the court of England and the Roman-Catholic powers were all infatuated or asleep while the design was forming; and when it was carrying into execution, how the winds were subservient, and the hearts of the people united till it was brought to maturity: and it will amaze all posterity to read the inconsistent and dishonourable part which the highchurch clergy and their friends acted on this occasion; for after they had preached their hereditary prince into a belief of their unlimited loyalty, and assured him in numberless addresses, that their lives and fortunes were absolutely at his service; and after the university of Oxford, by a solemn decree, had declared all manner of resistance damnable and infamous to the Christian religion, they appeared among the first who resisted him; and by opening a reserve which lay hid under their unbounded professions of duty and allegiance, let him fall into that pit out of which he could never escape. As soon as the jure divino king invaded the properties of the universities, and threatened to take down the fences of their ecclesiastical preferments, they invited the prince of Orange with an armed force to their rescue; they signed an association to support and assist him; they offered him their plate, and declared for him in a body, even while their sovereign was on the throne. Nevertheless, the moment they thought their power and preferments secure, they would have retracted, and made up matters again with king James; they opposed the motion in the convention parliament for declaring the throne vacant; and when the government came to be settled upon king William and queen Mary, great numbers of them would not submit, and those who did, acted a treacherous and dishonourable part to their great deliverer, throughout the course of his reign. What inconsistencies are these! What oaths and declarations can hold men who burst such bands, and cut such sacred cords asunder? The like must be observed as to their vows and promises to the Nonconformists, all which were forgot or broken as soon as the church was delivered. The dissenters acted a more consistent part, for not being entangled with the same fetters, they went heartily into the revolution, and were among king William's best and steadiest friends, when others forsook and opposed him. No sooner were king William and queen Mary settled on the throne, than the dissenting ministers in and about the city of London waited on their majesties with an address of congratulation, when Dr. Bates at their head made the two following speeches : "To the King. "May it please your majesty, "The series of successful events which have attended your glorious enterprise for the saving these kingdoms from so imminent and destructive evils, has been so eminent and extraordinary, that it may force an acknowledgment of the divine providence from those who deny it, and cause admiration in all who believe and reverence it. The beauty and speed of this happy work are the bright signatures of his hand, who creates deliverance for his people: the less of human power, the more of divine wisdom and goodness have been conspicuous in it. If the deliverance had been obtained by fierce and bloody battles, victory itself had been dejected and sad, and our joy had been mixed with afflicting bitterness; but as the sun ascending the horizon dispels without noise the darkness of the night, so your serene presence has, without tumults and disorders, chased away the darkness that invaded us. In the sense of this astonishing deliverance we desire with all possible ardency of affection to magnify the glorious name of God, the author of it, by whose entire efficacy the means have been successful; and we cannot without a warm rapture of thankfulness recount our obligations to your majesty, the happy instrument of it. Your illustrious greatness of mind, in an undertaking of such vast expense, your heroic zeal in exposing your most precious life in such an adventurous expedition, your wise conduct and unshaken resolution in prosecuting your great ends, are above the loftiest flights of language, exceed all praise. We owe to your majesty the two greatest and most valuable blessings that we can enjoy, the preservation of the true religion, our most sacred treasure; and the recovery of the falling state, and the establishing it upon just foundations. According to our duty, we promise unfeigned fidelity, and true allegiance to your majesty's person and government. We are encouraged by your gracious promise, upon our first address, humbly to desire and hope, that your majesty will be pleased, by your wisdom and authority, to establish a firm union of your Protestant subjects in matters of religion, by making the rule of Christianity to be the rule of conformity. Our blessed union in the purity and peace of the gospel, will make this church a fair and lovely type of heaven, and terrible to our antichristian enemies: this will make England the steady centre from whence a powerful influence will be derived for the support of reformed Christianity abroad. This will bring immortal honour to your name, above the trophies and triumphs of the most renowned conquerors. We do assure your majesty, that we shall cordially embrace the terms of union which the ruling wisdom of our Saviour has prescribed in his word. We shall not trespass farther on your royal patience, but shall offer up our fervent prayers to the King of kings, that he will please to direct your majesty by his unerring wisdom, and always incline your heart to his glory, and encompass your sacred person with his favour as with a shield, and make your government a universal blessing to these kingdoms." To which his majesty was graciously pleased to make the following answer: "I take kindly your good wishes; and whatever is in my power shall be employed for obtaining such a union among you. I do assure you of my protection and kind ness. "To the Queen. "May it please your majesty, "Your happy arrival into your native country, and accession to the crown, has diffused a universal joy through this kingdom. It is an auspicious sign of public felicity, when supreme virtue and supreme dignity meet in the same person. Your inviolable firmness in the profession of the truth, and exemplary piety, are the most radiant jewels in your crown. The lustre of your conversation, unstained in the midst of tempting vanities, and adorned with every grace, recommends religion as the most honourable and amiable quality, even to those who are averse from hearing sermons, and apt to despise serious instructions and excitations to be religious. We humbly desire, that your majesty would be pleased, by your wisdom and goodness, to compose the differences between your Protestant subjects in things of less moment concerning religion. VOL. V. We hope those reverend persons who conspire with us in the main end, the glory of God and the public good, will consent to the terms of union wherein all the reformed churches agree. We shall sincerely address our requests to God, that he will please to pour down in a rich abundance his blessings upon your majesty's person and government, and preserve you to his heavenly kingdom." Her majesty was graciously pleased to answer, "I will use all endeavours for the obtaining a union that is necessary for the edifying of the church. I desire your prayers. Though the joy that accompanied the revolution had a considerable influence on the choice of representatives in parliament, yet there being no court to make interest among the people, it appeared that the late king had a party in both houses sufficient to perplex the government, who first proposed the choice of a new parliament, in order to throw the nation into a ferment;† but this being overruled, a bill was brought in, and passed, January 23, to turn the present convention into a parliament, it being wisely concluded, that those who had set the king on the throne, would be most zealous to maintain him there; but when the house was called over, and the members required to take the oaths, eight bishops absented, viz. Dr. Sancroft archbishop of Canterbury, Turner of Ely, Lake of Chichester, Kenn of Bath and Wells, White of Peterborough, Thomas of Worcester, Lloyd of Norwich, and Frampton of Gloucester; however, that they might recommend themselves by a show of moderation, before they withdrew they moved the house of lords for a bill of toleration, and another of comprehension, which were drawn up accordingly by the earl of Nottingham, and were much the same with those prepared for the house of commons in king Charles II.'s time, during the debates about the bill of exclusion. *This was in the spirit of a noble answer, which her majesty made to Dr. Increase Mather, who was introduced to her to solicit a new charter for New-England. He represented that her subjects in that country were generally Nonconformists, but carried it with all due respect to others: and added, that this nation had cause to bless God for the indulgence it now enjoyed under the king and her majesty. The queen answered, "It is what I am for. It is not in the power of men to believe what they please; and therefore, I think, they should not be forced in matters of religion, contrary to their persuasions and their consciences. I wish all good men were of one mind; however, in the mean time, I would have them live peaceably, and love one another." Increase Mather's Life, p. 49.-ED. Burnet, vol. 4. p. 7, 8. Edin. ed. 12mo. The clergy in general took the oaths, but it became visible that many among them took them only as oaths of submission to usurpers, with this reserve, that it was still lawful to assist king James, if he should attempt to recover the crown, and that he was still their king de jure, though the prince of Orange was king de facto, contrary to the plain meaning of the words; but the clergy broke through all these fetters, says the bishop, to the reproach of their profession: and the prevarication of so many in so sacred a matter, contributed not a little to the atheism of the age. Indeed, they had embarked so far in their doctrines of absolute submission, and the divine right of monarchy, that they knew not how to disengage themselves with honour or conscience. Many suffered the time limited for taking the oaths to elapse, and yet officiated afterward contrary to law.― They threatened the church with a new separation, which terrified the moderate clergy, and put a stop to all amendments of the liturgy for the ease of dissenters, lest the nonjurors should gain over great numbers of the laity, by pretending to abide by the old liturgy, in opposition to the reformed one. Thus the Nonconformists were sold to the jacobites, by the timidity of their real friends; for the highchurch party discovered an irreconcilable enmity to an accommodation, and seemed only to wish for an occasion to renew old severities. Those who had moved for a comprehension, and brought the bill into the house of lords, acted a very disingenuous part, says Burnet,t for while they studied to recommend themselves, by seeming to countenance the bill, they set on their friends to oppose it, representing the favourers of it as enemies to the church. When the king came to the house, March 16, he made the following speech:‡ 66 My lords and gentlemen, "Now I have occasion of coming hither to pass these bills, I shall put you in mind of one thing which will conduce much to our settlement, as a settlement will to the disappointment of our enemies. I am, with all the expedition I can, filling up the vacancies that are in the offices and places of trust by this late revolution. I hope you are sensible there is a necessity of some law to settle the oaths to be taken by all persons to be admitted to such places. I * Burnet, vol. 3. p. 303. + Ibid. Gazette, no. 2436. |