The debate about the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, briefly summ'd up and determin'd. With some remarks, shewing, that the repeal of these acts will never produce peace and union among Protestants, ... 1736
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That the REP EAI of theſe Acts will never produce Peace and Union among Proteſtants, as is Weakly pretended ; but rather prove a conſtant Occaſion of 1 vo and ON Fes. 1 At Capys, & quorum melior ſententia nenti, Aut pelago Danaum inſidias, ſuſpectaque dona 8 Precipitare jubent _ Creditis Sorter beſte ? aut ulla putatis Dona carere dolis Danaum ? =—— | a at matt ard 2 : 7 1 I * LONDON: 880 printed for J. RogE RTS, at the Oxford Arms in | Warwick - Lane. MDCC N * * +: 5 8 : . D i \ SB at, © © „ 750 : + © 0 © WS SRC ets. About the REPEAL of the ' Corporati on and Teſt Act. b 1 * SuMM'D ue. 1 Base * SER HO We have flattered ourſelves | A that the great Indulgence grant- 0% ed to Diſſenters, greater than l 4 any other Nation ever granted in the like Circumſtances, might have ſmoothed their Tempers, and abated the Keenneſs of their Reſentments againſt the National Church ; yet of late Years we 3. have 17 443: | N have ſeen a TILE raiſed atong chend and gradually diffuſed thro their Writings, which was calculated to _ the Proje, that is now drawing to a Crifs. Their celebrated Mr. Pearce informed us ſome Years ago, that we had much deceived ourſelyes in imagining that they thought Communion with the Church of England to be lawſul, and that their Opinions Were muth the fame as ever. And from all Hands we had Inti- mations, that the -Occafronal Conformiſts, a Political rather than a Religious Se, (for their N axe equally condemned b all Religious Parties) We were mopponel by a 2 Man, that was for a long tine their Conductor, meant nothing, but to evade the Reſtraints laid upon them by the Corporation and Teft Ads; that they ſtill judge conſtant Cmmunion with us to be In- fal, and barely ſubmitted to this /angle Com- in hopes that (as God ought to be worlhipped i in the 5% Manner) they ſhould be able at a convenient Seaſon, to reform the Errors, and ſupp ly the Defects of the poor imper 4 Church of England; that therefore they Ml agreed in the main Point with tha mer rid Brethren, and only took a more effeQual Way to bring about the wiſh'd-for Refor- mation; that, notwithſtanding all theſe _ ſ pecious Pretences, they were fuſpected as ” |» Secu- 1 Secular Men by the conſcientious Diſſen- s, and found themſelves ſinking daily 10 in their Favour and Eſteem; aud that therefore their grand Project was to be put in Execution as ſoon as poſſible. In order to haſten that Deſign, their Forces | were to be augmented, and all Parties, how- ever different in theit Views, were to 'be iow vited into their Alliance. Deiſts and Li- bertines are found to hate all religious Eſta- bliſhments. The Arians and Socinians diſ- like the preſent. To all this it may TW be replied ; in ow) neral, that the Argument of Self-Defence will juſtify us in keeping the Diſſenters out of Power ; that Power which they always 1 abuſed, when they enjoy d it; that Power = which even already, in the Gaiety of their | Hearts, they menace us with feeling, as ſoon as they ſhall be qualified to diſpenſe uch Favours to us. For one of their wn-. natural Advocates has declared, that there © ought to be no Teſt but againſt ſuch as are for Eftabliſhments (and he knows there j can, in the Nature of the Thing, be no | 5 freue Eftabliſhmenc. without ſome Teſt, for his own Argument implies as much) that i is, againſt, at leaſt, nine Parts in ten of.. of the whole Nation. And is this the way to unite all Proteſtants? - viz. to diſoblige nine Parts, in order to gratify the ambitious Views of the tenth? If the Diſſenters hear- tily mean what they pretend, let them ſhew it by fitting down contented with what they enjoy. The Church of England neither can nor ought to be eaſy, if that Eftabliſhment, which is ratified by all the -Laws of Gop and Man, be render'd preca- rious, and unſafe. And that we know will be her Caſe, in proportion as the Intereſt -of her Enemies increaſes, who from their Principles can never want Mill to do, what- ever their Power ſhall enable them to per- form. Since therefore from Hiſtory and Theory we know what we are to expect, we ſhould act like Men infatuated, and fall unpitied, if we ever committed ourſelyes to their Care. The more they are indulged, the more they crave ; and what is report- ed to have been ſaid formerly by a Great Miniſter, of a certain Friend of theirs, vis. that he had the quickeſt Digeſtion of any Gentleman in England, may be applied, with too much Truth, to the perpetual graſping of this People after Power. It was the Fatal Policy of good King Charles's Reign, to be always liſtening to the repeat- ed Demands of theſe unſatisfied Men, till it appear'd that they meant nothing leſs ee than than the total Overthrow of Church and State. Let that Example be ſufficient to teach us Caution. We have already granted them what in Conſcieuce we ought to grant, an Ample. Liberty of worſhipping Gop according to their own Sentiments. It is high time now, in our Turn, to conſider where, in Prudence, we ought to ſtop, All Europe has thought it lawful to refuſe Acceſſions of Power, when they are ma- rally certain what Uſe would be made of i it. If one Side muſt be /aperier, (and, in the Nature of Things, both cannot ox be equal) I hope we are not now to chuſe where to fix the Preference. Here we maight reſt the Weit having ſhewn the Neceſſity we lie under to keep the Conſtitution upon its old Foundation: But ſince one of the Repealers has had the Impudence to aſſert, That geither Truth nor Charity can be expected from an Aduo- cate for our Cauſe, give me leave to try whether all their ſhowy Reaſonings will not admit of both a ſhort and clear Reply. The Repealer's Favourite Argu- ment- is, that a Capacity for Places ( They muſt mean a Legal Capacity, for of their Natural Capacity there is, at preſent, no Diſpute) is the Natural und Unalierable Right of every — Nous, how a Legal | | Ca pa- 1705 Capacity: can ariſe from à Natural] ght, ke appear to all ſtrict Reaſoners pretty unintelligible. But, perhaps, they mean a Right founded in the Nature of Govern- ment, which they thall claim the Benefit of, when they can ſhew it. I know of no- 5 ching effential to Government, but Obedi- ence on the one hand; and Protection on the other. Properly. ſpeaking, no Subject, 4a. ſuch, whether Churchman or Diſſenter, has any Natural Right to a Legal Capacity for Places; and if every Monarch in Europe ſhould take it into his Head to admit no Men into Places, whether Civil or Military, but ſuch as were Six Foot high, tho' we might complain of his Prudence, we ſhould. have no Ground to accuſe him of Jnjuſtice. It is, in ſhort, no Part of the Civil Con- tract, nor was ever underſtood to be ſo by any Nation upon the Face of the Earth. This our Countrymen were ſo ſenſible of, that upon the late happy Settlement, when it was obvious to them to ſuppoſe that our late Sovereign might be inclined to prefer his German Subjects, they provided againſt it by a particular Law, well Know- ing that his Britiſb bad no natural Right to engroſs his Favours. And if any King may e of his Preferments as he pſcaſcs, I mean in Point of Natural luſtice,; he may, upon any Occaſion, dac hire he will do los 207 C2 B and * — — . —— —¼ v — . —˙¹1¹—˙·eũ en en — + Pg 10 1 and if he may declare he will do * he may, in a proper Manner, enact it by a Law. But admitting this Capacity for Places to be the Natural Right of all Subjects, how will the Repealer prove it to be UVnalienable? There are no Natural Rights Unalienable, | but where they are the Conſequences of Unalterable Duties, The Want of this Di- ſtindion has occaſion'd all the Confuſion that appears in the Repealer's Argument: For Inftance, it is my Unalterable Duty to worſhip Gop, therefore I have an Upaiien- able Right to perform that Duty. But as for all ey Rights, we may part with them, or ſell them, as we judge moſt for our own. Advantage. Thus not only ſingle Men, but whole Nations, act every Day, both with reſpect to their natural as well as their ac» quired Properties; and what we might do for ourſelves in a Cate of Nature, our Go- vernors can do for us in a State of Govern- ment. From hence it follows, that Per/ecu-' tion cannot be charged upon us, becauſe | Perſecution always implies ſomething unju/# in its Idea, or at leaſt a needleſs. Severity in the Execution. By this Definition all the Popiſh Perſecutions may be tried and be con- demm d. Nor is it a-Breach upon Civil Li- berty, ſince nothing is done but by our own. Conſent, i. e. by our Repreſentatives ; Nor . Oy" „ in the Exenciſe of their Power, 75 51 7] beet ſince they do nothing but what is 42 the Peace and Quiet of the People in eral, to which the Advantages of par- Henhar Perſons muſt always give Place. But if our Governors can incapatitate ſome Men for Places without any Impeachment of \ their Juſtice, yet is it conſiſtent with the Nature of Virtue and Religion thus to cramp their Free-thinking, and byaſs their Underſtandings by Poſitive Encou- fragements on one Side, and Negative Diſ- couragements on the other? Now: I will readily. allow, that the more diſintereſted we are in Matters of Religion, the more we ſhall approve ourſelves both to Gop and Man: And yet our Saviour has threat- en'd Hell to thoſe who reject his Goſpel, and promiſed Haven to thoſe who accept it. In ſhort, the Nature of Man is ſuch, that if Men: were left quite to themſelves, | 4 general Careleſneſs and Ignorunce would be the neceſſary Conſequence, both in Re- ligion and Morality, and every thing elſe: For which Reaſon all Governments have always provided Inſtructors for the People in every thing that was neceſſary for them both to know and do. This poſſibly might, in ſome meaſure, byaſs them; but that is una voidable, and the other Way would prove the more fatal. Governors ſhould 7 care not ro tempt Men beyond what S 3 © - mey _—— — — — —— ꝶ—ſ — — wm — 2 — - 4 | | they can e not to OY upon their j * People ſuch ij uſtus Metu s, qui in Virum bo- © num cudlere poteſi; but to be as mild and tender, as the Natumm of human Affairs can permit: From hence ariſes the Duty incumbent upon all Governors to Eſtabliſn and Protect the True Religion: Natural and Revealed Religion is not an indifferent Matter, like Philoſophy, that Gentlemen may amuſe themſelves with, if they pleaſe, for their Entertainment; but what equally concerns all, and what all, in /ome meaſure, nate obliged to know and: practiſe. But it is evident, that nothing can reach all De- grees and Sorts of Meng except ſettled Rules, and appointed Methods, which muſt | carry | Authority enough at leaſt to create Regard and Attention, and Eucouragement enough to engage our Application. 1 * the State of the Primitive pe 75 e & will will be objected to me by the Nepealers; but let them remember, that they lived un- der a ſort of a Theocracy. The conſtant Miracles, the perpetual Perſecutions, and the ſupernatural Aſſiſtances received under them, and the great, Attachment and Aﬀec- we can hope to receive from the Civil Ma- giſtrate. It appears then, that the Civil Power muſt ſapport Religion, that it can only be ſupported by Efabliſhments,: that no Eſtabliſhment, can be ſecure without a Teſt ;| ſome Teſt therefore muſt be allowed: Nor does any Diſſenter hereby /afer, in the ment ought always to be obſerved. To ſay, be loſes what he has a Right to, is petere Principium, and has been already diſproved. To ſay, he does not enjoy what otherwiſe he might, is true indeed, but nothing to the Purpoſe, and proves only the Wiſdom of the Government, Who diſpoſe of their Fa- vours in a more prudent Manne. nne deen ee, VS Aal Sacramental Teſt alſo defenſible? I anſwer - briefly, Jes, and upon this Principle: It is en * fy EE : PT ſacred Kite to any other religious Purpoſe, which it will ſuit, (and I hope the Preſer- vation of God's pure Religion is a religious Purpoſe) provided it is not inconſiſtent with the Ground and original End for which it was ordained "if there were twenty religious Ends ſerved by it, provided the Primary one be chiefly reſpec ed, there will lie no Objection. St. Paul himfelf, though he dias: . the original Intention ff the Lord's Supper was to ſhew forth the Death of Chriſt; till he came, in Chap. x. of the ſume Epiſtle, Ver. 17. "argues from it, to | another Purpoſe 3" vis. to demonſtrate the | particular Unity, Which ought always to 1 be maintained and acbenowledged by all the | Members of Chriſt's Church. That Verſe mould ha de been tranſlated more accurately after this Manner: 'Becauſe the Bread or Loaf] is one; We, though [ Per- 4 ſonally] many, are one Body, for (as a 4 8 | of our Unity) We are all Par- « takers of chat one Bread, [or the ſame 46 Boa J. Here the ferupulons\Geatlel menimay takeNoticey that this Cirenmfance of partaking of the ſame Loaf, was pitched upon by the Apoſtle, not to commemorate | the Death of Chriſt, (to which End it doth not contribute) ut to prove tlie diſtinctive Unity ef the Chriſtian Society, and indeed moſt of the other Parts of the Chriſtian Re- D9T: 361 ligion; / = v5 Þ "FUR vis. the ſame. Faith, the ſame Bags tiſm, the ſame Worſhip, ' Sc. all from = ſame Inference; but it was not the primary Deſign, or higheſ End of any. of them to enforce that Concluſion, tho from all them it naturally follows. Herein then we tread in the very Footſteps of the Apoſtle, by making it a Proof or Evidence of our keeping up the Unity of the Chriſtian Body, as the Scriptures enjoin us; and where that, 20% does not appear, we think it improper to confer the Favour of Civil Power, This then is our Caſe ; whenever we receive the Sacrament, we do it to commemorate the. Death of Chriſt, but the Circumſtances; of Time and Place, the. Reaſon why we re- ceive at this Time, and in ſuch a particu. lar Church, (which Circumſtances, are no Part of the Sacrament) is to give the Go», vernment Security, that we approve of the Public 'Religion. It is not proper theres. fore to ſay that we ever receive. the Sacra- ment for a Place, we always do it only, to commemorate the Death of Chriſt; —4 we commemorate the Death of Chriſt. with, theſe additional Circumſtances, becauſe thoſe Circumſtances prove our Approbation of. the national Church. Tis never therefore the Receiving. of the Sacrament, (for then, receiving it any where, or at any Time, a e the ſame Effect) 65 Rye Circum- & / / 2 kum unce: Attnang its ts Reception: that qualify Men for publick Employment. The Repealers perhaps will grant, that thus it' _ ought to be; but, ſay they, many Men prophane the Sacrament by acting only up- on ſecular Views: I am afraid it is too true, and ſo it is with reſpect to Oaths, and all the Laws of God and Man, Which where- ever they become diſagreeable to be obſerved, we lie under a Temptation to ſin. Shall all theſe Things therefore be ſet aſide ? I am ſure, they themſelves will not puſh the Point ſo far. Before I clear this Matter, I muſt make one Remark, which is, That the Profanation of the 2 crament is no Grievance to the Difſenters as fach, and therefore they need be under no particular Concern about it. It is, in- deed, a great Scandal and Offence to all good Chriſtians, whenever they ſee ' any of the "Goſpel ' Ordinances abuſed; but ſtill that is no Part of the preſent Debate be- tween us about admitting Diſſenters into Power. To enter a little further into this Matter; I hope I have above proved the Sacramental Teſt to be defenfible, and that therefore it is not neceſſary to change it. F will now enquire, Whether it can be changed upon the preſent Foot of Affairs? and if it can, what muſt ni 0 1 Sao in its Place? pk MEDI JH AU SI as | : ; ER 5 : | ; 4 : In 5 — — —— — — > | TOS FOES In the famous Act of Union, it was de- Ae, That all Laws hen in Force for the Eftabliſhment and Preſervation of the Xa of England, and the Doctrine, Wor- ſhip, Diſcipline, and Goyernment thereof, | ſhould be in full Force for ever; and be an Effential and Fundamental Part of it. I have | hitherto converſed with no Man but what agrees in the Meaning of theſe Words: But, as 1 will not offer to preſcribe to the Parliament, I ſhall only obſerve, that ſhould they Judge this remarkable Clauſe to the be one of the Preliminary Articles o Union, I believe they will in conſequence judge alſo that a Petition brought to them. for the Repeal of /ach an Article is coram non judice ; for how can they pretend to alter, What by a previous Contract made between two independent Nations (from both which the Britiſh Parliament derive their united 75 0 Was s declared to be un- 1 aterable 5 8 * n may bis techies, ke FX Parlia- ment of Great Britain has all the Powers which the Parliaments of England and Scot- land had formerly; and fo they have in all Inſtances, except the Caſes by themſelves excepted, which are the inyiolable Pala Conventa between the two Nations: They boos the ſame Power in all other Inftances, =. « becauſe peta Ca ec, — 1 = = * — — n 0 . - . . ² WE WET TAIT. > SOLES S YORI er Cn Tarn Yr PA V * . * * * f » \ - bacanſe it was given 1 1 hy the Se Conſtituents; - they , have it not in theſe, becauſe it Vas denied them. by the ſame, The preſent Parliament being only the Re» eee, of the two original Parliaments, can go no further than their , Commit. ſion reaches: But what if any of theſe fundamental Articles ſhould. grow to be im practicable or intolerable, is there no Power in the Nation that can aboliſh: them 2. Yes; there is in the Nation, but not in the he fent Parliament. When the ſame; Objec+« tion was made about another preliminary Article before the late Earl Cowper, I am informed that he made this Reply; namely, That to effect the deſired Alteration, it was in his Opinion neceſſary that the Par- liament ſhould, by an Act, ſuſpend their Seſſion, and reſolve themſelves into two Parliaments, which for a limited Time, & pro hac Vice, ſhould fit at London and Edin- burgh, and that, infirm as he was, he would rather travel himſelf on foot to Edinburgh, (were he of that Nation) than oonſent to the Pos after any other Manner. Nor is it any Wonder, that great Man ſhould expreſs theſe Sentiments, when they contain nothing but the unanimous Doctrine of all the ce- lebrated political Writers in Europe. will be ſaid, this. will make t ct ae to alter . nentalt: It is true, 3 and It It ; (#97 and it was' always intended that it ſhonld be extremely difficult to alter Fundamentals. The Contract between the Government and the Proprietors of the Funds falls within the Compaſs of this Reaſoning ; the Proprietors are not, in bi Aion, to be confidered as Subjects of England, included in the grand | Repreſentative of the People, but as the con. traiting Party, and in the ſame Light, as if they were all of them French or Spaniards ; ; and in this, as well as all other Caſes, it is equally true, that no Law can aboliſh a Contra#, but that it muſt be either faith- fully fulfilled, or diſſolved by the mutual Conſent of the two contracting Parties, or of thoſe, who by Virtue of the firſt Contract ſtand in their Place. But to return, if this be a Digreſſion; 'tis laid down as a Maxim among political Writers, that the Society is greater than the Legiſlature: In ſome Countries it is fo in many Caſes, in other Countries in fewer. To the Society belong all the Caſus extra Regimen, to the Legiſlature all intra Regimen - J will ex- plain this by a clear Inſtance. © The whole Legiflature can, in general, do what: they pleaſe with reſpect to governing us; but if any thing ſo extravagant could be imagined, as that they ſhould attempt (as is reported of King Jobn) to ſell us under a foreign Domi nion, * of France or Spain, 2 3 would 15 TFT _ 17 i” i © + $2 { 5 Fi 1 9 1 : £ = 1. 4 17 1 1 1 | 1 Il 1 | 1 ' — — ; — 9 — a — — —— prye = DEI CAS. -. — ü —— ASS foo] would not the Society without Doors deny their Juriſdiction, and declare all their Acts null and void, as being contrary to the very Meaning and Intent of our Government? 'Tis a great Miſtake. therefore to aſſert in Groſs, that the Legiſlature, can do every thing; their political Onmipotence is re- ſtrained by the Laws of God, by the Laws of Right and Wrong, by che Na- ture and End of Government, by the Com- miſſions they may in ſome Countries receive from their Principals, and always, and every where by their own ContraFs. There is doubtleſs che ſame ſupreme Power in all Nations, but in ſome Places more of it is quieſcent in the Society, in others more of * veſted in the Legiſlature.. But if the Parliament ſhould look u the Corporation and Teft Ad, not to be i in- cluded within the Fundamental Prelimina- ries, and by Conſequence repealable like ordinary Acts of Parliament, do the Diſ- ſenters think the Church of England ex- pects no new Teſt in the room of the former, when almoſt all the Legiſlature are Members of that Church? Will not the Clergy ( without any Diſtinction of Party) all unite in this Point? Will not the Cor- porations addreſs their Members, that their W may remain * the old A oun- 13 2 1 Foundation, and not be new- modell'd in ſuch a Way, as will produce perpetual Contention and Confuſion, inſtead of that imagined Peace and Union, which they offer to make us a Preſent of? And will not our Repreſentatives hearken to ſuch reaſonable Addreſſes? If then we are to have a new Teſt, I have never heard that the Wit of Man could invent more than theſe Two: Either, firſt of all, that there be an Act of Parliament made to prohibic every Man holding any Place under the Government ever to go into a Meeting- houſe during the Time of their religious Worſhip, and habitually, at leaſt, to fre- quent the Service of the Church of Eng- land, but not to be obliged to receive the Communion on account of any public Office or Employment. It is ſaid, that in Bern, the freeſt Republick now in the World, every Member. of the great Council of Two Hundred is obliged habitualiyj to frequent their publick Devotions, or elſe he is ex- pelled out of their Grand Senate: So that I hope this Part of the Scheme won't be reckoned injurious to the Liberties of the Britiſh Subjects.. The other Expedicnt | is, that in cal Wd." Religions Teſt of any kind may be admit- ted, there may be an Act provided to diſ- | able , 1 2 — 0 IE clamoe the _ 9 them upon mu they rd - 7 * = Roma to:itfay, : the Po ih urch Intereſts uently p ſeq bers and ting u and er from vo * = * ty to the Ch ) l their Num '4 'E able all 10N- - En formidabl — 4 * F * i LY , : A 4 . R * 4 k * x 8 Fe k * 4 = 8 4 as * 2 2 5 K 8 8 ) F — Bat C4 l ki j : - » - a" . 1 4 *. * SHS - 2 * # 1 = "x" * 4. * > # ' * - 3 — — — * R 2 —_ — a" ——— Ty A ů A — —ꝛ — — —— _ * — — — 1 — o — — — - bs 1 — = —. 