Imprimatur ,

THESE Discourses were at first prepared for you , and were delivered to you among a great many more on other Subjects on several occasions : they were so well received by you , that many of you desired that you might have them copied out for a more lasting use . This has set me on publishing these that follow , they relating to Four different sort of men with whom you may be engaged .

The first is against Atheists and Libertines , who grow to be so bold and insolent , that it is of the last importance , that you should be well furnish'd with Answers to those Objections with which they make the greatest noise . This is the Pest of the Age we live in , the most dangerous as well as the most contagious of all others : It strikes at all , and corrupts the whole Man , as well as it dissolves all the bounds of Nature and Society . This promises such an Indemnity , and gives so entire a liberty , that depraved Inclinations and Affections will be always of its side ; and it has some specious things to alledge , the Novelty and Boldness of which , makes them pass for Wit and Good Humour , which will be always taking to those who want and desire supports and excuses for sins , Upon all these accounts , and chiefly upon the fatal progress which this Blasphemous Spirit of Infidelity has made among us , it becomes us to consider these matters well , that we may be throughly acquainted with all those depths of Satan , and know what to answer to all those false shews of Wit or Reason , as wall as to the more petulant demands by which that prophane Crew study to undermine and beat down all Religion .

One of their common Topicks , is the decrying all Mysteries ; and in this they fall in to the same opposition with the Socinians , tho upon very different designs . For the Socinians run down all Mysteries , and think they can make it appear , That those passages of Scripture by which they are commonly proved , have another meaning ; whereas Libertines do it , being persuaded that they are indeed contained in the Scriptures ; and therefore they hope that they will gain their main end of decrying all Revealed Religion , if strong prejudices are once formed against Mysteries ; and yet they are at the same time consider'd as parts of the Christian Religion , and are believed to be contain'd in the Scriptures . I must also do this right to the Socinians , as to own that their Rules and Morality are exact and severe ; that they are generally men of Probity , Iustice and Charity , and seem to be very much in earnest in pressing the obligations to very high degrees of Virtue . Yet their denying all secret Assistances , must cut off the Exercises of many Devotions , that give a softness and tenderness to the mind ; which if once extinguish'd , it must of necessity draw after it a dry flatness over all a man's thoughts and powers ; their denying the certainty of God's foreseeing all future events that depend upon the freedom of a man's Will , must very much weaken our Confidence in God , our patience under all misfortunes , and our expectations of a deliverance in due time . Their Notions of another state , do also take off much of the terror under which Bad men ought to be kept , and lessen the Ioys of Good men ; On all these accounts , their Opinions seem to have a great Influence upon practice ; but with ●●lation to the great Article of Christianity concerning the Person and sufferings of Iesus Christ , their Doctrine gives so different a view of this Religion in its most important Head , that either we have been guilty of a most Irreligious prophanation , in esteeming one to be God , and giving him all the Acknowledgments and Adorations that belong to the Great and Eternal God , who yet is a meer Creature ; or they must be no less guilty , who if he be the Great and the True God , do look on him only as a Creature , and yet offer him all divine Honour and Worship : and if his Death was only a pattern , or any thing else than a true propitiatory Sacrifice , then we who look on it as our Propitiation and Redemption , who claim and trust to it , as our Ransom and Atonement , do very impiously raise its value beyond the Truth , and fix our Confidence , with relation to our Peace with God , upon a false foundation . Whereas on the other hand , If God has set forth his death as a Propitiation for the forgiveness of sin , then they are guilty of black Ingratitude , and of defeating the chief design of the Gospel , who so far detract from its value , as to reckon it only a patern of dying , a confirmation of the Gospel , and necessary preliminary to a Resurrection . Upon all these accounts it is that I could never understand the Pacificatory Doctrines of those who think that these are questions in which a diversity of Opinions may well be endured without disturbing the Peace of the Church , or breaking Communion about th●m . They seem to be the Fundamentals of Christianity , and therefore I thought it was very necessary for me to give you a ful and clear Instruction in this matter .

The 3d. Discourse relates to that upon which the whole Cause of Popery turns ; for if they are Infallib●e , it is to no purpose to dispute about any thing else : and if they are fallible , their pretending to Infallibility , is of it self a just prejudice against their whole Church , and against all their other Doctrines , when they claim to so high an authority without good grounds . Since therefore this is the most Important part of all our Controversies with that Church , and since it is that to which they always turn themselves by which they gain Prosclites , and est●blish their own Votaries , and set them out of the reach of all Convistion , the understanding of this matter in its full extent , seems to be a very necessary piece of study . We are apt upon a little Interval of quiet to forget the practices of that Church ; and because we do not think of them , we may be apt to fancy that they think as little of us : but they do still pursue their point with an unwearied diligence . They never give over , but when one design fails , they either study to retrieve it , or to set another on foot , with an Industry that ought to awaken us , and keep us always on our guard . The Numbers of their Emis●aries are great and their Zeal is ever warm and active ; therefore we must never lose sight of them ; and above all th● other points of Controversy , we must study to be most particularly conversant in this , and expert at the management of it .

The Fourth Discourse relates to the various Bodies of the Dissenters among us , and all the different grounds upon which they separate from us . The Toleration that the Law gives them , does not alter the nature of things , nor make an unjust Separation to be one whit the lawfuller than it was when they were under a severe Yoke . The Law only gives a Civil Impunity , and does not punish : But the Cause of the Separation is the same that it was , and is neither better nor worse , whether the Separation is punished or not . They are now left to themselves , and are so much the freer in their choice , the less restraint is put upon them . Therefore it was never more seasonable than it is now , to set the whole matter in a true light before all that may be concerned in it , that they may weigh it the more impartially : And the less uneasy we seem to be , at the ease which the Law gives them , we may have thereby the greater advantages in endeavouring to bring them back to the Communion of the Church , by shewing both their obligations to it , and the weakness of those Reasons which have led them to depart from it .

I think it is not necessary to say more , for justifying the choice that I have made of these four Heads , as the first Essay that I offer you , of a great many other Discouses , with which I have entertained you , when I have desired you to meet in the sever●l parts and different Divisions of my Diocess : Some head of Divinity being proposed as the Subject of a Conference , I have enlarged upon a great many among you , and have laid bafore you all that my Studies and Observation could suggest ; and after that , have led you to discourse freely upon it , This has seemed to me a proper method for awakening your Enquiries , and for encreasing your Knowledge : And those meetings have been so well kept by you , and the Discourses so carefully attended to , that it has given me no small encouragement to go on still in the same method , And as your thinking that you have profited by my Labours , is a full and rich recompence , that does abundently overbalance any pains they may put me to : So it is for your sake that I do now publish these Discourses ; and as they prove acceptable or useful to you , I may , perhaps , publish others hereafter ,

Certainly , next to a true sense of Divine Matters , and the inward belief and impressions of Religion , Study , and a desire of useful knowledge , is that which becomes our Profession the best . It is that which enables us both to understand our business , and to do our duty . It is the noblest entertainment , and the best preservative from idleness , and from all that dulness and weariness , all those excesses and disorders that arise out of it . The mind will be always working , and if we do not let it fly at nobler game , it will either sink into a feebleness and stupidity , or look out for such Diversions as do offer themselves , without a scrupulous regard to their unsuitableness to our Caracter . These draw men down to a vicious familiarity with bad men , and do fatally engage many to share with them in bad practices : either they make us much the worse , or at the least we seem to be so to others , when we thow away much of our time in levities , which do often end in gross Immoralities . In which the World will be apt to give us a large share , often without a pretence , but to be sure , if there is the least shadow for it , the chief part of the blame will be cast on us . Nor will it be easy for us to be blameless , and without rebuke , unless we maintain the other part of the Character given by St. Paul , that as becomes the sons of God , We shine as lights in the world . And I may well conclude , That a serious application to study , is the best fence , both of the Probity , and of the Reputation of a Clergy-man : It both teaches himself all the parts of his duty , and creates to him that esteem which is necessary to support him in the discharge of it .

And therefore , my dear Brethren , I do with all possible Earnestness call upon you , to study to maintain the high Reputation for Learning , of which the Clergy of this Church has been so long possessed ; and to give your selves time and leisure to peruse and digest the Learned Productions of those Great Men among us ; and not to be proud , or to boast that we belong to a Body that has produced Men so deservedly admired , both by Friends and Enemies , while we our selves are so little like them , that we are not a whit the wiser or the learneder for all that they have left us . Some hours every day well placed would soon bring us under such habits , that it would not be easy , if possible , for us to live out of all commerce with Learning , and the learned World . I know the unhappy state of many depauperated Benefices , puts it out of the Incumbent's power to furnish themselves with Books ; as much as their narrow Circumstances indispose them for making use of them , if they had them . This is a crying grievance , and looks too like a scorn put on the Gospel , when those who Minister in Spiritual things are so slenderly supplied in Temporals , that nothing but extreme Necessity can induce Men to serve in such Cures , who are put to wrestle still with the same necessity , especially if they have Families that grow upon them . But as we have at present just Grounds to hope , and to give you cause likewise to hope , that if God blesses us with calm and setled times , effectual Remedies should be found out to that great misery , under which many of you languish , which must needs give very sad and afflicting thoughts to those who observe it , and who ought to watch over you , and to take care of you ; so the best method to move our Princes , and to dispose the Nation to take pity on you , is for you to take heed to your selves , and to the Flocks that are committed to you ; to follow your Studies and your Labours more diligently , and to raise your own Character by your Exemplary Lives , and the painful discharge of your Duties . This , and this only , will draw down the blessings of Heaven upon your Persons , and your Labours ; this will make your very Enemies to be at Peace with you , and will force those who do now despise you , to esteem you , and to count you worthy of double Honour , of a larger and easier subsistence .

I will employ the rest of this Discourse in pressing upon you one great part of your duty , in which , as I am glad that so many among you set a good Example to their Brethren , so I do earnestly wish that all the rest may follow it : It is , To express an affectionate and hearty zeal for their Majesties , and their Government ; and to endeavour to keep your People always in mind of the extream Miseries , as well as of the visible Dangers of Popery and Tyranny . This must still be remembred as a lasting honour to this Church , That some years ago , there was in a day of Trial , so noble an Opposition given to that Religion , and the steps that were then made to bring it in upon us . We are still in the struggle , and are strangely mistaken , if we imagine the Danger is past . We plainly see the Clouds return after the Rain ; and a Relapse into that State would make the latter end much worse than the beginning : The Hope which then supported , and afterwards delivered us , would no more soften our Miseries with the prospect of better Times . The Rage , as well as the Power of our Enemies , would be much encreased ; and there is no doubt to be made , but that those who have no Religion , whose numbers , God knows , do swell vastly , would hope to atone for all that has been done with the change of their No-Religion , for that to which their Interest should lead them . And if ever God , for our great and crying Sins , is provoked to visit us in so terrible a manner ; we , who have been hitherto the most favoured of all the Churches of God , must become the most miserable . Whither can we fly for shelter , or where can we promise our selves either Retreat or Relief ?

The prospect of such a Calamity seems to be one of the blackest of all that has been since the World begun ; and yet how tamely do many look for it ; while others with a fury that is as much without bounds , as it is without sense , are endeavouring to bring on that Evil Day ; to make the Nation grow weary of its Deliverance and present Quiet , and return back into Egypt . While they spread so many False Reports , with a Spite that is as restless as it is insolent ; shall we at such a time stand as neutral , and unconcerned , while all is at stake ? Shall it be said , That whereas some years ago , during the Debates concerning the Exclusion , we sided so openly , and with a Zeal that shewed it self on all occasions , and in Instances which were better forgotten than remembred ; yet now when all that can concern us , either as we are Men , and Englishmen , or as we are Christians , and the Ministers of the Church of England , is in such eminent danger , we seem to let all Parties fight it out the best they can , while we only do what is enjoined , and express neither affection nor zeal .

I will not offer to say any thing to convince you of the Lawfulness of the present Constitution : For I cannot admit so bad a thought of any of you , as to imagine that you could take the Oaths , and continue to perform Divine Offices , Ordinary and Extraordinary , unless you were fully satisfied in your Consciences concerning the Lawfulness both of the one and of the other . This is so black an Imputation , to suppose that Men of common Probity , not to say , Men that ought to be the Paterns , as well as the Instructers of others , should swear an Oath and adhere so long to it , which is an interpretative renewing of it , ever till it is openly retracted , and should in those frequent returns of daily Prayers , besides the special Offices of Fasts and Thanksgiving-days , offer up Devotions to God contrary to their Persuasions , that no man is capable of so heinous , and so continued a Prevarication , unless he is either a determinate Atheist , or a man of a seared and hardned Conscience . Now as this is of so odious a nature , that indeed it is not easy to find words severe enough to set it out by ; so supposing men once convinced of the Lawfulness of our present Scituation , it is very extraordinary if they are cold and unconcerned in a Point , which when it is once yielded to be lawful , is unquestionably of the greatest importance and consequence possible .

If Liberty and Religion are valuable things ; and if they are not , what is valuable ? If the maintaining the Purity of the Christian Religion , free from Idolatry and Superstition , from Imposture and Cruelty ; if the maintaining a Church that without partiality , is to be preferred to any Church now in the World ; and if the keeping out of a Religion , which is without partiality the worst of any that carries the Name of Christ ; If the preserving a Government that is just and mild , that is guided by Law , and that maintains Property , and that leaves Mankind to all the Liberties of a free-born Nature , and of a well Constituted Society : And if the withstanding an absolute and Despotical , an Arbitrary and Violent Tyranny , that tramples on all thinge Sacred and Human , that oppresses Liberty , and destroys Property , and that makes men Slaves , and treats them as brute Beasts ; If , I say , all these things are well weighed , then we must conclude , That we owe the utmost degrees of affection and zeal to Their Majesties , and to Their Government : We ought to make all our People sensible , both of the Happiness that we do now enjoy , and of the Miseries that we are preserved from , by Their means , and under Their Protection . We ought to set Popery and Slavery before them in their true Colours , with all the light and life that we can give them : We ought to set our selves against those false Brethren , that pretend they are of the Church of England , but are not ; and are of the Synagogue of Satan , which in its strict notion signifying an Adversary , we may without any breach of Charity affirm , that they associate themselves to the Enemy of our Nation , and of our Religion ; whose Person , Government , Forces and Successes , they are always magnifying , on design to intimidate such as can be wrought on by their false Surmises . These things we ought to repress and oppose on all occasions with the Spirit and Courage that such matter require .

It is Stupidity and not Patience to be cold and luke-warm , while England and the Protestant Religion are in the last struggles whether they must live or die . If God does not bless so good a Cause in all the steps it makes , with the Success that we ought to desire and pray for ; we should teach our people not to murmur , nor aggravate matters , not to sink or despond , but to consider how much our sins have provoked God's Wrath , how small a share we bear of those devouring Calamities that have ruin'd so great a part of Europe ; while we only bear the Charge , but feel few of the Miseries of War . If some years are less prosperous than others have been , we ought to reflect on former Successes , and the ill use that we have made of them , which may have provoked God to change his methods : and yet take all together , it must be acknowledged , that we have had of late more publick Blessings and fewer Misfortunes , than any Nation under Heaven . Can one reflect on the Blasphemy and Infidelity , the dissolution of all good Morals , and the Impieties and Vices of all sorts that are among us , and not wonder rather , that we have not been made a scene of Earthquakes and Ruins , as Sicily , Malta and Jamaica have of late been . It is to these sins that we ought to turn the minds of our people , when they are at any time dejected with ill success ; we ought to call upon them to repent of , and to reform their ways : and when that is done , or even set about , we may then hope that God will change his methods towards us ; and continue his Gospel among us , together with the Blessings of a Iust and Wise Government , and of Peace and Plenty .

These are Subjects on which we ought to dwell much , and Preach often . But that I may not dismiss this matter , without any thing that looks like an Argument ; I will open to you two great Precedents , which you have often heard me enlarge on with much seeming satisfaction : and because you have thought that I laid them out in a more particular manner , than you had otherwise met with them ; I will now spread them out before you : and that the rather , because Arguments from Examples , and authorised practices , have upon many Accounts a stronger Influence , than general reasonings . Matters of Fact are easier apprehended , and more capable of full proof , than points of speculation ; which do more easily bend to any turn , that a Man of Wit may give them , than meer Facts , which are stubborn and sullen .

The first of these is taken from the History of the Maccabees , which I desire you will consider by these steps . That the Jews became the Subjects of the Kings of Babylon by the Entire Conquest which Nebuchadnezzar made of that Nation ; that after the end of 70 Years , they continu'd to be subject to Cyrus , who tho he sent them back to rebuild their Temple , and tho his Successors suffer'd them both to finish that , and to rebuild and enclose Jerusalem , yet they continu'd still to be the Subjects of the Kings of Persia ; this was transferred to Alexander the Great , when he conquer'd that Empire : And finally , they fell to the share of the Kings of Syria , and were their Subjects above 140 Years . They proved hard Masters to them : Antiochus Epiphanes robb'd the Temple in the 143 Year of the Seleucida ; a great Massacre followed ; 1 Macc. 1.20 , 24 , 25. but these were particular Acts of Tyranny ; and so tho there was great mourning upon this , yet it was submitted to : For certainly the Peace of Mankind , and the Order of the World require , that special acts of malversation , and even of Trranny , should be born , rather than that we should shake an established Constitution : But in the year 145. he went on to a total Subversion of their Religion , by an Edict which required that they should forsake their Law , V. 41. V. 54. V. 57. and become one People with him : In pursuance os which , the Altar at Jerusalem was defiled ; Idolatrous Altars were set up in all their Cities , and every Man was to be put to Death that still adhered to the Law of Moses . Here then were Subjects brought under a general Sentence of Death , unless they should depart from the Laws of God : special Oppressions and violent Acts of Cruelty were submitted to ; but when they saw themselves involved all in the same common fate , they defended themselves .

Mattathias not only refused to join in the Idolatry that they had set up , but killed both him that went to offer the Sacrifice and likewise the King's Commissioner ; upon which the Historian adds this Reflection , Thus dealt he zealously for the Law of God , like Pianehas ; he a nimated his Children to follow his Example , 2 ch. 24 , 25. V. 26. and to trust in God ; but he vouched no immediate warrant that he had from God : He charged his Children to be zealous for the Law , and to give their Lives for the Covenant of their Fathers ; to be valiant , and to shew th●mselves Men in behalf of it , V. 50. V , 64. V. 67 , 68. for by it you shall obtain glory ; and he ordered them to take unto them all that observed the Law , and to revenge the wrong of their People ; to Recompence fully the Heathen , and to take heed to the Commandment of the Law . Upon this followed the Wars of the Maccabees , in which they never pretended to any special Authority from any Prophet : On the contrary , their History tells us , That they laid up the Stones of the Altar , that had been prophaned by Idolatry , in a convenient place , till a Prophet should come to shew what should be done with them . 4 Macc. 46. Thus then we see Subjects defend themselves against their Prince , when he designed a total Subversion of their Religion : and for this they vouched no immediate nor extraordinary Authority .

But to give this Argument its entire force , We must next see upon what reason we may conclude , that this was a justifiable , and by consequence an imitable Action . As for this , tho I think it is scarce necessary to enlarge much on an Apology for the Maccabees , their Wars having born such a venerable sound in a course of so many Ages ; 11 Dan. 31 , 32 , 33 , 34. yet to pursue the matter fully , we find a Prophesy concerning them in Daniel , which is by all Commentators Ancient and Modern , applied to them , that alone seems to import a full Iustification of them ; after mention is made of a King that should defile the Sanctuary , and take away the daily Sacrifice , and set upon it the abomination that maketh desolate ; to that , this is added , and such as do wickedly against the Covenant , shall he corrupt by flatteries : but the People that do know their God , shall be strong , and do exploits . And they that understand among the People , shall instruct many ; yet they shall fall by the Sword , and by flame ▪ by captivity , and by spoil many days : And when they shall fall , they shall be holpen with a little help ; but many shall cleave to them with flatteries . As these words import a plain Prodiction , in terms of approbation of the Wars of the Maccabees , so all the Commentators that I have yet seen , without exception , do apply them to them

There are also many Commentators who do apply likewise to them , those words of the Epistle to the Hebrews , Who out of weakness were made strong , waxed valiant in fight , and turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens : 11 Heb. 34. And there is a particular resemblance observed between these words , and some Phrases that occur in the Books of the Maccabees : Yet I confess those words are not so express as the former , nor are they so Universally expounded in this sense . But to conclude this matter , The Authority of those Books , as it is an Argument of full force against those who acknowledge them to be Canonical ; so since by the Articles of our Church , these Books are to be read for example of Life , and for the Instruction of manners ; tho it doth not apply them to establish any Doctrine ; Art. 6. and since we read so many Lessons taken out of the Apocrypha : These must be acknowledged to be Books of great , tho not of Divine Authority . And tho according to the Article of our Church , the arguing from any one passage in them is not to be allowed ; yet if Subjects standing on their own defence , in the case of a total Subversion , is to be esteemed Rebellion , then we bind up with our Bibles , and recommend to our People , two Books that set out a History with great pomp , and with an Air of much Piety , which was no other than a down right Rebellion .

To this , the only answer that I have ever yet seen made , is , That the Iewish Dispensation being founded on Temporal Promises , whereas the Christian Religion is a Doctrine of the Cross , things of this kind might have been Lawful among them , tho they are not so to us : and that the rather , because by a Practice that was authorised , from the Example of Phinehas , and the praise given him for it , private Men might among the Jews , when the Magistrate was remiss , fall upon Offenders , and punish them , especially in the case of Idolatry . This is all that seems to be offered with any colour of Reason , to take off the Argument from the practice of the Maccabees : and therefore the considering and stating it aright , will determine the whole matter . First , then , The true Arguments against Resistance being drawn from the Magistrates having the Sword from God , together with all the Topicks that belong to that head , they are equally obligatory to all Nations , and all Religions ; it being no part of any special Doctrine delivered in the New Testament , but arising from the Attributes of God , and the Peace and Order of the World , which did bind Jews as well as Christians : tho there are indeed Specialties in the Christian Religion , that do enforce this the more , and aggravate the transgression of it more apparently . So that if Subjects defending themselves in the case of a Total Subversion , ( it must ever be remembred , that I am now only arguing upon this Supposition ) is the sin of Rebellion , it was a sin to the Jews , to the Maccabees in particular , as well as it is a sin to Christians . As for that of the Zealots , tho at first appearance it seems to be of some force , yet when examined it will be found to have very little in it . If we consider the first Authorities for Zealots , we shall find , that the Jews stretched this matter beyond all bounds ; so that to their mistakes about it , they owed a great part of their last fatal Miseries , which ended in their ruin . This matter has been also too implicitly taken by many Christian Writers from them . The first beginning of Zealotism was in the Instance of Phinehas his killing Zimri and Cosbi ; but before this was done , Moses , 25 Num. 5. who was the chief Ruler , did command all the Judges of Israel , that every one should slay his men that were joined to Baal-Peor . Phinehas was one of these Judges ; 3 Num. 32. 20 Num. 28. for as Eleazar had been set over the Tribe of Levi when his Father was High-Priest , so Aaron being dead at this time , and Eleazar made High-Priest in his stead , Phinehas was now over the Tribe of Levi ; and thus Moses Command was in particular directed to him ; therefore though the Zeal with which he executed it , was highly acceptable to God , yet it was exactly Regular , since Moses had given a general Order for it .

After this followed some Instances of Men eminently authorized by God , by the Gifts of Prophecy and Miracles , who did in some Cases punish Idolaters ; such was Samuel's hewing Agag in pieces , in execution of the Divine Command ; and Elijah's ordering all the Priests of Baal to be killed , 1 Sam. 15.33 . after he had by an astonishing Miracle proved that Jehovah was the true God , and that he was his Prophet . This was suitable to their Dispensation , which being a Theocracy , 1 Kings 18.40 . an authorized Prophet might well have entred upon the Functions of the Magistrate , when the King himself was in fault , and the Law was openly profaned . Upon the same grounds our Saviour , after his Miracles had openly declared that he was sent of God , did whip the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple , when they had profaned the Court of the Gentiles , and had made that House of Prayer a Den of Thieves . 21 Mat. 13.

Thus it is plain , That none of the Presidents from the Zealots of the Old Testament , could justify private Men , such as Mattathias and his Children , to do any thing that was of it felf irregular and unlawful . Phinehas his practice was a Precedent for acting in the matters of their Law with much spirit and courage , but it could not justify any man who should presume to do that , which was not otherwise lawful for him to do ; and though the Spirit of the Christian Religion is very different from the Spirit by which Elijah and other Prophets under the Old Testament were acted ; 9 Luke 55 , 56. as our Saviour told his Disciples , particularly in this , that whereas in the one , Prophets did immediately by Miracles , or otherwise , punish some Offenders ; in the other , all was to be managed with a Spirit of Gentleness and Charity ; yet after all , the lasting Rules of Morality and Human Society , were the same then that they are now .

This Instance , I think , does fully justify those who , seeing a total Subversion of our Religion so far advanced , that the Pope's Authority was publickly owned , and that all the Laws that secured it , were declared to be under a Dispensing Power , which was in it self a total Subversion of our Constitution , did think it lawful to accept of a Deliverance , to concur in it , and to assist towards it .

The other Instance is taken from the first beginnings of Christianity's being the Legal and Authorized Religion of the Roman Empire ; and from the first Council that is esteemed General , where a Precedent is laid down , that is , no less full for justifying those who tho they did not concur in procuring our Deliverance , yet have since closed in it , with all humble Gratitude and Obedience to those whom God made the Instruments in so great a Work .

After Constantine and Licinius had given out those Edicts at Milan , by which the Christians had full liberty both for their Belief and Worship , and had all the Rights and Immunities of other Corporations granted them , Licinius being still in his heart an Enemy to that Religion , Eus. Chron Theoph. Anonim . Vales. began in the Year 319 , to persecute the Christians : He durst not , for fear of Constantine , fall upon them openly ; but his Intentions being well understood by his Ministers , the Governours of the Provinces committed in many places great Cruelties . He likewise turned the Christians first out of his Houshoud , and next out of all his Armies . He made a Law against relieving such as were in Prison , Eus. l. 10. c. 8. by which those who relieved them were to be punished as Complices of their Crimes . He apprehending that most of the Bishops wisht well to Constantine , and that in their hearts they were set against himself , went on by degrees in his design against them , Eus. de Vit. Con. l. 1. c. 5. c 53. he by one Edict , forbade the Bishops to meet together , or to meddle with the Concerns of one another's Churches . By another , he designed to expose them to Scandal and Scorn . He forbade Men and Women to meet together to worship God , or Bishops to visit Women ; or Women to come to be instructed in their Schools ; and appointed that Women only should instruct Women . He also forbade their holding Assemblies within Cities , and ordered them to meet in the open Fields . Some Churches were pulled down by his Orders , Eus. l. 10. c. 8. and others were shut up ; and his first Successes made him resolve on a general Persecution : For not only Eusebius , but both Socrates , Sozemen , De vit. Con , l. 2. c. 2. cap. 3. and several other Writers , do all affirm , That there was no general Persecution begun , but that there were visible steps made towards it . When all this was represented to Constantine , he was much affected with it ; and resolved to help the oppressed , and thought it was a pious and holy Action to save a mulitude , by the destroying of one Person : For he saw no other way was left to relieve the Oppressed ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and his engaging in a War with Licinius , was by the Bishops of the East , that is , Licinius's own Subjects , ascribed to an immediate Conduct and Providence of God . Eus. l. 10. c. 8. It is true , Eutropius puts this upon Constantine's Ambition , and his aspiring to be the single Monarch of the World : This is also insinuated by Aurelius Victor , Lib. 10. Principatum totius Orbis affectans . and more fully set out by Zosimus ; whose hatred both of Constantine , and of the Christian Religion , breaks out into so many Partialities , unbecoming an Historian , and engages him into so many Stories that are evidently false , that little regard is due to any thing he says .

I will not enlarge upon the War that followed , only I must observe , that tho Constantine as the Senior Emperour , had the precedence of Licinius ; yet he had no sort of Authority over him : So here two Princes , both equally Sovereigns of the Roman Empire , Colleagues and Brothers-in-Law , for Licinius had maried Constantine's Sister , were engaged in a War : the quarrel was not a general persecution ; but such steps made , as did plainly discover there was one intended . A Peace soon after followed . The Cement of it was , The declaring Licinius's Son Licinian Caesar , who was then 21 years of Age ; this put him in the Succession . But a second Rupture followed quickly after that . Licinius's hatred to the Christians being rather encreased than abated , since he observed that they all loved Constantine ; This proved fatal to Licinius , for he was totally defeated at Andrianople the 3d of July 324. and after some fruitless Attempts , he was forced to put himself in Constantines hand , on the 18th . of September following . Whereupon he was sent to live a private man at Thessalonica : but Constantine understanding that he could not rest , ordered him to be put to death , in the beginning of the Year 325. Now we are in the next place to see what was the sense of the whole Church , of this Transaction : I confess we ought not to take it singly from Eusebius , for he is rather a perpetual Encomiast of Constantine , than his Historian , but we have a much more certain and Authentical Authority for this : Constantine in the same year in which he had put Licinius to death , and had taken no notice of Lucinian , tho but a year before made Caesar by his own Act , called the first General Council to meet at Nice : Eus. Vit. Const. l , 3 c. 12. For in his Speech to them , he tells them , that he had given Orders to call them together , as soon as he had overcome the Tyranny . The Council made no Exceptions to Constantine as an Invader ; they did neither enquire after Lucinian , nor complain of Licinius's Fate : On the contrary , When Constantine came in and harangned them , Eustathius of Antioch did entertain him with a Panegyrick , full of high Commendations ; and another seems to have been made by Eusebius , blessing Almighty God upon his account ; which Speeches pronounced in full Council , Theod. l. 7 De Vit. Const. l. 3 c. 11. are at least a strong Presumption , that they all approved of the War , and rejoiced in i● the deliverance . This is yet more evident from the 11th . Canon of the Council , in which they reflect upon the late Tyranny of Licinius , which shews that tho his death , and the ruin of his Family , must have naturally given some Compassion for one that was then scarce cold , and that had so lately been their Prince : for almost that whole Council consisted of those who had been the Bishops in his share of the Empire ; yet they considered the danger they and their Religion had been in under him , and their deliverance by Constantine , as vastly superiour to their Ties to him ; so that there was an Universal Ioy over the whole East upon the Successes of Constantine .