stand the king's promife to her in a ruinous sense to all others; and I am fure fhe would understand her own interest better, if he were of the fame mind. For it is morally impoffible that a confcientious prince can be thought to have tied himself to compel others to a communion, that himself cannot tell how to be of; or that any thing can oblige him to fhake the firmness of those he has confirmed by his own royal example,

Having then fo illuftrious an inftance of integrity, as the hazard of the lofs of three crowns for confcience, let it at least excufe Diffenters conftancy, and provoke the friends of the fucceffion to moderation, that no man may lofe his birth-right for his perfuafion, and us to live dutifully, and fo peaceably, under our own vine, and under our own fig-tree, with Glory to God ' on high, to the king honour, and good-will to all

'men.'

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A PER

A

PERSUASIVE

то

MODERATIO N.

Mod

Oderation, the fubject of this discourse, is, in plainer English, liberty of confcience to Church-diffenters: a caufe I have, with all humility, undertaken to plead, against the prejudices of the times.

<

That there is fuch a thing as confcience, and the liberty of it, in reference to faith and worship towards God, muft not be denied, even by those that are most fcandalized at the ill ufe some seem to have made of fuch pretences. But to fettle the terms: By conscience, I understand, the apprehenfion and perfuafion a man has ' of his duty to God:' by liberty of confcience, I mean, a free and open profeffion and exercise of that duty; efpecially in worship:' but I always premife this confcience to keep within the bounds of morality, and that it be neither frantick nor mischievous, but a good fubject, a good child, a good fervant, in all the affairs of life; as exact to yield to Cæfar the things that are Cæfar's, as jealous of withholding from God the thing that is God's.-In brief, he that acknowledges the civil government under which he lives, and that maintains no principle hurtful to his neighbour in his civil property.

For he that in any thing violates his duty to these relations, cannot be faid to obferve it to God, who

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ought

ought to have his tribute out of it. Such do not reject their prince, parent, mafter, or neighbour, but God, who enjoins that duty to them. Thofe pathetick words of Chrift will naturally enough reach the cafe, "In that ye did it not to them, ye did it not to "me:" for duty to fuch relations hath a divine stamp; and divine right runs through more things of the world, and acts of our lives, than we are aware of; and facrilege may be committed against more than the church. Nor will a dedication to God, of the robbery from man, expiate the guilt of difobedience: for though zeal could turn goffip to theft, his altars would renounce the facrifice.

The conscience then that I ftate, and the liberty I pray, carrying fo great a falvo and deference to publick and private relations, no ill defign can, with any juftice, be fixed upon the author, or reflection upon the fubject, which by this time, I think, I may venture to call a toleration.

But to this fo much craved, as well as needed, toleration, I meet with two objections of weight, the folving of which will make way for it in this kingdom. And the firft is, a difbelief of the poffibility of the thing. Toleration of diffenting worships from that established, is not practicable,' fay fome, without danger to the ftate, with which it is interwoven.' This is political. The other objection is, That admitting Diffenters to be in the wrong, (which is al<ways premised by the national church) fuch latitude were the way to keep up the difunion, and instead of compelling them into a better way, leave them in the poffeffion and purfuit of their old errors.' This is religious. I think I have given the objections fairly; it will be my next business to answer them as fully.

The strength of the first objection against this liberty, is the danger fuggested to the state; the reason is, The national form being interwoven with the frame of the government.' But this feems to me only faid, and not only (with fubmiffion) not proved,

but

but not true: for the established religion and worship are no other ways interwoven with the government, than that the government makes profeffion of them, and by divers laws has made them the current religion, and required all the members of the ftate to conform to it.

This is nothing but what may as well be done by the government for any other perfuafion, as that. It is true, it is not easy to change an established religion, nor is that the question we are upon; but ftate-religions have been changed without the change of the ftates. We fee this in the governments of Germany and Denmark upon the reformation: but more clearly and near ourselves, in the case of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth; for the monarchy stood, the family remained and fucceeded, under all the revolutions of ftate-religion; which could not have been, had the propofition been generally true.

The change of religion, then, does not neceffarily change the government, or alter the ftate; and if fo, à fortiori, indulgence of Church-diffenters does not neceffarily hazard a change of the ftate, where the prefent ftate-religion or church remains the fame; for that I premise.

Some may fay, That it were more facile to change < from one national religion to another, than to main⚫tain the monarchy and church, against the ambition

and faction of divers diffenting parties.' But this is improbable at least. For it were to fay, That it is an easier thing to change a whole kingdom, than, with the fovereign power, followed with armies, navies, judges, clergy, and all the conformists of the kingdom, to fecure the government from the ambition and faction of Diffenters, as differing in their interests within themselves, as in their perfuafions; and were they united, have neither power to awe, nor rewards to allure to their party. They can only be formidable, when headed by the fovereign. They may stop a gap, or make, by his acceffion, a balance: otherwise,

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