiedfaft relying on him for the Accomplifliment of what he had promifed. Now this, fays St. Paul, v. 23, 24. was not writ for his [ Abraham'/] fake aloney But for m alfo ; teaching us, that as ^/^rato« was juftified for his Faith fo alio ours fhail be accounted to us for Righteoufnefs, if we believe God as Abraham believed him. Whereby 'tis plain is meant the firmnefs of our Faith without y?/?^^?/-/;/^, and not the believing the fame Prcpoiitions that ^^m/ww believed ; viz.. that though he and Sarah were old, and paft the time and hopes of Children, yet he fhould have a Son by her, and by him become the Father of a great People, which fhould poflefs the Land of Canaan. This was what Abraha}n believed, and was counted to him for Righteoufnefs. But no body, I think, will fay, that any one's believing this now fhall be imputed to him for Righteoufnefs. The Law of Faith then, in fhort, is for e\ery one to believe what God requires him to believe, as a Condition of the Co- venant he makes with him ; and not to doubt of the Performance of his Promifes. This the Apoftle intimates in the clofe here, v. 24. But for us alfo, to whom it (hall he imputed, if we believe on him that raifed up Jefus our Lord from the dead. We muft therefore examine and fee what God requires us to believe now under the Revelation of the Gofpel : For the Belief of one Invifible, Eternal, Omnipotent God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, &c. was required before, as w6ll as now. What we are now required to believe to obtain eternal Life, is plainly fet down in the Gofpel. St. John tells us, 'John iii. 36. He that believeth on the Son, hath eter- nal Life ; and he that believeth not the Son, fjall itot fee Life. What this believing on him is, we are alfo told in the next Chapter. The Woman faith unto him, I know that the MiJT'ah cometh : When he is come, he will tell us all Things. Jefus faid unto her, I that fpeak unto thee am he. The Wo}nan then went into the City, and faith to the Men, come fee a Man that hath told me all Things that ever I did. Is not this the MSah ? And many of the Samaritans believed on him for the faying of the Woman, who teflified, ije told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans zvere come unto him, many }nore believed becatife of his Words, and faid to the Woman ; We believe not any longer, be- caufe 4^0 The Renfonablenefs of Christianity. caiife of thy faying, for ive have heard our fives, and we know that this Alan is truly the Saviour of the IVorld, the Mcffinh, John 25, 26, 29, 39, 40, 41, 42. By which Place it is plain, that believing on the Son, is the believing thatyefus was the Mcjfah ; giving credit to the Miracles he did,anddtatthe Profellion he made of hini- fclf. For thofe who were laid to BELIEVE ON HIM for the faying of the Wo- man, V. 39. tell tiie Woman, that they now believed not any longer becaufe of her faying ; but that having heard him themfelves, they knew, /. e. BEL I E V E D paft doubt THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. This was the great Propofition that was then controverted coacerning Jefus of Naz,areth, whether he was the Aff^czA or no ; and the Aflent to that, was that which diftinguiflied Believers from Unbelievers. When many of his Difciples had forfaken him, upon his declaring that he was the Bread of Life which came down from Hea- ven, He faid to the Apoftles, JVill ye alfo go away ? "Then Si?non Peter anfwered him ; Lord, to whom fl.ull zue go ? T'hou haji the IVords of eternal Life. And we believe, and are fure thou art the MiJJtah, the Son of the living God, John iv. 6p. This was the Faith which diftinguiflied them from Apoftates and Unbelievers, and was fufficient to continue them in the Rank of Apoftles : And it was upon the fame Propofition, I'hat fefiis was the Mtffiah, the Sun of the living God, owned by St. Peter, that our Saviour laid, he would build his Church, Miit. xvi. 16 — 18. To convince Men of this, he did his Miracles : And their aflent to, or not aflent- ing to this, made them to be, or not to be of his Church ; Believers, or not Be- lievers. 77;e jfews came round about him, and faid unto him, HjW long dofl thou make iti doubt ? If thou be the Miffiah tell us plainly. fefus anfwered them ; I told you, and ye believed not : "The JVorks that J do in my Fathers Name, they bear witnefs of me. But ye believe not, becaufe ye are not of my f])eep, John x. 24 — 16. Conformable hereunto, St. fohn tells us, That many Deceivers are entred into the World, who confefs not that yefus, the Alclfuh, is come in the Flejl?. "This is a Deceiver, and an Atitichrifl, whofo- ever abideth not in the DuElrine of t/je Aliffuh has not God. He that abideth in the DoBriiie of the MeJT'ah, i. e. that Jefus is he, hath both the Father and the Sen, 2 John 7. 5?, 10. That this is the Meaning of the Place, is plain from what he fays in his foregoing Epiflle, M^hofever believeth that Jefus is the ALffiah, is born of God, I John V. I. And therefore drawing to a clofe of Jiis Gofpel, and Ihewing the End for which he writ it, he hasthefe Words : ALmy other Signs truly did Jefus in the prefence of his Difciples, which are not zvritten in this Book ; but thefe are written, that ye may believe that Jefus is the Altjpub, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have Life through his Name, John xx. 30, 31. Whereby it is plain that the Gofpel was writ to induce Men into a Belief of .this Propofition, T'l)at Jefus ofNaz,areth was the Alejftah i which if they believed, they Ihould have Life. Accordingly the great Qtieftion amongft the Jews was, whether he were xheAItJJlah, or no : And the great Point infilled on and promulgated in the Golpel was, that he was the Alijf'ah. The firft glad Tidings of his Birth, brought to the Shepherds by an Angel, was in thefe Words : Fear not, for behold I bring you good Tidings of great Joy, which jlmll be to all People ; For to you is born this Day in the City of D.ivid a Sa- viour, who is the Mtlfhih, the Lord, Luke ii. 11. Our Saviour difcourfing with Martha about the Means of attaining eternal Life, faith to her, Johnxi.ij. IVhofo- ever believeth in me fhall never die. Believejl thou this ? She faith unto him. Tea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Alejfiah, the Son of God, which fiould come into the World. This Anfwer of hers fheweth what it is to believe in Jefus Chrift, fo as to have eter- nal Life, viz,, to believe that he is die AltJ/iah the Son of God, whole coming was foretold by the Prophets. And thus Andrew and Philip exprefs it : Andrew fays to his Brother Simon, we have found the Alejfah, which is, being interpreted, the Chrifl. Phi- lip faith to Nathaniel, we have found him of whom ATifes in the Law, and the Prophets did write, Jefus of Naz^areth, the Son of Jofeph, John i. 41. 45. According to what the Evangelift fays in this place, I have, for the clearer underftauding of the Scrip- ture, all along, put MeJJ'ah for Chriji. Chrifl being but the Greek Name for the Hebrew Alejflah, and both fignifying, T'he Anointed. And that he was the Mtffiah, was the great Truth he took pains to convince his Difciples and Apoftles of i appearing to them after his Refurrei^tion : As may be feen, Luke xxiv. which we fhall more particularly conlider in another place. There we read what Gofpel our Saviour preach 'd to his Difciples and Apoftles ; and. That, as foon as he was rifen from the Dead, twice the very Day of his Refurrection. And as delivered in the Scriptures. ^2i And if 'vVC may gather what was to be believed by all Nations, from whsr wus preached unto them ; we may certainly know what they \v ere commanded, Mn.uL. to teach all Nations, by what they actually did teach all Nations; we may obicrve that tiie Preaching of the ApoflJes every where in the ^^7f vended to tliis one Point, to prove that Jefus was the Alejjuib. Indeed, now aiter his Death, hisRcl'unection was alio commonly required to be believed as a necefl'ary Article, and iijmeiimes Iblely infiftedon: It being a Mark and undoubted F'vidence of his being xhcMffiah, and necclVary now to be believed by thole who would receive iimi as the Mtffiah. For fince the McY/a?/; was to be a Saviour and a King, and to give Life and a King- dom to thofe who receivedhim, as wcfliall fceby and by, there could iiaie been no Pretence to have given him out for the Aleffiah, and to requi re Men to bei ieve him to be fo, who thoughthmiunderthePower of Death, andCorruption of tlie Grave. And therefore thofe who believed him to be the MV/zW;, muft believe that he was rifen from tlie Dead: And thofe who believed him to be rifen from the Dead, could not doubt of his being the Meffiah. But of this more in another place. Let us fee therefore how the ApoftJcs preached Chrift,and what theypropofed to their Hearers to believe, Sx. Peter at 'Jerufale>n, Alii ii. by his firil Sermon, conver- ted three thoufand Souls. What was his Word, which, as we are told, x/. 41. they gladly received, and thereupon were baptized? That may be fecn from "j.zz.tov. ■2,6. In fliort, this; which is the Conclulion drawn from all that he had faid, and which heprelfeson them as the thing they were to believe, njix.. T'herefvre let all the Houfe cf Ifrael kmzu ajfuredly, that God hath made that fame Jefus, whom ye have crucified, Lord imdAIc-ffiah, v. 36. To the fame Purpofe was his Difcourfe to the Jews in the Temple, Acls i i i. the De- fign whereof you have, v. 1 8. But thofe T'hinq^s that God before had fiewed by the Mjuth of all his Prophets, that the MiJJhih fjmild fuffer, he hath fo fulfilled. In the next Chapter, Acls iv. Peter and John being examined about the Miracle on the lame Man, profefs it to have been done in the Name oi Jefus of Nazareth, who was the Miffiah, in whom alonetherewas Salvation, v. 10— 1 2. The fame thingthey confirm to them again, ABs v. 29—52. And daily in the Temple, and in every Houfe they ceafed not to teach and preach Jefus the Mtffiah, v. 42. What was Stephen s Speech to the Council, AUs vii. but a Reprehenfion to them, that they were the Betrayers and Murderers of the Juft One? Which is the I'itlcby which he plainly defigns the Meffiah, whofe coming was forelhewn by the Prophets, V. 51,52. And that the Meffiah was to be without Sin (which is the Import of the Word Juf})was the Opinion of the Jews, appears from John ix. v. 22. compared with 24. A£is viii. Philip carries the Gofpel to Samaria. T'hen Philip^Lvent down to Samaria, and preached to them. What was it he preached? You have an account of it in this one Word, I'he Meffiah, v. ^. This being that alone which was required of them, to believe that 5^^/«j was the Mj^.;/; ; which, when they believed, they were baptized. And when they believed Philip's preaching the Gofpel of the Kingdom of God, And the Name oj Jefus the Mtffi'ah, they were baptiz..td both Men and Women, v. 12. Philip being fent from thence, by a fpecial Call of the Spirit, to make an eminent Convert, out oi Ifaiah preaches to him Jefuf, v. 35. And what it was he preached concerr\\\^^ Jefus, we may know by the Profeffion of Faith the Eunuch made, upon which he was admitted to Baptifm. K37. I believe that Jefus Chrifi, is the Son of God : Which is as much as to fay, 1 believe that he whom you call Jefus Chrift, is really and truly theMtffiiah that was promifed. For that believing him to be the SonofGod, and to hethe Meffiah, was the fame thing, may appear by comparing ^o/.;; i. 45. with f . 49. where Nathaniel owns Jefus to be the Mffiah in thefe Terms": T/jou art the Son of God; 'Thou art the King of Ifrael. So the Jews, Luke xxii. 70. asking Clirift, vvlie- ther he were the Son of God, plainly demand of him, whether he were the M.ffi'.ih ? Which is evidentby comparing that with the three preceding Verfes. They askhim, •v. 67. whether he were the Meffiah ? He anfwers. If I tell you, you well not believe? but withal tells them, that from thenceforth he fhould be in Pofleflionof the Kingdom of the Meffiah, _ exprefled in thefe Words, v. 69. Hereafter fl.hiU theScn of Alan fit on the rightHandof the P Older of God: Which made them all cry out. Art thou then the Son of God} i.e. Doft thou then own thy felf to be'theM;;^^//;? To which he replies. Ye fay that lam. That the Son of God was the known Title of the Miffi.ih at that time amongft liie Jexvs, we may fee alfo from what the Jews fay to Ptiate, John xix. 7. wi have a Vol. XL P P E Law, ^^2 The ReajoMhlenefs of ChriJIianity, La-x, md hy our I.avo he ought to die, iecntife he ?nadt bimjelf TH E SON OF GOD; i. e. by making Iiimielf t!ie Mtffiiih, the Prophet which was to come, but taU'cly ; and thcreiore he deferves to die by the Law, Deut. xviii. 20. That this was the common Signification o( the Son of God, is farther evident from what the Chief Pricft mock- ing him, faid, when he was on the Crof-., Mat. xxvii. 42. He favcd others, hhnfelfhe cannot Jnve : Ij he be the King of Ifael, let him now come down from the Crufs, and we ■will believe him. He trufted in God, let him deliver him now, if he -will have him ; for he faid, I am the S N OF GOD, i. e. he faid, he was the Meffiah: But 'tis plainly falfe," for if he were, God would deliver him : For the Meffiah is to be King of Ifrael, the Saviour of others; but this Man cannot favc himielf The Chief Pricfts mention here the two Titles then in ufe whereby the^ftwCommonlydefigned the M.fflah, viz,. Sun of God, and King of Ifrael. That of Son of God, was fo fami- liar a Compellation oithe Mffiah, who was then fo much expeffted and talked of, that the Romans it feems, wholived amongft them, had learned it, as appears from v. 54. Now when the Centurion, and they that were ivith him, watching fefus, faw the Earth- quake, and thofe T'hings that were done, they feared greatly, Jaying, "Truly this was the SON OF GOD; this was that extraordinary Perlbn that was looked for. Acis IX. St. Paul exerciling the Commifnon to preach theGofpel, which he had received in a miraculous way, v. 20. Straitway preached Chri/l in the Synagogues, that he is the Sun of God; i. e. that Jefus was the Meffiah: For Chrift in this Place is evi- dently a proper Name. And that this was it which Paul preached, appears from 1/. 2 2 . Satil encreafed the more in Strength, and confounded the feius who dwelt in Damafcus^ f roving that this is the very Chrift, i. e. the Meftiah. Peter, when he came to Crrrnelius at Cefarea ; who, by a Vifion, was ordered to fend for him, as St. Peter, on the other fide, was by a Viilon commanded to go to him; what does he teach him ? His whole Difcourfe, AEls x. tends to fhew what he fays God commanded the Apoftles, To Preach rinto the People, and to teftify, that it is he [jefus] which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the Quick and the Dead. And that it was to him that all the Prophets give witnefs, that through his Name whofoever believeth in him fh all have Remiffionof Sins, v. 42,43. This is the IJ^ord which God fem to the Children rf Ifrael; that IVORD which was publift)ed throughout all 'Judea, and began from Callilee, after the Baptifm which John preached, v. 36, 37. And thefe are the M-^ords which had been promifed to Cornelius, Act xi. 14. Whereby he and all his Houfeflxmld be faved: Which /^ujv/j amount only to thus much. That fefus was the Mt-iffiub, the Saviour that was promifed. Upon their receiving of this (for this was all was taught them) the Holy Ghoft fell on them, and they were baptized. 'Tis obfervable here, that the Holy Ghoft fell on them before they were baptized, which in other Places Con\erts received not till after Baptifm. The Reafon whereof feems to be this; That God by beftowing on them the Holy Ghoft, did thus declare from Heaven, that the Gentiles, upon believing '^efus to be the Mtjftah, ought to be admit- ted into the Church by Baptifm, as well as the 'Jews. Whoever reads St. Peter s De- fence, Acls xi. when he was accufed by thofe of the Circumcifion, that he had not kept that Diftance which he ought with the Uncircumcifed, will be of this Opinion, and fee by what he fliys, v. 1^,16,1^. That this was the Ground, and an iiitfifti- ble Authority to him for doing fo ftrange a thing, as it appeared to the Jews (who alone yet were Members of the Chriftian Church) to admit Gentiles into their Com- munion, upon their believing. And therefore St. Peter, in the foregoing Chapter, Acis X. before he would baptize them, propofes this Queftion to thofe of the Circum- cifion, which came with him, and were aftcniJJjed, becaufe that on the Gentiles alfo was poured out the Gifts of the Holy Ghoft: Can any one forbid IVater, that thefe fhould not be baptiz,ed, who have received the Holy Ghoft as well as we ? v. 47. And when lome o£ the Seft of the Pharifees, who believed, thought it needful that the converted Gentiles flwuld be circumcifd, and keep the Law of Mnjes, Acts xv. Peter rofe up and fit d unto the7n. Men and Brethren, you know that a good while ago God made choice amongfl us, that the Gentiles, viz. Cornelius, and thofe here converted with him, by my Mouth fhould hear the Gofpel, and believe. And God, who knoweth the Hearts, bear them witnefs, gi- ving them the Holy Ghoft, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us andtlhm, purifying their Hearts by Faith, v. 7 — 9. So that both Jews and Gentiles, who be- lieved Jefus to be the Mif/i.th, received thereupon the Seal of Baptifm ; whereby they were owned to be his, and diftingui0ied from Unbelievers. From what is above laid, wemay obferve,That this preaching Jefus to be the Meffiah, is called the fVord, and as delivered in the Scriptures, , 48? &nA the Word of God; and believing it, receiving the Word of God. l^id.Adsx. 5^,3 7. and xi. i, ip, 20. and the Word of the Gofpel, Ads xv. 7. And lb likewife in the Hi- • ftory of tlic Gol'pel, what Mark, Chap. iv. 14, 15. calls limply the Word, St. Luke' cnlls the Word of God, Luke viii. 11. And St. Matth. Chap. xiii. ic). the Word of the Kingdom ; which were it leems, in the Golpel-writers fynonymous Terms, and are £0 to be undeillood by us. But to go on : Acis xiii, Paul preaches in the Synagogue at Amioch, where he makes it his Bufinels to convince the Jews, that God, according to his Pro?nife, had of the Seed of David raifed to Ifrael a Saviour, Jefus, v. 24. That he was He of whom the Prophets writ, v.z% — 22. /. e. the Mejjiah .- And that as a Demonftration of his being fo, God had railed him from the Dead, v. 30. From whence he argues thus, ■:;. 32, 33. We Evangeliz,e to you, or bring you this Gofpel, /;o-a) that the Pro?nife •which was made to our Fathers, God hath fulfilled the fame unto us, in that he hath rai- fed up fefus again ; as it is alfo written in the fetond Pfalm, T'hou art my Son, this Day have I begotten thee. And having gone on to prove him to be the Me/ftah, by his Re- furieciion from the Dead, he makes this Concluiion ; v. 38, 39. Be it known unto yoii therejore. Men and Brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you Forgivenefs of Sins ; and by him all who believe are juflified from all things, from which they could not be jufiified by the Law ofMofes. This is in this Chapter called, the Word of God, over and over again : Compare v. 42. with 44, 46, 48, 49. And Chap. xii. v. 24. Acis xvii. 2—4. At T'beffalonica, Paul, as his Manner was, went into the Synagogue, and three Sabbath-days reafoned with the Jews out of the Scriptures ; opening and allcdgin"., that the M.Jftah tnufi needs have fuffered, and rijen again from the Dead: And that this Je- fm, whom I preach unto you, is the Mefftah. And fame of them believed, and confined with Paul and Silas : But the fews which believed not, fet the City in an Uproar. Can there be any thing plainer, than that the allenting to this Propolition, that Jefus was the Meffiah, was that wliich diftinguiflied the Believers from the Unbelievers ? For this was that alone which, three Sabbaths, Paul endeavoured to convince them of, as the Text tells us in direft Words. From thence he went to Berea, and preached the fame thing : And the Bereans are commended, i^. 11. for fearching the Scriptures, whether thole things, i.e. which he had faid, v. 2, 3. concerning Jelus his being the Meffiah, were true or no. The fam.e Doftrine we find him preaching at Corinth, AEls xviii. 4—6. And he deafened in the Synagogue every Sabbath, and perfuaded the fews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pre [fed in Spirit, and teflified to the Jews, that Jefm zuas the Meffiah. And when they oppofed themfelves, and blafphe- med, he fiook his Raiment, and faid unto them, your Blood be upon your own Heads, I am clean ; from henceforth I will go unto the Greeks. Upon the likeOccafion he tells the Jews atAntioch, ASisx\n.^6. It was neceffary that the Word of God flmdd firjl have been fpoken to you : But feeing you put it off from yotf •we turn to the Gentiles. " Tis plain here, St. Paul's charging their Blood on their own Heads, is for oppofing this lingie Truth, that Jefus was the Meffiah; that Sal- vation or Perdition depends upon believing or rejeding this one Propolition. I mean, this is all is required to be believed by thofe who acknowledge but one eternal and invifible God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, as the Jews did. For that there is fomething more required to Salvation, befides believing, we fliall fee hereafter. la the mean time, it is fit here on this Occafion to take notice, that though the Apo- ftles in their Preaching to the Jews, and the Devout, (as we tranflate the Word • ffi/icixi>oi, who were Profolytes of the Gate, and the Worfhippcrs of one eternal and invifible God,) faid nothing of the believing in this one true God, the Maker of Hea- ven and Earth ; becaufe it was needlefs to prefs this to thofe who believed and profefied it already (for to fuch, 'tis plain, were moft of their Difcourfes hither- to). Yet when they had to do with idolatrous Heathens, who were not yet come to the Knowledge of the one only true God ; they began with that, as neceflary to be believedi it being the Foundation on which the other was built, and withdut which it could fignify nothing. Thus Paul fpeaking to the idolatrous Lyflrians, W'ho would have facrificed to him and Barnaboi, fays, ASls xiv. ij. We preach unto you, that you fJ)ould turn fro7n thefe Vanities unto the living God, who made Heaven, and Earth, and the Sea, and all things that are therein. Who in times pafl fuffered all Nations to walk in their own ways. Vol. IL P p p 2 " Neverthe- 4^4 ^^^ Reajonablenefs of Christianity. Neverthelefs he left not himfelf without Witnefs in that he did good, and gave us Rain from Heaven, and fruitjul Seafuns, filling our Hearts with Food and Gladnefs. Thus alfo he proceeded wich the Idolatrous Athenians, AEis xvii. Telling them, upon occafion of the Alrar dedicated to the unknown God, Whom ye igmrantly worship, him declare I unto you ; God who made the World, and all things therein : Seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and Earth, dwelleth not in "Temples made with Hands. Foraf- much then as we are the Off-fpring of God, we ought nnt to think that the Godhead is like unto Gold, or Silver, or Stone, graven by Art, and Mans Device. And the Times of this Ignorance God winked at ; But now commandeth all Alen every where to repent : Be- caiife he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Right eoufnefs, by that Man whom he hath ordained: Whereof he hath given Affurance unto all Men, in that he hath raifed him jrom the Dead. So that we fee, where any thing more was necefla- ry to be propofed to be believed, as there was to the Heathen Idolaters, there the Apoftles were careful not to omit it. Atls -avm. j:^. Paul at Corinth reafoned in the Synagogue every Sabbath-day, and tefiified to the Jews, that Jefus was the MvJPah. Ver. 1 1 . And he continued there a Tear and fix Months, teaching the Word of God amongft them ; i. e. .The good News, that Jefus was the Mejfiah ; as we have already fhewn is meant by the Word of God. Apollos, another Preacher of the Gofpel, when he was inllrufted in the way of God more perfectly, what did he tQach but this fame Doftrine ? As we may fee in this Account of him, ABs xviii. 27. That when he was come into Achaia, he helped the Brethren much, who had believed through Grace, For he mightily convinced the 'Jews, and that pub~ lickly, /hewing by the Scriptures that Jefus was the MilPah. St. Paul, in the Account he gi\es of himfelf before Fefius and Agrippa, profefles this alone to be the Doftrine he taught after his Converfion : For, fays he, Acls xxvi. 22. Having obtained Help of God, I continue unto this Day, witmfjhig both to fmaU and great, faying none other things than thofe which the Prophets and Mofes did fayfhould come : That the Mejf'as fljould fuffer, and that he jimuld be the fir fi that fixuld rife from the Dtad, and foould fijew Light unto the People, and to the Gentiles. Which was no more than to prove that Jefus was the Mejfiah. This is that, which, as we have above obfen ed, is called. The Word of God; A^s xi. i. compared with the foregoing Chapter, from V. 34. to the end. And xiii.42. compared with 44,4(5, 48,49. and xvii. 13. com- pared with -y. 1 1, 3. It is alfo called. The Word of the Gofpel, Acls xv. 7. And this is thsLtWord of God, and that Gofpel, which, where-ever their Difcourfes are fet down, we find the Apoftles preached; and was that Faith, which made both Jews and Gentiles Believers and Members of the Church of Chrift ; purifying the Hearts, ABs XV. 9. and carrying with it Remiffion of Sins, Acls x. 43. So that all that was to be believed for Juftification, was no more but this fingle Propofition ; that Jefm of Nazareth was the Chrifl, or the Mejfiah. All, I fay, that was to be believed for jufti- fication : For that it was not all that was required to be done for Juftification, we Ihall fee hereafter. Though we have feen above from what our Saviour has pronounced himfelf, John iii. 36. That he that believe th on the Son, hath everlnfting Life ; and he that believe th not the Son, fi)allnot fee Life, but the Wrath of God abideth on him ; and are tauglit from "John \v. 39. compared with v. 42. That believeth on him, is believing that he is the Meffiah, the Saviour of the World j and the ConfefTion made by St. Peter, Mat. xvi. 16. That he is the Mejfiah, the Son of the living God, being the Rock, on which our Saviour has promifed to build his Church ; though this, I fay, and what elfe we have already taken notice of, be enough to convince us what it is we are in the Gofpel required to believe to eternal Life, without adding what we have obferved from the preaching of the Apoftles ; yet it may not be amifs, for the farther clearing this Matter, to obferve what the Evangelifts deliver concerning the fame thing, though in different Words ; which, therefore, perhaps, are not fo generally taken notice of to this Purpofe. We have above obferved, from the Words of Andrew and Philip compared. That the Mejfiah, and. him of whom Mofes in the Law and the Prophets did write, fignify the fame thing. We fhall now confider that place, John i. a little father. Ver.^i. Andrew fays to Simeon, We have found the Meffiah. Philip, on the fame occafion, v. 45:. lays to Nathaniel, We have found him, of whom Mofes in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jefm of Nazareth, the Son oj Jofeph. Nathaniel, who disbelieved this, whea upon Chrift's fpeaking to him, he was convinced of it, declares his affepc to it in thef© as delivered in the Scriptures. 4«^5 thefe Words ; Ral'l^i, thou an the Son of God, thou art the King of Ifrad. From which it is evident, that to believe him to he Hhn of luhojn Mofes and the Prophets did •write, or to be the Son of God, or to be the King of Ifrael, was in effed the fame as to' believe him to be the Mejfiah : And an Aflent to that, was what out Saviour re- ceived for believing. For upon Nathaniel's making a Confeffion in thefe Words, I'hou art the Son of God , thou art the King of Ifrael; Jfm anfwered and jaid to him, Becaufe I faid to thee, Ifaw thee under the Fig-tree, dojl thou BELIEVE? Thou jhalt fee greater things than thefe, v. ^i. I defire any one to read the latter Part of the "firft of J hn, from i;. 25. with Attention, and tell me, whether it be not plain, that this Phrale, The Son of God, is an ExprefTion ufed for tlie Mejfiah. To which let him add, Martha's Teclaration of her Faith, fjl?n xi. 27. in thefe Words ; I believe that thou art the Mtfkih, THE SON OF GOD, who fmtld come into the H^orld; and that Pallage of St. Jjhn xx. 31. That ye might believe that Jefus is the Mefjiah, THE SON OF GOD ; and that believing, ye might have Life through his Name : And then tell me whether he can doubt that Mtjfuih and Son of God were fynonymous Terms, at that Time amongft the Jews. The Prophecy of Daniel, Chap. ix. where he is called Melfiah the Prince ; and the mention of his Government and Kingdom,_ and the Deliverance by him, in Ifaiah, Daniel, and other Prophefies, underftood of the Mffiah ; were fo well known to the Jews, and had fo raifed their Hopes of him about this time, which by their Account was to be the Time of his coming to reftore the Kingdom to Ifrael, That Herod no fooner heard of the A/(i^/'s enquiry after him that -wai born King of the Jews, Mat. ii. but he forthwith demanded of the chief Priefts and Scribes, where the Mtffiah fbould be born, V. 4. Not doubting, but if there were any King born to the Jews, it was the Mejfiah : Whofe Coming was now the general Expectation, as appears, Luke iii. ij. The People being in Expectation, and all Men mujing in their Hearts oj John, whether he ■were the Meffiah or not. And when the Priefts and Levites fent to ask him who he was ; he underftanding their Meaning, anfwers, John i. 20. That he was not the Mef- fiah : But he bears witnefs that Jefus is the Son of God, i. e. the Mejfiah, v. 34. This looking for the Mejfiah at this time, we fee alfo in Simeon ; who is faid to be •waiting for the Conflation of Ifrael, Luke ii. 21. And having the Child Jefus in his Arms, he fays he had feen the Salvation of the Lord, v. 30. And Anna coining at the fame injiant into the Temple, floe gave thanks alfo unto the Lord, andfpake of him to all them that looked for Redemption in Ifrael, v. 38. And of Jofeph o{ Arimathea, it is faid, Mark XV. 43. That he alfo expected the Kingdom of God : By all which was meant the coming of the Mejfiah; and Luke xix. 11. it's faid. They thought that the Kingdom of Godjhould immediately appear. This being premifed, let us fee what it was that John the Baptift preached, when he rirft entred upon his Miniftry. That St. Matthew tells us. Chap. iii. 1,2. In thofe Days came John the Baptijl preaching in the IVildernefs of Judea, faying. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. This was a Declaration of the coming of the Meffiah ; the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Go^ being the fame, as is clear out of fe- veral Places of the Evangelifts ; and both lignifying the Kingdom of the Meffiah. The Profeflion which John the Baptijl made, when fent to the Jews, John i. 19. was. That he woi not the Mejfiah ; but that Jefus was. This will appear to any one, who will compare v. 26 — 34. with John iii. 27, 30. The Jews being very inquifitive to know whether John were the Meffiah ; he pofitively denies it, but tells them, he was only his Fore-runner ; and that there ftood one amongft them, who would follow him, whofe Shoe-latchet he was not worthy to untie. The next Day feeing Jefus, he fays, he was the Man ; and that his own baptizing in Water, was only that Jefa might be mani- fefted to the World ; and that he knew him not, till he faw the Holy Ghoft defcend upon him. He that fent him to baptize having told him, that he on whom he fhould fee the Spirit defcend, and reft upon, he it was that fhould baptize with the Holy Ghoft ; and that therefore he witneifed, that this zuas the Son of God, 1/. 34. i.e. the Meffiah; and, C/;^/». iii. 26, ci^c. They came to John the Bapti/i, and tell him, that Jefm baptized and that all Men went to him. John anfwers. He has his Authority from Heaven ; You know I never faid, I was the Meffiah, but that I was fent before him ; He muft increafe, but 1 muft decreafe ; for God hath fent him, and he fpeaks the Words of God; and God hath given all things into the Hands of his Son, And he that believes on the Son, hath eternal Life ; The fame Doftrine, and nothing elfe but what was preached by the Apoftles afterwards : As we have feen all through the ASis 4^6 The Reafonablencfs of Christianity, JfJx, v.g. tlirt Jefus was the Mefjtah. And thus it was that John bears Wltnefs of our Saviour, as Jeius himfclf lays, John v. 3?. 'fhisallo was the Declaration was given of him at his Baptifm, by a Voice from Heaven J This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pkafed. Mat. iii. 17. Which was a Declaration of him to be the Meffiab, the Son of God being (as we have /hewed) underftood to Hgnify the Meffiah. To which we may add the firft mention of him af- ter his Conception, in the Words of the Angel to Jofeph ; Mat. i. 21 . Thou fnilt call his Name 'Jefm, or Saviour; for he f jail five his People from their Sins. It was a rc- cei\cd Doc:trine in the Jewifh Nation, that at the coming of the Mefftah, all their Sins fliould be forgiven them. Thefe Words therefore of the Angel we may look on as a Declaration, that Jefus was the Mejfiah; whereof thefe Words, his People, are a far- ther Mark; which luppofe him to have a People, and confequently to be a King. After his Baptifm, Jefus himfelf enters upon his Miniftry. But before we exa- mine what it was he propofed to be believed, we muft obfcrve, that there is a three- fold Declaration of the Meffiah. 1. By Miracles. The Spirit of Prophefy had now for many Ages forfaken the Jews : And though their Common-wealth were not quite dilfolved, but that they lived under their own Laws, yet they were, under a foreign Dominion, fubjeft to the Romans. In this State their Account of the Time being up, they were in Expecta- tion ot the Mefpiih; and of Deliverance by him in a Kingdom, he was to fet up, ac- cording to their ancient Prophefies of him: Which gave theni Hopes of an extraor- dinary Man yet to come from God, who with an extraordinary and Divine Powerj and Miracles, fliould evidence his Mifflon, and work their Deliverance. And of any luch extraordinary Perlbn who fhall have the Power of doing Miracles, they had no other Expeftation but only of their Meffiah One great Prophet and Worker of Mi- racles, and only one more, they expected ; who was to be the Meffiah. And there- fore, we fee the People juRificd their believing in him, i. e. their believing him to be the Meffiah, becauie of the Miracles he did ; folm vii. 3 1 . And many of the People believed in him, and faid, when the Meffiah cometh, tvill he do more Miracles than this Man hath done? And when the Jews, at the Feaft of Dedication, John\. 24,25. coming a- bout him, faid unto him, ."^'oxu long doft thou make us doubt ? If thou be the Meffiah, tellus plainly. Jefus anjwered them, I told you, and ye believed not ; the IVorks that I do in my Father's Name bear TVitnefs of me. And, John v.-^6. he fays, / have a greater IVitnefs than that of John ; fur the Works which the Father hath given me to do, the fame Usuries that I do, bear IVitnefs of me, that the Fullmer hath fent me. Where, by the way, we may obferve, that his being ^^k? by the Father, is but another way of ex- prelTmg the Meffiah; which is evident from this Place here, John v. compared with that of John x. laft quoted. For there he fays, that his Works bear Witnefs of him : And what was that Witnefs ? w'z,. That he was the Meffiah. Here again he fays, that his Works bear Witnefs of him : And what is that Witnefs ? viz,. That the Fa- ther fent him. By which we are taught, that to be fent by the Father, and to be the Meffiah, was the fame thing, in his way of declaring himfelf And accordingly we find, John iv. 53. and xi. 45. and elfewhere, many hearkned and alfented to his Te- ftimony, and believed on him, feeing the things that he did. 2. Another way of declaring the coming of the Meffiah, was by Phrafes and Cir- ciamlocutions that did (ignify or intimate his coming ; though not in dired: Words pointing out thePerfon. The moft ufual of thefe were, The Kingdoin of God, and of Heaven; becaufe it was that which was often fpoken of the Meffiah, in the Old Te- ftament, in very plain Words : And a Kingdom was that which the Jews moft looked after, and wifhed for. In that known Place, Ifa. ix. The GOVERNMENT flmU be upon his Shoulders; he fl}all be called the PRINCE of Peace : Of the Increafe of his GO- VERNMENT and Peace there /ball be no End: Upon the THRONE of David, and upon his KINGDOM, to order it, and to efiablifl} it with Judgment, and with Juflice, from henceforth even for ever. Micha v. 2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thoufands of Judah, yet out of thee fhall he come forth unto me, that is to be the RULER in Ifrael. And Daniel, befides that. he calls him Meffiah the PRINCE, Chap.xx. 25. In the Account of his Vifion of the Son of Man, Chap. vii. 13, 14. fays. There was given him Dominion, Glory, and a KINGDOM, that all Peo- ple, Nations, and Languages jlmild ferve him : His Dominion is an everlafting Domini- on, which f mil not pafs away; and his KINGDOM that xuhich //.'all not be dcflroyed. So that the Kingdom of God, and thq Kingdom of Heavenj were common Phrafes 2lp anion gft as delivered m the Scriptures. 487 nmongfl the Jeivs to fignify the 'Jlmcs of tlic Mcffiab. I.uke xir. x j. One of the Jrxs that Jat at meat with him, Jaid inito hiiti, BLjJed is he thatjhall eat bread in the Kimluin vfGod. Chap.wW. 20. The Phari ices demanded, when the Kif/gdotn of God Jbould come ? And 'St. John Baptifl came, fa)ing, Repcm, fur the Kingdom nf Heaven is at hand: A Phrafe he would not have uied in preaching, had it not been undcrllood. There arc other Expreflions that lignirtcd the Mffiah, and his Coming, which we fliall take notice of as they come iaour way. 3. By plain and direct Words, declaring the -Do(fi:rine of the MJJl.ih, fpeaking out that Jei'uswas He : As we fee the Apoftles did, when they went aboutpreacliing the Gofpel, after our Saviour's Refurreccion, This was the open clear Way, and that which one would think the Meffiah himfelf, when he came, fhould ha\e taken; efpecially if it were of that Moment, that upon Mens believing him to be the Mf- fiah, depended the Forgi\enefs of their Sins. And yet wc fee that our Saviour did not: But on the contrary, for the mofl. part, made no other Dil'covery of himfelf, at leafl: in Judea, and at the beginning of his Miniftry, but in the two former Ways, which were more obfcure; not declaring himfelf to be the M/fiah, any otherwiie than as it might be gathered from the Miracles he did, and the Conformity of his Life and Aftions, with the Prophefies of the Old 'Feflament concerning him; and from fome general Difcourfes of the Kingdom of the Meffiah being come, under the name of the Kingdom of God, and of Heaven. Nay, fo far was he from publickly owning himfelf to be the. Meffiah, that he forbid the doing of it: Mark viii. 27-30. He asked his Difiples, ■wlmn do Men fay that I am ? And they anfwered. Join the Baptifl; but fome fay Elias; and others, one of the Prophets. (So that it is evident, that even thofe who beliei-ed him an extraordinary Perfon, knew not yet who he was, or that he gave himfelf out for the Meffiah; though this was in the tliird Year of his Miniftry, and not a Year before his Death.) And he faith unto them, but ivhomfayye that I am ? And Peter anjivered, and faid unto him. Thou art the Meffiah. And he char- ged them that they flmdd tell no Man of him. Luke iv. 41. And Devils came out ofma- ny, crying, 'Thou art the Meffiah, the Son of God: And he rebuking them, f iff ere d them not to fpeak, that they knezu him to be the Meffiah. Mark iii. 11,12. Unclean Spirits, ■when they faw him, fell down before him, and cryed, faying. Thou art the Sen of God: And he flrnitly charged them that they f)ould not make him known. Here again we may oblerve from the comparing of the two Texts, that, Thou art the Son of God; or. Thou art the Meffiah, were indifferently ufed for the fame thing. But to return to the Mat- ter in Hand. This Concealment of himfelf will feem ftrange, inonewhowascometobringLight into the world, and was to fuffer Death for the Teftimony of the Truth. This Rc- fervednefs will be thought to look as if he had a mind to conceal himfelf, and not to be known to the World for the Meffiah, nor to be believ'don as fuch. But we fliall be of another mind, and conclude this Proceeding of his according to divine Wifdom, and fuited toafuUer Manifeftation and Evidence of his being the Meffiah; when we confider that he was to fill out the time foretold of his Miniftry; and, after a Life illuftrious in Miraclesand good Works, attended with Humility, 'Meeknefs,Patience, and Sufferings, and every way conformable to the Prophefies of him, fliouldbeledas a Sheep to the ilaughter, and with all quiet and fubmiffion bebrought to the Croi's, though there were no guilt nor fault found in him. This could not have been, if as foon as he appeared in publick, and began to preach, he had prefently profefled him- felf to have been xhcMefQah; the King that owned that Kingdom hepubliflied to. be at Hand. For the Sanhedritn would then have laid hold on it, to have got him into their Power, and thereby have taken away his Life; atleaft, they would have di- fiurbed his Miniftry, and hindred the Work he was about. That this made him cau- tious, and avoid, as much as he could, the Occafions of provoking them, and falling into their Hands, is plain from jfo/jK vii. i. After thefe things Jefus walked in Galilee^ out of the way of the Chief Priefts and Rulers ; for he would not walk in Jewry, becaufe the Jews fought to kill him. Thus, making good what he foretold them at Jerufalem, when at the firft Palfover after his beginning to preach the Gofpel, upon his curing the Man at the Pool o£ Bethfaida, they fought to kill him, Jojm v. 16. Te have not, fays he, v. 38. his Word abiding ajnongfl you : For whom he hath fent, him ye believe not. This was fpoken more particularly to the Jews o{ Jerufile?n, who were the forward Men, zealous to take away his Life: And it imports, that becaufe of their Unbelief and Oppofition to him^ the fVord of Cod, i. e. the preaching of the Kingdom of the Mcjjliih, 4<^d Vanity of their Blafphemy, juftifies the Conclufion the People made from this Miracle; faying, v. 28. That his calling out Devils by the Spirit of God was an Evidence that the Kingdom of the Mtjfiah was come. One Thing more there was in the Miracles done by his Difciples, which fhewed him to be the Mefjiah; that they were done in his Name. In the Name of Jefus of Nazareth, rife up and zvalk, fays St. Peter to the lame Man whom he cured in the Temple, A^s iii. 6. And how far the Power of that Name reached, they them- felves I'eem to wonder, Luke x. 17. And the feventy returned -with Joy, faying. Lord, even the Devils are fubjecl to us in thy Name. Irom this MeiVage from John the Baptifi, he takes Occafion to tell the People, that John was the Fore-runner of the Meffiah ; that from the Time of John the Bap- tifi the Kingdom of the Meffiah began, to which Time all the Prophets and the Laiv pomted, Luke vii. and Math.xi. Lukevn'}. i. Afterwards he went through every City and Village, preaching and fieiving the good Tidings of the Kingdom of God. Here we fee, as every where, what his Preaching was, and confequently what was to be believed. Scon after he preaches from a Boat to the People on the Shoar. His Sermon at large wc may read, Mat.xui. Mark iv. and Lukevm. But this is very obfenable, that this fecond Sermon of his here, is quite ditferent from his former in the Mount. For that was all fo plain and intelligible, that nothing could be more fo : Whereas this is all fo involved in Parables, that even the Apoftles themfelves did not uaderftand ic. 494 The Reajomhlenejs of Christianity. it. If we enquire into the Reafon of this, we fhall poffibly have fome Light fronl the different Subjefts of thefe two Sermons. There he preach'd to the People only Morality, clearing the Precepts of the Law from the falfc Glolfes which were re- ceiv'd in thofe Days ; and fetcing forth the Duties of a good Life in their full Obli- gation and Extent, beyond what the Judiciary Laws of the Ifraelitei did, or the Ci- vil Laws of any Country could prefcribe or take notice of. But here in this Sermon by the Sea-fide, he fpeaks of nothing but the Kingdom of the Me[]jah, which he does all in Parables. One Reafon whereof St. Matthew gives us. Chap. xiii. jr. "That it might be fulfilled which was fpoken by the Prophet, faying, I will open my Mouth in Parabki , I 'will utter T'hings that have been kept fecret from the Foundations of the IVorld. Another Reafon our Saviour himfelf gives of it, v.ll,l^. Becaufe to you is given to know the Myfleries of the Kingdom of Heaven , but to them it is not given. For •whofoever hath , to him fjall be given, and he fljall have more abundantly : But whofoe- •ver hath not, i. e. improves not the Talents that he hath, from him fhall he taken a- luay, even that that he hath. One thing it may not be amifs to obferve ; That our Saviour here in the Explica- tion of the firft of thefe Parables to his Apoftles, calls the Preaching of the Kingdom of the Mejpah, fimply theU^ord; and LukevVn. 21. 'The Word of God : From whence St. Ltike, in the A^s, often mentions it under the Name o{ the Word, andtheWord of God, as we have elfewhere obferved. To which I fhall here add that oi Acis viii.4. Therefore they that were fcattered abroad, went every -where preaching the Word : Which Word, as we have found by examining what they preached all through their Hiftory, was nothing but this, Thatjefis was the Meffiah : I mean, this was all the Doftrine they propofed to be believed. For what they taught, as well as our Saviour, con- tained a great deal more , but that concerned Praftice, and not Belief. And there- fore our Saviour fays, in the Place before quoted, Luke viii. 21. They are my Mother^ and my Brethren, who hear the Word of God, and do it : Obeying the Law of the Mefftah their King, being no lefs required than their believing that Jefus was the Mejjiah, the King and Deliverer that was promifed them. Mat. ix. 13. We have an Account again of this Preaching, what it was, and how.' And fefm -went about all the Cities and Villages, teaching in their Synagogues, and preaching the Gofpel of the Kingdom ; and healing every Sicknefs, and every Difeafe amongfi the People. He acquainted them that the Kingdom of the Mejftah vvas come, and lefi: it to his Miracles to inftruft and convince them that he was the Mejjiah. Mat. X. When he fent his Apoftles abroad, their Commiffion to preach we hax'^e,' v. -J, 8. in thefe Words : As ye go, preach, faying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; Heal the Sick, &c. All that they had to preach, was, that the Kingdom of the Mejjiah was come. Whofoever fliould not receive them, the Mefl'engers of this good Tidings, nor hearken to their Melfage, incurred a heavier Doom than Sodom and Go- morrah at the Day of Judgment, v. 14, 15. But, v. 32. Whofoever JhaS confefs me before Men, I will confefs him before my Father who is in Heaven. What this Confef- fing of Chrift is, we may fee, by comparing ^ohn xii. 4. with ix. 22. Neverthe- lefs among the chief Rulers alfo many believed in him ; but becaufe of the Pharifees they did not CONFESS HIM, left they Jhould be put out of the Synagogue. And Chap. ix. 22. Thefe Words fpake his Parents, becaufe they feared the yews : Fur the yews had agreed al- ready, that if any Man did CONFESS THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH, he jhould be put out of the Synagogue. By which Places it is evident, th&t to confefs him, was to confefs that he was the Meffiah. From which gi^ e me leave to obferve alfo (what I have cleared from other Places, but cannot be too often remark'd, becaufe of the different Senfe has been put upon that Phrafe ;) wz,. That believing en or in him (for H! MTQv is rendred either way by theEnglifti Tranflation) fignifies oeliev- ing that he was the Meffiah. For many of the Rulers (:he Text fays) believed en him; but they durft not confefs what they believed, for fear they jhould be put out of the Syna- gogue. Now the Offence for which it was agreed that any one fliould be put out of the Synagogue, was, if he did confefs that yefm was the Mejftah. Hence we may have a clear Underftandingof that Paflage of St. Paul to the Romans, where he tells them pofitively , what is the Faith he preaches. Rem. x. 8, p. That is the TVord of Faith which we preach ; That if thou jhalt confefs with thy Mottth the Lord yefiu, and be- lieve in thine Heart that God hath raifed him from the Dead, thou flialt be fa^ed : And that alio of St. yohn, i Ep. iv. 14, 15. We have feen, and do tefiify, that the Father fent the Son to be the Saviour of the World: Whofoever fhall confefs that yefus is the Sen of God, as dellverci in the Scriptures. 495 Coi, GoA diiielleth in h'mi, and he in God. Where confcfllng Jefus to be the^ Son of God, is the fame with confcfTing him to be the Mefjiah : Thole two Expieflions be- ing uiidcrftood amougft the Jews to fignify the lame Thing, as we have fhewn al- ready. How calling him the Son of Cod came to fignify that he was the M^Jtuh, would not be hard to'fliew. But it is enough that i: appears plainly that it was io ufed, and had that Import aniongft the Jews at that Time ; which if any one deiires to have further cvidenc'd to him, he may add A'at. \xv\.6^. John vi. 6p. and xi. 27. and XX. 31. to thofe Places before occafionally taken notice of As was the Apoftles Commiffion, fuch was their Performance ; as we read, Luke\x. 6. T'hey departed and went: through the Town! , preaching theGufpel and healing every where. Jefus bids them preach, faying. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And St. Luke teils us, they went through the 'Jowns Preaching the Gofpel ; a Word which in SaXi,n an- fwers well the Greek Ivt^yn'f^iov, and fignifies as that does. Good Nt-ws. So that wliat the inl'pired Writers call the Gofpel, is nothing but the good Tidings that the Mef- fiah and his Kingdom was come ; and fo it is to be underftood in the New Tfianh.'nty and fo the Angel calls it Good Tidings of great Joy, Luke ii. 10. bringing the firlt i>se'vs of our Saviour's Birth. And this feems to be all that his Difciples were at that Time lent to preach. . So Luke ix. 59, 60. To him that would have excus'd his prefent Attendance, becaufe of burying his Father ; Jefus faid unto him, let the Dead bury their Dead, but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God. When, I fay, this was all they were to preach, I muft be underftood, that this was the Faith they preach 'd ; but with it they joined Obe- dience to the Meffiah, whom they received for their King. So likewife ivhen he fenc out the Seventy, Luke x. their CommifTion was in thefe Words, v. 9. Heal the Sick, and fay unto them, the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. After the Return of his Apoftles to him, he fits down with them in a Mountain; and a great Multitude being gathered about them, St. Luke tells us, Chap. ix. 11. Tue People followed him, and he received them, and f pake unto them of the Kingdom 0} God; and healed them that had need of healing. This was his Preaching to this Ailembly, which confifted of five Thoufand Men, befides Women and Children : All which great Multitude he fed witli five Loaves and two Fifhes, Mat. xiv. 21. And what this Mi- racle wrought upon them, St.^'o/j^tellsus, Chap.vi. 14, ly. Then thefe Men, when they hadfeen the Miracles that Jefm did, faid. This is of a Truth that Prophet that fiould come into the IV^rld, i. e. the Meffiah. For the Meffiah was the only Perfon that they expected from Gcd, and this the Time they looked for him. And hence John the Bapiifi, Mat. xi. 3. ftileshim. He that flmild come; as in other Places, Come jrom God, or Sent from God, are Phrafes ufed for the Meffiah. Here we fee our Saviour keeps to his ufual Method of Preaching : He fpeaks to them of the Kingdom of God, and does Miracles ; by which they might underftand him to be the Meffiah, whofe Kingdom he fpake of. And here we have the Reafoa alfo, w^hy he fo much concealed himfelf, and forbore to own his being the Meffiah. For what the Confequence was, of the Multitude's but thinking him fo, when they were gut together, St. John tells us in the very next Words, IVIien Jefm then percei- •ved that they would come and take him by Force to make him a King, he departed again into a Mountain himfelf alune. If they were fo ready to fet him up for their King, only becaufe they gathered from his Miracles that he was the Meffiah, whilft he himfelf faid nothing of it ; what would not the People have done, and what would not the Scribes and Pharifees have had an Opportunity to accufe him of, if he had openly profefled himfelf to have been the Meffiah, that King they looked for ? But this we have taken notice of already. From hence going to Capernawn, whither he was followed by a great Part of the People, whom he had the Day before fo miraculoufly fed ; he, upon the Occafion of their following him for the Loaves, bids them feek for the Meat that endureth to eter- nal Life: And thereupon, Johnv\.2i—6p. declares to them his being fentfrom the Father; and that thole who believed in him, fhould be raifed to eternal Life : But all this very much involved in a Mixture of Allegorical Terms of eating, and ot Bread, Bread of Life, which came down from Heaven, &c. Which is all compre- hended and expounded in thefe fhort and plain Words, v. 47. and 54. Verily, verily, I fay unto you, he that believeth on me, hath everlafting Life, and I will raife him up at the lafi Day. The Sum of all which Difcourfe is, that he was the Meffiah fent from God; 49<^ T*^^ Reajonablenejs of Christianity, God; and that thofe wiio believed him to be fo, Ihould be raifed from the Dead at the lall Day to eternal Life. 'J'helc who he fpoko to here, were of thofe who the Day before would by Force have made him King; and therefore it is no Wonder he fhould fpeak to them of himfelf, and his Kingdom and Subjeds, in obfcure and myftical Terms ,• and fuch as fliould offend thoie who looked for nothing but the Grandeur of a Temporal Kingdom in this World, and tlie Protection and Profperity they had promilcd themfelves under it. The Hopes of fuch a Kingdom, now that they had lound a Man that did Miracles, and therefore concluded to be the Deliverer they ex- pefted, had the Day before almoft drawn them into an open Infurrection, and invol- ved our Saviour in it. This he thought fit to put a Stop to; they ftill following him, 'tis like, with the fame Defign. And therefore, tho' he here fpeaks to them of his Kingdom, it was in a Way that fo plainly baulk'd their Expection, and ftiock'd them ; that when they found themfelves difappointed of thofe vain Hopes, and that he talked of their eating hisFlclh, and drinking his Blood, that they might have Life i the 'Jews fa id, "v. 52. How can this Man give us his Fkfl} to eat ? And many, even of his Difcip/es, faiJ, It' zvas an hard Saying, who tan bear it ? And fo were fcandalized in him, and forfook him, v. 60, 66. But what the true Meaning of this Difcourfe of our Saviour was, the Confeflionof St. Peter, who underftood it better andanfwered for the reft of the Apoftles, Ihews : When Jefus asked him, v. 67. Will you alfo go away .<* "Then Simon Peter anjwered him. Lord, to whom pall we go, thou hafl the Words oj eternal Life ; i. e. Thou teacheft us the Way to eternal Life ; and accordingly We be- lieve, and are fare that thou art the Miffiah, the Sun of the living God. This w^as the eating his Flefh, and drinking his Blood, whereby thofe wlio did fo, had eternal Life. Sometime after this, he enquires of his Difciples, Mark viii. 27. who the People took him for ? They telling him, for Juhn the Bapt/i, or one of the old Prophets ri- fen from the Dead ; he asked. What they themfelves thought ? And here again, Peter anfwers in thefe Words, Markv'm. 2^. Thou art the Meffiah. Luke ix. 20. The Meffiah of God. And, Mat. xvi. 16. T'hou art the Meffiah, the Son of the living God: Which Ex- preffions, we may hence gather, amount to the fame Thing. Whereupon our Savi- our tells Peter, Mat. xvi. 1 7, 1 8. That this was fuch a Truth^^f Fief) and Blood could not reveal to him, but only his Father who xoca in Heaven ; and that this was the Foundation on which he was to build his Church. By all the Parts of which Paflage it is more than probable, that he had never yet told his Apoftles in direft Words, that he was the Meffiah ; but that they had gathered it from his Life and Miracles. For whicl> we may may imagine to ourfelves this probable Reafon; becaufe that if he hadfa- miliaxly, and in direft Terms, talked to his Apoftles in private that he was the Mef- fiah the Prince, of whofe Kingdom he preached fo much in Publick every where ; Ju- das, whom he knew falfe and treaclieous, would have been readily made ufe of to teftify againft him, in a Matter that would have been really Criminal to the Roman Governor. This perhaps may help to clear to us that feemingly abrupt Reply of our Saviour to his Apoftles, John vi. 70. when they confeiled him to be the Meffiah, I will, for the better explaining of it, fet down the Paflage at large. Peter having fa id. We believe, and are fare that thou art the Meffi.ah, the Son of the living God. Jefeti anfzvered them. Have not I chofen you Twelve, and one of you is ^idStx^ ? This is a Re- ply feeming at firft Sight nothing to the Purpofe ; when yet it is fure all our Sa- viour's Dilcourfes were wife and pertinent. It feems therefore to me to carry this Senfe, to be underftood afterwards by the Eleven (as that of deftroying the Tem- ple, and railing it again in three Days was) when they fhould refleft on it after his being betray 'd by Judas: You have confefled, and believe the Truth concerning me ; I am the Meffiah your King : But do not wonder at it, that I have never openly de- clared it to you : For amongft you Twelve, whom I have chofen to be \vith me, there is one who is an Informer, or falfe Accufer, (for fo the Greek Word lignifies, and may pofTibly here be fo tranflated, rather than Devil) who, if I had owned my felf in plain Words to have been the M^^t/;, the King of Ifrael, would have betrayed me, and informed againft me. That he was yet cautious of owning himfelf to his Apr'lles pofiti\e!y to be theMe/i fiah, appears farther from the Manner wherein he tells Peter, v. 1 8. that he will build his Church upon that ConfefTion of his, that he was the Meffiah. I lay unto thee, T'hou art Cephas, or a Rock, and upon this Rock Izmll build myOmrch, and the Gates of Helljhall not prevail againfi. it. Words too doubtful to be laid iwlU on againft him, as as delivered in the Scriptures. 40-7 as a TeRimony t'l^t he profeiVed liimrell to be xhc Mcfjlah, efpccially if we join them the I'ollo'w irtg Words, v. 1 9. And I lulll give thee the Keys vj the Kingdom oj Hea- ven, and what thoti flMlt bind on Earth, ^yall be bound in Heaven; and what thou fialt loofe on Edith, Jha/l be loofed in Haven. Wliich being faid pcrfonally to Peter, ren- der rlie foregoing Words of our Saviour, (wherein lie dechires tiie fundamental Article of his Church to be the believing him to be the Meffiah) the more obfure and doubtful, and lefs liable to be made ufe of againft him ; but yet fuch as might aftervva]"ds be underRood. And for tiie fame Rcafon lie jet here again forbids the ApoRles to lay tliat he was the Mefuih, v. 20. From this Time (fay the EvangeliRs^ Jefus began tofljewto his Diftiples (i. e.) liis ApoRles, (who are often called Difciples) that he intift go to Jemfa/em, andjiijfer many "Thingt from the Elders, Chiej Priejis, and Scribes ; and be killed, and be raifed again the third Day,, Mat. xvi.21. Thefe, tho' all Marks of the MeJ/tah, vet how little un- derRood by the ApoRles, or fuitedto their Expedation of the Altjjiah, appears from Peter's rebuking him for it in the following Words, Mat. xvi. 22. Peter had twice before owned him to be theM-ffi.ih, and yet he cannot here bear that he fliouldfuftcr, and be put to Death, and be raifed again. Whereby we may perceive, how little yet Jefus had expla incd to the ApoRles what perfonally concerned himfelf. They had been a good while Witneflcs of his Life and Miracles; and thereby being grown into a Belief that he was x.\\q Mtjfuh, were in fome degree prepared to receive the Particulars that were to fill upthe Character, and anfwer theProphefies concerning him. Thisfrom henceforth he began to open to them, (tho' in a Way which the ^eivs could not form an Acufationout of) theTimeof tlic Accomplifhmentof all, inhisSufferings,Death, and Refurrection, now drawing on. For this was in the laft Year of his Life ; he being to meet the Jews atyen/falon but once more at tiie Pallover, and then they fhould have their Will upon him ; and therefore he might now begin to be a little more open concerning himfelf: Tho' yet fo, as to keep himfelf out of the reach of any Accufation that might appear juR or weighty to the RomanDc[^vry. After his Reprimand to Peter, telling him that he favoured not theT^hings of God, but of Man; Mark viii. 34. He calls the People to him, and prepares thofe, who would be his Difciples, for Suffering; telling them, 1;. 38. Whoever fl)all be afhamed of me and my Words in this adtdterotis and finjtd Generation, of him alfo floall the Son of Man be afmmed when he cometb in the Glory of his Father with the holy Angels .• And then fubjoins, Mat.xv']. 27, 28. twogreatandfolemn Afts, wherein he would fliew himfelf to be the A'liff'ah the King : Fur the Son of Man foall come in the Glory of his Father, zvith his Angels ; and then he fjall render every Man according to his Works. This is evidently meant of the glorious Appearance of his Kingdom, when he fhall come to judge the World at the laR Day; defcribed more at large. Mat. xxv. When the Son of Man fl)all come in his Glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then floall he fit upon the THRONE of his Glory. Then fiall the KING fay to them on his right Hand, &c. But what follows in the Place above quoted, Mat.xv\. 28. Verily, verily, there be fome /landing here, who fia/l not tafle of Death, till they fee the Son of Man coming in his Kingdoyn; importing that Dominion, which fome there fliould fee him exercife over the Nation ot the "Jews, was fo covered, by being annexed to the Preaching v. 27. (where he fpoke of the ManifeRation andGloryofhisKingdomattheDay of Judg- ment) That tho' his plain Meaning here in v. 28. be, that the Appearance and vifi- ble exercife ol his kingly Power in his Kingdom was ib near, that fome there fhould live to fee it : Yet if the foregoing Words hadnot caR aSadowover thefe latter, but . they had been left plainly to be underRood, as they plainly fignified, that he (hould be a King, and that it was fo near, that fome there fhould fee him in his Kingdom, this might liave been laid hold on, and made the Matter of a plaufible and leem- jngly juR Accufation againR him, by the ^'fiuj before Pilate. This feems to be the Reafon of our Saviour's inverting here the Order of thetwofolemn ManifeRations to the World of hisRule andPower; thereby perplexing at prefent his Meaning, and fecuring himfelf, as was necelfary, from the Malice of thejezus, which always lay at catch to intrap him, and accufe him to the /iow^« Governor; and would, no doubt, have been ready to have alledged thefe Words, Some here JJjall nottafte of Death, till they fee the Son nj Man coming in his Kingdom, againR him, as criminal, had not their Meaning been, by the former Verfe, perplexed, and the Senfe atthat Time rendred unintelligible, and not applicable by any of his Auditors to a Senfe that might have Vol. IL R r r been 498 The Reafonahlenefs of Chriflianity] been prejudicial to him before Pomious Pilate. For how well the chief of the "yewi were difpolcd to^vards him, St. /j//;i? tells us, Chap.\\. 54. Laying -wait for him, and feeklng to catch fomething out 0/ his Mmith, that they might acaife him: Which may be a Realon to fatisfy us of the lecmingly doubtful and obfcure way of fpeaking ufed by our Saviour in other Places ; his Circumftances being fuch, that without fuch a prudent Carriage and Refervednefs, lie could not have gone through the Work which he came to do; nor have performed all the Parts of it, in a way corre- fpondent to the Del'criptions given of the Mcffiah, and which fhould be afterwards fully underftood to belong to him, when he had left the World. After this, Mat. xvii. 10, &c. lie, without faying it in direft Words,bcgins, as it were, to own himfelf to his ApofUes to be the Mejjiah; by alluring them, that as the Scribes, according to the Prophecy d{ Malachy, Chap. iv. j. rightly faid, that Elias was to uflier in the MeJJiah ; lb indeed Elias was already come, tho' the Jews knew him not, and treated him ill : Whereby they underftood that he fp»ke to them ofyohn the Baptifi, v. 13. And a little after he fomewhat more plainly intimates that he is the Meffiah, Mark ix. 41 . in thefe Words : Whofoever fhall give you a Cup of JVater to drink in my Name, bee aufe ye belong to the Mejftah. This, as I remember, isthefirft Place where our Saviour ever mentioned the Name of Meffiah; and the firft time that he went fo far towards the owning, to any of the Jewift) Nation, himfelf to be him. In his way to Jerufalem, bidding one follow him, Lukeix. 5 9. who would firft bury his Father, v. 60. Jefus faid unto him, let the Dead bury their Dead ; but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God. And Luke x. x , Sendingout the Seventy Difciples, he fays to them, -v. 9. Heal the Sick, and fay, the Kingdojn of God is come nigh unto you. He ha4 nothing elie for thefe, or for his Apoftles, or anyone, it femes, to preach, but the good News of the coming of the Kingdom of the MejTiah. And if any City would not receive them, he bids them, v. 10. Go into the Streets of the fame, and fay. Even the vetj Diift of your City, -which cleaveth on us, do zve wipe off againft you : Nutroith- ftanding, be ye fure of this, that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. This they were to take notice of, as that which they fhould dearly anfwer for j viz^. That they had not with Faith received the good Tidings of the Kingdom of the Meffiah. After this, his Brethren fay unto him, Johnvn. 2, 5,4. (the Feaft of Tabernacles being near) Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy Difciples may fee the Works that thou doeft : For there is no Man that does any thing in fcret, and he himfelf feeketh to be hwdcn openly. If thou do thefe "Things, ftjew thy f elf to the World. Here his Brethren, whicli the next Verfe tells us, did not believe him, feem to upbraid him with the Inconfiflency of his Carriage ; as if he defign'd to be receiv'd for the Mejf!ah,and yet was afraid to fhew himfelf: To whom he juftified hisCondud:, (mentioned, v. i.) in the following Verfes, by telling them, That the World (meaning the Jexvs efpecially) hated hiin, bee aufe he tefiified of it, that the Works thereof are Evil ; and that his Time was not yet fully come, wherein to quit his Referve, and abandon himfelf freely to their Malice and Fury. Therefore, though he went up unto the Feaft, it was not openly, but as it were in fecret, v. 10. And here coming into the Temple about the middle of the Feaft, he juftiiies his being lent from God ; and that he had not done any thing againft the Law, in curing the Man at the Pool of Bethfaida, John v. 1—16. on the Sabbath-day; which, tho' done above a Year and a half before, they made ufe of as a Pretence to deftroy him. But what was the true Reafon of feeking his Life, appears from what we have in this v'n. Chapter, v. 2^—34. Then faid fame of them at ^erufalem. Is not this he whom they feek to kill ? But lo, he fpeaketh boldly, and they fay Tiothing tinto him. Do the Rulers knota indeed that this is the very'' ME S S lA H? Howbeity ■Kjoe know this Man whence he is ; but-when the MeJJiah cometh, no Man knoweth whence he is. T'hen cry'd Jefus in the Temple, as he taught, ye both know me, and ye kmzu whence lam : And I am not come of myfelf, but he that fent me is true, wlmn ye know not. But I know him, for I am jrom him, and he hath fent me. Then they fought [an Occafion] to take hi?n, but no Man lays Hands on him, becaufe his Hour was not yet co?ne. And many of the People believed on him, and faid, when the Me/ft ah cometh, will he do ?nore Miracles than thefe which this Man hath done ? The Pharifees heard that the People mtmnered fuch things concerning him ; and the Pharifees and Chief Prieftsfent Officers to take hi?n. Then [aid Jefus unto them, Tet a little ivhile am I with you, and then I go to him that fent me : Te ftjallfeek me, and not find me; and where I am, there you cannot come. Then faid the Jews among thanfelves, 'Whither will he go, that zue Jhall not find him ? Here we find that the great Fault in jDur Saviour, and the great Provocation to the ye^vs, was his being taken for the Mejftab ; as delivered in the Scrip ures. ^09 A'IcJpitb; and doing fucli Things as niatle the People k'/ieve in him ; i. c. believe ihnthe was the Mcjjiah. Here alio our Saviour declares, in wordsvcry eafy tobe undeiftocd, at leaft after his Reiurre6tcion,that he was the Mcfpab: For if he \\Q\cJl-rit j'yoinGtd, and did his Miracles by the Spirit of God, there could be no doubt but he was the Meffiab. But yet this Declaration was in a Way that the Pharifees and Priefts could not lay hold on to make an Accufation of to the diRurbance to hisMiniflry, or the feizure of his Perfon, how much foever they delired it : For his 'lime was not yet come. The Officers they had fent toapprehend him,charmed with hisDifcourie,re- turned without laying Hands on him, v. ^^,^6. And when the Chief PricRs asked them. Why they brought him not ? They anlwer'd, Never Man ffake like tlis Man. Whereupon the Pharifees reply. Are ye alfo deceiv'd ? Have any of the Rulers of the Pharifees believed on him ? But this People^ who know nut the Laxv, are cur fed. This fliews what was meant hy believing on him, viz. believing that he was the Ahjfuih. For, fay they, have any of the Rulers who are skilled in the Law, or of the devout and learned Pharifees, acknowledged him to be the Meffah ? For as for thofe who in the Divifion among the People concerning him, fay, T'hat he is the Mvfjiah, they are ignorant and vile Wretches, knowing nothing of the Scripture, and being accurJed, are given by God to be deceived by this Impoftor, and to take him for the Mffab. Therefore, notwithftanding their defire to lay hold on him, he goes on ; and v. 37, 38. Inthe lajl and great Day of the Feafl, Jefus flood and cryed, faying, if any Man Ihiifl, let him come unto me and drink : He that believetb on me as the Scripture hath f aid, out of lis Belly fi>all flo-w Rivers of living Water. And thus he here again declares himfelf to be the Mejflah; but in the Prophetick Stile ; as we fee by the next Verfe of this Chapter, and thofe Places in the Old Teftament that thefe Words of cur Savi- our refer to. In the next Chapter, John viii. all that he fays concerning himfelf, and what they were to believe, tends to this, viz,. That he was fent from God his Father, and that if they did not believe that he was theMelJiah,they fhould die in their Sins : But this in a way, as St. j^c/jh obferves, v. 27. that they did not well underfland. But our Saviour himfelf tells them, v. 2^. IVhen ye have lift up the Sun of Man, then fljall ye know that I am he. Going from them he cures the Man born blind, whom meeting with again, after the ^^ujj had queftioned him, and caft him out, Johnlx. 35 — 38. ]eiusjaid io Imn, Doft thou believe on the Son of God? He anfwered. Who is he. Lord, that I ntight believe on him I And 'Jefus f aid unto him, "Thou hafi both feen him, and it is he that talkethwith thee. And he faid,~Xord, I believe. Here we fee this Man is pronounced a Believer, when all that was propofed to him to believe, was, that Jefus was the Sen of Cod ; which was, as we have already fhewn, to believe that he was the Meffiah. In the next Chapter, 'John x. 1 — 21. he declares the laying down of his Life for both Jews and Gentiles ; but in a Parable which they underflood not, v. 6, 20. As he was Going to the Feafl of the Dedication, the Pharifees ask him, Luke xvii. 20. When the Kingdom of God, i.e. of the Mejfiab, fl)ouldcome} He anfwers, that it fhall not come with Pomp and Obfervation, and great Concourfe ; but that it was already begun amongfl them. If he had ftopt here, the Senfe had been fo plain, that they could hardly have miflaken him ; or have doubted, but that he meant, that the Mejflah was already come, and amongfl them ; and fo mi^ht have been prone to infer, that Jefus took upon him to be him. But here, as ip the Place before taken notice of, fubjoining to this future Revelation of him- felf^ -both in his coming to execute Vengeance on the Jews, and in his coming to Judgment mixed together, he fo invoh ed his Senfe, that it was not eafv to un- derfland him. And therefore the Jews came to him again in the Temple, Jubi X. 23. and faid. How long dofl thou inake us doubt? If thou be Chrifi tell us plainly. Jefmanfuiered, I told you, and ye BELIEVED not: T'he Works that I do in my Father's Name, they bear witnefs oj me. But ye BELIEVED not, hecaufe ye are not of my Sheep, as I told you. The BELIEVING here, Avhich he accu'es them of not doing, is plainly their not BELIEVING him to be the M-fliah, as the foregoing Words evince, and in the fame Senfe it is evidently meant in the following Verfes of this Chapter. From hence Jefus going to Barbara, and thence returning into Bethany ; upon Lax,arm' sDe^th, Johnx'i. 25 27. Jelus faid to Martha, I a?n the Refuii-etlion and the Life, he that believetb in mi, though he were dead, yet be Jhall live ; and who foever Vol. II. R r r 3 livetb 500 The Reajonahlenejs of Chrijlianity, livctl) and Mie-veth in mejhnll not die fur eve;-. So I undcrftand i«to9«V» h« rlt ctiAtut anfwciable to (»r/_«Msn how am I flraitnecl till it be accomplified, I leave to be confidered. / am come to fend Fire on the Eirth, fays our Saviour, and zvhat if it be already kindled ? i.e. There begin alrea- dy to be Divifions about me, Jdm vii. 12, 43. and ix. 16. and x. ip. And I have not the Freedom, the Latitude to declare my felf openly to be the Meffiah; tho' I am he that muft not be fpoken on till after my Death. My way to my Throne is clofely hedged in on every fide, and much ftraitned, within which I muft keep, till it bring me to my Crofs in its due Time and Manner; fo that it do not cut Ihort the Time, nor crofs the End of my Miniftry. And therefore to keep up tliis inoffeniive Charader, and not let it come within the reach of Accident or Calumny, he withdrew with his Apoftles out of the Town every Evening ; and kept himfelf retired out of the way, Lukexx'i. 37. And in the Day-ti;ne he was teaching in the Temple, and every Might he went out and abode in the Mount that is called the Mgunt oj Olives, that he might avoid all Concourfe to him in as delivered in the Scriptures. eo^y in the Night, and give no Occafion of Diflurbance, or Sufpicion of himfclf, in that great Conflux of the whole Nation of the jfews^ now adembled in 'Jerufalem at the Paifover. But to return to his preaching in the Temple. He bids them, John xii. ^6. To believe in the Light -whilft they have it. And he tells them, v. 46. / am the Light come into the World, that every one who believes in me, fmtld not remain in Darknefs ; which believing in him, was the believing him to be the Mejjiah, as I have elfe- where fhewed. The next Day, Mzf.xxi.he rebukes them for not having believed John the Bapti/l, who hadteftified that he was the Meffiah. And then, in a Parable, declares himielf to be the Son of God, whom they fhould deftroy ; and that for it God would take away the Kingdom of the Mejjiah from them, and give it to the Gentiles. That they underftood him thus, is plain from Luke xx. 16. And -when they heard it, they /aid. Cod forbid. And, V. 19. For they knew that he had fpoken this Parable agninfl them. Much to the fame Purpofe was his next Parable concerning the Kingdom vf Hea- ven, Mat. xxii, i— 10. That the Jews not accepting of the Kingdom of the Meffiah, to whom it was firft offered, others fhould be brought in. The Scribes and Pharifees, and Chief Priefts, not able to bear the Declaration he made of himfelf to be the Mejjiah ; (by his Difcourfes and Miracles before them, *«iM.«i©^«v uCt^, John xii. 37. which he had never done before) impatient of his Preaching and Miracles ; and being not able otherwife to flop the Increafe of his Followers; (For, fiid the Pharifees among themfelves, perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the World is gone after him, John xii. ip. So that the Chief Priejls, and the Scribes, and the chief of the People) fought to dejiroy him, the firft Day of his Entrance into Jerufalem, Luke xix. 47. The next Day again they were intent upon the fame thing, Mark xi. 17, 18. And he taught in the Temple; and the Scribes, and the Chief Priejls heard it, and fought how they might deftroy him ; for they feared him, becaufe all the People were ajlonijhed at his Dotlrine. The next Day but one, upon his telling them the Kingdom of the Mejftah fliould be taken from them. The Chief Priejls and Scribes fought to lay Hands on him the fame Hour, and they feared the People, Luke xx. 10. If they had fo great a Defire to lay hold on him, why did they not ? They were the Chief Priefts and the Rulers, the Men of Power. The Reafon St. Luke plainly tell us, in the next Verfe : And they watched him, and fent forth Spies, which JlMuld feign themfelves juji Men, that they might take hold of his Words ; that fo they might deliver him into the Power and Authority of the Governor. They wanted Matter of Accufacion againft him, to the Power they were under. That they watched for, and that they would ha\ e been glad of, if they could have entangled him in his Talk ; as St. Matthew exprefl'es it, Chap. xxii. 15. If they could have laid hold of any Word that had dropt from him, that might have rendered him guilty or fufpeited to the Roman Governor; that would have ferved their Turn, to have laid hold upon him, with Hopes to deftroy him. For their Power not anfwering their Malice, they could not put him to Death by their own Authority, without the Permiflion and Afliftance of the Governor; as they confefs, John xviii. 3:. It is not lavjful for us to put any Man to Death. This made them fo earneft for a Declaration in direft Words, from his own Mouth, that he was the Mejjiah. 'Twas not that would more have believed inhim, for fuch a Declaration of himfelf, than they did for his Miracles, or other ways of making himfelf known, which it appears they underftood well enough. But they Wanted plain direft Words, fuch as might fupport an Accufation, and be of Weight be- fore an Heathen Judge. This was the Reafon why they pre&d him to fpeak out, John. X. 34. "Then came the Jews round about him, and f aid unto him. How long doji thou hold us in Sufpence ? If thou be the Mejjiah, tell us P LA IN L T, mlfw'ta.; i.e. in direft Words : For that St. John ufes it in that Senfe, we may fee. Chap. xi. II— 14. Jefus faith to them, Lazarus Jleepeth. His Difciples faid. If he Jleeps, he fhall do well. Howbeit, Jefus [pake of his Death ; but they thought he had fpoken of taking re ft in Sleep. Then faid Jefus to them plainly , intlfnjU, Laz^arm is Dead. Here we fee what is Meant by m'pfnffU, PLAIN direft Words, fuch as exprefs the Thing without a Figure ; and fo they would have had Jefus pronounce himfelf tohe the Meffiah. And the fame Thing they prefs again, AIat.xvi.6s- The High- Prieft adjuring him by the Living God, to tell them whether he were the Mejjiah^ the Son of God ; as we fliall have Occafion to take Notice by and by. This 504 The Reafonablenejs of Chriflianity, This \vc may obfervc in tlie whole Management of their Defign agalnfl his Life. It turned upon this, that they wanted and wi (bed for a Declaration fiom him, in di- xe6t Words, that he was the Mefftah: fomething from his own Mouth, that might offend the Roman Power, and render him Criminal to Pilate. In the 2ifl: Verfe of til is xxth of Lrikcy T^hcy asked him, Jaying, Majler, -we know that thou fayefi and teachefi rightly ; neither ncceptefi thou the Perjon of any, but teachefi the way of God truly. Is it latvfnl to give Tribute to Cafar or no ? By this captious Queftion they hoped to to catch him, which way foever he anfwered. For if he had faid, they ought to pay 'I'ribute to Cafar, 'twould be plain he allowed their Subjeftion to the Ro- mans ; and fo in effect difown himielf to be their King and Deliverer : Whereby he would have contradicted what his Carriage and Doftrine feemed to aim at, the Opinion that was fpread amongft the People, that he was the M^ITkih. This would iiave quafli'd the Hopes, and deftroy'd the Faith of thofe who believed on him j and have turned the Ears and Hearts of the People from him. If on the other fide, he anfwered No, it is not lawful to pay Tribute to Cxfar ; they had had out of his own Mouth wherewithal to condemn him before Pontius Pilate. •But St. Z,«/c£' tells us, "V. 23. He perceived their Craftinefs, and faid unto thein. Why tempt ye me ? i. e. Why do ye lay Snares for me ? Te Hypocrites, pew ine the "Tribute- imney \ fo it is, Mn, I f pake openly to the World : I ever taught in the Synagogue, an^ in the T'emple, whither the 'Jews always rejort, and in Secret have I faid nothing. A Proof that he had not in private to his Diiciplcs declared himfelf in exprefs Words to be the MeJJiah, the Prince. But he goes on. Why askeft thou ?ne ? Ask jf«ii<7.f who has been always with me. Ask them who heard me, what I have faid unto them; behold, they know wlmt I faid. Our Saviour we fee here warily declines, for the Reafons above-mention 'd, all Difcourfe of his Doctrine. Tlie Sanhedrim, Mat.Xi„s\, 59. Sought falfe Witnefs againft him : But whea as delivered in the ScRrPTURiES. when the) found mm that -vcere fufficient, or came up to the Point they de fired ; which was to have iomeching againfl him to take away his Life, (For fo I think the Words 'Kmi and "'rv mean, Ahrk xiv. jd. ^9.) They try again what they can get out of him himfelf, concerning his being the Mcfjlah ; wiiich if he owned in ex- prefs Words, they thought they fhoiild have enougii againll him at the 'JVibunal of the Roman Governour, to makehim Lccfix: Majejlatii rcum^ and fo to take away his Life. They therefore fay to him, Luke xxii. 6-]. Ij thou be the Mejjuih, tell us. Nay, as St. Matthew hath it, the High-Prieft adjures him by the living God to tell them whether he were the Aff/y/rt/j. To which our Saviour replies, Ij 1 tell you, ye will not beliive ; and if I ask you, ye will not anfwer me, nor let me go. If I tell you, and prove to ycu, by the Teflimony given me from Heaven, and by the Works that I have done among you, you will not believe in me, that I am the MtJJhtb. Or if you Hiouid ask where the Mtjjiah is to be born, and what State he fliould come in ,• how he fhouid appear, and other Things tliat you think in me are not reconcileable witli the Mcffiah ; you will not anfwer mc, and Jet me go, as one tliat has no Pretence to be the M-'ffiah, and you are not afraid fhouid be received for fuch. But yet I tell you. Hereafter f}all the Son of Man Jit m the right Hand oj the Power of God, v. yo. T^hen faid they all., Art thou then the Svu of God ? And he ftid unto them, ye fay that I am. By v/hich Difcourfe with them, related at large here by St. Luke, it is plain, that the Anfwer of our Saviour, fet down by 'i,x.. Matthew, Chap. xxvi. 64. in thefe Words, 'Thou haft faid; and by St. Mark, Chap. xiv. 62. in tliefe, I am ; is an Anfwer only to this Queflion, Art thou then the Son of God? And not to that other. Art thou the A'hjViah ? which preceded, and he had anfwered to before : 'Jliough Matthew and Miirk, contradiing the Story, fet them down togetlicr, as if making but one Queflion, omitting all the intervening Difcourfe; whereas "tis plain of St. Luke, that they were two diftinft Qtieftions, to which Ji-fus gave two diflind Anfvvers. In the hrft whereof, he, according to his ufual Caution, declined faying in plain ex- prefs Words, that he was the MejTiah; though in the latter he owned himfelf to be the Son of God. Which though they being Jews, underflood to fignify the Mef- fiah J yet he knew could be no legal or weighty Accufation againfl: him before a Heathen ; and fo it proved. For upon his anfwering to their Queftion, Art thou then the Sun of God ? Te fay that I am; they cry out, Luke xxii. 71. lyhat need we am further lyitnejfes ? For we our fel'ves have heard out of his own Mouth: And fo thinkin"- they had enough againfl: him, they hurry him away to Pilate. Pilate asking them, yohn xviii. 29 — 32. What Accufation bring you againfl this Man ? They anfxvered, and faid, if he were not a MalefaBor we would not have dilivered him up unto thee. Tiieii faid Pilate unto them. Take ye him, and judge him according to your Law. But this would not ferve their Turn, who aimed at his Life, and would be fatisfied with no- thing elfe. The Jews therefore faid unto him. It is not lawful for us to put any Alan to Death. And this was alfo. That the J'aying ofjefus might be fulfilled luhich he [pake, fgnifying what Death he jhould die. Purfiiing therefore their Defign of making him appear to Pontius Pilate guilty of Treaibn againfl Cafar, Luke xxiii. 2. They began to accife him, faying, IVe found this Fellow perverting the Nation, and forbidding to give Tribute to Ca:far ; faying, that he himfelf is the Mefiah the King : All Tvhich were Inferences of theirs, from his faying, he was the Son of God -. Which Pontius Pilate finding, (for 'tis confonant that he examined them to the preciie Words he had faid) their Accufation had no Weight with him. However, the Name of King be- ing fuggefled againfl Jefus, he thought himfelf concerned to fearch it to the bot- tom. Join xviii. 33 — 37. Then Pilate entred again into the Judgment-Hall, andcalled Jefus, and faid unto him. Art thou the King of the Jews ? J ejus anfwered him, Sayefl thou this oj thy felf, or did others tell it thee of me ? Pilate anfwered, am I a Jew ? Thine own Nation and the Chief Prieft have delivered thee unto me : What haft thou dune 1 Jefus anfwered. My Kingdom is not of this IVorld : If 7ny Kingdom were of this IVorld, then would my Servants fight, that I flxuld not be delivered to the Jews ; But my Kingdom /r not from hence. Pilate therefore faid unto him. Art thou a King then ? Jefus anfxvered. Thou fay efi that I am King. For this End was I born, and for this Cattfe came I into the IVorld, that I ftoould bear witnefs to the Truth : Every one that is of the Truth he.areth 7tiy Voice. In this Dialogue between our Saviour and P/'/rt/^, we mav obferve, I. Ihac being asked, Whether he were the King of the Jews .? He anfwers fo, that though he deny it not, yet he a\oided giving the leafl Umbrage, that he had any Defign upon tlie Government. For though he allows himfelf to be a Kin", vet to Vo1.il Sff "obviate J o 5 The Reajonahlenejs of Christianity. obviate Any Sufpicion, he tcWs Pilate, Hi6 Kingdom ii not of this World; and evidences it by this, that il he had pretended to any Tirletothat Country, his Followers, wiiich were not a few, and were forwaj'd enough be believe him their King, would have fought for him ; if he had had a Mind to fet himfelf up by Force, or his King- dom were fo to be ercftcd. But my Kingdom, fays he, is not jrom hence, is not of this Fafliion, or of this Place. 2. Pilate, being by his \^'ords and Circumftances fatisfied that he laid no Claim to his Province, or meant any Diilurbance of the Government, was yet a little furpri- zed to hear a Man, in that poor Garb, without Retinue, or fo much as a Servant or a Friend, own himfelf to be a King ; and therefore asks him, with fome kind of won- der. Art thou a King then ? 3. That our Saviour declares, that his great Bufinefs into the World was, to teflify and make good this great Truth, that he was a King; i. e. in other Words, that he was the Meffiah. 4. That whoever were Followers of the Truth, and got into the Way of Truth and Hnppinefs, received this Doftrine concerning him, 'viz,. That he was the Meffiah their King. Pilate being thus fatisfied, that he neither meant, nor could there arife any harm from his Pretence, whatever it was to be a King, tells the Jews, v. 38. I find no fault in this Man. But the Jews were the more fierce, Luke\\\\\. j. faying, Hefiirrethup the People to Sedition, by his preaching throtigh all feiury, beginning from Galilee to this Place. And then Pilate, learning that he was oi Galilee, Herod's Jurifdiftion, fenthini to Herod; to whom alfo the chief Priefts and Scribes, v. 10. "vehemently accufed him. Herod finding all their Accufations either falfe or frivolous, thought our Saviour a bare Objeft of Contempt ; and fo turning him only into Ridicule, f'ent him back to Pilate : Who calling unto him the chief Priefts, and the Rulers, and the People, V. 14. Said imto them, Te ha've brought this Man unto me, as one that perverteth the People ; And behold, I have examined him before you, have found no Fault in this Man^ touching thefe "Things -whereof ye accufe him ; No, nor yet Herod ; for I fent you to him :- And fo nothing worthy of Death is done by him: And therefore he would have releafed him. For he knew the chief Priejls had delivered him through Envy, Mark xv. lo. And when they demanded Barrabas to be releafed, but as for Jefus, cried. Crucify him ; Lukew'w'i. 22. Pilate faid unto them the third time. Why ? What Evil hath he done? I have found no catife of Death in him ; I will therefore chaflife Iwn, and let him go. We may obferve in all this whole Profecution of the Jews, that they would fain have got it out of 'Jefus' s own Mouth, in exprefs W^ords, that he was the Meffiah : Which not being able to do with all their Art and Endeavour ; all the reft that they could alledge againft him, not amounting to a Proof before Pilate, that he claimed to be King of the Jews ,• or that he had caufed or done any thing towards a Mutiny or Infurrection among the People ; (for upon thefe two, as we fee, their whole Charge turned) Pilate again and again pronounced him innocent : For fo he did a fourth, and a fifth time ; bringing him out to them, after he had whipt him, John xix. 4, 6. And after all. When Pilate faw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a "Tumult vcas made, he took Water, and wafloed his Hands before the Multitude, faying, I am innocent of the Blood of this juft Man; fee you to it. Mat. xxvii. 24. Which gives us a clear Reafon of the cautious and wary Conduft of our Saviour, in not declaring himfelf, in the whole courfeof his Miniftry, fo much as to his Difciples, much lefs to the Multitude or the Rulers of the Jews, in exprefs Words, to be the Meffiah the King : And why he kept himfelf always in prophetical or parabolical Terms : (He and his Difciples preaching only the Kingdom of God, i. e. of the Meffiah, to be come) And left to his Miracles to declare who he was ; though this was the Truth, which he came into the World, as he fays himfelf, Johnxviu. 37. toteftify, and which his Difciples were to believe. When Pilate, fatisfied of his Innocence, would have releafed him ; and the Jews perfifted to cry out, Crncify him. Crucify him, John xix. 6. Pilate fays to them. Take ye him your felves, and crucify hi?n : For I do not find any Fault in him. The Jews then, fince they could not make him a State-Criminal, by alledginghis faying that he was the Son of Gud: fay, by their Law it was a capital Crime, v. 7. The Jews aufwered to Pilate, We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die ; becaufe he made himfelf the Son of God, i. e. becaufe, by faying he is the Son of God, he has made himfelf the Meffiah the Prophet, which was to come. For we find no other Law but that againft falfe Prophets, as delivered m r/;^^ Scriptures. 507 Prophets, Z)f«^xviii. 20. whereby making himfdf the Sun of God, deferved Death. Af- ter this, Ptlatc was the more dcfirous to releaie him, v. 12, 13. But the Jews cried out, faying. If thun let this Man go, thoti art not Cxfay's F/iend : IVhoJocver maketl) himfelj a King, fpeaketl) againft C-vfar. Here we fee the St refs of their Charge againft Jeius ; whereby tliey hoped to take away liis Life ; viz,. That lie 7nade himfelj King. We fee alfo upon what tliey grounded this Accufation, viz,. Becaufe he had owned liim- fclf to be the Sin of God. For he had in their Hearing, i.evcr made or profelled himfclf to be a King. We fee here likewife the Realon why they were lo defirous to draw, from his own Mouth, a ConfelFion in expref^ Words that he was the Mef- Jiah; viz. That they might have what might be a clear Proof that he did fo. And laft of ail, we iee the Reafon why, though in Expredions, which they underftood, he owned himfclf to them to be the .^lejfah; yet he avoided declaring it to diem, in fuch \\ ords as might look Criminal at Pilate's Tribunal. He owned himfelf to be theM//./'0//'i;(^v, over againft tlie Temple, and there foretelling the De- ftruciion oi it; his Dilciples ask him. Mat. xxiv. 3,&c. M^hen it fmild Le, and ivhat flioiild be the Signs of his Coming ? He fays to them, "Take heed that no Alan deceive- yon : Fur many fjall come in my Name, i. e. taking on them the Name and Dignity of the Mejj'iah, which is only mine, faying, I ain the Mefftah, and fmll deceive many. But be not you by them mifled, nor by Perlecution driven away from this fundamental Truth, that 1 am the Mcffiah ; for many P}all be j^andaliz,ed, and apoRatize, but he that 'endures to the End, the faine Jhall be faved : And this Gofpel of the Kingdom fl)all be preached in all the JVorld : i.e. The good News of me, the Meffiah, and my Kingdom, fhall be fpread through the World. This was the great and only Point of Belief they were warned to ftick to; and this is inculcated again, v. 23—26. and Alark xiii. 21—23. with this emphatical Application to them in both thefe Evangelifts, Behold, I have told you before-hand; reinember ye are fore-warned. This was in his Anfwer to the Apoftlcs Enquiry concerning his Coming, andthe'End tf the World, v. 3. For fo we tranllate -^ nvTimat to oi«c(9- ; we niuil underftand the Dilciples here to put their Queftion, according to the Notion and Way of fpeak- ing oi thcjeius. For they had two Worlds, as we tranflate it, vwi' cuetv t^ |U«>/b» miov ; the prefent World, and the World to come. The Kingdom of God, as they called it, or the Time of the Mcffiah, they called (u.kkuv coav, the World to come, which they believed was to put an end to this World : And that then the Juft fhould. be railed from the Dead, to enjoy, in that ne-w World, a happy Eternity, with thofe of the Jewifli Nation who fhould be then living. Thele two Things, viz,, the vifible and powerful Appearance of his Kingdom, and the End of the World, being confounded in the Apoftles Queftion, our Saviour does not leparate them, nor diftindtly reply to them apart; but leaving the Enquirers in the common Opinion, anfwers at once concerning his coming to take Vengeance of the Jcwilh Nation, and put an end to their Church, Worfhip and Common-wealth; which was their \uv aitlv, prefent M'^orld, which they counted fliould laft till the Meffiah came : and fo it did, and then had an End put to it. And to this he joins his laft Coming to Judgment, in the Glory of his Father, to put a final End to this W^orld, and all the Difpenfation belonging to the Poflerity oi' Adam upon Earth. This joining them together, made his Anfwer obfcure, and hard to be underftood by them then; nor was it fafe for him to fpeak plainer of his Kingdom, and the Delhuftion of yeriifalem, unlefs he had a mind to be accufed for having Defigns againft the Government. For Judas was amongfl; them : And whether no other but his Apoftles were comprehended under the Name of hisDifiples, who were with him at this Time, one cannot determine. Our Saviour therefore fpeaks of his Kingdom in no other Stile but that w^hich he had all along hitherto ufed, viz.. "The Kingdom of God, Luke xxi. 31. Wi:en you fee thefe 'Things come to pafs, know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. And continuing on his Difcourfe with them, he has the fame ExprefTion, Mat.wx. i. Then the Kingdom of Heaven jhall be like unto ten Virgins. At the End of the following Parable of the Talents, he adds, i/. 31. When the Son of Man fiall come in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels -with hiiv, then f jail he fit upon the "Throne of hts Glory, and before him fhaU be gathered aU the Nations. And he fljall fet the Sheep on his right Hand, and the Goats on his left. 7hen fljall the KING fay, &c. Here he defcribes to his Difciples the Appearance of his Kingdom, wherein he will ftiew himfelf a King in Glory upon his Throne ; but this in fuch a Way, and fo remote, and fo unintelligible to a Heathen Magiftrate ; that if it had been al- ledg'd againft him, it would have feemed rather the Dream of a crazy Brain, than the Contrivance of an ambitious or dangerous Man defigning againft the Govern- ment : The Way of exprelTmg what he meant, being in the prophetick Stile, which is feldom fo plain, as to be underftood, till accomplilh'd. 'Tis plain, that his Dif- ciples themfehcs comprehended not what Kingdom he here fpoke of, from their Que- ftion to him after his Refurreftion, Wilt thou at this Time rejhre again the Kingdom to Ifrael ? Having finiflied thefe Difcourfes, he takes order for the Paflover, and eats it with his Difciples ; and at Supper tells them, that cue of them fhould betray him : And i adds as delivered in ?/?(? Scriptures. 511 adds, jfo/jK xiil. 19. / tell it you now, before it come, that when it is come to pafs, you may knew that lam. He does not fay out, the Meffiah ; Judas fhould not liave that to lay againft him if he would; though that betheSenfe in which he ufes this Ex- prcffion, e>* «(*( , / (im, more than once. And that this is the Meaning of it, is clear from Mark xii. 6. Luke xxi. 8. In both which Evangelifts the Words are, For many fjall come in my Name, faying, i-yo eifzi, I am : The Meaning whereof we fhall find explained in the parallel Place of St. Mattbexu Chap. xxiv. 5. For many fliall come in my Name, faying, i-^d eiui xptrl!, lam xht Meffiah. Here in this place oi John xii. Jefus foretels what fhould happen to him, wz,. that he ihould be betrayed by Judas ; adding this Prediftion to the many other Particulars of liis Death and Suifering, which he had at other times foretold to them. And here ha tells them the Reafon of thefe his Predi6tion, viz,, that aftewards they might be a Confirmation to their Faith. And what was it that he would have them believe, and be confirmed in the Belief of.? Nothing but this, en Iva- ('^/, that he was the Mef- fiah. The fame Reafon he gives, JohrndW. 28. Tou have heard, how I [aid unto you, I go away, and come again unto you : And now I have told you before it come to pafs, that when it is come to pafs, ye might believe. When Judas had left them, and was gone out, he talks a little freer to them of his Glory, and his Kingdom, than ever he had done before. For now he fpeaks plainly of himl'elf and of his Kingdom, Jjhn xiii. 31. 'Therefore when he [Judas] was gone out, Jefus faid, IVoiu is the Son of Man glorified, and Cod is alfu glorified in him. And if God be glorified in him, God fimll alfo glorify him in hi?nfelj, and fioall flraitway glorify him. And Luke xxii. 29. And I will appoint unto you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye >nay eat and drink with me at my Table in my King- dom. Though he has every where all along through his Miniftry preached the Go- fpel of the Kingdom; and nothing elfe but that and Repentance, and the Duties of a good Life •, yet it has been always the Kingdom oj God, and the Kingdom of Heaven - And I do not remember, that any where, till now, he ufes any fuch Expreffion, as My Kingdo?n. But here now he fpeaks in the firft Perfon, / will appoint you a King- dom; and in my Kingdom: And this we fee is only to the Eleven, now Judas was gone from them. With thefe Eleven, whom he was nowjuft leaving, he has a long Difcourfe to comfort them for the Lofs of him ; and to prepare them for the Perlecution of the World ; and to exhort them to keep his Commandments, and to love one another. And here one may exped all the Articles of Faith fliould be laid down plainly ; if any thing clfe were required of them to believe, but what he had taught them, and they believed already, viz,. That he was the Meffiah, John xiv. i. Te believe in God, believe alfo in me, v. 29. / have told you before it come to pafs, that when it is come to pafs ye may believe. It is believing on him, without any thing elfe, John xvi. 31. Jefus an- fwered them. Do ye noiu believe ? This was in anfwer to their Profeffion, v. 30. Now are ive fure that thou knoweft all Things, and needefl not that any Man fijould ask thee : By this we believe that thou comefi forth from God. John xvi i. 20. Neither pray I for thefe alone, but for them alfo which fijall believe on V7e through their Word. ' All that is fpoke of Believing, in this his laft Sermon to them, is only believing on hi?n, or believing that He came from God ; which was no other than believing him to be the Melfiaf}. Indeed, John xiv. 9. our Saviour tells Philip, He that hath feen me, hath feen the Father. And adds, v. 10. Believeft thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in ?ne ? The Words that I fpeak unto you, I fpeak not of my felf: But the Father that dwelleth in me, he doth the Works. Which being in anAver to Philip's W'ords. v. 9. Shew us the Father, feem to import thus much : No Alan hath feen God at any time, he is known only by his Works. And that he is my Father, and the Son of God, i. e. the Meffiah, you may know by the Works I have done; which it is impoflible I could do of my felf, but by the Union I ha^e with God my Father. For that by being in God, and God in him, he fignifies fuch an Union with God, that God ope- rates in and by him, appears not only by the Words above-cited out of v. 10. (which can fcarce otherwife be made coherent SenfeJ but alfo from the fame Phrafe ufed again by our Saviour prefently after, v. 20. At that Day,viz,. after hisRefur- reftion, when they fliould fee him again, ye fhall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you ; i. e. by the Works I fliall enable you to do, through a Power I have received from the Father : Whicli whofoever fees me do, mull acknowledge the 512 The Reajonablcncjs of Christianity, the Fatlier to be in me ; and whoever fees you do, mull acknowledge me to be in ycu. And tlieiefoie he fays, v. 12. Verily, verily I fay unto yon. He that belie- veil) en me, the M'^orks that I do JImII he alfo do, becaufe I go unto my Fatljer. Thcugli I f^o away, yet I (hall be in you, who believe in me; and ye fhall be enabled to do Miracles alio for the carrying on of my Kingdom, as I have doi-;e : That it may be manilefied to others, that you are fent by me, as I have evidenced to you, that I am iisntbythe Father. And hence it is that he fays, in the immediately preceding V. 11. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; if not, believe me jor the fake (f the Works themfelves. Let the Works that I have done convince you that I am i'ent by the Father ; that he is with me, and that I do nothing but by his Will, and by vcrtueoi the Union I have with him; and that confequently I-am the Miffiah, u'ho am anointed, fandtified, and feparate by the Father to the Work for which he lent me. To confirm them in this Faith, and to enable them to do fuch Works as he had done, he promifes them the Holy Ghoft, '^ohn xiv. 25, z6. Thefe 'Things I bavefaid unto you, being yet prefent zvith you. But when I am gone, the Holy Gho/i, the Paraclet (which may fignify Monitor as well as Comforter, or Advocate) -which the Father fhall fnd you in my Name, he floall fhe-co you- aU Things, and bring to your Remembrance all Things which I have faid. So that confidering all that I have faid, and laying it together, and comparing it with what you fhall fee come to pafs, you may be mure abundantly affured, that I am the Mefjiah, and fully comprehend, that I have done and fuftered all Things foretold of the Mejfiah ; and that were to be accomplifhed and fulfilled by him, according to Scriptures. But be not filled with Grief that I leave you, 'John xvi. 7. It is expedient for you 'that I go away, for if I go not away, the Paraclet will not come unto you. One Reafon why, if he went net away, the Holy Ghoft could not come, we may gather from what has been cbferved concerning the prudent and wary Carriage of our Saviour all through his Miniftry, that he might not incur Death with the leaft fufpicicn of a Malefador. And therefore though his Difciples believed him to be the Mtffiah, yet they neither underftood it fo well, nor were fo well confir- med in the Belief of it, as after that he being crucified and rifen again, they had re- ceived the Holy Ghoft; and with the Gifts of the -Holy Spirit, a fuller and clearer Evidence and Knowledge that he was the Miiftah. They then were enlightned to lee how his Kingdom was fuch, as the Scriptures foretold, though not fuch as they, till then, had expefted. And now this Knowledge and Afl'urance received from the Holy Ghoft, wasofufeto him after his Refurredtion ; when they could now boldly go about, and openly preach, as they did, that fefas was the Mcjfiah ; confirming that Doftrine by the Miracle which the Holy Glioft empowered them to do. But till he was dead and gone, they could not do this. Their going about openly Preach- ing, as they did after his Refurreftion, thatjefus was x.\\e Mefftah ; and doing Mi- racles every where, to make it good, would not have confifted with that Charafter of Humility, 'Peace and Innocence, which the Mtjfiab was to fuftain, if they had done it before his Crucifixion. For this would have drawn upon him the Condem- nation of a Malefactor, either as a Stirrer of Sedition againft the publick Peace, or as a Pretender to the Kingdom of Ifrael. Hence we fee, that they who before his Death preached only the Gofpel of the Kingdom ; that the Kindom of God was at handy as foon as they had received the Holy Ghoft after his Refurreftion, changed their Stile, and every where in exprefs Words declare, that Jefus is the Mejfiah, that King which was to come. This, the following Words here in St. John xvi. 8 — 14. confirm; where he goes on to tell them. And when he is come, he will convince the IVorld of Sin : Becaufe they believed not on me. Your Preaching then, accompanied with Miracles, by the AfTiftance of the Holy Ghoft, fhall be a Conviftion to the World, that the Jews finned in not believing me fo be the Mejfiah. Of Righteouf- nefs, or Juftice : Becaufe I go to my Father, and ye fee me no more. By the fame Preach- ing and Miracles you fliall confirm the Dodrine of my Afcenfion ; and thereby con- vince the World that I was that Jii/} One, who am therefore afcended to the Father into Heav^en, where nounjuft Perlon fhall enter. Of Judgment : Becaufe the Prince of this World is Judged.- And by the fame Afliftance of the Holy Ghoft ye fliall con- vince the World, that the Devil is judged or condemned, by your cafting of him out, and deftroying his Kingdom, and his Worlhip where-ever you preach. Our Saviour adds, / have yet many Things to fay unto you, but you cannot hear them now. They were yet fo full of a Temporal Kingdom, that they could not bear the difco- very as delivered in the Scriptures^ 5 1 3 \'ery of what kind of Kingdom his was, nor what a King he was to be : And there- fore he leaves them to the coming of the Holy OhoR, foi- a farther and fuller dii- co\ery of himfclf, and the Kingdom of the Mvjjiah ; for fear they fliould be ican- dalized in him, and give up the Hopes they had now in him ; and forl'akc him. This he tells them, v. i. of this xvi. Chapter : T'Lefe things I have [aid rmta ynu, that you ■ may not be fimidaJiz.ed. The laft tiling he had told tliem bcfoi'c his faying this to them, we find in tlie lafi: Verl'cs of the precedent Chapter : JVIien the Paraclet k come, the Spirit ofTntth, he f) all witnefi concerning me. He fliall flicw you w!io I am, and witnefs it to the Worldj and then, Te aJjofimll bear luiinejs, becaufe ye have been xvith me from the Beginning. He fliall call to your Mind, what I have laid and done, that ye may underftand it, and know, and bear Witnefs concerning me. And again here, yohn xvi. after he had told them, they could not bear what he had more to fnv, he adds, -K. 1 5 . Howbeit, ivhen the Spirit uf Tiuth is come, he will guide you into all Truth ; and he ivill fl}eii} you things to come : He f!) all glorify mc. By the Spirit, when he comes, ye fliall be fully inftrufted concerning me ; though you cannot yet, from Avhat I have faid to you, clearly comprehend my Kingdom and Glory, \ct lie fliall make it known to you wherein it confifts : And tho' I am now in a mean State, and ready to be given up to Contempt, Torment, and Death, "io that ye know not what to think of it ; yet the Spirit when he comes, fliall glorify me, and fully fa- tisfy you of my Power and Kingdom ; and that I fit on the right Hand of God, to order all things for the Good and Increafe of it, till I come again at the laft Day in the Fulnefs of Glory. Accordingly, the Apoftles had a full and clear Sight and Perfwafion of this, after they had receiv'd the Holy Ghoft; and they preach'd it every where boldly and open- ly, without the leaft remainder of Doubt or Uncertainty. But that c\en fo late as this, they underftood not his Death and Refurrection, is evident from "j. 17, 18. 'Then faid Jome of the Dijcipks among themjelves, JVhat is this that he faith unto us ; A little luhile, and ye fl> all not fee me; And again, a little while, and ye flyall fee me; and becaufe I go to the Father ? They faid therefore, what is this that he faith, a little while ? We know not what he faith. Upon which he goes on to difcourfc to them of his Death andRefurreftion, and of the Power they fliould have of doing Miracles. But all this he declares to them in a myflicaland involved way of fpcaking: As he tells them him- fclf, "z;. 25. Thefe things have I fpoken to you in Proverbs; i. e. in general, obfcurc, enig- matical, or figurative Terms. (All which, as well as allufive Apologues, the "Jews called Proverbs or Parables) hitherto my declaringof my felf to you hath been ob-" fcure, and with referve j and I have not fpoken of my felf to you in plain and di- red: Words, becaufe ye could not bear it. A Meffiab, and not a King, you could not underftand : And a King living in Poverty and Pcrfccution, and dying the Death of a Sla\e and Malefaftor upon a Crofs, you could not put together. And liad I told you in plain Words, that I was the Meffiah, and given you a direct Commiffion to preach toothers, that I profefledly own'd my felf to be the ALjJi ah, you and they would have been ready to have made a Commotion, to have fet me upon the Throne of my Father David, and fight forme, and that your Mejfiah, your King, in whom are your Hopes of a Kingdom, fhould not be delivered up into the Hands of his Enemies to be put to Death ; and of this Peter will inftantly give you a Proof. But the Time com- eth when Ifyall no more f peak unto you in Parables ; but If}allfl)ew unto you plainly of the Father. My Death and Refurreftion, and the coming of the Holy Ghoft, will fpee- dily enlighten you, and then I fliall make you know theW^ill and Defign of the Fa- ther ; what a Kingdom I am to have, and by what Means, and to what End, v. 27. And this the Father himfelf will fliew unto youi For hclovethyou, becaufe ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from the Father. Becaufe je ha\'e believed that I am the Son of God, the Meffiah; that he hath anointed and fentme; though it hath not been yet fully difcoveredto you, what kind of Kingdom it fliall be, nor by what Means brought about. And then our Saviour, without being asked, ex- plaining to them, what he faid, and making them underftand better, what before they ftuck at, and complained fecretly among themfelves that they underftood not; they thereupon declare, v. 30. Noiu are we fare that thou knowcfi all things, andneedefi not that any Man fiould ask thee. 'Tis plain, thou knoweft Mens Thoughts and Doubts before they ask. By this we believe that thou camefi forth from God. Jefus anfver'd, do ye now believe .? Notwithftanding that you now believe, that I came from God, and am the MefCiah, fent by him ; Behold, the Hour co?neth, yea is now Vol. II. T t t: coi/ii 5: 1 4 ^^^'^ Reajonablenejs of Chrijlianhy, coTfie, that jc fjall he fcattered ; and as it is. Mat. a.\v\. ■^i. and fiall a!/ be fcanclaliz.ed in me. What it is to be fcantlalized in him, vve may fee by what followed here- upon, if that which he fays to St. Peter, Mark xiv. did not fufficiently explain it. This I have been the more particular in; that it may be fcen, that in his laft Difcourfc to hisDifciples (where he opened himfelf more than he had hitherto done ; and where, if any thing more was requir'd to make tliem Believers, than what they already believed, we might have expeSed they fhould have heard of it;) there were no new Articles propoled to them, but what they believed before, viz,. That he was the Mejjiah, the Son of God, fent from the Father : Tho' of his Man- ner of Proceeding, and his fudden leaving of the World, and fome few Particulars, he made them underftand fomething more than they did before. But as to the mainDefignof the Gofpel, viz.. That he had a Kingdom, that he fhould be put to Death, and rife again, and afcend into Heaven to his Father, and come again in Glory to judge the World ; this he had told them : And fo had acquainted them with the great Counfel of God; in fending him the Mefpab, and omitted nothing that was necellary to be known or believed in it. And lb he tells them himfelf, John XV. I 5. Henceforth I call ye mt Servants ; for the Servant knoweth not "what his Lord does : But [have called ye Friends \ for ALL THINGS I have heard of my Father, I have made htorcn unto you ; tho' perhaps ye do not fo fully comprehend them, as you •will fliortly, when I am rilen and alcended. To conclude all, in his Prayer, which fhuts up this Difcourfe, he tells the Father whathe had made known to his Apoflles ; theRefult whereof we have, John xvii.8. / h/ive given unto them the Words which thou gavefi me, and they have received them, and Thet have believed That Thou didsT send me. Which is, in eftect, that he was the A/(?//?e ful- filled which are written in the Law of Mfes, and in the Prophets, and in the Pfalms con- cerning me. T'hen opened he their Under/landings, that they might under/land the Scripture^ and faid unto them ; 'Tims it is written, and thus it behoved the Mcfftnh to f'ffer, and to rife from the Dead the third Day ; and that Repentance, and Remifjion of Sins fijuld be preached in his Name among all Nations, beginning at Jertifilem, Here we fee what it was he had preached to them, though not in fo plain open Words, before his Crucifixion ; and what it is he now makes them underftand ; and what it was that was to be preached to all Nations, viz,. That he was the Alefjiah, that had fuffered, and rofe from the Dead the third Day, and fulfill'tl all Things that weie written in the Old Teftament concerning the Mfjiah ; and that thofe who believed this, and repented, fhould re- ceive Remiflion of their Sins, through this Faith in him. Or, as St. Mark has it. Chap. "xvi. ij. Go into all thelVorld, and preach the Gofpel to every Creature; he that believeth, and is l>aptiz.ed,JI:?allbefaved ; but he that believeih notjhallbe damned, v. 20. What the Gof- pel, or Good News was, we have fhewed already, viz,. The happy Tidings of the Mef- fiah being come. V. 20. And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with Signs following. What the U^ord was vvh ich they preached, and the Lord confirmed with Miracles, we have feen already out of the Hiftory of their Afts; I have already given an Account of their Preaching every where, as it is recorded in the AEls, except fome few Places, where the Kingdom of the Mef/iah is mentioned under the Name of the Kingdom of God; which I forbore to fet down, till I had made it plain out of the Evangelifts, that that was no other but the Kingdom of the Mefftah. It may be feafonable therefore now, to add to thofe Sermons we have formerly feen of St. Paz*;/ (wherein he preached no other Article of Faith, but that Jefus was the Mef- fiah, the King, who being rifen from the Dead, now reigneth, and fliall more pub- lickly manifelt his Kingdom, in judging the World at the laft Day) what farther is left upon Record of his Preaching. Atis xix. 8. At Ephefm, Paul went into the Syna- gogues, and fpake boldly for the [pace of three Months ; difputing and perfuading concerning the Kingdom of God. And, Ails xx. 25. at Miletus he thus takes leave of the Elders oi Ephejtis : And now behold, 1 know that je all among whom I have gone preaching the King- dom of God, JJmll fee my Face no more. What this Preaching the Kingdom of God was, he tells you, v. 20, 21. / have kept nothing back from you, which was profitable unto you, but have fiewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from Houfe to Honfe ; tefiifying both to the Jews, and to the Greeks, Repentance towards God, and Faith towards ottr Lord yefus Chrijt. And fo again, Acls xxviii 23, 24. JVhen they [the Jews at Rome'] had ap- pointed him [Paul] a Day, there came many to him into his Lodging ; to whom he expound- ed and teftified the Kingdom of God ; perfiiadiug them concerning Jefus, both out of the Law of Alofes, and out of the Prophets, from Morning to Evening. And fome believed the Things ' which were fpoken, and fome believed not. And the Hiftory of the ACis is concluded with this Account of St. Paul's Preaching : And Paul dwelt two whole Years in hit own hired Houfe, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teach- ing thofe Things which concern the Lord Jefus the Meffiah. We may therefore here ap- ply the fame Conclufion to the Hiftory of our Saviour writ by the Evangelifts, and to the Hiftory of the Apoftles writ in the ASis, which St. John does to his own Gof- pel, Chap. XX. 30, 31. Many other Signs did Jefus before his Difciples ; and in many other Places the Apoftles preached the fame Doftrinc, which are not written in thefe Books ; but thefe are written, that you may believe that Jefus is the Meffiah, the Son of God ; an.i that believing, you may have Life in his Name. What St. John thought neceifary and fufficient to be believed, for the attaining eter- nal Life, he here tells us. And this, not in the firft dawning of the Gofpel; when, perhaps, fome will be apt to think lefs was required to be believed, than after the? Dodrine of Faith, and Myftery of Salvation, was more fully explained, in the Epiftles Vol. IL Ttt 2 tv-ris 5 1 5 The ReafonaUenefs of Christianity, writ by the Apoftles. For it is to be remembred, that St. John fays this not as foon as Chrifl; was afccnded ; for thcfc Words, vith tlie refl. ol St.yu/m's Gofpel, were not written till many Y'ears after, not only the other Gofpels, and St. Luke's Hi- ftory of the Afls ; but in all Appearance, after all the EpiiUcs writ by the other A- poftlcs. So that above threefcore Years after our Saviour's Pa.lion ; ( for fo long after, both Epiphatiiin and St. 'Jerom aflure us tliis Gofpel was written) St. Jofm knew nothing elie required to be believed for the attaining of Life, but that Jeff^ is the Mufjiaby the Sun of God. To this, 'tis likely, it will be objefted by fome, that to believe only that Je- fia oi Naz.areth is the Mcfjiuh, is but an Hifiorical, and not a juftifying, or fav- ing Faith. To which I anfwer, that I allow to the Makers of Syftems and their Followers, to invent and ule what Diftinftions they pleafe ; and to call Things by what Names they think fit. But I cannot allow to them, or to any Man, an Authority to make a Religion for me, or to alter that which God hath revealed. And if they pleafe to call the Believing that which our Saviour and his Apoftles preached and propofed alone to be believed, an Hiflorkal Faith ; they have their Liberty. But they muft have a Care how they deny it to be a juftifying or faving Faith, when our Saviour and his Apoftles have declared it fo to be, and taught no other which Men fliould receive, and whereby they fliould be made Believers unto eternal Life ; unlefs they can fo flar make bold with our Saviour, for the fake of their beloved Syftems, as to fay, that he forgot what he came into the World for ; and that he and his Apo- ftles did not inftnaft People right in the Way and Myftcries of Salvation. For that this is the foleDoftrine prefled and required to be believed in the whole Tenour of cur Saviour's and his Apoftles Preaching, we have fhewed through the whole Hiftory of the Evangelifts and the AEls. And I challenge them to fhew that there was any other Doftrine, upon their Allent to which, or Disbelief ot it. Men were pronounced Believers, or Unbelievers ; and accordingly received into the Church of Chrift, as Members of his Body, as far as mere believing could make them fo, or elfe kept out of it. This was the only Gofpel-Article of Faith which was preached to them. And if nothing elfe was .preached every where, the Apoftles Argument will hold againft: any other Articles of Faith' to be believed under the Gofpel, Rom.x. 14. Hovj fhaS they believe that -whereof they have not heard ? For to preach any other Do(5trines necef- fary to be believed, we do not find that any Body was fent. Perhaps it will farther be urged, that this is not z faving Faith; becaufe fuch a Faith as this the Devils may have, and 'twas plain they had ; for they believed and declared yefm to be the Meffiah. And St. yames. Chap. ii. 19. tells us, "The Devils be- lieve, and tremble ; and yet they ftlall not be faved. To which I anfwer, i. That they could not be faved by any Faith, to whom it was not propofed as a Means of Salva- tion, nor ever promifed to be counted for Righteoufneis. This was an Aft of Grace fhewn only to Mankind. God dealt fo favourably with the Pofterity oi Adam, that if they would believe Jeftis to be the Mefftah, the promifed King and Saviour, and perform what other Conditions were required of them by the Covenant of Grace ; God would juftify them, becaufe of this Belief. He would account this Faith to then» for Righteoufnefs, and look on it as making up the Defects ol their Obedience; which being thus fupplied by what was taken inftead of it, they were looked on as Juft or Righteous, and fo inherited eternal Life. But this Favour fliewn to Mankind, was never offered to the fallen Angels. They had no fuch Propofals made to them : And therefore whatever of this kind was propofed to Men, it availed not Devi Is, whatever they performed of it. This Covenant of Grace was never offered to them. z. I anfwer ; that though the Devils believed, yet they could not be faved by the Covenant of Grace; becaufe they performed not the other Condition required in it, altogether as neceffary to be performed as this of Believing, and that is Repen- tance. Repentance is as abfolute a Condition of the Covenant of Grace, as Faith ; and as neceflary to be performed as that. John the Baptift, who was to prepare the Way for the Mefjiah, Preached the Baptifm of Repentance for the Remiffion of SinSj Mark i. 4. As John began his Preaching with Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at handy Mat. iii. 2. So did our Saviour begin his, Mat.'w. i-j. From that Time began Jefus to Preachy and to fay. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Or, as St. Mark has it in that parallel Place, Mark i. 14, ij, Na-a after that John ■was put in Prifon, jefus J as delivered in the Scriptures. 517 'lefni came iiuo Galilee, Preac/j/'ug t/je Gofpt'l of ij'jc Khigdim of God, and fa\ing, "The 'lime is fiil/illtd, mid the Kingdom of God i< at liMid : Repent \e, and kdieve the Gofpel. This was not only the Beginning of liis Preaching, but the Sum of all that he did preach, viz,, that Men flioiild Repent, and bclie\e the good Tidings uhich he brought them ; that tlie'Tinie %\:as jnlflkd for the coniing of the Mefjiuh. And this was what his Apoftles preaclied, when he fent them out, Mark vi. 12. And the) going oi4t, preached that Men Jlnmld repent. Believing Jeftis to be the'M^fJtah, and repenting, were fo neceifary and fundamental Parts ot the Covenant of Grace, that one of them alone is often put for both. For here "St. Mark mentions nothing but their preach- ing Repentance: as Sz.Luke, in the parallel Place, Chap. w. 6. mentions nothing but the.\r Evangcliz,ing, or Preaching the good News of the Kingdom of the Mij'fiah : And St. Paul often in his Epiflies puts Faith for the whole Duty of a Chriftian. But yet the Tenour of the Gofpel is what Chrifl declares, Liikc-\\\. ^. 5. Unlefs ye repenty yefiali all likewife perifi. And in the Parable of the rich Man in Hell, delivered by our Saviour, Luke xvi. Repentan^t alone is the Means propofed of avoiding that Place of Torment, v. 30, ^i. And what the Tenour of the Doftrine, which ihould be preach- ed to the World, fliould be, he tells his Apoftles after his Refurre5tion, Lukex-KW. 27. viz.. "That Repentance and Remifjicn oj Sins fmtld be preached in his Name , i\-ho was the Meffiah. And accordingly, belie\'ing Jefm to be the MeJJiah, and repenting, was what the Apoftles preached. So Peter began, Acls ii. 58. Repent, and he haptiz-ed. Thefe two Things were required for theRemiflion of Sins, wz,. entring themlelves in the Kingdom of God ; and owning and profeffing themfelves the Subjects of Je- fus, whom they believed to be the Meffiah, and received for their Lord and King; for that was to be baptix,ed in his Name: Baptifm being an initiating Ceremony known to the Jews, whereby thofe, who leaving Heathenifm, andprofeflingaSub- miffion to the Law of TVfo/ej, were received into the Commonwealth oi Ifrael. And fo it was made ufe of by our Saviour, to be that folemn vifible Aft, whereby thofe who believed him to be the Mefjiah, received him as their King, and profefled Obe- dience to him, were admitted as Subjefts into his Kingdom: Which intheGofpels is called the Kingdom of God; and in xht Acis and Epiftles, often by another Name, viz.. the Church. The fame St. Peter preaches again to the yeivs, AEls W'l. ip. Repent, and be con- verted, that your Sins may be blotted out. What this Repentance was, which the new Covenant required as one of the Con- ditions to be performed by all thofe who fhould receive the Benefits of that Covenant, is plain in the Scripture, to be not only a Sorrow for Sins pad, but (what is a natu- ral Con fequence of fuch Sorrow, if it be real) a turning from them into a new and contrary Lite. And fo they are joined together, AEis iii. 19. Repent and turn about; or, as we render it, be converted. And Acls xxvii. Repent and turn to God. And fometimes turning about is put alone, to fignify Repentance, Mat. xiii. 15. Luke xxii.52. which in other Words is well cxpreiVed by Nervnefs of Life. For it being certain that he who is really forry for his Sins, and abhors them, will turn from theni, and forfakethenii either of thefe Afts, which have fo natural a Connexion one with the other, may be, and is often put for both together. Repentance is an hearty Sor- row for our paft Mifdeeds, and a fincere Refolution and Endeavour, to the utmoft of our Power, to conform all our Aftions to the Law of God. So that Repen- tance does not confift in one fnigle Aft for Sorrow ( though that being the firft and leading Aft, gives Denomination to the whole) but in doing JVorks meet for Repen- tance, in a fincere Obedience to the Lawof Chrift, the remainder of our Lives. This was called for by John the Baptiji, the Preacher of Repentance, Mat. iii. 8. Bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance. And by St. Paul here, AFls xxvi. 20. Repent arid turn to God, and do Works meet for Repentance. There are Works to follow belonging to Repentance, as well as Sorrow for what is paft. Thefe two. Faith and Repentance, /. e. believing jefus to be the Mefjiah, and a good Life, are the indifpenfible Conditions of the new Covenant to be performed by all thofe who would obtain eternal Life. The Reafonablenefs, or rather Necefllty of which, that we may the better comprehend, we muft a little look back to what was faid in the beginning. Adam being the Son of God, and fo St. Luke calls him. Chap. iii. 58. had this Part alfo of the Likenefs and Image of his Father, viz.. that he was Immortal. But Adam tranfgreffing the Command given him by his heavenly Father, incurred the Penalty, forfeited Jig The Reafonablenefs of Christianity, forfeited that State of Immortality, and became Mortal. After tU'is, A Jam be- got Children : But they were in his own Likenefs, after bis own Image ; Mortal, like their Father. God neverthelefs, out of his infinite Mercy, willing to beftow eternal Life on mortal Men, fends Jefus Chrift into the World ; who being conceived in the Womb of a Virgin (thac had not known Man) by the immediate Power of Gi'd, was pro- perly the Son of God ; according to what the Angel declared to his Mother, Luke i. 30—35. T'be Holy Ghoji (hall come upon thee, and the Power oftheHighcft p.iall ovevfljadoii) thee : "Therefore a/fo that Holy Thing which fhall be born of thee, fhall be called THE SON^ OF GOD. So that being the Son of God, he was, like his Father, Immortal. As he tells us, John v. 26. As the Father hath Life in himfelf fo hath he given to the Son to have Life in himfelf. And that Immortality is a Part of that Image, wherein thefe (who were the imme- diate Sons of God, fo as to have no other Father) were made like their Father, ap- pears probable, not only from the Places in Genejis concerning Adam, above taken no- tice of, but feems to me alfo to be intimated in iome E.xprcflions concerning Jefus the Son of God, in the New Teftament, Col. i. i 5. He is called the Image of the invijible God. Invijible feems put in, to obviate any grofs Imagination, that he ( as Images ufe to do) reprefented God in any corporeal or vifible Refemblance. And there is farther fiibjomed, to lead us into the Meaning of it, The Fi '-ft-born of every Creature ; which is farther explained, if. 18. where he is termed, 7hr Firfi-bom f-om the Dead c Thereby makmg out, and fhewing himfelf to be the Image of the Invifible ; that Death hath no Power over him : But being the Son of God, and not having forfeit- ed that Sonfliip by a Tranfgreffion, was the Heir of eternal Life, as Adam Ihould have been, had he continued in his filial Duty. In the fame Senfe the Apoftle feems to ufe the Word Image in other Places, viz,. Rom. viii. 29. Whom he did foreknow, he alfo did predefinate to be conformed to the Image of his Sou, that he miglit be the Firft- born among many Brethren. This Image, to which they were conformed, feems to be Immortality and Eternal Life. For 'tis remarkable, that in both thefe Places St. Paul fpeaksof the Refurreftion; and that Chrift was The Firft-bom among many Brethren i he being by Birth the Son of God, and the others only by Adoption, as we fee in this fame Chapter, v. 15 17. Ye have received the Spirit oj Adoption, whereby •we cry, Abba, Father : The Spirit it felf bearing IVitnefs with our Spirits, that we are the Children of God. And if Children, then Heirs , and Joynt-Heirs with Cbrijl .- Iffo be that we fiiffer with him , that xve may alfo be glorified together. And hence we fee that our Saviour vouchfafes to call thofe, who at the Day of Judgment are through him entring int-o eternal Life, his Brethren; Mat. xxv. 40. In as much as ye have done it unto one of the leafi of thefe my Brethren. May we not in this find a Reafon why God fo frequently in the New Teftament, and fo feldom, if at all, in the Old, is mentioned under the fingle Title of THE FATHER ? And therefore our Saviour fays. Mat. xi. No Man knoweth the Father fave the Son, and he to whomfever the Sou will reveal him. God has now a Son again in the World, the Firft-born of many Brethren, who all now, by the Spirit of Adoption, can fay, Abba, Father. And we by Adoption, being for his fake made his Brethren, and the Sons of God, come to fhare in that Inheritance, which was his natural Right ; he being by Birth the Son of God: Which Inheritance is eternal Life. And again, v. 2^. JVe gronn within our felves, waiting for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of our Body; whereby is plain- ly meant the Change of thefe frail mortal Bodies, into the Spiritual imniortal Bodies at the Refurredion ; tVhen this Mortal fl.iall have put on Immortality, 1 Cor. xv. 54. which in that Chapter, f. 42—44. he farther exprefl'es thus: So alfo is the RefurreSlion of the Dead. It is fown in Corruption, it is raifed in Incorrtiption : It is fown in Difho- mur, it is raifed in Glory : It is fown in IVeaknefs, it is raifed in Power : /' is fown a Natural Body, it is raifed a Spiritual Body, &c. To which he fubjoins, v. 49. As -we have born the Image of the earthy, (i.e. As we have been Mortal, like e:i-{i.\\y Adam our Father, from whom we are defcended, when he was turned out of Paradife) JVe fhall alfo bear the Image of the Heavenly ; into whofe Sonfhip and Inheritance being adopted, we fliall, at the Refiirreftion, receive that ^io/'f/o« we exped. Even the Re- demption of our Eddies; and after his Image, which is the. Image of the Father, be- come immor tal. Hear what he fays himfelf, Lukesx. 35, 36. They who fiall be ac- counted worthy to obtain that World, and the Refurreclion from the Dead, neither marry, nor are given in Marriage. Neither can they die any more ; J'or they are equal unto the Angels, as delivered in the Scriptures. 5 1 ^ Angels, and are the SONS OF (SOD, being the Som of the RefurrcBion. And he that fliall read St. Pav/'s arguing, AFls xiii. 32, 33. will 'ind that the great Evidence that Jelus was the Son uf God, was his Refurredion. Then the Image of his Fa- ther appeared in him, when he vidbly entered into the State of Immortality. For thus the Apoftle reafons, I-Ve preach to yvn, how that the Promife which was made to our Fathers, God hath Jul filled the fame unto us, in that he hath raifed up Jcfus again; as it is alfo written in the fecond Pfabn , 'Thou art my Son, this Day have I begot' ten thee. This may ferve a little to e:;plain the Immortality of the Sons of God, who are in this like their Father, made after his Image and Likenefs. But that our Savi- our was fo, he himfelf farther declares, fohn x. 18. where fpeaking of his Life, he fays, No one taketh it from 7ne, but I lay it down my felf : 1 have Power to lay it down, and I have Power to take it up again. Which he could not have had, if he had been a mortal Man, the Son of a Man, of the Seed of Adam; orelfe had by any Tranfgreffion forfeited his Life. For the IVages of Sin is Death : And he that hath incurred Deatli for his own Tranfgreflion, cannot lay down his Life for another, as our Saviour profefi'es he did. For he was the juft One, ^^jvii. 57. and xii.14. Who knew no Sin, 2 Cor. v. 21, Who did no Sin, neither was Guile found in his Mouth. And thus. As by Man came Death, fo by Man carne the RefurreEiion of the Dead. For as in Adam all die, fo in Chriji fjall all be made alive. For this laying down his Life for others, our Saviour tells us, '^ohn x. 17. There- fore does my Father Love me, becaufe I lay down ?ny Life, that I might take it again. And this his Obedience and Suffering was rewarded with a Kingdom ; which, he tells VIS, Luke \\)\. His Father had appointed unto him ; and which, 'tis evident out of the Epiftle to the Hebrews, Chap. xii. 2. he had a Regard to in his Sufferings : Who for the foy that was fet down before him, endured the Crofs, defpijing the Shame, and is fet down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God. Which Kingdom given him upon this ac- count of his Obedience, Suffering and Death, he himfelf takes notice of, in thefe Words, Juhnxvli.! — 4. fefus lift up his Eyes to Heaven, and f aid. Father, the Hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son alfo may glorify thee. As thou hafi given him Power over all Flejh, that he fhould give eternal Life to as many as thou hafi given him. And this is Life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jefus the Mefftah, whom thou hafi fcnt. I have glorified thee on Earth : I have finifloed the Work which thou gavefi me to do. And St. Paul, in his Epiftle to the Philippians, Chap. ii. 8— 11. He hufn- bled himfelf, and became obedient unto Death, even the Death of the Crofs. Wherefore God alfo hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name that is above every Name : That at the Name of Jefus every Knee fwuld bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth ; and that every Tongue fmdd confefs that Jefus Chrifi isLord. Thus God, we fee, defign'd his Son Chrifi fefus a Kingdom, an everlafting King- dom in Heaven. But tlmighas in Adam all die, Jo in Chrifi fhall all be made alive ; and all Men fhall return to Life again at the laft Day ; yet all Men havingfinned, and there- by comefmrt of the Glory of God, as St. Paul aifures us, Rojn. in. 23. (i.e. Not attaining to the heavenly Kingdoiji ot'theMeffiah, which is oftencalled the Glory of God; as maybefeen, Rom. v. 2. andxv. 7. andii. 7. Mat.xvi.2j. Markv\n.^2. For no one who is unrighteous, i.e. comes fhort of perfeftRighteoufnefs, fhall be admitted into the eternal LiieofthatKingdom; as is declared, i Cur.v\.^. The Unrighteous fhall not inherit the Kingdom of God;) and Death, the Wages of Sin, being thePortion of all thofe who had tranfgreffed the righteous Law of God ; the Son of God would in vain ha\ e come into the World, to lay the Foundations of a Kingdom, and gather together a felect People out of the World, if, (they being found guilty at their Appear^, ance before the Judgment-feat of the righteous Judge of all Men at the laft Day) infteadof Entrance into eternal Life in the Kingdom he had prepared for them, they fhould receive Death, the juft Reward of Sin, which every one of them was guilty of. This fecond Death would ha\'e left him no Subjefts ; and inftead of thofe ten thou- fand times ten thoufand, and thoufands of thoufands, there would not have been one left him to iingPraifes unto his Name, faying, Blejjlng, and Honour, and Glory, and Power, be unto him that fitteth on the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. God therefore, out of his Mercy to Mankind, and for the ere6tingof the Kingdom of his Son, and lurnifliing it with Subjects out of every Kindred and Tongue, and People, and Nacion, propoied to the Children of Men, that as many of them as would 520 The Reajomhlenejs of Cbrifiianity, would believe Ji'fns his Son (whom he fent into the World) to be the Meljiah, the promifed Deliverer ; and would receive him for their King and Ruler ; fhould have aJl their paft Sins, Diibbcdieiicc, and Rebellion forgiven them : And if for the future they liv'd in a fincere Obedience to his Law, to the utmoft of their Power; the Sins of human Frailty for the 'i ime to come, as well as all thofe of their paft Lives, fliould, for his Son's fake, becaufc they gave themlelves up to him to be his Subjeds, be forgiven them : and fo their Faith, which made them be bapti- zed into his Name J {i.e. enrol themfelves in the Kingdom of Jefm the Meffiahy and profefs themfelves his Subjeds, and confequently live by the Laws of his Kingdom) fliould be accounted to them for Righteoufnefs ; i. e. fhould fupply the Defeds of a fcanty Obedience in the Sight of God; who counting this Faith to them for Riglneoufi-iefs, or compleat Obedience, did thus jullify, or make them juft, and thereby capable of Eternal Life. Now, that this is the Faith for which God of his free Grace juftifies finful Man; {{ox' tis God alone that jv.flifieth, Kom.viu. ^:i. Rom. iii. 2<5.) We have already fhewed, by obferving through all the Hiftory of our Saviour and the Apoftles, recorded in the Evangelifls, and in the Acii, what he and his Apoftles preached and propofed to be believed. We flaall fhe^v now, that befides believing him to be the Meffiah their King, it was farther required, that thofe who would have the Privilege, Advantage and Deliverance of his Kingdom, fliould enter them- felves into it; and by Baptifm being made Denizons, and folemnly incorporated into that Kingdom, live as became Subjeds obedient to the Laws of it. For if they believed him to be the Meffiah, their King, but would not obey his Laws, and would not have him to reign over them, they were but the greater Rebels ; and God would not juftify them for a Faith that did but encreafe their Guilt, and pppofe diametrically the Kingdom and Defign of the Meffiah ; IVho gaue himfelf for z/5, that he might redeem us from all Iniquity, and furijy unto hijnfelf a peculiar People^ x,ealous oj good Works, Titus ii. 14. And therefore St. Aw/ tells the C/z//?f/rtKj, That that which availeth is Faith ; but Faith vsorking by Love. And that Faith without Works, i.e. the Works of fincere Obedience to the Law and Will of Chrift, is not fufficient for our Juftification, St. j'awcj- fliews at large. Chap. ii. Neither, indeed, could it be otherwife, for Life, eternal Life being the Reward of Juftice or Righteoufnefs only, appointed by the righteous God (who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity) to thofe only who had no Taint or Infedion of Sin upon them, it is impofTible that he fliould juftify thofe who had no regard to Juftice at all, whatever they believed. This would have been to encourage Iniquity, con- trary to the Purity of his Nature; and to ha^-e condemned that eternal Law of Right, which is Holy, Juft, and Good ; of which no one Precept or Rule is abro- gated or repealed ; nor indeed can be, whilft God is an holy, juft, and righteous God, and Man a rational Creature. The Duties of that Law arifing from the Conftitution of his very Nature, are of eternal Obligation; nor can it be taken away or difpenled with, without changing the Nature of Things, overturning the Meafures of Right and Wrong, and thereby introducing and authorizing Ir- regularity, Confu'ion, and Diforder in the World ; Chrift's coming into the World was not for fuch an End as that. But on the Contrary, to reform the con-upt State of degenerate Man; and out of thofe who would mend their Lives, andbring forth Fruit meet for Repentance, ered a new Kingdom. This is the Law of that Kingdom, as well as of all Mankind; and that Law by which all Men fliall be judg'd at the laft Day. Only thofe who have believ'd Refits to be the Meljiah, and have taken him to be their King, with a fincere en- deavour after Righteoufnefs, in obeying his Law, fhall have their paft Sins not imputed to them ; and fliall have that Faith taken inftead of Obedience ; where Frailty and Weaknefs made them tranfgrefs, and Sin prevailed after Converfion in thofe who hunger and thirft after Righteoufnefs (or perfed Obedience) and do not allow themfelves in Ads of Difobedience and Rebellion, againft the Laws of that Kingdom they are entered into. He did not e\pcd,'tis true, a perfed Obedience void of Slips and Falls : He knew our Makc,and theVVeakncfs of ourConftitutions too well, and was fent with a Sup- ply for that Defod. Befides, perfed Obedience was the Righteoufnefs of the Law of Works; and then the Reward would be of Debt, and not of Grace; and to Juch there was no need of Faith to be imputed to them for Righteoufnefs. They ftood as delivered in the ScRiPTVKi.fi. 521 ftood upon their own Legs, were Jufl; already, and needed no Allowance to be made them for belicvii.g Jelus to be the Ml'ijui/j, taking him tor their King, and becom- ing his Subjcds. But that Chrill dees require Obedience, lincere Obedience, is evident from tiie Laws he liiml'elf delivers (unlei's he can be ilippoied to give and inculcate Laws only to have them difobey'd) and from tlie Sentence he will pais when he comes to judge. The Faith required was, to believe Jcfui to be the Alt'fftab, the Anointed ; who had been promiied by Gi-d to the World. Amongft the 7*^1:^ (to whom the Pro- mifes and Propiiclies of the Mvjjiah were more immediately delivered) anointing was ufed to three ibrts of Perfons, at their Liauguration ; whereby they were fet apart to three great Ofiices, viz.. Of Priefls, Prophets, ard Kings. Though thefc three Offices be in holy Writ attributed to our Saviour, yet I tio not remember that he any where aflumestp himfelf the Title of a Priell, or mentions any thing relating to his Prieflhocd : Nor d'..es he ipeak of his being a Prophet but very fparingly, and once or twice, as it wcre^ by the by : But the G ^fpel, or the good News of the King- dom of the M'jjhih, is what he preaches every where, and makes it his great Buli- nefstopublifli to the World. "J'his he did, not only as moft agreeable to the Ex- peftation of tlie 'Je-.us, who iook'd for their Mejj a!.', chiefly as coming in Power to be their King and Deliverer ; bijt as it bed anfwered the chief End of his Coming, "which was to be a King, and as fuch to be received by thofe who would be his Sub- jects in the Kingdoni which he came to ered. And though he took not directly on himfelf the Title of King till he was in Cuftcdy, and in the Hands of P/V \e even fo to them : For this is the Law and the Prophets. And to Ihew how much he is in earneft, and expefts Obedience to the Laws ; he tells them Luke vi.35. That if they obey, Great fhall be their R E WA R D ; they flmll be called. The Sons of the Highefi. And to all this, in the Conclufion, he adds the Solemn Sanftion ; Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the Things that I fay? 'Tis in vain for you to take me for the Mejj.ah your King, unlefs you obey me. Not every one who calls 7ne Lord, Lyrd, fl}all enter into the Kingdoin of Heaven, or be the Sons of God ; But he that does the Will of my Father which is in Heaven. To fuch difobedient Subjcds, though they have pro- phefied and done Miracles in my Name, I fliall fay at the Day of Judgment ; Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity, I know you not. When Mat. xii. he was told. That his Mother and Brethren fought to fpeak with him, V. 49. Stretching out his Hands to his Difciples, he f aid. Behold my Mother and- my Brethren ; For whofoever fiall do the M^ill of my Father, who is in Heaven, he is my Brother, and Sijier, and Mother. They could not be Children of the Adoption, and fellow Heirs with him of eternal Life, who did not do the Will of his heavenly Father. Mat. XV. and Mark. vi. The Pharifees finding fault, that his Difciples eat with un- clean Hands, he makes this Declaration to his Apoftles : Do ye not perceive, that what-, foever from without entreth into a Man, cannot defile him, becaufe it enters not into his Heart, but his Belly. That which cometh out of the Man, that defileth the Man : For from within, out of the Heart of Men, proceed evil Fhoughts, Adulteries, Fornications y Murders, Thefts, falfe Witneffes, Covetoufnefs, Wickednefs, Deceit, Lafcivioufnefs, an evil Eye, Blafphemy, Pride, Fooliflmefs. All thefe ill Things come from within, and defile a Man. He commands Self-denial, and the expofing our felves to Suffering and Danger, r.ather than to deny or difown him : And this upon pain of lolingour Souls ; which are of more worth than all the World. This we may read. Mat. xvi. 24—2 7- and the parallel Places, Mat. xiW.nndi Luke \x. The Apoftles difputing amongft them, who fhould be greateft in the Kingdom of the Meffiah, Mat. xviii. i. He thus determines the Controverfy : Mark ix. 35. If any one will be firjl, let Imn be lafi of all, and Servant of all; and fetting a Child before them adds. Mat. xviii. 3. Verily I fay unto you, Unlefs ye turn, and become oi Children, ye flmll not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.^ - Mat. xviii. 15. If thy Brother fl)all trcfpafs againft thee, go tell him his Fault be- tween thee and him alone : If he fiall hear thee, thou haft gained thy Brother. But if he "will not hear thee, then take with thee one or tiuo }nore, that in the Mouth of two or three Witneffes every Word may be eftabliftjed. And if he jball negltcl to hear them, tell it to the Church : But if he negleB to hear the Church, let him he unto thee as an Heathen and Publican. V. 28. Peter faid^ Lord, hovj often Jball my Brother (in againft me, and I forgive ' as delivered hi the Scki'Ptv res. $1^ forgive him ? T/7/ fi.'ven times .? Jejus faid unto him, I fay mt unto thee, till feven times ; but until feventy times [even. And rhen ends the Parable of the Servanr, who being himlelf forgiven, was rigorous to his Fellow-Servant, witli theie Words ; v. 34. And his Lord was wrath, and delivered him to the Tormentors, till he fbould pay all that was due unto him. So likzvife Jlxall my heavenly Father do alfo unto you, if you from your Hearts for- give not every one his Brother their IrefpaJJcs. Luke X. 2'^. To the Lawyer, asking him, IFhat fiutll 1 do to inherit Eternal Life? He [aid. What is written in the Law .«' Hotu reade/i thou ^ He anfwered, T/.on JJjalt luve the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and idth all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength, and with all thy Mind ; And thy Nughbour as thy [elf. Jelus iaid , This do, and thou f)alt live. And wlien tiie Lawyer, upon our Saviour's Parable of the good Samaritan, was forced toconfefs, that he that flicwed Mercy, was his Neighbour ; Jefus difmilled him with this Charge, v. 37. Go, and do thou likev:ije. Luke xi. 41. Give Ahns of fuch Things as ye have: Behold, all Things are clean unto you. Luke xii. 15. Take Heed, and beware of Cnvetoufnefs. V. 22. Be not folicitous what yeflmlieat, or what re flmll drink, nor what ye (hall put on; Be not fearful, or appre- heniive of Want, For it is your Father's Pleafure to give you a Kingdom. Sell that you have, and give Alms : And provide your felves Bags that wax not old, and Treaftire in the Heavens that faileth not : For where your Treafure if, there will your Heart he aljo. Let your Loyns be girded, and your Lights burning ; And ye your felves like unto Men that ■wait for the Lord, when he will return. Bleffed are thofe Servants, wlmn the Lord when he comethj Jhall find watching. Blejfed is that Servant , whom the Lord having made Ruler of bis Houfhould, to give them their Portion of Meat in due Seafon, the Lord, when he Cometh, (l}all find fo doing. Of a Truth I fay unto you, that he will make him a Ruler over all that he hath. But if that Servant fay in his Heart, my Lord delayeth his cotning j And Jhall begin to beat the Men-fervants, and Maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken : The Lord of that Servant will come in a Day, when he looketh not for him, and at an Hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in finder, and will appoint hitn his Portion with Unbelievers. And that Servant who knew his Lord's Will, and prepared not himfelf neither did according to his Will, jhall be beaten with many Stripes. Fur he that knew mt, and did commit Things worthy of Stripes, fiall be beaten with Jew Stripes. For unto whomfoever tnticb is given, of him ftoall be much required : And to whom Men have committed much, of him they will ask the 7nore. Luke xiv. 1 1 . Whofoever exalteth himfelf, jhall be abafed : And he that humbletb hi7nfelf jhall be exalted. V.iz. When thou 7nakejl a Dinner or Supper, call not thy Friends, or thy Brethren, neither thy Kinfmen, nor thy Neighbours ; left they alfo bid thee again, and a Recompence he made thee. But vihen thou makejl a Feafl, call the Poor and Maiined, the Lame, and the Blind; and thou jloalt be bleffed: For they cannot recompence thee : For thou jl) alt berecutn- fenced at the Refurreciion of the Juft. l^- S3- So likeivife, whofoever he be of you, that is not ready to forego all that he hath, he cannot be my Difiple. Lukexvi. 9. I fay unto you, 7nake to your fives Friends of the Mammon of Unrigh- teoufnefs ; That when ye fail, they 7nay receive you into evcrlafting Habitation. If ye have not been faitjul in the unrighteous Mam7mn, who will coimnit to your Trujl the true Riches ? And if ye have mt been faithful in that which is another Mans, who jlxall give you that which is your own ? Luke xvii. 3. If thy Brother trefpaj's againfi thee, rebuke hi7n ; And if he repent, forgive him. And ij be trefpafs againji theefeven ti7nes in a Day, andfeven times in a Day turn a- gain to thee, faying, I repent ; Thou jjhtlt forgive h:7n. Lukexviii.i. He fpoke a Parable to the/n, to this End, that Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. V.i?,. One comes to hitn, and asks him, faying, Mafler, what fl.hill I do to inherit eternal Life ? Jefm fiid to hiin , If thou wilt enter i7Ho Life, keep the Co7n7nand>nents. He fays. Which .<' Jejlii faid. Thou ktiowefi the Co7nmand77ients : Thou jhalt mt kill ; Thou jhalt not co7)i7nit Adultery ; Thou j/jalt not Steal ; Thou jjjalt not bear falfe Witnefs ; Defraud not ; Honour thy Father, and thy Mother ; And thou jJjalt love thy Neighbour as thy felj. He faid. All theje have I obferved j'rom 7ny Tomb. Jefus bearing this, loved ht7n ; and faid unto bi>n. Yet lackeji thou one Thing : Sell all that thou hajl, and give it to the Poor, and thou fijalt have Treafure in Heaven ; And come follow 7/ie. To under- Vol. IL ■ U u u 2 ftand 524 ^^^ Reafonablenejs of Christianity, ftand this right, we muft take notice, that this young Man asks our Saviour, what he muft do, to be admitted eftedtually into the Kingdom of the Mcffii^h? The Jews beHeved, that when the Mcffiah came, thofe of their Nation that received him, fliould not die,- but that they, with thofe who being dead fliould then be raifed again by him, fliould enjoy eternal Life with him. Our Saviour, in anfwer to this Demand, tells the young Man, that to obtain the eternal Life of the Kingdom of the Mejfiah, he muft keep the Commandments. And then enumerating feveral of the Precepts of the Law, the young Man fays, he had obferved thefe from his Childliood. For which, the Text tells us, Jefus loved him. But our Saviour, to try whether in Eearneft he believed him to be the MefCiah, and refolved to take him to be his King, and to obey him as fuch, bids him give ail he has to the Poor, and come, and follow him; and he fliould have Treafure in Heaven. This I look on to be the Meaning of the Place. This, of felling all he had, and giving it to the Poor, not being a ftanding Law of his Kingdom ; but a probationary Command to this young Man ; to try whe- ther he truly believed him to be the Miffiah, and was ready to obey his Commands, and rclinquifli ail to follow him, when he his Prince required it. And therefore we fee, Luke xix. 14. where our Saviour takes notice of the '\e.\'vs not receiving him as the Mefftab, he exprelfes it thus ; We -vjill not have this Man to reign over us. ^Tis not enough to believe him to be the Mcffiah, unlefs we alfo obey his Laws, and take him to be our King, to reign over us. Mat.\-x\'u II— 13. He that had not on the Wedding-Garment, though he accep- ted of the Invitation, and came to the Wedding, was caft into utter Darknefs. By the Wedding-Garment, 'tis evident good Works are meant here. That Wedding- Garment of fine Linnen, clean and white, which we are told. Rev. xix. 8. is the ^x^idii/la. Righteous AEls of the Saints : Or, as St. /^«?// calls it, Ephef. iv. i. The ivalking ivorthy of the Vocation "wherewith -we are called. This appears from the Parable itfelf: The Kingdom of Heaven, fays our Saviour, v. 2. Is like unto a King, -who made n Marriage for his Son. And here he diftinguifhes thofe who were invited, into three forts. I. Thofe who were invited, and came not j i.e. Thofe who had the Gofpel, the Gccd News of the Kingdom of God propcfcd to them, but believed not. 2. Thofe who came, but had not on a Wedding Garment ; /'. e. Believed Jefm to be the Mcffiah, but were not new clad (as I may fo fay) with a true Repentance, and Amendment of Life ; nor adorned with thofe Vertues, which the Apoftle, Col. iii. rebuires to be put on. 3. Thofe who were invited, did come, and had on the Wed- ding-Garment ; i. e. Heard the Gofpel, believed Jefus to be the Meffiah, and fincerely obeyed his Laws. Thefe three Sorts are plainly defigned here ; whereof the laft only were the Blefl'ed, who were to enjoy the Kingdom prepared for them. Mat. xxiii. Be not ye called Rabbi: For cue is your Mafier, even the Meffiah, and ye all are Brethren. And call no Man your Father upon the Earth : For one is your Father •which is in Heaven. Neither be ye called Maflers : For one is your Majler, even the Mef- fiah. But }-e that is greatejl among/} you, flmll he your Servant. And whofoever fhall ex~ alt himfelf, f})allbe abafed ; And he that floall humble himfelf, ffiallbe exalted. Luke xxi. 34. Take heed to yourfelves, lefl your Hearts be at any time over-charged with Surfeting and Drunkennefs, and Cares of this Life. Luke xxii. 25. He faid unto them. The Kings of the Gentiles exercife Lordfhip over them ; And they that exercife Authority upon them, are called BenefaElors. But ye fhall not be fo. But he that is greatefi amongft you , let him be as the younger ; And he that is chief, as he that doth ferve. John xiii. 34. A new Commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another; As I have loved you, that ye alfo love one another. By this fhall all Men know that ye are my Difciples, if ye love one another. This Command, of loving one another, is repeated again, Chap.xv. 12, and 17. John xiv. 15. If ye love me, keep my Commandments. V.ii. He that hath my Command- 7nents, and kecpeth them, he it is that loveth me : And he that loveth me, fhall be loved of my Father, and I will love Inm, and manifefl my felf to him. Z^. 2 3 . If a Man loveth me, he will keep my Words. V. 24. He that loveth me not, keepeth not my Sayings. John XV. 8. In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much Fruit ; fo fi.'allye he my Dif- ciples. V. 14. Te are my Friends, if ye do zvhatfoever I command you. Thus we fee our Saviour not only confirmed the Moral Law; and cleai'ing it from the corrupt Gloffes of the Scribes and Pharifees, fliewed the Striftnefs as well as Obli- gation of its Injunftions ; but moreover, upon occafion, requires the Obedience of his Pifciple* a s delivered in the Scriptv res. 5 ? 5 Difciplcs to feveral of the Commands he afrcfli lays upon them; with the Enforce- ment of uni'peakable Rewards and Punifhmcnts in another World, according to their Obedience, or Difobedience. There is r.dt, I tiiink, any of the Duties of Mo- rality, which he has not fome where or other, by himfelf and his Apoftles, incul- cated over and over again to his Followers in exprefs Terms. And is it for nothing, that he is fo inftant with them to bring forth Fruit ? Dees he their King command, and is it an indifferent Thing ? Or will their Happinefs or Mifery not at all depend upon it, whether they obey or no ? I'hey were required to believe him to be the Mtffiah ; which Faith is of Grace promised to be reckoned lo them for thecomplea- ting of their Righteoufnefs, wherein it was defedive : But Righteoufnefs, or Obe- dience to the Law of Gcd, was their great Bufinefs, which if they could have at- tained by their own Performances, there would have been no need oi this gracious Allowance, in Reward of their Faith : Bui eternal Life, after the Refurreftion, had been their due by a former Covenant, even that of Works ; the Rule whereof was never abolifl:ied, though the Rigour were abated. The Duties enjoined in it were Duties ftill. Their Obligations had never ceafcd ; nor a wilful Negleft of them was ever difpenfed with. But their paft Tranfgredions were pardoned, to thofe who received Jefm, the promifcd Meffiah, for their King; and their future Slips co- vered, if renouncing their former Iniquities, they entred into his Kingdom, and con- tinued his Subjefts, with a fteady Refolution and Endeavour to obey his Laws. This Righteoufnefs therefore, a compleat Obedience and Freedom from Sin, arc ftill fin- cerely to be endeavoured after. And 'tis no where promifed, that tiioib who per- lifl in a wilful Difobedience to his Laws, fllall be received into the eternal Eliis of his Kingdom, how inuch foever they believe in him. A fincere Obedience, how can any one doubt to be, or fcruple to call, a Condi- tion of the new Covenant, as well as Faith ; who ever read our Saviour's Sermon in the Mount, to omit all the reft ? Can any thing be more exprefs than thefe Words of our Lord ? Mat.v'x. 14. If you forgive Men their Ttefpaffes , your heavenly Father luili alfi forgive you : But if ye forgive not Men their Trefpajfes, neither ivill your father forgive your "Trefpaffes. And fohn xiii. 17. If ye know thefe "Things, happy are ye if ye do them. This is fo indifpenfible a Condition of the new Covenant, that believing without it will not do, nor be accepted ; if our Saviour knew the Terms on which he would admit Men into Life. Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, fays he, Luke v'l, 45. and do not the Things which I fay? It is not enough to believe him to be the MejTtah, the Lord, without obeying him. For that thel'e he fpeaks to here, were Believers, is evident from the parallel Place, Matt. vii. 21 — 23. where it is thus re- corded : Not every one who fays Lord, Lord, fl.iall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; hut he that doth the Will of jny Father, which is in Heaven. No Rebels, or refractory Difobedient, fhall be admitted there ; though they have fo far believed in Jcfus, as to be able to do Miracles in his Name; as is plain out of the following Words. Many wiU fay to me in that Day, Have we not prophefied in thy Name, and in thy Name have cafi out Jjevils; and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works ? And then will J profefs unto them, I never knezv you, Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity. This Part of the new Covenant, the Apoftles alfo, in their preaching the Gofpel of the MefCiah, ordinarily joined with the Doftrine of Faith. St. Peter in his firft Sermon, Acts ii. when they were pricked in Heart, and asked What fl) all we do? fays, 'i'. 38. REPENT, and be Baptiz,ed, every one of you, in the Name of fefiis Chrifl, for the Remiffion of Sins. The fame he fays to tiiem again in his next Speech, AEis iv. 26. Unto you firji, God having raifed up his Son fefm, fent him to blef you. How was this done ? IN TURNING AWAT EVERT ONE FROM TOUR INIQUITIES. The fame Doftrine they preach to the High Prieft and Rulers, Acts v. 30. The God of our Fathers raifed up Jef^i, whom ye flew and hanged on a Tree, Him hath God exalted with his right Hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give REPENTANCE to Ifrasl, and Forgivenefs of Sins ; and we are Witnejfes of thefe Things , and fo is alfo the Holy Ghcfi, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Aciswu. 30. St. Paul tells the Athenians, that now under the Gofpel, God com- mandeth all Men every where to REPENT. Acis\x.2i. St. Paul m his laft Conference with the Elders oi Ephefus, profeffes to have taught them the whole Doftrine neceffary to Salvation. I have, iays he, kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ; but have fiewed you, and have taught ysH 526 The Reajonahlenejs of Christianity, \oii piUickl), ami jivm Houfe to Honfe ; tejlijyiiig both to the 'Jev:s and to the Greeks : And then gives an Account what his Preaching had beenjW'z.. REPENTANCE toivnyds God, mid Fnith toivards our Lord 'Jefus the Meffiuh. This was the Sun; and Subftance of the Golpel ^vhich St. Paul preached ; and was all that he knew necef- lary to Salvation, ■^'/z-. Repentance, and believing Jefus to be the Meffiab: And fo takes his Inll Farcwcl of them, whom he Hiould never fee again, 'z/. 32. in thefe Words, And now Brethren, I commend yuii to God, .aid to the PVord uj his Grace, -which is able to build you up, and to give you an Inheritance among all them that are fanclified. There is an Inheritance conveyed by the Word andCo\enant of Grace i but it is only to thole who zxc Janciijied. Acis^xw. 24. When Felix fent for Paul, that he and his Wife Drufille might hear him, concerning the Faith in Chrift ; Paul reafoned ot Right eoufnefs, or JuRice, and Temperance; the Duties we owe to others, and to our I'elves i and of the judg- nient to come; till he made Felix to tremble. Whereby it appeais, that Tempe- rance and Jnftice were fundamental Parts of the Religion that Paul profeffea, and were contained in the Faith which he preached. And if we find the Duties of the Moral Law not preifed by him every where ; we muft remember, that moft of his Sermons left upon Record, were preached in their Synagogues to the Jews, who ackno^vledged their Obedience due to all the Precepts of the Law: And would have taken it amils to have been fufpefted, not to have been more zealous for the L:tw than he. And therefore it was with Reafon that his Difcourfes were direfted chiefly to what they yet wanted, and were averfe to ; the Knowledge and Embracing of Je- fus their promiied Meffiah. But what his Preaching generally was, if we will be- lieve him himielf, we may fee ALiswvi. where giving an Account to King Agippa of his Life and Doftrine, he tells him, v. 20. I fieiued tmto them of Damafcus, and at Jernfalem, and throughout all the Coafls of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that theyfhould repent and turn to God, and do M-^orks ?neet jor Repentance. Thus we fee, by the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoflles, that he required of thole who believed him to be the Mcffiah, and received him for their Lord and Deliverer, that they fliould live by his Laws : And that (though in Confideration o£ their becoming his Subjefts, by Faith in him, whereby they believed and took him to be the Meffiab, their former Sins fliould be forgiven) jet he would own none to be his, nor receive them as true Denixons of t lie new Jeriifalem, into the Inheritance of eternal Life ; but leave them to the Condemnation of the Unrighteous ; who re- nounced not their former Mifcarriages, and lived in a fincere Obedience to his Com- mands. What he expefts from his Followers, he has fufficiently declared as a Le- giflator. Acd that they may not be deceived, by midaking'the Doftrine of Faith, Grace, Free-Grace, and the Pardon and Forgivcnefs of Sins and Salvation by him, (which was the great End of his Coming) he more than once declares to them; for what Omi-flions and Mifcarriages he fliall judge and condemn to Death, even thofe who have owned him, and done Miracles in his Name ; when he comes at laft to render to every one according to what he hath DONE in the Flefh ; fitting upon his great and glorious Tribunal, at the End of the World. 1 he firft Place where we find our Saviour to have mentioned the Day of Judg- ment, is John V. 28, 2p. in thefe Words ; The Hour is coining, in which all that are in their Graves (hall hear his [i. e. the Son of God's] Voice, and (Jhtll come forth ; they that have D NE GOOD unto the Refurreclivn oj Life ; and they that have D NE E~ VI L unto the Refurreiiion of Damnation. That which puts the Diftinftion, if we will believe our Saviour, is the having done Good or Evil. And he gives a Reafon of the Neceility of his judging or condemning thofe who have dune Evil, in the following Words, i;. 30. I can of my oven f elf do nothing. As I hear I judge ; And my 'Judgment is jufl :' Becaufe I feck not my^own Will, but the Will of my Father who hath fent me. He could not judgeof himfelf ; he had but a delegated Power of judging from the Father, whofe Will lie obeyed in it, and who was of purer Eyes than to admit any unjufl: Perfon into the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt. vii. 22, 23. fpeaking again of that Day, he tells what his Sentence will be,' Depart from me ye M^ORKERS of Iniquity. Faith in the Penitent and iincerely O- bedient, fupplies the Deleft of their Performances; and fo by Grace they are made juft. But we may bblerve ; none are fentenced or puniflied for Unbelief; but only for tlieir Mifdceds. They are Workers vf Iniquity on whom the Sentence is pronounced. Matt, (ts deliver ei in ^/>t? SCx^iptures. 52" Miitt. xiii. 14. At the end of the IVorld, the Sen of Man {l.mll fend jurth hh An;!els \ And tl^ey fjall gather out vf his Ki:Jgdvin all Sciindah, and tl:em ■v.hich D INIQUI'TT ; And cajl them into a Furnace of Fire ; "There jhall be wai/ing and gnajljiag oj Teeth. And again, v. 49. The Angels fl)ali fever the WICKED from amongthe JUST i and fj} all cafl thetn into the Furnace c,j Fire. Matt. \vi. 24. For the Sen of Alan flmll come in the Glory of his Father, ivith lii Angels : And then he fljall Rcvjard every Man according 10 his WOKKS. Luke xiii. 2d. Tl;en JiJall ye begin to fay : IVe have eaten and drunk in thy Prefcnce, and thou haft taught in our Streets. But he fimll Jay, I tell )vu, Iknovj you not; Depart ■from me, ye WO RKE RS of Iniquity. Iv-latt. XXV. 24 16. IVhen the Sun of Man pall come in his Glory ; and before him fiall he gathered all Nations ; He fiall fet the Sheep on Lis right Hand, and the Goats on his left : Then f}.:li the King fay to them on his right Hand, Come ye blejfed of jny Father, in- herit the Kingdom prepared for yoii, fom the Futindativn oj the World ; jur, I wets an hungred, and ye gave me Meat ; I -was thirfty, and ye gave me- Drink ; I was a Stranger, and ye took me in ; Naked, and ye cloathed me ; I ivas Sick, and ye vifited me ; I was in Prifvn, andye came unto me. Tuen jhall the Righteous anfwer him, faying. Lord, ichenfaw lie thee an hungred, and fed thee .<* &c. And the King fuall anfwer, and fay unto them. Veri- ly, I fay unto you. In as imich as ye have done it unto one of the leajl of thefe my Brethren, ye have done it unto me. Toen fhall lie fay unto them on the lejt Hand, Depart jrom me, ye Curfed, into everlafting Fire, prepared jor the Devil and his Angels. For I was an hungred and )e gave me no Meat ; I was thirjly^ and ye gave me riQ Drink ; / was a Stranger, and . ye tivL me net in ; -Naked, and ye cloathed me not \ Sick and in Prifn, and ye vijited me - not. ■ In fo much that ye did it not to one of thefe, ye did it not to me. And thefe jljall go into everlajling Ftinfl?ment : But the Righteous into Life eternal. The e, I think, are all the Places where our Saviour mentions the laft Judgment ; or defcribes his way of Proceeding in that great Day ; Wherein, as we have obferved, it is remarkable, that every where the Sentence tollows, doingor not doing; with- out an}' mention of believing, or not believing. Not that any to whom the Gofpel hath been preached, fliall be faved, v/ithout believing 'Jefis to be the Mejfiah : For all beiiig Sinners, and Tranfgrefibrs of the Law, and lo unjufl; ; are all liable to Condemnation .; uniels they believe, and fo throu^^h Grace arejuftified by God for this Faith, which fliall be accounted to them for Righteoufnefs. But the reft want- ing this Cover, this Allowance for their Tranfgrefllons, muft anfwer for all their Actions : And being found Tranfgreflors of the Law, fliall by the Letter, and Sanftion of that Law, be condemned, for not having paid a full Obedience to that Law : And not for want of Faith. That is not the Guilt, on which the Punifli- ment is laid ; though it be the want of Faith, which lays open their Guilt uncover- ed ; and expofes them to the Sentence of the Law, againft all that are Un-; righteous. The common Objeftion here, is ; if all Sinners fliall be condemned, but fuch as have a gracious Allowance made them ; and fo are juftificd by God, for believing fefiis to be the MejJ,ah, and fo taking him for their King, whom they are refolved to obey, to the utmoft of their Power ; -what fliall become of all Mankind, whp li\ed before our Saviour's time ; who never heard of his Name ; and confequently could not believe in him ? To this, the Anfwer is fo obvious and natural, that one wculd wonder how any reafonable Man fliould think it worth the urging. No Body was, or can be, required to believe, what was never propofed to him, to believe. Before the fulnefs of Time which God from the Council of his own VVifdom had ap- pointed to fend his Son in, he had at feveral Times, and in different Manners, promifed to the People of ///vzt'/, an extraordinary Perfon to come; who raifed from amongft themfelves, fliould be their Ruler and Deliverer. The Time, and other Circumftances of his Birth, Life, and Perfon, he had in fundry Prophefies fo parti- cularly deicribed, and fo plainly foretold, that he was well known, and expefted by the Jews, under the Name of the Meffiah, or anointed, given him in fome of thele Pi'o- piieiies. All then that was required before his appearing in the World, was to believe what God had revealed ; and to rely with a full Affurance on God for the Performance of his Promife ; and believe, that in due time he would fend them the MS^ah, this anointed King, this promifed Saviour and Deliverer, according to his Word. This Faith in tlie Promifes of God ; this relying and acquiefcing in his Word and Faith- fuhiefs, the Almighty takes weilat our Hands, as a great Mark of Homage paid by us poor 5^8 The Reajonableajjs of Christianity, poor frail Creatures, to his Goudiipfs and T'rtuh, as well as tohis /'otuc^ nnd IFifdom ; and accepts it as an Acknowlcdgmcin of his peculiar Providence, and Benignity to us. And therefore our Saviour tells us, John xii.44. H<^ that believes on me, believes mt on me ; But on him that fent 7nc. The Works of Nature flacvv his VVifdcm and Power : But 'tis his peculiar Care of Mankind, mcft eminently diicovered in his Promifes to them, that Ihevvshis Bounty and Goodnefs ; and confcquently engages their Hearts in Love and Affeftion to him. 'J'his Ol^lationof an Heart, fixed with Depelidance on and Affedlion to him, is the moft acceptable Tribute we can pay him ; the Foundation of true Devotion ; and Life of all Religion. What a Value he puts on this Depen- ding on his Word, and refting fatisfied in his Promifes, we have an Example in Abraham ; whofe Faith -was counted to him Jor Rigbteotifnefs ; as we ha\'e befo]-e re- marked out of Rom. iv. And his relying firmly on the Promife of God, without any doubt of its Performance, gave him the Name of the Father of the Faithful ; and gained him fo much Favour with the Almighty, that he was called the Friend of God .- The highcft and moft glorious Title can be beftowed on a Creature. The Thing pro- mifed was no more, but a Son by his Wife Sarah ; and a numerous Pofterity by him, which fliould poflefs the Land of Canaan. Thefe were but temporal Ble/Iings ; and (except the Birth of a Son) very remote ; Such as he fhould never live to fee, nor in his own Pcrfon have the Benefit of But becaufe he queftioned not the Performance of it ; but refted fully fatisfied in the Goodnefs, Truth, and Faithfulnefs of God who had promifed ; it wascounted to him for Righteoufnefs. Let us fee how St. Paul exprclfes it ; Rom. iv. 18—22. IVho, againji Hope, believed in Hope, that he might become the Father oj many Nations ; According to that which vjm fpoken, fo foall thy Seed be. And being not iveak in his Faith, he conjidered not his own Body nozu dead, when he wm /ibove an hundred Tears old ; neither yet the deadnefs o/Sarah'j IVomb. He fi agger ed not at tl)e Pro?nife of God through JJnbeliej, but ivm firong in Faith, giving Glory to God ; And being fully perfiiaded, that zvhat he had promifed, he was able to perform. And T'HERE- FORE, it was imputed to him for Righteoufnefs. St. Paul having here emphatically de- fcribed the ftrength and firmnefs of Abraham's Faith, informs us, that he thereby gave glory to God ; and therefore it was accounted to him jor Righteoufnefs. This is the way that God deals with poor frail Mortals. Me is gracioufly pleafed to take it well of them ; and give it the Place of Righteoufnefs, and a kind of Merit in his fight : If they believe his Promifes, and have a fteadfaft Relying on his Veracity and Goodnefs. St. Paul, Heb. xi. 6. tells us ; Without Faith it is impojjible to pleafe God : But at the fame time tells us what Faith that is. Fur, fays he. He that cometb to God, mujl believe that he is ; And that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently feek him. He muft be perfuaded of God's Mercy and good Will to thofe who feek to obey him ; and reft aflfured of his rewarding thofe who rely on him, for whatever, either by the Light of Nature, or particular Promifes, he has revealed to them of his tender Mercies ; and taught them to expeft from his Bounty. This Defcription of Faith (that we might not miftake what he means by that Faith, without which we cannot pleafe God, and which recommended the Saints of Old) St. Paul places in the middle of the Lift of thofe, who were. Eminent for their Faith; And whoni he fets as Patterns to the converted Hebrews, under Perfecution, to encourage them to perfift in their Confidence of Deliverance by the Coming o( Jefni Chrifi ; And in their Belief of the Promifes they now had under the Gofpel. By thofe Examples he exhorts them not to draw bach, from the Hope, that was fet before them ; nor apoftatize from the Profefiion of the Chriftian Religion. This is plain from v. 35-58-. of the precedent Chapter: Caft not azvay therefore your Confidence, which hath great recom- pence of Reward. For ye have great need of Perffiing or P erf ever ance ; (for fo the Greek Words fignifies here, which our Tranfiation renders Patience. Vid. Luke viii. i<^.) 'That after ye have done the IV'll of God, ye 7??ight receive the Promife. For yet a little while, and he thatfinll come will come, and will not tarry. Now the Jtifl fl)all live by Faith. But if any Man draw back, my SouIJImH have no Pleafure in him. The Examples oi Faith, which St. Paul enumerates and propofes in the following Words, Chap. xi. plainly fhew, that the Fi7/>/; whereby thofe Believers of old pleafed God, was nothing but a fteadfaft Reliance on the Goodnefs and Faithfulnefs of God, for thofe good Things, which either the light of Nature, or particular Promifes, had given them Grounds to hope for. Of what avail this /\j/f/i was with God, we may fee, V. 4. By Faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain ; by which he obtained witnefs that he was Righteous V. 5. By Faith Enoch woi tranflated, that be as delivered in the Scriptures. j2q he fh'juld not fee Death : For before his Tranflation he had this T'ejliimny, that he pleafed God. V. 7. Noah, being ^earned if God of Tilings not fern as yet; being wary, by Faith prepared an Ark, to the faving of his Huufe ; By the which he condemned the IVorld, and became Heir of the Righteoiifnefs which is by Faith. And what it was that God fo gra- cioufly accepted and rewarded, we are told, "^.11. Through Faith alfu Sarah herfelf received Strength to conceive Seed, and was delivered oj a Child, when fl}e was pafl Age. How fhe came to obtain this Grace from God, the Apoftle tells us ; Becaufe flie judged him faithful who had promifed. Thofe therefore who pleafed God, andweic accepted by him before the Coming of Chrijl, did it only by believing the Pi-oniiles, and rely- ing on the Goodnefs of God, as far as he had revealed it to them, p'or the Apoftle in the following Word, tells us, v. 13. Thefe all died in Faith, not having received (the Accomplifhrnent of) the Promifes ; but having Jeen them afar off: And were per- fuaded of them, and embraced them. This was all that was required of them ; to be perfuaded of, and embrace the Promiles which they had. They could be perfuadedof no more than was propofed to them ; Embrace no more than was revealed, according to the Promiles they had received, and the Difpenfations they were under. And if the Faith of Things feen afar off; if their trufting in God for the Promifes he then gave them; if a Belief of the A/f^'^/j to come, were fufficient to render thofe who lived in the Ages before Chrijl, acceptable to God, and righteous before him : I de- fire thofe, who tell us, that God will not, (nay, fome go fo far as to fay) cannot accept any, who do not believe every Article of their particular Creeds and Syftems, to confider, why God, out of his infinite Mercy, cannot as well juftify Man now for believing j?all they believe in him, ofzuhom they have not heard? But though there be many who being Strangers to the Common- Wealth of Ifrael, were alfo Strangers to the Oracles of God committed to that People ; many, to whom the Promiie of the Meffiah never came, and fo were never in a Capacity to believe or rejeft that Revelation : Yet God had, by the Light of Reafon, revealed to all Mankind, who would make ufe of that Light, that he was good and merciful. The fame Spark of the Divine Na- ture and Knowledge in Man, which making him a Man, fhewed him the Law he was under as a Man ; fhewed him alfo the Way of attoning the merciful, kind,compaf- fionate Author and Father of him and his Being, when he had tranfgrefled that Law. He that made ufe of this Candle of the Lord, fo far as to find what was his Duty, could not mifs to find alfo the Way to Reconciliation and Forgivenefs, when he had failed of his Duty : Though if he ufed not his Reafon this Way ; if he put out, or neglefted this Light, he might, perhaps, fee neither. The Law is the eternal, immutable Standard of Right. And a Part of that Law is, that a Man fhould forgive, not only his Children but his Enemies, upon their Repentance, asking Pardon, and Amendment. And therefore he could not doubt that the Author of this Law, and God of Patience and Confolation, who is rich in Mercy, would forgive his frail Oft-fpring; if they acknowledged their Faults, dif- approved the Iniquity of their Tranfgreffions, beg'd his Pardon, and refolved in ear- neft for the future to cnnform their Aftions to this Rule, which they owned to be juft and right. This Way of Reconciliation, this Hope of Attonement, the Light of Nature revealed to them : And the Revelation oftheGofpel having faid nothing to the contrary, leaves them to ftand and foil to their own Father and Mailer, whofe Goodnefs and Mercy is over all his Works. Vol- H- X X X I know 530 The Reafonablenejs of Christianity. I know fome are forward to urge that Place of the Ach, CImf. iv. as contrary to this. The Words, v. 10. and 12. ftand thus : Be it known unto you all, and to all the Pcnjjle of Ifrael, that by the Name of yefm Chrifi of Naz^areth, whom ye crucified, whom God raifed fom the Dead, even by him doth this Man, [/. e. The lame Man rcftored by Peter] /land here before you whole. 'This is the Stone vjkich is fet at nought by you Builders, which is become the Head of the Corner. Neither is there Salvatiun in any other : For there is mne other Name under Haiv en given among Men, in which we rnufi be faved. Which, in fhort, is, that Jefm is the only true Mejjiah ; neither is there any other Perion, but he, given to be a Mediator between God and Man, in whofe Name we may ask, and hope for Salvation. It will here poffibly be asked, Qicorfum perditio hxc ? What need was there of a Saviour? What Advantage have we by 'JefmChrifl f It is enough to juftify the Fitnefs of any thing to be done, by refolving it into the Pf'^ifdvm of God, who has done it 5 though our fhort Views, and narrow Underftan- dings, may utterly incapacitate us to lee that VViJdom, and to judge rightly of it. We know little of this vifible, and nothing at all of the State of that intellectual World, wherein are infinite Numbers and Degrees of Spirits out of the Reach of our Ken orGuefs: And therefore know notwiiat Tranfaciions there were betivcen God and our Saviour, in reference to his Ki.gdom. We know not what Need there was to fet up a Head and a Chieftain, in Oppolition to the Prince of this IVurld, the Prince oj the Power of the Air,&cc. Whereof there are more than obfcure Intimations in Scripture. And we fliall take too much upon us, if we fhall call God's Wifdom or P) evidence to Account, and pertly condemn for needlefs, all that our weak, and perhaps biafled Under/landings, cannot account for. Though this general Anfwer be Reply enough to the forementioned Demand, and fuch as a rational Man, or fair Searcher after Truth, will acquiefce in ; yet in this particular Cafe, the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God has fhewn himlelf lo vihby to common Apprehenfions, that it hath furniflied us abundantly wherewithal to lijtisfy the Curious and Inquilitive, who will not take a Blelling, unlefs they be inflrufted what Need they had of it, and why it was bellowed upon them. The great and many Advantages we receive by the coming of Jefu the Meffiah, will fhew, that it was not without Need, that he was fent into the World. The Evidence of our Saviour's Million from Heaven is fo great, in the Multi- tude of Miracles he did before all forts of People, that what he delivered cannot but be received as the Oracles of God, and unqueftionable Verity. For the Miracles he did were fo ordered by the Divine Providence and Wifdom, that they never were, nor could be denied by any of the Enemies or Oppofers of Chriftianity. Though the Works of Nature, in every Pan of them, lufficiently evidence a Deity; yet the World made fo little Ufe of their Reafon, that they faw him not, where even by the ImprefTions of himfelf he was eafy to be found. Senfe and Lull blinded their ^inds in fomej and a carelefs Liadvertency in others, and fearful Apprehenfions in moft (who either believed there were, or could not but lul'peft there might be, fupe- rior unknown Beings) gave them up into the Hands ot their Priefts, to fill their Heads with falfe Notions of the Deity, and their Worfliip with foolifti Rites, as they pleafed : And what Dread or Craft once began, Devotion foon made facred, and Reli- gion immutable. In this State of Darknefs and Ignorance of the true God, Vice and Superftition held the World. Nor could any Help be had, or hoped for from Reafon ; which could not be heard, and was judged to have nothing to do in the Cafe : The Priefts, every where, to fecure their Empire, having excluded Reafon from having any thing to do in Religion. And in the Crowd of wrong Notions, and invented Rites, the World had almoft loft the Sight of the one only true God. The rational and thinking Part of Mankind, 'tis true, when they fought after him, found the one Supreme, invifible God : But if they acknowledged and worfhipped him, it was only in their own Minds. They kept this Truth locked up in their own Breafts as a Secret, nor ever durft venture it amongft the People, much lefs amongft the Priefts, thofe wary Guardians of their own Creeds and profitable Inventions. Hence we fee that Reafon, fpeaking never fo clearly to the Wife and Virtuous, had never Authority enough to prevail on the Multitude, and to perfuade the Societies of Men, that there was but one God, that alone was to be owned and worlliippcd. The Belief and Wor- fliip of one God, was the National Religion of the Ifraelites alone : And if we will conlider it, it was introduced and fupported amongft the People by Revelation. They were ns delivered in the ScKWiVKT.^. 53 were in Gofloen^ and hnd Light, whilil the reft of the World w^-ve in alm(.ft fii^j/J- ?/Vw Darkneis, •wicl'niu God in the M^orld. Th'-re was no part of Mankind, u'iio had quicker P;irts, or improved them more ; that had a greater liglit ofRealbn, or fol- lowed it father in all forts of Speculations than the Atk-nians : And yet we find but one Sacrntes amongft thein, that oppoled and laughed at their Pol)theifm, and wrong Opinions of the Deity ; and we fee how they rewarded him for it. What- focver Plato, and the fobereft of the Pliilofophers thought of the Nature and Being of the One God, they were fain, in their outward ProfefTions and Worfhip, to go with the Herd, and keep to the Religion eftablifhed by Law : Which what it was, aid how it had difpofed the Minds of rhele knowing, and quick-fighced Grecians, St. Paul tells us, Ati^ xvii. 22 — 29. Tc Men of Athene, fays he, I perceive that in all I'ljims ye are too ftiper/iitivfa. For cu I puffed tv, and beheld your Devotions, I found an Altar -with this L.f.ription, T'O THE UNKNOIVN GOD. TVIwn therefore ye igno- rantly zoo fbip, him declare I unto you. God that made the IVorld, and all Things therein, feeing that he is Lord of Heaven and Earth, d-j:elleth not in Temples made with Htnds : Neither is woifyipped with M^ns Hands, as though he needed any thing, feeing he gi-vcth unto all Life, and Breath, and all Things ; and hath made of vne Blood all the Niitifjns cf Men, for to dwell on the fue of the Earth ; and hath determined the Times hefi.re ap- pointed, and the Botinds of their Habitations ; That they flmild feek the Lord, if haply they might feel him out, and find him,though he he not fa from every one of m. Here he tells tiie Athenians, thrt they, and the reft of the World (given up to Superftition) whatever Light there was ii the Works of Creation and Providence, to lead them to the true God, yet they few of them found him. He was every where near them ; yet they were but like Poeple groping and feeling for fomerhing in the dark, and did not fee him with a full clear I)a\-Iight ; Eat thought the Godhead like to Gold and Silver, and Stone, graven by Art and Man's Device. In this State of Darknefs and Error, in reference to the True God, our Saviour fou'-d the World. But the clear Revelation he brought with him, difliputed this Darknefs; made the One Iiiviftble True God known to the World : And that with iuch Evidence and Energy, that Pvlytheifm and Idolatry hath no where been able to with- ftand it: But where-ever the Preaching of the 'J"ruth he delivered, and the Light of the Gofpel hath come, thofe Mifts have been difpelled. And in efteft we fee that fince our Saviour's Time, the Belief of one God has prevailed and fpread it felf over the Face of the Earth. For even to the Light that the Mejfiah brought into the World with him, we muft afcribe the owning, and Profeffion of one God, which the Maho- TwecrtK Religion had derived and borrowed from it. So that in this Senfe it is cer- tainly and manifeftly true of pur Saviour, what St. John fays of him ; i John iii. 8. For this Purpofe the Sun of God was manifejled, that lie tnight dejiroj the Works of the Devil. This Light the World needed, and this Light it received from him : That there is but One God, and the Eternal, Invijtble; not like to any vilible Objefts, nor to be reprelented by them. If it be asked, whether the Revelation to the Patriarchs by Mufes, did not teach this, and why that was not enough ? The Anfwer is obvious ; that however clearly the Knowledge of one inviiible God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, was revealed to them ; yet that Revelation was fhut up in a little Corner of the World ; amongft a People by that very Law, which they received with it, excluded from a Commerce and Communication with the reft of Mankind. The Gentile World in our Saviour's Time, and feveral Ages before, could have no Atteftationof the Miracles, on which the Hebrews built their Faith, but from the Jezus themfelves ; a People not known to the greateft Part of Mankind; contemned and thought vilely of by thofe Nations that did know them ; and therefore very unfit and unable to propagate the Doftrine of one God in the World, and diftufe it through the Nations of the Earth, by the Strength and Force of that ancient Revelation, upon which they had received it. But our Saviour, when he came, tiirew down this Wall of Partition ; and did not con- fine his Miracles or Meflage to the Land of Canaan, or the Worfliippers at Jemfikin. But he himfelf preached at Samaria, and did Miracles in the Borders of T^rt^ and Sydon, and before Multitudes of People gathered from all Quarters. And after his Refurreftion, fent his Apoftles amongft the Nations, accompanied with Miracles; which were done in all Parts fo frequently, and before fo many WitneHes of all forts, in broad Day-light, that, as I have before obferved, the Enemies of Chriftianity have never dared to deny them ; no, not Julian himfelf: Who neither wanted Skill nor Vol. II, X X X 2 Power 5^2 The Reajonablenefs of Christianity, Powel' to enquire into the Truth ; nor would have failed to have proclaimed and cx- poled it, if he could have deteded any Falfhood in the HiRory of the Gofpel ; or found the leaft Ground toquellion the Matter of Faft publifhcd of Chrift, and his Apoftles. The Number and Evidence of the Miracles done by our Saviour and his Followers, by the Power and Force of Truth, bore down this mighty and accom- plifhed Emperor, and all his Parts, in his own Dominions. He durft not deny fo plain Matter of Faft ; which being granted, the Truth of our Saviour's Dodtrine and Million unavoidably follows ; notwithftanding whatfoever artful Suggeftions his Wit could invent, or Malice fhould offer, to the contrary. 2. Next to the Knowledge of one God ; Maker of all Things; a clear Knowledge of their Duty was wanting to Mankind. This Part of Knowledge, though cultivated with fome Care, by fome of the Heathen Philofophers ; yet got little footing among the People. All Men indeed, under Pain of difpleafing the Gods, were to frequent the Temples : Everyone went to their Sacrifices and Services : But the Priefts made ic not their Bufinefs to teach them Virtue. If they were diligent in their Obfervations and Ceremonies ; punctual in their Feafts and Solemnities, and the Tricks of Reli- gion J the holy Tribe aflured them, the Gods were pleafed ; and they looked no far- ther. Few went to the Schools of the Philofophers, to be inflrufted in their Duties ; and to know what was Good and Evil in their Action. The Priefts Ibid the better Pennyworths, and therefore had all the Cuftom. Luftrations and Proceflions were much eaficr than a clean Confcience, and a fteady Courfe of Virtue ; and an expiatory Sacrifice, that attoned for the want of it, was much more convenient, than a ftrift and holy Life. No wonder then, that Religion was every where diftinguifhed from, and preferred to Virtue ; and that it was dangerous Hercfy and Profanenefs to think the contrary. So much Vertue as was necelfary to hold Societies together ; and to contribute to the quiet of Governments, the CivilLaws of Common-wealths taught, and forced upon Men that lived under Magiftrates. But thefe Laws, being for the moft part made by fuch, who had no other Aims by their own Power, reached no farther than thofe things, that would ferve to tie Men together in Subjeftion ; or at moft, were direftly to conduce to the Profperity and temporal Happinefs of any People. But Natural Religion in its full Extent, was no where, that I know, taken Care of by the Force of Natural Reafon. It fhould feem by the little that has hi- therto been done in it, that 'tis too hard a Task for unaflifted Reafon, to eftablifli Mo- rality in all its Parts upon its true Foundation, with a clear and convincing Light. And 'tis at leaft a furer and fhorter Way, to the Apprehenfions of the Vulgar, and Mafs of Mankind, that one manifeftly fent from God, and coming with vilible Au- thority from him, fhould, as a King and Law-maker, tell them their Duties ; and require their Obedience; than leave it to the long, and fometimes intricate Dedu- ftions of Reafon, to be made out to them. Such Trains of Reaionings the greateft Part of Mankind have neither Leifure to weigh ; nor, for want of Education and Ufe, Skill to judge of We fee how unfuccefsful in this, the Attempts of Philofophers were before our Saviour's Time. How fhort their feveral Syftems came of the Per- feftion of a true and compleat Morality is very vilible. And if, fince that, the Chri- ftian Philofophers have much outdone them ; yet we may obferve, that the firft Know- ledge of the Truths they have added, are owing to Revelation : Though as foon as they are heard and coniidered, they are found to be agreeable to Reafon ; and fuch as can by no Mean be contradifted. Every one may obferve a great many Truths, which he receives at firft from others, and readily aflents to, as confonant to Reafon, which he would have found it hard, and perhaps beyond his Strength to have difco- vered himfelf. Native and original Truth, is not fo eafily wrought out of the Mine, as we, who have it delivered, ready dug and fafhioned into our Hands, are apt to ima- gine. And how often at fifty or threefcore Years old are thinking Men told, what they wonder how they could mifs thinking of? Which yet their own Contemplations did not, and polllbly never would have helped them to. Experience fliews that the Knowledge of Morality, by mere natural Light, (how agreeable foever it be to it ) makes but a flow Progrels, and little Advance in the World. And the Reafon of it is not hard to be found in Men's Neceffities, Paffions, Vices, and miftaken Interefts, which turn their Thoughts another Way : And the defigning Leaders, as well as fol- lowin<^ Herd, find it not to their Purpofe to employ much of their Meditations this Way. Or whatever elfe was the Caufe, 'tis plain in Fad, that Human Reafon un- affifted, failed Men in its great and proper Bufinefs of Morality. It never from un- queftionable as delivered in the Scriptures. 553 queftlonablc Principles, by clear Dcduftions, made out an entire Body of the Lavj of Nature. And he that fhall coUeift all the Moral Rules of the Philofophers, and com- pare them with thofe contained in the New Teftament, will find them to come fhort of the Morality delivered by our Saviour, and taught by his Apoftles ; a College made up for the moft part of ignorant, but infpired Filhermen. Though yet, if any one fhould think, that out of the Sayings of the wife Heathens, before our Saviour's Time, there might be a Collection made, of all thofe Rules o£ Morality, which are to be found in the Chriflian Religion ; yet this would not at all hinder, but that the World neverthelefs flood as much in Need of our Saviour, and the Morality delivered by him. Let it be granted (though not true) that all the Moral Precepts of the Gofpel were known by fome Body or otlier, amongfl: Man- kind, before. But where, or how, or of what Ufe, is not confidered. Suppofc they may be picked up here and there ; fome from Solon and Biui in Greece ; others from Tally in Italy : And to compleat the Work, let Confiitius, as far as China, be conful- ted ; and Anacarfis the Scythian contribute his Share. What will all this do, to give the World a compleat Morality, that may be to Mankind, the unqueftionable Rule of Life and Manners? I will not here urge the Impofllbility of collediing from Men, fo far diftant from one another, in Time, and Place, and Languages. I will fuppofe there was a Stobem in thofe Times , who had gathered the Moral Sayings from all the Sages of the World. What would this amount to, towards being a fteady Rule ; a certain Tranfcript of a Law that we are under .> Did the Saying of Ariftippm, or Confutim, give it an Authority? Was Zeno a Law-giver to Mankind ? If not, what he or any other Philoi'opher delivered, was but a Saying of his. Man- kind might hearken to it, or rejefl: it, as they pleafed; or as it fuited their Intereft, Paflions, Principles or Humours. They were under no Obligation : The Opinion of this or that Philofopher, was of no Authority. And if it were, you muft take all he faid under the fame Charafter. All his Dictates muft go for Law, certain and true; or none of them. And then, If you will take any of the Moral Sayings of Epicurus (many whereof Seneca quotes with Efteem and Approbation) for Precepts of the Law of Nature ; you muft take all the reft of his Dodrine for fuch too ; or elfe his Authority ceafes : And fo no more is to be received from him, or any of the Sages of old, for Parts of the Law of Nature, as carrying with it an Obligation to be obeyed, but what they prove to be fo. But fuch a Body of Et hicks, proved to be the Law of Nature, from Principles of Reafon, and reaching all the Duties of Life ; I think no Body will fay the World had before our Saviour's Time. 'Tis not enough, that there were up and down fcattered Sayings of wife Men, conformable to right Reafon. The Law of Nature, is the Law Convenience too : And 'tis no wonder, that thofe Men of Parts, andftudious of Virtue ; (who had occafion to think on any particular partof it,)fliouldby Meditation light on the right, even from the obfen'able Convenience and Beauty of it ; without making out its Obligation from the trae Principles of the Law of Nature, and Foundations of Morality. But thefe incohe- rent Apophthegms of Philofophers, and wife Men : however excellent in themfelves, and well intended by them, could never make a Morality, whereof the World could be convinced, could never rife to the force of a Law that Mankind could with cer- tainty depend on. Whatfoever fhould thus be univerfally ufeful, as a Standard to which Men fhould conform their Manners, muft have its Authority either from Rea- fon or Revelation. 'Tis not every Writer of Morals, or Compiler of it from others, that can thereby be erefted into a Law-giver to Mankind ; and a Diftator of Rules, which are therefore valid, becaufe they are to be found in his Books ; under the au- thority of this or that Philofopher. He that any one will pretend to fet up in this kind, and have his Rules pafs for authentick Direftions, muftfhew, that either he builds his Doftrine upon Principles of Reafon, felf-evident in themfelves ; and that he deduces all the Parts of it from thence, by clear and evident Demonftration : Or muft fhewhis Commiflion from Heaven, that he comes with Authority from God, to deliver his Will and Commands to the World. In the former way, no body that I know before our Saviour's time, ever did, or went about to give us a Morality. 'Tis true there is a Law of Nature : but who is there that ever did, or undertook to give it us all entire, as a Law; no more, nor no lefs, than what was contained in, and had the Obligation of that Law ? Who ever made out all the Parts of it, put them together, and fhewed the World their Obligation ? Where was there any fuch Code, that Mankind might have recourfe to, as theif unerring Rule, before our Saviour's 5^4 The RedfonMenefs of Christian' it v, Saviour's Time ? If there was )iot, 'cis plain, tliere was >rcd of one to give us fuch a Morality; fuch a Law, wliich might be the lure Guide of thofe who had a Leiire to go right J and if they had a Mind, need not miftake their Duty, but might be cer- tain when they Iiad performed, when failed in it. Such a Lavj of Morality Jefus Chrift hath given us in the New Tcflamcnt ; but by the latter of tiieie Ways, by Re- velation. We have from him a full and fufficient Rulefor our Direction, and con- formable to that of Reafon. But the Truth and Obligation of its Precepts have their Force, and are put paft Doubt to us, by the Evidence of his Miffion. He was fent by God : His Miracles fliew it ; and the Authority of God in his Precepts cannot be quflioned. Here Morality has a fure Standard, thnt Revelation vouches, and Rea- Ibn cannot gainfy, nor queftion ; but both together Witnefs to come from God the great Law-maker. And fuch an one as this out of the New 'J'efltament, I think the World never had, nor can any one fay is any where elfe to be found. Let me ask any one, who is forward to think that the Doftrine oi Morality was ^ull and clear in the World, at our Saviour's Birth ; whether would he have direded B.utus and Cafjitii, (both Men of Parts and Virtue, the one whereof believed, and the ither dil- believed a future Being) tobefatisfied in the Rules and Obligations of all tlie Pafts of their Duties J if they fhould have asked him where they might hnd the Law they were to live by, and by which they fliould be charged or acquitted as guilty or inno- cent ? If to the Sayings of the Wife, and the Declarations of Philofcphers, he fends them into a wild Wood of Uncertainty, to an cndlefs Maze, from which they fh uld never get out : If to the Religions of the World, yet worfe : And if to their own Reafon, he refers them to that which had fomc Light and Certainty ; but yet had hi- therto failed all Mankind in a perfeft Rule; and we fee, refolved not the Doubt* that had rifen amongft the ftudious and thinking Philofophers ; nor had yet been able to convince the civilized Parts of the World , that they had not given, nor could, ivithout a Crime, take away the Lives of their Children, by expofing them. If any one fliall think to excufe Human Nature, by laying Blame on Men's Negli^ gence, that they did not carry Morality to an higher Pitch ; and made it out entire in every Part, with that Clearnefs of Demonftration which fome think it capable of; he helps not the Matter. Be the Cauie Avhat it will, our Saviour found Mankind un- der a Corruption of Manners and Principles, which Ages after Ages had prevailed, and muft be confefled was not in a Way or Tendency to be mended. The Rules of Morality were in different Countries and Sefts,difterent. And natural Reafon no where had, nor was like to cure the Defefts and Errors in them. Thofe juft Meafures of Right and Wrong, which Neceflity had any where introduced, the Civil Laws pre- fcribed, or Philofophy recommended, flood not on their tiue Foundations. They Were looked on as Bonds of Society, and Conveniencies of common Life, and laudable Praftifes. But where was it that their Obligation was throughly known and allowed, and they received as Precepts of a Law ; of the highefl; Law, the Law of Nature ? That could not be, without a clear Knowledge and Acknowledgment of the Law- maker, and the great Rewards and Punilhments, for thofe that would or would not obey him. But the Religion of the Heathens, as was before obfeiTed, little concern- ed itfelf in their Morals. The Priefts, that delivered the Oi-acles of Heaven, and pre- tended to fpeak from the Gods, fpoke little of Virtue and a good Life. And on the other Side, the Philofophers, who fpoke from Reafon, made not much Mention of the Deity in their Ethich. They depended on Reafon and her Oracles ; which contain nothing but Truth : But yet fome Parts of that Truth lie too deep for our Natural Powers eafily to reach, and make plain and vifible to Mankind, without fome Light from above to direft them. When Truths are once known to us, though by Tradi- tion, \\t are apt to be favourable to our own Parts ; and afcribe to our own Under- ftandings the Difcovery of what, in reality, we borrowed from others : Or, at leaft, finding we can prove, what at firft we learnt from others, we are forward to conclude it an obvious Truth, which, if we had fought, we could not havemifled. Nothing feems hard to our Underftanding, that is once known : And becaufe v/hat we fee we fee with our own Eyes, we are apt to over-look or forget the Help we had from others, who fliewed it us, and firft made us fee it, as if we were not at all beholden to them for thofe Truths they opened the Way to, and lead us into. For Knowledge being only of Truths that are perceived to be fo, we are favourable enough to our own Faculties i to conclude, that they of their own Strength would have attain'd thofe as delivered in ^/;^ Scriptures. 535 thofc Difcoveries, without any foreign Afliftance; and that wc know thofe Truths, liy the Strength and native Light of our own Minds, as they did from whom we received, them by theirs, only they had the Luck to be before us. 'J'hus the whole Stock of Human Kncwietige is claimed by everyone, as his private Pofieillon, as foon as he Cpro- hting bv others JDHcoveries) has got it into his own Mind : And fo it is; but not pj-opcrly by his own iingle Induflry, nor of his own Acquiiition. He fiudics, 'tis true, and tnkes Pains to make a Piogrefs in what others have delivered : But their Pains we-e of another fort, who Hift biought ihofe Ti uths to Light, which he after- wards deri\'cs from tlicm. He that travels the Roads now, applauds his own Strength and Legs, that liave carried him fo far in fuch a icantling oi: lime; and afcribes all to his own Vigor, little conlidering how much he owes to their Pains, who cleared the Wood.<-, c'r.iincd the Brgs, built the Bridges, and made the Ways paflable; without which he might have toiled much with little Progrefs. A great many Things which we have been bred up in the Belief of from our Cradles, (and are Notions grown familiar, and as it were natural to U3, under the Goipel,) wc take for unqueftionable obvious Truths, and eafily demonllrable ; without conlidering how long we might have been in Doubt or Ignorance of them, had Revelation been iilent. And many are benoiden to Revelation, who do not acknowledge it. ' lis no diminifning to Revela- tion, that Reafon gives its Suffrage too to the Truths Revelation has difcovered. But 'tis ourMiflake to think, tiiat becaufe Realbn confirms them to us, we had the firlc certain Knowledge of them irom thence, and in that clear Evidence we now pofTefs them. Ihe contrary is manifeft, in the dejcclive Morality of the Gentiles, before our Saviour's Time; and the want of Reformation in the Prir.ciples and Meafures of it, as well as Pradice. Philofophy feemed to have fpent its Strength, and done its utmoft: Or if It fhouldhave gonefart,';er,a3wefee it did not; and from undeniable Principles given us Ethicks in a Science like Mathematicks, in every Part demon ft rable, this yet would not have been fo etfeftual to Man in this imperfed State, nor proper f'or the Cure. The greateft Part of Mankind want Leifure or Capacity for Demonftration; nor can carry a Train of Proofs, which in that way they muft always depend upon for \ Conviftion, and cannot be required to affcnt to till they fee the Demonftration. Where- ever they ftick, the Teachers are always put upon Proof, and muft clear the Doubt by a Thread of coherent Dedufliions from the firft Principle, hoxv long, or how intricate foever that be. And you may as foon hope to have all theDay-Labourers and Tradefmen, the Spinfters and Dairy Maids perfeft Mathematicians, as to have them perfed: in Ethicks this way. Hearing plain Commands, is the fure and only Courle to bring them to Obedience and Praftice. The greateft Part cannot know, and therefore they muft believe. And I ask, whether one coming froni Heaven in the Power of God, in full and clear Evidence and Demonftration of Miracles, giv- ing plain and dired: Rules of Morality and Obedience, be not likelier to enlighten the Bulk of Mankind, and fet them right in their Duties, and bring them to do them, than by reaibning with them from general Notions and Principles of Human Reafon? And were all the Duties of Human Life clearly demonftrated; yet I con- clude, when well conlidered, that Method of teaching Men their Duties, would be thought proper only for a few, who h:id much Leifure, impro\'ed Underftandings, and were ufed to abftrad: Reafonings. But the Inftrudion of the People were beft ftill to be left to the Precepts and Principles of the Gofpel. The Healing of the Sick, the reftoring Sight to the Blind by a V\ ord, the Raifmg, and being raifed from the Dead, are Matters of Faft, which they can without Difticulty conceive, and that he who does fuch Things, muft do them by the Afliftance of a Divine Power. Thefe Things lie level to the ordinarieft Apprehcnfion : He that can diftinguifli between fick and well, lame and found, dead and alive, is capable of this Doftrine. To one who is once perfuaded that Jefus Chrift was fent by God to be a King, and a Saviour of thofe who do believe in him, all his Commands become Principles ; there needs no other Proof for the Truth of what he fays, but that he faid it. And then there needs no more but to read the infpired Books, to be inftrufted : All the Duties of Morality lie there clear, and plain, and eafy to be underftood. And here I appeal, whether this be not the fureft, the fafeft, and moft efteftual Way of teaching : Eljpecially if we add this farther Confideration ; that as it fuits the loweft Capacities ofreafonable Crea- tures, fo it reaches and fatisfies, nay, enlightens the Higheft. The moft elevated Underftandings cannot but fubmit to the Authority of this Doctrine asDivine ; which coming from the Mouths of a Company of illiterate Men,hath not only theAtteftation of 53(5 The Reafonablenejs of Christianity, of Miracles, but Reafon to confirm it : Since they delivered no Precepts but fuch, as diougli Reafon of itfell had not clearly made out, yet it could not but ailent to when thus difcovered, and think itl'elf indebted for the Difco\cry. The Credit and Authority our Saviour and his Apollles had over the Minds of Men, by the Miracles they did, tempted them not to mix (as we rind in that of all the Setts and Philofo- piiers, and other Religions) any Conceits, any wrong Rules, any tiling tending to their own By-lntereft, or :hat of a Party, in their Morality. No Tang of Prepof- leiTion or Fanfy ; no Footfteps of Pride or Vanity ; no Touch of Ollentation or Ambition, appears to have a Hand in it. It is all pure, all fincere ; nothing too much, nothing wanting; but fuch a compleat Rule of Life, as the wifeft Men muft acknowledge, tends entirely to the Good of Mankind, and that all would be happy, if all would pradtife it. 3. The outward Forms of ■worfoipping the Deity, wanted a Reformation. Stately- Buildings, colli y Ornaments, peculiar and uncouth Habits, and a numerous huddle of pompous, tantaftical, cumberfome Ceremonies, every where attended Divine Worfliip. This, as it had the peculiar Name, fo it was thought the principal Part, if not the whole of Religion. Nor could this poffibly be amended whilft the Jewifti Ritual Rood ; and there was fo much of it mixed with the Worfliip of the true God. To this alio our Saviour,with the Knowledge of the infinite, invifible, iupreme Spirit, brought a Remedy, in a plain, fpiritual, and fuitable Worfhip. 'Jefus fays to the Wo- man of Samaria , 'The jiotir cometh, -when ye fhall neither in this Mountain, mr yet at yenijaleni , worfijip the Father. But the true WurJJoippers , fliall tuor/hip the Father, doth in Spirit and in Truth ; for the Father Jeeketh fuch to vuorfiip. 'Jo be worftlipped in Spirit and in Truth, with Application of Mind, and Sincerity of Heart, was what God henceforth only required. Magnificent Temples, and Confinement to certain Places, were now no longer neceflary for his Worfliip, which by a pure Heart might be performed any where. The Splendor and DiRinccion of Habits, and Pomp of Ce- remonies, and all outfide Performances, might now be ipared. God who was a Spirit, and made known to be fo, required none of thofe, but the Spirit only ; and that in publick Affemblies, (where fome Adions muft lie open to the View of the World) all that could appear and be feen, fhould be done decently, and in order, and to Edifi- cation. Decency, Order, and Edification, were to regulate all their publick Ads o£ Vv'orfliip, and beyond what thefe required, the outward Appearance, (which was of little Value in the Eyes of God) was not to go. Having fllut out Indecency and Con- fufion out of their Ailemblies, they need not be folicitous about ufelefs Ceremonies. Praifes and Prayer, humbly oflered up to the Deity, was the Worfhip he now de- manded ; and in thefe every one was to look after his own Heart, and know that it •was that alone which God had Regard to, and accepted. 4. Another great Advantage received by our Saviour, is the great Encouragement he brought to a virtuous and pious Life : Great enough to furmount the Difficulties and Obftacles that lie in the way to it, and reward the Pains and Hardfliips of thofe who ftuckfirm to their Duties, and fuftered for the Teftimony of a good Confcience. The Portion of the Righteous has been in all Ages taken notice of, to be pretty fcanty in this World. Virtue and Profperity do not often accompany one another; and therefore Virtue feldom had many Followers. And 'tis no wonder flie prevailed not much in a State, where the Inconveniencies that attend her were vifible, and at hand, and the Rewards doubtful and at a Diftance. Mankind, who are and muft be allowed to purfue their Happinefs, nay, cannot be hindred, could not but think them- felves excuted from a ftri6t Obfervation of Rules, which appeared fo little to confift with their chief End, Happinefs, whilft they kept them from the Enjoyments of this Life ; and they had little Evidence and Security of another-. 'Tis true, they might have argued the other way, and concluded. That, becaufe the Good were moft of them ill treated here, there was another Place where they fliould meet with bet- ter Ufage ; but 'tis plain they did not. Their Thoughts of another Life were at beft obfcure, and their Expeftations uncertain. Of Manes, and Ghofts, and the Shades of departed Men, there was fonfe Talk; but little certain, and lefs minded. They had the Names of .SV^-x and Acheron, of Elifian Fields, and Seats of the Bleffed : But they had them generally from their Poets, mixed with their Fables. And fo they looked more like the Inventions of Wit, and Ornaments of Poetry, than the ferious Perfuafi- ons of the grave and the fober. They came to them bundled upamongft their Tales,and for Tales they took them. And that which rendred tkem more fufpe(Sed,and lefs ufe- ful as delivered in the Sckwtvki.s, 537 ful to Virtue, was, that the Philofophers feldom fet on their Rules on Mens Minds and Praftilcs, by Confideration of another Life. The chief of their Arguments were from the Excellency of Virtue ; and the higheft they generally went, was theexalting of human Nature, whofe Perfection lay in Virtue. And if the Pricft at any time tal- ked of the Ghofts below, and a Life after this, it was only to keep Men to their fuper- ftitious and idolatrous Rites, whereby the ule of this Doitrinc was loft to the credulous Multitude, and its Belief to the quicker-fighted, who fufpefted itprefently of Prieft- craft. Before our Saviour's time, the Dottrine of a future State, thougli it were not wholly hid, yet it was not clearly known in the World. 'Twas an imperleft View of Reafon, or, perhaps, the decay 'd Remains of an ancient Tradition, which rather feemed to float on Mens Fanfies, than link deep into their Hearts. It wasfomething, they knew not what, between being and not being. Something in Man they imagined might fcape the Grave j but a perfect complete Life of an eternal Duration, after this, was what entred little into their Thought, and lefs into their Perfuaiions. And they were fo far from being clear herein, that we lee no Nation of tlie World pub- lickly profell'ed it, and built upon it : No Religion taught it, and 'twas no where made an Article of Faith, and Principle of Religion till Jefus Chrift came ; of whom it is truly laid, that he, at his appearing, brought Life and Immortality to Linht. And that not only in the clear Revelation of it, and in Inftances fliewn ot Men railed from the Dead ; but he has given us an unqueftionable 7\flurance and Pledge of it, i.i his own Refurreftion and Alcenfion into Heaven. How hath this one Truth changed the Nature of Things in the World, and given the Advantage to Piety over all that could tempt or deter Men from it ? The Philofophers, indeed, fhewed the Beauty of Virtue ; they fet her off fo as drew Mens Eyes and Approbation to her : But lea- ving her unendowed, very few were willing to efpoufe her. The Generality could not refufeher their Efteem and Commendation, but ftill tufned their Backs on her, andforfook her, as a Match not for their Turn. But now there being put into the Scales, on her fide, an exceeding and immortal Weight oj Glory ; Intereft is come about to her, and Virtue now is vifible, to moft enriching Purchafe, and by much the beft Bargain. That fhe is the Perfeftion and Excellency of our Nature ; that fhe is herfelf a Reward, and will recommend our Names to future Ages, is not all that can now be faid for her. 'Tis not ftrange that the learned Heathens fatisfied not many with fuch airy Commendation. It has another Relifli and Efficacy, to perfuade Men that if they live well here, they fhall be happy hereafter. Open their Eyes upon the end- lefs, unfpeakable Joysof another Life, and their Hearts will find fomething folidand poweriul to move them. The view of Heaven and Hell will caft a Slight upon the ihort Pleafures and Pains of this prefent State, and give Attraftions and Encourage- ments to Virtue, which Reafon and Intereft, and the Care of our felves, cannot but allow and prefer. Upon this Foundation, and upon this only. Morality ftands firm, and may deiy all Competition. This makes it more than a Name, a fubftantial Good, worth all our Aims and Endeavours ; and thus the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift has delivered it to us. 5. Tothefe I muft add one Advantage more by Jefus Chrift, and that is the Pro- mile of Afliftance. If we do what we can, he will give us his Spirit to help us to do what, and how we fhould. 'Twill be idle for us, who know not how our own Spirits move and aft us, to ask in what manner the Spirit of God fhall work upon us. The Wifdom that accompanies that Spirit, knows better than we, how we are made, and how to work upon us. If a wiie Man knows how to prevail on his Child, to bring him to what he delires, can we fufpeft, that the Spirit and Wifdora of God fhould fail in it, though we perceive or comprehend not the Ways of his Operation ? Chrift has promifed it, who is faithful and juft, and we cannot doubt of the Performance. 'Tis not requilite on this Occafion, for the inhancing of this Benefit, to enlarge on the Frailty of our Minds, and Weaknefs of our Conftitutions ; how liable to Miftakes, how apt to go Aftray, and how eafily to be turned out of the Paths of Virtue. If anyone needs go beyond himfelf, and the Teftimony of his own Con- fcience in this Point ; if he feels not his own Errors and Paflions always tempting, and often prevailing, againft the ftrift Rules of his Duty, he need but look abroad into any Age of the World to be convinced. To a Man under the Difficulties of his Nature, befet with Temptations, and hedged in with prevailing Cuftom ; 'tis no fmall Encouragement to fet himfelf ferioufly on the Courfes of Virtue, and Pra- Vol. II. Y y y ftice 538 The Reajonahlenejs of Christianity, dice of true Religion, that he is from a fure Hand, and an almighty Arm, proml- Ibd Aflillance to iupport and carry him through. There remains yet ibmething to be laid to thole who will be ready to objeft, If the belief of Jel'us of Naz^areth to be the Mfffmb, togetiicr with thole concomitant Ar- ticles of his Rerurre(^tion, Rule, and coming attain to judge the World, be all the Faith required as necelVary to Juftification, to what purpofe were the Epiflles written ; I fay, if the Belief of thofe many Dodrines contained them, be not alfo neceflary to Salvation ? And if what is there delivered, a Chriflian may believe or disbelieve, and yet nevcrthelefs be a Member of Chrift's Church, and one of the Faithful ? To this, I anfwer. That the Epiftles were written upon feveral Occalions : And he that will read them as he ought, muft obi'erve what 'tis in them is principally aimed at ; find what is the Argument in hand, and how managed ; if he will underftand them right, and profit by them. The obferving of this will bed help us to the true Meaning and Mind of the Writer : For that is the Truth which is to be received and believed J and not fcattered Sentences in Scripture-Language, accommodated to our Notions and Prejudices. We muft look into the Drift of the Difcourfe, obfervethe coherence and connexion of the Parts, and fee how it is confiftent with itfelf, and other Parts of Scripture ; if we will conceive it riglw:. We muft not cull out, as beft fuits our Syftem, here and there a Period or a Verfe : as if they were all diftinft and independent Aphorifms ; and make thefe the Fundamental Articles of the Chri- ftian Faith, and necefl'ary to Salvation, unlefs God has made them fo. There be many Truths in the Bible, which a good Chriftian may be wholly ignorant of, and fo not believe ; which, perhaps, fome lay great ftrefs on, and call fundamental Articles, be- caufe they are the diftinguifliing Points of their Communion. The Epiftles, moft of them, carry on a Thread of Argument, which in the Stile they are writ, cannot every where be obferved without great Attention. And to confider the Texts, as they ftand and bear a part in that, is to view them in their due light, and the way to get the true fence of them. They were writ to thofe who were in the Faith, and true Chriftians already : And fo could not be defigned to teach them the Fndamental Art- icles and Points neceflary to Salvation. The Epiftle to the Romans was writ to all that uere at Rome, belo'ved of God, called to be the Saints, ivhofe Faith was fpoken of through the World, Chap. i. 7, 8. To whom St. Paul's firft Epiftle to the Corinthians was, he fliews. Chap. i. 2, 4. &c. Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are fanEiified in C/mJi Jefus, called to be Saints ; with all them that in every place call upon the Name of Jefus Chrijl our Lord, both theirs and ours. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the Grace of God which is given you by Jefus Chrijl ; "That in every thing ye are en- riched by him in all Utterance, and and in all Knowledge : Even as the T'hftimony ofChriji •was confirmed in you. So that ye came behind in no Gift ; waiting for the coming of the Lord Jefus Chrijl. And fo likewife the fecond was, "To the Church of God at Corinth, with all the Saints in Achaia, Chap. i.i. His next is to the Churches of C^to/;?. That to the Ephejians was To the Saints that were at Ephefus, and to the Faithful in Chrijl Jefus. So likewife. To the Saints and Faithful Brethren in Chrijl at Colofle, who had. Faith in Chrijl Jefus, and love to the Saints. ?o the Church of the Thefl'alonians. Tff Timothy his Son in the Faith. To Titus his own Son, after the commcn Faith, ih Philemon his dearly beloved, and Fellow-labourer. And the Author to the Hebrews calls thofe he writes to. Holy Brethren, partakers of the heavenly Calling, Chap. iii. I. From whence it is evident, that all thofe whom St. Paul writ to, were Brethren, Saints, Faithful in the Church, and fo Chriftians already ; and therefore wanted not the Fundamental Articles of the Chriftian Religion ; without a Belief of which they could not be faved : Nor can it be fuppofed, that the fending of fuch Funda- mentals was the reafon of the Apoftle's Writing to any of them. To fuch alfo St. Peter writes, as is plain from the firft Chapter of each of his Epiftles. Nor is it hard to obferve the like in St. James and St. Johns Epiftles. And St. Juds direfts his thus : To them that are fanEiified by God the Father, and preferved in Jefus Chrijl, and called. The Epiftles therefore being all written to thofe who were already Be- lievers and Chriftians, the Occafion and End of writing them, could not be to in- ftruft them in that which was necelfary to make the Chriftians. This 'tis plain they knew and delieved already; or elfe they could not have been Chriftians and Be- lievers. And they were writ upon particular Occafions ; and without thofe Occa- - fions, had not been writ ; and lb canno; be thought necelfary to Salvation : Though they ns delivered m the Sckivtv res, 539 they rcfolving Doubts, and reforming Miftakcs, arc of great Advantage to our Know- ledge and Pjai^ticc. 1 do not deny, but the great Do(!:trines of the Chriftian Faith are dropt here and there, and Icattered up and down in mofl ol them. But 'tis not in the Lpiftles we are to learn what are the fundamental Articles of Faith, where they are promillruoufly, and without Diftinftion mixed with other Truths in Dif- courfes that were (though for Edification indeed, yet) only occafional. We Hiall find and difcern thole great and necelfary Points beft in the Preaching of our Saviour and the Apoftles, to tliole who were yet Strangers, and ignorant of the Faith, to bring them in, and convert them to it. And what that was, we have I'ecn already out of the Hiftory of the Evangelifts, and the Acis ; where they are plainly laid down, ib that no body can miftake them. The Epiftles to particular Churches, bcfides the main Argument of each of them, (which was Ibme prefent Concernment of that par- ticular Church to which they feverally were addrefs'd) do in many Places explain the Fundamentals of the Chriftian Religion, and tliat wifely ; by proper Accommo- dations to the Apprehenfions of thofe they were writ to, the better to make them imbibe the Chriltian Doftrine, and the more eafily to comprehend the Method, Rea- fons, and Grounds of the great Work of Salvation. 'J'hus we lee in the Epillle to the Romans, Adoption (a Cuflom well known amongft thofe of Rome) is much made ufe of, to explain to them the Grace and Favour of God, in giving them eternal Life ; to help them to conceive how they became the Children of God, and to allure them of a Share in the Kingdom of Heaven, as Heirs to an Inheritance. Whereas the fet- tingout, and confirming the Chriftian Faith to xhc Hebrews, in the Epiftle to them, is by AUufions and Arguments, from the Ceremonies, Sacrifices, and Oeconomy of the Jevjs, and References to the Records of the Old Tejiammt. And as for the ge- neral Epiftles, they, we may fee, regard the State and Exigencies, and fome Pecu- liarities of thofe Times. Thefe holy Writers, infpired from above, writ nothing but Truth ; and in moft Places very weighty Truths to us now; for the expounding, clearing, and confirming of the Chriftian Doftrine, and eftablifhing thofe in it who had embraced it. But yet every Sentence of theirs muft not be t-^ken up, and looked on as a fundamental Article necelfary to Salvation ; without an explicit Belief \vhereof, no body could be a Menrber of Chrift's Church here, nor be admitted in- to his eternal Kingdom hereafter. If all, or moft of the Truths declared in the Epiftles, were to be received and believed as fundamental Articles, what then became of thofe Chriftians who were fallen afleep 'i (as St. Void witnefl'es in his firft to the Co- rinthians, many were) before thefe Things in the Epiftles Were revealed to them ? Moft of the Epiftles not being written till above twenty Years after our Saviour's Afcenfion, and fome after thirty. But farther, therefore, to thofe who will be ready to fay, May thofe Truths de- livered in the Epiftles, which are not contained in the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles, and are therefore by this Account not necelfary to Salvation, be belie- ved or disbelieved without any Danger ? May a Chriftian fafely queftion or doubt o£ them ? To this I anfwer. That the Law of Faith, being a Covenant of free Grace, God a- lone can appoint what fhall be neceflarily believed by every one whom he will juftify. What is the Faith which he will accept and account for Righteoufnefs, depends whol- ly on his good Pleafure. For 'tis of Grace, and not of Right, that this Faith is ac- cepted. And therefore he alone can fet the Meafures of it : And what he has fo appointed and declared, is alone neceflary. No body can add to thefe fundamental Articles of Faith ; nor make any other neceflary, but what God himfelf hath made and declared to be fo. And what thefe are which God requires of thofe who will enter into, and receive the Benefits of the New Covenant, has already been fhewn. An explicite Belief of thefe is abfolutely required of all thofe to whom the Gofpel of Je- fus Chrift is preached, and Salvation through his Name propofed. The other Parts of Divine Revelation are Objefts of Faith, and are fo to be recei- ved. They are Truths whereof no one can be rejeded ; none that is once known to be fuch, may or ought to be disbelieved. For to acknowledge any Propofition to be of Divine Revelation and Authority, and yet to deny or disbelieve it, is to of- fend againft this fundamental Article and Ground of Faith, that God is true. But yet a great many of the Truths revealed in the Gofpel, every one doe^ and muft confefs, a Man may be ignorant of i nay, disbelieve, without Danger to his Salva- Vol. II, y y y a tion : 5^0 The Reajonahlenefs of Christianity,' tion : As is evident in thofe, who, allowing the Authority, diflfer in the Interpre- tition and Meaning of feveral Texts of Scrinture, not thought Fundamental: In all which 'tis plain the contending Parties, oh one Side or t'other, are ignorant of, nay, disbelieve the Truths delivered in Holy Writ; unlefs Contrarieties and Con- tradii5tions can be contained in the ^'ame Words, and Divine Revelation can mean con- trary to it fell. Tho' all Divine Revelation requires the Obedience of Faith ; yet every Truth of infpired Scriptures is not one of thofe, that by the Law of Faith is required to be explicitly believed to Juftification. What thofe are, we have feen by what our Sa- viour and his Apoftles propofed to, and required in thofe whom they converted to the Faith. Thofe are Fundamentals, which 'tis not enough not to disbelieve : Every one is required aftually to afl'ent to them. But any other Propofition contained in the Scripture, which God has not thus made a neceflary Part of the Law of Faith, (without an adtual All'ent to which he will not allow any one to be a Believer) a Maa may be ignorant of, without hazarding his Salvation by a Defeft in his Iraith. He believes all that God has made necelfixry for him to believe, and aflent to : And as for the reft of divine Truths, there is nothing more required of him, but that he receive all the Parts of Divine Revelation, with a Docility and Difpofition prepared to embrace, and afl'ent to all Truths coming from God ; and fubmic his Mind to whatlbever fhall appear to him to bear that Character. Where he, upon fair Endeavours, underftands it not ; how can he avoid being igno- rant ? And where he cannot put feveral Texts, and make them confift together ; what Remedy ? He muft either intrepret one by the other, or fufpend his Opinion. He that thinks that more is, or can be required, of poor frail Man in Matters of Faith, will do well to confider what Abfurdities he will run into. God out of the Infinitenefs of his Mercy, has dealt with Man as a companionate and tender Father. He gave him Reafon, and with it a Law : That could not be otherwife than what Reafon fhould diftate ; unlets we fhould think, that a reafonable Creature fliould have an unreafonable Law. But coniidering the Frailty of Man, apt to run into Cor- ruption and Mifery, he promifed a Deliverer, whom in his good Time he fent; and then declared to all Mankind, that whoever would believe him to be the Saviour promifed, and take him now raifed from the Dead, and conftituted the Lord, and Judge of all Men, to be their King and Ruler, fhould be faved. This is a plain in- telligible Propofition; and the all-merciful God feems herein to have confulted the Poor of this World, and the Bulk of Mankind. Thefe are Articles that the labour- ing and illiterate Man may comprehend. This is a Religion fuited to vulgar Capa- cities ; and the State of Mankind in this World, deftined to Labour and Travel. The Writers and Wranglers in Religion fill it with Niceties, anddrefs it up with Notions, which they make neceflary and fundamental Parts of it; as if there were no Way into the Church, but through the Academy or Lyceum. The greateft Part of Mankind have not Leifure for Learning and Logick, and fuperfine Diftinftions of the Schools. Where the Hand is ufed to the Plough and the Spade, the Head is feldom elevated to fublime Notions, or exercifed in myfterious Reafoning. 'Tis well if Men of that Rank (to fay nothing of the other Sex) can comprehend plain Propofitions, and a fhort Reafoning about Things familiar to their Minds, and nearly allied to their daily Experience. Go beyond this, and you amaze the greateft Part of Mankind : And may as well talk Arabick to a poor Day-Labourer, as the No- tions and Language that the Books and Difputes of Religion are filled with ; and as foon you will beunderftood. The dilfenting Congregations are fuppofed by their Teachers to be more accurately inftrufted in Matters of Faith, and better to un- derftand the Chriftian Religion, than the vulgar Conform ifts, who are charged witli great Ignorance ; how truly I will not here determine. But I ask them to tell me ferioufly. Whether Half their People have Leifure to ftudy ? Nay, Whether one in ten of thofe who come to their Meetings in the Country, if they had Time to ftudy them,do or can underftand,the Controverfies at this Time fo warmly managed amongfl: them, about Juftification, the Subjeft of this prefent Treatife. I have talked with fome of their Treachers, who confefs themfelves not to underftand the Difterence in debate between them. And yet the Points they ftood on, are reckon'd of fo great Weight, fo material, fo fundamental in Religion, that they divide Commmunion, and fbparace upon them. Had God intended that none but the learne4 Scribe, the Dif- putej as delivered in the Scriptures. puter or Wife of this World, (liould be Chriftians, or be faved, thus Religion fhould have been prepared for them, filled with Speculations and Niceties, oblcure Terms, and abftrad Notions. But Men of that Expectation, Men furnifhed with fuch Acquiiitions, the Apoftles tells us, i Cur. i. are rather Hiut out from the Sim- plicity of the Gofpei ; to make Way for thofe Poor, Ignorant, Illiterate, who heard and believed Promifes of a Deliverer, and believed Jei"us to be him ; v/ho could con- ceive a Man dead and made alive again, and believe that he fliould, at the End of the World, come again and pafs Sentence on all Men, according to their Deeds. That the Poor had the Gofpei preached to them ; Chrift makes a Mark, as well as Bufinefs of his Miflion, Mat. xi. 5. And if the Poor had the Gofpei preached to them, it was, without Doubt, fuch a Gofpei as the Poor could understand, plain and intcllible : And lb it was, as we have leen, in the Preachings of Chrift and his Apoftles. 541 A yin; A VINDICATION O F T H E REASONABLENESS OF CHRISTIANITY, tc. From Mr. Edwards's REFLECTIONS. <: Ci ^ ^: 545 A VINDICATION OF THE REASONABLENESS O F R I S T I A N I T Y, ire. ^^ Y Book had not been long out, before it fell under the Corre- ction of the Author of a Treatife, Entituled, Some "Thoughts ccn- cerning the fevcrnl Caiijes andOccafions of Atljeifm, efpcciaUy inthe pre- fent Age. No contemptible Adverfary I'll allure you ; fince, as it feems, he has got the Faculty to heighten everything that dif- pleafes him into the capital Crime of Atheifm ; and breaths a- gainft thofe who come ui his Way a Peflilential Air, whereby every the lead Diflemper is turned into the Plague, and becomes mortal. For whoever does not juft fay after Mr. Edivnyds, cannot, 'tis evident, efcape being an Atheifl, or a Promoter of Atheifm. I cannot but approve of any ones Zeal to guard and iecure that great and fundamental Article of all Religion and Mo- rality, That there is a God : But Atheifm being a Crime, which for its Mndnefs as well as Guilt, ought to fhut a Man out of all fober and civil Society, fliould be very \varily charged on anyone by Deduftions and Confequences which he himfelfdoes not own, or at leaft do not manifeflly and unavoidably flo^v from xvhat he aflerts. This Caution, Charity, I think, obliges us to: And our Author would poflibly think himfelf hardly dealt with, if, for neglecting fome of thofe Rules he himfelf gives, f. 31, and 34. againft Atheifm, he fhould be pronounced a Promoter of it : As ratio- nal a Charge, I imagine, as fome of thofe he makes ; and as fitly put together, as the 'Treatife of the Reafoiinhknefs of Chriflinnity, &c. brought in among the Caufcs of A- theifm. However, I fball not much complain of him, fince he joyns me, p. 104. with no worfe Company that two eminently Pious and Learned * Prelates of our Church, whom he makes Favourers of the fameCc«ca>, as he calls it. But what has xh&tConceit to do with Atheifm ? Very much. That Comeit is of Kin to S'xinianifm, and Soc'mianifm to Atheifm. Let us hear Mr. Edwards himfelf. He fays, p. 113. I am all oier Sociniauized : And therefore my Book, fit to be placed among the Caufes of Atheifm. For in the ^4. and following Pages, he endeavours to fhew. That a. Socinian is an Atheifl, or leafl that flmuld fern harjh, one tbat favours theCaufe of Atheifm, /). 75. For fo he has been pleafed to mollify, now it is publiflied as a Treatife, what was much more harfh, and much more confident in it, when it Avas preached as a Sermon. In this Abatement he feems a little to comply with his own Advice againft his fourth Caufe of Atheifin ; which we have in thefe Words, pag. 34. IVherefore that ire may effe£iiially prevent this Folly in oar fehes, let us banifli Prefiimption, Confidence, and Self-conceit ; let us extirpate all Pride and Arrogance : L(t us notjifi onj. fehes in the NuJttber of Capricious Opiniators. Vol. IL Z z t I fhall * Bp. T.iy'- lor, and the. Author of The Naked Truth. $4^ A Vindication of the I Hiall \cA\ctheSminidni themfelvcs toanfwcr his Charge againft them, and fhaU. examine his Prool ol my being a Situnian. It (lands thus, pa^. 112. H^lxn he [the Author of the Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, &c^ proceeds to memim the Advantages and Benefits of Chrijl's coming into the M'^oiid, and appearing in the Fieflj, he hath not ens Syllable oj his Satisfying jor us, or by his Death purchafing Lije or Salvation, or any thing that founds like it. T'his and feveral Qther "Things fhev: that he is all over So- cinianiz^ed. Which in effeA is, that becaufc I have not let down all that this Au- thor perhaps would have done, therefore I am a Socinian. But what if I fliould fay, I fct down as much as my Argument required, and yet am no Socinian ? Would he from my Silence and Omiffion give me the Lye, and lay, I am one ? Surmizes that may be overturned [)y a fingle Denial, are poor Arguments, and fuch as fome Men would be afiiamed of : At leaft, if they are to be permitted to Men of this Gentlemen's Skill and Zeal,who knows how to make a good Ufe of Conjeftures, Sufpicions, and un- charitable Cenfures in the Caufe of God ; yet even there too (if the Caufe of God can need fuch Arts) they require a good Memory to keep them from recoiling upon the Author. He might have taken notice of thefe Words in my Book, (p. 497. of this Vol.) '^'^ From this Eftate of Death JESUS CHRIST RESTORES all Mankind to " Life". And a little lower, " 'J he Life which Jefus Chrift reftores to all Men. " And p. 3 ip. He tiiat hath incurred Death for his own Tranfgreffion, cannot LAY " DOWN HIS LIFE FOR ANOTHER, as our Saviour promifes he did". This methinks SOUNDS SOMETHING LIKE Chrift' s purchaj^ng Life for m l>y his Death. But this Reverend Gentleman has an Anfwer ready , it was not in the Place he would have had it in, it was not where I mention the Advantages and Benefits of Chrift's Coming. And therefore, I not having one Syllable of Chrift's purchafing Life and Salvation for us by his Death, or any thing that founds like it: This, and feveral other Things that might be offered, fliew that I am all over Socinianized. A very clear and ingenuous Proof, and let him enjoy it. But what will become of me, that I have not mentioned SatisfaSlion ! PofTibly this Reverend Gentleman would have had Charity enough for a known Writer of the Brotherhood, to have found it by an Inuendo in thole Words above quoted, of laying down his Life for another. But every thing is to be ftrained here the other Way. For the Author of The Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, Sec. is of Ne- ceility to be reprefented as a Socinian ; or elfe his Book may be read, and the Truths in it, which }A.Y.kdwards likes not, be received, aild People put upon examining. Thus one, as full of happy Conjeftures and Sufpicions as this Gentlemen, might be apt to argue. But what if the Author defigned his Treatife, as the Title lliews, chiefly for thofe who were not yet throughly or firmly Chriftians, propofing to work on thofe who either wholly disbelieved, or doubted of the Truth of the Chriftian Religion ? Would any one blame his Prudence, if he mentioned only thofe Advantages which all Chriftians are agreed in ? Might he not remember and obferve that Command of the Apoftle, Ro?n.y.\y. i. Him that is -weak in the Faith, receive ye , but not to doubtful Difputations, without being a Socinian ? Did he amifs, that he oflered to the Belief of thofe who ftood off, that, and only that, which our Saviour and his Apoftle$ preached for the reducing the uncon^'erted World : And would any one think he in earneft went about to perfuade Men to be Chriftians, who fhould ufe that as an Argu- ment to recommend the Gofpel, which he has obferv'd Men to lay hold on as an Ob- jeftion againft it ? To urge fuch Points of Con trover fy as neceflary Articles of Faith, when we fee our Saviour and the Apoftles in their Preaching urged them not as ne- ceflary to be believed, to make Men Chriftians, is (by our own Authority) to add Prejudices to Prejudices, and to block up our ownWay to thofe Men whom we would have Accefs to, and prevail upon. But lome Men had rather you fhould write Booty, and crofs your own Defign of removing Mens Prejudices to Chriftianity, than leave out one Tittle of what they put into their Syftems. To fuch, I fay, convince but Men of the Miflion of Jefus Chrift, make them but fee the Truth, Simplicity an4 Reafonablenefs of U'hat he himfelf taught, and required to be believed by his Fol- lowers ; and you need not doubt, but, being once fully perfuaded of his DoiSrifie, and the Advantages which all Chriftians agree are received by him, luch Converts will not layby the Scriptures, but by a conftant Reading and Study of them, get all the Light they can from this Divine Revelation, and nourilli themfelves up in the Words of Faith, and of good Doftrine, as St. Paul fpeaks to Timothy. But fome Men will not bear it, that anyone lliouldfpeaK of Religion, but ac(ioi;ding to the Model that they Reajonahlenefs of Christianity, &c. 547 they themfelves have made of it. Nay, though he propofcs it upon the very Tcrrrts, and in the very Words which our Saviour aud his Apoftles preached it in, yet he Ihall not clcape Cenfures, and the fcveral Infinuations. To deviate in the leaft, or to omit any thing contained in their Articles, is Herefy under the moft invidious Names in Fafliion, and 'tis well if he efcapes being a downright Atheift. Whether this be the Way for Teachers to make themlehcs hearkened to, as Men in Earneft iii Religion, and really concerned for the Salvation of Mens Souls, I leave them to con- fider. What Succefs it has had towards perfuading Men of the Truth of Chriftia- nity, their own Complaints of the Prevalency of Atheifm on the one hand^ and the Number of Deifts on the other, fufficiently fhew. Another Thing laid to my Charge, /'.105, and 107. is my Forgetting, or rather wil- ful Omitting fume plain and ebviom Pajfaga, and fbme famous T'ejiimotiies in the Evan- gelijh \ namely, Mat.~x.\v\\\. 19. Go teach all Natiom, laptiyjng them in the Name of the Fa: her, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghofi. And Julm i. r. In the Beginning -was the fVoid, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And N-^erle 14. And the Word was made Fleflo. Mine it fecms in this Brok, are all Sins of Omiifion. And yet when it came out, the Buz, and Flutter, and Noife which was made, and the Re- ports which were raifed, would have perfuaded the World that it fubverted all Mo- rality, and was defigned againft the Chriftian Religion. 1 muft confefs DifcourfeS of this kind, which 1 met with fpread up and down, at firft amazed me ; knowing the Sincerity of thofe Thoughts which perfuaded me topublifhit, (not without fome Hope of doing fome Servic to decaying Piety, and miftaken and flandered Chriftia- nity.) I fatisfied my felf againft thofe Heats with this Aflurance, that if there was any thing in my Book, againft what any one called Religion, it was not againft the Religion contained in the Gofpel. And for that 1 appeal to all Mankind. But to return to Mr. Edwards in particular, I mutl take Leave to tell him, that if omitting plain and obvious Pajfages, and famous T'tfiimcnies in the Evavgelifts, be a Fault in me, I wonder why he, among fo many of this Kind that I am guilty of, men- tions fo few. For I muft acknowledge I have omitted more, nay, many more, that are plain and obvious Pajfages, and famous Tefiimunies in the Evangelijls, than thofe he takes Notice of. But if I have left out none of thofe Pages or Tc(}imonies which contain what our Saviour and his Apoftles preached, and required aifent to, to make Men Believers, I fhall think my OmifTions (let them be what they will) no Faults in the prefent Cafe. Whatever Doftrines 'M.r. Edwards would have to be believed, if they are fuch as our Saviour and his Apoftles required to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, he will be fure to find them in thofe Preachings and famous Tefiimrnies of our Saviour and his Apoftles that I have quoted. And if they are not there, he may reft fatisfied, that they were not propofed by our Saviour and his Apoftles, as necel- fary to be believed, to make Men Chrift's Difciples. If the Omiffion of other Texts in the Evangeiifts (which are all true alfo, and no one of them to be disbelieved ) be a Fault, it might have been expefted that Mr. Edwards Ihould have accufed me for leaving out Mzt. i. 18, to 2?. and Mat. xvii. 24, 75:, 50, 60. for thefe are plain and obvious Pajfages, and jamotis Te/iimonies in the Evangeiifts ; and fuch whereon thefe Articles of the Apoftles Creed, viz,, bom of the Virgin Mary, fuffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, are founded. Thefe being Articles of the Apoftles Creed, are look'd upon as fundatnental Doctrines • And one would wonder why Mr. Edwards fo quietly pafles by their Omiffion ; did it hot appear that he was fo intent on fixing his Imputation of Sociniaiiifm upon me^ that rather than mifs that, he was content to drop the other Articles of his Creed. For I muft obferve to him, that if he had blamed me for the Omiffion of the Places laft quoted out of St. Matthew (as he had as much Reafon as for any other) it would plainly have appeared how idle and ill-grounded his charging Socinianifm on me was. But at any Rate he was to give the Book an ill Name ; not becauie it was So- dnian ; for he has no more Reafon to charge it with Socinianifm for the Omiffions he mentions, than the Apoftles Creed. "Tis therefore well for the Compilers of that Creed, that they lived not in Mr. Edwards's Days : For he would, no doubt, ha\e found them all over Socinianizcd, for omitting the Texts he quotes, and the Doclrines he colleftsout of John i. and John xiv. p. toy, 108. Socinianifm then is not the Fault of the Book, whatever elfe Jt be. For I repeat it again, there is not one Word of Socinianifm in it. I that am not fo jQod at Conjectures as Mr. Edv^-ds, (liall leave Vol. 11. ' Z z z 2 ■ \ it 54^ -^ Vindication of the it to him to fay, or to tliofc who can bear the Plainnefs and Simplicity of the Gof- pel, to guefs what its Fault is. Some Men arc fhrewd Gueflers, and others would be thought to be fo : But he mufl be carried far by his forward Inclination, who does not take notice, that the World is apt to think him a Diviner, for any thing rather than for the fake of Truth, whofets up his own Sufpicions againft the direft Evidence of Things; and pretends to know other Mens Thoughts and Rcafons better than they themiclves. I had faid, that the Epiftlcs being writ to thofe who were already Believers, could not be fup- pofed to be writ to them to teach them Fundamentals, without which they could not be Believers. And the Reafon I gave why I had not gone through the Writings in the Epiftles, to coiled the Fundamental Articles of Faith, as 1 had through the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles, was, becaufe thofe fundamental Articles were in thofe Epiftles promifcuoufly, and without Diftinftion , mixed with other Truths. And therefore we fhall find and difcern thofe great and neceffary Points bed in the Preach- ings of our Saviour and the Apofties, to thofe who were yet ignorant of the Faith, and unconverted. This, as far as I know my own Thoughts, was the Reafon why I did (as Mr. Edioards complains, p. 109.) not proceed to the Epifiles, and not give an Account of them, as I had done of the Gofpcls and A^s. This I imagined I had in the clofe of my Book fo fully and clearly expreifed, particularly p. 502. of this Vol. that I fuppofed no body, how willing foever, could have miftaken me. But this Gentle- man is fo much better acquainted with me than I am with my I'elf ; fees fo deeply in- to my Heart, and knows fo perfeftly every thing that pafles there ; that he with Af- furance tells the World, p. 109. T'hat I purpofely omitted the Epijhlary IVritings of the A~ fofiles, becaufe they are fraught 'jjith other fundamental Doctrines befides that one -which I men- tion. And then he goes on to enumerate thofe fundamental Articles, ^.i 10, 1 11. viz,. "The Corruption and Degeneracy of Human Nature , luith the true Original of it ( the De- fe^ion of our firfi Parents) the Propagation of Sin and Mortality , our Reftoration and Re- conciliation by Chrift's Blood, the Eminency and Excellency of his Priefihcod, the Efficacy of his Death, the full Satisfaclion made thereby to Divine 'Juftice , and his being made an AU-fufficient Sacrifice for Sin. Chrijl's Righteoufnefs, our Jufiification by it, F.leHion, Adoption, SanSiification, faving Faith, the Nature of the Gofptl, the new Covenant , the Riches of God's Mercy in the way of Salvation by Jefm Chrifi, the Certainty of the Re- furreElion of Human Bodies, and of the future Glory. Give me leave now to ask you ferioufly whether thefe, which you have here fet down under the Title oi fundamental DoBrines, are fuch (vvhen reduced to Propo- fitions ) that every one of them is required to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, and fuch, as without the aftual Belief therof, he cannot be faved. If they are not fo every one of them, you may call them Jundatnental Dovlriues as much as you pleafe, they are not of thofe Doftrines of Faith I was fpeaking of, which are only fuch as are required to be adually believed to make a Man a Chriftian. If you fay, fome of them are fuch neceflary Points of Faith, and others not, you by this fpecious Lift of well-founding, but unexplained Terms arbitrarily collefted, only make good what I have faid, -ij/z.. that the neceflary Articles of Faith are in the Epiftles promifcoufly delivered with other Truths, and therefore they cannot be diftinguifhed but by fome other Mark than being barely found in the Epiftles. If you fay, that they are all of them neceflary Articles of Faith, I fhall then defire you to reduce them to fo many plain boJtrines, and then prove them to be every one of them required to be belie- ved by every Chriftian Man to make him a Member of the Chriftian Church. For to begin with the firft, 'tis not enough to tell us, as you do, that the Corruption and Degeneracy of Human Nature, ivith the true Original of it, ( the DefeEiion of our firft Pa- rents ) the Propagation of Sin and Mortality is one of the great Heads of Chriftian Di- vinity. But you are to tell us what are the Propolitions we are required to believe concerning this Matter : For nothing can be an Article of Faith, but fome Propo- fition ; and then it will remain to be proved, that thefe Articles are neceflary to be believed to Salvation. The Apoftles Creed was taken, in the firft Ages of the Church, to contain all Things neceflary to Salvation ; I mean, neceflary to be believed : But you have now better thought on it, and are pleafed to enlarge it, and we, no doubt, are bound to fubmit to your Orthodoxy. The Lift of Materials for his Creed (for the Articles are not yet formed ) Mr. Edwards clofes, p.m. with thefe Words, Thefe are the Matters of Faith contained in thi Reajonahlenefs of Christianity, &c. jj.6 the Epifths, and they are Effential and Integral Parts of the Go/pel it felf. What, jufl thefe ? Neither more nor leis ? If you are lure of it, pray let us have them fpeedily, for the Reconciling of Dift'erences in the Chriftian Church, which lias been lo cruel- ly torn about the Articles of the Chriflian Faith, to the great Reproach of Chriftian Charity, and Scandal of our true Religion. Mr-Edwardi having thus, with two learned Terms oi EJfential and IntegralV&vxs, fufficiently proved the Matter in Qiieftion, 'vin.. That all thofe, he has fetdown, are Articles of Faith necelTary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, he grows warm at my Omiffion ol them. This I cannot complain of as unnatural : The Spirit of Creed- making always ariling from an Heat of Zeal for our own Opinions, and warm Endea- vours, by all ways poiTible to decry and bear down thole who differ in a 'litle from us. What then could I expeft more gentle and candid, than what Mr. Edwards has fub- joined in thcle Words? And therefore it is m iionder, that our Author, being fenfible of this ( viz.. That the Points he has named were Ejjential and Integral Parts of the Gofpel } •would not vomhfafe to give m an AbftraCl of thofe infpired Writings \_the Epifiles] but faffes them by ivitb fonie Contempt. Sir, when your angry Fit is over, and the Abate- ment of your PafTion has given way to the Return of your Sincerity, I fhall beg you to read this Faflage in 539 pag. of this Vol. " Thefe Holy Writers ('z^/z,. the Pen- " men of the Scriptures) INSPIRED from above, writ nothing but Truth, ard in *' moft Places very weighty Truths to us now, for the Expounding, Clearing, and Con- " firming of the Chriftian Doftrine; and eftablilliing thoi'e in it who had embraced it/* And again, />«?. 539. " The other Parts of DIVINE REVELATION are Objefts *' of Faith, and are fo to be received. They are Truths, of which none that is once *' known to be fuch, /. e. revealed, may or ought to be disbelieved. " And if this does not fatisfy you that I have as high a Veneration for the Epiftles, as you or any one can have, 1 require you to publifh to the World thofe Pallages which fhew my Contempt of them. In the mean time I fhall defire my Reader to examine what I have writ concerning the Epiftles, which is all contained between/'. 537. and 540. of this Vol. and then to judge,whether I have made bold with the Epiftles in what I have faid of them, or this Gentleman made bold with Truth in what he has writ of me. Human Frailty will not, I fee, eafily quit his Hold; what it lofes in one Part, it will be ready to regain in another,- and not be hindred from taking Reprizals, even on the moft privileged Sort of Men. Mr. Ed-wards who is en- trenched in Orthodoxy, and fo is as fafe in Matters of Faith almofl: as Infallibili- ty it felf, is yet as apt to err as others in Matter of Faft. But he has not yet done with me about the Epiftles : All his fine Draught of my flighting that Part of the Scripture will be loft, unlefs the laft Strokes compleat it into Socinianifm. In his following Words you have the Conclufion of the whole Matter. His Words are thefe. And more efpecially , if I may conjeClure, (by all means, Sir; Conjefturing is your proper Talent ; you have hitherto done nothing elfe ; and I will fay that for you, you have a lucky Hand at it.) He doth this, (i. e. pafs by the Epiftles •with Contempt) becaufe he knew that there are fo many and frequent, and thofe fo illuflrious and eminent Attejlations to the DoElrine of the ever to be adored Trinity, in thefe Epiftles. Truly, Sir, if you will permit me to know what I know, as well as you do allow your felf to conjefture what you pleafe, you are out for this once. The Reafon why I went not through the Epiftles, as I did the Gofpels and the AcJs, was that very Reafon I print- ed, and that will be found fo fufficient a one to all confiderate Readers,- that I believe they will think you need not ftrain your Conjeftures for another. And if you think it be fo eafy to diftinguifli Fundamentals from not Fundamentals in the Epiftles, I defire you to try your Skill again, in giving the World a perfeft Colleftion of Propo- fitions out of the Epiftles, that contain all that is required, and no more than what is abfolutely required to be believed by all Chriftians, without which Faith they cannot be of Chrift's Church. For I tell you, notwithftanding the Shew you have madcj you have not yet done it, nor will you affirm that you have. His next Page, wz,. 112. is made up of the fame, which he calls, not uncharitable Conjeftures. / expound, he fays, John xiv. 9, &c. after the Antitrinitarian Mode : And I make Chrift and Adam to be Sons of God, tn the fame Senfe, and by their Births as the Racovians generally do. I know not but it may be true, that the Antitrinitari- ans and Racovians underftand thofe Places as I do : But 'tis more than I know that they do fo. I took not my Senfe of thofe Texts from thofe Writers, but from the Scripture it felf, giving Light to its own Meaning, by one Place compared with ano- ther: ^50 A Vindication of the chcr : What in this way appears to me its true Meaning, I fliall not decline, becaufe I am told, that it is lb underflood by the Rncoviuna, vvhom I never yet read ; nor embrace the contrary, though the generality oj Divines I more converfe with, (hould declare for it. If the Senfe wherein 1 underlland thofe 'J'exts be a Miftake, I fliall be beholden to you if you will fct me right. But they are not popular Authorities, or frightful Names, whereby I judge of 'J'ruth orFalfhood. You will now, no doubt, applaud your Conjectures ; the Point is gained, and I am openly a Socinian, fince I will not difown that I think the SonpfGod was a Phrale that among the 'Jews in our Sa- I'iour's Time was ufcd for the Meffiah, though the Socinians undcrftand it in the fame Senfe J and therefore I mud certainly be of their Per fua lion in every thing elfe. I admire the Acutencfs, Force, and Fairnefs of your Reafoning, and fo I leave you to triumph in your CviijeElures. Only I mud defire you to take notice, that that Orna- ment of our Church, and every way eminent Prelate, the late Archbifhop of Canter- bury, underftood that Phrafe in the fame Sence that I do, without being a Sociman. You may read what he iays concerning Nathanael, in his firft Sermon of Sincerity, pub- liflied this Year. His Words are thetc, p. 4. And being fatisficd that he [our Saviour] ivas the Aleffinh, he prefemly owned him for fuch, calling him the SON OF GOD, and the King of Ifrael. Though this Gentleman know my Thoughts as perfcftly as if he had for feveral Years paft lain in my Bofom, yet he is mightily at a Lofs about my Perfon : As if it at nil concerned the 'iruth contained in my Book, what Hand it came from. However, the Gentleman is mightily perplexed about the Author. Why, Sir ? What if it were ivrit bv a Scribler oi BarthohnewTnh- Drolls, with all th;it llourifh of Declamatory Rhetoiick, and ;i!l that !:martnefs of V\it and Jeft about Capt. 'Tom. Unitarians, Units, and Cyphers, Sec. Which are to be found between 1 1 5 and 123 Pages of a Book that came out durmg the merry Time of Rope- Dancing, and Puppet-Plays? What is Truth, would, I hope, neverthelels be 1 ruth in it, however oddly fpruced up by fuch an Author : Though pei haps 'tis likely fome would be apt to fay, fuch Merriment became not the Gravity of my Subjcft, and that I writ not in the Stile ot a Graduate in Divinity. I confe.;ht to underRand their Religion. Numbers oi Pro- poiitions may be harder to be vemembred, but 'tis the Abftrucencfs of the Notions, or Oblcurity, Inconlidcncy, or Doubtfulneis of the Terms or ExprefHons that makes them hard to be underllood: And oi,e liiu^Ie Propolition may more perplex the Undei- ftanding than twenty other. But where did you find I contend }o;- cne fingle Article, fo as to exclude all the rejlf You might have lemembrcd, that 1 fay, /s. 483. That the Article of the one only true God, was alfo neccilary to be believed. This might have fatisfied you, that 1 did not fo contend for one Article of Faith, as to be at De- fiance with more than one. However you iniift on the Word one with great Vigour, from/'.ioS, to 121. And you did well, you had eli'e loll all the Force of that kil- ling Stroke, referved for the Clofe, in that Iharp Jell; o{ Unitarians, and a Clinch /; or two more of great Moment. Having found by a careful Perufal of the Preachings of our Saviour and hisApoflles,. that the Religion they propolcd, confifted in that Ihort, plain, eafy, and intelligible Summary wliich I iet down, p. 540. in thefe Words: " Believing jcfus to be the " Saviour promiled, and taking him now raifed from the Dead, and conftituted " the Lord and Judge of Men, to be their King and Ruler". I could not forbear magnifying the Wildom and Goodnefs of God (u'hich infinitely exceeds the Thoughts of ignorant, vain, and narrow-minded Man) in thefe following Words. " The *' All-merciful God feems herein to have confulted the Poor of this World, and the " Bulk of Mankind: THESE ARE ARTICLES that the labouring and illiterate *' Men may comprehend ". Having thus plainly mentioned more than one Article, I might have taken it amifs, that Mr. Edwards fliould be at fo much Pains as he is, to blame me for contending for one Article; becaufe 1 thought more than one could not be underftood ; had he not had many fine Things to fay in his Declamation upon c;»e Article, which affords him fo much Matter, that lefs than feven Pages could not hold it. Only here and there, as Men of Oratory often do, he miftakes the Eufinefs, ASp.ii'^. where he fays, I urge, that there inuft be nothing in Chriflianity that is not plain add exacily k'velkd to all Mens Mother Wit. I defire to know where I faid fo, or that the very Manner of every T'hing in Chriflianity mufl he clear and intelligible, every "Thing mufl be prefently comprehended by the weakcfl Noddle, or elfe it's no Part of Religion^ efpecially of Chriflianity ; as he has it, p. 119. I am fure it is not 'mpag.^:;o, S37,SSS. of my Book: Thefe, therefore to convince him that I am of another Opinion, I fhall defire fome body to read to Mr. Edwards : For he himfelf reads my Book with Tuch Spectacles, as make him find Meanings and Words in it, neither of which I put there. He fliould have remembred, that I fpeak not of all the Dodrines of Chri- flianity, nor all that is publifhed to the World in it; but of thofe Truths only, which are abfolutcly required to be believed to make any one a Chriftian. And thefe I find are fo plain and eafy, that I fee no Reafon why every body, with me, fliould not magnify the Goodnefs and Condefcenfion of the Almighty ; who having out of his free Grace propofed a new Law of Faith to finful and loft Man, hath by that Law required no harder Terms, nothing as abfokuely necelfary to be believed, but what is fuited to vulgar Capacities, and the Comprehenfion of illiterate Men. You are a little out again, p.iiS. where you ironically fay, as if it were my Senfe^ Let us have but one Article, though it be with Defiance to all the refl. Jefting apart, Sir. This is a ferious Truth, That what our Saviour and his Apoftles preached, and admitted Men into the Church for believing, is all that is abfolutely required to make a Man a Chriftian. But this is without any Defiance of all the refl, taught in the Word of God. This excludes not the Belief of any of thofe many other Truths contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Teftaments, which it is the Duty of every Chriftian to ftudy, and thereby build himfelf up on our moft Holy Faith; receiving with ftedfaft Belief, and ready Obedience all thofe Things which the Spirit of Truth hath therein revealed. But that all the reft of the infpired Wri- tings, or, if youpleafe. Articles, are of equal Neceffny to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, with what was preached by our Saviour and his Apoftles ; that I deny. A Man, as I have fheWn, may be a Chriftian and a Believer without adually believing them ; becaufe thofe whom our Saviour and his Apoftles, by their Preaching and Difcourfes, converted to the Faith, were made Chriftians find ?eli?v§rs barely up- on the receiving what they preached to them. I hope 55^ ^ Vindication of the I hope \t is no Derogation to the Chriftian Religion, to fay, that the Funda- mentals ol it, i. e. all that Is neccHary to be believed in it by all Men, is cafy to be un- dcrllcod by all Men. This I thouglit my fclf authorized to fay by the very eafy,and very intelligible Articles infifted on by our Saviour and his Apoilles, which contain nothing but wiiat could be underftood by the Bulk of Mankind; a Term which, I know not why, Mr. Edwards p. 117. is cftcndcd at, and thereupon is, after his Fa- fliion, fharp upon mc about Captain Tom and his Myrmidons, for whom he tells me I am going to make a Religicn. The making of Religions and Creeds I leave toothers. I only fct down the Chriftian Religion, as I find our Saviour and his Apoftles preached it, and pre;iched it to, and left it for the ignorant and unkarned Multitude. For I hope you do not think, how contemptibly focver you fpeak of the venerable Mob, as you are pleafed to dignify them, p.iij. that the Bulk of Mankind, or ia yourPhrafe, the Rabble, are not concerned in Religion, or ought tounderftand it, in order to their Salvation. Nor are you, 1 hope, acquainted with any, who are of that Aliifcovite Divine's Mind, who, to one that was talking to him about Religion, and the other World, replied. That for theCz.^)- indeed, and Boja/s, they might be permitted to rail'e their Hopes to Heaven, but that for luch poor Wretches as he, they were not to think of Salvation. I remember tlie Pbarijees treated the common People with Contempt, and faid. Have any oj the Rulers , or of the Pharifees believed in him ? But this People , 'jjho kmiveth not the Laiv, are curfed. But yet thel'e, who, in the Cenfure of the Pha- rifees, were curfed, were fome of the Poor, or if you plcafe to have it fo, the Mob, to whom the Gofpel was preached by our Saviour, as he tells Johns Difci- pies, Alatt. xi. j. Pardon me. Sir, that I have here laid thefe Examples and Confiderations before you J a little to prevail with you, not to let loofe fuch a Torrent of Wit and Elo- quence againfl: the Bulk of Mankind another time, and that for a mere Fancy of your own : For 1 do not fee how they here came in your Way ; but that you were refolved to fet up fomething to have a tling at, and fliew your Parts, in what you call Preface, you]- different Strain, though befides the Purpofe. I know no body was going to ask the Mvb, what you imtfl believe ? And as for me, I fuppoie you will take my Word for it, that I think no Mvb, (no, not your venerable Mob) is to be asked, what I am to believe; nor that Articles of Faith are to be received by the Vote of Club-men, or any other Sort of Men you will name inftead of them. In the following Words, /». 1 15. you ask, IVhether a Man may not underfland tbofe Articles of Faith which you memimed out of the Gofpels and Epiflles, if they be explained to him, as well as that one I fpeak of? 'Tis as the Articles are, and as they are ex- plained. There are Articles that have been fome Hundreds of Years explaining; which, there are many, and thofe not -of the moft illiterate, who profefs they do not yet underftand. And to inftance in no other but He defended into Hell , the Learned are not yet agreed in the Senfc of it, tho' great Pains has been taken to explain it. Next, I ask. Who are to explain your Articles ? The Papifts will explain fome of tliem one way, and the Reformed another. The Remonftrants, and Anti-Rcmon- ftrants give them different Senfes. And probably the Trinitarians and Unitarians will profefs, that they underftand not each others Explications. And at laft, I think it may be doubted whether any Articles, which need Mens Explications, can be fo clearly and certainly underftood, as one which is made fo very plain by the Scripture itfelf, as not to need any Explication at all. Such is this, that Jefus is the Meffiah. For though you learnedly tell us, that Meffiah is a Hebrew Word, and no better un- derftood by the Vulgar than Arabick ; yet I guefs it is fo fully explained in the New Teftament, and in thofe Places I have quoted out of it, that no body, who can under- ftand any ordinary Sentence in the Scripture, can be at Lofs about it. And 'tis plain, it needs no other Explication, than what our Saviour and the Apoftles gave it in their Preaching ; for as they preached it. Men received it, and that fufficed to make theni Believers. To conclude, when I heard that this learned Gentleman, who had a Name for his Study of the Scriptures, and Writings on them, had done me the Honour to coniider my I'reatife, I promifed my felf, that his Degree, Calling, and Fame in the World, would have fecured to me Ibmething ot Weight in his Remarks, which might have convinced me of my Miftakes ; and if he had found any in it, juftified my quitting of tiiem. Reafomhlenefs of Christianity, ilfc. 555 them. But having examined what in his concerns my Book, I, to my Wonder, find, that he has only laken Pains to give it an ill Name, without I'o much as attempting to refute any one Pofuion in it, liow much f(.ever lie is pleaTed to make a Noile againll fevera! Piopolitior.s, which he might be free Willi, becaufe they arc his own : Ai;d I, have no leafon to take it amifs, if he has fljewn his Zeal and Skill againfl them. He has been fo iavourable to w!iat is mine, as not to ufe any ore Argument flgaiiift any Pallage in my Book. Tliis, which I take for a publick Teflimony of his Approbation, I fllail return him my Thanks for, wlien I kno\' "^^^ ™^^' ■'^^'"- Bold, 7nay obfer-ve. In my Reply to him, I have endea- 1/oured, as much as his ObjeBims would allow me, to bring him to the Subject Matter of my Book, and the Merits of the Caufe ; though his peculiar ofzuay writing Controverjy has made it neccjfary fir me injollowing himfiep by fiep, to w'ipe off the Dirt he has throwii on tne, aud clear my fe If from thofe Faljhoods he has filled his Book xuith. "This I could not but do, in dealing with fuch an Aittagonijl ; that by the Untruths I have proved upon him, the Reader may judge of thofe other Allegations of his, whereof the Proof lying on his fide, the hare Denial is enough on mine, and indeed, are wholly nothing to the T'ruth or Falflyood of what is tontain d in my Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, &c. "To which I p.iall defire the Reader to add thii farther Confideration from his ivay PfAiting, not againfi my Book, but againft me for Uriting it, that if he had had a real Concern for T'ruth and Religion in this Difpute, he would have treated it after another Manner ; and wefljould have had from hi?n more Argument, Rea^ fining and Clearnefs, and lefs Boafting, Decla?nation and Railing. It has been unavoidable for me to take notice of a grem deal oj this fort oj Stuff, in anjiuering a M^riter who has very little elfe to fay in the Controverfy, and places his Strength in Things befides the Queflion : But yet I have been fo careful to take all Occafions to explain the DoBrine of my Book, that I hope the Reader will not think his Pains wholly lofl Labour in pcrufing this Reply, wherein he will find fome farther, and, I hope, fatisfying. Account concerning the Writings of the NeW Te- ftament, and the Chriftian Religion contained in it. Air. Edwards'j- ill Language, which I thought perfonally to 7ne (though [know not how f had provoked a Man whom I had never had to do with) I am now fat is fie d by his rude and fcurrilous treating oj Mr. Bold, is his JVay and Strength in Management of Controverfy; and therefore requires a little more Confideration in this Difputant, than otherwife it would deferve. Afr. Bold, with the Calmnefs of a Chrifiian, the Gravity of a Divine, the Clearnefs of a Man of Parts, and the Civility of a well-bred Man, made fume Animadverfions on his So- cinianifm Unmask'd ; which, with a Sermon preach' d on the fame Subjetl with my Reafon- ablenefs of Chriftianity, he Publi/h'd: And how he has been ufed by Mr. Edwards', let the tVorldjudge. I WO! extremely furprited with Mr. Bold'j Book, at a Time when there was fo great an Outcry againft mine on all Hands. But, it feems, he is a Man that does not take up Things upon Hearfay ; nor is afraid to own Truth, whatever Clamour or Calumny it may lie under, Mr. Edwards confidently tells the World, that Mr. Bold has hem drawn in to efpoufe thit Caufe, upon bafe and fnean Confiderations. Whofe PiBure of the two, fuch a Defripticn is mo ft likely to give us, I fljall leave to the Reader to judge, from what he will find in their Writings on this SubjeEi. For as to the Perfons the?nfelves, I am equally a Stranger to them loth : I know not the Face of either of them : And having hitherto never had any Communication with Mr. Bold, Iftjall begin with him, as I did with Mr. Edwards in Print ; and rere pub^ lickly retmn him this following Ackmwkdgynem for what he has printed in this Controverfy. 79 558 Preface to the Reader. To Mr. Bold. S I K, Ti-lough I do not think I ought to return Thanks to any one for being of my Opinion, any more than to fall out with him for ditiering from me ,• yet 1 cannot but own to all the World the Efteem that I think is due to you, for that Proof you have gi\en of a Mind and Temper becomingatrue Minifter of the Go- fpel, in appearing as you have done, in the Defence of a Point, a great Point of Chriflianity, which it is evident you could have no other Temptation to declare for, but the Love of Truth. It has fiired with you herein no better than with me. For Mr. Edivards, not being able to anfwer your Arguments, has found out al- ready that you are a Menemry, defending aCaufe againft your Perfuafion iot Hire; and that you are failivg to Racovia by a fide Wind: Such Inconfiftencies can one (vvhofe Bufinefs it is to Rail for a Caufe he cannot defend) put together to make a noife with: And he tells you plainly what you muft expeft, if you write any more on this Argument, -z^/z.. to be pronounced a downright ^/'o/?/Jfe and Renegado. As foon as I faw your Sermon and Animadwerfivns, I wonder 'd what Scare-Crow Mr. Edwards would fet up, wherewith he might hope to deter Men of more Cau- tion than Senfe from reading of them : Since Soanianifm, from which you were known to be as remote as he, I concluded would not do. The unknown Author of the Reafvmbkiiefs of Cbrijlianity, he might make a Sodnian, Mahometan, Atheifi^ or what fort of Raw-head and Bloody-bones he pleafed. But I imagined he had had more Senfe than to venture any fuch Afperfions on a Man whom, tho' I have not yet the Hap- pineis perfonally to know; yet 1 know hath juftly a great and fettled Reputation amon^ri worthy Men : And I thought that that Coat which you had worn with fo much'Reputation, miglit have preferved you from the Beipatterings of Mr. Ed-diatds's DunJ'hil. But what is to be expefted from a Warrier that hath no other Ammu- rition, and yet afcribes to himfelf Viftory from hence, and with this Artillery ima- gines he carries all before him? And fo Skimmingtcn rides in Triumph, driving all be- fore him by the Ordures that he beftows on thofe that come in his Way. And were not Chriflianity concerned in the Cafe, a Man would fcarce excufc to liimfelf the Ridiculouinefs of eniring into the Lift with fuch a Combatant. I do not therefore wonder that this mighty Boafter, having no other Way to anfwer the Books of his Opponents, but by popular Calumnies, is fain to have Recourfe to his only Refuge, and lay out his natural Talent in Vilifying and Slandering the Authors. But I fee, by what you have already writ, how much you are above that ; and as you take not up your Opinions from Fafhion or Intereft, fo you quit them not to avoid the malicious Reports of thofe that do : Out of which Number, they can hardly be left, who (unprovoked) mix with the Management of their Caufe, Injuries and ill Language to thofe they ditfer from. This, at leaft I am fure. Zeal or Love for Truth, can never permit Falfhood to be ufed in the Defence of it. Your Mind Ifee prepar'd forTruth, by Refignationof itfelf not to the Traditions of Men, but the Dodrine of the Gofpel, has made you more readily entertain, and more eafily enter into the Meaning of my Book, than moft I have heard fpeak of it. And fince you feem to me to comprehend, v/hat I have laid together, with the fame Difpofition of Mind, and in the fame Senfe that I received it, from the Ho- ly Scriptures, I fhall, as a Mark of my Refpeft to you, give you a particular Ac- count of the Occafion of it. The beginning of the Year in which it was publiftied, the Controverfy that made fo much Noife and Heat amongft fome of the Diflenters, coming one Day acciden- tally into my Mind, drew me by degrees into a ftrifter and more through Enquiry into the Queftion about Juftification. The Scripture wasdireft and plain ; and 'twas Faith that juftified ; The ne.xt Queftion then, was what Faith that was that jufti- fied ; what it was which, if a Man believed, it fliould be imputed to him for Righ- teoufnefs. To find out this, I thought the right way was to fearch tlie Scriptures ; and thereupon betook my felf ferioufly to the reading of the New Teftrment, on- ly to that Prupofe. What that produced, you and the World have feen. The firft View I had of it feem'd mightily to fatisfy my Mind, in the Reafonable- nefsand Plainnefs of this Do^irinej but yet the general Silence I load in my little leading Preface to the Reader. 559 reading met with, concerning any fucii thing, awed me with the Apprehenfion of Sin- gularity; till going on in the Golpel Hiftory, the whole Tenor of it made it fo clear and vilible, that I more wonder'd that every body did not ice and embrace it ; than that I ftiould aflent to what was fo plainly laid down, and io frequently inculcated in Holy Writ, tho' Syftems of Divinity faid nothing of it. That which added to my Satisfaftion, was, that it led me into a Difcovery of the marvellous and divine Wil- dom of our Saviour's Conduct, in all the Circumftances of his Promulgating thisDo- ftrine ; as well as of the Necellity that fuch a Law-giver (hould be fent from God for Neceflity ; (which he came to publilh) as he did in Parables and figurative Ways of fpeaking, carries fuch a Thread of Evidence thro* the whole Hiftory of the Evangelifts, as I think is impoflible to be refifted ; and makes it a Demonftration, that the Sacred Hi- ftorians did not write by Concert as Advocates, for a bad Caiife, or to give Colour and Credit to an Impofture they would ufher into the World ; fince they, everyone of them, in fome Place or other, omit fome PaiVages of our Saviour's Life, or Circum- ftances of his Aftions; which fhew the Wifdom and Warinefs of his Conduft ; and which even thofe of the Evangelifts, who have recorded, do barely and tranfiently mention, without laying any Strefs on them, and making the leaft Remark of what Confequence they are to give us our Saviour's true Character, and to prove the Truth of their Hiftory. Thefe are Evidences of Truth and Sincerity, which refult alone from the Nature of Things, and cannot be produced by any Art or Contrivance. How much I was pleas'd with the growing Difcovery, every Day, whilft I was em- ployed in this Search, I need not fay. The wonderful Harmony, tliat the farther I went, difclofed it felf, tending to the fame Points, in all the Parts of the facred Hifto- ry of the Gofpel, was of no fmall Weight with me and another Perfon who every Day, from the Beginning to the End of my Search, faw the Progrefs of it, and knew at my firft fetting out, that I was ignorant whither it would lead me; and therefore, every Day, asked me, What more the Scripture had taught me ? So far was I from the Thoughts of Socmamf?r:, or an Intention to write for that or any other Party, or to publilh any Thing at all. But when I had gone thro' the Whole, and faw what a plain, fimple, reafonable Thing Chriftianity was, fuited to all Conditions and Capacities; and in the Morality of it now, with divine Authority, eftablifhed in- to a legible Law, fo far furpafling all that Philofophy and human Reafon had attain- ed to, or could poffibly make effeftual to all Degrees of Mankind ; I was flatter'd to think it might be of fome Ufe in the World; efpecially to thofe who thought ei- ther that there was no need of Revelation at all, or that the Revelation of our Saviour required the Belief of fuch Articles for Salvation, which the fettled Notions and their Way of reafoning in fome, and Want of Underftanding in others, made impof- fible to them. Upon thefe two Topicks the Objeftions feemed to turn, which were with moft Affurance, made by Deifis againft Chriftianity ; but againft Chriftianity mifun- derftood. It feem'd to me, that there needed no more to fhew them the Weaknefs of their Exceptions, butt© lay plainly before them theDoftrine of our Saviour and his Apoftles, as delivered in the Scriptures, and not as taught by the feveral Sefts of Chriftianity. This tempted me to publifliit, not thinking it deferved an Oppofition from any Minifter of the Gofpel; and leaft of all, from any one in the Communion of the Church of England. But fo it is, that Mr. Edwardi's Zeal for he knows not what (for he does not yet know his own Creed, nor what is required to make him a Chriftian) could not brook fo plain, fimple, ancl intelligible a Religion : But yet not knowing what to fay againft it, and the Evidence it has from the Word of God, he thought fit to let the Book alone, and fall upon the Author. What great Matter he has dond in it I need not tell you, who have feen and fiiewed the Weaknefs of his Wran- glings. You have here. Sir, the true Hiftory of the Birth of my Reafombhnefs of Chriftianity, as delivered in the Scriptures, and my Defign in publifhing it, &c. What it contains, and how much it tends to Peace and Union among Chriftians, if they Would receive Chriftianity as it is, you have difcovered. I am, SIR, Tour mofl humhle Servant, A. B, Mj 55d Preface to tlie Reader. A/v jRc'i7Jf,-j iviPi pn;\i n me, that in my Prefcce to then, I make this pavtiailar Aiid.efi to Mr. Bcld. He loath thvu^})t ii wuyth his vcbile to defend viy BuiL Hjzj vjell he has dene it, J a/fi too much a Pit/ty to fay : I thit.k it fo fiijfiiient to Mr. Edwards, that J needtd not hni'e troubled my Je/J any jarther about him en the Account of any Argument that remains in f. is Bonk to be anfivered. But a great Part of the pf^orld judging of Contefts about T'ruth, as they do of popular Ele^iions, that the Side carries it zvhere the great eft, Noife is ; *twas necef- fary they (lm:!d be undeca-Ved, and be let fee, that fometimes fach Jp', iters may be let alone^ not becaufe they cannot, but becanjc they deferve not to be anjiuer'd. "This farther I otfg/jt to acknoivledge. to Mr. Bold, and o'Mi to the World, that he hath en~ tered into the true Senfe of nt\ 'Treatife, and his Notions do fo perfe^ly agree tvith mine, that I ft) all not be be afraid by "Thoughts and E:- f borrowed this my V\nA\cat\on from Mr. Bold, ot writ his Animad\ erlions /(ir him. 'The former of thefe I ftjall count no Difcredit, if Mr. Edvvai'ds think fit to charge me with it ; and the latter Mr. Bold'f CharaCier, is Anfwer enough to. Though the impartial Reader, I doubt not, will find that the fame unifonn Truth ccnfidcr'd by us, fuggefted the fame Thoughts to us both, without any other Communication. There is another Author, who, in a civile" Stile, hath made it neceffary for me to vindicate 7«y Book from a RefieFlion or tvjo of his, wherein he feems to come fl}ort of that Candor he pro- feff^s. AH thuit I ft.) all fay on this Occafijn here, is, that it is a Winder tome, that having publiftj'd what I thought the Scripture told me was the Faith that inade a Chriftian, and de- fired that if I was jniftaken, any one that thought fo, would have the Goodnejs to iuform me bettei- ; fo many with their Tongues, and fo?ne in Print, ftKuld intemperately find fault with a poor Man out of his IVdy, who defires to be fet right ; and no one who blames his Faith, us amingftjort, will tell him what that Faith is, which is required to make him a Chriftian. But, 1 hope, that amongft fo many Cenfiirers, 1 ft) all at Lift find one, icho knowing himfelf to be a Chriftian upon other Grounds than I am, will have Jo much Chrijlian Charity, as to ftiew me what more is abfolutely neceffary to be believed by me, and every Man, to make him it Chriftian. A S E- 5^1 A S E C O xM D VINDICATION O F T H E REASONABLENESS O F CHRISTIANITY, &c. Caufe that ftands in need of Falfhoods to fupport it,and an Ad- verfary that will make ufe of them, deferve nothing but Con- tempt j which I doubt not but every confiderate Reader th'^ught Anfwer enough toM.r. Edwards^ sSvcinianifmUnmnsk'd. But fince \x\\\\s\nx.cSocinian Creed, he iays, Ixuoiild have anlwer'd him if Icould, That the Intereft of Chriftianity may not luffer by my Silence, nor the Contemptiblenefs of his Treatife afford him Mater of Triumph amongft thofe who lay any Weight on fuch Boafting, 'tis fit it fliould be ihewn what an Arguer he is, and how well he deferves for his Performance to bedubb'd by himfelf Lrefragable. Thofe, who like Mr. Edwards, dare to publifh Inventions of their own for Mat- ters of Fact, deferve a Name fo abhorr'd, that it finds not Room in civil Converfation. This fecures him from the proper Anfwer due to his Imputations tome in Print of Matters of Faft utterly falfe, which without any Reply of mine, fix upon him that Name (which without a profligate Mind, a Man cannot expofe himfelf to) till he hath proved them. Till then he muft wear what he has put upon himfelf. This being a Rule which common Juftice hath prefcribed to the private Judgments of Mankind, as well as to the publick Judicatures of Courts, That all Allegations of Faft brought by contending Parties Ihould be prefum'd to be falfe till they are proved. There are two Ways of making a Book unanfwerable. The one is by the Ciearnefs, Strength and Fairnefs of the Argumentation. Men who know how to write thus, are above Bragging what they have done, or Boafting to the World that their Adver- faries are bnffled. Another Way to make a Book unafwerable, is to lay Strefs on Matters of Faft foreign to the Queftion, as well as to Truth ; and to fluff it with Scurrility and Fiftion. This hath been always fo evident to common Senfe, that no Man who had any Regard to Truth or Ingenuity, ever thought Matters of Faft be- fides the Argument, and Stories made at Plealure, the Way of managing Controver- fies. Which fhewing only the Want of Senfe and Argument, could, if ufed on both Sides, end in nothing but downright railing : And he muft always have the Better of the Caufe, who has Lying and Impudence on his Side. The Unmasker, in the Entrance of his Book, fets a great Diftance between his and my Way of Writing. I am not forry that mine differs fo much as it does from his. If it were like his, I fhould think, like his, it wanted the Author's Commendations. For, in his firft Paragraph, which is all laid out in his own Teftimony of his own Book, he fo earneftly befpeaks an Opinion of Maftery in Politenefs, Order, Cohe- rence, Pertinence, Strength, Serioufnefs, Temper, and all the good Qualities requi- yol. II. B b b b fite 5^2 A Second Vindication of the fite in Controverfy, that I think, fince he pleafcs himfelf fo much with his own good Opinion, one in Pity ought not to go about to rob him of fo confiderable an Admi- rer. I fhall not therefore contefl any of thofe Excellencies he afcribes to himlelf, or Faults he blames in me in the Management of the Difpute between us, any farther than as particular Paflages of his Book, as I come to examine them, fhall fuggeft una- voidable Remarks tome. I think the World does not fo much concern itlelf about him or me, that it need be told, in that Inventory he has given of his own good Parts in his firft Paragraph, which of us two has the better Hand at Flourifln's, Jejting^ and common Places; if I am, as he fays, /». 2. troubled with ang^y Fits, and paid Mate Ferments, -which, though I ftrive to palliate, are eajily difcernahle, &c. and he be more laudably ingenuous in the Opennefs of that Temper, which he fhews in every Leaf, I fhall leave to him the entire Glory of boafting of it. Whatever we brag of our Performances, they will be juft as they are, however he may think to add to his by his own Encomiums of them. The Difference in Stile, Order, Coherence, good Breed- ing (for all thofe amongfl: others the Unmasker mentions) the Reader will obferve, whatever I fay of them; and at beft they are nothing to theQueftion in hand. For, though I am a Tool, Pert, Childijh, Starched, Impertinent, Incoherent, "Trifling, M'^eak, Paf- fimate, &.C. Commendations I meet with before I get to the 4th Page, befides what follows, as Vpfiart Racovian, p. 24. Flouriflmg Scribler, p. 41. Dijfemiler, 106. Pedan- tick, 107. I fay, although I am all this, and what elfe he liberally bellows on me in the reft of his Book, I may have Truth on my Side, and that in the prefent Cafe ferves my Turn. Having thus placed the Laurels upon his own Head, and fung Applaufe to his own Performance, he, />. 4. enters, as he thinks, upon his Bufinel's, which ought to be, as he confelfes, p. 3. to make good his former Charges. The firft whereof he fets down in thefe Words. That / unwarrantably crouded all the necejfary Articles of Faith into one, with a Dejign of favouring Socinianifm. If it may be permitted to the fubdued to be fo bold with one, who is already Con- queror, I defire to know where that Propofition is laid down in thefe Terms as laid to my Charge. Whether it be true, or falfe, fhall, if he pleafes, be hereafter exa- mined : But it is not at prefent the Matter in queftion. There are certain Propoli- tions, which he having affirmed, and I denied, are under Debate between us : And that the Difpute may not run into an endlefs Ramble, by multiplying of new before the Points in conteft are decided, thofe ought firft to be brought to an IlTue. To go on therefore in the Order of his Socinianifm Unmask' d ((or p. 3. lie has out of the Mifhna taught me good Breeding, to anfwer the Firfl firfl, and fo in order) the next Thing he has againft me, is p. 5. which, that the Reader may underftand the Force of, I muft inform him, that in the 105. p. of his 'Thoughts concerning the Caifes of A- theifm, he faid, that I give this plauftble Conceit, as he calls it, over and over again in thefe formal Words, V\z. " That nothing is required to be believed by any Chriflian Man but " this, that yefiis is the Meffiah." This I denied. To make it good, Socinianifm Un- mask d, p. 5. he thus argues, Firft, It is obfervable, that this guilty Man would be Jhifting off the IndiElment, by excepting againft the Formality of Words, as iffuch were not to be found in his Book : But when doth he do this ? In the Clofe of it, when his Matter was exhaufied, and he had nothing elfe to fay, Vind. p. J53. of this Vol. then he bethinks himfelf of this Salvo, &c. Anfw. As if a Falfhood were ever the lefs a Falfhood, becaufe it was not oppofed, or would grow into a Truth if it were not taken Notice of, before the 38th Page of the Anfwer. I defire him to fhew me thefe formal Words over and over again in my Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity : Nor let him hope to evade, by faying, I would he floifting by excepting againft the Formality of the Words. 1:7":,, 1 ' To fay that I have over and over again thofe formal Words in my Book, is an Afler- tion of a Matter of Faft, let them produce the Words, and juftify his Allegation, or confefs, that this is an Untruth publiflied to the World : And fince he makes fo bold with Truth in a Matter vifible to e\ ery body, let the World be Judge, what Credit is to be given to his Allegations of Matters of Fad;, in Things foreign to what I have printed ; and that are not capable of a Negative Proof. A Sample whereof the Rea- der has at the Entrance in his Introduction, Page A 4. and the three or four following Pages. Where he affirms to the World not only what I know to be falfe ; but what every one muft fee, he could not know to be true. For he pretends to know and de- liver my Thoughts. And what tiie Charafter is of one that confidently affirms, what he does not know, no body reed be told. But Reajomblenejs of Christianity, ilfc. "" ^6^ But lie adds, / had before pleaded to the Lidiclment, and thereby owned it to be true. This is to make good his Promifc, p. 5. to keep at a diftance from 7ny feeble Strug- lings. Here this llrong Arguer muft prove, tliat what is not anfvver'd or deny'd in the very beginning oi a Reply, or before the 38th Page, is otx.-}i^d to be true. In the mean time till he docs that, I fliall defire fuch of my Readers as think the Un- maskei's Veracity worth examining to ice in my llndicatinn, from p. J50, 55 1. vvhere- in is contain'd, what I have laid about one Article, whether I have o-wn d what he charged me with, on that Subjci;:t. This Propofuion then remains upon him flill to be proved, 'vix,. I. T'hat I have over and over again t hi fe formal Words in my Reafonablenefs of Chri" ftianity, viz.. That nothing is required to be believed by any Chriflian Man, but this^ That Jefus is the Meffiah. He goes on pag. 5 . And indeed he could do no other, for it was the jnain IVork he fet himfelf about to find but one Article of Faith in all the Chapters of the four Ev.inghfts^ and the Afls of the Apoftles. This is to make good his Promii'e, pag. 3. Tl. clea, l)is Book from thoje forry Objections and Cavils 1 had raifed againfi it. Several oi my forry Objections and Cavils were to reprefent to the Reader, that a great part of what he faid was nothing but Sufpicions and Conjectures, and fuch he could not but then own them to be. But now he has rid himfelf of all his Conjeflures, and has raifed them up into direft pofitive Affirmations, which being faid with Confidence without Proof, who can deny, but he has clear 'd, throughly clear'd that Part from my y^/r^ Objections and Cavils ? He fays it. was the main tVork I fet my felf about to find but one Article of Faith. This I mull take the Liberty to deny : And I defire him to prove it. A Man may fet himfelf to find two, or as many as there be, and yet find but one : Or a Man may ft himjelj to find but one, and yet find two or more. It is no Argu- ment from what a Man has found, to prove what was his W(7/« Work to find, unlcfs where his Aim was only to find what there was, whether more or lefs. For a Wri- ter may find the Reputation of a poor contemptible Railer ; nay, of a downright impudent Lyar, and yet no body will think it was his main Work to find that. Therefore Sir, if you will not find what 'tis like you did not feek, you mufl prove thofe many confident Aifertions, you have publifhed, which I fhall give you in tale, whereof this is the fecond, viz.. II. That the main Eufinefs I fet my felf .about, was to find but one Article of Faitlf. In the following part of this Sentence, he quotes my own Words, with the Pages where they are to be found ; the firft time, that, in either of his two Pages againfi me, ' he has vouchfafedtodofo, concerning o»£>^rm7f, wherewith he has made fomuchnoife. My Words in(/>/z^f. 516. of this Vol. of) my Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, {land thus: For that this is the fole DuElrine prejfed and required to be believed in the whole tenor of our Saviour's and his Apofilcs preaching, we have fiew'd through the whole Hifiory of the Evangelifts and Acts, and I challenge them to Jl.iew that there was any other Do- Brine upon their AJfent to which, or disbelief of it. Men were pronounced Believers or Unbelievers, and accordingly received into the Church of Chrifl, as Members of his Body, as far as mere believing could make them fo ; or elfe kept out. This was the only Gojpet ^ *' Article of Faith which was preached to them. Out of this Page, the Unmasker fets down thefe Words, " This is the SOLE Doctrine prejfed and required to be believed in the whole tenor of our Saviour's and his Apofiles preaching, p. 12$. this was the ON LT Cofpel Article of Faith zvhich was preached to them. I fhall pafs by all other Obfervations, that this tvay of citing thefe Words would fugged, and only remark, that if he brought thefe Words to prove the immedi- ately preceding Afl'ertion of his, viz,. That to find out but one Article vf Faith was the main IVork I fet my felf about. This Argument reduced into Form, will Hand thus : He who fays, that this is the fole Dcftrine prefled and required to be believed, in the whole Tenor of our Saviour's and his Apoftles Preaching, upon their Aflentto which, or disbelief of it. Men were pronounced Believers or Unbelievers, and ac- cordingly received into the Church of Chrift, as Members of his Body, as far as mere believing could make them fo, or elfe kept out, fets himfelf to find out but one Article of Faith, as his main Work. But the Vindicator did fo : Ergo, .Vol. II. B b b b J K 5^4 A Second, Vindication df the If this were the ufe he would make ofthofe Words of mine cited, Imuft defiro him to prove the major. But he talks fo freely, and without Book, every where, tiiat I fuppofe he thought himfclf, by the Privilege of a Declaimer, exempt from be- ing called ftritftly to an Account for what he fo loofely fays, and from proving what he Ihould be called to Account for. Rail luflily, is a good Rule, fomething of it will flick, true or faifc, proved or not proved. If he alledges thefe Words of mine, to anfwer my Demand, Vind. p. 551. where he found that I contended for one fingle Article oj Faith, -with the Exclujion and Defiance of all the reft which he had charged me with. I liiy, it proves this as little as the for- jner. For to fay, " That I had fhew'd through the whole Hiftory of the Evangeliftsy *' and the Acls, that this is the fole Doctrine, or only Gofpel-Article prefled and re- " quired to be believed in the whole Tenor of our Saviour and his Apoftles Preaching; " upon their Aifent to which, or disbelieving of it, Men were pronounced Believers or " Unbelievers, and accordingly received into the Church of Chrift, or kept out; is the fimple Aflertion of a pofitive Matter of Faft, and fo carries in it no Defiance, no, nor Exchfion of any other Doftrinal or Hiftorical Truth contained in the Scripture : And therefore it remains ftill on the Unmasker to fhew where \is I exprefs any Defian:e of ,any other Truth contained in the Word of God ; or where I exclude any one Doftrine of the Scriptures. So that if it be true, that I contend jor one Knicle, my Contention may be without any Defiance, or fo much as Exchfion of any of the reft, notwith- ftanding any thing contained in thefe Words, Nay, if it fliould happen that I am in a Miftake, and that this was not the fole Dodrine which our Saviour and his Apcftles preached, and upon their Afl'ent to which. Men were admitted into the Church ; yet the Unmasker's Accufation would be never the truer for that, unlefs it be neceflary; that he that miftakes in one Matter of Faft, fhould be at Defiance with all other Truths ; or, that he who erroneoufly fays, that our Saviour and his Apoftles admitted Men into the Church upon the believing him to be the Mejfah, does thereby exclude all other Truths publiflied to the Jews before, or to Chriftian Believers afterwards. If thefe Words be brought to prove, that I contended for one Article, barely one Ar~ tide, without any Defiance or Exclufion annext to that Contention ; I fay, neither do they prove that, as is manifeft from the Words themfelves, as well as from what I faid elfevvhere concerning the Article of One God. For here, I fay, this is the only Go- fpel-Article, tXc. upon which Men were pronounced Believers ; which plainly inti- mates fome other Article known and believed in the World before, and without the preaching of the Gofpel. To this the Unmasker thinks he has provided a Salvo in thefe Words, Sccinjanifm Unmask' d, p. 6. And when I told him of this one Article, he knew well enough thai I did not exclude the Article of the Diety, for that is a Principle of Natural Religion. If it be fit for an Unmasker to perceive what is in debate, he would know, that the Quefti- on is not, what he excluded or excluded not, but what Articles he charged me to have excluded. Taking it therefore to be his Meaning (which it muft be, if he meant any thing to the purpofe,) -viz,. That when he charged me fo often and pofitively for contefting for one Article, -viz,, that jfefus was the Mejjiah, he did not intend to accufe me for excluding the Article of the Deity. To prove that he did not fo intend it, he tells me, that / knew that he did not. Anfw. How fhould I know it ? he never told me fo either in his Book, or other- wife. This I know, that he faid, p. 1 1 j. That / contended for one Article, with the , Excluficn of all the reft. If then the Belief of the Diety, be an Article of Faith, and be not the Article of "yefus being the Mtfftah, it is one of the reft ; and \i all the reft were excluded, certainly that being one of all the reft, muft be excluded. How then he could lay, I knew that he excluded it not, i. e. meant not that I excluded it, when he pofi- tively fays, I did exclude it, I cannot tell,unlefs he thought that I knew him fo well, that when he faid one thing, I knew that he meant another, and that the quite contrary. He now, it feems, acknowledges that I affirmed, that the Bcliefof the Deity, as well as of "yefus being the Mefftah, was required to make a Man a Believer. The be- lieving in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, is one Article; and in fefm Chrift his only Son our Lord, is another Article. Thefe therefore being two Articles, and both aflerted byme to be required to make a Man a Chriftian, let us lee with what Truth or Ingenuity the Unmasker could apply, befides that above-men- tion'd, thefe following Exprelfions to mej as he does without any Exception. IVhy tlien muft Reafonablenefs of CuKisriAi^iTY) i^c. 5^5 tm/fi there be one Article, and no more ? ^. 115. Going to make a Religion for his Mtr- tnidons, he contrails all into one Article, and luill trouble them with no more, p. u 7. A- •way "with Syfiems, away with Creeds, let m have but one Article, though it be with Di- fiance of all the reft, p. 118. Thus we fee why he reduces all Belief to that one Article be- fore rehearfed, p. 120. And all this without any the leaft Exception of the Article of a Deity, as he now pretends. Nor could he indeed, as is evident from his own Words, p. Ill, 122. 7w conclude, this Gentleman and his Fellows are refvlved to be Unitarians, they are for one Article of Faith, as well as one Perfvn in the Godhead : — But if thefe learned Men were not prejudiced they would perceive, that when the Ca- tholick Faith is thus brought down to one fingle Article, it will foon be reduced to none, the Unite will dwindle into a Cypher. By which the Reader may fee, that his In- tention was, to perfuade the World, that I reduced ALL BELIEF, the CATHO- LICK FAVtH Tthey are his own Words) to one fingle Article and no more. For if he had given but the leaft hint, that I allowed of two, all the Wit and Strength of Argument contained in Unitarians, Unite and Cypher, with which he winds up all, had been ut- terly loft, and dwindled into palpable Nonfenfe. To demonftrate that this was the Senfc he would be underftocd in, we are but to obferve what he fays again, p. 50. o£ W\s Socinianifm Unmask' d, where he tells his Readers, That / and my Friends, have new modelled the Apoflles Creed ; yea indeed, have prefented them with ONE Article, inflead of "T IV E LV E. And hence we may fee what Sincerity there is in the Reafon he brings to prove that he did not exclude the Article of the Deity. Fur, fays he, p. 6. that is a principle of Natural Religion. Anfw. Ergo, He did not in pofitive Words, without any Exception, fay, I redu- ced all Belief, the Catholick Faith, to one fingle Article, and no more. But to make good his Promife, not to refemble ?ne in the little Artifices of Evading, he wipes his Mouth, and fays at the bottom of this Page, But the Reader fees his [the Vindicator's] yZ'«/^ fiing. Whilft the Article of One God is a Part oi A L L Belief, a Part of the Catholick Faith, ALL which heaffirm'd I concluded, but the one Article concerning the Mejjiah, every one will fee where the fhuffling is : And if it be not clear enough from thofe Words themfelves, let thofe above quoted out of />. 50. of his Socinianifm Unmask' d, where he fays, That / have new-modell'd the Apoflles Creed, and prefented the IVorld ivith NE Article inflead ofFM^ELVE, be an Interpretation of them. For if the Article of One Eternal God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, be one of the Articles of the Apoftles Creed, and the one Article I prefented them with be not that, 'tis plain, he did and would be underftood to mean, that by my one Article, I excluded that of the One Eternal God, which Branch foe ver of Religion, either Natural or Revealed, it belongs to. I do not endeavour to perfuade the Reader, as he fays, p. 6. that he mifunderflood me ; but yet every body will fee, that he mifreprefented me. And I challenge him to fay, that thofe Expreffions above quoted out of him, concerning One Article, in the obvious Senfe of the Words, as they ftand in his Accufation of me, were true.^ This flies fo direftly in his Face, that he labours mightily to get it off, and therefore iadds thefe Words, My Difcourfe did not treat (neither doth his Book run that IVay) of Principles of Natural Religion, but of the Revealed, and particularly the Chriflian : Accordingly this was it which I taxed him with, "That of all the Principles and Arti- cles of Chriflianity, he chofe out but one as necejfary to be believed to make a Man a Chriflian. Anfw. His Book was of Atheifm, which one may think fhould make his Dif- courfe treat of Natural Religion. But I pais by that, and bid him tell me where he taxed me, 7hat of all the Principles and Articles of Chriflianity, I chofe out but one : Let him fhew in all his Difcourfe but fuch a Word, or any thing faid like owe Article of Chri- flianity, and I will grant that he meant particularly, but fpoke generally ; mifled his Reader, and left himfelf a Subterfuge. But if there be no Expreflion to be in found in him tending that way, all this is but the covering of one Falfliood with another, which thereby only becomes the grofler. Though if he had in exprefs Word, taxed me, "That of all the Principles and Articles of the Chriflian Religion, I chofe out but one, that would not at all help him, till he farther declares, that the Belief of One God is not an Article of the Chriflian Religion. For of A L L the Articles of the Chriflian Religion, he fays, / chofe but one ; which not being that of a Deity, his Words plainly import, tUat that was left out among the reft^ unlefs it be poflible for a Man to chufe but one Article 1^66 A Second Vindicntion of the Article of the Chriftian Religion, viz,. Tliat 'Jefm is the MejTuih ; and at the fame time to chuie Two Articles of the Chriftian Religion, viz,. 'J'hat there is One Eternal God, and that ^^^y"* is the Mejfiah. If he iiad i'poken clearly, and like a fair Man, he fhould ha\ e laid, That he taxed me with chufing but One Article of revealed Reli- gion. This had been plain and direft to his Purpofe : But then he knew the Falfhood of it would be too obvious: For in the feven'Pages wherein he taxes me fo much %vith One Article, Chriftianity is feveral times named, though not once to the Purpofe he here pretends. But Revelation is not fo much as once mentioned in them, nor, as I remember, in any of the Pages he bcftows upon me. To conclude, the feveral Paflages above quoted out of him, concerning CKi?/o/^y5?>'- tide, are all in general Terms, without any the lead Limitation or Reftridtion ;• and as they ftand in him, fit to perfuade the Reader that I excluded all other Articles wliat- foever, but that one of jefus the Mejjiah : And if in that Senic they are not true, they are fo many Falfhoods of his repeated there, to miflead others into a wrong Opinion of me. For if he had had a mind his Readers fhould have been rightly informed, why was it not as eafy once to explain himfelf, as fo often to affirm it in general and tinreftrained Terms ? This all the boalled Strength of the Uunmasker will not be able to get him out of. This very well becomes one who fo loudly charges me with Shttffling, Having repeated the fame thing over and over again, in as general Terms as was poflible, without any the leaft Limitation in the whole Difcourie, to have nothing elfe to plead when required to prove it, but that it was meant in a limited Senfe, in an Unmasker, is not Shuffling. For by this way he may have the Convenience to fay and unfay what he pleaies ; to vent what Stuff he thinks for his Turn ; and when he is cal- led to an Account for it, reply, He meant no fuch thing. Should any one publifh, that the Unmaiker hitd but One Article of Faith and no more, viz.. That the Doftrines in fafhion, and likely to procure Preferment, are alone to be received ; that all his Belief ws.^ comprifed in this onefmgle Article : And when fuch a Talker was demanded to prove his Aflertion, fhould he fay, he mednt, to except his Belief of the Apoftles Creed : Would he not, notwithftanding fuch a Plea, be thought a fhuffling Lyar ? And if the Unmasker can no otherwife prove thofe univerfal Propofitions above-cited, but by faying, he meant them with a tacit Reffridion, (for none is expreifed)they will ftill and for ever remain to be accounted for by his Veracity. What he fays in the next Paragraph,/". 7. of my fpUtting One Article into Two, is ;uft of the fame Force, and with the fame Ingenuity. I had faid. That the Belief of One God was neceflary ; which is not denied : I had alfo faid, " That the Belief of " Jefiis o( Naz.arethtohe the Me[l:ah, together with thofe concomitant Articles of his " Refurreftion, Rule, and coming again to Judge the World, was neceflary, />. 538. " And again, /». 540. That God had declared, whoever would believe Jefiis to be the " Saviour promifed, and take him now raifed from the Dead, and conftituted the " Lord and Judge of all Men, to be their King and Ruler, fliall be faved." This made me fay' T'hefe and T'hofe Articles (in Words of the plural Number) more than once ; evidence enough to any but a Caviller, that I contended not for one Jingle Article and no more. And to mind him of it, I in my Vindication, reprinted one of thofe Places where I had done fo ; and that he might not, according to his manner, over- look what does not pleafe him, the Words, THESE ARE ARTICLES, were printed in great Characters. Whereupon he makes this Remark, /». 7. And though Jince he has tried to fplit this One into Tivo, p. 28. yet he labours in vain : Fur to believe Jefus to be the Mejjiah, amounts to the fame -with believing him to be King and Ruler ; his being Anointed (i. e. being the Melliah) including that in it : Tet he has the Vanity to add in great CharaEiers, THESE ARE ARTICLES ; as if the putting them into thefe great Letters, would make make One Article Two. Anfw. Though no Letters will make One Article Two; yet that there is one God, and Jefus Chrift; his only Son our Lord, who rofe again from the Dead, afcended in- to Heaven, and fitteth on the Right-Handof God, fhall come to judge the Quick and the Dead, are in the Apoftles Creed fet down as more than One Article, and therefore may very properly be called THESE ARTICLES, without fplic- ting One into Two. What, in my P.eafonablenefs of Chriftianity, I have faid of One Article, I fhall always own ; and in what Senfe I faid it, is eafy to be underftood ; and with a Man of :ne leaft Candor, whofe Aim was Truth, and not Wrangling, it would not have ccca- fion'd one Word of Difpute. But as for this Unmasker, w^ho made it his Bufinefs not to Reajonablenejs of Christianity, &:c. ^^-j to convince me of any Miftakes in my Opinion, but barely to mifreprefent me j my Bufinels at prefent with him, is to flaew the World, that what he has captiouily and fcurriloufly faid of me relating to one Article, is falfe; and that he neither has nor can prove one of thofe Allertions concerning it, above-cited out of him in his own Words. Nor let him pretend a Meaning againft his direift Words : Such a Caviller as he, who would Ihelter himfelf under the Pretence of a Meaning, whereof there are noFootfteps, whole Difputes are only Calumnies diredled againft the Author, with- out examining the Truth orFalfhood of what I had publifhed, is not to expert the Allowances one would make to a fair and ingenuous Adverlary, who fliew'd fo much Concern for Tiuth, tiiat he treated of it with a Serioufnefs due to the Weightinefs of the Matter, and ufed other Arguments befides Obloquy, Clamour and Falfhoods, againft what he thought Error. And therefore I again politively demand of him to prove thefe Words of his to be true, or confefs that he cannot : viz.. III. 'That I contend Jor One Article of Faith, with the Exclujton and Defiance of all the refl. Two other Inftanccs of this Sort of Arguments I gave in the 551ft Page of my Vindication, out of the 115th and iipth Pages of his "Thoughts concerning the Caufa of Atheifm, and I here demand of him again to fllew, fmce he has not thought fie hitherto to give any Anfvver to it. IV. Where I urge, that there mujl he nothing in Chriflianity, that is not plain, and exaCily levelled to all Mens Mother Wit, and every common Apprehenfion. Or where he finds, in my Reafonahlenefs of Chriflianity, this other Propofition : V. That the very Manner of every thing in Chriflianity miifl he clear and intelligible; every thing mufl immediately be comprehended by the weakefl Noddle, or elfe it is no Part of Religion, efpecially of Chriflianity. Thefe Things he muft prove that I have faid : I put it again upon him to fhew where I faid them, or eUe to confefs the Forgery : For till he does one or t'other, he fhall be fure to have thefe, with a large Catalogue of other Falfhoods, la'd be- fore him. Pag. 25. of his Socinianifm Unmask' d, he endeavours to make good his Saying, that I fet up One Article, with Defiance of all the reft, in thefe Words ; For what is excluding them wholly, but defying them ? Wherefore, feeing he utterly excludes all the refl, by repre- fenting them as USELESS to the making a Man a Chriflian, zvhich is the Dtfign vf hit whole Undertaking, it is manifefl that he defies them. Anfw. This atleaft is manijefl from hence, that theUnmasker knows not, or cares not what he fays. For ^vhcever, but he, thought that a bare Excluficn, or paffing by, was i)^/?«}2tf .? If he underftands it fo, I would advife him not to feek Preferment. For Exclufions will happen ; and if every Exclufion be Defiance, a Man had need be well affured of his own good Temper, who fhall not think his Peace and Charity ia Danger, amongft fo many Enemies that ai'e at Defiance with him > Defiance, if with any Propriety it can be fpoken of an Article of Faith, muft fignify a profefl'ed Enmity to it. For in its proper Ufe, which is to Perfons, it fignifies an open and declared Enmity raifed to that Height, that he in whom it is, challenges the Party defied to Battle, that he may there wreak his Hatred on his Enemy in his Deftruftion. So that my Defiance of all the refl remains ftill to be proved. But, Secondly, There is another Thing manifefl from thefe Words of his, viz.. That notwithftanding his great Brags in his firft Paragraph, his main Skill lies, in fanfying what would be for his Turn, and then confidently fathering it upon me. It never en- ter'd into my Thoughts, nor, I think, into any body's elfe, ( I muft always except . the acute Unmasker, who makes no Difference between Ufeful and Neceflary) that all but the fundamental Articles of the Chriftian Faith were tifelefs to make a Man a Chriftian ; though, if it be true, that the Belief of the Fundamentals alone ( be they few or many) is all that is neceflary to his being made a Chriftian, all that may any way perfuade him to believe them, may certainly be ufeful towards the making him a Chriftian : And therefore here again I muft propofe to him, and leave it with him to be Iliew'd, where it is, VI. /have 5^2 A Second Vindicntion of the VI. / hn've reprefented all the refl as ufelefs to the making a Man a Chrifiian ? And how it appeal's, that this is the Dejign of my -whrile Undenaking ? In his Thoughts concerning the Caufes of Atheifm, he fays, pag. 1 1 j. Pl^/mt makes him contend for one Jingle Article with the Rxclufion of all the reft ? He pretends it is this, that all Men ought to tmderftand their Religion. This Reafoning I difowned, p. 550. of my Vindication, and intimated, p. 27. that he fhould have quoted the Page where I fo pretended. To this p. 26. he tells me with great Confidence, and in abundance of Words, as we ftiall fee by and by, that I had done fo ; as if Repeti- tion were a Proof. He had done better to have quoted one Place, where I fo pretend. Indeed p.2j. for want of fomething better, he quotes thefe Words of mine out of p. ')^o. o{ the Reafonal>lenefs of Chri(iianity. 'The all-merciful God fcems herein to have confulted the Poor of this World, and the Bulk of Mankind. THE SE ARE ARTICLES that the labouring and illiterate Man may comprehend. I ask whether it be poffible for one to bring any thing more direft againft himfelf ? The Thing he was to prove was, that I contended for one Jingle Article -with the Exclujion of all the refl, becaufe I pretended, that all Men ought to underftand their Religion, i. e. The Reafon I gave, why there was to be but one Jingle Article in Religion -with the Exclujion of all the refl , was, becaufe Men ought to underftand their Religion. And the Place he brings to prove my Contending upon that Ground ^or one Jingle Article -with the Exclujion of all the reft, is a Paflage wherein I fpeak of more than one Article, and fay thefe Articles. Whether I faid Thefe Articles properly or improperly, it matters not in the prefent Cafe (and that we have examinV. in another Place ) 'tis plain, I meant more than one Article, wl.e.i I faid thefe Articles ; and did not think, that the labouring and illiterate Man could not underftand them, if they were more than one : And there- fore I pretended not, that there muft be buc one, becaufe by illiterate Men more than one could not be underftood. The reft of this Paragraph is nothing but a Repeti- tion of the fame Afl'ertion without Proof, which with the Unmasker, often pafles for a Way of proving, but with no body elfe. But, that I may keep that Diftance, which he boafts there is betwixt his and my Way of Writing, I fliall not fay this without Proofs. One Inftance of his Repeti- tion, of which there is fuch Plenty in his Book, pray take here. His Bufinefs p. 26. is to prove, that I pretended that I contended for one Jingle Article with the Ex- clujion of all the refl , becaufe all Men ought to underfland their Religion, pag. 480. of my Vindication, I denied that I had fo pretended. To convince me that I had, thus he proceeds. Unmasker. He founds his Conceit of one Article partly upon this, that a Multitude of Doctrines it obfcure, and hard to be underflood. Anfwer. You fay it, and had faid it before : But I ask you, as I did before, where Ididfo? Unm. And therefore he truffes all up in one Article, that the poor People and Bulk of Mankind may bear it. Anfw. I defire again to know where I made that Inference, and argued fo for ene Article. Unm. Thit is the Scope of a great Part of his Book. Anfw. This is Saying again, fhew it once. Unm. But his Memory does not keep Pace with his Invention, and thence he fays, he re- members nothing of this in his Book, Vind. p. 5 50. Anfw. This is to fay, that it is in my Book. You have faid it more than once al- ready ; I demand of you to fhew me where. Unm. This worthy IVriter does not know his own Reafoning, that he ttfes. Anfw. I ask where does he ufe that Reafoning ? Unm. As particularly thm , that he troubles Chriflian Men with no more ', hut one Article : B EC A USE that is intelligible, and all People high and low may com- prehend it. Anfw. We have heard it affirm'd by you over and over again, but the Queftion ftill is. Where is that Way of arguing to be found in my Book ? Unm. For he hcu chofen out, as he thinks , a plain and eafy Article. Whereas the ethers, which are commonly propounded , are not generally agreed on ( he faith,) and are dubious and uncertain. But the Believing that Jejni the MeJJ^ah hm nothing of Doubtful- fiefs or Obfiurity in it. 'Anf-'H. Reafonablenefs of Christ I Ai^iTY, ^ci 5^9 Anfw. The Word For, in the Beginning of this Sentence, makes it ftand for one of your Reafonsj though it be but a Repetition of the fame Thing in other Words. Unm. THIS the Reader wiS find to be the Drift and Defign of feveral of his Pages. Anfw. This muft fignify, That I trouble Men with no more but one Article be'- caufe one only is intelligible, and then it is but a Repetition. If any thing elfe be meant by the Word This, ic is nothing to the Purpole. For that I faid, that all Things neceflary to be believ'd are plain in Scripture, and cafy to be underftood, I never deny'd; and fhould be very forry, and recant it, if I had. Unm. And the Reafon -why I did not quote any fmgle one oj them, -was, becaufa he infifts on it fo long together : and fpins it out after this Way, in p. 540. of his Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, -where he fets down the " fhort, plain, eafy and " intelligible Summary (as he calls it ) of Religion, co«t7/^ in a fmgle Arti- " cle : He immediately adds ; The All -merciful God feems herein to have con- ** fulted the Poor of this World, and the Bulk of Mankind : Thefe are Articles *' ( -whereas he had fet do-wn but one ) that the labouring and illiterate Man may " comprehend." Anfw. If my infiftirig on it fo long together, was the Caufe Virhy, in your Thoughts of the Caufes of Atheifm, you did not quote any fingle Paflage ; mcthinks here, in your Sodnianifm Unmask'd, where you knew it was expefted of you, my infijling on it, as you lay, fo long together, might have afforded at ieaft one Quotation to your Purpole. Unm. He ajjigns this as a Ground -why it -was God's Pleafure that there flmild be but ONE P OJ NT of Faith, BECAUSE thereby Religion may be underflood the better ; the Generality of the People may comprehend it. Anfw. I hear you fay it again, but want a Proof ftill, and ask where I ajfign that Ground? Unm. This he reprefents as a great Kindnefs done by God to Man, -whereas the Va- riety of Articles -would be hard to be underflood. Anfw. Again the fame Cabbage ; an Affirmation, but no Proof. Unm. This he enlarges upon, and flour iflyes it over after his Fajhion : And yet he de- fires to know, IVhen he faid fo< p. 551. Vindic. Anfw. And if I did, let the World here take a Sample of the Unmaske/s Abi- lity or Truth, who fpends above two whole Pages, 26, 27. in Repetitions of the fame Aflertion, without the producing any but one Place, for Proof j and that too againft him, as I have Ihewn. But he has not yet done with confounding me by Dint of Repetition ; he goes on. Unm. Good Sir, let me be permitted to acquaint you, that your Memory is as defective as your 'Judgment. Anfw. I thank you for the Regard you have had to it j for often Re(J)etition is a good Help to a bad Memory. In requital, I advife you to have fome Eye to your own Memory and 'Judgment too. For one or both of them feem a little to blame in the Reafon you fubjoin to the foregoing Words, -viz.. Unm. For in the very Vindication you attribute it to the Goodnefs and Condefcenfion of the Almighty, that he requires nothing as abfolutefy neceflary to be believgd, but what is fulted to vulgar Capacities, and the Comprehenfion of illiterate Men. Anfw. I will, for the Unmasker's Sake, put this Argument of his into a Sylogifm. If the Vindicator, in his Vindication, attributes it to the Goodnefs and Condelcen- fion of the Almighty, that he requires nothing to be believed, but what is fuitfid to vulgar Capacities, and the Comprehenfion of illiterate Men; then he did, in his Reafonablenefs of Chriflianity, pretend, that the Reafon why he contended for one Article with the Exclufion of all the reft, was, becaufe all Men ought to un- derftand their Religion. But the Vidicator, in his Vindication, attributes it to the Goodnefs and Conde- fcenfion of Almighty God, that he requires not;hing to be believed, but what is fuited to vulgar Capacities, and the Comprehenfion of illiterate Men. Ergo, in his Reafonabletiefs of Chriflianity, he pretended, that the Reafon why he contended for one Article with the Exclufion of alj ^he r^j was,, becaufe all Mea ought to underftand their Religioa. Vol. Hi C ^ c c This ^'•jo A Second Vindication ef the This was tlie Propofition to be proved, and which, as he confencs here," ^. a^. I deny'd to remember to be in my Pvcafonahlenefs of Chrijlianity, Who can but ad- mire his Logick ! But befides the Strength of 'judgment, which you have fhewed in this clear and cogent Rcaloning, Does not your Memory too deferve its due Applaufe? You tell * P. r<-i.me, in your Socinianifm Unmask d, that in * f. 29. of my Vindication, I defir'd to this Edit. ]. 16. after the naming feveral other Texts of Scripture, you add, which Places yield us fuch Propofitions as thefe ; and then in both Places let down what you think fit to draw out of them. And Pa^e 15. you have thefe Words: And here Hhzuife if were eafy to flxw, that Adoption, 'Jiijlification, Pardon of Sins, &:c. ri'hich are Privileges and Benefits be- ftow'd upon us by the Meffiah, are Neceffary Matters of our Belief. By all which, as well as the whole Frame, wherein you make fliew of giving us your Fundamen- tal Articles, it is plain, that what you have given us there, is nothing lels than a compleat Colledion of Fundamentals, even in your own Opinion of it. But, good Sir, Why is it a foolif) Qiieftion in me ? You have found' fault with my Summary for being ftiort : The Defeft in my Colleftion of Neceflary Articles has rais'd your Zeal into lb fevere Cenfures, and drawn upoa me, frcni you, fo heavy a Condemnation, that if half that you have fa id of me be true, I am in a very ill Cafe, for having fo curtail'd the Fundamental Doctrines of Chriftianity. Is it Fully then for me to ask from you a compleat Creed ? I! \l be fo dangerous (as certainly it is) to fail in any neceflary Article of Faith, Why is it Folly in me to be inftant with you to give me them all ? Or why is it Fjlly in you to grant fo reafonable a Demand ? A fliort Faith, defeftive in Ne- celfanes, is no more tolerable in you, than in me ; nay, much more inexcufable, if it were for no other Reafon but this, that you reft in it your felf, and would impofe it on others; and yet do not your felf know, or believe it to be compleat. For if you do. Why dare you not fay fo, and give it us all intire in plain Propofi- tions; and not, as you have in great Meafure done here, give only the Texts of Scripture, from whence, you fiy, neceflary Articles are to be drawn ? Vv'hich is too great an Uncertainty for Doctrines abfolutely neceflary. For poffibly all Men do not underftand thofe Texts alike, and fome may draw Articles out of- them quite different from your Syftem ; and fo though they agree in the fame Texts, may not agree in the lame Fundamentals: And till you have fet down plainly and diftinttly your Articles, that you think contain'd in them, cannot tell whe- ther you will allow them to be Chriftiaiis, or no. For you know. Sir, feveral Inferences are often drawn from the fame Text ; and the different Syftems of dif- fenting (I was going to fay Chriftians, but that none muft be fo, but thofe who receive your Colleftion of Fundam,encals, when you pleafe to give it them) Pro- feflbrs, are all founded on the Scripture. Why, I befeech you, is mine a foolifi Queftion to ask. What are the neceflfary Articles of Faith ? ^Tis of no lefs Confequence than, nor much diflirent from the Jaylor's Queftion in the fixteenth of the Acis, IVhat ffall J. do to be faved? and that was not, that ever I heard, counted by any one n foolifi Q^iefiion. You grant, there are Articles neceflary to be believ'd for Salvation : Would it not then be Wifdom to know them ? Nay, is it not our Duty to know and believe them ? If not, Why do you with fo much Out-cry reprehend me, for not knowing them ? Why do you fill your Books with fuch Variety of Invedives, as if you could ne- ver fay enough, nor bad enough, againft me, for having left out fome of them ? And if it be lb dangerous, fo criminal to mils any of thenij Why is it a FoSy in me to move you to give me a compleat Lift ? If Fundamentals are to be known, eafy to be known (as without doubt they are ) then a Catalogue may be given of them. But if they are not, if it can- not cenainly be determined which are they ; but the doubtful Knowledge of them depends upon Guefles, Why may not I be permitted to follow my Guefles as well as you yours ? Or why, of all others, muft you prefcribe your Guefles to tne, when there are fo many that are as ready to prefcribe as you, and of as good 574 ^ Second Vindication of the gord Autliority? The Pretence indeed, and Clamour is Religion, and the Saving of Souls : But your Buliucfs 'tis plain is nothing, but to orcr-rule and prefcribe, and be hcarken'd to as a Didtator ; and not to inform, teach, and inflrudt in the fure Way to Salvation. Why elfe do you fo {lart and fling, when I defire to know of you, what is neceffary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, when this is the only material 'J'hing in Controverfy between us ; and my Miftake in it has made you begin a Quarrel with me, and let loofe your Pen againft me in no oi'dinary Way of Reprehenfion ? feefides, in this Way which you take, you will be in no better a Cafe than I. For another having as good a Claim to have his Gueffes give the Rule, as you yours; or to have his Syftem receiv'd as well as you yours ; he will complain of you, as well, and upon as good Grounds, as you do of me; and (if he have but as much Zeal for his Orthodoxy as you fhew for yours) in as civil, well-bred and Chriftian-like Language. In the next Place, pray tell me, why would it be Folly in you to comply with what I require of you ? Would it not be ufeful to me to be fet right in this Matter? if fo, why is it Folly in you to fet me right ? Confider me, if you pleafe^ as one of your Parifhioners, who (after you have refolv'd which Catalogue of Fundamentals to give him, either that in your T'imughts of the Caufs of Atheifm^ or this other here in your Socinianifm Unifia.sk'd ; for they are not both tlie lame, nor either of them perfeft) ask'd you. Are thefe all Fundamental Articles ne- ceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriflian ; and are there hO more but ihefef Would you anfwer him, that it was Folly in you to comply With liim, in what he defir'd ? Is it of no Moment to know, what is requir'd of Men to be believ'd; without a Belief of which, they are not Chriftians, nor can be fav'd? And is it Folly in a Minifter of the Gofpel, to inform one committed to his In- ftruftion in fo material a Point as this, which diftinguifhes Believers from Un- believers ? Is it Folly in one whofe Bufinefs it is to bring Men to be Chriftians^ and to Salvation, to refolve a Queftion by which they may know, whether they are Chriftians or no; and without a Refolution of which they cannot certainly know their Condition and the State they are in ? Is it befides your Commiffion and Bufinefs, and therefore a Folly, to extend your Care of Souls fo far as thiSj to thoie wlio are committed to your Charge ? Sii-, I have a Title to demand this of you, as if I were your Parifhioner : You Have forc'd your felf upon me for a Treacher in this very Point, as if you want- ed a Parifliioner to inftruft : A;:d therefore I demand it of you, and fhall infifl upon it till you either do it, or confefs you cannot. Nor fliall it excufe you, to fay it is caprkiotifly requir'd. For this is no otherwife capricious than all Que- ftiohs dre capricious to a Man that cannot anfwer them ; and fuch an one I think this is' to ycu. For if you could anfwer it, no body can doubt but that you iVould, and that vt^ith Confidence : For no body will fufpeft 'tis the Want of that makes you fo referv'd. This is indeed a frequent Way of anfwering Que- ftions by Men, that cannot otherwife cover the Abfurdities of their Opinions, and their Infolence of expeding to be believ'd upon their bare Words, by faying thfey are capricioufly ask'd, and deferv'd no other Anfwer. But how far ioevfer Capricioufnefs ( when prov'd, for faying is not enough ) may excufe from anfwering a material Queftion, yet your own Words here will cledr this from kt'mg a capricious Queftion in me. For that thofe Texts of Stripture vvhich you have fet down, do not, upon your own Grounds, contain all the Fundamental Doftrines of Religion, all that is neceflary to be believ'd to riiake a Man a Chriftian ; what you fay a little lower, in this very Page, a$ well as in other Places, does demonftrate. Your Words are, / think I hav6 fufficientfy proved, that there are other DoclriHes befides that [ Jefus is the Meffiah 3 ■vjhich are required to be believ'd to tnake a Man a Chriflian ; Ji^jy did the Apo~ files ivrite thefe DoFfrines ? Was it not that thofe they writ to, might give their AJfem to them ? This Argument, for the Neceffity of believing the Texts you cite, from their being fet doWn in the New Teflameni, you urg'd thus, p. 9. Is this fet down to no Purpofe in thefe infpird Epifiles ? Is it not requifite that we flmuld bioiu it and believe ? And again, p. 2p. T'hey are in our Bibles to that very Purpofe t9 be kliev'd. If then it be necqflary to know and |jelie\'e thofe Texts of Scrip- ture, RedJonMenefs of Christianity, ^c. 57^ ture, you have colleftcd, becaufe the Apolllcs lurit them^ and they ivere not jet down to no Ptufofe : And t/jey are in our Bibles on purpofe to be belic-v d. I have Rea- Ibn to demand of you other Texts, befidcs thole you have enumerated, as con- taining Points necelliiry to be believ'd ; becaufe there are other Texts which th6 Afoftles writ, and were not Jet down to no Purpofe, and are in our Bibles on purpofe, to be believ'd, as well as thofe which you have cited. Another Reafon of doubting, and confequently of demanding, whether thofe Propofitions you have fet down for Fundamental Doftrines, be every one of thena necelfary to be believ'd, and all that are necefl'ary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, I have from your next Argument; wliich, join'd to the former, ftands thus, p. zz. Why did the Apojiles write thefe Doctrines ? Was it not that thofe they writ to, might give their AJfent to them ? Nay, did they not require Affent to them ? Tes verily, for this is to be provd front the Nature of the Things contained m thefe Doc~ trims, which are fuch as had immediate refpedt to the Occafwn, Author, Way, Means and Ijfue of their Redemption and Salvation. If therefore all 'Tilings which have an immediate refpetl to the Occafion, Author, IVay, Means and Ijfue of Mens Redemption and Salvation, are thofe, and thofe only, which are necelfary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian ; may a Man not juftly doubt whether thofe Propofitions which the Un?nasker has fet down, contain all thofe Things, and whether there be not other Things contain'd in other Texts of Scripture, or in feme of thofe cited by him, but otherwife underftood, that have as immediate a Refpeci to the Occa- fion, Author, Way, Means and Ijfue of Mens Redemption and Salvation, as thole lie has fet down ? And therefore I have Reafon to demand a compleater Lift : For at beft, to tell us, that all Things that have an i?nmediate RefpeEi to the Occajion, Author, Way, Means and Ijfue of Mens Redemption and Salvation, is but a general Delcrip- tion of Fundamentals, with which fome may think Towe Articles agree, and others ethers : And the Terms itmnediate Rejpefl, may give Ground enough for Difference about them, to thofe who agree that the reft of your Defcription is right. My t)emand therefore is not a general Defcription of Fundamentals, but for the Rea- Ibns above-mention 'd, the particular Articles themfelves, which are neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian. It is not my Bufinefs at prefent, to examine the Validity of thefe Arguments of his, to prove all the Propofitions to be necelfary to be believ'd, which he has here in his Socinianifm Unmask' d, fet down as fuch. The Ufe I make of them now, is to fliew the Reafon they afford me to doubt, that thofe Propofitions which he has given us for Doftrines neceffary to be believ'd, are either not all fuch, or more than all, by his own Rule: And therefore I muft defire him to give us a compleater Creed, that we may know what in his Senfe is necelfary, and enougli to make a Man a Chriftian. Nor will it be fufficient in this Cafe to do, what he tells us he has done, in thefe Words, p. 21. 1 have briefly fet before the Reader thefe Evangelical Truths, thofe Chrijlian Principles which belong to the very Ejfence of Chrijlianity ; and / have reduc'd mojl of them to certain Propofitions, which is a Thing the Vindica- tor call d for, p. 16. With Submiflion, I think, he miftakes the Vindicator. What I call'd for was, not that mojl of them fliould be rediud to certain Propofitions, but that all of them fhould : And the Reafon, of my demanding that, was plain, viz.. that then having the Unmasker's Creed in clear and diftinft Propofitions, I might be able to examine, whether it was what God in the Scriptures indifpenfibly re- quir'd of every Man to make him a Chriftian, that fo I might thereby correft the Errors or Defeds of what I at prefent apprehended the Scripture taught me in the Cafe. The Unmasker endeavours to excufe himfelf from anfwering my Queftion by another Exception againft it, p. 24. in thefe Words : Surely none but this Upflart Racovian will have the Confidence to deny, that theje Articles of Faith are fuch as are necejfary to conftitute a Chrijlian, as to the iHtelleBual and DoBrinal Part of Chriftianity ; fuch as muji IN SOMEMEASURE be known and ajfented to by him. Not that a Man is fuppos'd every Moment to aftually esert his Ajfem and Belief ; for none of the Moral Vertues, none of the Evangelical Graces are exerted thus always. Wherefore that Quejlion, in p. 16, ( though he fays he asks it ferioufly ) might have been fpar'd, " Whether every one of thefe Fundamentals is required to ^ *' be ^-r^ A Second Vindication of the " be bcliev'd to make a Man a Cliriflian, and fuch as without the aftual Belief " thereof, he cannot be faved ? " Here is Serioufncfs pretended -when there is none j for the Dejign is only to cavil., and ( if he can ) tit expofe my Ajfertion. But he is not able to do it, for all bis critical Demands are anfwer'd in thefe few IVbrds, viz. I^hat the IntelleElual ( as well as Moral Endowments ) are fuppos'd to be always in aCl : T'hey are exerted upon occajion, not all of them at a "Time. And therefore he miftakes if he thinks, cr rather as he objeEis without thinking, that thefe DoBiines, if they be Fundamental and Neceffary, mtift be always aftually believ'd. No Man bejides himfelf ever fiarted fuch a rfhing. This terrible long Combat has the Unmasker manag'd with his own Shadow, to confound the Serioufnefs of my Queftion j and, as he lays himlelf, is come off not only fafe and found, but triumphant. But for all that. Sir, may not a Man's Queftion heferious, though he fhould chance to exprefs it ill? I think you and I were not beft to fet up for Criticks in Language, and Nicety of Expreffion, for fear we fhould fet the World a laughing. Yet, for this once, I fhall take the Li- berty to defend mine here. For I demand in what Expreflion of mine, I faid or fuppos'd that a Man fhould every Moment aftually exert his Ali'ent to any Propo- fition required to be believed ? Cannot a Man fay, that the Unmasker cannot be admitted to any Preferment in the Church of England without an aElual Affent to, or fubfcribing of the Thirty Nine Articles ; unlefs it be fuppos'd that he mull every Moment, from the Time he firft read, aflented to, and fubfcrib'd thofe Articles, till he receiv'd Inftitution and Induction, aclually exert his Affent to every one of them, and repeat his Subfcription ? In the lame Senl'e it is literally true, that a Man cannot be admitted into Church of Chrift, or into Heaven, without oBually believing all the Articles neceliary to make a Man a Chriftian, without fuppofing, that he muft dEiually exert that Affent every Moment, from the Time that he firft gave it, till the Moment that he is admitted into Heaten. He may eat, drink, mc;ke Bargains, ftuuy Euclid, and think of other Things between ; nay, fometimes fleep, and neither think of thofe Articles nor any thing elfe ; and yet it be true, that he fhall not be admitted into the Church, or Heaven, without an aUually Affent to them : That Condition of an aBual Afjmt he has perform'd, and until he recal that Aflent by aftual Unbelief, it ftands good ; and though a Lu- nacy or Lethargy fhould feize on him prefently after, and he fhould never think of it again as long as he liv'd, yet it is literally true, he is not fav'd without an aElual Ajfent. You might therefore have fpar'd your Pains in faying, "That none of the Moral l^'rtues, none of the Evangelical Graces, are exerted 'THUS always, till you met with fome body who faid THUS. That I did fo, I think would have enter'd into no body's Thoughts but yours, it being evident from/. 539. of my Book, that by AEiual I meant Explicit. You fhould rather have gi- ven a direct Anfwer to my Queftion, which I here again ferioujly ask you, viz,. Whether, IX. Thofe you call'd Fundamental Doiirines, in your Thoughts concerning the Caufes of Atheifm, or thofe Chrifiian Prineiples which belong to the very Ef~ fence of Chrifiianity, fo many as you have given us of them in your So- cinianifm Unmask'd (for you may take which of your two Creeds you pleafe) are juft thofe, neither more nor lefs, that are every one of them requir'd to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, and fuch as without the aftual, or ( lince that Word difpleafes you ) the explicit Belief whereof he cannot be iaved. When you have anfwer'd this Queftion, we fhall then fee which of us two is neareft the right : But if you fhall forbear railing, which, I fear, you take for arguing, againft that Summary of Faith, which our Saviour and his Apoftle» taught, and which only they propos'd to their Hearers to be believ'd to make them Chriftians, till you have found another perfeft Creed of only neceflary Articles, that you dare own for fuch j you are hke to have a large Time q£ Silence. Before I leave the Paflage above cited, I muft defire the Reader to take notice of what he fays concerning his Lift of Fundamentals, viz. That thefe kii 4'i't^des of Faith , neceffary tD (onfiime a Chrifiian, are fuch as mufl tN S9M& Reafonabknefs of (!^HKiST I ANiTYy ^c, ^7-; so ME MEA SUR E be known and ajfented to by Imn : A very wary Expreffion concerning Fundamentals. The Queftion is about Articles necefTary to ht ex- plicitly believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian. Thefe in his Lift, the Unniaskcy tells us, are neccjfaryto conflitute aChnftian, and muji IN SO ME MEASURE be known and ajfented to. I would now fain know of the Reader, Whether he underftands hereby, that the Unmasker means, That thefe his neceflary Articles muft be explicitly believ'd or not ? If he means an explicit Knowledge and Be- lief, why does he puzzle his Reader by fo improper a Way of fpeaking? For what is as compleat and perfeft as it ought to be, cannot properly be faid to be in fame Menfuve. If his in fame Meafure falls fhorc of explicitly knowing and believing his Fundamentals, his neceflary Articles arc fuch as a Man may be a Chriftian without explicitly knowing and believing, /. c. are no Fundamentals, no neceflary Articles at all. Thus Men, uncertain what to fay, betray them- felvcs by their great Caution. Having pronounc'd it Folly in himfelf to make up the Defefts of my fl^ort, and therefore fo much blam'd, Colleftion of Fundamentals, by a full one of his own, though his Attempt fliews he would if he could, he goes on thus, p. iz. From what I [the UnmaskerJ have faid, it is evident, that the Vindicator if grofly miflaken when he faith, " IVhatever DoEirine the Apoflles reqrtir'd to be believ'd to make " a Alan a Chriflian, are to be found in thofe Places vf Scripture which he has quoted *' in his Book. " And a little lower, / think I have fufficiently prov'd that there are other DoUrines befides that, which are required to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriflian. Anfw. Whatever you have proved, or (as you never fail to do) boaft you have proved, will fignify nothing, till you have prov'd one of thefe Propofitions ; and have fliewn either, X. That what our Saviour and his Apoftles preach'd and admitted Men into the Church for believing, is not all that is abfolutely requir'd to make a Man a Chriftian. Or, That the believing him to be the Meffiah, was not the only Article they In- (ifted on to thofe who acknowledg a one God ; and upon the Belief whereof they admitted Converts into the Church, in any one of thofe many Places quoted by me out of the Hiftory of the New Teflament, I fay, any one : For though it be evident throughout the whole Gofpel, and the AEis, that this was the one Doftrine of Faith, which in all their Preachings eve- ry where they principally drive at; yet if it were not fo, but that in other Places they taught other Things, That would not prove, that thofe other Things were Articles of Faith abfolutely neceflarily requir'd to be believ'd to make a Man Chriftian, unlefs it had been fo faid. Becaufe if it appears, that ever any one was admitted into the Church, by our Saviour or his Apoftles, without having that Article explicitly laid before him, and without his explicit Aflent to it, you muft grant, that an explicit Aflent to that Article is not neccef- fary to make a Man a Chriftian : Unlefs you will fay, that our Saviour and his Apoftles admitted Men into the Church, that were not qualified with fuch a Faith, as was abfolutely neceflary to make a Man a Chriftian ; which is as much as to fay, that they allow'd and pronounc'd Men to be Chriftians, who were not Chri- ftians. For he that wants what is neceflary to make a Man a Chriftian, cart no more be a Chriftian, than he that wants what is neceflary to make him a Man, can be a Man. For what is neceflary to the Being of any Thing, is eflentia! to its Being ; and any Thing may be as well without its Eflence, as without any Thing that is neceflary to its Being : And fo a Man be a Man without be-* ing a Man, and a Chriftian a Chriftian without being a Chriftian ; and an I7/i--' masker may prove this without proving it. You may therefore fee up, by yoiit . unqueftionable Authority, what Articles you pleafe, as neceflary to be believ"c{ to make a Man a Chriftian : If our Saviour and his Apoftles admitted Converts into the Church without preaching thofe your Articles to them, or requiring an explicit Aifent to what they did not preach and explicitly lay down, I fhal) prefer their Authority to yours, and think it was rather by them, than by you, that God promulgated the Law of Faith, and manifefted what tliat Faith was, upon wnich he would receive penitent Converts. Vol. IL '^ P4dd i-iid J "7 8 A Second Find teat ion of the And though by his Apoflles our Saviour taught a great many other Truths, for the explaining this Fundamental Article of the Law of Faith, that Jefus is the Meffiah ; Ibme whereof have a nearer, and fome a more remote Con- nedion with it, and fo cannot be denied by any Chriftian, who fees that Con- nexion, or knows they are fo taught : yet an explicit Jiclief of any one of them is no more necellarily required to make a Man a Chriftian, than an ex- plicit Belief of all thofe Truths which have a Connection with the Being of a God, or are revealed by him, is neceflarily required to make a Man not to be an Athcift : though none of them can be denied by any one, who lees that Con- nexion, or acknowledges that Revelation, without his being an Athcift. All thefe Truths taught us from God, eitiier by Reafon or Revelation, are of great Ufe, to enlighten our Minds, confirm our Faith, ftir up our Affections, &c. And the more we fee of them, the more we fliall lee, admire, and magnify the Wifdom, Goodnefs, Mercy, and Love of God in the Work of our Redemp- tion. This will oblige us to fearch and ftudy the Scripture, wherein it is contain'd and laid open to us. All that we find in the Revelation of the Nev) Teflament, being the declared Will and Mind of our Lord and Mafter, the McjVah, whom we have taken to be our King, we are bound to receive as Right and Truth, or elfe we are not his Subjefts, we do not believe him to be the MeJJiah, our King, but caft him off, and with the Jews fay, we will not have this Man reign over us. But i: is ftill what we find in the Scripture, not in this or that Syftem ; what we, iln- cerely feeking to know the Will of our Lord, difcover to be his Mind. Where it is fpoken plainly, we cannot mifs it; and it is evident he requires our Af- fent : Where there is Obfcurity either in the ExpreiTions themfelves, or by Rea- fon of the feeming Contrariety of other Paffages, there a fair Endeavour, as much as our Circumftances will permit, fecures us from a guilty Difobedience to his Will, or a finful Error in Faith, which Way foever our Enquiry refolves the Doubt, or perhaps leaves it unrefolvcd. If he had required more of us in thofe Points, he would have declared his Will plainer to us, anddil'covered the Truth contained in thofe obfcrure, orfeemingly contradiftory Places, as clearly, and as uniformly as he did that Fundamental Article, that we were to believe: him to be the Mejjlah, our King. As Men, we have God for our King, and are under the Law of Reafon : As Chriftians, we have Jefm the Meffiah for our King, and are under the Law re- vealed by him in the Gofpel. And though every Chriftian, both as a Deifl and a Chriftian, be obliged to ftudy both the Law of Nature and the revealed Law, that in them he may know the Will of God, and of Jefus Chrift whom he hath fent ,• yet in neither of thefe Laws is there to be found a feleft Set of Fundamentals, diftinft from the reft, which are to make him a Deifl or a Chriftian. But he that believes one eternal invifible God, his Lord and King, ceafes thereby to be .an Atheift; and he that believes Jefus to be the Meffiah, his King, ordain'd by God, thereby becomes a Chriftian, is delivered from the Power of Darknefs, and is tranflated into the Kingdoni of the Son of God, is adually within the Covenant of Grace, and has that Faith which fhall be imputed to him for Righteoufnefs ; and if he continues in his Allegiance to this his King, fhall receive the Reward, Eternal Life. He that confiders this, will not be fo hot as the Vmnasker, to contend for a Number of Fundamental Articles, all neceflary, every one of them to be ex- plicitly believed, by every one, for Salvation, without knowing them himfelf, or being able to enumerate them to another. Can there be any Thing more abfurd, than to fay, there are feveral Fundamental Articles, each of which every Man muft explicitly believe upon Pain of Damnation, and yet not to be able to fay, which they be ? The Unmasker has let down no fmall Number ; but yet dares not fay thefe are all. On the contrary, he has plainly confeffed there are more ; but will not, i. e. cannot tell what they are that remain behind : Nay, has given a general Defcription of his Fundamental Articles, by which it is not evident, but there may be ten Times as many as thofe he had named ; and amongft them ( if he djurft or could name them ) probably feveral, that many a good Chriftian, who died in the Faith, and is now in Heaven, never once Reajonahknefs of CtiKisiik-NiTY, ilfc. 579 »once thought of; and others, which many, of as good Authority as he, would, from their different Syftems, certainly deny and contradift. This, as great an Abfurdity as it is, cannot be otherwife, vvhilft Men will take upon them to alter the Terms of the Gofpel; and when it is evident, that our Saviour and his Apoftlcs receiv'd Men into the Church, and pro- nounced them Believers, for taking him to be the Mffflah, their King and De- liverer fent by God, have the Boldnefs to fay, this is not enough. But when you would know of them what then is enough, they cannot tell you : The Reafon whereof is vifible, viz.. becaufe they being able to produce no other Reafon for their Colledion of Fundamental Articles, to prove them neceffary to be believ'd, but becaufe they are of Divine Authority, and contain'd in the Holy Scriptures ; and are, as the Umnasker fays , wrh there on furpoje to be be- liev'd, they know not where to ftop, when they have once begun: Thoie Texts that they leave out, or from which they deduce none of their Funda- mentals, being of the fame Divine Authority, and fo upon that Account e- qually Fundamental with what they culled out, the' not fo well fuited to their particular Syftems. Hence come thofe endlefs and unreafonable Contentions about Fundamen- tals, whilft; each cenfures the Defeci, Redundancy, or Falfhood of what others require, as necellary to be believ'd : And yet he himfelf gives not a Catalogue of his own Fundamentals, which he will fay is fufficient and compleat. Nor is it to be wonder'd, fince in this Way it is impoffible to ftop fhort of putting every Propofition, Divinely reveal'd, into the Lift of Fundamentals ; all of them being of Divine, and fo or equal Authority; and upon that Account equally ne- ceflary to be believed by every one who is a Chriftian ; tho' they are not all ne- ceffary to be believed to make any one a Chriftian. For the New Teftamenr, containing the Laws of the Mejj:al/s Kingdom, in regard of all the Aftions both of Mind and Body of all his Subjefts ; every Chriftian is bound by his Alle- giance to him, to believe all that he fays in it to be true, as well as to alfent, that all that he commands in it is juft and good : And what Negligence, Per- verfenefs, or Guilt there is in his raiftaking in the one, or failing in his Obe- dience to the other, that this Righteous Judge of all Men, who cannot be deceived, will at the laft Day lay open, and reward accordingly, ""Tis no wnnder therefore, there have been fuch fierce Contefts, and fuch cruel Havock made amongft Chriftians about Fundamentals ; whilft every one would fet up his Syftem upon Pain of Fire and Faggot in this, and Hell-Fire in the other World: Tho' at the fame Time, whilft he is exercifing the utmoft Bar- barities againft others, to prove himfelf a true Chriftian, he profelfes himfelf fo ignorant that he cannot tell, or fo uncharitable that he will not tell what Articles are abfolutely neceflary and fufficient to make a Man a Chriftian. If there be any fuch Fundamentals, as 'tis certain there are, 'tis as certain they muft be very plain. Why then does every one urge and make a ftir about Fundamentals , and no body give a Lift of them ? But becaufe ( as I have faid ) upon the uiual Grotmds, they cannot : For I will be bold to fay , that every one, who confiders the Matter, will fee, that either only the Article, o£ his being the Meijsah their King, which alone our Saviour and his Apoftles preach 'd to the Unconverted World , and receiv'd thofe that believ'd it into the Church, is the only neceflary Article to be believ'd by a 'Theift, to make him a Chriftian ; or elfe that all the Truths, contain'd in the New Tefta- ment, are neceflary Articles to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian : And that between thefe two it is impoffible any where to ftand ; the Reafon whereof is plain. Becaufe either the believing Jefm to be the Meffiah, i. e. the taking him to be our King, makes us Subjefts and Denizons of his Kingdom, that is, Chriftians : or elfe an explicit Knowledge of, and ajftual Obedience to the Laws of his Kingdom, is what is required to make us Subjefts ; which, I think, is \vhat was never faid of any other Kingdom. For a Man muft be a Subjeft, be- fore he is bound to obey. Let us fuppofe it will be faid here, that an Obedience to the Laws of Chrift's Kingdom is what is neceflary to make us Subjefts of it, without which we cannot be admitted into it, i. e. be Chriftians : And if fo, this Obedience muft be univerfal i I mean, it muft be the fame Sort of Obedience to all the Vo1.il Pddda Laws 580 ^ Second Vindication of the Laws of this Kingdom : Which, fince no body fays is in any one fuch as is wholly (rcc from Error or Frailty, this Obedience can only lie in a fincere Difpolirion and Purpofe of Mind to obey every one of the Laws of the Meffiah dcliver'd in the New Teftament, to the utmoft of our Power. Now believ- ing right being one Part of that Obedience, as well as a6:ing right is the other Part, the Obedience of Aflent muft be implicitly to ail that is delivered there, that it is true. But for as much as the particular Afts of an explicit Affent cannot go any farther than his Underflanding, who is to affent; what he un- derftands to be the Truth deliver'd by our Saviour, or the Apoftles commif- fion'd by him, and alTifted by his Spirit, that he muft neceflarily believe: It becomes a Fundamental Article to him , and he cannot refufe his Aflent to it, without renouncing his Allegiance. For he that denies any of the Doftrines^ thatChrift has deliver'd, to be true, denies him to be fen t from God, and con- fcquently to be the Mefliah ; and fo ceafes to be a Chriftian. From whence it is evident, that if any more be neceifary to be believ'd tc m.ake a Man a Chri- ftian, than the believing Jefm to be the Meffiah, and thereby taking him for our King, it cannot be any let Bundle of Fundamentals cull'd out of the Scrip- ture, with an Omiflion of the reft, according as beft fuits any one's Fancy, Syftcm, or Intercft : But it muft be an explicit Belief of all thole PropoJitions, which he, according to the beft of his Underftanding, really apprehends to be contain'd, and meant in the Scripture; and an implicit Belief of all the reft, which he is ready to believe, as foon as it fhall pleafe God, upon his Ufe of the Means, to enlighten him, and make them clear to his Underftanding. So that in effeft, almoft every particular Man in this Senfe has, or may have a diftinft Catalogue of Furldamentals, each whereof it is necelTary for him ex- plicitly to believe, now that he is a Chriftian ; whereof if he Ihould disbelieve, or deny any one, he would caft oft" his Allegiance, disfranchize himfelf, and be no longer a Subjeft of Chrift's Kingdom. But in this Senfe no body can tell what is Fundamental to another, what is neceflary for another Man to believe. This Catalogue of Fundamentals every one alone can make for himielf: No body can fix it for him; no body can colleft or prefcribe it to another : But this is according as God has dealt to every one the Meafure of Light and Faith ; and has open'd each Man's Underftanding, that he may un- derftand the Scriptures. Whoever has us'd what Means he is capable of, for the informing of himfelf, with a Readinefs to believe and obey what fhall be taught and prefcrib'd by Jefm his Lord and King, is a true and faithful Sub- jeft of Chrift's Kingdom ; and cannot be thought to fail in any thing neceflary to Salvation. Suppofing a Man and his Wife, barely by feeing the wonderful Things that Mofes did, fhould have been perfuaded to put themfelves under his Go- vernment; or by reading his Law, and liking it; or by any other Motive, had been prevail'd on fincerely to take him for their Ruler and Law-giver ; and ac- cordingly (renouncing their former Idolatry and Heathenifli Pollutions) in To- ken thereof had by Baptifm and Circumcifion, the initiating Ceremonies, fo- lemnly enter'd themfelves into that Communion under the Law oi Mofes : Had they not thereby been made Denizons of the Common-wealth of Ifiael, and invefted with all the Privileges and Prerogatives of true Children of Abrahamy leaving to their Pofterity a Right to their Share in the promis'd Land, tho' they had died before they had perform 'd any other Aft of Obedience to that Law ; nay, tho' they had not known whofe Son Mofes was, nor how he had deliver'd the Children of Ifrael out of Egypt, nor whither he was leading them ? I do not fay, it is likely they Ihould be fo far ignorant: But whether they were or no, 'twas enough that they took him for their Prince and Ruler, with a Purpofe to obey him, to fubmit themfelves entirely to his Commands and Conduft ; and did nothing afterwards, whereby they dilown'd or rejefted his Authority over them. In that Refpeft none of his Laws were greater or more neccifary to be fubmitted to one than another, tho' the Matter of one might be of much greater Confequence than of another. But a Difobedience to any Law of the leaft Confequence , if it carry with it a Difowning of the Authority that made it, forfeits all, and cuts oft" fuch an Offender from that Common- wealth, and all the Privileges of it. This Reafondlenefs of CERisTiAmTY, ^c* 581 Tliis is the Cafe, in refpeft of other Matters of FaTth, to thofe who believe "Jefm to be the Meljiah, and take him to be their King fent from God, and io are already Cbriftiam. 'Tis not the Opinion, that any one may have of the Weigh*, inefs of the Matter, (if they are, without their own Fault, igno- rant that our Saviour hath revealed it) that fhall disfranchize them, and make them forfeit their Intereft in his Kingdom : They may be ftill good Subjefts, tho' they do not believe a great many things, which Creed-makers may think necefl'ary to be believed. That which is required of them, is a iincere Endea- vour to know his Mind declared in the Golpel , and an explicit Belief of all that they underftand to be fo. Not to believe what he has reveal'd, whe- ther in a ligi.cer or more weighty Matter , calls his Veracity into Queftion, deftroys his Miffion, denies his Authority, and is a flat difowning him to be the Meffiab ; and fo overturns that Fundamental and Ncceifary Article where- by a Man is a Chriftian. But this cannot be done by a Man's Ignorance , or unwilful Miftake of any of the Truths publifh'd by our Saviour himfelf , or his authorized and infpired Minifters in the New Teftament. Whilft a Man- knows not that it was his Will or Meaning, his Allegiance is fafe, tho' he be- lieve the contrary. If this were not fo, it is impoffible, that anyone fhould be a Chriftian. For in fome things we are ignorant, and err all, not knowing the Scriptures. For the holy infpired Writings , being all of the fame Divine Authority, muft all equally in every Article be fundamental and neceflary to be believed ; if that be a Reafon , that makes any one Propofition in it neceffary to be be- lieved. But the Law of Faith, the Covenant of the Golpel, being a Covenant of Grace, and not of natural Right or Debt; nothing can be abfolutely ne- ceflary to be believed, but what, by this new Law of Faith, God of his good Pleafure hath made to be fo. And this, 'tis plain , by the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles, to all that believed not already in him, was only the believing the only true God, and Jefm to be the Mejjiah, whom he hath lent. The Performance of this puts a Man within the Covenant , and is tliat which God will impute to him for Righteoufnefs. All the other Afts of Aifent to other Truths, taught by our Saviour, and his Apoftles, are not what make a Man a Chriftian ; but are neceflary Afts of Obedience to be performed by one, who is a Chriftian ; and therefore being a Chriftian, ought to live by the Laws of Chrift's Kingdom. Nor are we without fome Glimpfe of Light, why it hath pleafed God of his Grace, that the believing Jefm to be the Mefflah fhould be that Faith which he would impute to Men for Righteoufnefs. 'Tis evident from Scripture, that our Saviour defpifed the Shame and endured the Crofs for the Joy fet before him ; which Joy, 'tis alfo plain, was a Kingdom. But in this Kingdom, which his Father had appointed to him , he could have none but voluntary Subjefts ; fuch as leaving the Kingdom of Darknefs, and of the Prince of this World, with all the Pleafures, Pomps and Vanities thereof, would put themfelves un- der his Dominion , and tranflate themfelves into his Kingdom : Which they did by believing and owning him to be the Meffiah their King, and thereby taking him to rule over them. For the Faith for which God juftifieth, is not an empty Speculation, but a Faith join'd with Repentance, and working by Love. And for this , which was in effed: to return to God himfelf, and to their natural Allegiance due to him, and to advance as much as lay in them the Glory of the Kingdom , which he had promifed his Son, God was pleafed to declare he would accept them, receive them to Grace, and blot out all their former I'ranfgreflions. This is evidently the Covenant of Grace, as deliver'd in the Scriptures : And if this be not, I defire any one to tell me what it is, and what are the Terms of it. 'Tis a Law of Faith , whereby God has promifed to forgive all our Sins upon our Repentance, and believing fomething ; and to impute that Faith to us for Righteoufnefs. Now I ask what 'tis by the Law of Faith we are required to believe ? For till that be known, the Law of Faith is not diftinctly known, nor the Terms of the Covenant upon which the All- merciful God gracioufly offers us Salvation. And if any one will fay this is not known, nay, is not eafily, and certainly to be known under the Gof- ^gj A Second Vindication of the pel, I defire him to tell me what the greateft Enemies of Chriflianity can fay worfe a^ainft it ? For a Way propos'd to Sahation, that does not certainly lead thi- ther, or is propos'd fo as not to be known, are very little different as to their Conlequencc ; and Mankind would be left to wander in Darknefs and Uncer- tainty with the one as well as the other. I do not write this for Controverfy's fake ; for had I minded Viftory, I would not have given the Urmasker this new Matter of Exception. I know what ever is faid, he muft be bawling for his faftiionable and profitable Ortho- doxy, and cry out againft this too which I have here added, as Socinianifin, and call that Name upon all that differs from what is held by thofe, he would re- commend his Zeal to in Writing. I call it bav^ling, for whether what he has faid be Reafoning, I fhall refer to thofe of his own Brotherhood, if he be of any Brotherhood, and there be any that will join with him in his Set of Funda- mentals, when his Creed is made. Had I minded nothing but how to deal with him , I had tied him up fhort to his Lift of Fundamentals , without affording him Topicks of de- claiming againft what I have here faid. But I have enlarged on this Point, for the fake of fuch Readers, who with a Love of Truth read Books of this kind , and endeavour to inform themfelves in the Things of their Ever- lafting Concernment : It being of greater Confideration with me, to give any Light and Satisfaction to one fingle Perfori', who is really concerned to under- ftand , and be convinced of the Religion he profedes , than what a thou- fand fafhionable or titular Profeffors of any Sort of Orthodoxy fhall fay or think of me , for not doing as they do ; /. e. for not faying after others, without underftanding what is faid, or upon what Grounds, or caring to un- derftand it. Let us now confider his Argument , to prove the Articles he has given U9 to be Fundamentals. In his Thoughts concerning the Caufes of Atheifm , pag. 119. he argues from i Tim. 3. id. where, he fays, Chriflianity is called a Mjftcry ; that all Things in Chriflianity are net plain ^ and exaBly level to every com- mon Apprehenfion ; that every Thing in Chriflianity is not clear, and intelligible and compreherifible by the weakeft Noddle. Let us take this for proved , as much as he pleafes ; and then let us fee the Force of this fubtle Difputant's Argument, for the Neceflity there is, that every Chriftian Man fhould believe thofe, which he has given us for Fundamental Articles out of the Epiftles. The Reafon of that Obligation, and the Neceflity of every Man and Woman's believing them, he has laid in this, that they are to be found in the Epiflles, or in the Bible. This Argument for them we have over and over again in his So- cinianifm Unmask' d, as here, p. 9. thus: Are they fet down to no Purpofe in thefe infpired Epiflles ? Why did the Apo(lles write thefe DoBrines , was it not , that thofe they writ to, might give their Afl^ent to them? pag. 22. They are in our Bibles for that very Purpofe to be belieied. pag. 2j. Now I ask. Can anyone more direftly invalidate all he fays here for the Neceflity of believing his Arti- cles ? Can any one more apparently write Booty, than by faying that thefe his Doctrines , thefe his Fundamental Articles ( which are after his fafhion fet down between the 8th and 20th Pages of this his firft Chapter) are of neceflity to be believed by every one, before he can be a Chriftian , becaufe they are in the Epiflles and in the Bible ; and yet affirm that in Chriftianity , i. e. in the Epiftles and in the Bible there are Myfleries, there are Things not plain, not clear, not intelligible to common Apprehenflons ? If his Articles, fome of which contain My- fteries, are neceffary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, becaufe they are in the Bible j then according to this Rule it is neceffary for many Men to believe, what is not intelligible to them ; what their Noddles cannot apprehend ( as the Vnmasker is pleafed to turn the Suppofition of vulgar Peoples underftanding the Fundamentalsoftheir Religion into Ridicule) i.e. it is neceffary for many Men to do, what is impoffible for them to do, before they can be Chriftians. But if there be feveral Things in the Bible, and in the Epiftles, that it is not necef- fary for Men to believe, to make them Chriftians j then all the Unmasker'sAx- guments from their being in the Epiflles, is no Proof, that all his Articles are ne- ceffary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, becaufe they are fet down ia the Epiftles : Much lefs, becaufe he thinks they may be drawn, according to hi$ Syftem, Reajonablenejs of Christianity, &c. 585 Syftem, out of what is fet down in the Epiftles. Let him therefore cither confefs theie and the like Qiieftions, M'^hy did the Apuftk-s write thefe ? was it not, that thofe they writ to, might give their Ajfcnt to them ? IVhy jlyoiild not every one vf thefe Evangelical Truths be believed and embraced? "They are in our Bibles for that very Purpofe ; and the like, to be impertinent and ridiculous. Let him ceafe to propofe them with fo mucli Oflcntation, for they can fcr\e only to miilead unwary Readers : Or let liim unlay what he has laid ot Things not plain to common Apprehenfions , not clear and intelligible. Let him recant what he has faid of Myfleries in Chriftianity. For 1 ask n'ith him, p. 8. luheye can ive be informed, but in the facred and infpired IVritings ? It is ridiculous to urge, that any thing is necelfary to be explicitly belie\ed, to make a Man a Chri- flian, becaufe it is writ in the Epiftles and in the Bible ; unlefs he confefs that there is no Al\ftery, nothing not plain nor intelligible to vulgar Underftanding, in the Epiftles or in the Bible. This is fo evident, that the Unmasker himfclf, who, /». 119. of his Thoughts concerning the Caufes of Atheijm, thought it ridiculous to fuppole, that the Vul- gar fhould underftand Ciiriftianity, is here of another Mind: And, />. 30. fays of his Evangelical Doftrines and Articles necelfary to be aflented to, that they are intelligible and plain ; there is no Ambiguity and Doubtfiilnefs in them ; they {loine with their own Light, and to an unprejudiced Eye are plain, evident and illuftrious. To draw the Unmasker out of the Clouds, and prevent his hiding himfelf in the Doubtfulnefs of his ExprelTions, I fliall delire him to fay direftly wncthei" the Articles, which are necedary to be believed, to make a Man a Chrifiian, and particularly thole he has fet down for fuch, are all plain and inceiligible, and fuch as may be underftood and comprehended (I will not fay in i :e Un- ma>Ler's ridiculous Way, by the rveakeft Noddles, but) by every illiterate Coun- tryman and Woman capable of Church-Communion ? If he fays. Yes ; then all Myfteries are excluded out of his Articles ne;e:-.t;y to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian. For that which can be co.iipre- hended by every Day-Labourer, ev'ery poor Spinfter, that is a Member of the Church, cannot be a Myftery. And if what fuch illiterate People cannot un- derftand, be required to be believed to make them Chriftians, the greateft Part of Mankind are fhut out from being Chriftians. But the U^7?na'sker has provided an Anfwer in thefe Words, /'. 31. T'hereis, fays he, a Difficulty in the DoSirinc of the T',inity, andfeveral T'ruths of the Gofpel, as to the exacl Manner of the T'hings themfelves, which we JImII never be able to cofnprehendy at leaft on this Jtde of Htaven : But there is nu Difficulty as to the Reality and Cer- tainty oj thetn, becaufe we know they are revealed to us by God in the Holy Scripture. \\'hich Anfwer of Difficulty in the Manner, and no Difficulty in the Reality, hav- ing the Appearance of a Diftinction, looks like Learning; but when it comes to be applied to the Cafe in Hand, will fcarce afford us Senfe. The Queftion is about a Propolition to be believed, which muft firft ne- ceflarily be underftood. For a Man cannot poffibly give his Alfent to any Af- firmation or Negation, unlefs he underftand the Terms as they are joined in that Propolition, and has a Conception of the Thing affirm a or deny'd, and alfo a Conception of the Thing concerning which it is affirmed or de- nied, as they are there put together. But let the Propofition be what it will, there is no more to be underftood than is exprcfled in the Terms of that Propo- lition. If it be a Propofition concerning a Matter of Fad:, "tis enough to con- ceive, and believe the Matter of Fa ft. If it be a Propofition concerning the Man- ner of the Faft, the Manner of the Faft muft alfo be believed, as 'tis intelligibly exprefled in that Propofition ; v. g. fhould this Propofition nKe^l {>«'eji'7«( be ofter'd as an Article of Faith to an illiterate Countryman of England, he could not believe it : Becaufe, though a true Propofition, yet it being pro- pos'd in Words whofe Meaning he underftood not, he could not give any Alfent to it. Put into EngUftj, he underftands what it meant by the Dead floall rife. For he can conceive, that the fame Man, who was dead and fenfelefs, fhoUld be alive again ; as well as he can, that the fame Man, who is now in a Lethargy, fhould awake again; or the fame Man that is now out of 584 -^ Second Vindication of the of his Sight, and he knows not whether he be alive or dead, fhould return and be with him again : And fo he is capable of believing it, though he conceives nothing of the Manner how a Man revives, wakes, or moves. But none of thefc Manners of thofe Aftions being included in thole Propofitions, the Propo- fition concerning the Matter of Fa<5t (if it imply no Contradiction in it) may be believed ; and fo all that is required may be done, vvhate\er Difficulty may be, as to the exaft Manner how it is brought about. But where the Propofition is about the Manner, the Belief too mull: be of the Manner, v. g. The Article is, I'he Dead floall be raided with fpiritual Bodies : And then the Belief muft be as well of this Manner of the Fad:, as of the Fa(5k it felf. So that what is faid here by the Unmasker about the Manner, fignifies nothing at all in the Cafe. What is underftood to be expreffed in each Propo- fition, whether it be of the Manner or not of the Manner, is (by its being a Revelation from God) to be believed, as far as it is underftood : But no more is required to be believed concerning any Article, than is contained in that Article. What the Unmasker, for the removing of Difficulties, adds farther in thefe Words, But there is no Difficulty as to the Reality and Certainty of the "Truths of the Cofpel ; becaufe we know, they are revealed to us by God in the Holy Scripture : Is yet farther from fignifying any Thing to the Purpofe, than the former. The Que- ftion is about underftanding ; and, in what Senfe they are underftood, believing feveral Propofitions, or Articles of Faith, which are to be found in the Scrip- ture. To this, the Unmasker fays, there can be no Difficulty at ail as to their Reality and Certainty ; becaufe they are revealed by God. Which amounts to no more but this, that there is no Difficulty at all in underftanding and believing this Propofition, that whatever is revealed by God is really and certainly true. But is the underftanding and believing this fingle Propofition, the underftanding and believing all the Articles of Faith neceffary to be believed ? Is this all the explicit Faith a Chriftian need have ? If fo, then a Chriftian need explicitly believe no more but this one Propofition, viz.. That all the Propofitions between the two Covers of his Bible are certainly true. But I imagine the Unmasker will not think the believing this one Propofition is a fufficient Belief of all thofe Fundamental Articles, which he has given us as neceffary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian. For if that will ferve the Turn, I conclude he fmay make his Set of Fundamentals as large and exprefs to his Syftem as he pleafes : Calvinifis, Arminians, Anabaptifts, Socinians, will all thus own the Belief of themj viz. That all that God has revealed in the Scripture is really and certainly true. But if believing this Propofition, that all that is reveal'd by God in the Scripture is true, be not all the Faith which the Unmasker requires, what he fays about the Reality and Certainty of all Truths reveal'd by God removes no- thing of the Difficulty. A Propofition of Divine Authority is found in the Scripture : 'Tis agreed prefently between him and me, that it contains a real certain Truth : But the Difficulty is, what is the Truth it contains, to which he and I muft affent ; v. g. The Profeffion of Faith made by the Eunuch in thefe Words, Jefus Chrift is the Son of God, upon which he was admitted into the Church as a Chriftian, I believe contains a real and certain Truth. Is that enough ? No, fays the Umnasker, p. 87. it includes in it that Chrifi was God ; and therefore it is not enough for me to believe, that thefe Words contain a 7-eal certain Truth : But I muft believe they contain this Truth, that Jefus Chrift is God ; that the Eunuch fpoke them in that Senfe, and in that Senfe I muft affent to them : Whereas they appear to me to be fpoken, and meant here, as well as in feveral other Places of the New Tefiament, in this Senfe, viz,. T'hat Jefus Chrifi is the Mefflah, and in that Senle in this Place I affent to them. The Meaning then of thefe Words as fpoken by the Eunuch, is the Difficulty : And I defire the Umnasker, by the Application of what he has faid here, to remove that Difficulty. For granting all Revelation from God to be really and certainly true (as certainly it is) how does the believing that general Truth remove any Difficulty about the Senfe and Interpretation of any particular Propofition found in any Paffage of the Holy Scriptures ? Or is it poflible for any Man to vinderlianc[ it ia one Senfe, and believe it in another ; Re^fonaMenefs of CuRisTiAi^iTYj ^c. 585 another ; becaufe it is a Divine Revelation, that has Reality and Certainty in it ? Thus much as to what tlie Uimasker fays of the Fundamentals he has given us, p. 30. viz,. That no true Lover of God nndT'iUtb need doubt of any of them : For there is no Ambiguity and Doubtfulnefs in them. If the Diflintrtion lie has ufed of Dijfiaihy as to the exaB Manner, and Difficulty as to the Reality and Certainty of Gofpel-T'ruths, will remove all Ambiguity and Dmibfuhufs from all thofe Texts of Scripture, from whence he and others deduce Fundamental Articles, fo that they will be plain and intelligible to every Man in the Senfe he underflands them ; he has done great Service to Chriftianity. But he fcems to diflruft that himfelf^ in the following Words. They fJnne, fays he, uvV/; their own Light, and to an unprejudic d Eye are plain, evident, and il~ lujlrious ; and they would always continue fu, ij Jome ill-minded Men did not perplex and entangle them. I fee the Matter would go very fmooth, if the Unmasker might be the fole authentick Interpreter of Scripture. He is wifely of that Judges's Mind, who was againft hearing the Counfel on theother lide, becaufe they always ■perplexed the Caufe. But if thofe who differ from the Unmasker, Oiall in their Turns call him the Prejudiced and Ill-minded Man, who perplexes thcie Matters (as they may with as much Authority as he) we are but where we were ; each muft underlland for himfelf the beft he can, till the Unmasker be received as the only unpreyudic'd Man, to whofe Diftates every one without Examination is with an implicit Faith to fubmit. Here again, p. 32. the Unmasker puts upon me what I never faid : and there- fore I mult deliie him to fhew, where it is, that I pretend, XI. That this Propofition, that Jefus is the Meffiah, is more intelligible than any of thofe he has named. In his Thoughts concerning the Caufes oj Atheifm, p. 120. He argues, that this Propofition \ffefm is the Meffialj] has more Difficulty in it, than the Article of the Holy Trinity. And his Proofs are worthy of an Unmasker. Fur, fays he, here is an H^iieiv Word firjl to be explain d; or (as he has this ftrong Argument again, Socinianifm Unmask' d, p. 32.) Here firft the Name 'Jefus, which is of Hebrew ExtraBion, tho' fince Greciz. d, muft be expounded. Anfw. Jefus being a proper Name, only denoting a certain Perfon, needs not to be expounded, of what ExtraSlion foever it be. Is this Propolition, Jonathan was the Son oi Saul King o{ Ifrael, any thing the harder, becaufe the three pro- per Names in it, Jonathan, Saul and Ifrael, are of Hebrew ExtraSlion ? And is it not as eafy and as level to the Underftanding of the Vulgar as this, Arthur^ was the Son of Henry King of England ; tho' neither of thefe Names be of He- brew ExtraUion ? Or cannot any Vulgar Capacity underftand this Propofition, John Edwards writ a Book, Intituled, Socinianifm Unmask'd j till the Name Jol.ny which is of Hebrew ExtraSlion, be explained to him ? If this be fo. Parents were beft beware how hereafter they give their Children Scripture-Names, if they cannot underftand what they fay to one another about them, till thefe Names of Hebrew ExtraSiion are expounded to them ; and every Propofition, that is in Writings and Contracts made concerning Perfons, that have Names of Hebrew ExtraBion, become thereby as hard to be underftood as the Doftrine of the Holy Trinity. His next Argument is juft of the fame fize. The Word Mefjias muft, he fays, be explained too. Of what Extraftion foever it be, there needs no nfore Explication of it than what our EngUfl) Bible gives of it, where it is plain to any Vulgar Capacity, that it was ufed to denote that King and Deli- verer whom God had promifed. So that this Propofition, Jefus is the Meffah, has no more difficulty in it, than this, Jefus is the promifed King and De- liverer; or than this, Cyrus was King and Deliverer of Perfta -. Which I think requires not much Depth of Hebrew to be underftood. He that underftood this Propofition, and took Cyrus for his King, was a Subjeft and a Member of his Kingdom ; and he that underftands the other, and takes Jefus to be his King, is his Subjeft, and a Member of his Kingdom. But if this be as hard as it is to fome Men to underftand the Doftrine of the Trinity, I fear many Vol. II. .-— E e e e of ^Z6 A Second, Vindication of the of the Kings in the World have but few true Subjects. To believe Jefus to be the Miffiah, is (as he has been told over and over againj to take him for our King and Ruler, promifed and fent by God. This is that, which will make any one from a ^nv or Heathen to be a Chrijlian. In this Senfe it is very in- telligible to Vulgar Capacities. Thofe who fo underftand and believe it, are fo far froni pronojincing tliefe IVords as a Spell (as the Unmasker ridiculoufly fuggefts, pag. 55.) that they therefore become Chriftians. But what if I tell the Vumasker, that there Is one Mr. Edwards, who (when he fpeaks his Mind, without confidering how it will make for or againft him) in another place, thinks this Propofition, Jefus is the Meffias, very eafy and intilligible ? To convince him of it, I fhall defire him to turn to the 74?^ Page of his Socinianifm Umnask'd, where he will find that Mr. Edwards, with- out any great Search into the Hebrew Extraftions, Interprets Jefus the Mejnah to fignify this, T'hat Jefus (f Nazareth was that eminent and extraordinary Per^ fon prophefy'd of long before, and that he was fent and commifjwned by God .- Wliich I think, is no very hard Proportion to be underftood. But it is no ftrange thing, that that which was very eafy to an Unmasker in one place, fhould be. terrible hard in another ; where want of fomething better requires to have it fo. Another Argument that he ufes to prove the Articles he has given us to be necefl'ary to Salvation, (p. 22.) is, becaufe they are Doftrines which contain Things, that in their Nature have an immediate rejpeci to the Occajion, Author^ Way, End, Meant, and Iffue of Mens Redemption and Salvation. And here I de- lire him to prove, XII. That every one of his Articles contains Things fo immediately relating to the Occajion, Author, Way, Means, and Iffue of our Redemption and Saha" Hon, that no body can be fav'd without underftanding the Texts from whence he draws them, in the very fame Senfe that he does j and expli- citly believing all thefe Propofitions that he has deduc'd, and all that he will deduce from Scripture, when he fhall pleafe to compleat his Creed. Page 23. He fays of his Fundamentals, Not without good Reafon THE RE* FO R E I call'd them EJfential and Integral Parts of our Chrijlian and Evangelical Faith : And why the Vindicator fleers at thefe Terms, p. 549. I know no Reafon, hit that he cannot confute the Application of them. Aiifw. One would think by the Word thei-efore, whicli he ufes here, that in the precedent Paragraph, he had produced fome Reafon to juftify his ridiculous. Ufe of thofe Terms in his Thoughts concerning Atheifm, p. iii. But nothing therein will he found tending to it. Indeed the foregoing Paragraph begins with th fe Words, Thus I have briefly fet before the Reader thofe Evangelical Truths^ thofe Chrifiian Principles which belong to the very Effence of Chrifiianity. Amongft thefe there is the Word Effence : But that from thence, or any thing elfe in that Paragraph, the Unmasker could with good Senfe, or any Senfe at all, infer as he does, not without good reafon, THE R E FO RE I called them the ESS EN- T'lAL and I NT EG R A L Parts of our Chrijlian and Evangelical Faith ; re- quires an extraordinary fort of Logick to make out. What, I befeech you, iS your good Reafon too here, upon which you infer Therefore, &c ? For it is impof- fible for any one but an Unmasker, to hnd one Word juftifying his Ufe of the Terms EJfential and Integral. But it would be a great Reftraint to the running of the Uiimasker's Pen, if you fhould not allow him the free ufe of illative Par- ticles, where there are no Premiifes to fupport them : And if you fhould not take Affirmations without Proof for Realbning, you at once ftrike otf above three quarters of his Book; and he will often, for feveral Pages together, have nothing to fay. As for Example, from p. 28. to ^. 35. But to fhcw that I did not without Reafon fay, bis Ufe of the Terms EJfen-^ tial and Integral, in the Place before quoted, was ridiculous ; I muft mind my Reader, that p. 109. of his Thoughts concerning the Caufes of Atheifu, he having faid, that the Epijlolary Writings are fraught with other Fundafnentals bejtdes that one which I ?nention ; and then having fet them down, he doles his Catalogue of them tlius ; Thefe are Matters of Faith i^tjmain'd in the Efijiks, and they are EJfemial Reajonablenejs of Christianity, &c. ^J^y EJfcntial and Integral Pans of the Go/pel it felf, p. iii. Now what could be more ridiculous, than where tlie Qucftion is about Fundamental Doctrines, which are the EJfentiah of Chriftian Religion, without an AHent to which a Man cannot be a Chriftian ; and To he himfelf calls them, p. 21. ot' his Sucinia- nifm Unmask' d; that he fliould clofe the Lift he had made of Fundamental Doc- trines, i.e. Ell'ential Points of tiie Chrillian Religion; with telling his Reader, "Thefe are Effential and Integral Parts of the Gofpel it felf? i. e. Thel'e wliich I hai'e given you for Fundamental, for Effential Doftrincs of the Gofpel, are the Fundamental and not Fundamental, EJfential and not Effential Parts of the Gofpel mix'd together. For Integral Parts, in all the VVrirers I have met witii, be- fides thtJJmnasker, are contra-diftinguifli'd to Effential ; and lignify fuch Parts as the Thing can be without, but without them ivillnotbe fo conipleat andintireas with them. Juft fuch an Acutenefs, as our JJnmasker, would any one (liew, who taking upon him to fet down the Parts Effential to a Man, without the having of which he could not be a Man, fliould name the 'Soul, the Head, the Heart, Lungs Stomach, Liver, Spleen, Eyes, Ears, Tongue, Arms, Legs, Hair and Nails i and to make all fure, fliould conclude with thefe Words ; T'hefe are Parts contained va a Man, and are Effential and Integral Parts of a Man hvnfelf ; i. c. 'J'hey ar : Parts, without fome of which he cannot be a Man; and others, which tho' th'.;y make the Man intire, yet he may be a Man without them : As a Man ceafes not to be a Man, though he want a Nail, a Finger, or an Arm, which are Integral Parts of a Man. Rifum teneatis ? If the JJnmasker can make any bettei' .'^enle of his Effential and Integral Parts of the Gofpel it felf, I \vill ask his Pai'don for my Laughing : Till then he muft not be angry, if the Reader and I laugh ton. Befides, I muft tell him, that thofe which he has fet down are not tliC Inte- gral Parts of the Chriflian Faith, any more than the Head, the Trunk, ahd tne Arms, Hands and Thighs are the Litegral Parts of a Man : For a IvLin is not intire without the Legs and Feet too. They are fome of the Integral Parts indeed ; but cannot be call'd the Integral Parts, where any that go to make up the whole Man are left out : Nor thofe the Integral, but fome of the Inte- gral Parts of the Chriftian Faith, out of which any of the Doiftrines propos'd in the Ne-w I'ejlament are omitted : For whatever is there propos'd, is pro- pos'd to be believ'd, and fo is a Part of the Chriftian Faith. Before I leave his Catalogue of the Effential and Integral Parts of the Gofpel, which he lias given us, inftead of one containing the Articles necellaiy to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, I muft take notice of what he fays, whilft he is making it, p. 9. Why then is there a Tleatife ptihliflfd, to tell the IVorld that the bare Belief of a Mefj'iah is all that is required of a Chriflian? As if there were no Difference between believing a Meffiah, and believing Jefus to be the Meffah; no Difference between reqiiir'd of a Chriflian, and requir'd to make a Man a Chriftian. As if you fhould fay, renouncing his former Idolatry, and being circumcis'd and baptiz'd into Mojes, was all that was required to make a Man an Ifraelite; therefore it was all that was required of an Ifraelite. For thcfe two Falfhoods has he, in this one fliort Sentence, thought fit flily to father up- .on me, the humble Imitator of the J efu its, as he is pleas'd to call me. And there- fore I muft delire him to fliew, XIII. Where the IVorld is told in the I'reatife that I publififd, T'hat the bare Be- lief of a Mefjiah is all that is requir'd of a Chriflian ? The fix next Pages, i. e. from the twenty eighth to the End of his Second Chapter, being taken up with nothing but Pulpit Oratory out of its Place; and without any Reply, apply'd or applicable to any Thing I have faid in my Vindication, I fhall pafs by, till he fliews any Thing in them that is fo. In Page 36. this Giant in Argument, falls on me, and mauls me unmerci- fully about the Epiftles. He begins thus : T'he Gentleman is not -without his Eva- fions, and he fees it is high time to make nfe of them. T'his puts him in fome Difor- der. Fur when he comes to fpeak of my mentioning his ill "Treatment of the Epiflles you may obferve, that he begins to grow warmer than before. Noiv this meek Man is nettled, and one may perceive he is fenfhle of the Scandal that he hath given to good People, by his flighting the Epiftolatory Writings of the Holy Ap files ; yet Vol. II. E e e e s he 5^8 A Second Vindication of the he is fo cunning as to difguife bis Paffion as ■'.veil as he can. Let all this Imperncnt artl incoiilident Stuff be fo. 1 am angry and cannot dif'guiie ir, I am cunning and would difguiie it ; but yet the quick-iighted Unmasker has found me out, that J am nettled. What does, all this notable Prologue of Hiilius Doclius, of a Cunning Man, and in tStti m Cunning Alan, in diforder, warm'd, nettled, in a PaJJion, tend to? But to fhevv, that thele following Words of mine, p. 549. of my Vtndi- ' cation, viz. " I require you to publifli to the World thole Pages which fhew " my Contempt of the Epiftles, " are fo full of Heat and Diforder, that they reed no other Anfwer. But -vchat need I, good Sir, do this, when you have done it your fclf ^ A Reply, I own, very foft j and whether 1 may not fay, very filly, let the Reader judge. The Unmasker having accus'd me of contemning the Epiftles, my Reply, in my Vindication, ibid, was thus : " Sir, when your " angry Fit is over, and the Abatement of your Paflion has given way to the "Return of your Sincerity, I fhall beg you to read this Pailage in the jjpfA " Page of my Book. Thefe holy Writers (vix,. the Penmen of the Epiftles) " infpir'd from above, writ nothing but Truth ; and in moft Places very " weighty Truths to us now, for the expounding, clearing, and confirming " of the Chriftian Dcftrine, and cftablifliing thofe in it who had embrac a " it. And again, iliid. The other Parts [/. e. belldes the Gofpels and the " ABs'] of DIVINE REVELAtlON are Objeds of Faith, and are fo " to be received ; they are Truths, of which none that is once known to be *' fuch, /. e. revealed, may, or ought to be disbelieved. And if this does not " fatisfy you, that I have as high a Veneration for the Epiftles as you, or any " one can have, 1 require you to publiHi to the World thofe P A S S A G E S " which fliew my Contempt of them. " After fuch direft Words of mine, expi cfling my Veneration for that Part of Divine Revelation which is contain'd in the Epiftles, any one but an Unmasker would blufli to charge me with Contempt of them ; without aliedging, when fummonM to it, any Vv'ord in my Book to juftify that Charge. If Hard ;iefs of Forehead were Strength of Brains, 'twere two to one of his Side againft any Jvlan I ever yet heard of I require him to publifh to the Wcjld thofe Pajfages that fhew my Contempt of the Epiftles ; and he anfwers n-.e. He need not do it, for I have done it my felj. Whoever had common Senfe would ur.derftand, that what I demanded was, that he fhould fhew the World where, amongft nil I had publifli'd, there were any Pajfages that exprefs'd Con~ tempt of the Epiftles : For it was not expefted he fhould quote Pajfages of mine that I had never publifh'd. And this acute Unmasker (to this) fays, I had pub- liih'd them my felf So that the Reafon why he cannot find them, is, becaufe I had publifli'd them my felf. But, fays he, / appeal to the Reader, whether (after your tedious CoUeClion out of the four Evangel ifts) your paffing by the Epijlles, and neg~ ItBihg luholly luhat the Apojiles fay in them, be not pub/iJI.iing to the World your Contempt ofti;e7n? I demand of him to publifh to the World thofe Pajfages, which fhew my Contempt of the Epiftles : And he anfwers. He need not, I have done it my felf. How dees that appear ? I have have pafs'd by the Epiftes, fays he. My pa fling them by then, are Paffages publiffd againft the Epiftles? For pub/ijhing of Pajfages is what you faid you need not do, and what I had done. So that the Paf- fages I have publifh'd containing a Contempt of the Epiftles, are extant in my faying nothing ot them ? Surely this fame paffing by has done fome very fhrewd Difpleafure to our poor Uimasker, that he fo ftarts whenever it is but nam'd, and cannot tiiink it contains lefs than Exclufion, Defiance, and Contempt. Here therefore the Propofition remaining to be prov'd by you is, XIV. T'hat one cannot pafs by any thing zuithout Contempt of it. And when you have prov'd it, I fhall then ask you, what will become of all thofe Parts of Scripture, all thofe Chapters and Verfes that you have pafs'd by, in your Colleftion of Fundamental Articles? Thofe that you have vouch- faf'd to fet down, you tell us. Are in the Bible on purpofe to be believ'd. What muft become of all the reft, which you have omitted ? Are they there not to . Ix; believ'd ? And muft the Reader underftand your pajfmg them by to be a pub- lifljing to the World your Contempt of them ? If fo, you have Unmask'd your felf i i Reajonablenefs of Christianitt, ilfc. 5^9 felf : If not, but you may pnfs by fome Part"; of Scripture, nay whole EpiftleSj as you have thofc of St. Jama and St. yudt-, without Contempt', Why may not I, without Contempt, pafs by others ; but becaufe you have a Liberty to do what you will, and I muft do but what you, in your good Plealure, will allow me? But if I ask you whence you have this Privilege above others ; you will have no- thing to fay, except it be according to your ufual Skill in Divining, that you know my Heart, and the Thoughts that are in it, which you find not like yours, right, and orthodox, and good ; but always evil and pcrverfe, fuch as I dare not own, but hypocritically either fay nothing of, or declare againft i but yet with all my Cunning I cannot hide them from you ; your all-knowing Penetration always finds them out ; you know them, or you gucfs at them, as is bed for your Turn, and that's as good : And then prefentiy I am confounded. I doubt whether the World has ever had any two-ey'd Man your equal, for Penetration and a quick Sight. The telling, by the Spectator's Looks, what Card he guelfes, is notiiing to what you can do. You take tlie Heiglith of an Au- thor's Parts, by numbring the Pages of his Book ; you can fpy an Herefy in him, by his faying not a Syllable of it ; diflinguifh him from th.e Orthodox, by his underftandmg Places of Scripture juft as leveral of tlie Orthodox do; you can repeat by heart whole Leaves of what is in liis Mind to fay, before he fpeaks a Word of it; you can difcover Defigns before they are hatch 'd, and all the Intrigues of carrying them on, by thofe who never thought of them. All this, and more you can do by the Spirit of Orthodoxy ; or which is as certain, by your own good Spirit of Invention informing you. Is not this to be an er- rant Conjurer ? But to your Reply. You fay, After my T'E D lOUS CvUeclion out of the /out E'uangelifls, my palTing by the Epi/Ues, and neglecting who.'/y zvhat the Apoftles fay, &c. I wondred at firft why you mention'd not the Atls here, as well as the four Evangelifis : For I have not, as you have in other Places obferv'd, been fparing of Colleftions out of the A^s too. But there was, it feems, a Necellity here for your omitting it : For that would have flood too near what followed, in thefe Words ; And neglecting wholly what the Apojlks fay. For if it appear'd to the Reader, out of your own Confellion, that I allow'd and built upon the Divine Authority of what the Apoftles fay in the Acts, he could not fo eafily be mifled into an Opinion, that I contemned what they fay in their Epiftles. But this is but a flight Touch of your Leger-de-main. And now I ask the Reader what he will think of a Minifter of the Gofpel, who cannot bear the Texts of Scripture I have produc'd, nor my Quotations out of the four Evangelifts ? This, which in his Thoughts of the Caufes of A-' theifm, p. 114. was want of Vi'vacity and Elevation of Mind, want of a Vein of Senfe and Reafon, yea, and of Elocution too; is here, in his Socinianifm Unmask'd, a Tedious Colktlion out of the four Evangelifis. Thofe Places I ha\'e quoted, lie heavy, it feems, upon his Stomach, and are too many to be got off. But it was my Bufinefs not to omit one of them, that the Reader might have a full View of the whole Tenor of the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles to the Unconverted fews and Gentiles ; and might therein fee what Faith they were converted to, and upon their Aflent to which they were pronouned Be- lievers, and admitted into the Chriftian Church. But the Unmasker complains there are too many of them : He thinks the Gofpel, the good Neivs of Salva- tion, tedious ivom the Mouth of our Saviour and his Apoftles: He is of Opinion, that before the Epiftles were writ, and without believing precifely what he thinks fit to cull out of them, there could be no Chriftians ; and if we had nothing but the four Evangelifts, we could not be fav'd. And yet 'tis plain, that every fingle one of the Four contains the Gofpel of yefus Chrifi ; and at leaft, they all together contain all that is neceflary to Salvation. If any one doubt of this, I refer him to Mr. Chillingworth for Satisfaction, who hath abun- dantly prov'd it. His following Words (were he not the fame Unmasker all through) would be beyond Parallel. But let us bear why the Vindicator did not attempt to collect any Articles out of thefe Writings ; he ajjigns this as one Reafon : " The Epiftles being writ to thofe who were already Believers, it could not be fuppos'd " that they were writ to them to teach them Fundamentals,'' p. 548. Vindic. Certainly 590 "^ Secmd Vindication of the Certainly tio Man ivuuld have conjetlured that be ■would have zifed fucb an EtuiJiM as this. I will Jay that jor him, be goes beyond all Surmifes, be is al/uve all Coa- jeClures, he hath a Faculty which no Creature on Earth can ever fathom. Thus far the Unmasker in his Oratorical Strain. In what follows, he comes to his clofer Rcafoning againft what I had laid. His Words are, Do ive not know that the jour Go/pels were writ to and for Believers, as well as Unbelievers ? Anfw. I grant it. Now let us fee your Inference : Therefore what thefe holy Hifto- rians recorded, that our Saviour and his Apoftles faid and preach'd to Un- believers, was faid and preach'd to Believers. The Difcourfe which our Saviour had with the Woman of Samaria, and her Townfnien, was addrefs'd to Believers : becaule St. John writ his Gofpel (wherein it is recorded as a Part of our Saviour's Hiltory) for Believers as well as Unbelievers. St. Pe- ter's Preaching to Cornelius, and St. Paul's Preaching at Antioch, at 'theffaknicay ' at Corinth, &c. was not to Unbelievers, for their Converfion ; becaufe St. Luks dedicates his Hiftory of the Acls of the Apoftles to Theophilm, who was a Chriftian, as the Uimasker ftrenuoufly proves in this Paragraph. Juft as if he fhould fay, that the Difcourfes which Cafar records he had upon feveral Oc- caiions with the Gauls, were not addrefs'd to the Gauls alone, but to the Ro~ mans alfo ; becaufe his Commentaries were writ for the Romans as well as others : Or that the Sayings of the antient Greeks and Romans in Plutarch, were not fpoke by them to their Contemporaries only, becaufe they are recorded by hini lor the Benefit of Pofterity. I perus'd the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles to the Unconverted World, to fee what they taught and required to be belicv'd to make Mea Chirftians : And all thefe I let down, and leave the World to judge what they^ contain'd. The Epiftles, which were all written to thofe who had em- braced the Faith, and were all Chriftians already, I thought would not fo diftinctly fliew what were thofe Doftrines which were abfolutely neceflary to make Men Chriftians ; they being not writ to convert Unbelievers, but to build up thofe who were already Believers, in their moft holy Faith. This is plainly exprefsM in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, Chap. v. ii, ijc. Of whom, i. e. Chrift, we have many "things to fay, and had to be inter' d, feeing ye are aU dull of hearing. Fur when for the 'Time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the fir ft Principles of the Oracles of God ; and are become fuch as have need of Milk and not of ftrong Meat. For every one that ufeth Milk is unskilful in the Word of PJghteoufnefs ; for he is a Bale : But ftrong Meat be- longeth to him that is of full Age, even thofe who by reafon of Ufe have their SenJeT esercijed, to difcern both good and bad. tlierefore leaving the Principles of the Doclrine of Chrijl, let us go on unto PerfeElion, not laying again the Foundation of Repentance from dead Works, and of Faith towards God, and of the DoElrine of Baptifrn, and of laying on of Hands, and of the RefurreEiion of the Dead, and of Eternal Judgment. Here the Apoftle fhevvs what was his JDefign in writing this Epiftle : Not to teach them the Fundamental Doftrines of the Chriftian Religion, but to lead them on to more Perfeftion ; that is, to greater Pegrees oi^ Knowledge of the wife Defign and wonderful Contrivance and carrying on of the Golpel, and the Evidence of it ; which he makes out in this Epiftle, by flieu'ing us Correfpondence with the Old teftament, and particularly with the Oeconomy of the Mofaical Conftitution. Here I might ask the Unmasker, \\'hether thole many Things which St. Paul tells the Hebrews he had to fay of Chrift, (hard to be utter'd to them, becaufe they were dull of hearing) had not an imtnediate RefpeEl to the Occafn,n, Author, Way, Means, or Ijjue of their Re~ dimption and Salvation : And therefore, whether they were fuch things, without the Knowledge oj which they could not be fav'd, as the Unniasker fays of fuch Things, p. 23. And the like I might ask him, concerning thofe Things which the Apo- ftle tells the Corinthians, i Epift. Chap. iii. 2. that they were not able to bear. For much to the fame Purpol'e he fpeaks to the Corinthians, Epift. i- Chap, iii. as in the above-cited Places he did to the Hebrews; ti:at he, as a wife Mafter-Euilder, had laid the Foundation : And that Foundaticn he himfelf tells lis, IS Jef us theMvffiuh; and that there is no other Foundation to belaid. And that in this he laid the Foundation of Chriftianity at Corinth, Sc. Luke re- cords, Alls xviii. 4. in thefe Words : Paid, at Corinrh, reafon d in the Synagogue tvery Reafomllenefs of CHRisTiANiTt, ^c» evevy Salbath-day, and tejlify'd to the yews that 'Jefus -was the Mej]tah. Upon which Foundation he tells them, there might be a Superfl;ru(5ture. But that what is built on the Foundation is not the Foundation, I think I nee4 not prove. He further tells them, that he had defir'd to build upon this Foundation ; but withal fays, he had fed them till then with Milk, and mt with Meat ; becatife they -were Babes, and had mt been able to bear it, neither were they yet able. And therefore this Epiftle we fee is almoft wholly fpent in Reproofs of their Mif- carriages, and in Exhortations and Inftrudions relating to Praftice ; and very little laid in it for the explaing any Part of the great Myfiery of Salvation con- tained in the Gofpel. By thefe Pafl'ages we may fee (were it not evident to common Senfe it felf, from the Nature of Things) that the Defign of thefe Epiftles was not to lay the Foundations, or teach the Principles of the Chriftian Religion j they being writ to thofe who had receiv'd them, and were Chriftians already. The fame holds in all the other Epiftles ; and therefore the Epiftles feem'd not to me the propereft Parts of Scripture, to give us that Foundation diftinft from all th6 Superftruftures built on it ; becaufe in the Epiftles, the latter was the thing proposed, rather than the former. For the main Intention of the Apoftles iii writing their Epiftles, could not be to do what was done already ; to lay dowrt barely the Foundations of Chriftianity to thofe who were Chriftians already ; but to build upon it fome farther Explication of it, which either their parti-, cular Circumftances, or a general Evidencing of the Truth, W ifdom. Excel- lencies, and Privileges, ,C^c. of the Gofpel, requir'd. This was the Reafon that perfuaded nie to take the Articles of Faith abfolutely neceflary to be receiv'd to make a Man a Chriftian, only from the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles to the Unconverted World, as laid down in the Hiftorical Part o£ the New Teftament : and I thought it a good Reafon. It being paft doubtj that they in their Preachings propos'd to the Unconverted, all that was ne- ceflary to be believ'd'to make them Chriftians : And alfo, that that Faith,' upon a Profeflioh whereof any one was admitted Into the Church as a Believer, had all that was neceifar-y in it to make him a Chriftian i becaufe if it wanted any thing neceflary, he had neceflarily not been admitted : unlefs we can fup- pofe, that any one was admitted into the Chriftian Church by our Savioui^ and his Apoftles, who was not yet a Chriftian ; or pronounc'd a Believer, who yet wanted fomething neceflary to make him a Believer, i. e. was a Be- liever and not a Believer at the fame time. But what thofe Articles were,' which had been preach 'd to thofe to whom the Epiftles were writ, and upon the Belief whereof they had been admitted into the Chriftian Church, and be- came, as they are call'd. Believers, Saints, Faithful, EleEl, &c. could not be Collefted out of the Epiftles. This, tho' it were my Reafon, and muft bei a Reafon to every one who would make this Enquiry ; and the Unmasker quotes the Place where I told him it was my Reafon : yet he, according to his never- erring Illumination, flatly tells me, fag. 38. that it was not ; and adds. Here then is want of Sincerity, &c. I muft defire him therefore to prove what he fays, z^^. 38. viz.. XV. That by the fajne Argument ihat I -would firfuade that the Fundamentals , are not to be fought for in the Epiftles, he can prove that they are not to be fought for in the Gofpels and in the Afts i becaufe even thefe were writ to thofe that believed. And next I defire him to prove, what he alfo fays in the fame Page, viz.'. XVI. 'That the Epiflles being writ to thofe that believ'd, was not an Argu?Hcnt that I did Ttiake ufe of. He tells us, p. 38. That it is the Argument whereby I would perfuade : and in the very fame Page, a few Lines lower, fays. That it is not the Argument I did make ufe of. Who, but an errant Unmaiker, would contradift himfelf fo flatly in the fame Breath ? An,d yet ugon that he railes a Complaint; of my piant of SimerJty. Fo;c' S9f jQ^ A Second Vindication of the For tiiant of Smerity in one of us, we need not go far for an Inftancc. The next Paragraph, p. 38 — 40. affords us a grofs one of it ; wherein the UamaiLer argues ftrongly, not againft any thing I had faid, but againft an Untruth of his own fctting up. Towards the latter end of the Paragraph, p. 40. he has thefe Words : It i, maiiifeft that the Apofiles in their Epifiles taught Fundamentals ; which is contrary to -what this Gentleman fays, that fuch a thing could not be fuppos' d. And therefore the Unmasker has taken a great deal of Pains to fhew, that there are Fundamental Doftrines to be found in the Epiftles ; as if I had deny'd it. And to lead the Reader into an Opinion that I had faid fo, he fets down thefe Words, Could not be fuppos'd ; as if they were my Words. And fo they »re, but not to that Purpofe. And therefore he did well not to quote the Page, left the Reader, by barely turning to the Place, fhould have a clear fight of Falfliood, inftead of that Sincerity, which he would make the Reader believe is wanting in me. My Words, p. 538. Of the Reafonablenefs of Chri/lianity, are, "NOR CAN IT B E SU P P O S'D, that the fending of fuch Funda- " mentals was the Reafon of the Apoftles writing to any of them." And a little lower : " The Epiftles therefore being all written to thole who were al- " ready Believers and Chriftians, the Occafion and End of writing them could " not be to inftruft them in that which was neceffary to make them Chriftians." The thir.g then that I deny'd, was not that there were any Fundamentals in the Epiftles. For p. 539. I have thefe exprefs Words : " 1 do not deny but the " great Doftrines of the Chriftian Faith are dropt here and there, and fcat- *' ter'd up and down in moft of them." And therefore he might have fpar'd his Endeavours, in the next Paragraph, to prove, that there may be Funda- mentals found in the Epiftles, till he rinds fome body that denies it. And here again, I muft repeat my ufual Queftion, that with this fincere Writer is fo often neceffary, viz.. XVII. Where it is that I fay, that it cannot be fuppos'd that there are Fundamen* tal Articles in the Epiftles I If he hopes to fhift it off by the Word taught, which feems fallacioufly put in ; as if he meant, that there were fome Fundamental Articles taught necef- fary to be believ'd to make them Chriftians, in. the Epiftles, which thofe whom they were writ to, knew not before : in this Senfe I do deny it, and then this will be the XVIIth Propofitlon remaining upon him to prove, viz,. That there are Fundamental Articles neceffary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, taught in the Epiftles, zvhich thofe, -whom they were writ to, hiew not before. ■ The former part of his next Paragraph, p. 40. runs thus : Hear another feign^ ed Ground of his omitting the Epiftles, viz. Becaufe the Fundamental Articles are here promifcuoufly, and without diftinBion, mix'd with other Truths p. 41 . But who fees not that this is a mere Elujion ? For on the fame account he might have forborn to fearch for Fundamental Articles in the Gofpels ; for they do not lie there together, but are difpers'd tip and down. The DoEirinal and Hiftorical Parts are mix'd with one an- other, but he pretends to fever the?n. Why then did he not jnake a Separation between the DoEirines in the Epiftles, and thofe other Matters that me treated of there ? He has nothing to reply to this, and therefore we muft again look upon what he has fuggefted as a Caft of his jhuffling Faculty. The Argument contain'd in thefe Words is this. A Man cannot well diftin- guifh Fundamental from Non-fundamental Doftrines in the Epiftles, where they are promifcuoufly mix'd with Non-fundamental Dcftrines : There- fore he cannot well diftinguifh Fundamental Doctrines from others in the Gofpels, and the Afts, where they are mix'd with Matters of Faft. As if he fhould fay, one cannot well diftinguifh a Batchelor of Divinity from other Divines, where feveral of them ftand together promifcuoufly in the fame Ha- bit ; therefore one cannot diftinguifh a Batchelor of Divinity from a Bil/ingf- gata Reajonahlenefs o/" Christianity, ^c. ^ 9 ^ gate Orator, where they ftand together in their dillinft Habits : Or that it is as eaiy to diftinguilh Hne Gold from that of a little lower Allay, where feveral pieces of each are mix'd together; as it is to diftinguifh pieces of fine Gold from pieces of Silver, which they are mix'd among. But it feems the Umnaiker thinks it is as eafy to diftinguifh between Funda- mental and not Fundamental Doftrines, in a Writing of the fame Author, where they are promilcuoufly mix'd together, as it is to diflinguifla between a Fundamental Dodrine of Faith, and a Relation of Matter of Fatt, where they are intermixedly reported in the fame Hiftory. When he has prov'd this, the Umtiasker will have more Reafon to tax me with E/uJtvn, Shuffling and Feigning, in the Reafon I gave for not collefting Fundamentals out 6f the Epiftles. Till then, all that Noifc muft ftand amongft thole ridiculous Airs of Triumph and Viftory, which he fo often gives himl'elf, without the leaft Advantage to his Caufe, or Edification of his Reader ; tho' he fhould a thoufand times fay, "That I have nothing to reply. In the latter part of this Paragraph, he fays, T'hat necejfary T'ntths, Fundamen- tal Principles, may be dijlinguifl) d J rum thofe that are not fuch, in the Epijhlary Wri- tings, by the Nature and Importance of them, by their immediate refpeti to the Au- thor and Means of our Salvation. Anfw. If this be fo, I delire him to give me a definitive Colleftion of Fundamentals out of the Epiftles, as I have given one out of the Gnfpels and the Afts. If he cannot do that, 'tis plain, he hath here given a dillinguifliing Mark of Fundamentals, by which he himfelf cannot di- Itinguilh them. But yet I am the Shuffler. The Argument in the next Paragraph, p. 41. is this : Neceifary Dodrines of Faith, fuch as God ablblutely demands to be believ'd for Juftification, may be diftinguifli'd from Rules of Holy Living, with which they are mix'd in the Epiftles; therefore Doftrines of Faith neceifary, and not neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, may be diftinguifh 'd as they ftand mix d in the Epiftles. Which is as good Senfe as to fay. Lambs and Kids may be ealily diftinguiih'd in the fame Penn, where they are together, by their different Natures : Therefore the Lambs I abfolutely demand of you, as neceifary to fatisfy me, may be diftinguifli d from others in the fame Penn, where they are mix'd, without any Diftinftion. Doftrines of Faith, and Pre- cepts of Praftice, are as diftinguifhable as doing and belieiving ; and thofe as eafily difcernible one from another, as thinking and walking : But Doftrinal Propofitions, all of them of Divine Revelation, are of the fame Authoritj', and of the fame pecies, in refpeft of the Neceflity of believing them ; and will be eternally undiftinguifhable into neceifary and not neceifary to be believ'd, till there be fome other Way found to diftinguifh them, than that they are in a Book which is all of Divine Revelation. Tho' therefore Doftrines of Faithj and Rules of Praftice are very diftinguifhable in the Epiftles, yet it does not follow from thence, that Fundamental and not Fundamental Doftrines, Points neceifary and not neceifary to be believ'd to make Men Chriftians, are eafily diftinguifhable in the Epiftles. Which therefore remains to be prov'd : And it remains incumbent upon him, XVIII. To fet down the Marks, ivhereby the Doctrines deliver' d in the Epi flies, may eafily and exactly be difiingtiijh' d into Fundamental, and not Fundamental Articles of Faith. All the reft of that Paragraph containing nothing againft me, muft be bound up with a great deal of the like Stuff which the Unmasker has put into his Book, to fhew the World he does not imitate me in Impertinences, Incohe- rences, and trifling Excurfions, as he boafts in his firft Paragraph. Only I fhali defire the Reader to take the whole Paifage concerning this Matter, as it ftands in my Reafonallenefs of Chriflianity, p. 539. " I do not deny, but the great " Doftrines of the Chriftian Faith are dropt here and there, and fcatter'd up and down in moft of them. But 'tis not in the Epiftles we are to learn what are the Fundamental Articles of Faith, where they are promifcuoufly, " and without diftinftion, mix'd with other Truths and Difcourfes which " were (tho' for Edification indeed, yet) only Occalional. We fhall find and Vol. U. Ffff " difcern ij^4 •^ Second Vindication of the "' difcern thofe great and neccflary Points beft in the Preaching of our Saviour " and his Apcftlcs, to thofe who were ye: Stragers and ignorant of the Faith, " to bring them in, and convert tiicni to it." And then let him read thefe Words, which the Unmasker has quoted out of them : It is not in the Eptftles that loe are to learn ivhat are Fundamental Aitnlei aj Faith, they ivere vjyitten for the refohin? of Doubts, and rejorming oj Mijlakei ; with liis Introdudion of them in thefe Words : He commands the Reader not to flir a 'Jot further than the Ails. If I fliould ask him, where that Command appears, he muft have recourle to his old Shift, that he did not mean as he faid, or elfe ftand convided of a malici- ous Untruth. An Orator is not bound to fpeak llritt Truth, tho' a Dilpu- tant be. But this Unmaiker's writing againft me will excufe him from being of the latter : and then why may not Falfhoods pafs for Rhetorical Fkurijhes, in one who hath been us'd to popular Haranguing ; to which Men are not gene- rally fo fevere as flriftly to examine them, and expeft that they fhould always be foimd to contain nothing but precife Truth, and ftrid; Reaibning ? But yet 1 muft not forget to put upon his Score, this other Propofition of his, which he has, />. 4':. and ask him to fhew, XIX. Where it is that I command my Reader not to flir a 'jot farther than the Afts .? tn the next two Paragraphs, p. 42 ^6. the Unmasker is at his natural Play," of Declaiming without Proving. 'Tis pity the Miflma, out of which he takes his good Breeding, as it told him that a -well-bred and -well-taught Man anfwers to the fi'ft in the firjl place, had not given him this Rule too about Order, wz,. That Proving fhould go before Condemning ; elfe all tiie fierce Exaggerations ill Language can heap up, are but empty Scurrility. But 'tis no wonder that the Jewi/h Doftors fhould not provide Rules for a Chriftian Divine, turned Urnnaskcr. For where a Caufe is to be maintained, and a Book to be writ, and Arguments are not at hand, yet fomething muft be found to fill it j Rail- ing in fuch Cafes is much eafier than Reaibning, efpecially where a Man's Parts lie that Way. The firft of thefe Paragraphs, p. 42. he begins thus : But let us hear further ■what this V\netraying Chriftianity ; but if it be neceflary to name the Word Satisfac- tion, and ho that does not fo is a Betrayer oj Chrijlianity, you will do well to con- fider how you will acquit the Holy Apoftles from that bold Imputation; which if it be extended as far as it will go, will fcarce come fhort of Biafphemy : For I do not remem.bcr that our Saviour has any where named Satiifaaicn, or imply'd it plainer in any Words than thofe I have quoted from him ; and he, I hope, will 'fcape tlie Intemperance oi your 'I'ongue. You tell me, I had my Prudence {rom the Mijj/cnary Jefults in China, 'u;l}0 conceal' d our Saviotirs Snjferings and Death, becaufe / undertake to injhucl the World in Chriflianity, with an Omiffun of its Principal Articles. And I pra}', Sir, from whom did you learn your Prudence, when taking upon you tQ teach the Fundamental Doctrines of Chriftianity, in your "Tboughtis ccnceming the Caiifes of Atheifm, you left out feveral, that you have been pleaied fince to add in your Socinianifm Umnaslid .<* Or it I, as you fay here, betray Chrijlia- nity by this Omiffion of this Principal Article ; what do you, who are a Pro- fefled Teacher of it, if you omit any principal Article, which your Pru- dence is fo wary in, that you will not fay you have gi\"en us ail that are neceflary to Salvation, in that Lift you have laft publifli'd ? I pray who afts beft the yefuit (whofe humble Imitator you fay I am) you or I ; when pre- tending to give a Catalogue of Fundamentals, you have not reduced them to dired: Propofitions ; but have left fome of them indefinite, to be collefted as every one pleafes : and inftead of telling us it is a perfetft Catalogue of Fundamentals, plainly fhuffie it off, and tell me, p. 22. If that will not content me, you are fare you can do nothing that will : If I require more, it is Foily in you to comply with me ? One Part of what you here fay, I own to you, fi- vours not much of the Skill of a Jefuit. You confefs your Inability, and I believe it to be perfeftly true : That if what you have done already (which is nothing at all ) will not content jne, you are fure, you can do nothing that •will content me, or any reafonable Man, that Ihall demand of you a com- pleat Catalogue of Fundamentals. But you make it up pretty well, with a Confidence becoming one of that Order. For he muft have rub'd his Forehead hard, who in the iame Ti'eatife, where he fo feverely condemns the Imper- feftion of my Lift of Fundamentals, confeflcs that he cannot give a complcat Catalogue of his own. , You publifli to the World in this 44tii, and the next Page, that / hide from the People the main Articles of the Chriftian Religion ; / difguife the Faith of the Gofpel, betray Chriflianity it felj, and imitate the yefuits that went to preach the Gofpel to the People of China, by my Omillion of its principal or jnain Articles. Anfw. I know not how I difguife the Faith of the Gofpel, &c. in Imita- tion of the Jefaits in China ; unlefs taking Men oif from the Inventions of Men, and recommending to them the Reading and Study of the Holy Scripture, to find what the Gofpel is, and requires, be a difguifng the Faith of the Gofpel, a betraying of Chriflianity, and an imitating the Jejuits. Befides, Sir, if one may ask you, in what School did you learn that prudent Warinefs and Refene, which fo eminently appears, p. 24. of your Socinianijm Unmask'd, in thefe Words : T'hefe Articles (meaning tiiofe which you had before enumerated as Fundamental) of Faith, are fuch as muft IN SOME MEASURE be known and ajfented to by a Chriflian, fuch as rnufl GENERALLY be received, and embraced by him .? You will do well the next Time to fet down, how far your Fundamentals muft be known, ajfmted to, and received ; to avoid the Suf- picion, that there is a little more of Jefuitifm in thefe Expreifions, in fome Aleajure 598 A Second Vindication of the Meafnre known and ajfented to, mid gcnerallly -received and and embraced, tlian what becomes a lincere Protcftant Preacher of the Goipel. For your fpeaking fo doubtfully of knowing and afl'enting to thofe, which you give us for Funda- mental Doftrines, which belong (as you fay) to the very Effi^nce of Cbriftia- nity, will hardly 'fcape being imputed to your want of Knowledge, or want of Sincerity. And indeed the Word General is in familiar ufe with you, and ftands you in good ftead, when you would fay fomething, you know not whati as I fhall have Occalion to remark to you, when I come to your 91 ft Page. Further, I do not remember where it was, that I mentioned or under- took to fet down all the principal or tnain Articles of Chrifiianity. To change the Terms of the Qiu-ftion from Articles neceflafy to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, into principal or main Articles, looks a little Jefuitical. But to pafs by that : The Apoftles, when they -vcent to preach the Gcfpel to People as much Strangers to it, as the Chinifes were when the Europeans came firft amongft them, Did they hide from the People the main Articles of the Chri- fiian Religion, difguife the Faith of the G'fpel, and betray Chriflianity it felf ? If they did not, I am fure I have not : For I have not omitted any of the main Articles which they preached to the Unbelieving World. Thofe I have fet \ down, with fo much Care not to omit any of them, that you blame me for it more than once, and call it tedious. However you are pleafed to acquit or condemn the Apoftles in the Cafe of your fupreme Determination, I am very indittercnt. If you think fit to condem them for difguifing or betraying the Chri~ fiian Religion, becaufe they faid no more of Satisjatiion, than I have done, in their Preaching at Hrft to their Unbelieving Auditors, Jews or Heathens, to make them as I tliink Chriftians (for that I am now fpeaking of) I fhall not beforry to be found in their Company, under what Cenfure I'oever. If you are pleafed gracioufly to take off this your Cenfure from them, for this Omijfion, I fhall claim a Share in the fame Indulgence. But to come to what perhaps you will think you felf a little more con- cerned not to cenfure, than what the Apojiles did fo long fince ; for you have given Inftances of being very apt to make bold with the Dead : Pray tell me, does the Church of England admit People into the Church of Chrift at hap-hazard ? Or without propofing, and requiring a Profeffion of all that is neceflary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian ? If fhe does not, I defire you to turn to the Baptifm of thofe of riper Years in our Liturgy : Where the Prieft asking the Convert particularly, whether he believes the Apoftles Creed, which he repeats to him ; upon his Profeflion that he does, and that he defnes to be baptized into that Faith, without one Word of any other Articles, baptizes hmi ; and then declares him a Chriftian, in thefe Words : IVe receive t/jis Perfcn into the Congregation of Chrift' s Flock, and fign him with the Sign of the Crofs, in Token that he fhall not be afham'd to CO NTlNUE Chrifi's jaithjul Soldier and Servant. In all this there is not one Word of SatisfaBion, no more than in my Book, nor fo much neither. And here I ask you. Whether for this Omijfan, you will pronounce that the Church of England difguifes the Faith oj the Gofpel <" However you think fit to treat me, yet methinks you fhould not let your i'elf loofe fo freely againft our firft Reformers, and the Father? of our Ciiurch ever (ince, as to call them Betrayers if Chrifiianity it felf ; becaufe they think not fo much neceflliry to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, as you are pleafed to put down in your Articles j but omit, as well as I, your 7nain Article of Satisfafiion. Having thus notably harangu'd upon the Occafion of my faying, " Would any one blame my Prudence ? " and thereby made me a Socinian, a Jefuit, and a Betrayer of Chrifiianity it felf, he has in that anfwer'd all that fuch a Mif- creant as I do or can fay ; and fo pafles by all the Reafous I gave, for what I did ; without any other Notice or Anfwer, but only denying a Matter of Fact, which I only can know, and he cannot, viz,, my Defign in Printing my Reafonblenefs of Chrifiianity. In the ne.xt Paragraph, p. 45. in anfwer to thefe W^ords of St. Paul^ Rom. xiv. I. Hi?n that is weak in the Faith receive ye, but mt to doubtful Dif- putations ; which I brought as a Reafon, why I mencioii'd not SatisfaBion a- moDgft Reajonahknejs of Christianity, ^c. 599 mongd tiie Benefits receiv'd by the coming of our Saviour; bccaufe, as I tell him \\\ my Vindication, p. 54(5. My Reujunalj'knefsofChriflianity, as the Title fhcws, was " defigned chiefly for thofe who were not yet thoroughly or firmly Chri- '' Ilians." He replies, and I defire him to prove it, XX. "That I pretend a Dejign of my Book -which -was never fo much as thought ofy tiQ I was fulicited by my Brethren to vindicate it. All the reft in this Paragraph being either nothing to this Place of the Romans^ or what I have anlwer'd elfewhere, needs no farther Anfwer. The next two Paragraphs, p. ^6 — 49. are meant for an Anfwer to fome- thing 1 had faid concerning the Apoftles Creed, upon the occafion of his charg- ing my Book with Sucinianif/n. They begin thus : This Author oj the Nezu Chrijlianity [Anfw. This New Chriftianity is as old as the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles, and a little older than the Vnmasker's Syftem] ivijely oljeEls that the Apoftles Creed hath none oj thofe Articles ■which I mention d, p. 547. Anfw. If that P^xxihor wifely objects, the Unmasker vroxAd have cione well to have replied wifely. But for a Man wifely to reply, it is in the firft Place requifite, that the Objeftion be truly and fairly fet down in its full Force, and not Reprefented fhort, and as will beft ferve the Anlwerer's Turn to reply to. This is neither wife nor honeft : And this firft Part of a wife. Reply the Unmasker has failed in. This will appear from my Words and the Occafion of them. The Unmasker had accufed my Book of Socinianifn, for omitting fome Points, which he urged as necefifary Articles of Faith. To which I anfwer 'd. That he had done fo only " to give it an ill Name, not " becaufc it was Socinian j for he had no more Reafon to charge it with Soci- " nianifn for the Omiffions he mentions, than the Apoftles Creed." Thefe are my Words, which he fhould have either fet down out of p. 547. which he quotes, or at leaft given the Objeftion as I put it, if he had meant to have clear'd it by a fair Anfwer. But he, inftead thereof, contents himfelf that / objeSl, that the Apiftles Creed hath none of thoje Articles and DoCirines which the Un- masker mention d. Anfw. This at beft is but a Part of my Objeftion, and not to the Purpofe which I there meant, without tlie reft joined .to it ; which it has pleafed the Unmasker according to his laudable Way to conceal. My Ob- jeftion therefore ftands thus : That the fame Articles, for the Omiffion whereof the Unmasker charges my Book with Sodnianifm, being alfo omitted in the Apoftles Creed, he has no more Reafon to charge my Book ivith Sodnianifm, for the O- miflions mention'd, than he hath to charge the Apoftles Creed with Sod- nianifm. To this Objeflion of mine, let us now fee he how Anfwers, p. 47. Nor does any conjiderate Man wonder at it [ i. e. That the Apoftles Creed hath none of thofe Articles and Doftrines which he had mention'd] For the Creed is a Form of outward Profejfion, which is chiefly to be made in tl)e Ptiblick AJfemblies, when Prayers are put tip in the Church, and the Holy Scriptures are read. "Then this Abridgment of Faith is properly ufed, or when there is not "Time or Opportunity to make any Enlarge- ment. But we are not to think it exprefly contains in it all the neceffary and weighty Points, all the important Doflrines of Belief ; it being only defigned to be an Abftrafi. Anfw. Another indifpenfible Requifite in a wife Reply is, that it fliould be pernicent. Now what can there be more Impertinent, than to confefs the Mat- ter of Fafl; upon which the Objeftion is grounded ; but inftead of deftroying the Inference drawn from that Matter of Faft, only amufe the Reader with wrong Reafons, why that Matter of Faft was fo ? No cunjiderate Alan, he lays, doth xwnder that the Articles and Doftrines he mentioned, are omitted in the Apoftles Creed : Becaufe that Creed is a Form of outward Profejfion. Anfw. A Profefon ! of what I befeech you ? Is it a Fortn to be Ufed for Form's fake ? I thought it had been a Profejfion of fomething, even of the Chriftian Faith : And if it be fo, any conjiderate Man may wonder neceffary ^00 -^ Second Vindication of the neceflary Articles of the Chriftian Faith fbould be left out of it. For how ic can be an otitv^ard Profejjivn of the Chriftian Faith, without containing the Chri- ftian Faitii, I do not lee ; unlefs a Man ca.n omxvardly projefs the Ciiriflian Faith in Words, that do not contain or exprefs it, /. e. profefs the Chriftian Faith, when he does not profefs it. But he fays, '"Tis a Profejjion chiefly to be made ufe vj in AJfemhlies. Aufiv. Do thofe folemn AJJemblies privilege it from containing the neccHary Articles of the Chriftian Religion ? Tiiis proves not that it does not, or was not dejigned to contain all Articles necelfary to be believ'd to make fl Man a Chriftian; unlei's the Unmasker can prove that a Form o{ outward Pro- fejjion of the Chriftian Faith, that contains all fuch necelfary Articles, cannot be made ufe of in the Publick Ailcmbles. In the Publick AJfemhlies, fays he, -when Prayers are put tip by the Church, and the Holy Scriptures are read, then this Abridg- ment of Faith is properly ufed ; or -when there is not generally "Time or Opportunity to make an Enlargeinent. Anfiv. But that which contains not what is abfolutely neceflary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian, can no where be properly us'd as a Form of outward Profejjion of the Chriftian Faith, and leaft of all in the folemn Publick Affcmblies. All the Senfe I can make of this is, Tliat this Abridgjnent of the Chriftian Faith, /. e. imperfeft CoUedion (as the Unmasker will have it) of fome of the Fundamental Articles of Chriftianity in the Apo- flles Creed, which omits the greateft Part of them, is made ufe of ca a Form of outward Profeffion of but part of the Chriftian Faith in the Publick AJfemhlies ; when by Reafon of reading of the Scripture and Prayers, there is not "Time or Oppor- tunity for a full and perfect Profellion of it. 'Tis ftrange the Chriftian Church fliould not find T'ime nor Opportunity in fixteen hundred Years to make, in any of her Publick Aflemblies, a Profeflion of fo much of her Faith as is necelfary to make a Man a Chriftian. But pray tell me, has the Church any fuch full and compleat Form of Faith, that hath in it all thofe Propofitions, you have given us for neceifary Articles, (not to fay any thing of thofe which you liaA'e referv'd to your felf in your own Breaft, and will not communicate) of wliich the Apoftles Creed is only a fcanty Form, a brief imperfeft AhftraB, us'd only to fave Time in the Croud of other preffing Occafions, that are always in hafte to be difpatch'd ? If fhe has, the Uninasker will do well to produce it. If the Church has no fuch compleat Form, be- fides the Apoftles Creed, any where, of Fundamental Articles ; he will do well to lea\e talking idly of this Abflrad, as he goes on to do in the following Words : But, fays he, we are not to think that it exprefly contains in it all the necejfary and weighty Points, _ all the important DoEirines of our Beliej ; it being only dejigned to be an AhJlraB. Anfw. Of what, I befeech you, is it an Ahflracl ? For here the Unmasker ftops fhort, and as one that knows not well what to fay, fpeaks not out what it is an Abjiracl of ; but provides himfelf a Subterfuge in the generality of the pre- ceding Terms, of necejfary and weighty Points, and important Doctrines jumbled toge- ther i which can be there of no other ufe but to cover his Ignorance or Sophiftry. But the Qiieftion being only about H«f//i:z>7 Points, to what purpofe are weighty and important DoHrines joined to them ; unlefs he will fay, that there is no difference between neccjjary and weighty Points, Fundamental and Important Doclrines ? And if fo, then the Diftinftion of Points into neceflary and not neceflary, will be foolifh and impertinent; and all the Doftrines cantainM in the Bible will be abfolutely neceflary to be explicitly believ'd by every Man to make him a Chriftian. But taking it for granted, that the Diftinftion of Truths contain'd in the Gofpel into Points abfolutely neceflary, and not abfolutely neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, is good ; I delire the Unmasker to tell us, what the Apoftles Creed is an Abftraft of He will perhaps anfvver, that he has told us already in this very Page, where he fays it is an Abridgment of Faith ; and he has faid true in Words, but faying thofe Words by rote after others, without underftanding them, he has ilxid fo in a Senfe that is not true. For he fuppofes it an Abridgmen of Faith, by containing only a few of the neceflary Articles of Faith, and leaving out the far greater Part of them ; and fo takes a part of a thing for an Abridgment of it : whereas an Abridg- ment or AhJlraB of any Thing, is the whole in little ; and if it be of a Science or Dcftrine, the Abridgment conlifts in the eflential or neceflfary Parts of ic, contracted 'Reajonahlenefs o/" Ch r i s t i a n i t t , ^c. 60 1 contrafted into a narrower Compafs than where it lies difFus'd in the ordinary way of Delivery, amongft a great Number of Tranfitions, Explanations, 11- luftrations, Proofs, Reafonings, Corollaries, &c. All which, tlio' they make a Part of the Difcourfe wherein that Doftrine is dcliver'd, are left out in the Abridgment of it , wherein all the necelVary Parts of it arc drawn together into a lels Room. But tho' an Airidgment need to contain none but the Elfen- tial and neceflary Parts, yet all thofe it ought to contain ; or elfe it will not be an Abridgment or AbflraB of that Thing, but an Abridgment only of a Pare of it. I think it could not be faid to be an Abridgment of the Law contain'd in an Ad of Parliament, wherein any of tlie Things requirM by that A(it were omitted ; which yet commonly may be reduc d into a very narrow Compafs, when ftrip'd of all the Motives, Ends, Enacting Forms, &c. exprefs'd in the Ad it felt. If this does not fatisfy the Unmasker what is properly an Abridg- ment, I ftiall refer him to Mr.Chil/ingworth , who I think will be allow'd to un- derftand Senfe , and to fpeak it properly, at lead as well as the JJimasker. And what he fays, happens to be in the very fame Queftion between Knot the Jefuit, and him, that is here between the Unmasker and me: 'Tis but putting the Unmasker in the Jefuit's Place, and my felf ( if it may be allow'd me with- out Vanity) in "iAx. Chilling-worth, the Proteftant'sj and 'WLv.Chillingivortb's very Words, Chap. IV. §.65. will exadly ferve for my Anfwer. " You triHe ariec- *' tedly, confounding the Apoftles Belief of the whole Religion of Chrift , as *' it comprehends both what we are to do, and u'hat we are to believe, with " that Part of it which contains not Duties of Obedience , but only the ne- " cefiary Articles of fimple Faith, Now, tho' the Apoftles Belief be, in the " former Senfe, a larger Thing than that which we call the Apoftles Creed ; yet *' in the latter Senfe of the Word, the Creed ( I fay) is a full Comprehenlion o£ ** their Belief, which you your felf have formerly confefs'd , tho' fomevvhat *' fearfully and inconftantly. And here again Unwillingnefs to fpeak the Truth, " makes you fpeak that which is hardly Senfe , and call it an Abridgment of " fome Articles of Faith. For I demand thofe yow? Articles which you fpeak *' of, which are they ? Thofe that are out of the Creed , or thofe that are *' in it ? Thofe that are in it, it comprehends at large , and therefore it is not an Abridgment of them. Thofe that are out of it, it comprehends not at all, and therefore it is not an Abridgment of them. If you would call it *' now an Abridgment of Faith, this would be Senfe j and fignify thus much. That ail the necelfary Articles of the Chriftian Faith are compriz'd in it. For this is the proper Duty o£ Abridgments , to leave out nothing neceilary."* So that in Mr. C/.iUingworth's Judgment of an Abridgment, it is not Senfe to ,fay as you do, pag. 47. That u'e are not to think that the Apofiles Creed exprejly contains in it all the neceffary Points of our Belief, it being only dejignd to be an AbJlraEi, or an Abridgment of Faith : But on the contrary, we muft conclude it contains in it all the neceflary Articles of Faith, for that very Reafon ; be- caufe it is an Abridgment of Faith, as the Unmasker calls it. But whether this that Mr. Chillingworth has given us here, be the Nature of an Abridgment or no ; this is certain, that the Apoftles Creed cannot be a Form of Pnfejjhn of the Chriftian Faith, if any Part of the Faith neceflary to make a Man a Chriftian be left out of it : And yet fuch a Profeffton of Faith would the Unmasker have this Abridgment of Faith to be. For a little lower in the 47?/; Page, he fays in exprefs Terms, That if a Man believe no more than is in cxprefs Terms in the Apofiles Creed , his Faith -will not be the Faith of a Chrifiian. Wherein he does great Honour to the Primitive Church , and particularly to the Church of England. The Primitive Church admitted converted Heathens to Baptifm, upon the Faith contain'd in the Apoftles Creed : A bare Profeifion of that Faith, and no more, was required of them to be receiv'd into the Church, and made Members of Chrift's Body. How little different the Faith of the An- tient Church was from the Faith I have mention'd, may be feen in thefe Words of Tertullian: Regula fidei una omnino efl, fola, immobilis, irreformabilis, Ce- dendi fcilicet in unicum Deum omnipotentem Mundi conditorein , & Filium ejm ^efum Chrifium, natum ex Virgine Maria, crucifixum fub Pontio Pilato, tertia Die refufcitatum a Murtuis, receptum in Ccelis , fedcntem nunc ad dextram Patris, venturum judicare vivos p' mortws , per carnis etiam Refurre^ionem. Hie lege .Vol. II. Gggg -f"^^" ^02 ^ Second Vindication of the F'lde't tnmente , catern jam D/fcipHna & Gmverfationis admittuM mvitatem correct tionii : Tcrt. de Virg. VelaH. in Principio. This was the Faith that, in Ter- tulltan's Time, fuffic'd to make a Chriflian. And the Church of England, as I have reniark'd already, only propoles the Articles of the Apoftles Creed to the Convert to be baptiz'd ; and upon his profeffing a Belief of them, asks whether he will be baptiz'd in "THISFAIT'H, which ( if we will believe the Uamaiker ) is nut the Faith of a Chrijlian. However the Church, without any more ado, upon the Profefiion of 'THIS FAITH, and no other, baptizes him into it. So that the Antient Church, if the Unmasker may be believ'd, baptized Converts into that Faith which is not the Faith of a Chrijlian. And the Church of England, when fhe baptizes any one, makes him not a Chriflian. For he that is baptiz'd only into a Faith that is not the Faith of a Chriflian, I would fain know how he can thereby be made a Chriftian ? So that if the O- miffions, which he fo much blames in my Book, make me a Socinian, I fee not how the Church of England will efcape that Ccnfure ; fince thofe OmifTions are in that very Confeffion of Faith which fhe propoi'es, and upon a Profeffion whereof fhe baptizes thofe whom fhe defigns to make Chriftians. But it feems that the JJmnnsker ( who has made bold to unmask her too ) reafons right, that the Church of England is miftaken, and makes none but Socinian Chri/lians ; or (as he is pleas'd now to declare ) no Chriftians at all. Which, if true, the Unmaker had beft look to it, whether he himfelf be a Chriftian, or no ; for 'tis to be fear'd, he was baptiz'd only into that Faith, which he him- felf confefles is not the Faith oj a Chrijlian. But he brings himfelf off in thefe following Words : All Matters of Faith, in fome manner, may be redtud to this brief Platjorm of Belief. Anfw. If that be enough to make him a True and an Orthodox Chriftian, he does not confider who in this Way he brings off with him : For I think he cannot deny, that ail Matters of Faith, in fome manner, may be reduc'd to that AbflraB of Faith which I have given, as well as to that brief Platform in the Apoftles Creed. So that for ought 1 fee, by this Rule, we are Chriftians or not Chriftians, Ortho- dox or not Orthodox, equally together. But yet he fays in the next Words : When he calls it an Abflrad or Alhevia- ture, it is imply d, that there are more Tmths to be known and affented to by a Chriflian in order to making him really fo, than what lue meet with here. The quite contrary whereof (as has been fhewn) is imply'd by its being call'd an AbflraB. But what is that to the purpofe.? 'Tis not lit AbflraBs and Ab- breviatures fliould ftand in an Unmasker's Way. They are Sounds Men have us'd for what they pleas'd ; and why may not the Umnasker do fo too, and vife them in a Senfe that may make the Apoftles Creed be only a broken Scrap of the Chriftian Faith ? However, in great Condefcenfton , being willing to do the Apoftles Creed what Honour he could, he fays, That all Matters of Faith in fome manner, may be reduc'd to this brief Platform of Belief. But yet when it is fet in Competition with the Creed, which he himfelf is making ( for it is not yet finifli'd ) it is by no means to be allow'd as fufficient to make a Man a Chriftian. There are ?nore Truths to be known and affented to, in order to make a Man really a Chriflian. Which, what they are, the Church of England fhall know, when this new Reformer thinks fit : And then flie may be able to propofe to thofe who are not yet fo, a Colleftion of Articles of Belief, and baptize them a new into a Faith, which will really make them Chriftians: But hitherto, if the Unmasker may be credited, fhe has fail'd in it. Tet he craves leave to tell me in the following Words, fag,^%. That the Apoflles Creed hath more in it than I, or my Brethren , will fubfcribe to. Were it not the undoubted Privilege of the Unmasker to know me better than I do my felf, (for he is always telling me fomething of my lelf which I did not know) I would, in my Turn, crave leave to tell him , that this is the Faith I was bap- tiz'd into, no one Tittle whereof I have renounc'd, that 1 know i and that I heretofore thought , that gave me Title to be a Chriftian. But the Unmasker hath othervvife determin'd : And I know not now where to find a Chriftian. For the Belief of the Apoftles Creed will not, it feems, make a Man one:. And what other Belief will, it does not yet pleafe the Unmasker to tell us. But yet as to the Subfiribing to the Apoftles Creed, I muft take leave to fay, however Reajonabkncjs of Christianity, ^c, 6oi however the Unmatker may be right in the Faith, he is out in the Morals of a Chriftian ; it being againft the Charity of one, that is really fo, to pro- nounce, as he does, peremptorily in a Thing that he cannot know ; and to affirm pofitively what I know to be a down-right Falfliood. But what others will do, it is not my Talent to determine ; that belongs to the Uimasker. 'Jhough as to all that are my Brethren in the Chriftian Faith, I may anfwer for tliem too, that they will alfo, with me, do that without which in that Senfe they cannot be my Brethren. Page 49. The Unmasker fmartly convinces me of no fmall Blunder, in thefe Words : But ivas it not jiidicmifly faid by this IVriter, that " it is well for the *' Compilers of the Creed, that they liv'd not in my Days?" P. 12. I tell you, Fiiend, it zuas imfvffibk they //mi/d ; for the Learned Uflier, and Voffius, and others have prov'd, that that Symbol was drawn up not at once, but that fume Arti- cles of it were adjoin d many Tears after, far beyond the Extent of any Min's Life ; and therejore the Compilers of the Creed could not live in my Days, nor could 1 live in theirs. Anfw. But it feems that had they liv'd together, you could have liv'd in their Days. But, fays he, / let this pafs, as one of the Blunders of our thoughtful and mufing Author. Anfw. And I tell you. Friend, that xmlti's it were toihew your Reading in Ufl)er and Vuffius, you had better have let this Blunder cftnine alone. Does not the Unmasker give here a clear Proof, that he is no Changeling ? Whatever Argument he takes in hand, weighty or trivial, mate- rial or not material to the Thing in queftion, he brings it to the fame Sort of Senfe and Force. He would fhew me guilty of an Abfurdity, in faying, .," It was well for the Compilers of the Creed, that they liv'd not in liis Days. " This he proves to be a Blunder, becaufe they all liv'd not in one another's Days; therefore it was an Abfurdity to luppofethey might all live in his Days. As i£ there were any greater Ablurdity to bring the Compilers, who liv'd poffibly within a few Centuries of one another, by a Suppofition, into one Time; than it is to bring the Unmasker, and any one of them who liv'd a thoufand Years diftant one from another, by a Suppofition to be Contemporaries : For 'tis by Reaibn of the Compilers living at a Diftance one from another, that he proves it impoffible for him to be their Contemporary. As if it were not as impoffible in Faft, for him who was not born till above a thoufand Years alter, to live in any of their Days, as it is for any one of them to live in either of thofe Compilers Days that died before him. The Suppofition of their living together is as eafy of one as the other, at what Diftance foever they liv'd and how many foever there were of them. This being fo, I think it had been better for the Unmasker to have let alone the Blunder, and fhew'd (which was his Bufinefs) that he does not accufe the Compilers of the Creed of being all over Socinianiz'd, as well as he does me, fince they were as guilty » as 1, of tlie Omiffion of thofe Articles (viz. T^hat Chrifl is the Word of Go'd.^ "That God was God incarnate. "The eternal and ineffable Generation of the Son of God. "Fhat the Son is in the Father, and Father in the Son, which expreffes their Unity) for the Omiflion whereof, the Unmasker laid Socinianifm to my charge. So that it remains ftill upon his Score to fhew, XXI. Why thefe Omiffions in the Apoflles Creed, do not as well make the Abflraciy as my Abridgment of Faith, to be Socinian ? Page 53. the Unmasker defies the Reader to obferve, that this lank Faith of mine^ is in a manner no other than the Faith of a Turk. And I defire the Reader to ob- ferve, that this Faith of mine was all that our Saviour and his Apoftles preach'd to the unbelieving World. And this our Ummasker cannot deny, as I think will appear to any one, who obferves what he fays, p. 75, 77. of his Socinia- tiifm Unmasked. And that they preach'd nothing but a Faith, that was in a wanner no other than the Faith of nTurk, I think none amongft Chriftians, but this •bold Unmasker, will have the Irreverence profanely to fay. He tells us,/). 54. That the MuJJ'elmen (or, as he has for the Information of his Reader very pertinently prov'd, fliould be writ Mojlemim ; without which, perhaps, we fhould not have known his Skill in Arahick) or, in plain Englijh, the Mahometans, believe that Chrifl is a good Man, and mt above' the Nature of a Vol. II. G g g g 3 Man, 5o4 -^ Second Vindication of the Mdtiy andfent of God to give hiftrucllon to the World: And my Faith, he fays, ii of the very fame Scantling. This I fliall clrfire him to proves or, which in other Words he infinuates in this, and the neighbouring Pages, viz.. XXII. That that Faith, which I have affirm'd to be the Faith which is re- quir d to make a Man a Chriftian, is no other than what T'urks believe, and is contain'd in the Alcoran. Or, as he expreflcs it himfelf, />. jj. T'hat a Turk, according to me, is a Chriflian, for I make the fame Faith ferve them both. And particularly to fhew where 'tis, I fay, XXIII. That Chrifl ;r not above t/ie Nature of a Man, or have made that a neceflary Article of the Chxiftian Faith. And next where it is, XXIV. T'hat Ifpeak as meanly of Chriji's Suffering on the Crofs, and Death, as if there were no fuch 'Thing. For thus he fays of me, p. 54. I feem to have confulted the Mahometan Bible^ ■which did fay, Chriji did not fuffer on the Crofs, did not die. For I, and my Allies^ ■ Jpeak as meanly of thefe Articles, as if there were no fuch Thing. To fhew our Un?nasker's Veracity in this Cafe, I fhall trouble my Reader with fome Palfages out of my Reafnablenefs of Chrifiianity, pag. 587. " When we " confider that he was to fill out the Time foretold of his Miniftry, and after " a Life illuftrious in Miracles and good Works, attended with Humility, " Meeknefs, Patience and SUFFE R ING, and every Way conformable to *' the Prophecies of him, fhould be led as a Sheep to the Slaughter ; and with " all Quiet and SubmifTion be brought to the CROSS, tho' there were no Guilt or Fault found in him. " And p. 490. " Contrary to the Defign of his " Coming, which was to be FFE R' D up a Lamb, blamelefs and void of " Offence. " And p. 499. *' Laying down his Life, both for Jews and Gentiles. P. 515. Given up to CoK^CTW/i^, Torment &nd Death." But fay what I will, when the Unmasker thinks fit to have it fo, it is fpeaking out of the Mahometan Bible, That Chriji did not fuffer en the Crofs, did not die j or at leaft, is fpeaking as 7neanly of thefe Articles as if no fuch Thing had been. His next Slander \s p. 55. in thefe Words : T'his Gentleman pref-ms the World with a very ill Notion of Faith, for the very Devils are capable of all that Faith, which, he fays, makes a Chrijiian. It is not ftrange, that the Umnasker ihould mifreprefent the Faith, which I fay makes a Chriftian ; when it feems to be his whole Defign to mifreprefent my Meaning every where. The Frequency of his doing it I have fhew'd in abundance of Inftances, to which I fhall add an eminent one here ; which fhews what a fair Champion he is for Truth and Religion. Page 517. of my Reafnablenefs of Chrifiianity, I give this Account of the Faith which makes a Chriftian ; That it is " Mens entring themfehes in the King- dom of God ; owning and profeffing themfelves the Subjects of Jefus, whom they believe to be the Mejfiah, and receive for their Lord and King : For that was to be baptiz'd in his Name. " This Senfe of believing Chrift to be the Meffiah, that is, to take him for our King and Lord, who is to be obey'd, I have exprefs'd over and over again ; as p. 519, 520. my Words are. That as many of them as would believe Jefus the Son of God (whom he fent into the World) to be the Meffiah, the promis'd Deliverer, and would re- ceive him for their King and Ruler, ihould have all their paft Sins, Difo- bedience and Rebellion forgiven them. And if for tJie future they liv'd in iincere Obedience to his Law, to the utmoft of their Power, the Sins of i[ human Frailty for the Time to come, as well as thole of their paft Lives, '^ flioul4 Reajonnhlenejs of Christianity, ^c. 60^ *' Ihould for his Son's Sake, becaufe they gave thcmfehes up to him to be his *' Subjeds, be forgiven them : And lb their Faith, which nvicie them to be " bapt'z'd into his Name (?'. e. inroll themielvcs into the Kingdom of ^'c^'m tlie " Mcjfiih., and profefs themfeh/es his Subjeds ; and confequenriy live by tiic *' Laws of his Kingdom) fliould be accounted to them for Rightcouinefs. " "Which Account of what is necelTary, I clofe with thefe Words: " This is the *' FA II" H. for which God of his free Grace juftihes finful Man. " And is this the Fahh of Devils ? To the i'ame Purpofe, p. 521. are thefe Words: " The chief End of his *' Coming was to be a King, and as fuch to be receiv'd by thofe, who would *' be his Subjefts in the Kingdom which he came to erect. " And again, f. 520. " Only thofe who have believ'd Jefus to be the Meffiah, and taken " him for their King, who with a fincere Endeavoul" after Righteoufnefs in obey- *' ing his Law, fliali have their paft Sins not imputed to tiiem. " And fo again, />. 520, and 524. and in feveral other Places; of which I fliall add but this one more, p. 524. " 'Tis not enough to believe him to be the Meffiah, unlefs we *' obey his Laws, and take him to be our King to reign over us. " Can the Devils thus believe him to be the Meffiah? Yet this is that which by thefe and abundance of other Places, I have fliew'd to be the Meaning of believing him to be the Mejjiah. Befides, I have exprefly diftinguifh'd the Faith Which makes a Chriftian, from that wliich the Devils have ; by proving, that to the believing Jefus to be the Meffiah muft be join'd Repentance, or elfe it will not make them true Chriftians : And what this Repentance is, may be feen at large in p. 517, &c. fome ExprelTions whereof I fhall here fet down : As p. 517. " Repentance *' does not confift in one fingle Act ot Sorrow (though that being hrft, and *' leading, gives Denomination to the whole) but in doing Works meet for " Repentance ; in a fincere Obedience to the Law of Chrift the Remainder of *' our Lives. " Again : To diftinguifh the Faith of a Chrifiian from that of Devils, I fay exprefly, out of St. Paulas Epiftle to the Galatians, " That which *' availeth is Faith, but Fuith working by Love ; and tliat Faith without \'. orks, *' ;, e. the Works of fincere Obedience to the Law and Will of Chrift, is not " fufficient for our Juftification." And/". 525. " That to inherit eternal Life, *' we muft love the Lord our God with all our Heart, with all our Soul, with *' all our Strength, and with all our Mind. " And p. 524. " Love Chrift in keep- *' ing his Commandments. " This, and a great deal more to this Purpofe, may be feen in my Reafonabk- tiefs of Cimftianity; particularly where I anfwer that Objeftion about the Faith of Devils, which I handle in p. 515, &c. and therein at large fhew wherJn the Faith of Devils comes fhort of the Juftifying Faith which makes a Chriftian. And yet the good, the fincere, the candid Umnasker, with his becoming Confi- dence, tells his Readers here, /». 5 5 . T'/mt I pre/em the PVorld -with a very ill IVu- iion of Faith : For the "very Devils are capable of all that Faith, -which I fay makes a Chrifiian Man. To prevent this Calumny, I, in more Places than one, diftinguifli'd between Faith in a ftridt Senfe, as it is a bare Aflent to any Propofition, and that which is call'd Evangelical Faith, in a larger Senfe of the Word ; which comprehends under it fomething more than a bare fimple Allent, as p. 483. " I mean, this is all is required to be believ'd by thofe who acknowlede but " one Eternal Invifible God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth : For that there *' is fomething more requirM to Salvation, befides believing, we fhall fee here- *' after. " P. 484. " All I fay that was to be believ'd for Juftification. For *' that this was not all that was requir'd to be done for Juftification, we fhall " fee hereafter. " P. 494. " Obeying the Law o{ the Meffiah their King, being " no lefs riquir'd than their believing that Jefus was the Meffiah, the King and *' Deliverer, that was promis'd them. " P. 515. " As far as mere believing " could make them Members of Chrift's Body." By thefe, and more the like Paflages in my Book, my Meaning is fo evident, that no body but an Un~ inasker would have faid, that when I fpoke of believing as a bare Speculative Afl'ent to any Propofition as true, I affirm 'd that was all that was required of a Chriftian for Juftification : though that, in the ftrift Senfe of the Word, is all 6o6 ^ Second Vindicntion of the all that is done in Iclieving. And therefore, I fay, as far as mere helieniing could make them Members of Chrifl's Body ; plainly fignifying, as much as Words can, that the Faith, for which they were, juftify'd, including fomething more than a bare Aflent. This appears not only from thcfc Words of mine, p. ^17. St. Paul often, in his Epi flies, puts Faith j or the luhole Duty of a Chrijlian; but front my fo olien, and almolt every-where interpieting believing him to be the Mcjjiah, by taking him to be our King; wlicreby is meant not a bare idle Speculation, a bare notional Periuafion of any Truth vvhatfoever floating in our Brains ; but an active Principle of Life, a Faith workir.g by Love and Obedience. To take him to be uiir King., carries with it a riglit Difpofition of the Will to honour and obey him, join'd to that Alfent wherewith Believers embrace this Funda- mental Truth, tliat Jelus was che Perfon wlio was, by God, fent to be their King; he that was promised to be their Prince and Saviour. But for all this, the Unmasker, p. 55. confidently tells his Reader that I fay no fuch Jhing. His Words arc : But befides this Hijlorical Fiiith (as it is gene^ rally called by Divines) which is giving Credit to Evangelical I'riiths, as barely re- •veal'd, there miiji be fometliing elfe added to make up the true fubflantial Faith of a Chriflian. With the Affent oj the Underjlanding, mufl be join d the Cunfent or Ap- probation of the Will. All thofe Divine TrMths -which the Intelkci ajfents to, mtijl be allow' d of by this Eleflive Power of the Soul. "True Evangelical Faith is a hearty Acception oj the Miffius, at he is offc/d in the Gofpel. It is a fmcere and impartial Submijfion to nil 'Things requir'd by the Evangelical Law, which is contain d in the Epijlles as well as the other Writings. And to this PraCiical AJfent and Choice, there mufl be added likewife a firm Trufl and Rdiance in the bleffed Author of our Salva- tion. But this late Undertaker, who attempted to give us a more perfect Account than ever was before of Chriflianity, as it is deliver'd in the Scriptures, brings us no Tid- ings oj any fuch Faith belonging to Chriflianity, or difcover d to us in the Scriptures. Which gives us to underfland, that he verily believes there is no fuch Chriflian Faith ; for in fame of his numerous Pages (efpecially p. 5 06, 8ic.) where he fpeaks fo much of Eeliej and Faith, he might have taken Occafan to infert one Word about this com- fleat Faith of the Gofpel. Though the Places above quoted out of my Renfonallenefs of Chriflianity, and the whole lenorof the latter Part of it, fliew the Falfhood of what the Unmasker here iaysi yet I will fet down one Paflage more out of it, and then ask our Unmasker, when he hath read them, whether he hath the Brow to fay again, that / bring no Tidings of any fuch Faith ? My Words are, Reafnablenefs of Chriflianity, p. 527, 528. " Faith in the Prom ifes of God, relying and acquiefcing in his Word and Faithfulnefs, the Almighty takes well at our Hands, as a great Mark of Homage paid by us poor frail Creatures to his Goodnefs and Truth, as well as to his Power and Wildom; and accepts it as an Ac- knowledgment of his peculiar Providence and Benignity to us. And there- fore our Saviour tells us, John xii. 44. He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that fent me. The Works of Nature fliew his Wifdom and Power : But 'tis his peculiar Care of Mankind, moft eminently difcover 'd in his Promifes to them, that Ihew his Bounty and Goodnefs; and confe- " quently engages their Hearts in Love and Atfettion to him. This Oblation of an Heart fix'd with Dependence and Afteftion on him, is the moft ac- ceptable Tribute we can pay him ; the Foundation of true Devotion ; and " Liie of all Religion. What a Value he puts on this depending on his Word, and refting fatisfy'd on his Promifes, we have an Example in Abra- ham ; whofe Faith was counted to him for Righteoufnefs ; as we have be- " fore remarked out of Ro7n. iv. And his relying firmly on che Promife of God, without any Doubt of its Performance, gave him the Name, of the Father of the Faithful; and gain'd him lb much Favour with the Almighty, that lie was call'd the Friend of God : The higheft and moft glorious Title can *' be beftow'd on a Creature. " Ihe great Out-cry he makes againft me in his two next Seftions, p. J7 — ^o. as if 1 intended to introduce Ignorance and Popery, is to be entertained i-atlier as the Noifc of a petulant Scold, faying the worft Things ihe could think of, than as the arguing of a Man of Senfe or Sincerity. All this mighty Accu- lation is grounded upon thefe Falihoods, That / make it my great Bufinefs to beat Men Renjonahlenejs of Christianity, ilfc. 6o-j Men off froni Divine "Truths ; That / cry doivn all Articles of the Chrijlian Faith but me; That I -will not j'uffer Men to look into Chrijlianit) ; That I blajl the Ep'ftolary JVritings. I fliall add no more to what I have ahxady faid about the Epiftles, but thole few Words out of my Reafonabkncfs nf Chrijlianity, p. 538, 539. " The " Epiilles refolving Doubts, and reforming Miftakes, are of great Advantage to ** our Knowledge and Pra(;;tice." And, pag. 539. " An explicit Belief of what *' God requires of thofe, who will enter into, and receive the Bencrits of the " New Covenant, is abiolutely requir'd. The other Parts of Divine Revc- " lation are Objcilis of Faith, and are fo to be receiv'd. They are Truths " whereof none, that is once known to be fuch \^i. e. of Divine Revelation] *' may or ought to be disbeliev'd." And as for that other Saying of his. That I -jjHI not fuffer Men to look into Chrijlianity ; I dclire to know wliere that Chriftianity is iock'd up, which I iiill not fiijfer Men to look into. My Chriftianity, I confels, is contain'd in the writ- ten Word of God : Ar.d that I am fo far from hindring any one to look into, that I every where appeal to it, and have quoted fo much of it, that the Un- masker complains of being overlaid with it;> and tells me 'tis tedious. " All *' Divine Revelation, I fay, p. 540. requires the Obedience of Faith ; and that ** every one is to receive all the Parts of it, with a Docility and Difpofition *' prepar'd to embrace and alfent to all 'i'ruths coming from God ; and fubmit " his Mind to whatever fliall appear to him to bear that Charafter." I fpeak, in the fame Page, of Mens endeavouring to underftand it, and of their inter- preting one Place by another. I'his and the whole Dellgn of my Book jfliews. That I think it every Chriftian's Duty to read, fearch, and Iludy the Holy Scriptures ; and make this their great Bufinefs : And yet the good Unmaskcr, in a Fit of Zeal, difplays his Throat, and crys out, p. 59. Hear, ye Heavens, and give Ear, Earth ; judge ivhether this be not the Way to introduce Darknefs and Ignorance into Chrijlendtim ; whether this be not blinding of Mens Eyes, 8cc. For this mighty Pathos ends not there. And all things confidei-M, I know not whether he had not Reafon, in his want of Arguments, this Way to pour out his Concern. For neither the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles, nor the Apoftles Creed, nor any thing elfe being with him the Faith of a Chri- ftian, i. e. fufficient to make a Chriftian , but juft his Set of Fundamental Ar- ticles ( when he himfelf knows what they be:) In fine, nothing being Chri- ftianity but juft his Syftem, "tis time to cry out , Help Neighbours, hold £ift Friends ; Knowledge, Religion, Chriftianity is gone, if this be once permitted, that the People fhould read and underftand the Scripture for themfelves, as God fliall enlighten their Underftandings in the Ufeof the Means ; and not be forc'd to depend upon me, and upon my chufing, and my Interpretation, for the neceflary Points they are to believe to make them Chriftians : If I, the great Unmasker, have not the fole Power to decree what is, or is not Funda- mental, and People be not bound to receive it for fuch. Faith and the Goipel are given up ; Darknefs and Barbarifm will be brought in upon us by this Writer's Contrivance. For, he is an Underhand FaBor for that Communion , ^uhich cries up Ignorance for the Mother of Devotion and Religion j i. e. in plain EnglijJj, for Po- pery. For to this and nothing clfe tends all that Sputter he makes in the Seftions before mentioned. I do not think there was ever a more thorough-pac'd Declaimer than our Un- masker. He leaves out nothing that he thinks will make an aftVightcd Noife in the Ears of his Orthodox Hearers, tho' all the Blame and Cenfure he pours out upon others, light only on himfelf. For let me ask this zealous Upholder o£ Light and Knowledge, Does he think it reafonable that any one, who is not a Chriftian, fliould be fufter'd to be undifturb'd in his Parifli ? Nay, does he think fit that any fuch fliould live free from the Lajl) of the Magifirate , or from the Perfecution of the Ecclefiajlical Po-xer ? He feems to talk with another Air, pag.6^. In the next Place I ask, whether any one is a Chriftian, who had not the Faith of a Chriftian ? Thirdly, I ask. Whether he has the Faith of a Chriftian, who does not explicitly believe all the Fundamental Articles of Chri- ftianity ? And to conclude, I ask him. Whether all thofe, that he has fetdown, are not Fundamental neceflary Articles ? When the Unmasker has fairly anfwer'd thefe Queftions, it will be k^n who is for Popery, and the Ignorance and Tyranny tliac accompanies it. ^ - ■ The ^o8 A Second Vindication of the The Umnasker is ftir making and impoHng Articles of Faith : But he is for this Power in hinilclf. He likes not Popery ( which is nothing but the Tyran- ny and impoling upon Mens Underftandings, Faith, and Confciences) in the Hands of the old Gentleman at Rome : But it would, he thinks, do admirably well in his own Hands. And who can blame him for it ? Would not that be an excellent Way to propagate Light and Kwivkilge, by tying up all Men to a Bundle of Articles of his own Culling ? Or rather to the Authority of Chrift and his Apoflles refiding in hini ? For he does not, nor ever will, give us a full View of Fundamentals of his Chriftianity : But like the Church of Rome, to fecure our Dependence, refeu'es to himfelf a Power of declaring others, and defining what is Matter of Faith, as he fliall feeOccafion. Now therefore veil your Bonnets to the Unmasker, all you that have a mind to be Chriftians : Break not your Heads about the Scriptures, to examine what they require of you : Submit your Faith implicitly to the Unmasker, he will un- derfland and find out tiie necefl'ary Points for you to believe. Take them, juft fo many as he thinks fit to deliver them to you; this is the Way to be knowing Chriftians : But be fure, ask not whether thofe he is pleas'd to deliver be eve- ry one of them Fundamental , and all the Fundamental Articles neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian : Such a capricious Queftion fpoils all, over- turns Chriftianity, which is intrufted to the Unmasker's fole keeping, to be difpen- fedout as he thinks fit. If you refufe an implicit Faith to him, he will prefently find you have it for the Whore o{ Babylon; he will fmell out Popery in it imme- diately : For he has a very flirewd Scent, and you will be diibover'd to be an. Underhand FaBor for the Church of Rome. But if the Unniasker were fuch an Enemy, as he pretends , to thofe FaEiors, 5 wonder he fliould, in what he has faid concerning the Apoftles Creed, fo exaftly jump with Kmt the Jefuit. If anyone doubt of this, I defire him to look into liic fourth Chapter of Knot's Charity Maintain dy and there he will fee how well cur Uii'Kasker and that Jefuit agree in Argument ; nay, and ExprefHon too. But yet 1 do not think him fo far guilty, as to be employ 'd as an Underhand FaSior for Popery. E\'ery body will, I fuppofe, be ready to pronounce him fo far an Innocent, as to clear him from that. The Cunning of his Defign goes not be) ond the laying out of his preaching Oratory, for the fetting up his own Sy- ftem, and making that the fole Chriftianity. To that End, he would be glad to have the Power of interpreting Scripture, of defining and declaring Articles o£ Faith, and impofing them. This, which makes the abfolute Power of the Pope, he would not, I think, eftablifh at Rome ; but 'tis plain he would have it himfelf, if he could get it, for the Support of the Chriftianity of his Sy- ftcm. An implicit Faith, if he might have the Management of it, and the tak- ing Fundamentals upon Truft from his Authority, would be of excellent Ufe. Such a Power in his Hands, would fpread 'Truth and Knowledge in the World j i. e. his own Orthodoxy and Set of Opinions. But if a Man differs, nay, que- ftions any thing of that, whether it be abfolutely neceflary to make one a Chri- ftian, 'tis immediately a Contrivance to let in Popery, and to bring Darknefs and Barbarifin into the Chriftian IVorld. But I muft tell the innocent Umnasker, whether he defigns it or no. That if his calling his Syftem the only Chriftia- nity, can bring the World to receive from him Articles of Faith of his own chufing, as Fundamentals neceflary to be believ'd by aU Men to make them Chriftians, which Chrift and his Apoftles did not propofe to all Men. to make them Chriftans ; he does only fet up Popery in another Guife, and lay the Foundations of Ignorance, Darknefs, and Barbariftn in the Chriftian World : For all the Ignorance and Blindnefs, that Popery introduc'd, was only upon this Foun- dation. And if he does not fee this (as there is Reafon to excufe his Inno- cence) 'twould be no hard Matter to demonftrate it, if that were at prefent the Qiicftion between us. But there are a great many other Propofitions to be prov'ii by him, before we come to that new Matter of Debate. But before I quit thefe Paragraphs, I muft go on with our Unmasker's Account^ and defire him to fhew, where it 15, XXV. That I make it mj Bujinefi to beat. Mm off from, taking notice of any Di' 'vine Truths I Redfonahlettefs of CHRisriA-NnY, iffc, 60$ Next where it is, XXVI. That I cry down all Articles of Chrijlian Faith hut one ? Next, how it appears, XXVII. That I will not fuffer Mankind to look into Chrijlianity 1 Again, where it is, XXVIII. That / hihour iniufirionfly to keep People in Imorance ; ot tell thdtnj That there is no Necejjlty of knowing any other Duclrines of the Bible .? Thefe, and leveral others of the like Strain, particularly concerning On? Ar^ tide, and the Epi ft les (whicli are his Common-Places) are to be found in his 59th and 60th Pages. And all this out of a Prefumption, that his Syftem is the only Chriftianity ; and that if Men Avere not prefs'd and perfuaded to receive that, juft every Article of it, upon Pain of Damnation, Chriftianity would be loft: and not to do this, is to promote Ignorance, and contemn the Bible. But he fears where no Fear is. If his Orthodoxy be the Truth, and conformable to the Scriptures, the laying the Foundation only vvhere our Saviour and his Apoftles have laid it, will not overturn it. And to fhew him, that it is lb, I delire him again to confider what 1 faid in my Vindication, p. ^^6. which, becaufe I do not remember he any where takes Notice of in his Reply, I will here offer again to his Conlideration : " Convince but Men ot the " Million of Jefus Chrift ; make them but fee the Truth, Simplicity, andRea- " fonablenels of what he himfelf hath taught, and rcquir'd to be believ'd by " his Followers ; and you need not doubt, but being once fully perluaded or " his Doctrine, and the Advantages which all Chriftians agree are received by " him, fuch Converts will not lay by the Scriptures ; but by a conftant Read- " ing and Study of them, will get all the Light they can from this Divine Re-- " velation, and nourifh themfeh es up in the Words of Faith and good Doc-* " trine, as St. Paul fpeaks to T'imothy. ' If the Reading and Study of the Scripture were more prefs'd than it is, and Men were fairly fent to the Bible to find their Religion ; and not the Bible put into their Hands only to find the Opinions of their peculiar Sed: or Party, Chriftendom would have more Chriftians, and thofe that are, would be more knowing, and more in the right than they now are. That which hinders this, is that ieleft Bundle of Doftrines, which it has pleas'd every Seft to draw out of the Scriptures, or their own Inventions, with an Omiflion (and as our [/«- masker would fay, a Cvtttempt) of all the reft. Thefe choiue Truths (as the Vn- nhisker calls his) are to be the ftanding Orthodoxy of that Party, froni which none of that Church muft recede without the Forfeiture of their Chriftianity, and the Lofs of eternal Life. Butwhilft People keep firm to thefe, they are in the Church, and the Way to Salvation : which in effed, what is it but to en- courage Ignorance, Lazinefs, and Negled: of the Scriptures ? For what need they be at the Pains of conftantly reading the Bible, or perplex their Heads with conlidering and weighing what is there deliver'd ; when believing as the Church believes, or faying after, or not contradifting their Domine or Teacher, ferves the Turn ? Further, 1 defire it may be confider'd what Name, that mere Mock-lhew, of recommending to Men the Study of the Scripture, deferves; if, vvhen they read it, they muft underftand it juft as he (that would be, and they are too apt, con- trary to the Command of Chrift, to call their Mafter) tells them. If they find any thing in the Word of God, that leads them into Opinions he does not al- low ; if any thing they meet with in Holy Writ feems to them to thwart or fhake the receiv'd Doftrines, the very propofing of their Doubts renders them fuf- peded : Reaioning about them, and not acquiefcing in what is faid to them, is interpreted want of due Refpect and Deference to the Authority of their Spiritual Guides ; Diirepute and Cenfures follow : And if in purfuance of Vol. II. H h h h their 5io A Second Vindication of the iheii' own Light, they perfift in what they think the Scripture teaclies them, they are turn'd out of the Church, delivcr'd to Satan, and no longer allow'd to be Chriftians. And is thus a fincere and rightly directed Study of the Scrip- tures, that Men may underftand and prorit thereby, encourag'd ? This is the Conicquence of Mens afluming to themlelves a Power of declaring Fundamen- tals, /. e. of fetting up a Chriftianity of their own making. For how clfe can they turn Men, of as unblamable Lives as others of their Members, out of the Church of Chrifl (for fo they count their Communion) for Opinions, unlefs thole Opinions were concluded inconfiftent with Chriftianity ? Thus Syftems, the Inventions of Men, are turn'd into lb many oppofite Golpels ; and nothing is Truth in each Seft, but what juft iuits with them. So that the Scripture ferves but, like a Nofe of Wax, to be turn'd and bent juft as may fit the con- trary Orthodoxies of different Societies. For 'tis thefe leveral Syftems that to each Party are the juft Standards of Truth, and the Meaning of the Scripture is to be meafur'd only by them. Whoever relinquifhes any of thofe diftinguifli- ing Points, immediately ceafes to be a Chriftian. This is the Way that the Unmasker would have Truth and Religion preferv'd. Light and Knowledge propagated. But here too the different Se(5ts giving equal Authority to their own Orthodoxies, will be quits with him. For as far as I can oblerve, the fame Genius feems to influence them all ; even thofe who pre- tend moft to Freedom, the Sccinians themfelves. For when 'tis obferv'd how pofitive and eager they are in their Difputes ; how forward to have their In- terpretations of Scripture received for Authentick, tho' to others in feveral places they feem very much ftrain'd ; how impatient they are of Contradiction ; and with what Difrefpeft and Roughnefs they often treat their Oppofers : may it not be fufpefted that this is fo vifible a Warmth in their prefent Circum- ftances, and Zeal for their Orthodoxy, would (had they the Power) work in them, as it does in others ? They, in their Turns, would, I fear, be ready with their Set of Fundamentals ; which they would be as forward to impofe on others, as others have been to impofe contrary Fundamentals on them. This is, and always will be the unavoidable Efteft of intruding on our Sa- viour's Authority, and requiring more now as neceffary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, than was at firft requir'd by our Saviour and his Apoftles. What elfe can be expefted among Chriftians, but their tearing, and being torn in pieces by one another ; whilft every Seft aflumes to it felf a Power of de- claring Fundamentals, and feverally thus narrow Chriftianity to their diftinft Syftems ? He that has a mind to fee how Fundamentals come to be fram'd and fafhion'd, and upon what Motives and Confiderations they are often taken up, or laid down, according to the Humours, Literefts, or Defigns of the Heads of .Parties, as if they were Things depending on Mens Pleafure, and to be fuited to their Convenience, may find an Example worth his Notice, in the vLiic of Mr. Baxter, Part IL p. 197— 205. Whenever Men take upon them to go beyond thofe Fundamental Articles of Chriftianity, which are to be found in the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles, where will they ftop > Whenever any Set of Men will require more as neceffary to be believ'd to make Men of their Church, i. e. in their Senfe Chriftians, than what our Saviour and his Apoftles propos'd to thofe whom they made Chriftians, and admitted into the Church of Chrift ; however they may pretend to recommend the Scripture to their People, in effeft no more of it is recommended to them, than juft comports with what the Leaders of that Sedt have refolv'd Chriftianity fliall conlift in. 'Tis no wonder therefore there is fo much Ignorance amongft Cliriftians, and fo much vain Outcry againft it ; whilft almoft every diftinct Society of Chriftians magifterially alcribes Orthodoxy to a feleft Set of Fundamentals, diftmd from thofe propos'd in the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles ; which in no one Point muft be queftion'd by any of its Communion. By this Means their People are never fent to the Holy Scriptures, that true Fountain of Light, but hood-wink'd : A Veil is caft over their Eyes, and then they are bid read their Bible. They muft make it all chime to their Church's Funda- mentals, or elfe they were better let it alone. For if they find any thing there againft the recciv'd Dcftrines, tiio' they hold ic and exprefs it in the very Term? -tl Reajonahlenejs of Christianity, ^r. ^ 1 1 Terms the Holy Ghoft has dcliver'd it in, that will not cxcufe them. Herefy will be their Lot, and they fhall be treated accordingly. And dius wc fee how, amongft oiher good Eflfefts, Creed-making always has, and always will necef- farily produce and propagate Ignorance in the World, howeuer each t*a!ty blame others for it. And therefore I have often wondred to hear Men of fei^eral Churches fo heartily exclaim againft the implicit Faith of the Church of Rome', when the fame implicit Faith is as much praftifed and I'equir'd in their own, the' not fo openly profefs'd, and ingenuouily own'd there. In the next Seftion, the Unmasker queftions the Sincerity of mine, and pro- feil'es the Greatnefs of his Concern for the Salvation of Mens Souls. And tells me of my RejieSlion on him upon that account, in my Vindication, p. 54^, J47, Anfv. I wifli he would, for the right Information of the Reader, every where fet down, what he has any thing to fay to in my Book, or iny Defence of it, and fave me the Labour of repeating it. My Words, in that Place, are, " Some *' Men will not bear, that anyone fhould fpeak of Religion, but according to *' the Model that they themfelves have made of it. Nay, tho" he propofes it " upon the very Terms, and in the very V/ords which our Saviour and his A- *' poftles preachM it in ; yet he fliall not efcape Cenfures and the fevercft In- " linuations. To deviate in the leaft, or to omit any thing contained in their *' Articles, is Herefy, under the moft invidious Names in fafliion i and 'tis " well if he efcapes being a downright Atheift. Whether this be the Way for *' Te.-ichcrs to make themfelves hearken'd to as Men in Earned in Religion, " and really concerned for the Salvation of Mens Souls, I leave them to con- '' fider. What Succefs it has had towards perfuading Men of the Truth of " Chriftianicy, their own Complaints of the Prevalency of Atheifm on the one *' Hand, and the Number of Deifis on the other, fufficiently fhew." I have fet down this Paflnge at large, both as a Confirmation of what I faid bur juft now; as alfo to fliew, that the Rifleciion I there made, needed fome other Anfwer than a bare Profellion of his Regard to the Salvation of Mens Souls. The Afluming an undue Authority to his own Opinions, and ufing manifeft Untruths in the Defence of them, I am fure is no Mark that the directing Men right in the Way to Salvation is his chief Aim. And I wifh, that the greater Liberties of that Sort , which he has again taken in his Socinianifm Umnask'd, and which I have fo often laid open, had not confirm'd that RefleBion. I fliould have been glad, that any thing in my Book had been fairly controverted , and brought to the Touch, whether it had or had not been confuted. The Matter of it would have deferv'd a ferious Debate ( if any had been necelTary) in the Words of Sobriety, and the charitable Temper of the Gofpel, as I defir'd in my Preface : And that would not have mif-become the Unmasker's Funftion» But it did notconlift, it feems, with his Defign. Chriflian Charity would not have allow d thofe ill-meant Con jeftures, and groundlefs Cenfures, which Were neceflary to his Purpofe ; and therefore he took a fliorter Courfe, than to con- fute my Book, and thereby convince me and others. He makes it his Bufinefs to rail at it, and the Author of it, that that might be taken for a Confutation, For by what he has hitherto done, Arguing feems not to be his Talent. And thus far who can but allow his Wifdom ? But whether it be that Wifdom that is fro?n above ; fivfl pure, then peaceable, gentle, eafy to be imreated, full of Mercy^ and good Fruits, -ccithout Partiality, and without Hypocrify ; I fhall leave to other Readers to judge. His laying nothing to that other Reftetiion, which his Manner of expreffing himfelf drew from me , would make one fufpeft it favour'd not altogether of the Wifdom of the Gofpel ; nor ftiew'd an over-great Care of the Salvation of Souls. My Words, Vindic. p. 550. are; " I know not how better to fhew my Care of his Credit, than by intreating him , that when he takes next ia hand luch a Subjeft as this, wherein the Salvation of Souls is concern 'd, he would treat it a little more ferioufly, and with a little more Candour, left "^ Men fliould find in his Writings another Caufe of Atheifm , which in this Treatile he has not thought fit to mention. Oftentation of Wit in general " he has made a Caufe of Atheifm, p. 28. But the World will tell him. That frothy light Difcourfes, concerning the ferious Matters of Religion, and Of~ u. tentation of trifling mif-becomine: Wit in thofe who come as Ambafladors yoLIL " Hhhh 2 ::frora 6" 1 2 A Second Vindication of the *' from God, under the Title of Succeflbrs of the Apoflles in the great ConW " mifllon of the Gofpel , is none of the leafl Caufcs of Atheifm." But this Advice I am now fatsify'd (by his Second Part of the fame Strain) was very improper for- him ; and no more reafonable, than if one fhould advife a Buf- foon to talk gravely, who has nothing left to draw Attention, if he fliould lay by his Scurrility. The Remainder of this fourth Chapter, />. 6i-6j. being fpent in fiiewing, why the Socinians are for a few Articles of Faith, being a Matter that I am not concern'd in; I leave to that forward Gentleman to examine, whoexamin'd Mr. Edward's Exceptions againfl the Renfonahknefs of Cbrifiiamty ; and who, as the Unmasker informs me, p. 54. was chofcn to vindicate my Attempt^ &c. If the Unmasker knows that he was fo chofen, it is well. If I had known of fuch a Choice, I fhould have defir'd that fome body fliould have been chofen to vindi- cate my Attempt , who had underftood it better. The Unmasker and Examiner are each of them fo full of themfelves, and their own Syftems, that I think they may be a fit Match one for another : And fo I leave thefe Cocks of the Game to try it out in an endlefs Battle of Wrangling (till Death them pare) which of them has made the true and exad Collection of Fundamentals; and whofe Syftem of the two ought to be the prevailing Orthodoxy, and be receiv'd for Scripture. Only I warn the. Examiner to look to himfelf: For theUnmasker has the whip-hand of him, and gives him to underftand, />. 65. that if he can- not do it himfelf by the Strength of his Lungs, the Vehemency of his Oratory, and endlefs Attacks of his Repetitions ; the Ecckjiajlical Power and the Civil Magiftrate's Lafi, have in Store demonftrative Arguments to convince him that his [the Unmasker's] Syftem is the only true Chriftianity. By the Way, I muft not forget to mind the Unmasker here again, that he hath a very unlucky Hand at guefTing. For whereas he names Socinm as one from whom I receiv'd my Platform, and fays, that Crellius gave me my Cue ; it fo falls out, that they are two Authors of whom I never read a Page. I fay not this, as if I thought it a Fault if I had ; for I think I fliould have much better fpent my Time in them, than in the Writings of our learned Unmasker. I was fure there was no offending the Unmasker without the Guilt of A- theifm I only he here, pag. 69. very mercifully lays it upon my Book, and not upon my Defign. The Tendency of it to Irreligion and Atheifm , he has prov'd in an eloquent Harangue ( for he is fuch an Orator he cannot ftir a Foot without a Speech ) made, as he bids us fuppofe, by the Atheijlical Rabble, And who can deny, but he has chofe a fit Employment for himfelf? Where could there be found a better Speech-maker for the Atheijlical Rabble ? But let us hear him : For tho' he would give the Atheiftical Rabble the Credit of it, yet 'tis the Umnasker fpeaks. And becaufe 'tis pity fuch a Pattern of Rheto- rick and Reafon fliould be loft , I have for my Reader's Edification, fet it all down verbatijn, " We are beholden to this worthy Adventurer for ridding the World of fo great an Incumbrance, viz,. That huge Mafs and unwieldy BodyofChrif- *' tianity, which took up fo much Room. Now we fee that it was this Bulk, *' and not that of Mankind, which he had an Eye to, when he fo often men- " tion'd this latter. This is a Phyfician for our turn indeed : We like this " Chymical Operator, that doth not trouble us with a Parcel of heavy Drugs *' of no Value, but contrafts it all into a few Spirits, nay doth his Bulinefs *' with a fingle Drop. We have been in Bondage a longe time to Creeds " and Catechifms, Syftems and Confeflions; we have been plagu'd with a te- *' dious Bead-roll of Articles, which our Reverend Divines have told us we " muft make the Matter of our Faith. Yea, fo it is, both Conformifts and Nonconformifts (tho' difagreeing in fome other Things) have agreed in this " to moleft and crucify us. But this noble Writer (we thank him) hath let us free, and eas'd us, by bringing down all the Chriftian Faith into one *' Point. We have heard fome Men talk of Epiftolary Compofures of the New Teftament, as if great Matters were contain'd in them, as if the " great Myfteries of Chriftianity ( as they call them ) were unfolded there ; But we could never make any thing of them ; and now we find that this " Writer is partly of our Opinion. He tells us, that thefe are Letters fent ^ upon Reajonahknejs of Christianity, l^c. 6i " upon Occafion, buc wc arc not to lo(.k for our Religion (for now for this " Gentieman*s iake we begin to talk of Religion ) in theie Places, We bfe- " lieve it, and we believe that there is no Re:igion but in thofe very Chap- " ters and Verfes, which he has fet down in his Treatife. What need we " have any other Part of the New 'J eflament ? That is Bible enough, if not " too much. Happy, thrice happy fliall this Author be perpetually efteem'd " by us, we will chronicle him as our Friend and Benefador. It is not our " Way to faint People, otherwife we would certainly canonize this Gentleman; " and when our Hand is in, his pair of Bookfellers, for their being fo benefi- " cial to the World, in publi filing fo rich a Treafure. It was a blefled Day " when this hopeful Birth faw the Light,^for hereby all the Orthodox Creed- " Makers and Syftematick Men are ruin d for ever. In brief, if we be for " any Chriftianity, it fliall be this Author's ; for that agrees with us fingularly " well, it being lb fliort, all couch'd in four Words, neither more nor lefs. " It is a very hne Compendium , and we are infinitely obliged to this great *' Reformer for it. We are glad at heart that Cnriftianity is brought fo low " by this worthy Pen-man, for this is a good Prefage that it will dwindle into " nothing. What! but one Article, and that fo brief too! We like fuch a *' Faith, and fuch a Rel'gion, becauie it is fo near to none." He hath no fooner dene, but as it del'erved, he cries out, Eiige Sophos ! And is not the Reader, quoth he , fatisfy d that fuch Language as this hath real Truth in it ? Does ni't he perceive, that the difcarding all the Articles but NE fnakes way for the cafiing iff that too? Anfw. *Tis but iuppofing that the Reader is a civil Gentleman, and arfwers Tes, to thefe two Queftions ; and then 'tis Demon- ftration, that by this Speech he has irrefragabiy prov'd the Tendency of my Book to Irreligion and Atheifm. I remember Chilling-worth fomewhere puts up this Requeft to his Adverfary Knot : " Sir, I beleech ycu, when ycu write again, do us the Favour to write " nothing but Syilogifms. For I find it ftiU an extreme Trouble to find out the " conceal'd Propofitions, which are to conneft the Parts of your Enthymems, " As now for Example, I profefs to you I have done my bed Endeavour to " find fome Glue, or Sodder , or Cement , or Thred , or any thing to tie " the Antecedent and this Confequent together." The Unmasker agrees fo much in a gieat Part of his Opinion with that Jefu t (as I have fliew'd alrea- dy) and does fo infinitely out-do him in fpinning Ropes of Sard, and a coarfe Thred of Inconfiflencies, which runs quite through his Book j that 'tis with great Juftice I put him here in the Jeiuit's Place, and addrefs the fame Re- queft to him. His very next Words give me a frefli Reafon to do it : For thus he argues, p. 72. May -we not expeEi , that thofe -who deal thm -with the Creed, i. e. difcard all the Articles of it hut one , zuill ufe the fame Method in reducing the Tn Cotnmnnd- ments and the Lord s Prayer, abbreviate the former into one Precept, and the lat- ter into one Petition? Anfw. If he will tell me where this Creed he I'peaks of is, it will be much more eafy to anfwer his Demand. Whilft his Creed, which he here fpeaks of, is yet no where, it is ridiculous for him to ask Queftions about it. The Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, I know where to iind, in exprefs Words fet down by themfelves, with peculiar Marks of Diftin- (Sion. Which is the Lord's Prayer, we are plainly taught by this Command of our Saviour, Luke^l. 2. IVhen ye pray, SAT, Our Father, &c. In the fame Manner and Words we are taught what we fhould believe , to make us his Difciples, by his Command to the Apoftles what they fticuld preach. Mat. X. 7. As ye go, preach, SATING. What were they to fay? Only this, The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand. Or, as St. Luke expreiles it, Chap. IX. 2. They were fent to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the Sick : Which, what it was, we have fufficiently explain'd. But this Creed of the Unmasker, which he talks of, Where is it ? Let him fhew it us diftinftly fet out from the reft of the Scripture. If he knows were it is, let him produce it, or leave talk- ing of it, till he can. *Tis not the Apoftles Creed, that's evident: For that Creed he has difarded from being the Standard of Chriftian Faith, and has told the Woild in Words at length, That if a Man believes no more than is in exprefs Terms in the Apoftles Creed , his Faith -will not be the Faith of a Chriftian. Nay, 6 1 4 .-^ Second Vindication of the Nay, 'tis plain, that Creed has, in the Unmasker's Opinion, the fame Tendency to Atheifm and L-religion , that my Summary has. For tlie Apoftles Creed re- ducing the Forty, or perhaps four Hundred Fundamental Articles of his Chrif- tian Creed, to Twelve ; and leaving out the greatefl: Part of thofe necellary ones which he has already, and will hereafter, in good time, give us; does as much difpofe Men to ferve the Decalogue, and the Lord's Prayer juft fo, as my reducing thole Twelve to Two. For fo many at leaOi he has granted to be in my Summary, viz.. The Article of one God, Maker of FJeaven and Earth, and the other of Jefus the Mefliah ; tho' he every where calls them but ONE: Which, whether it be to fhew, with what Love and Regard to Truth he continues, and confequently began this Controverfy ; or whether it be to beguile and ftartle unwary, or confirm prejudiced Readers, I fhall leave to others to judge. "Tis evident , he thinks his Cquie would be mightily maim'd, if he were forc'd to leave out the Charge of ONE Article; and he would not know what to do for Wit or Argument, if he fhould call them /xuo ; For then the whole Weight an-d Edge of h.s flrong and fharp Reafoning, in his Thoughts ccncerning the Caufes of Atheifm, p'g. 122. would be loft. There you have it in thel'e Words : M'^hen the Cathv/icL Faith is thus brought down to one fwgle Article ^ it will foon be reduc'd to none ; the Unit will dwindle into a Cypher. And here again, it makes the whole Argument of his Atheiftical Speech, which he winds up with thefe convincing Words : We are glad to hear that Chrijlia^ nity is brought fo lord by this worthy Pen-man ; for this is a good Prefage, that it zvill dwindle into nothing. What! ONE Article, and that fo brief too : We like fiich a Faith and Juch a Religion, becaufe it is fu T2ear NO NE. But I muft tell this Writer of equal Wit, Senfe, and Modefty, that this Religion which he thus makes a dull Farce of, and calls near none, is that very Religion which our Sa\'iour Jefm Chrifl and his Apoftles preach'd, for the Converfion and Salva- tion of Mankind; no one Article whereof, which they propos'd as neceflary to be receiv'd by Unbelievers to make them Chriftians, is omitted. And I ask him. Whether it be his Errand, as one of our Saviour's Ambafladors, to turn it thus into Ridicule ? For till he has fhewn, that they preach'd other- wile, and more than what the Spirit of Truth has recorded of their Preach- ing in their Hiftories, wliich I have faithfully collefted and fet down, all that he fliall fay, reflefting upon the Plainnefs and Simplicity of their Doftrine, however direfted againft me, will by his Atheijlical Rabble of all kinds, now they are fo well enter'd and inftru6;ed in it by him, be all turn'd upon our Saviour and his Apoftles. What Tendency this, and all his other Trifling in fo ferious a Caufe as this is, has to the propagating o{ Atheifn and Irreligion in this Age, he were beft to confider. This I am lure, the Doftrine of but one Article (if the Author and Finifher of our Faith , and thofe he guided by his Spirit, had preach'd but one Article) has no more Tendency to Atheifm, than their Doftrine of one God. 1 ut the Unmasker every where talks, as if the Strength of our Religion lay in the Number of its Articles ; and would be prefently routed, Lf it had but a few : And therefore he has mufter'd up a pretty full Band of them, and has a Relerve of the Lord knows how many more, which fhall be forthcoming upon Occalion. But I fliall defire to mind this Learned Divine, who is fo a- fraid what will become of his Religion, if it fliould propofe but one , or a few Articles as neceHary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, that the Strength and Security of oitr Religion lies in the Divine Authority of thofe who firft pro- mulgated the Terms of Admittance into the Church, and not in the Multi- tude of Articles, fuppos'd by fome necelfary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian : And I would have him remember, when he goes next to make Ule of this ftrong Argument of N E dwindling into a Cypher, that One is as re- mote as a Million from none. And if this be not fo, I defire to know whe- ther his Way of arguing will not prove Pagan Polytheifm to be more remote from Atheifm than Chnftianicy. He will do well to try the Force of his Speech in the Mouth of an Heathen, c(Mmplaining of the Tendency of Chriflianity to A- theifm, by rec'ucing his great Number of Gods to but ckc, which was^o «."«>' wae, and would therefuie foon be reduc'd to mne. Jl: lie Reajonablenejs of Christianity, "^V. 615 The Uninasker feems to be upon the fame Topick, where he lo pathetically complains of tlie Soctmnns, p. 66. in thele Words, Ls it mt enough to rob us of our God, by denying Chrijl to be fo ; but mufi they fpoil us of all the other Articles of Chrijlian Faith but one ? Have a better Heait, good Sir, for I aflure you no body can rob you of your God, but by your own Confent, nor fpoil you of any of the Articles of your Faith. If you look for them v/here God has placed them, in the Holy Scripture, and take them as he has fram'd and fafliion'd them there ; there you will always rind them fafe and found. But if they come out of an Artiricer's Shop, and be oi human Invention, I cannot flnfwer for them : they may, for ought I know, be nothing but an Idol of your own fetting; up which may be pull'd down, fliould you cry out never fo much. Great is Diana of the Ephefians. He, who confiders this Argument of one and JtoKe, as managed by the Un~ masker, and obferves his pathetical Way of Reafoning all through his Bock, muft confefs, that he has got the very Philofopher's Stone in difputing. That which would be worthlefs Lead in others, he turns into pure Gold ; his Ora- tory changes its Nature, and gives it the noble Tinfture : So that what in plain Reafoning would be Nonfenfe, let him but put it into a Speech or an Exclama- tion, and there it becomes ftrong Argument. Whether this be not fo, I de- fire Mode and Figure may decide. And to thofe I fhall defire he would reduce the Proofs, which, p. 73. he fays he has given of thefe following Propofi- ticns, "viz,. XXIX. That I have corrupted Mens Minds. XXX. That I have depraved the Gofpel. XXXI. That I have abufed Chriflianity. For all thefe three, p. 73. he affirms of me without Proof, and without Ho- nefty. Whether it be from Confufion of Thought, or Unfairnefs of Defign ; either becaufe he has not clear diftinft Notions of what he would fay, or finds it not to his Purpofe to fpeak them clearly out, or both together; fo it is, that the Unmasker very feldom, but when he rails, delivers himfelf fo that one can cer- tainly tell what he would have. The Queftion is, What is abfolutely neceffary to be believ'd by every one to make him a Chriflian. It has been clearly made out from an exaft Survey of the Hiftory of our Saviour and his Apoftles, that the whole Aim of all their Preaching every where was, to convince the unbelieving World of thefe two great Truths ; Firft, That there was one Eternal Invillble God, Maker of Heaven and Earth : And next. That Jefus of Naz,areth was the Mejjtah, the promifed King and Saviour. And that upon Mens believing thefe two Ar- ticles, they were baptized and admitted into the Church, i. e. receiv'd as Subjefts of Chrift's Kingdom, and pronounced Believers. From whence it unavoidably follows, that thefe two are the only Truths necelfary to be be- liev'd to make a Man a Chriftian. This Matter of Faft is fo evident from the whole Tenor of the four Gofpels, and the Afts ; and prelles fo hard, that the Unmasker, who contends for a great number of other Points necefl'ary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriltian, thinks himfelf concern'd to give fome Anfwer to it : but, in his ufual Way, full of Uncertainty and Confufion. To clear this Matter, he lays down four Particulars. The firft is, p. 74. That the believing fefus to be theproimfed Mefjiah, was the firfi Step to Chriflianity. The Second, p. -j6. That tho this one Propofition (viz.. of Jefus the Meffiah) be mention d alcne in fome Places, yet there is reafon to think, and be perfuaded, that at the fame time other Matters of Faith -were propofed. The Third, p.j6. That tho' there are fever al Parts and Members of the Chriftian Faith, yet they do not all occur in any one place of Scripture. The Fourth, p. 78. That Chriflianity was ereEled by dep-ees. Thefe 6i6 A Second Vindication of the Thefe Particulars he tells us, f. 74. He offers to clear an OhjeSlkn. To fee therefore whether they are pertinent or no, we muft examine what the Objec- tion is, as he puts it. I think it might have been put in a few Words : This I am fure, it ought to have been put very clear and diftindt. But the Umnmker has been pleas'd to give it us, p. 73. as followeth : Becaufe I defigned thefe Pa- pers for the fati\j]i>ig of the Reader's Doubts, about any thing occurring cvncerning the Matter before us, and for the eflablijhing of his wavering Mind ; I uill here (before I pafs to the Second General Head of my Difourfe) anfiuer a Query cr Objecliun, ivhich fome, and not -without fome fiew of Ground, may be apt to flan. How comes it to pafs, they will fay, that this Article of Faith, viz. 'That Jefm is the Mejfith or Chrifl, is fo often repeated in the New Teflamcnt ? Why is this fome- times urged, without the mentioning of any other Article of Belief ? Doth not this plainly fhew, that this is all that is requir'd to believd as neceffary to make a Mra a Chriflian ? May we not infer from the frequent and file Repetition of this Article in feveral Places of the Evangelifls and the AEls, that there is no other Point of Faith of abfolute Necefftty ; but that this alone is fufficient to conftitute a Man a true Mem- ber of Chrifl. By which he fhews, that he is uncertain which way to put the Objeftion, fo as may be cafiefl: to get rid of it : and therefore he has turn'd it feveral Ways, and put I'everal Qiaeilions about it. As Firft, Why this Article of Faith, viz. That Jefus is the MefTiah, isfo often repeated in the New Teflamcnt ? His next Quell ion is. Why is this fometimes urgd without the mentioning any other Article of Belief, which fuppofes, that fometimes other Articles of Belief are men t ion 'd with it. The third Qucftion is, May we not infer from the frequent and file Repitition of this Article in feveral Places of the Evangelifls and Acis ? Which laft Queftion is in effect. Why is this fo frequently and alone re- peated in the Evangelifls and the Ads ? /. e. in the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoflles to Unbelievers. For of that he muft give an Account, if he will remove the Difficulty. Which three, tho' put as one, yet are three as diftind: Qiieftions, and demand a Reafon for three as diftinft Matters of Fad, as thefe three are, viz. frequently propos'd ; fometimes propos'd alone ; and ahvays propos'd alone in the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles : for fo in truth it was all through the Gofpels and the Ads, to the unconverted Be- lievers of one God alone. Thefe three Queftions being thus jumbled together in one Objedion, letus fee how the four Particulars he mentions will account for them. The firft of them is this : The believing Jefus to be the projnis'd MejTias, was, fays he, the firfi Step to Cbriflianity. Let it be fo ; What do you infer from thence ? The next Words fliew : Therefore this rather than any other Article was propounded to be believed by all thofe whom either our Saviour or his Apoflles invited to embrace Chriflianity. Let your Premifes be never fo true, and your Dedudion of this Propolltion be never fo regular from them, it is all loft Labour. This Conclufion is not the Propofition you were to prove. Your Queftions were, M-^hy this Article is fo often propos'd ? And in thofe frequent Repetitions, Why fometimes urged alone, and why always propos'd alone, viz. to thofe whom either our Saviour or his Apoflles invited to embrace Chriflianity ? And your Anfwer is, be- caufe the believing jf''J^'^ 'o ^^ the MejJJas, was the Jirfl Step to Chriflianity. This therefore remains upon you to be proved, XXXIL That becatife the believing Jefus to be the Mefflas, is the firH Step to Chri- flianity ; therefore this Article is frequently propos'd in the New Teflament, is fometimes propos'd without the mentioning any other Article ; and always alone to Unbelievers. And when you have prov'd this, I fhall defire you to apply it to our prefent Controverly. His next Anfwer to thofe Queftions, is in thefe Words, p. ^6. That tho' this cne Propofition or Article be jnention'd alone in fime Places, yet there is reafon to think andbe perfuaded, that atthefatne time other Matters of Faith were propos' d. From whence it lies upon him to make out this Reafoning, viz.. XXXIII. Reajonal^lenefs of Christ I Ai^iTY, is^c. 6i-] XXXIII. I'Aat lecaufe there is Reafon to tfjink, andbe perfuaded, that at the fame 'Time that this one Article was 7ncmiond alone (as it -was fometimes) other Mut- ters of Faith were propos'd : Thercjore this Article was often propos'd in the Mew Teftament ; fometimes propos' d alone; and always propos'd alone in the Preachings cf our Saviour and his Apoflles to Unbelievers. This I fet down to fliew the Force of his Anfvver to Queftions : Suppo- fing it to be true, not that I grant it to be true, Tiiat where this one Arti- cle is mention d alone, we have Reafon to think, and be perfuaded, that at the fame Time other Matters of Faith [/'. e. Articles of Faith neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian] were propos'd: And I doubt not but tojfhew tlie con- trary. His third Particular, in anfvver to the Queftion propos'd in his Objeftion, ftands thus, p. J6. That though there are feveral Parts and Members of the Chrijlian Faith, yet they do not all occur in any one Place oj the Scripture; which Anfwer lays it upon him to prove, XXXIV. That becaufe the feveral Parts of the Members of the Chrijlian Faith do not all occur in any one Place of Scripture ; chereiore this Article, That Je- fus was the Meffias, was often propofed in the New Teftament, fometi7nes pro- pofed alone, and always propofed alone in the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles, through the Hiftory of the Evangel ifts and the Afts. The fourth and laft Particular, which he tells us is the main Anfwer to the Objection, is in theie Words, Page 78. That Chriftianity wcu ereBed by Degrees. Which requires him to make out this Argument, viz. XXXV. That becaufe Chriflianity was ereSied by Degrees, therefore this Article y Tliat Jefus was the Meffias, was often propos'd in the New Teftament, fojne- times propofed alone, and always propos'd alone in the Preachings oj our Saviour and his Apoftles to Unbelievers, recorded in the Hiftory of the Evangelifts and AEls. Vox as I faid before, in thefe three Queftions he has put his Objedion ; to which he tells us this is the main Anfwer. Of theie four Particulars it is, that he fays, p. 74. To clear this ObjeElion, and to give a full and fatisfaElory Anfwer to all Doubts in this Affair, I offer thefe enfuing Particulars, which will lead the Reader to the right Underftanding of the whole Cafe. How well they have clear' d the Objeflion, may be feen by barely fetting them down as Anfwers to thefe Queftions, wherein he puts the Objedion. This is all I have hitherto done : Whereby is very vifible how well (fuppofing them true) they clear the Objeftion ; and how pertinently they are brought to anfwer thofe Queftions wherein hisObjedion is contained. Perhaps it will be faid, that neither thefe, nor any thing elfe, can be an appofue Anfwer to thofe Qvieftions put fo together. I anfwer, I am of the fame Mind. But if the Wz- masker through Ignorance or Shuffling will talk thus confufedly, he muft anfwer for it. He calls all his three Queftions one Obieftion, over and over again : And therefore which of thofe Queftions it does or does not lie in, I fhall not trouble my felf to divine ; fince I think he himfelf cannot tell : For which-ever he takes of them, it will involve him in equal Difficulties. I now proceed to examine his Particulars themfelves, and the Truth contained in them. The firft, p. 74. ftands thus : I . The believing of Jeffti to be the promis'd Meffias, was the firft Step to Chriftianity. It was that which made Way for the embracing of all the oth er Articles, a Paffage to all the reft. Anfw. If this be, as he would have it, only the leading Article amongft a great many other equally necellary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian ; this is a Reafon, why it fhould be conftantly preach'd in the firft Vol. II. I i i i Place. (5t8 a Second Vindication of the Place. But this is no Reafon why this alone fhould be fo often repeated, and tiie other necclfary Points not be once mentioned. For I de(ire to know what thofc Articles are, that in the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles are repeated or urg'd bclides this ? In the next Place, if it be true, that this Article, viz.. That 'Jtftis is the Mtjjiab, was only the firft in Order amongft a great many Articles as ncceffary to be believ'd ; how comes it to pafs, that barely upon the Propoi'al and believ- ing of this, Men were admitted into the Church as Believers? The Hiftory of the New Tejlamem is full of Inllances of this, as Acis viii. 5, 12, 13. ix. and in other Places. Though it be true, what the Uamasker fays here, 'That ij they did not give Credit to this in the fi-fl Place, that JlJus of Nazareth iras that eminent and extra- vrdinary Perfon frophefy'd of long before ; and that he -was fent and cotnmijfton'd by God, there could be no hope that they -would attend to any other Propofals relating to the Chriftian Religion : Yet what he fubjoins. That this is the true Rcafn, why that Article was conflantly propounded to be believ'd by all that look'd towards Chrijlianityj (tndwhy it is mention d fo often in the Evangelical U'^ritings, is not true. For, rirft, this fuppofes that there were other Articles join'd with it. This he fhould have firft prov'd, and then given the Reafon of it ; and not, as he does here, luppol'e what is in queftion, and then give a Reafon why it is fo; and luch a Reafon that is inconfiflent with the Matter of Fa(5t, that is every where recorded in Holy VV^rit. For if the true Reafon why the preaching of this Article, that Jefus wcu the Mejjlab, as it is recorded in the Hiftory of the New Ttjiament, were only to make \Vay for the other Articles, one muft needs think, that neither our Saviour and his Apoftles (with Reverence be it fpoken) were very ftrange Preach- ers ; or tliat the Evangelifts, and Author of the Afls, were very ftrange Hifto- rians. The firft were to inftruft the World in a new Religion, confifting of a great Number of Articles, fays the Umnasker, neceffary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, /. e. a great Number of Propolitions making a large Syftem, every one whereof is fo necelfary for a Man to underftand and believe, that if any one be omitted, he cannot be of that Religion. What now did our Sa- viour and his Apoftles do ? Why ! if the Unmasker may be believ'd, tliey went up and down with Danger of their Lives, and preach'd to the World. What did they preach ? Even this fingle Propofition to make Way for the left, viz,. T'his is the eminent Man fent from God to teach you other Things : Which amounts to no more but this. That Jefus was the Perfcn which was to teach them the true Religion, but that true Religion it felf is not to be found in all their Preaching ; nay fcarce a Word of it. Can there be any thing more ridi- culous than this ? And yet this was all they preach'd ; if it be true, that this was all which they meant by the preaching every where Jcfus to be the Meffiah, and if it were only an Introduction, and a making way for the Doc- trines of the Gofpel. But it is plain it was call'd the Gofpel it felf Lee the Unmaiker, as a true Succeffor of the Apoftles, go and preach the Gofpel, as the Apoftles did, to fome Part of the Heathen World, where the Name of Chrift is not known : Would not he himlelf, and every body think he was very foolifhly employ 'd, if he fhould tell them nothing but this. That Jeftis was the Perfon promis'd and fent from God to reveal the true Religion; but fhould teach them nothing of that true Religion, but this Preliminary Article ? Such tlie Unmasker makes all the Preaching, recorded in the New Teflament, for the Converlion of the unbelieving World. He makes the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles to be no more but this ; That the great Prophet promis'd to the World was come, and that Jefus was he : But what his Doc- trine was, that they were filent in, and taught not one Article of it. But the Unmasker mif-reprefents it : For as to his accufing the Hiftorians, the E- vangelifts, and Writers of the^t^^ of the Apoftles, for their lliameful Omif- fion of the whole Doftrine of the Chriftian Religion, to fave his Hypothefis, as he does under his next Head, in thefe Words ; That tho this one Propofition be memiund akne in fome Places, yet there is Reafon to think and be perfuaded, that at the fame Time other Matters of Faith were propos'd ; I fliall fllew how bold he makes with thofe infpir'd Hiftorians, when I come to conftder that Particular. . How Reafomblenrfs of CEKisiiAnnYf - duft of the infallible Spirit of God, putting them upon and directing them ip the writing of this Hiftory of the Gofpel ; and then it is impoflible for any Chriftian but the Unmasker to think, that they made any fuch grofs Omiffions, Vol. II. I i i i J contrary 620 A Second Vindication of the contrary to the Defign of their Writing, without a Demonftration to convince him of it. Now all the Reafon that the Unmasker gives, is this : "That it is confefi d by all imelligem and vhferving Men, that the Hijhry of the Scripture is con- cife ; and that in relating Matters of Fa^iy many PaJJages are omitted by the Sacred Pen-men. Anfiii. The Unmasker might have fpar'd the Confeflion of intelligent and ob- ferving Men, after fo plain a Declaration of St. John himfelf, Chap. xx. 31. Many other Things did Jejiis in the Prefence of his Difciples, -which are not "written in this Book. And again, xxi. 25. "There are alfo many other Things that Jefus did, the which if they fiould be , VD'itten every one, I fupfofe the IVorld could Hot contain the Books that fimuld be -written. There needs therefore no Opinion of intcl/igem and obferving Men to convince us, that the Hiftory of the Gofpel is i'o (nY concife, that a great many Matters of Fact are omitted, and a great ma- ny lefs material Circumftances, even of thofe that are fet down. But will any inteliigcnt or obferving Man, any one that bears the Name of a Chriftian, have the Impudence to lay, that the infpir'd Writers, in the Relation they give us of what Chrift and his Apoftles preach'd to Unbelievers to convert them to the Faith, omitted the Fundamental Articles which thofe Preachers proposed to make Men Chriftians ; and without a Belief of which they could not be Chriftians ? The Unntasker talks after his wonted Fafhion ; feems to fay fomething, which when examin'd proves nothing to hisPurpofe. He tells us. That in fome Places, where the Article of Jefus the MeJJtah is mention d alone, at the fame Time other Matters of Faith zvere propos'd. I ask, were thefe other Matters of Faith all the Vnmasker's neceflary Articles ? If not, what are thofe other Matters of Faith to the Unmasker's Purpofe ? As for Example, in St. Peter's Sermon, A^s ii. Other Matters of Faith -were propos'd -with the Article of fefiis the Mefftah. But what does this make for his Fundamental Articles ? Were they all propos'd with the Article of fefm the Meffiah ? If not. Unbelievers were converted and brought into the Church, without the l/^wflx/fefj-'s neceflary Articles. Three Thoui'and were added to the Church by this one Sermon. I pafs by now St. Luke's not mentioning a Syllable of the greateft Part of the Unmasker's neceii'ary Articles; and fhall confider only how long that Sermon may have been. 'Tis plain from ver. i j. that it began not till about nine in the Morning; and from ver.^i. that before Night Three Thoufand were converted and baptized. Now I ask the Unmasker, Whether fo fmall a Number of Hours as St. Peter muft necelfarily employ in preaching to them, were fufficient to inftrud fuch sl mix'd Multitude fo fully in all thofe Articles, which he has propos'd as neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian ; as that every one of thofe Three Thoufand, that were that Day baptiz'd, did underftand and explicitly believe every one of thofe his Articles, juft in the Senfe of our Unmasker's Syftem i" Not to mention thofe remaining Articles which the Unmasker will not be able in twice as many Months to find and declare to us. He fays. That in fo>ne Places, where the Article of 'Jefus the Mefftah is men- tion d alone, at the fame Time other Matters of Faith -were propos'd. Let us take this for fo at prefent, yet this helps not tht Unmasker' sQ&ie. Tlie Fundamen- tal Articles, that were propos'd by our Saviour and his Apoftles, neceflary to be believ'd to make Men Chriftians, are i^ot fet do-wn ; but only this fingle one of 'Jefus the Mejfah : Therefore will any one dare to fay they are omitted every where by the Evangelifts ? Did the Hiftorians of the Gofpel make their Rela- tion fo concife and fliort, that giving an Account in fo many Places of the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles for the Converfion of the Unbeliev- ing World, they did not in any one Place, nor in all of them together, fet down the neceflary Points of that Faith, which their Unbelieving Hearers were converted to ? If they did not, how can their Hiftories be call'd the Gofpels of Jefus Chrift .? Or how can they fene to the End for which they were written ? Which was, to publifli to the World the Doftrine of Jefus Chrift, that Men might be brought into his Religion. Now I challenge the Unmasker to fhew me, not out of any one Place, but out of all the Preachings of our Saviour and his Apoftles, recorded in the Four Gofpels, and the Atts, all thofe Piopofjtions which he has reckoa'U up as Fundamental Articls of Faith. Recijonahlenefs of Christianity^ ^c. ^^ Fiiith. If they nre not to be found there, 'tis plain that cither they a^'C not Articles of Faith ne/clfary to be bcliev'd to make a Man a Chnfliaii ; or clfe that thofa infpir'd Writers have given us an Account of the G )ipel, or Chri^ ftian Religion, wherein the grcatcfl; Part of tlie Ddc^rines neccllary to be be- lievd to make a Man a ChrifUan, are u'hcJly (.niittcd : Which in Hijrt is to l:iy, that the Chriftianity, which is recorded in the Gofpels and the Afts, is not that ChriRianity which is iufficicnt to nrike a Man a Chriftian. 'J'his(asab- furd and impious as it is) is what our U.nnasker charges upon the C:riiif,-iicfi (as he is pleas'd to call it) of the Evangelical Hiftory. And this we mud take upon his Word, tho' thefc infpir'd Writers tell us the direcl contrary. For St. Luke, in his Preface to his Gofpel, tells T'/jeophilus, that having a perfect Knowledge OF ALL THINGS, the Delign of his writing was to ict them in Order, that he might know the Certainty of thole Things, that were bcliev'd amongft Chriflians. And his Hiftory of the ^A begins thus, Trc foyjuarTtca^ tife [i. e. his Golpcl] have I made, Theophilus, of ALL that Jcfus began to do and to teach. So that how concife foever the UamasLer will ha\e his Hiftory to be, he profclTcs it to contain ALL that Jefus taught. Which ALL niuft, in the narroweft Senfe that can be given it, contain at lead al/ Things nc:el- fary to make a Man a Chriftian. ' fwould elic be a very lan-.e and imperfeft HUtory o{ A L L that Jefus taught; if the Faith contain'd in it were not fuf- ficient to make a Man a Chriftian. This indeed, as the Unmasker hath beeu pleas'd to term it, would be a very lank F.iith, a very lank Goipel. St. John alfo fays thus of his Hiftory of the Gofpel, Chap. xx. 30, 31. Aim) other Signs truly did Jefus in the Prefence of his Dijliples, znhieh are not ivriuen in this Book: So far his Hiftory is, by his own Confeffion, cmcife. But thefe, fay.-; he, are written, that ye might believe, that Jejus is the Atjjlah, the Son oj God ; and that believing, ye might have Life thro' his Name. As eoncife as it was, there was yet (if the Apoftle's Word may be taken for it againft the Uamasker\) e- nough contain'd in his Gofpel for the procuring of eternal Life to tliofe who believ'd it. And whether it was that one Article that he there fets d;-\vn, viz.. 'ihzt Jefus was the Meffi ah, or that Set of Articles which the Unmasker gives us, I fhall leave to this modern Divine to refolve. And if he thinks ftill, that all the Articles he has fet down in his Roll, are necelfary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, I muft defire him to fhew them to me in St. j^/w's Goipel, di' elfe to convince the World, that St. John was miftaken, when he laid, that he had written his Gofpel, that Men might believe that Jefus -uas the MejTiah, the Son of God ; and that bJteving they might have Life thro' his Name. So that granting the Hijlory of the Scripture to be fo concife as the Unmasker would have it, viz,. That in fme Places the infallible Writers, recording the Difcourfes of our Saviour and his Apoftles, omitted all the other Fundamental Articles, propos'd by them to be believ'd to make Men Chriftians, but this one, that Jefus was the MeJ ft ah ; yet this will not remove the Oujeftion that lies a- gainft his other Fundamentals, which are not to be found in the Hiftories of the Four Evangelifts; nay, not to be found in every one of them. If every one of them contains the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift, and confequently all Things ne- ceflary to Salvation, whether this will not be a new Ground of Accufation a- gainft me, and give theUnmasker a Right to charge me with laying by three of the Gofpels with Oj«?ew/>f, as well as he did before charge me wich aContcmpt of the Epiftles, muft be left to his fovereign Authority to determine. Having Hiew'd, that allowing all he iays here to be as he would have it, yec it clears not the Objeftion that lies againft his Fundamentals j I Hull now exa- mine what Truth there is in what he here pretends, viz,. That tho the one Ar- ticle, That Jefus is the McfTiah, be mention'd alone in fme Places, yet -ar have Reafon to be perfuaded, fro?n the Concifnefs of the Scripture-Hiftory, that there were at the fame Time join'd with it other neceilary Articles of Faith, in the Pre.ich- ing of our Saviour and his Apoftles. It is to be obierv'd, that the Unmasker builds upon this falfe Soppofition, that w fome Places other neceflary Articles of Faith, join'd with that of Jfui the Mefjiah, are by the Evangel ift^ mention'd to be propos'd by our Sn\iour and his Apoftles, as neceffary to be believ'd to make thofe they preach 4 to Chriftians. For his faying, that in ibme Places that cm neccjfary Article is meuiion'd 6zi A Second Vindication of the meniioutl alone, implies, that in other Place*' it is not mentiou'd alone, butjoin'd with otlier ncceffary Articles. But then it will remain upon him to fliew, "XXXVI. /« ivhat Place either of the Go/pels or vf the Acls, other Ankles of Faith are joihd -with this, and proposed as neceffary to be believed to make Mm Chri- fiians. The Unmasker, 'tis probable, will tell us, that the Article of Chrifl's Re- furreftion is I'omecinies join'd with this of the Mejfjah, as particularly in that firll Sermon of St. Peter, Afts ii. by which tiiere were three Thoufand added to the Church at one Time. Anfiv. This Sermon well confider'd, will explain to us both the Preaching of the ApoRlcs, what it was that they proposed to their unbelieving Auditors to make them Chriilians ; and alfo the Manner of St. Luke's recording their Sermons. 'Tis true, that here are deliver'd by St. Peter many other Matters of Faith, belides tliat of jff/'/s being the Meffiah • For all that he faid being of Divine Authority, is Matter of Faith, and may not be disbeliev'd. The firft Part of his Difcourle is, to prove to the ^ews, that what they had obferved of txtraordinary at that Time amongft the Difciples, who fpake Variety oi Tongues, did not proceed from Wine, but from the Holy Ghoft : And that this was the Pouring out of the Spirit, prophefy'd of by the Pro- phet jf«(?/. This is all Matter of Faith, and is written that it might be believ'd : Ijut yet 1 think, chat neither the Unmasker, nor any body clfe will fay, that this is luch a neceflary Article of Faith, that no Man could, without an expli- cit Belief of it, be a Chriftian : Tho' being a Declaration of the Holy Ghofl by St. Peter, it is fo much a Alutter of Faith, that no body to whom it is now propos'd, can deny it and be a Chriftian. And thus all the Scripture of the iVlxu T'efiament, given by Divine Infpiration, is Matter oj Faith, and neceflltry to be believed by all ChriRians to whom it is propos'd. But yet I do not think any one fo unreafonable as to fay, that every Propofition in the Nexv 'Ttjlament is a Fundamental Article of Faith, which is requir'd explicitly to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian. Here now is a Matter of Faith jo'mW, in the fame Sermon, with this Fun da- iiiental Article, That J fus is theMeffah; and repoi'ted by the Sacred Hiftorian fo at large, that it takes up a third Part of St. Peter's Sermon, recorded by St. Luke : And yet it is fuch a Miitter of Faith, as is not contained in the Un- masker's Catalogue of neceflary Articles. I muft; ask him then, whether St. Luke were fo concife an Hiftorian, that he would fo at large fet down a Matter of Faith propos'd by St. Peter, that was not neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a. Chriftan, and wholly to leave out the very mention of all the Un- masker's additional neceflary Articles, if indeed they were neceflary to be be- liev'd to make Men Chriftians? I know not how any one could charge the Hiftorian with greater Unfaithfulnel's, or greater Folly. But this the Unmask-r er fticks not at, to preferve to himielf the Power of appointing what fhall, and what fhall not be neceffary Articles; and of making his Syftem theChriftia- nity neceflary, and only neceflary to be rcceiv'd. The next Thing that St. Peter proceeds to in this his Sermon, is, to declare to the Unbelieving Je'ivs, that 'Jefiis of Naz..areth, who had done Miracles a- niongft them, whom they had crucified and put to Death, and whom God had rais'd again from the Dead, was the Meffiah. Here indeed our Saviour's Crucifixion, Death and Refurreftion are mention'd: And if they were no where eli'e recorded, are Matters oj Faith; wiiich, with all the reft of the New Te/iament, ought to be believ'd by every Chriftian to whom it is thus propos'd, as a Part of Divine Revelation. But that thefe were not here propos'd to the Unbelieving jffU'j, as the Fundamental Articles, which St. Peter principally aimed at, and endeavour'd to convince them of, is evident from hence ; that they are made ufe of as Arguments to perluade them of this Fundamental Truth, viz.. That Jefis was the Mef} ah, whom they ought to take for their Lord and Ruler. For whatfoever is brought as an Argument to prove another Truth, cannot be thought to be the principal Thing aimed at in that Argumentation ; tho' it may have fo ftrong and immediate a Con- nexion with the Conclufion, chat you cannot deny it without denying even what Reafondlcncfs of CHKrsTiA-tiiTY, ^V. ^23 what is infer'd from ir, and is therefore the fitter tb be an Argumenf: to prove it. But that our Saviour's Crucifixion, Death, and Rcfurredtion, were ufcd here as Arguments to perfuade them into a Belief of this Fundanicntal Ar- ticle, 'Ihatycfiis was the MefTiah, and not as Propofitions of a new Faith they were to receive ; is evident from hence, that St. Peter prcach'd here to thofe who knew the Death and Crucifixion of Jefus as well as he : And therefore thefe could not be proposed to them as new Articles of Faith to be bcliev'd. But thofe Matters of Fad being what the j^eiuj knew already, were a good Ar- gument, join'd with his Refurredion, to convince them of thiit Truth, which he endeavour'd to give them a Belief of And therefore he rightly infer'd from thefe Fafts join'd together, this Conclufion, the believing wliereof would make them Chriftians : Therefore let all the Hoiije «/ Ifrael know ajjuredly, that Gud hath made that fame 'Jefii, -whom ye have crucified. Lord and Chrifl. To the making good this fole Propofition, his whole Difcourfe tended : This was the fole Truth he labour'd to convince them ofi this the Faith he endeavour'd to bring them into; which as foon as they had receiv'd with Repentance, they were by Baptifm admitted into the Church, and three Thoufand at once made Chriftians. Here St. Luke's own Confeffion, without that of intelligent and obferviiig Men^ which the Unmasker has recourfe to, might have fatisfy'd him again, that in relating Mattcn of FaEi, many Paffages are omitted by the Jacred Pen-?>ien. For, fays Sc. Luke liere, njer. 40. And with many other Words, which are not fee down. One would at firft fight, wonder why the Unmasker neglefts thefe demonftra- tive Authorities of the Holy Pen-men themfelves, where they own their O- miflions, to tell us, that it is confeffed by all intelligent and obferving Men, that in relating Matters of Fafl, many Pajfages are omitted by the facred Pen - men, St. John, in what he fays of his Gofpel, direftly profelles large Omiffions, and fo does St. Luke here. But thel'e Omifllons would not ferve the JJmnaske/s Turn ; for they are diredly againft him, and what he would ha\ e : And there- fore he had Reafon to pafs them by. For St. yohn, in that Palfage above-cited. Chap. XX. go, 31. tells us, that how much foever he had left out of his Hiftory, he had inferted that, which was enough to be believ'd to eternal Lite. But thefe are written that ye might believe, and believing ye might have Life. But this is not all he allures of, viz.. That he had recorded all that was necefl'ary to be believ'd to eternal Life : But he, in exprefs Words, tells us what is that ALL that is necefl'ary to be believed to eternal Life ; and for the Proof of which Propofition alone, he writ all the reft of his Gofpel, viz.. That we might be- lieve. What ? E\en this ; That Jefus is the Chrifi the Son of God, and that be- lieving this, we tnight have Life through his Name. This may ferve for a Key to us, in reading the Hiftory of the New Tefia- ment; and (hew us why this Article, that Jefus was the MeJJiah, is no where omitted, though a great Part of the Arguments ufed to convince Men of it, nay very often the whole Difcourfe made to lead Men into the Belief of it, be intirely omitted. The Spirit of God direfted them every where to fet down the Article, which was abfolutely necefl'ary to be believ'd to make Men Chri- ftians ; fo that that could no ways be doubted of nor miftaken : But the Argu- ments and Evidences, which were to lead Men into this Faith, would be fufficient, if they were once found any where, though fcatter'd here and there in thofe Writings, whereof that infallible Spirit was the Author. This pre- ferv'd the Decorum us'd in all Hiftories, and avoided thofe continual large and unneceflary Repetitions, which our critical Unmasker might have call d te- dious, with jufter Reafon than he does the Repetition of this Ihort Propofition, That Jefus is the Meffiah ; which I fet down no oftner in my Book, than the Holy Ghoft thought fit to infert in the Hiftory of the New Teflament, as con- cife as it is. But this it feems to our nice Unmasker, is tedious, tedious and offenfive. And if a Chriftian, and a Succeflbr of the Apoftles, cannot bear the being fo often told, what it was that our Saviour and his Apoftles every where preach'd to the Believers of one God, though it be contain'd in one fliorc Propofition ; what Caufe of Exception and Difguft would it have been to Hea- then Readers, fome whereof might perhaps have been as Critical as the Un- niaskeTf ^24 -^ Second Vindication of the masker, if this facred Hiftory had in every Page been fill'd with the repeated Dilccmrfes of the Apoflles, all of them every where to the fame Purpofe, "viz.. to perfuade Men to belie\e, that JeJ'n was the Mtfjuih ? It was necelfary even by the Laws of Hiftory, as often as their Preaching any where was mention'd, to tell to what Purpofe they fpoke ; which being always to convince Men of this one Fundamental Truth, 'tis no Wonder we rind it fo often repeated. But the Arguments and Reafonings, with which this one Point is urged, are, as they ougiit to be, in moft Places left out. A conftant Repetition of them had been fuperfluous, and confequently might juftly have been blam'd as tedious. But there is enough recorded abundantly to convince any rational Man, any one not wilfully blind, that he is that promifed Saviour. And in this we have a Reafon of the Omiffions of the Hiftory of the Neiu "Ti-ftainem ; which were no otlier than fuch, as became prudent, as well as faithful Writers. Much lefs did that Concifenefs (with which the Umnasker would cover his bold Cenfure of the Gofpels and the Afts, and as it feems, lay theni by with Contempt) make the holy Writers omit any Thing, in the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apoftles, abfolutely necelfary to be known and believed to make Men Chri- ftians. Conformable hereunto we fliall find St. Luke writes his Hiftory of the AEis of the Apoftles. In the Beginning of it he fets down at large fome of the Dif- courfes made to the unbelieving Je-ujs. But in moft other Places, unlefs it be where there was fomething particular in the Circumftances of the Matter, he contents himfelf to tell to wiiat Purpofe they fpoke ; which was every where only this, That Jefm was the Mtffiah. Nay, St. Luke in the firft Speech of St. Peter, Ads ii. which he thought fit to give us a great Part of, yet owns the Omiffion of feveral Things that the Apoftle faid. For having exprelfed this Fundamental Doftrine, That 'Jefm was the Mefftab, and recorded feveral of the Arguments wherewith St. Peter urged it, for the Converfion of the unbe- lieving Jews, his Auditors, he adds, ver. 40. And with many other Words did he teftify and exhort, faying. Save your felves from this untoward Generation. Here he conlelfes, that he had omitted a great deal which St. Peter had faid to perfuade them. To what ? To that which in other Words he had juft faid before, ver. 38. Repent and be baptiz.ed every one of you in the Name of Jefm Chrifi, i. e. Be- lieve Jefm to be the MeJJiah, take him as fuch for your Lord and King, and reform your Li\es by a fincere Refolution of Obedience to his Laws. Thus we have an Account of the Omiffions in the Records of Matte-rs of Faci in the Netu Tejiajnent. But will the Unmasker lay. That the Preaching of thofe Articles that he has given us as neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, was part of thofe Matters of Faci, which have been omitted in the Hiftory of the New Teftament ? Can any one think, that the Corruption and Degeneracy of humane Nature, with the true Original of it (the Defection of our firji Parents) the Propagation of Sin and Mortality, our R^fioraticn and Reconcilia- tion by Chrift's Blood, the Eminency and Excellency of his Priefthood, the Efficacy of his Death, the full Satisfaction thereby ?nade to divine Juflice, and his being made an all-fufficient Sacrifice for Sin, our Juflificaticn by Chrifi' s Righteoufnefs , Eletiiony Adoption, &c. were all propos'd, and that too in the Senfe of our Author's Syftem, by our Saviour and his Apoftles, as Fundamental Articles of Faith, neceflary to be explicitly believed by every Man, to make him a Chriftian, in all their Difcourfes to Unbelievers ; and yet that the infpired Pen-men of thofe Hiftories, every where left the Mention of thefe Fundamental Articles wholly out ? rhis would have been to have writ not a comife, but an imperfeft Hiftory of all that Jefus and his Apoftles taught. What an Account would it have been of the Gofpel, as it was firft preach'd and propagated, if the greateft Part of the necelfary Doftrines of it were wholly left out, and a Man could not find from one End to the other of this whole Hiftory, that Religion which is neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian ? And yet this is that, which under the Notion of their being ccn- cife, the Umnasker would perfuade us to have been done by St. Luke and the other Evangelifts in their Hiftories. And 'tis no lefs than what he plainly lays in his 'thouglits concerning the Caufes of Atheifm, p. 105?. where, to ag- gravate my Fault in palling by the Epiftks, and to fhew the Neceffity of fearching ReafonaMeuefs of CHRiSTiAisinY^ t^c, 61$ Searching in them for Fundamentals, he in Words blames me ; but in Effeci:, condemns the Sacred Hiftory contain'd in the Gofpels and the Afts. It is moft evident, fays he, to any thinking Man, that the Author of the Reafonable- Yitis of Chriftianity ptirpofely mnits the Epijhlary Writings of the Apofiles, becaufe they are fraught with other Fundamental Doclrines befides that one -which he men- tions. T'liere we are injinicled concerning thefe grand Heads of Chriflian Divinity. Here, i. e. in the Epiftles, fays he, there are Difcoveries concerning Satif'aciion, &cc. And in the clofe of his Lift of Qyand Heads, as he calls them, fcMne whereof I have ab- ve fet down out of him, he adds, T'heje are the Matters oj Faith contained in the E iflles. By all which Exprcfllons he plainly fignirics, that thefe which he calls Fundamental DoElrines, are none of thofe we are Inftrufted in, in the Gofpels and the Afts ; that they are not difcover'd nor contain d in the Hiflo- rical Writings of the Evangelifts : Whereby he confelTes, that either our Sa- viour and his Apoftles did not propofe them in their Preachings to their un- believing Hearers ; or elfe, that the leveral foithful Writers of their Hiftory, wilfully, /. e. unfaithfully, every where omitted them in the Account they have left us of thofe Preachings; which would fcarce pofTibly be done by them all, and every where, without an aftual Combination amongft them, to fmother the greateft and moft material Parts of our Saviour's and and his Apoftles Dif- couries. For what elfe did they, if all that the Unmasker has fet down in his Lift be Fundamental Doftrines ; every one of them abfolutely necefl'ary- to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, which our Saviour and his Apoftles every where preach'd to make Men Chriftians ; but yet St. Luke and the other Evan- gelifts, by a very guilty and unpardonable Concifenefs, every where omitted them, and throughout their whole Hiftory never once tell us, they were fo much as proposed, much lefs that they were thofe Articles which the A- poftles laboured to eftablifli and convince Men of every where, before they ad- mitted them to Baptifm ? Nay the far greateft Part of them, the Hiftoi^y they writ does not any where fo much as once me; tion ? How after fuch an Imputation as this the Unmasker will clear himfelf from laying by the foiir Gofpels and the Ads roith Contempt, let him look ; if my not collefting Fun- damentals out of the Epiftles had that Guilt in it. For I never deny d all the Fundamental Doftrines to be thei'e, but only faid, that there they were not eafy to be found out, and diftinguifh'd from Dr-ftrines not FundameiVcal. Whereas our good Unmasker charges the hiftorical Bocks of the New Teftamer.c with a total Omiflion of the far greateft Part of thofe Fundamental Dcwftrines of Chriftianity, which he fays are abfolutely necefl'ary to be believed to itiake a Man a Chriftian. To convince the Reader what was abfolutely requir'd to be beHeved io make a Man a Chriftian, and thereby clear the Holy Writers from the Un- masker's Slander, any one need but look a little farther into the Hiftory of the ABs, and obferve St. Luke's Method in the Writing of it. In the begin- ning (as we obferv'd before) and in fome few other Places, he fets down sit large the Difcourfes made by the Preachers of Chriftianity to their unbelieving Auditors. But in the Proceis of his Hiftory, he generally contents himlelt to relate, what it was their Difcourfes drive at ; what was the iJoftrine th^y endea\'our'd to convince their unbelieving Hearers of, to make them Believferis. This we may obfer\e is never omitted. This is every where let down. Thus Acis V. 42. he tells us, that daily in the Temple, and in every Houfe, the Apoftles ceafed not to teach, and to preach JESUS THE MESSIAH The Parti- culars of their Difcourfes he omits, and the Arguments they ufed to induce Men to belie\'e, he omits : But nevei* fails to inform us carefully v/hat it was the Apoftles taught and preached, and would have Men believe. The Account he gives us of St. Paul's preaching at Tleffaknica, is this : That three Sabbath Days he REASONED with the Jews out of the Scriptures, OPENING and A LLE DG I NG, that the Meffiah muft needs have Suffer' d and Rifen again from the Dead ; and that Jefiis was the Meffiah .• Afts XVII. 2, 3. Ac Corinth, that he REASON'D in the Synagogue every Sabbath, and P E RSUADED the Jews and the Greeks, and TE STlFIE D that Jefus was the Meirah ; XVIII. 4, ^ That Apollos miglitily convinced the Jews, SHEWING BIT' HE SCRIPTURES that Jefus was the Meffiah i XVIII. 27. • ' Vol. 11. ' K k k k By 626 A Second Vindication of the By thefc, and the like Places, we may be fatisfy'd what it was that the Apoftles Taug/jt and Preac/jed, even in this one Propofition, That Jefus -was the Mejjlah : For this was the fole Propofition they reafon'd about ; this alone they teflify'd^ and they fiew'd out of the Scriptures; and of this alone they en- deavour'd to convince the Jevjs and the Grech, that believed one God. So that it is plain from hence, that St. Luke omitted nothing that the Apoftles "Taught and Preach' d; none of thofe Doftrines, that it was necefl'ary to convince Unbelievers of, to make them Chriftians : Tho* he in moft Places omitted, as was fit, the Paflages of Scripture \vhich they alledg'd, and the Arguments thofe inl'pired Preachers ufed to perfuade Men to believe and embrace that Doftrine. Another convincing Argument, to fliew that St. Luke omitted none of thofe Fundamental Doftrines which the Apoftles any where propos'd as neceflary to be believ'd, is from that different Account he gives us of their Preaching in other Places, and to Auditors otherwife difpos'd. Where the Apoftles had to do with Idolatrous Heathens, who were not yet come to the Knowledge of the only true God, there he tells us they propos'd alfo the Article of the one Invifible God, Maker of Heaven and Earth : And this we find recorded in him out of their Preaching to the Lyflriam, Afts XIV. and to the Athenians, Ads XVII. In tiife latter of which, St. Luke, to convince his Reader that he, out of Concifenefs, omits none of thofe Fundamental Articles that were anywhere proposed by the Preachers of the Gofpel, as neceffary to be believ'd to make Men Chriftians, fets down not only the Article of Jef/is the Meffiah, but that alfo of the one Invifible God, Creator of all Things, which (if any necefl'ary one might) this of all other Fundamental Articles might, by an Author that aft'eded Brevity, with the faireft Excufe have been omitted, as being implied in that other of the Meffiah ordained by God. Indeed, in the Story of what Patil and Barnabas faid at Lyflra, the Article of the Meffiah is not mentioned. Not that St. Luke omitted that Fundamental Article, where the Apoftles taught it : But they having here begun their Preaching with that of the one Living God, they had not, as appears, time to proceed farther, and propofe to them what yet remain'd to make them Chriftians : All that they could do at that time, was to hinder the People from facrificing to them. And before we hear any more of their Preaching, they were, by the Inftigation of the ^ews, fallen upon, and Paul ftoned. This, by the Way, fliews the Ummsker's Miftake in his firft Particular, p. 74. where he fays (as he does here again in the fecond Particular, which we are now examing) that Relieving Jefus to be the Meffiah, is the fiyft Step to Chrifiianity ; and therefore this, rather than any other, -was propounded to be believed by all thofe, -whom either our Saviour, or the Apojlles, invited to embrace Chrifiia- nity. The contrary whereof appears here ; where the Article of one God is propos'd in the firft Place, to thofe whofe Unbelief made fuch a Propofal neceflary. And therefore if his Rcafon (which he ufes again here, p. yd.) were good, viz,. That the Article of the Mtffiah is exprelly mention'd alone, lecaufe it is a leading Article and jnakes IVay for the reft, this Reafon would ra- ther conclude for the Article of one Cod ; and that alone fhould be exprefly mention'd inftead of the other. Since, as he argues for the other, p. 74. If they did not believe this in the firfl place, viz,. That there was one God, there could be no hopes that they would attend unto any other propofal relating to the Chri- flian Religion. The Vanity and Falfhood of which Reafoning, viz,. That the Article of Jefus the Meffiah vscu every where Propunded rather than any other ^ lecaufe it was the leading Article, we fee in the Hiftory of St. Paul's preaching to the Athenians. St. Ltike mentions more than one Article, where more than one was propos'd by St. Paul; tho' the firft of them was that leading Article of one God, which if not received in the firft place, there could be no hope they would attend to the reft. Something the Umnasker would make of this Argument of a leading Arti- cle for want of a better, tho' he knows not what. In his firft Particular, p. 7^4. he makes ufe of it to Ihew, why there was but that one Article pro- pos'd by the firft Preachers of the Golpel ; and how well that fucceeds with liim, we have feen. For this is Demonilration, that if there were but that one Reajonahlenejs o/" C h r i s T i a N i T Y, ^c, 611 one propos'd by our Saviour and the Apoftles, there was but that one neccf- fary to be believ'd to make Men Chrillians; unlels he will impioufly fay, that our Saviour and the Apofties went about preaching to no Purpof'e : For if they propos'd not all that was necefl'ary to make Men Chriftians, 'twas in vain ft/r tiiem to preach, and others to hear; if when they heard and believ'd all that was propos'd to them, they were not yet Chriflians : For if any Ar- ticle was omitted in the Propofal, which was necefl'ary to make a Man a Chri- fuan, who tho' they believ'd all that was propos'd to them, they could not yet be Chriftians ; unlefs a Man can from an Infidel become a Chriftian, without d(ving what is necefl'ary to make him a Chriftian. Further, if his Argument of its being a leading Article proves, that that alone was propos'd, it is a Contradiction to give it as a Reafon, why it was fet dozen alone by the Hiftorian , where it was not propos'd alone by the Preacher, but other neceflary Matter.^ of Faith -were propos'd ivitb it ; unlefs it can be true, that this Article of Jefus is the Mcfftahy was propos'd alone by our Saviour and his Apofties, becaule it was a leading Article , and was men- tion'd alone in the Hiftory of what they preach'd, becaule it was a leading Article, tho' it were not propos'd alone, but jointly with other necefl'ary Matters of Faith. For this is the Ufe he makes here again, pag.-j6. of his leading Article under his fecond Particular, viz.. To fhew why. the Hiftorians mention'd this neceflary Article, of Jifus the AleJJtah, alone, in Places where the Preachers of the Gofpel propos'd it not alone, but with other neceflary Articles. But in this latter Cafe it has no Shew of a Reafon at all. It may be granted as reafonable for the Teachers of any Religion not to go any far- ther, where they fee the fiift Article which rhey propol'e is rejeded j where the leading Truth, on which all the reft depends, is not received. But it can be no Reaibn at all for an Hiftorian, who writes the Hiftory of thefe firft Preachers, to fet down only the firft and leading Article, and omit all the reft, in Inftances where more were not only propos'd, but believ'd and em- brac'd, and upon that the Hearers and Believers admitted into the Church. ^Tis not for Hiftorians to put any DiftinCtion between leading or not lending Articles; but if they will give a true and ufeful Account of the Religion, whofe Original they are writing, and of the Converts made to it, they muft; tell, not one, but all thofe neceflary Articles, upon Afl'ent to which Converts were baptiz'd into that Religion , and admitted into the Church. Whoever fays otherwife, accules them offallifying the Story, mifleading the Readers, and giving a wrong Account of the Religion which they pretend to teach the World, and to prfei'erve and propagate to future Ages. This (if it were fo) no F reteuce oi Cvncifenefs could excufe or palliate. There is yet remaining one Confideration, which were fufficient of it felf to convince us, that it was the fole Article of Faith which was preach'd; and that if there had been other Articles neceflary to be known and believed by Converts, they could not, upon any Pretence q{ Comifenefs, be fuppos'd to be omitted: And that is the Commifllons of thofe, that were lent to preach the Gofpel. Which lince the Sacred Hiftorians mention, they cannot be fuppos'd to leave out any of the material and main Heads of thofe Commiflions. St. Z.K^e records it, Chap.'w.^^. that our Saviour fays of himfelf, I 7mifl go Mito the other "Towns to tell the good News of the Kingdom, for ( f'' t'iro ) upon this Errand am I SENT. This S\.. Mark calls fimply Preaching. This Preaching, what it contained, St. Alatthew tells us, Chap.'w. 23. And yefus luent about all Galilee, teaching in their S)nagogues , and preaching the good News of the King- dom, and healing all manner of Sicknefs, and all manner ofDifeafes amongfl the People. Here we have his Commiflion, or End of his being lent, and the Execution o£ it; both terminating in this, that he declar'd the good News that the King- dom of the Meffiah was come; and gnve them to underftand by the Miracles he did, that he himfelfwas he. Nor does St. Matthew feem to atfe<5t fuch Cn- cifenefs, that he would have left it out, if the Gofpel had contained any other Fundamental Parts necefl'ary to be believ'd to make Men Chriftians. For he here fays , All manner of Sicknefs, and all manner of Difeafcs , when either of them might have been better left out, than any neceflary Article of the Gofpel, to make his Hiftory concife. Vol. II. Kkkk 2 ^^b 628 A Second Vindkntion of the We fee what our Saviour was fern for. In the next Place, let us look into tlie Commiflion he gave the Apollles, when he JiKt them to preach the Gofpel. We have it in the tenth of St. Matthew, in thefe Words : Go not into the Way of the Gentiles, and into any City of the Samaritans enter \e not. But go rather to the hjl Sheep (f the Houf.' of Ifrael. And af ye go, PREACH, SAYING The king DOM of heaven is at ha ND. Heal the Sick, cleafe the Lepers, raife the Dead , cafl out Devils : Freely have ye received, jreely give. Provide neither Gold , nor Silver , mr Brafs in your Purfes ; nor Scrip in yvur 'Journey ; neither two Coats, neither Shoes, mr yet Staves (for the Workman is worthy of his Meat). And into whatfoever City or Town ye fhall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into any Houfe, filute it. And if the Hotife be worthy , let your Peace come upon it ; but if it be not worthy, let your Peace return to you. And whofoever floall not receive yoii, nor hear your Words ; when ye depart out oj that Houfe or City , fhake off the Dufi vf your Feet. Verily, I fay unto you , it finill be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrha , in the Day oj Judgment , than for that City. Behold, I fend you forth as Sheep in the midfi of Wolves : Be ye therefore wife as Serpents^ and harmlefs as Doves. But beware oj Men , jor they will deliver you up to the Councils , and they will fourge you in their Synagogues. And ye floall be brought before Governors , and Kings , for my fake, for a Tjlimony againfi them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no Tliought how, or what ye fhall fpeak ; for it floall be given you in that fame Hour , what ye fhnil fpeak. For it is not ye that fpeak , but the Spirit oj your Father which fpeaketh in you. And the Brother flmll deliver up the Brother to Death , and the Father the Child : And the Children flmll rife up againfi the Parents , and caufe them to be put to Death. And ye fIJall he hated of all Men for ?ny Name's fake : But he that endureth to the End fhall be faved. But when they perfecute you in this City, flee ye into another : For verily I fay unto you , ye (hall not have gone over the Cities oj Ifrael, till the Son of Man be come. The Difciple is not above his Mafier, nor the Servant above his Lord. It is enough for the Difciple that he be as his Mafler, and the Servant as his Lord. If they have called the Mafler of the Houfe Beelzebub, how much more fhall they call them of his Hiufhold ? Fear them not therefore : For there is nothing covered which floall not be revealed; and hid that fhall not be known. What I tell you in Darknefs , that fpeak ye in Light : And what ye hear in the Ear , that preach ye upon the Hoiife-tops. And fear not them which kill the Body, but are not able to kill the Soul : But rather fear him which is able to defiroy both Sotil and Body in Hell. Are not tivo Sparrows fold for a Farthing ? And one of them fhall not fall on the Ground without your Father. But the very Hairs of your Head are all num- bred. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more Value than many Sparrows. Wijofoever therefore fhall confefs me before Men , him ivill I confefs alfo before my Father which is in Heaven. But whofoever fjall deny me before Men, him will I alfo deny before my Father which is in Heaven. Think not that I am come to fend Peace en Earth : I came not to fend Peace, but a Sword. For I am come to fet a Man at Variance a- gainfl his Father, and the Daughter againfi her Mother, and the Datighter-in-Law againfi her Mother~in-Law. And a Alans Foes fhall be they of his own Houfhold. He that loveth Father and Mother more than me , is not worthy of me : And he that loveth Son or Daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taheth not his Crofs , and followeth after me , is not worthy of nte. He that findeth his Life fhall lofe it : And he that lofeth his Life for my fake, fhall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me ; and he that receiveth me , receiveth him that fent me. He that receiveth a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet, fhall receive a Prophets' s Reward; and he that receiveth a righteous Man , fijall receive a righteous Man s Reward. And ■whofoever fhall give to drink unto one of thefe little Ones, a Cup of cold Water only in the Name of a Difciple, verily I fay unto you, he fhall in no wife lofe his Reward. And it came to pafs , when Jefm had made an End of commanding his twelve Difciples • This is the Commiffion our Saviour gave the Apoftles, when he fent them abroad to recover , and fave the loft Sheep of the Houfe of Ifrael. And will any of the Unmasker's intelligent and obferving Men fay, that the Hifiory of the Scripture is fo concife, that any Paffages, any efl'ential , any material, nay any Parts at all of the Apoftles CommiffioHj are here omitted by the Sacred Pea- man? Reafonablencfs of Christianity, ^c. 6z^ man? This Commi/Hon is fee down To at full, and fo particularly, that St. Mtt- thewy who was one of them to whom it was given , J'eems not to have left out one Word, of all that our Saviour gave him in Charge. And it is fo large, even to every particular Article of their Inflrudions , that I doubt not but my citing fo much, verbatim, out of the facred 'Jext , will here agiin be troublefom to the Unniaiker. But whether he will venture again to call it tedious , muft be as Nature or Caution happen to have the better on't. Can any one who reads this Commiffion, unlefs he liath the Brains as well as the Brow of an Unmaskcr, allcdge that the Cuncifcnef, of the Hiflory of the Scrip- ture has conceal'd from us thole Fundamental Doctrines, which our Saviour and his Apoflles preach'd ; but the facred Hiftorians thought fit by Confent, for unconceivable Reafons, to leave out in the Narrative they give us, of thofe Preachings ? This PalVage here, wholly confuteth that. They could preach nothing but what they were lent to preach : And that we fee is contained in thel'e {q.\'^ Words , Preach, faying^ the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand. Hal the Sick, cleanfe the Lepers, ralfe the Dead, cafl out Devils; i. e. acquamt them that the Kingdom of the MeiRah is come, and let them know by the Miracles you do in my Name, that I am that King and Deliverer they expeft. If there were any other necellary Articles that were to be believ'd, for the faving of the hfi Sheep they were fent to, can one think that St. Matthew , who lets down fo minutely every Circumllance of their Commiflion, would have omitted the moft important and material of it? He was an Ear-witnefs, and one that was fent; and fo (without fuppofing him infpir'd) could not be milled by the fhort Account he might receive from others, who by their own, or others Forgetfulnefs, miglit have drop'd thofe other Fundamental Articles, that the Apollles were order'd to preach. The very like Account St. Luke gives us of our Saviour's Commillion to the Seventy, Chap.'K. i — 16. After thefe T'ijings the Lord appointed other f event y alfo, and fent them two and two before his Face , into every City and Place whither he himfelf would come. 'Therefore faid he unto them , Tl}e Harveft truly is great, but the Labourers are few : Pray ye therefore the Lord of the Hirvefl, that he would fend forth Labourers into his Harvejl. Go your ways : Behold I fend you forth as Lambs amtng fVulves, Carry neither Purfe, nor Scrip, nor Shoes : And falute no Man by the IVay. And into whatfoever Huufe ye enter, firfl fay. Peace be to this Hiufe. And if the Son of Peace be there, your Peace (hall refl upon it ; if not, it fhall return to you again. And in the fame Hufe remain Eating and Drinking fuch ihings as they give : Fur the Labourer is worthy of his Hire. Go nat from Hiufe to Houfe. And into whatfever City ye enter and they receive wu. Eat fuch Things as are fet before you. And heal the Sick that are therein , and SAT U N T O Them, The kingdom of god is come nigh unTo TOU. But in whatfever City ye enter , and they receive you not , go your ways out into the Streets of the fame, and fay , Even the very Dujl of yottr City which cleavetb on us , we do wipe cff againft you : Notwit/fianding be }e fitre of thiSy that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I fay unto you, that it fhall he more tolerable in that Day for Sodom , than for that City. Wo unto thee Cho- razin. Wo unto thee Eethfaida : For if the mighty Works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been dme in you, they had a great zuhile ago repented, fitting in Sackcloth and Afhes. But it fhall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of judgment , than for you. And thou Capernaum , which art exalted to Heaven , fhalt be thriifl down to Hell. He that heareth you , heareth me : And he that defpifeth you , defpifeth me : And he that defpifeth me, defpifeth him that fent me. Our Saviour's Commiffion here to the Seventy, whom he fent to preach, is fo exadly conformable to that which he had before given to the Twelve Apollles, that there needs but this one thing more to be oblerv'd, to convince any ore that they were lent to convert their Hearers to this fole Belief, That the Kingdom of the Meffiah was come, and that jf//»4 was the Meij:ah : And that the Hiftorians of the New Teftament are not lo concife in their Account of this Matter, that they would have omitted any other necelfary Articles of Belief that had been given to the Seventy in Commiffion. That which I mean is, the Kingdom of the Mefftab is twice mention'd in it to be come, verf p. and 67^9 A Second Vindication of the and II. If tlicic were other Articles given them by our Saviour to propofe fb their Hearers, bt. Luke mud be very fond of this one Article, uiicn for Cottcife- nefi fake, leaving out the other Fundamd|gi!vlrticles that our Saviour gave them in Charge to preach, he repeats this mor^lhan ohce. 1 he Uimiaskey\ third Particular, p. qC. bej»ins thus : "tkii alfu mnft be thoufht of, that tho' there are feveral Parts and Members of the Chrifiian Faith, yet they do nut all occur in any one Place of Scripture. Something is in it ( whether owing to his Will, or Underftanding, I fhall not enquire) that the Unmasker always delivers himfelf in doubtful and ambiguous Terms. It had been as eafy for him to have faid. There are feveral Articles of the Chriftian Faith necellary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, as to fay, (as he does here) "There are feveral Parts and Members of the C/rri/lian Faith. But as an Evidence of the Clearnefs of his Notions, or the Fairnels of his Arguing, he always refls in generals. There are, I grant, feveral Parts and Members of the Chriftian Faith, which do no more occur in any one Place of Scripture, than tlie whole New Teftament can be faid to occur in any one Place of Scripture. For every Propolition deliver'd in the New Tcflament for Divine Revelation, is a Part and Member of the Chriftian Faith. But 'tis not thofe Parts and Members of the Chrifiian Faith we are I'peaking of; but only fuch Parts and Members of the Chriftian Faith as are abfolutely neceflary to be believ'd by every Man , before he can be a. Chriftian. And in that Senle I deny his Aflertion to be true, viz,. That they do not occur in any one Place of Scripture : For they do all occur in that hrft Sermon of St. Pettr, Afts ii. ii. by which three Thoufand were at chat Time brought into the Church, and that in thefe Words: Therefore let all the Houfe of II rael km-w ajfuredly , that God hath made th&t fame 'Jefus , -whom you have crucified. Lord and Chrift. Repent and be baptiz.ed every cne of yote in the Name of Jefm Chrift. Here is the Doctrine of Jefus the Me ffi ah , the Lord, and ol Repentance, propos'd to thofe who already believe onei God ; which, I fay, are all the Parts of the Chriftian Faith neceifary to be receiv'd to make a Man a Chriftian. To fuppofe, as tiie Unmasker does here, that more is re- quir'd, is to beg, not prove the Queftion. If he difputes this Colleftion ot" mine out of that Sermon of St. Peter, I will give him a more authentickColleftion of the necellary Parts of the Chriftian Faith, from an Author that he will not queftion. Let him look into A^s xx. 23, &c. and tliere he will find St. Paul faying thus to the Elders of Ephefm, whom he was taking his laft Leave of, with an Aflurance that he fhould never fee them again : / have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ; but have fiew'd you, and have taught you publickly, and from Houfe to Huufe, teftifymg both to the 'Jev:s, and alfo to the Greeks, Repentance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrifl. If bt. Paul knew what was necelVary to make a Chriftian, here it is : Here he (if lie knew how to do it, for 'tis plain from his Words he defign'd to do it) has put it together. But there is a greater yet than St. Paul, who has brought all the Parts of Faith neceflary to Salvation into one Place ; 1 mean, our Saviour him- felf, John xvii. 13. in thefe Words : This ii Life eternal, that thef might know thee the only true God, and Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fen t. But the Unmasker goes on : Therefore when in fome Places, only one fingle Part of the Chriftian Faith is made mention of, as neceffarily to be embrac d in order to Salva- tion , we muft he careful not to take it alone , but to fupply it from feveral other Pla- ces , which make mention of other necejfary and indifpenfable Points of Belief. I will give the Reader a plain Jnftance of this, Rom. X. 5>. If thou ftoalt believe in thy Hart, that God hath rais'd him ( i. e. the Lord Jefus) from the Dead, thou fialt be faved. Here one .Article of Faith, vii. the Belief of Chrift' s RefurreElion ( becaufe it is offo great Importance in Chriftianity) is only mention d: But all the reft muft befuppos'd, be^ caufe they are tnentiond in other Places. Anfw. One would wonder that any one converfant in Holy Writ, with ever fo little Attention, much more that an Expounder of the Scriptures, fhould fo miftake the Senfe and Stile of the Scripture. Believing Jefus to be the Mefftah with a lively Faith, /. e. as I have fhew'd, taking him to be our King, with a fincere Submiflion to the Laws of his Kingdom , is all that is requir'd to make a Man a Chriftian ; for this includes Repentance too. The believing him therefore to be the Mejftah, is very oftenj and with great Reafon, put both for Faith ^ -SJ ReaJonMenefs of CHKisTlAi^n^ , ilfc. 6^1 Faith and Repentance too; which are fometimes let clown fingly, where one is put for both, as implying the other : and ibmetimcs they are both mcnti- bn'd; and then Faith, as contradiflinguifh'd to Repentance, is taken for a fimple Aflent of the Mind to this Truth, That 'Jejus is the Mffjiah. Now this Faith is varioufly exprefled in Scripture. There are feme Particulars in the Hiftory of our Saviour, allow'd to be fo peculiarly appropriated to the Mtffmby fuch incommunicable Marks of him, that to believe them of Jefta of Naz^areth was in cftedt the iame, as to believe him to be the Meffiah, and fo are put to exprcfs it. The Principal of thefe is his Refurreftion from the Dead ; which being the great arid demonflrative Proof of his being the Mcffiah, 'tis not at all ftrange that the believing his Refurredtion fhould be put for believing him to be the Me[l:ah : fince the de- claring his Refurreftion, was a declaring him to be the Meffiah. For thus St. Paul argues. Acts xiii. 32, 35. IVe declare unto you good Tidings, or, ive preach the Gofpel to you, [for fo the Word fignifies] hovo that the Promife ttiat was made unto the Father, God hath fidfilled the fame tinto us their Children, in that he hath raifed up jefus again. The Force of which Argument lies in this. That if Jefus was raifed from the Dead, then he was certainly the Mejfiah : And thus the Promife of the Mejjlah was fulfilled, in raifing Jefus from the Dead. The like Argument St. PW ufeth, i Cor. xv. 17. If Cimfi be not raifed, your Faith is vain, you are yet in your Sins; i. e. \£ Jefus be not rifen from the dead, he is not the Meffiah, your believing it is in vain, and yoo will receive no Bene- fit by that Faith. And fo likewife from the fame Argument of his Reiurrec- tion, he at Thejfalonica proves him to be the Mefftah, Afts xvii. 2, 3. And Paul, as in his manner v^as, went into the Synagogue, and three Sabbath-days Renfu- ed with the Jews out of the Scriptw es, opening and alledging that the Mejftah mujl needs have fiiffer'd, and rifen again from the dead : And that this Jefus, whom I p,each unto you, is the Mejfiah. The receflary Connexion of thefe twoj that if he rofe from the Dead he was the M>.fftah ; and if he rofe not from the Dead, he was not the Mejfiah ; the chief Prieft and Pharifees that had profecuted him to Death, underftood very well : who therefore came together unto Pilate, faying, Sir, we remember that that Deceiver faid, whilfi he was yet alive. After three Days 1 will rife again. Command therefore that the Sepulchre be made fare unto the third Day, lefi his Difiples come by Night and fleal him away, and fay unto the People, he is rifen from the Dead : So the lafl Error Jhall be worfe than the fifi. The Error they here fpeak of, 'tis plain, was the Opinion, that he was the Mejftah. To flop that Belief, which his Miracles had procured him amongft the People, they had got him put to Death : But if after that, it fhould be believed, that he rofe again from the Dead, this Demonftration that he was the Meffiah, would but eftablifli what they had labour'd to deftroy, by his Death : Since no one, who believed his Relurreftion, could doubt of his being the Mejfah. lis not at all therefore to be wonder'd, that his Refurreftion, his Afcenfion, his Rule and Dominion, and his coming to judge the Quick and the Dead, which are Charafteriftical Marks of the Mejfah, and belong peculiarly to him, fliould fometimes in Scripture be put alone, as fufficient Defcriptions of the Aljfah ; and the believing them of him, put for believing him to be the A/e//?(7A. Thus, A£is X. our Saviour in Peter's Difcourfe to Corneliin, when he brought him the Gofpel, is defcrib'd tobe the Mejji ah, by his Miracles, Death, Reiurrcftion, Dominion, and coming to Judge the Quick and the Dead. Thefe, (which in my Reafonablenefs of Cbriftianity, 1 have upon this Ground taken the liberty to call concomitant Articles) where they are let alone for the Faith to which Salvation is promis'd, plainly fignify the believing Jcf'^ to be the Mejfah, that Fundamental Article which has the Promife of Life ; and fo give no Foundation at all for what the Unmasker fays, in thefe Words : Here me Article of Faith, viz. the Belief of Chrif's Refurreciion (becaufe it is of fo great Importance in Chriflianity ) is only mention'd ; but all the reji tmjl be fuppos'd, becaufe they are mention d in other Places. Anfw. If all the reft be of abfolute and indifpenfible Neceffity to be be- liev d to make a Man a Chriftian, all the reji are every one of them of equal Importance. For Things of equal Neceflity to any End, are of equal Importance to (^2 2 A Second Find icat ion of the to that End. But here the 'J'ruth forc'd its Way unawares from the Unmasker. Our Saviour's Refurreftion, for the Reafon I have given, is truly of great I>n~ portance in Cljvijlianity ; ib great, that his being or not being the Mejjiah ftands or falls with it : So that theie two important Articles are infcparable, and in effed make but one. For iince that time, believe one, and you belive bo:h ; deny one of them, and you can believe neither. If the Unmasker can fhew me any one of the Articles in his Lift, which is not of this great Importance, men- tion'd alone with a Promife of Salvation for believing it, I will grant him to have fome colour for what he fays here. But where is to be found in the Scripture any fuch Expreffion as this : If thou flialt believe with thy Heart the Corruption and Degeneracy of human Nature, thou fhalt be faved ? or the like. ■This place therefore out of the Romans makes not for, but againft his Lift of necelTary Articles. One of them alone he cannot fhew irie any where fet down, with a Suppojition of the reft, as having Salvation promis'd to it. Tho' it be true, that that one which alone is abfolutely neceffary to be fuperadded to the Belief of one God, is in divers places differently exprcfs'd. That which he fubjoins, as a Confequence of what he had faid, is a farther Proof of this: And confequently, fays he, if lue -would give an impartial Account of our Belief ive muft confult thofe Places . And they are not all together, but difperfed here and there. fVherefore we muft look them out, and acquaint our fehes -with the feveral particulars which make up our Belief, and render it entire and confummate. Anfw. Never was Man conftanter to a loofe Way of talking. The Queftion is only about Articles neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian : And here he talks of the feveral Particulars which make up our Belief, and ren- der it intire and confummate ; confounding, as he did before, EJfcntial and Inte- gral 'P^rts, which it feems he cannot diflinguifli. Our Faith is true and faving, when it is fuch as God, by the New Covenant, requires it to be : But it is not intire and confummate, till we explicitly believe all the Truths contained in tlie Word of God. For the whole Revelation of Truth in the Scripture, being the proper and intire Objeft of Faith ; our Faith cannot be intire and confum- mate, till it be adequate to its proper Objed, which is the whole Divine Reve- lation contained in the Scripture : And fo to make our Faith intire and con- fummate, we muft not look out thofe Places, which he fays, are not ali together. To talk of looking out, and Culling of Places, is Nonfenfe, where the whole Scripture alone can make tip our Belief, and render it intire and confummate : Which no one, I think, can hope for in this frail State of Ignorance and Error. To make the Unmasker fpeak Senfe, and to the Purpofe here, we muft linderftand him thus : T'hat if we will give an impartial Account of the Articles that are neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, we muft confuk thofe Places where they are, for they are not all together, but difperfed here and there ; wherefore xve mufl'look them out, and acquaint our fehes with the feveral Parti- culars vjhich -make up the Fundamental Articles of our Belief, and -ivill render a Catalogue of them intire and confummate. If his Suppofition be true^ I grant his Method to be reafonable, and upon that I join Illue with him. Let him thus give us an itnpartial Account of our Belief ; let him acquaint m with the fe- veral Particulars which make up a Chriftian's Belief, and render it intire and con- fummate. Till he has done this, let him not talk thus in the Air of a Me- thod, that will not do : let him not Reproach me, as he does, for not taking a Courfe, by which he himfelf cannot do, what he reviles me for failing in. But our hafty Author, fays he, took another Courfe, and thereby deceived hijnfelf, and unhappily deceiv'd others. If it be fo, I delire the Unmasker to take the Courfe he propofes, and thereby undeceive me and others; and acquaint us with the feveral Particulars which make up a Chriftian's Belief, and render it intire and confuminate : For I am willing to be undeceiv'd : but till he has done that, and fhewn us by the Succefs of it, that his Courfe is better, he cannot blame us for follow- ing that Courfe we have done. ' 1 come now to the fourth and laft Particular, p. 78. which he fays^ is the main Anfwer to the Objection ; and therefore I fliall fet it down in his own Words intire as it ftands together. This, fays he, 7nuft be born in our- Minds, that Chrijlianity was eretled by Degrees, according to that Prediction and Promife of our Saviour, that the Spirit ftmild teach thetn all Things, John XIV. 3(5'. and that keajonablenefs of CHRlSTlANtTY, ^L ^3| that he fiuiiLl guide thein into allT'yuth, John xvi. ij. viz. after his Departure dmi AfceiifiuK, -when the t/oly Chnfi wM to be fent in a fpecial Manner to enlighten Alcny Minds, and to difcover to them the great M fleiies of Chriflidnity. 'This is to le iiotcd iy Hi, 06 that which gives great Light in the prefnt Cafe. The Difcovery of the Doc- trines of the Gofpel xms gradual. It was by certain Steps that Chnflianity climbed to its H.'ight. tVe are not to think then, that all the necejfary Doctrines of the Chrijliaii Religion were clearly piiblif} d to the IV'irld in our Saviour's Time. Not but that alt that were neceffary jor that Time, were publip? d : But fo7ne which are necejfary for the fucceeding ine, were not then difcover' d, or at leaf, not fully. They had ordinarily Hi Belief, before Chrifi's Death and RefurreElion, oj thofe fubft/miial Articles, i. c. thdi he Pxjuld die and rife again : But we read in the ABs, and inthe Epiflles, that the fe were jrmal Articles of Faith afterwards, and are fine e Ueceffary to compleat the Chri- flian Belief. So as to other great Verities, the Gofpel increafed by Degrees, and w.ai not ptrfe^ at once. W/ iJj jurnij!)es us with a Renfun, why mojl oj the choiceft and fhblimtji Tr uths of Chriflianity are to be met with in the Epiflles of the Apnflles, they b.ingjuch Doctrines as were clearly difcover' d .nnd npek'd in the Gofpels and the Acls. Ilius far the Unmasker. I thought hitherto, that the Covenant of Gi'ace In Chrlft Jefus had been biic ore, in-imutably the fame : But our Unmasker here makes ttvo, or I know not how many. For 1 cannot tell how to conceive, that die Conditions of any Covenant fhould be chang'd, and the Covenant remain the fame ; every Change of Conditions, in my Apprehenfion, makes a new and another Covenant. VVe are n-^t to thir.k, lays the Unmasker, That all the hecejfary Doctrines of the Chri- flian Religi n were clearly piiblifl:i'd to the IVorld in our Saviour's Time ; Hot but that all that were necejfary for that Time were publijl/d : But fome which were iieccffary for the fucceeding one, were not then difcover' d, or, at leaf, not full^. Anfw. The Un~ masker, conilant to hihifelf, fpeaks here doubtfully, aild cannot tell whether h6 fhouid fay, that the Articles neceflary to fucceeding Times, were difcover'd in cur Saviour's Time, or no: And therefore, that he may provide himfelf ^ Retre.U in the Dv.ubt he is in, he fays, They were not clearly publifl) d ; they xu?i'^ not then dift^ver'd, or at leaf! not fully. But we muft defire hirn to pull off his Mask, and to that Purpole, 1. I ask him hoW he can tell, that all the necefiary DodrineS were dbfcUrety ptiblijh'd, or, in part difcover'd? For an obfcure publifhing, a Difcovery in pai't, is oppoied to, and intimated in not clearly ptdd/Jl/d, not fully difcover' d. And if a clear and full Difcovery be all that he denies to them, I ask, XXXVII. Which ihofe Fundamental Articles are, which were obfcufelj pubUfl/d, but not fully difcover'd, in our Saviour's Time ? ' And next, I fhall defire him to tell me, XXXVIII. Whether there are any Articles necejfary to be believed to Make a Man ■ a Chriflian, that were not difcover' d at all in our Saviour's Ttme ; and whicl) they are ? If he cannot fliew thefe diftinftly, it is plain he talks at random about them; but has no clear and diftirft Conception of thofe that were publifh'd, or not publifli'd,^ clearly or obicurely difcover'd, in our Saviour's Time. It Was ne- ceceilary tor him to fay fomCthing, for thofe his pretended necelVary Articles, which are not to be found any where propos'd in the Preaching of our Saviour and his Apollles, to their yet unbelieving Auditors ; and therefore he fays, PVe are not to think all the necejfary D)clrines of the Chriflian Religim^ere cledrlj fublifl) d to the World in our Saviour's Time, But he barely lays it, without givirig any Reafon, why we are not to think fo. It is enough that it is necelfary to his Hypothefis. He fays, we are not to think fo, and we are prefently bound. not to think fo. Elfe from another Man, that did not ufurp an Authority over our Thoughts, it would have requir'd fome Reafon to make them think, that fomething mole was requir'd to make a Man a Chriftian after, thaii in our Savour's Tune. For, as I take it, it is not a very probable, much lefs a Vol. XL L 1 li felf- 624 ^ Second Vindication of the felf-evidcnt Propofition, to be recciv'd without Proof, That there w.is fomc- thing nea'[]ary jor that "Timey to make a Man a Cliriflian, and f'cmetliing more that was neccjfciry to make a Chriftian in xhe fticcceding "Time. H<)we\er, fincc this great Mafter fays roe ought to think fo, let us in Obe- dience think fo as well as we can; till he vouchfafes to give us fome Reafon to think, that there was more required to believ'd to make a Man a Chri- ftian in the fuccecding Time, than in our Saviour s. This, inftead of removing, does but increafe the Difficulty : For if more were necelfary to be believed tp make a Man a Chriftian after our Saviour's Time, than was during his Lifej how comes it, that no more was propos'd by the Apoftlcs in their Preaching to Unbelievers for the making them Chriftians, after our Saviour's Death, than there was before ; even this one Article, that he was the Mejjtah i For I defire the Unmanker to fhew me any of thofe Articles mention'd in his Lift (except the Refurreftion and Afcenfion of our Saviour, which were inter- vening Matters of Fadt, evidencing him to be the MejJiahJ that were propos'd by the Apoftlcs, after our Saviour's Time, to their unbelieving Hearers, to make them Chriftians. This one Doftrine, that Jefm was the Mcffiah, was that which was propos'd in our Saviour's Time to be believed, as necefl'ary to make a Man a Chriftian : The fame Doftrine was likevvife what was propos'd afterwards, in the Preaching of the Apoftles to Unbelievers, to make them Chriftians. I grant this was more dearly propos'd after, than in our Saviour's Time ; but in both of theni it was all that was propos'd to the Believers of one God, to make them Chriftians. Let him fliew, that there were any other propos'd in, or after our Saviour's Time, to be believ'd, to make Unbelievers Chriftians. If he means by nece[fary Articles pttbUP}^ d to the World, the other Dodrines con- tain'd in the Epiftles ; I grant they are all of them neceflary Articles to be believ'd by every Chriftian, as far as he underftands them. But I deny, that tliey were propos'd to thofe they were writ to, as neceflary to make them Chri- ftians, for this demonftrative Reafon ; Becaufe they were Chriftians already. For Example, Many Doftrines proving, and explaining, and giving a farther Light into the Gofpel, are publifli'd in the Epiftles to the Corinthians and "Thef- falumans. Thefe are all of Divine Authority, and none of them may be dif- believ'd by any one who is a Chriftian : But yet what was propos'd or pub- tifhed to both the Corinthians and "Theffaloniam to make them Chriftians, was only this Doftrine, That Jefm was the Mejjlah : As may be feen, ABs xvii, xviii. This then was the Doftrine neceflary to make Men Chriftians in our Saviour's Time ; and this the only Doftrine neceflary to make Unbelievers Chriftians after our Saviour's Time. The only Difference was, that it was more clearly propos'd after, than before his Afcenfion : The Reafon whereof has been fufficiently explain'd. But any other Doftrine but this, propos'd clearly or cbfcurely, in, or after our Saviour's Time, as neceflary to be believed to make Unbelievers Chriftians, That remains yet to be fhewn. When the Unmasker fpeaks of the Doftrines that were neceflary for the fuc- ceeding Time after our Saviour, he is in Doubt whether we fhould iay they were, or were not difcover'd in our Saviour's Time ; and how far they were then dij- cover'd : And therefore he fays. Some of them -were nut then difcover d, or at leajly not fully. We myft here excufe the Doubtfulnefs of his talking, concerning the Difcovery of his other neceflfary Articles. For how could he fay they were difcover'd or, not difcover'd, clearly or obfcurely, fully or not fully ; whea he does not yet know them all, nor can tell us, what thofe neceflary Articles are ? If he does know them, let him give us a Lift of them, and then we fhall fee eafily whether theyvvere at all publilh'd or difcover'd in our Saviour's Time. If there are fome of them that were not at all difcover'd in our Sa- viour's Time, let him fpeak it out, and leave Ihifting: And if fome of thole that were neajfary for our Saviour's 'Time, but for the fucceeding one only, were yet difcover'd in our Saviour's Time, why were they not neceflary to be be- liev'd in that Time.^ But the Truth is, he knows not what thefe Dodrines ne- ceflary for fucceeding Times are, and therefore can fay nothing pofitively about their Difcovery. Aud for thofe that he has fet down, as foon as he fliall name any one of them to be of the Number of thofe not netejfary for our Saviour's Time, Reajonablenejs of Christianity, i!fci ^55 time, but necejfnry for the fucceeding one, it will prefently appear, either tiiat it was dil'cover'd in our Saviour's Time j and then it was as neceflary for his Time as the lucceedirg: or elfe, that it was not dil'cover'd in his Time, nor to feveral Converts alter his Time, before they were made Chriftians ; and therefore it was no more neceflary to be believed to make a Man a Chriftian in tlie fucceeding, than it was in our Saviour's Time. Howcvsr, general Po- fitions and Diftinftions without a Foundation, fervc for fhew, and to beguile unwary and inattentive Readers. 2. Having thus minded him, that the Queftion is about Articles of Faith ne- ceflary to be explicitly and diftinctly believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian; I, then, in the next Place, demand of him to tell me, XXXIX. Whether or no all the Articles nectjfary now to be difiinBly and expli- citly believ'd to inake any Man a Chrifiian, ivere djflinBly and explicitly ptd-- lifl/d or dijlwe/d in our Saviour's T'ime. And then I fliall defire to know of him, XL. A Reafvn ivhy they were not. Thofe that he inftances in, of Chrifi's Death and Refurreclion, will not help him one Jot: for they are not new Doctrines reveal'd, new Myfteries difcover'd ; but Matters of Fai^t, which happen'd to our Saviour in their due Time, to compleat in him the Character and Predictions of the Mefftah, and demon- flrate him to be the Deliverer promis'd. Thefe are recorded of him by the Spirit of God in Holy Writ, but are no more neceflary to be believ'd to make a Man a Chriftian, than any other Part of Divine Revelation, but as far as they have an immediate Connexion with his being the Mefjlah, and cannot be denied without denying him to be the Meffiah : And therefore this Article of his Relurreftion (which fuppofes his Death) and fuch other Propofitions as are convertible with his being the Meffiah, are, as they very well may be, put for his being the Meffiah ; and as I have fhew'd, propos'd to be believed in the Place of it. All that is reveal'd in Scripture has a confequential Neceflity of being be- liev'd by all thofe, to whom it is propos'd ; becauie it is of Divine Authority, one Part as much as another. And in this Senfeall the Divine Truths in the infpired Writings are Fundamental and Neceflary robe believ'd. But then this will deftroy our Uumasker's feleft Number of Fundamental Articles: and the choice/} and fublimefi Truths of Chriftianity, wliich he tells us, are to be met with in the Epifi'es, will not be more neceflary to be believed than any, which he may think the commoneftor meaneft Truths in any of the Epiftles or the Go- fpels. Whatfoever Part of Divine Revelation, whether reveal'd before, or in, or after our Saviour's Time ; whether it contain (according to the Diftinftion of our Uiimasker's nice Palate) choice or common, fnbliine or not fublime Truths, is neceflary to be believ'd by every one, to whom it is propos d, as fir as he underftands what is propos'd. But God, by Jefus Chrift, hasentred into a Covenant of Grace with Mankind ; a Covenant of Faith, inftead of chat of Works, wherein fome Truths are abfolutely neceflary to be explicitly believ'd by them to make Men Chriftians ; and therefore thofe Truths are neceflary to be known, and confequently neceflary to be propos'd to them to make them Chriftians. This is peculiar to them to make Men Chriftians. For all Men, as Men, are under a neceflfary Obligation to believe what God propos d to them to be believed : But there being certain diftinguiiliing Truths which be- long to the Covenant of the Gofpel. which if Men know not, they cannot be Chriftians ; and they being fome of them fuch as cannot be known without being propos'd : thofe, and thofe only, are the necelfary Dodrines of Chriftia- nity I Ipeak of ; without a Knowledge of and Aifent to which, no Man can be a Chriftian. To come therefore to a clear Decilion of this Controverfy, I defire the Un- masker to tell me. Vol. II. L 1 1 1 3 XLI. 6 "^6 A Second Vindication of the XLI. IVlmt t/joje Duclrmes are, -winch arc nlfulutely neceffary to be propOi'dto every Man to make him a Chrijlian t XI. II. I. IVhether they are all the 'Truths of Divine Revelation contain d in the Bible f . I'or, I grant this Argument (which in another Place he ufcs for fome of them, and truly belongs to them all) viz.. That they were reveard and written there on puipoic to be believ'd, and that it is indifpenfably /ieceflhry for Chriftians to bclic\c clicm. XLIII. 2. Or whether it be only that one Article of Jefiis being the Meffuih, luhich the Hijlory of our Saviour and his Apojiki Preaching has, -with fuch a peculiar Diftintiion, every vjhere propos'd ? XLIV. ;. Or ivhether the DoBrines neceffary to be propos'd to every one to make him a Chrijlian, be any Set of Truths befween thefe tzijo ? And if he fays this latter, then I muft ask him, XLV. JVhat they are ? that we may fee why thofe rather than any other contain d in the New Te/fament, are neceffary to be propos'd to every Man to make him a Chrijlian ; and if they are not every one propos'd to him, and affented to by him, he cannot be a Chrijlian. The Ui.m.'.'Ler makes a great Noife, and hopes to give Iiis unwary, tho' well- meaning Readers, odd Thoughts, and ftrong Impreffions againft my Book, by declaiming againft my lank Faith, and my narrowing of Chriftianity to one Ar- ticle ,• which, as he i.iys, is the next Way to reduce it to none. But wdien it is confider'd, it will be found, that 'tis he that narrows Chriftianity. The Unmasker, as if he were Arbiter and Difpenfer of the Oracles of God, takes upon him to (ingle out fome Texts of Scripture ; and, where the Words of Scripture will not fer\ e his Turn, to impofe on us his Interpretations and De- duftions as neceifary Articles of Faitii ; w'hich is in effeft, to make them of equal Authority with the unqueftionable Word of God. And thus, partly in the Words ot Scripcuie, and partly in Words of his own, he makes a Set of Fun- damentals, with an Exchijlonr of all the other Trutiis deliver'd by the Spirit of God, in the Bible ; tho' all the reft be of the fame Divine Authority and Ori- ginal, and ought therefore all equally, as far as they arc underftood by every Chriftian, to be believ'd. I tell him, and 1 deiire him to take notice of it, God has no where given him an Authority thus to garble the infpir'd Wri- tings of the Holy Scriptures. Every Part of it is his Word, and ought every Part of it to be believ'd by every Chriftian Man, according as God fliall inable him to underftand it. It ought not be narrow'd to the Cut of the Unmasker'