have had two State Officers in the fame station of different Parties it's reafonable to fuppofe that all Perfons that have business will apply themselves to the one or the other according to the Intereft they are of, if then it fhall fall out that he who efpouses the true Interest of his Country has three times the business of the other, I conceive it no mean Argument where the weight of England is.

Much more I could fay upon this Subject, and I fear I have already exceeded the bounds of a Letter: Yet if what I have faid is worth your pains of reading, there is no Body to whom I can with fo much fatisfaction communicate my Thoughts, nor will better improve any advantage that may be made by it than your felf: But if I have not faid much to the purpose, I hope the honesty of my Inclination will obtain your pardon, and continue me the honour of, &c.

A Difcourfe fhewing who were the true Incouragers of Popery: Written on the occafion of King James bis Declaration of Indulgence.

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Pon the late Declaration of Indulgence, many having abfented themselves from the Church, our high Church-men have from hence taken occafion to lay it down as a Maxime, That if Popery be Establifht here in England, the Diffenters are the only cause and occafion of it, and by the Thunder and Noife that they make in their Pulpits, and all other places, a great many others are perfwaded to be of their opinion; yet I cannot affent to it, though I am far from turning Advocate, either for the Declaration, or those that make use of it, yet as a moderate and juft Man I would fet the Saddle on the right Horfe, and I am perfwaded that any impartial confidering Man will when he thinks on it feriously, find, That it is by the help not fo much of the Diffenters as the high Church, that Popery has put foot into the Stirrup, and is ready to mount into the Saddle: But yet I hope that on which of them foever Popery fhall moft depend, when it is raising it felf to the pitch that it defigns, that they will lip away its hold, and thereby make that the occafion of its ruine, that was defigned for its establishment.

It must be confeft that the Diffenters when they had the upper hand, did not behave themselves with the utmoft moderation towards others that differed from them, but yet our high Church men can never answer either as Proteftants or Politicians, the procuring of fuch fevere Laws as were made at the late Kings Reftauration, and the pushing of them too with fo much violence upon the Diffenters, if many times thofe Laws were not stretcht and extended beyond their true meaning and natural conftruction: And with fuch fury did they carry on their Revenge, that had they been told, they knew not of what Spirit they were, they would not have borne fo gentle a Reproof with any fort of patience; whilft in the mean time, they treated the Papifts rather as Friends than otherwife; neither did they flack their furious profecution, till they found the House was ready to fall about their Ears, and fo were neceffitated to adjourne their Proceedings till they could be at better leifure. And as this was very pleafing to the Papifts, fo it was no lefs an acceptable piece of Service, to make the terms of Communion fo ftrict and ftrait-laced, and to fet the Church upon fo narrow a foundation, that it was impoffible for it to ftand upright very long, but must in a fhort time incline to one hand or another, if not fall flat to the ground. Not to mention every thing, but only to give a few Inftances, and thofe not the greatest nor moft material neither; First then the fo frequent varying and altering the pofture of Worship, which muft unavoidably diftract people, and cool their fervency in devotion; Next the turning to the Eaft when the Creed is faid, and reading the Scripture and Prayers in several

parts

parts of the Church, or place of Worship, as is now practifed in our Cathedrals, which is to fuppofe that God is not equally prefent in all parts of the place, where people are met together to worfhip him, or that he will hear and accept this Prayer in that place, or that Prayer in another; Then farther the Tautologies, Repetitions, and saying the fame thing over and over in the Common Prayer, which is that our Saviour reproved in the De- . votion of the Pharifees; and befides the requiring us to fit when the Second Leffon is read, and to ftand up at the Gofpel, though they happen to be the felf-fame part of Scripture; which is nothing lefs than to injoyn a contradiction. These things and many others, though they pretended they are indifferent, and required only for order and decency, yet did they exact the obfervance of them much more than other things that are requifite to make a Man a good Chriftian: So that though these things may not be fuperftitious in themselves, yet to require fuch an exact obfervance of them must be introductive of Superftition; And they had laid fuch a Foundation, as on which the Papifis did propofe to build furely and fubstantially, especially when the high Church men were raising a Superstructure upon it by the arbitrary Doctrines which they gave out in the Pulpits, and in all other Difcourfes, in which they afferted the Divinity of Kings, fetting him no other bounds to his Power but what his Will fhould prefcribe; together with the Doctrine of Non-refiftance, and to extend it even to our thoughts; and whoever would not fubfcribe their affent and confent to these things, they would write upon their back, Traditür Dialegendoffign them Hell and Damnation for their

portion,

portion, no less than if they had denied the Articles of the Chriftian Faith; but befides, when they declared that they would rather be Papifts than Presbyterians; the Papifts did hope that they should have little more to do, in bringing their work to perfection, than to fit by, and direct what they would have done: efpecially when they faw the high Church-men contend fo furiously for the Succeffion as if their All had depended upon it, as well as it was the only hopes the Papifts had left them; who were further confirmed in their expectations, when upon the discovery of the Popish Plot by Oats, thefe Church-men became Advocates for it, and with fo much Zeal and Industry endeavour d to leffen and take off the credit of the Discovery; and yet no fooner was an Accufation of that fort brought against the Proteftants, but they undertook to demonstrate the clearness of it, though most other people lookt upon it as a fham, and peice of Forgery of the Papifts contrivance, to take off the Odium of their own Plot that was a true one; but however thefe Churchmen, as if they hoped hereby to make their fortunes, had nothing in their Mouths but blood and flaughter, bawling out for full and fpeedy Juftice against all those whofe Names were mentioned in that Plot,fcarcely allowing them that play for their lives which the Law gives to every Subject; and condemning in their Judgments every one before he had received his Trial, and being out of patience if any one was acquitted: And many of these Men lookt upon the Habeas Corpus Act as an unrighteous Law, because it helped feveral to their liberty who were clapt up, though nothing could be charged upon them. Thus did they proceed

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