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Show The Au T H o R'!l ~I.! -I F E. VoL I. , l d . me· ;-, WtU ]JM Opinion; and on all • ro fay, that he has ever dec are t~·fed' me the repeated Pr6ofs of it, ' Occafions, when Du.teo, he nesve~ re u~ for COIIfcie!icejake tO fQ)licit His ' as often as I had any poor unerer~ ' Help for. IVb oi an Body e![e a1 weD M I? Why , But fome may be apt to fay, ~ n r n&-(nters• if not a Papift ~ I an· ' mufl I have the preftnrhl~ .AtctfSBto otbh: I know That I have made it my 'fwer, 1/wiJW nortbotit Ufo. ut r '~nd rettir· I'rookitformyCall' Province and_ Bufinefs;. I htve·fo~lo~edve thffe Six;een y cars ; and which · ~ng and S_ratton, and ~a,·e. ~p~ HV~n~ty or ReprOach) wholly at my ow_n ' JS more (tf I may fa~ 1\ wa o!.ltdd the Re/rJtion my father ha~ to thts ' Charpes too. To thts et me a · ttin me releafed out of the c. Kings Service, his earticular Fap~~~c:~ gHumile Requeft to him upon ' Tower of London m 69, my fi the /ncont:eniencier and Tronbles m' ' ·his Death-He_d, to pro~ett me rom d his friendly Promife to do it, and ' Perfwafion mtght cxp? e me w, an ment 1 adjrelfed my felf to him: I ' exact Performanc~ o~ It, ~~m ~he ~yo 8ddy that has the leaft Pretence to • fay, when all thts. ts con 1 ere • a • ft needs know how to interpret • Good-nature, Grtlltt~de, o.p G~nero{ty, em; ill be ready to fay, This is not : ~{ ~~~~~s tWs t~:t ~~f~~lt! e~u~~~a~f have i~~e~eannd ~~vti~~r ~v~~~~~~a~£ : ;~~· P~~~fi~!~:~~i~!, ~t;!Efib~if:~~t}~t:~~ly ca~ ~fJ\ia~t~~~ c c~:eTt:n~)a~~s~ffi:~e:"fn his Fath<¥'5 Family, in g:fle u~~erfitl,t:~~:! ' the Government, for bcin~ fo, fhould defign. th.e e ru lon o ' -:r ' .n nt Religion. This is JUft as probable as ~t IS rrue, thatfti d_y d a J~fs , tt;:a . • A rica Will Men {h11 fuffer fuch uff to pa . , Juzt St~ Ye:;rsl ~0 /~hi~~ mo~eFoo/ijb as well as Faife, than that becaufc , upon\ em· :vb~t ball therefOre 1 m~ft be the .t.l.11thor of all that is done ' !hae~ o th~t adoes'n~-r pl~afe abroad. But fuppofing fomfce fuch Jh~ingsh to ~ have 'been done, pray tell me, if I am bound to opp~ e an~ 1ng t at c 1 am not called to do ? I never wa&. a Member of CoJurct!, Cabmer, or Com. ' · where the Affairs of the Kmgdom are uanfaaed. I have had nq ~ mlltee, r Trujf and confequently, nothing can be f:tid .to ~e done .hY ~e, ~ Offic~, 1°rh:1t R~afon could I lie under any Teft or ObhgatJon to d1fcover , nor o0 • ion of hbiick JiO.r of State, aRd therefore neither can any fuch c m~ p~~r m Silence about them, in Juftice, bem:~de my Cri111e. ~ohm' ~ers' are Bl;nks and Cyphers in all Governments . .And un_lefs call,mgac ' White ball once a Day, upon many Occafions, or my not be111g tu:n d o~t ' of no;hing, (for that no Office is) be the Eviden~e of my Gunphance m ' d"fagreeable Things I know nor what elfe can wnh any Truth, be ailed~ c ~ • ft me · Ho~ever one Thing I know, that I have every where mo ' ~~~~~~~~fly obferved, and endeavoured in Converf:trion with ~e~fons of a_ll ' Ra:ks and Opinions, to allay Heats, and m?derate Extremmes, e_ven m ~ the Politicks. )Tis below me to be more pamcular, but I am f~r~ It has ' been my Endeavour, that i£ we ~o.uld not all meet upon a Re!tgtor~S_ &!· ' tom, at leaft we might upon a Czvt! One, the Good of En_gland; wh1ch IS ' the common Jnterelt of King and ~e~ple: ~hat. He m1ght be great by ' Juflite,· and we free by Obediencei dJfttnguJilHng nghtly ~n the oue H~nd, ' between Duty and Slavery; and on the other, between Lzberty and LuNt· ' tfot,_ef:ias I am not without ~y Apprehenfions of the Caufe of this t Heha\•iour ~owards me, and in this I percei~e we agree;_ I mean my con· ' ftant Zeal for an Impartial Liherty of Ccnfczence. But 1f th:l:t be 1t, the ' Caufe is too good to be in Pain about. I ever underfto<>4 ~hat ~o be t~e ' n:ttur:tl Right of all Men; and that he that had a Rebgfo~ wtthout ~~, ' his Rotigion was none of ~is own .. For w~at is not the .Rebgzon of a ~ns ' Choice is tbe Religion of h1111 tbattmpofu 11: So that Lzberty of ConJCiencj ' is the 'firn Step to have a Religion. This is no new Opinion with !f~C· ' have writ many Ap•i••irt within the !aft Twenty Years to defead Jt, :HJd M O 0 ~ that!- VoL. I. The AuT H o R's L I F E, ' that impartially. Yet I have as confiantly declared, that Bounds ought ' to be fet to this Freedom, and that Morality was the Befi; and that as ' often as that was viola red, under a Pretence of Confcience, it was fir the ' Civil Pou,·er fho_uld take Place: Nor did I ever once .think of Promoting ' any Sort of Ltberty of Confczence for any Body, wh1ch did not prefen•e c the Common Proreflancy of the Kingdom, and the Jincienr Rigbu of the c Government. For w fay Truth, the one cannot be maintained without ' the other. ' Upon the whol~ Matter, I mull f:1y, I Love ~gland; J ever did fo; ' and that I am not tn her Debt. I never valued Tune, Money, or Kindred, ' to ~erve her and do her good. No Party could ever byafs me to her Pre' jud1ce, nor any Pcrjon11l lnrereft oblige me in her Wrong. For I always 'abhorr'd difcountingprivare FavoNrs at the P11blidl. Cofl, ' Would I have made my Market of the Fears and Jealoufies of People, ' when this King came to the Crown, I had put Ttvenry Tboufand Pound$ ' into my Pocke~ and an Hundred Thoufand into my Province: For mighty ' Numbers of People were then upon the Wing: But I wav'd it all, hop'd ' for be_trer Times ; expeEled the EffeEl:s of the King's Word for LiheriJ of 'Confcunu, and Happinefs by it: And till I faw my Friends, with the ' Kingdom, deliver'd from the Legal Bondage, which Penal Laws for Re· ' ligion had fubjetted them to, I could with no Satisfa8ion think of leav· ' ing Engknd; though much to my Prejudice beyond Sea, and at my great ' Expence here; having in all this Time, never had either Office or Penfi· c on: and always refufing the Rewards or Gratuities of thofe I have been ' able to oblige. ' If therefore an Vniverfa!Charity, if the afferting an Impartial Liberty ' of Confcience, if Joint to ethers a.t one would be done hy, and an open a .. 4 vowing and fteady praCHfing of the.fe Things, in all Times, to all Parties, ' will jufily lay a Man under the Refie8:ion of being a Jefnit, or Papifl, ' of any Rank, I muft nor only fubmit to the Cbarafler, but embrace it ' too; and I care not who knows, that J can wear it wirh more Ple:.tfure ' than it is poflible for them with any Juftice to give it me. For thef~ ' are Corner-Stones and Principles with me; and I am fc.mdalized at all ' Buildi,gs that have them not for their Ftnmdarions. For Religion it felf ' is an empty Name without them, a Whited Wall, a Painted Sepulchre, no ' Life cr Virtue to the Soul; no Good, or Example to one's Neighbour. Let 'ua not flatter our felves; We lan never be the better for our Religion, if ' Ollf" J\Teighilour be the Wo1:Je for it. Our Faulr is, we are apt to be mighty ' hot upon JpecJJiative Errors, and break all Bounds in our Refentments; ' but we let practical Ones pafiJ without Remark, if not without Repen4 ' lance: As if a Miflake about an Ob{cJJre Propojition of Faith were a great· ,. er Evil than the Breach of an undoHbud Precept, Such a Religion tbe ' Devils themfelves are not without; for they have both F11.ith and &ow .. ' ledge, but their Faith doth not work by Love, nor their Knowledge by· ' Obedience. And if this be their Judgment, can it be our Blej}ing? Let us' not then think Religion a litigious Thing; nor that Chrift came only to ' make us good Difptirants, but that he came alfo to make us good Livers. : ~incerity g?C~ farth~r. then Capacity. his Charity t~at defervedlv excells tn the Cbrifl~an Rebg1on ; and happy woUld it be, 1f wh~re Unity ends, ' Charity did begin, inftead of Envy and Railing, that a(moft ever follow. ' It appears to me to be the Way that God has found our and appointed ' to moderate our Differences, and make them at leaft harmlefs to SodrtJ; ' and therefore I confefs, I dare not aggravate them to Wrath :tnd Blood. ' Our Difagreemenr lies in our ..fJpprchenjion or Belief of Things; and if ' the Common Enemy of Mankind had not the governing of our AffeOionr ' and Pa./]ions, tha[ Difagrcement would not prove fuch a Ctni:.er, as it .is, • to Lov~ and Race, in Civil Socieriu. ' He that fuffers his Dijfere11ce with his Neighbour about the othef ' World, to carry him beyond the Line of Moderation in this, is the ~ Worfe for his Opinion, even though it be true. Ic ls roo little confiderecf "If T ~by I 1 37 1688. <...rv"'I.J |