THE Bill of Forfeitures that is now brought into the House of Commons , being Read the First Time , appears to be a Bill for this Purpose : That all Persons that were in any Office , or Offices , during the Two last Reigns , and did not qualifie themselves , by Receiving the Sacrament , according to the Ceremonies of the Church of England , and by taking the Oaths , according to the Statute ; shall Forfeit the Sum of 500l. for every Office ; and that the same shall be Tryed , in a Summary way , by Commissioners to be appointed for that Purpose : With an Appeal , to the Quarter Sessions , in so many Daies . By this Bill it is manifest , that the Subject is deprived of the benefit of the Laws , that were in being , at the time , when the supposed Offence was committed , and are condemned by a Law , ex post facto , to a new Tryal , in a Summary way , before Commissioners , which is the same thing , as my Lord Strafford's Bill of Attainder ; ( whatever glosses may be put upon it ; ) for if the Subject be deprived of the Form of Trial , by those Laws that ought to determine the Matter , and by which they are able to make their Defence ; and be condemned by a new Law , to a new Form of Tryal , by which they cannot make their Defence ; What is this but a Conviction in Parliament , without a Tryal , or Hearing one Man in his own Defence ? In that Bill of my Lord Strafford's , it was Enacted , that the same should never be made use of , for a President , to Posterity ; and yet that was in the Case of a single Person , a great Minister of State , who was above the ordinary Proceedings of Law , and therefore had a fair Hearing in Parliament ; but here , behold , a Multitude are condemed , whose Faces are unknown , without Distinction , or Consideration of the particular Circumstances that may arise upon a fair Trial ; Persons of inferiour Station , that are Subject to the ordinary Methods of Proceedings in Westminster-Hall ; a Thing without President in any Government in the World ; and therefore , a reasonable Man would think , that there could be no question , whether this Bill should pass into a Law or not ; but yet particular Passions , against particular Men , and other unhappy Differences , have raised some plausible Arguments , for Passing this Bill , which requires an Answer .

One Argument for passing the Bill , is this ; viz. That the Papists , and Dissenters , are very ill Men , and not well affected to the present Government ; and therefore it is very prudent to weaken such a Party , and take from them that Money , which they may otherwise make ill use of against the Government .

Answer . The Conclusion is very reasonable , if the Premises were true ; but how do you prove the Premises upon Protestant Dissenters ? Have they raised any Rebellion ? Have they refused to give , or pay the Taxes to the Government ? Did they not all most Zealously promote the Interest of His Majesty , ever since this happy Revolution ? Did not those in Offices obey als Commands for disarming Papists , securing disaffected Persons , and keeping the Country in Pence and Quietness ? Are the Protestant Dissenters oblige●… to Answer for the Papists ? This is a strange Alteration ; but the Reason is plain , The People are naturally ●… rse to Taxes , and when this Parliament have given as great Taxes as the last , then the People will be for changing their Members again , and so the Name of Jacobites must go round , as the prevailing Party pleases to Order it ; but His Majesty ( they are sure ) is very well satisfied and assured of their Loyalty ; and if the Parliament please , they are ready to give any farther Demonstration of it that shall be required .

Objection 2d . But the Dissenters , hour well soever they have behaved themselves , must be content to be governed by Law ; and if they have acted contrary to Law , it is not severity in the Parliament to put the Laws in Execution .

Answer . True , if this were the Case ; for they are content to have the Laws put in Execution against them , in Relation to the Forfeitures ; but this Bill is so far from that , that it takes from them the Benefit of those Laws , and hooks them in by a New Law .

Object . 3d . But this Act is made only to prevent the Common Informer , who would not only recover these Forfeitures , but also bring the Party into several Incapacities , which are of greater concern to them ; so that by this Bill a Kindness is intended to the Protestant Dissenters ; for here is a Pardon for the Incapacities , and the Forfeitures only raised .

Answer . The Protestant Dissenters are much obliged to the Inventor of this Argument , no doubt he has a great Kindness for them : The Papists indeed are obliged to him , for all Papists Convict are lyable to both the Incapacities , and Forfeitures , and therefore this Bill does them a Kindness ; but the Protestants deny that they are lyable to either , by the Laws of England , as they now stand , and therefore desire no such Kindness , but that they may stand and fall by the known Laws of the Land ; and when they want a Favour , they will become Humble Suitors for it themselves .

Object . 4th . But some Money is wanting , is it not better that the King should have the Mony , than the Common Informer .

Answer . Right , It is Ten Thousand times better but still that is not the Case , no Man opposes the vesting of all Legal Forfeitures in their Majesties , to be recovered according to those Laws , against which , the Offence was committed ; but they humbly opposed a New Bill , that ( in the consequence of it ) doth condemn a number of Men , as guilty within those Laws , who in reality are not so , and the rather , for that the Execution of this Law is not left to His Majesty , into whose Hands , they dare readily commit both their Lives , and Estates ; but appropriated as a Debt to the Navy , in which Case no Mercy can be expected .

Obj. That it is fit in so great a Revolution , that some should be punished for their Offences .

Answer . It 's so , but how ? If not accord●… 〈…〉 Laws , against which they have offended ; if the● 〈…〉 by Law , what need a new Law to Condemn them ; if they are not guilty by Law , than why are they Condemned ?

Object . But these Protestant Dissenters are worse than Papists , for they accepted of Commissions of the Peace when we were turned out .

Answer . What then If they did a thing that displeased , is that a Criminal Offence , and a Sufficient Reason to convict an Offender by a new Law ? Shall a Traytor and a Murderer have the benefit of making their defence , by the known Laws of the Land before the Offence Commited ? And shall these Men be debarred thereof ? But pray let us consider who had received the best Usage of late Days , the Papist or Dissenter ? Was there no such thing as a violent Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters a little before ? No Families ruined by Fines and Imprisonments meerly upon the account of Religion , without any Offence commited ? And did not the Papists at that time enjoy all the Ease and Liberty imaginable ; How were the Papists indulged in those Days , whilst the poor Protestants were the only Sufferers by those very Laws that were safely designed at first against Papists . What ? Must the Protestants be supposed to be Stupid and Insensible ? What reasonable Man can wonder that they should embrace Freedom after so great Oppressions ? T is well known that a Gentleman of that perswasion could not be quiet in this Country from the Solicitations of the poor Protestants at that time , who being newly delivered from violent Prosecutions for their Religion , were over-joyed at that unexpected Deliverance ; and who could tell in the begining what was designed above ? Self Preservation , is by the Law of Nature , which is above all other Laws ; and if that were sufficient , and the only thing that could give a right to the Subject to be Active in this happy Resolution , it cannot leave the Protestants without a just excuse for what they did at that time : And if this be so , then it is reasonable that those that were at least the remote Cause of the Dissenters acting for their own Preservation ; should now be the imediate Authors of their Punishments : But if this must be so , still the Dissenters cry out for common Justice , for a fair Tryal by the known Laws of the Land , or else this last Prosecution will be worse than the former , for then they had a fair Tryal , but now they have none ; or if any , it is such a one as was not in being when the Offence was commited , but purposely created by a new Bill to bring those Persons to Punishment , who by Law are not now Punishable .

Object . But it was an Evil thing in the Dissenters to betray their Religion for Revenge , and to endeavour to bring in Popery .

Answer An evil thing indeed , if true , and it s heartily wished that all such Men might be severely punished ; but this Calumny is not believed by those that say it ; for whatever some scandalous Persons , both of the Church , and amongst Dissenters , might have done , yet the greatest and best party of both , were equally resolved to oppose Popery : And therefore the late King would have found himself very much mistaken in his Measures for that purpose . The Gent . of that Perswasion , were indeed prevailed upon , for the Reasons aforesaid , to accept of Authority to preserve themselves , when they might safely do it ; and yet they were advised they might safely do it , after the Judges of England had given such an Opinion : But yet they were all generally resolved against taking off the Test , and many of then , the Penal Laws also tho they had been so great Sufferers by them : So far were they from endeavouring to introduce Popery , or from betraying their Religion . But these Expressions are but the effects of unhappy Differences amongst our selves ; and till those are removed , by a general Act of Oblivion , the Nation can never be serled in Peace and Prosperity .

Obj. That Moneys must be had some way or other , and there is no other way , at present , to raise it but by such a Tux as this .

Answer . Then let such a Tax as this be made equally and proportionably , upon all manner of Offenders , 〈◇〉 that will do the King and Kingdom good , and prev●… future Taxes upon us all ; whereas now we are to pay F●…feitures and Taxes both : And this being plainly desig●… against a particular Party , will only raise more Dust tha● it can lay , and so be of no use to the Publick .

Ob. That tho the Protestants ( as the Case now happens ) are not punishable by Law , yet the Parliament may punish them if they please ; and what the Parliament does is not unjust .

Answer . All Deference is paid to the power of Parliaments ; but the reasonableness or unreasonableness of a Bill ( before it be Actually passed into a Law ) is ever allowed to be debated , both without as well as within the House , so as the same be done with due Submission to ou● Superiors : And if reason be on the Protestant Dissenters side , they have some reason to hope that the Parliament will be so too ; and it is hard if the Loosers shall not have the liberty to speak a little for themselves ; what then shall we say ? Is this Law Just ? If it be , we are sure it is with out a President in all Histories or Ages of the World ; no Government can produce the like . We read , indeed , that a whole City should have been saved if that Ten good Men had been found in it ; but here we see a Multitude to be Destroyed , their Wives and Children Ruined because a few bad Men might be amongst them . The great Tragedy in the West , tho' there was no new Law made against them , was condemned by most Men of all Part●… ; because the Calamity was so general , and the Execution of it in cold Blood . But the Dissenters Case is worse , for a much greater number would , by this Bill , be condemned and ruined in cold Blood , so long after the Revolution , by a New Law , without a Tryal , by the known Laws of the Land . What then can be the effect of such severe Proceedings , but the same that hath alwaies been observed in this Nation ? It s a Maxim , Nullum violentum est contin●… m . When the Dissenters was the prevailing Party , a●… st things came to that pass , that they did not execu●… 〈◇〉 Power with that Moderation that became them ; the● the Church Party became uppermost , and the Magistracy was in their hands , till their Moderation also was at an end . Then the Papists took their turn , and we see now they used their Authority , and what is become of them ? After that the Dissenters again , were the prevailing Party , the last Parliament , till the Bill of Pains and Penalties ; the Vote against Suirenders of Charters ; & such like extraordinary Proceedings prevailed amongst them . And now we see the Church Party uppermost again , & so long as they act with Moderation , are like to continue so , but when that ceases , a Hermit that never saw a Military Weapon , nor pretends to any peculiar Revolutions , may fore-tell another Revolution ; for it seems to be part of the unalterable Decree of Providence , that no Government can subsist long without Mercy and Moderation .