IN the Beginning of this Chapter, our Blessed Saviour delivers a very sharp and satirical Parable against the Pharisees and Rulers and the whole Jewish Nation. For, under the Similitude of a Man, who let out his Vineyard to Husbandmen, and went into a far Country, he severely upbraids their In­gratitude towards God, and their cruel Treat­ment of his Servants and Prophets, and lastly [Page 2] of himself, his well-beloved Son. And he hereby plainly intimates and foretels the De­struction of Jerusalem, and the Rejection of the Jews; and that God would call other Husbandmen into his Vineyard ( i.e. the Gen­tiles into his Church) who might render him the real Fruits of Religion, by a greater Pu­rity of Life and Manners, and a readier Sub­mission to his Divine Commands.

By this, which they plainly understood to be leveled against themselves, and by other home Truths and Applications, he so stung the haughty Souls of the Pharisees, that they would immediately have laid hold on him, had they not feared the People. They therefore departed for the present, and concerted Mea­sures, how they might entangle and catch him in his Words. To this End, they sent certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, who were of two opposite Parties in Point of Politicks. For the Pharisees were Enemies to the Roman Government, and detested the Payment of Tribute, and all other Marks of their Nation's Slavery and Subjection; whilst the Herodians (as being Followers of King Herod, who was a Creature of the Romans, and held his Crown and Dignity from them) were as strenuous in supporting the Roman [Page 3] Power and Authority. These therefore, feign­ing themselves just Men, Luke xx. 20, came to our Blessed Saviour, and said to him in a trea­cherous and flattering Manner: Master, we know, that thou art true, and carest for no Man; for thou regardest not the Person of Man, but teachest the Way of God in Truth: Is it lawful to give Tribute to Cesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? And this captious Question had a double Edge. For had he declared against the Payment of Tri­bute, it would have rendered him obnoxious to the Roman Government, and the Herodians would not have failed to take Advantage of it. And had he freely and openly command­ed it, he would have incurred the Hatred and Detestation of the People, which the Pharisees were ready to cherish and foment. But as he was reputed a Galilean, and there­fore supposed to favour the Sect of the Gaulo­nites, which had openly resisted the Roman Government even with Arms, and professed themselves Subjects of God alone, their chief Hope was, that he would forbid the Payment of Tribute, and they should thence have an Opportunity to deliver him to the Power and Authority of the Roman Governor; which, St. Luke expresly tells us, was their grand Aim and Design, Luke xx. 20. But our Saviour, [Page 4] knowing their Hypocrisy, said unto them: Why tempt ye me? Bring me a Fenny, that I may see it. And they brought it; and he said unto them: Whose is this Image and Superscription? And they said unto him, Cesar's. Then Jesus answering, said unto them: Render to Cesar the things, that are Cesar's; and to God the things, that are God's. And herein he plainly hints at their insidious Design, and disclaims all Adherence to the frantic Sect of Judas Gaulonita, making an evident Distinction be­tween the things of the temporal Prince and the things of God.

From this Passage of Holy Scripture, as well as from other general Precepts in the New Testament concerning Obedience to Kings and Governors, some, even good and learned Men, have conceived a most unhappy Opinion; That the Gospel has riveted the Shackles of Man­kind, and established Tyranny and Slavery by Divine Right; That Kings hold their Crowns immediately from God, by an absolute and indefeasible Title; That therefore, however outrageous and tyrannical their Conduct may be, they are accountable to God alone, and are not to be questioned by any on Earth; and that the only Arms of Subjects against their Prince are Tears and Prayers. As if the [Page 5] God of the Gospel, even God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies, and God of all Comfort, 2 Cor. i. 3, was the Author of so inhumane a Constitution; and had delivered up the whole Race of Mankind, in their political Capacities, to be butchered and oppressed by a few of their Fellows, without Controul or Restraint from any hu­man Power or Laws.

I shall therefore, in the Prosecution of this Discourse, endeavour

I. To explain this Passage of Holy Scrip­ture, with some others incidently, which are turned to slavish Principles; and to wipe off from the Christian Doctrine such an unfriend­ly and uncomfortable, not to say, so horrid a Tenet.

II. I shall make some brief Remarks on the Nature of the English Constitution and Go­vernment in Particular.

III. I shall lay before you the dismal Con­sequences (should they prevail) of the present Attempt of [...] against our gracious and most rightful King, and against our excellent Establishment in Church and State.

[Page 6]IV. And lastly; I shall conclude suitably to the Occasion, with a few short Inferences of Duty and Instruction.

I. I am to explain this Passage of Holy Scripture, with some others incidently, which are turned to slavish Principles; and to wipe off from the Christian Doctrine such an un­friendly and uncomfortable, not to say, so horrid a Tenet.

I cannot indeed be of the Opinion of the learned Grotius and some others, that our Sa­viour, in his Answer, has evaded the Question, and left the Matter still undecided. For he seems plainly to have declared for the Pay­ment of Tribute to the Roman Emperor. And this is rendered the more indubitable by the Adverb of Inference, therefore, which is ad­ded, in this Answer by the other two Evange­lists, Matt. xxii. 21. Luke xx. 25; and clear­ly shews the Course of our Saviour's Argu­ment, and implies a Conclusion. As the Tri­bute Money bore the Image and Superscrip­tion of Cesar, and as there was therein im­plied an Act of high Sovereignty, and the Power of [...] Coinage and Currency to the Nation, Render therefore to Cesar the things, that are Cesar's.

[Page 7]But notwithstanding this, I cannot think, that our Saviour's Answer any way favours the Tyranny of absolute Governments, such as Tiberius Cesar's was. He seems rather to disclaim all Pretensions, to intermeddle with, or to alter and subvert the Establishments, then in Being. His Kingdom was not of this World: It did no way fall within the Scope and Design of his coming in the Flesh, to concern himself with civil Affairs, and he therefore left all human Governments, as he found them. And as Cesar had the actual Possession of the Sovereignty over the Jews, he did both himself willingly acquiesce, and advises his Countrymen, the Jews, peace­ably to submit to his Authority; which they could not resist, humanly speaking, without the greatest Calamity and Destruction to themselves. And had the Roman Common­wealth been then in it's full Strength and Vi­gor, and had imposed a Tribute upon the Jews, no one thinks, I suppose, but that our Saviour would equally have determined the Tribute to be due to them. For their Right would have rested upon the same Foundation with Cesar's, viz. the Right of Conquest. But would it thence have followed, that Com­monwealths are instituted by Divine Right? In short, our Saviour does not concern him­self [Page 8] with the Nature and Constitution of tem­poral States, but leaves them to be settled and directed by those Persons, who had the Power and Authority to do it, and to be un­der the Influence of those Accidents and Con­tingencies, to which all human Institutions are liable, and which are oftentimes, in the Hand of Providence, the Instruments and Means of punishing or rewarding a People. His Power and Kingdom were merely spiritual; and therefore, as far as Government came within the Purview of Religion, He (and his Apostles in consequence) have given many general Precepts, for paying all due Obedi­ence and Submission to it; which was, at that Time, and to those People, the more espe­cially requisite, as the Jews were a very fro­ward and stiff-necked Generation, and perpe­tually in Seditions and Insurrections against the Roman Government.

Neither can it be reasonably inferred from this Decision of our Blessed Saviour, that Cesar's Right to the Tribute was absolute and indefeasible, as some love to speak; that is, a Right, which cannot be forfeited or de­feated. His Title could certainly be no bet­ter, than that of Antiochus and the other Ma­cedonian Princes; whom nevertheless the Mac­cabean [Page 9] Family, by a Kind of Divine Impulse, resisted, and by the Force of Arms threw off their Yoke. And surely no Man can think, that brave Race were therein guilty of any Rebellion against God, or Disobedience to his Will. It seems therefore consonant to Rea­son to suppose, that this Determination of our Blessed Saviour was founded on Reasons of Prudence, and because of the inevitable Ruin, that would ensue to the whole Nation by their Contumacy and Resistance; especi­ally as their notorious and crying Sins had put them out of the immediate Protection and Fa­vour of God. And we accordingly find him, in the Beginning of the xiii. Chapter of St. Luke, advising a Submission to the Roman Go­vernment, upon the same Account. For be­ing told, that Pilate had fallen upon some seditious Galileans (the Followers of Judas of Galilee) whilst they were sacrificing, and there­by had mingled their Blood with their Sacri­fices, he said to them: Suppose ye, that these Galileans were Sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. That is, except ye correct your sedi­tious and unruly Spirits, and submit patiently to the Roman Government, ye shall all be cut off and destroyed in the like Manner; which [Page 10] prophetical Menace was afterwards most ex­actly accomplished, in the utter Destruction of their Temple and City, and the grievous Slaughter and Dispersion of their whole Na­tion.

But besides this, there are some other Pas­sages of the New Testament, which have been turned to slavish Principles; particularly, and above all the rest, the Beginning of the xiii. Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. As this is very strongly worded, and as it was written in the Time of Nero, one of the mad­dest and most extravagant of Tyrants, it hath therefore been constantly alledged, and very strenuously insisted upon, by all the Assertors of Tyranny by Divine Right. Wherefore, it may not be amiss, transiently, but not super­ficially, to consider and examine that hercu­lean Text.

Let every Soul, says the Apostle, be subject to the higher (or supreme) Powers. An excel­lent Precept certainly, and very necessary to be inculcated at all times; but most especi­ally then, against the turbulent Jews, and the Gnosticks too, who, we are likewise told, de­spised Dominion, and spoke evil of Dignities, Jude 8. 2 Pet. ii. 10. For there is no Power, [Page 11] but of God; the Powers, that be, are ordained of God. That is to say, all earthly Power is derivative, and comes originally from God; who has, by the Law of Nature, given a ge­neral Authority to every Community, to con­stitute and ordain a supreme Power, the last Resort of Government, and from which there can be no Appeal. However, it does not appear from hence, or any other Passage of Scripture, that God hath appointed this su­preme Power to be lodged in any single Per­son, or any particular Number of Men. But that is left, by the Law of the Gospel, as it was before by the Law of Nature, to be set­tled and determined, at Discretion, by the Community itself. Wherefore St. Peter, 1 Pet. ii. 13, in delivering this same general Precept, commands Christians to submit them­selves to every Ordinance of Man, PASE AN­THROPINE KTISEI, to every human Constitution; so called, because it is immediately settled and appointed by Man, altho' the Power is derived originally from God, and it is there­fore here stiled by St. Paul, the Ordinance of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, (thus lawfully constituted, and acting by God's Authority) resisteth the Ordinance of God; and they, that resist, shall receive to themselves Dam­nation. The original Word, KRIMA, signifies [Page 12] Judgment, and has therefore been by many, very consistently with the Connexion and Words immediately following, understood to mean Judgment from the civil Magistrate in this World. But to compromise all unneces­sary Dispute, it may likewise be very well interpreted to signify a just Retribution from God in the next. For Rulers (if they act ac­cording to their original Design and Institu­tion, and exceed not the Power, given them by God) are not a Terror to good Works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power? do that, which is good, and thou shalt have Praise of the same. For he is the Minister of God to thee for Good (i.e. he is in­stituted by God, not for his own Sake, but for the Good of the People, to protect every particular Man in his just Rights, and to fa­vour and reward the dutiful and obedient) but if thou doest that, which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the Sword in vain; for he is the Minister of God to execute Wrath on him, that doeth Evil. And herein the Apostle lays down the other general Branch of the Magi­strate's Office, which is not only to favour and protect the Good, but also to punish and re­strain the Wicked. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for Wrath, but also for Conscience Sake; that is, not only out of Fear [Page 13] of temporal Punishment, but also out of Con­science towards God, and for the Lord's Sake, as St. Peter expresses it. 1 Pet. ii. 13. For, for this Cause pay ye Tribute also; for they are God's Ministers, attending continually on this very thing. That is to say, from hence will also appear their just and equitable Title to Tribute and all legal Impositions, as they are appointed by God to this very End, to attend continually upon the publick Service; to che­rish and be the Author, of Good to those, that do Good, and to punish and execute Wrath on those, that do Evil.

And now, in this Passage of Scripture, thus equitably understood and interpreted, I can­not see any thing, that clashes with Right Reason and the Law of Nature; or that tends to establish that enormous Doctrine, that All were made for One, and not rather, that One was made for All, and advanced above the rest for the Benefit and Advantage of the Society. The Apostle hath indeed de­livered the divine Institution of Magistracy, with greater Strength and Clearness, than is perhaps elsewhere to be found. But yet he has not deprived civil Societies of their an­cient and natural Right, of either entrusting the whole supreme Power in one Hand, or of [Page 14] dividing and parcelling it out to many, and so wisely making one a Check upon another. So that mixed and limited Monarchies, Com­monwealths, and the other very different and various Forms of Government, that are dis­seminated though the World, are all of them equally good and valid, and as much the Or­dinance of God, as the most absolute Monarchy. And as to that Objection, that this Epistle was written in the Reign of Nero, (but, by the bye, it was within his first five Years of mild Government, under the Authority and Di­rection of Seneca, his Tutor) and that it ought therefore to bind us the more strongly to sub­mit to the most oppressive Tyranny, it may be answered, that St. Paul himself and all the Christians of that Time were only private Men. They had no Share in the Govern­ment, and were not, as it were, the Lords and Commons of the Roman Empire. So that, what might have been Patriotism in the Ro­man Senate and Armies, would have been rank Rebellion in the Christians. Neither must that common Distinction be forgot, that there is a very wide Difference between mix­ed and limited Governments, and the most absolute and uncontroleable Power of the Roman Emperors at that time.

[Page 15]There are yet some other Texts of Scrip­ture (as particularly the ii. of 1 Peter) usually brought to support this Tenet of a passive and unlimited Obedience. But as they are not so strong as this of St. Paul to the Romans, and contain no Difficulty, which may not be readily answered by the foregoing Observa­tions, I shall not enter at present into a di­stinct Examination of them. But hoping, that what has been said, will be sufficient to clear the Christian Doctrine from a Tenet, so shocking to Right Reason, and so harsh and unfriendly to human Society, I shall proceed.

II. To make some brief Remarks on the Nature of the English Government and Con­stitution in particular.

As therefore the Gospel has made no In­novations on the Law of Nature, but hath preserved to human Society all it's civil Rights and original Powers, so have Christian States and Commonwealths been accordingly vari­ously constituted, some in one Form of Go­vernment, and some in another, without any Doubt or Scruple from Religion. And the English Government, in particular, is a mixed and limited Monarchy; and really contains in it a Combination of all the three noted Kinds [Page 16] of Government; viz, of a Monarchy, or the Government of a single Person; of an Oligar­chy, or the Government of the Few or No­bles; and of a Democracy, or the Govern­ment of the People. And from this Mixture and Composition, there results a most beauti­ful and happy Form of Government, though partaking of all yet distinct from each, and more perfect and complete, than either could alone be made. It is just and temperate, mild and vigorous, and the most productive per­haps of national Happiness of all others, if it's natural Operation and Effects be not hin­dered and obstructed by our own Fault. It gives the King all proper and useful Power, and enjoins a due Allegiance to him; and it secures to the Subject all rational Liberty in his Person, and a firm Property in his Goods. And to crown all, it hath interwove and grafted Religion into itself, and made the Church of England a Part of it's Constitution; which consequently partakes of it's own Wis­dom and Moderation, and is certainly (with­out Envy be it spoken) the brightest Orna­ment, and the strongest Bulwark, of the Pro­testant Cause.

This Government, like all others, necessa­rily includes two distinct Powers; the Legis­lative, [Page 17] or the Power to make Laws; and the Executive, or the Power to bring them into Execution, and bind to Obedience. The Le­gislative Power is placed, by our Constitution, in the Parliament, consisting of the King, Lords, and Commons; and no Law can be enacted, without the Consent of each of these Branches of the Legislature; neither can any be repealed, or (which is tantamount) dis­pensed with, without the like Consent. For the same Power is necessarily implied to dis­annul a Law, that there was to make it.

But the Executive Power, to put the Laws thus made in Execution, is, by our Constitu­tion, ordinarily committed to the King. And here begins the grand Question, between the Assertors of publick Liberty, and the Sup­porters of the King's absolute and unlimited Authority. Should any King wilfully, and violently, and notoriously, to the publick Hurt and Damage, and to the Oppression of the Subject, break through and violate the Laws; Whether there is any Power, to re­strain and oblige him to conform himself to them? But that there is such a Power, I think, is necessarily supposed in the very Na­ture of the thing itself. For it certainly im­plies an Absurdity, to say; that the Lords [Page 18] and Commons have Part of the Legislature lodged in them, and yet the King may ob­serve the Laws, or alter and subvert them, as he pleases. This is to give them an empty Name only, but in truth to deprive them of the Reality, and to place the whole Legisla­tive Power solely in the King. So that our Constitution would be destructive of itself, and the Nobles, and People by their Repre­sentatives, would have a Right without a Re­medy; which, by Common Law, as well as in Common Sense, is the same as no Right at all. In short, every Law does, in itself, ne­cessarily suppose a Coercion, or a Power to oblige those, to whom it is a Law, to obey it. This is essential and inseparable from the Na­ture of a Law; so that there cannot be any real Law without it. But must the several Laws, made to restrain the Power of the Crown, be alone exempted from this univer­sal Rule and essential Property of a Law? Or is it reasonable to think, that those Laws were never intended to bind the King; but that he was still left at full Liberty, like the great Leviathan in the Waters, to turmoil and revel through the Kingdom, and to take his Pastime therein? Nothing can be more ab­surd, than such a Supposition, or more de­structive of all Government and Law.

[Page 19]From this short Sketch of the Nature of the English Constitution, it will be easily seen, that our Government is, properly speaking, a legal Government; where the Laws are ab­solute and supreme, and equally obligatory on all, upon the King, as well as the Subject. And however this great Truth might formerly be contradicted, it is now put out of all Doubt and Dispute, by the Revolution under the late King William, the wisest, best-conducted, and most happy Event, that any where ap­pears upon the British Annals. So that our Kings are now confessedly legal Kings, and hold their Crowns by the same Tenure, that the Subjects hold their Estates and Liberties; namely, by the Law. And this is so perfect­ly consonant to good Sense and sound Policy, that Cicero tells us, in his third Book De Legibus ^* ‘That the Nature and Office of a Magistrate is to preside over the People, and to prescribe, what is just, and useful, and agreeable to Law. ^‖ For as the Ma­gistrate presides over and governs the Peo­ple, so the Law presides over and governs the [Page 20] Magistrate: And it may be truly said, that the Magistrate is the Law, endued with a Voice; and that the Law is a silent Magi­strate.’ Such is the Voice of Reason, speak­ing through one of her best and most authen­tic Interpreters; which I have often considered with the greater Pleasure, as I esteemed it an apt Description, and highly to the Commen­dation, of our most excellent Constitution.

Wherefore, altho' the King is superior to all other Persons, yet the Law is still superior to him; neither can he transgress the Bounds, prescribed by that, without immediately ex­ceeding his Commission and Authority. He is indeed a very great Prince by Law, as great as any just and wise King would desire to be. For the Law leaves him at full Liberty to do Good, and only binds and restrains him from doing Evil. His Prerogative extends to every thing, that is not injurious to the Subject: For there the Law stops him. And upon this is founded that noted Maxim of the English Law; The King can do no Wrong: That is to say, his Prerogative can never extend so far, as to injure and oppress his People ^*. When­ever [Page 21] it comes to that, his Power ends, and he no longer acts by Virtue of his lawful Autho­rity. So that this Maxim, so often quoted to prove the absolute Power of the Crown, designs nothing less. Or if it hath any far­ther Meaning, it must be intended, according to the common Interpretation of it, as a Warn­ing and Memento to his Officers and Ministers, not to transgress the Bounds of their Autho­rity. For altho' the King can do no Wrong, they may.

And now, from these Observations it will be readily perceived, that the late Revolution and Expulsion of King James II. were found­ed upon the Nature and Principles of our Government. That great Act was, in truth, a Constitutional Act: It was the regular Ef­fect and Consequence of our Constitution, ex­erting itself with Vigor, and consistently with it's own Nature. For it was undeniably at­tacked and violated by that Prince, and must have been destroyed, had it not thus operated in it's own Defence. And from hence there­fore will also appear the great Injury and In­justice of the present Invasion and Rebellion. They do not only war against our lawful So­vereign (who is therefore, by the Law of the Land, by the Law of Nature, and by all other [Page 22] Laws, human and divine, to be assisted and de­fended by us) but they also wage War against our Constitution, and consequently against e­very Man in particular; whose Religion and Liberty, and every thing else, that is dear and valuable in this World, are therein engaged and involved. Which naturally leads me to the

III. Thing proposed; and that was, to lay before you the dismal Consequences (should he prevail) of the present Attempt of a Popish Pretender, against our gracious and most right­ful King, and against our excellent Establish­ment in Church and State.

These are indeed so plain and undeniable, as renders it almost unnecessary to point them out; and so dreadful and lamentable, as to seem incapable of Aggravation. For this At­tempt is against our Religion, our Laws, our Liberties, and all our civil Rights and In­terests; and should it prevail, through God's just Wrath and Indignation against us, it must be certainly confessed to be the most unfortu­nate Event, that can possibly happen to the English Nation at present.

1. Our Religion, which, being now found­ed in the Scriptures, participates of the Di­vine [Page 23] Beneficence, and breathes nothing but Love, and Peace, and Charity, would be en­tirely changed and abolished; and we must once more submit to receive the Dictates of Rome. And if that violent Church should e­ver obtain her full Power and Sway, those Dictates would be enforced with such Acts of Cruelty and Blood, as might make the Sicilian Tyrants blush, and put the old Heathen Per­secutors of Christianity out of Countenance, at their bungling Arts, and scandalous Igno­rance, in the noble Science of Torture. Be­sides which, the Heathen Persecutions were only transitory, and resumed from time to time; whereas the Romish Inquisition is a con­stant and standing Persecution against God's faithful Servants, and the Truth, which is in Christ Jesus. And indeed, it hath ever seem­ed a wonderful thing to me, that any Party of Men should have built upon Christ's Reli­gion one of the completest Systems of Ty­ranny, that has ever appeared in the World. For certainly Christianity may justly claim this Honour, of being the mildest, the most mer­ciful, and the best-natured Religion, that e­ver was. Yet such is the Perverseness of hu­man Nature, and such the Dexterity of some Men in deceiving, that under the Cloak and Pretence of this Religion of Sweetness and [Page 24] Charity, hath the Papal Tyranny been erect­ed, and such Cruelties committed, as are not perhaps to be paralelled in History. For, to wave innumerable other Instances, Father Paul tells us, that in no long Space of Time, there were hanged, beheaded, buried alive, and burnt by the Spanish Inquisition, in the Low Countries alone, to the Number of fifty thousand Persons ^*.

Neither does that bloody Church only thus break through all the Ties of common Hu­manity, but it does also, in some Cases at least, violate the plainest Principles of common Ho­nesty. For, however it may be denied or dis­guised, and reserved by them as a rare Nos­trum for proper Seasons and Opportunities, yet it is undoutedly a Tenet of their Church; That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks. A horrid Doctrine this, and a very heavy Charge, which would startle an honest Roman or any other virtuous Heathen; and I should not therefore have ventured to advance it, was it not to be undeniably proved. Nay their Council of Constance have even passed it into a publick Decree, with Relation to Hereticks in general ^‖; and declare, with Respect to [Page 25] John Hus in Particular, ‘That he had, by pertinaciously opposing the Orthodox Faith, rendered himself incapable of all Safe-Con­duct and Privilege; and that no Faith, or Promise to him, was to be kept, to the Prejudice of the Catholick Faith, by any Law, natural, divine, or human.’ ^* Such was the publick Determination of one of their Holy Oecumenical Councils; whilst the Jesuits have, in their private Capacity, given as deadly a Wound to all sound Morality, by their Equivocations and casuistical Distinc­tions, as hath been fully proved against them, and most beautifully exposed, by a strenuous Adherent to their Church, the learned and excellent Mons. Pascal. ^‖

And now, what firm Peace can be had, what Mercy expected, from such cruel and faithless Men; whom no Sense of Humanity can move, no Oaths or Promises can bind, when they are found to stand in the Way of their Catholick Faith? And certainly, if there were no other Argument against the Roman [Page 26] Church, but this single one, that it is bloody and perfidious, it would be enough to convince any sensible Man, that it is not the true Church of Christ. For our most holy Reli­gion enjoins the strictest Truth and Honesty in all our Words and Actions, altho' it be to our own Hindrance and Prejudice; and it commands an universal Love and Benevolence to the whole Race of Mankind, without Ex­ception of our bitterest Enemies, or most cruel Persecutors. Unless to murder our Bro­ther-Christians be to love them; and first to declare Men liable to Hell-fire, and then to send them into the other World with the most exquisite Pains, as a Foretaste of the Torments of the next Life, can, any way consistently with Reason, be interpreted Christian Charity and Beneficence. Instruments of Cruelty are in their Habitations; and therefore, O my Soul, come not thou into their Secret; unto their As­sembly, mine Honour, be not thou united: For in their Anger they stay Men, and in their Self-will they dig down Walls. Gen. xlix. 5, 6. But

2. As the glorious Light of the Gospel would be thus extinguished among us, so would our excellent Constitution and civil Polity be utterly ruined and destroyed. For [Page 27] to hope for any Christian Indulgence and re­ligious Liberty from an Invader, who brings his Religion from Rome; or to expect any firm Property and civil Liberty from a Disci­ple and professed Dependent on France, is the Height of Frenzy; and Men, who can swal­low such gross Delusion, must wilfully shut their Eyes against the glaring Example of Q. Mary's Reign, and our fresher Experience un­der K. James II. Then the Power of dispen­sing with Laws was assumed and set up; which tended, not covertly or dissimulately, but o­penly, directly, and unavoidably, to the De­struction of our Laws and Constitution. Then the Bishops were sent to the Tower; Popish Priests forced on the Universities, to poison those Fountains of the Church and State; the Ecclesiastical Commission Court erected, for the Terror and Prosecution of all brave and honest Protestants; and it was esteemed a high Crime and Misdemeanor, and a Kind of laesae Maje­statis, to stand up for the Truth of the Gos­pel, and to write or speak any thing against the King's Religion. And can we think, that Prince's Grandson has become a greater Friend to Liberty, or imbibed better Notions, in the Courts of Rome and Versailles? In short, his very Pretensions to the Crown must be found­ed upon Principles, utterly destructive of our [Page 28] Constitution. For if the Crown can be for­feited, or if our Laws are of any Force or Validity, he has certainly no Title at all. So that if he hath any Right, it must be an abso­lute and indefeasible Right, independent up­on, and superior to, all Law. And as for any Promises or Assurances from him, they are all utterly vain and frivolous; and like Bands of Cobweb, may be as plainly seen through, as they are easy to be broken. We are already sufficiently happy and secure. We have a Pro­testant King; and what can we desire more? We have a King, that governs according to Law; neither hath any Man just Reason to complain of the least Violation or Encroach­ment upon his Liberty, Property, or Religion. And shall we change this legal Prince, whose Title depends entirely upon the Laws, and must therefore be involved in the same Fate with them, for a Popish King, whose Title must be above the Laws, and can never take Place, till they are destroyed? God forbid, the English Nation should be given up to so fatal a Delusion. We are fairly rid of Popery and Slavery, and it would be the highest Madness and Infatuation, ever to put ourselves again within their Power or Reach. But I now proceed

[Page 29]IV. And lastly; To conclude suitably to the Occasion, with a few short Inferences of Duty and Instruction. And

1. It is the Duty of every Man, in his private Capacity, to oppose and resist, by Word and Deed, and by all lawful and possi­ble Means, this Invasion and Rebellion, which threatens such dreadful Consequences to our Religion and Laws. We were all born Free­men; and by the Divine Grace and Protec­tion, we have all, thus far, lived Freemen and Protestants. And shall we wilfully, and wan­tonly, and wickedly, give up and betray these inestimable Blessings, and patiently submit our Necks to the Yoke of civil and religious Slavery? Undoubtedly, it is every Man's in­dispensable Duty, at the Hazard of his Life and Fortune, still to retain and defend these invaluable Benefits. We are bound to this by all Ties, human and divine;—out of Con­science towards God, and in Defence of his Gospel and true Religion;—out of Duty to our Country, and for the Preservation of our excellent Constitution and Government;— out of Affection to our Families and Children, that we leave them not in a worse State, than our Fathers left us;—and lastly, out of Re­gard to ourselves, and for our own proper Se­curity [Page 30] and Happiness. And indeed it is a Kind of Reproach to the British Nation, that there is yet found a sufficient Party of rash and wicked Men (blind to all these evident Truths and plain Instances of Duty) as to be able still to give Disturbance to the Govern­ment, and any ways endanger our Religion and Constitution.

2. As it is thus the Part of every Man, in his private Way and Station, to resist and pre­vent the fatal Consequences of this mad and desperate Attempt against our Religion and Laws, so is it most especially the Duty of this present Congregation and Assembly, in whom is placed the whole Government, the Legislative as well as Executive Power, of this Colony. It is true indeed, we are at so great a Distance from the present Seat of the Rebellion, and are besides so inconsiderable with Respect to the Numbers of our People, and of our other Strength and Wealth, that it is not in our Power perhaps to perform any signal Service to the Cause of Religion and Liberty. Neither should I presume to pre­scribe to that Body, in which the Wisdom of the Country is commonly and justly under­stood to be lodged, what in particular ought to be done in this critical and important Con­juncture. [Page 31] It can only be said in general, that no Opportunity or Power, which it shall please Divine Providence to place within their Reach, ought to be slipped or neglected by them. They ought, by their Countenance to restrain, by their Words to rebuke, by the vigorous Exertion of their just and lawful Authority to punish, and by all proper and necessary Laws to repress, the least Tendency to Disloyalty and Rebellion against our King and Constitu­tion. But I shall be the shorter upon this Head, as I am convinced, that Persuasives of this Nature are but little necessary among us. For it may be truly said, that no Part of His Majesty's Dominions is more firmly attached to his Person and Government, and to our ex­cellent Constitution in Church and State, than Virginia is. We are, in this at least, a Peo­ple, that is at Unity with themselves; and we do, most heartily, and most universally, join ours to the general Voice of the Nation, in utterly detesting this wild and wicked En­terprise of the Enemies of our Peace and Zion.

3. And lastly; We ought, in this Time of national Danger and Distress, seriously to exa­mine our own Hearts, and to call to Mind the Evil of our Ways. For it is the usual, and a [Page 32] most undoubted Method of Procedure with Divine Providence, when a Nation has ren­dered themselves unworthy of the temporal Blessings, which God hath bestowed upon them, for him to forsake and deprive them of them. If you despise my Statutes, or if your Soul abhor my Judgments (saith God, in the Book of Leviticus, Chap. xxvi.) I will set my Face against you, and ye shall be slain before your Enemies; and they, that hate you, shall reign over you. I will bring a Sword upon you; your Land shall be desolate, and your Ci­ties waste. And upon them, that are left of you, I will send a Faintness into their Hearts; and the sound of a shaken Leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a Sword; and shall fall, when none pursueth. One thousand shall flee at the Rebuke of one; at the Rebuke of five shall ye flee, till ye be left, as a Beacon upon the Top of a Mountain, and as an Ensign on a Hill. Isaiah xxx. 17. Such a judicial Trepidation and Misery hath God sometimes sent upon the most flourish­ing Kingdoms and Nations; till they were left, as a Beacon upon the Top of a Mountain, a standing Warning to all, that come after, and a conspicuous Monument and Example of the fatal Effects of national Sin and Wicked­ness. And not to give into the trite and te­dious [Page 33] Topick of general Declamation against the Vice and Corruption of the Age, yet I am afraid, there is too much Reason to think, that the ancient British Virtue is much de­clined among us. And particularly, the De­mon, or rather Legion, of Avarice has gone forth and possessed the Nation; and the Love of Money, that Root of all civil as well as religious Evil, hath spread itself like a de­vouring Flame, and will at last overwhelm us as the Rushing of mighty Waters. For it is vain to imagine, that a corrupt and sinful Na­tion can long subsist. Besides the express Word of God, the Testimony of all History, and the Experience of all Ages, afford unde­niable Proofs of the contrary. It was this, that sunk the Assyrian, the Persian, the Gre­cian, the Roman Monarchies, those greatest and most powerful States, the World ever saw. ^* Luxury and Corruption, says the Ro­man Satirist, more dreadful and destructive than the Enemies Arms, fell upon the Roman State, and gave the vanquished World a full Revenge, by conquering and enslaving those, [Page 34] who had conquered and enslaved all others. And this is indeed a natural and necessary Consequence, and follows from the Nature of things themselves. For national Corruption will certainly bring with it national Ruin; neither can there be any real Happiness, ei­ther publick or private, without Virtue. So universally true is that Aphorism of the wise Son of Sirach: The Knowledge of Wickednes is not Wisdom, neither at any time the Counsel of Sinners Prudence. Ecclus xix. 22.

Let us therefore, my Brethren, at least in this our Day, know the things, which belong unto our Peace; before they are hid from our Eyes, and before the Days come upon us, by the just Judgment of God, that our Enemies cast a Trench about us, and compass us round, and keep us in on every Side, because we knew not the Time of our Visitation, Luke xix. 42, &c. And as the only sure and rational Way to appease God's Wrath, let us rent our Hearts, and not our Garments, and turn unto the Lord our God: For he is gracious, and merciful, slow to Anger, and of great Kindness, and repent­eth him of the Evil. Joel ii. 13. Righteousness belongeth unto thee, O Lord, and to us Confu­sion of Face, because we have sinned against thee. But to the Lord our God belong Mercies [Page 35] and Forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him. Dan. ix. 7, &c. Let us therefore, by a timely Repentance and Amendment of our Lives, seek the Lord, while he may be found; and call upon him, while he is near. Let the Wicked forsake his Way, and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have Mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah lv. 6, 7.—Which that we may all seek, and all find, for our Country, our­selves, and our Families, God of his infinite Mercy grant, for Jesus Christ's Sake, our Blessed Lord and Saviour.

To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed, as is most due, all Might, Majesty, Praise, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.