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THE

DISPUTE adjufted,

ABOUT THE

PROPER TIME

Of applying for a REPEAL of the

Corporation and Tejl A6ls, ^c*

[ Price Three Pence. ]

THE

DISPUTE adjufted,

ABOUT THE

PROPER TIME

Of applying for a

REPEAL

OF THE

Corporation and Tejl ASis :

By Shewing,

That No "Time is proper.

LONDON:

Printed for J. Roberts in IVar'wich Lane, 1732.

f^C^W. /?2x,i?;S2„

( 5 )

THE

DISPUTE adjufted,

ABOUT THE

PROPER TIME, ^c.

HERE is now a warm Controverly among the Diflenters, about the moft Proper Ttme to attempt a Repeal of the Corpora- tion and Ted Acts ; whether at the Conclufion of an old Parliament, or the Beginning of a new. I leave them to debate and determin that Point among themfelves ; but as the Gauie is ftiU depending, I beg Leave to make myfelf A 2 lb

(6)

fo far a Party to it, as to offer a few Reafons why I think No I'me at all is proper.

It will not be denied by either of the contending Parties, that thole two Acts were defigned for the Security and Sup- port of the Eftabliih'd Conftitution in Church and State. The Corporation- Ad, in particular, was levelled wholly againft the Diffenters ; and though the Teft Ad had a more immediate Eye to the Papifts, and the Diffenters infill upon it as great Merit on their Part that they did not oppofe it ; upon fome En- couragement given, as they pretend, to be relieved from the Penalties of it one Time or another ; yet when their Cafe came under a Iblemn Deliberation in Parliament immediately after the Revo- lution, and a Toleration was granted them, the Legiflature was fo far from Exempting^ that they expreffiy Included them in the Difabilities and Penalties of the Teft Ad. This appears from the Ad of Toleration ♦ which having enu- merated feyeral Laws againft Papiits that

Ihall

( 7 )

fhall not thenceforth be conftrued to extend to DifTenters ; adds, Nor any other Lamj or Statute of this Realm made agaififi Papifis or Pop't/h ReatfantSy EXCEPf the Statute made in the

fi've and tm^entieth Tear of King Charles the Second^ entituled, An AB for pre- "oenting Dangers ^hich may happen

from Popi/h Recufants ; the lame that we commonly call the ^efi Ad.

In the latter End of Queen Anne's Reign, An A6t was pafTed againft Occa- fional Conformifis ; by which DilTcnters who fhould qualify themfelves for Of- fices according to the Teft Ad, were re- ftrained from going to Conventicles as long as they continued in thofe Offices. But this was repealed in the Beginning of the next Reign, upon thele Confide- fations (as we may luppofe) among others, That by receiving the Sacrament accor- ding to the Church of England^ they did all that the Teft Ad requires ; That fuch receiving it was an Evidence that though they liked their own Way better, they did not think our*s unlawful • That the

Ad

( 8 )

Act of Toleration could not be fuppofed to leave them in a worfe Condition, in any Refpect, than it found them ; and That they might have no pretence to fay, that they did not enjoy their Tolerati- on to the fulL Whereas the prefent Attempt to repeal the Corporation and Tell Ads, is to let thole into Places of Power and Truft, who think the Service of the Church of England to ht finful-^ and who, in Confequence have not only a rooted A verfion to it, but think them- felves bound in Confcience to do all that is in their Power to abolifh it. It has been made Matter of Complant on this Occafion, that thofe among the DifTen- ters who are moft ftri^ly Confdent'tous (meaning the laft Sort) fhould be worft ufed ; and it would be pity it fhould be io^ if one Part of that Confcience, were not to deftroy the eftablifhcd Worlhip and Government, as foon as they can.

Much has been faid about the Pro- priety or Impropriety of making the Sacrament a Teft in CWil Jfairs ; a Point, that was fully difculTed fome

Years

( 9 )

Years fince by two Combatants of great Note, who have now the Ho- nour to fit upon the Bilhops Bench, and between whom I leave it. Only with thefe Obfervations, i. That it is incumbent upon thole DilTenters (if any fuch there be) who xc^ ftngly up- on that Objedion ; to find Ibme other Teft that will effectually keep out both Papifts and Difi^enters. i. That thole Friends of the Diffcnters who offer'd a Claufe in Parliament prefent- ly after the Revolution, that the Re- ceiving the Sacrament in their own Meetings and a Certificate thereof, fhould be a fufficient Qualiiication, could not but fee, that the Objedion was altogether as ftrong againft a Sa^ cramental Teft in a Con^ventkley as in a Churchy 3. That the dwelling upon this Head is an artful Way of draw- ing the Attention of the Readers from the main Point, which is not, What kind of Teft is moft proper and effec- tual, but whether or no there ought to be any Teft at all ?

B There

( lo)

There is one Thing obfervable in the Teft-Ad:, which has not been common- ly attended to, though of fome Impor- tance in the prefent Cafe. The Dif- fenters plead, that there was no Defire or Intention in the Legiflature to in- clude them in the Difabilities and Pe- nalties of that Acl. Be it fo. I would then ask, Why, befides the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the De- claration againft Tranfubftantiation, (all which are required by that very Actj did the Legiflature think fit to require the Sacrafnental T^efi^ which is the on- ly Thing in it that affects the Diflen- ters ? The Anfwer of a Diffenter muft be, That the Legiflature thought they could not effectually exclude the Pa- pifts without that Teft. From whence the Confequencc is, that if they did not defire to exclude the Diffenters from Offices, they muft believe that a Sacramental Teft was ablblutely necel^ fary to exclude the Papifts. Upon which another Queftion arifes. What then fhall exclude the Papifts, if the Sacramental Teft be abolifticd ? Not

Oaths,

( ir )

Oaths, nor Declarations, which it is plain the Legiflature at that Time loolvcd upon as difpenlable Matters, and fnch Securities as might be broke thro' for the Good of the Catholick Caule. But their joining with the Church of England in the moft folcmn Act of Chriftian Worfhip, is a Bar of the llrongeft Kind ; it is an open and pub- lick Acknowledgment, that our Church is a true Church, and our Miniftry a true Miniftry, and We true Members of the Catholick Church of Chrift ; notwithftanding our Separation from the Church of Ru?ne.

In the Books which have been writ- ten upon this Subjed, in Favour of the DiiTenters, we have heard much of iV^- tural Rights^ and the unjuft Invafion of thole Rights by the Corporation and Teft Acts. But is not Society and Go- vernment itfelf founded in an abridg- ment of Natural Rights, in fuch In- ftances and fuch Degrees, as in the Judg- ment of the Legiflature the Safety and Welfare of the J'Vhole requires ? Look B a into

( 1.2 )

into the prefent Conftitution of Parlta^ ment^ and fee how Natural Rights ftand there. Can any Riiiht be more natural, than that they, whole Property is to be dilpofed of, fhould have a Vote in re- turning thofe who are to difpofe of it ; and yet what Numbers are excluded from voting, whole Property is equally affeded with that of their Fellow-Sub- jecls ? Has not every one a natural Right to a Capacity of reprefenting his Coun- try in Parliament, and every Elector as good a Right to chufe the Perlon whom he thinks moft lit to be trufted, and befl qualified for the Service • and yet, what Numbers are now excluded from receiving that Truft, how well foever qualified in all other Refpects, if they be not poiTePicd of Eftates to a certain Value, as Pledges of a fincere and fleady Concern for the Intereft of their Country. Juft lb it is, and no other- wife, in the Cafe of the Corporation and Teft Ads. TheLegiflature of the King- dom has thought fit to eftablifh a Na- tional Chi^irch, a§ the beft Means of pro- moting

{ 13 )

moting Religion, and preferving Peace and Order in the State ; and now they ftand accufed by thele Men of an unjuft Ufurpation upon Natural Rights, be- caufe they have taken Care that none be admitted to Offices of Power and Truft, who do not think Communion according to that Church to be at leaft lawful ; or, in other Words, be* caufe they have ablblutely excluded thofe, who judging it unlawful^ as in Yti^M Jinful^ were obliged in Conlciencd to deftroy it as foon as they can.

The Truth of the Cafe is this; many of thofe who are moft zealous for abo- lifhing thofe Ads as Infringements of Natural Right, are alio in Principle a- gainft any Church-Eftablifhment at all ; and look upon all Interpofitions of the Civil Power, in eftablilhing and main- taining a National Religion, to be as much Ufurpations upon the Rights and Liberties of Mankind, as the Laws they have made for the Defence of that Eftab- liihment. And in this they argue con-

fiftently,

fiflently, and both they and we are re- gular in drawing our Concltffions^ tho* from different Principles. If there ought to be no Church-Eftablifhment, there ought to be no exclufive Laws to ^referve that in being, which ought not to be at all • and if there ought to be a Chureh-Eftablifhmcnt, certainly Power ought to be kept out of thofc Hands, whofe Principle it is to deftroy it: So that the true State of the Cafe between the Church and the DiiTenters in this Matter of the Toleration and Teft A6ls, is, Whether or no the Civil Power can eltablifli a National Church ; and, if they can, whether it is or is not conducive to tiie Ends of Religion and of publick Peace and Order, that fuch a Church be eftabliflied ; and after the Eftablilhment, that it be maintained and preferv'd. When thele Points are fet- tled, the Conjequences on either Side will admit of no Difpute ^ and whatever Reafonings do not take their Rife from hence (as the Suggertions of Natural Right, Ability to ferve, AfFedion to

the

the Government in the- State, and the like) are really no better than Declama- tion and Amufcment.

It might be expeded, that the Difleri- ters jQiould ftrengthen this Argument of Natural Right, by Inftances fetch'd from other Countries, where they could alledge, that Civil Offices are beftow'd without any Regard to Affection or DiC- affection to the National Religion. But if no fuch Inftances are to be found, me- thinks it fhould give a Check to the Declamations upon that Head ; and one would hope, that common Modefby fhould reftrain People from fuppofing^ that all Countries (even Holland itfelf, i^o fam'd for Liberty) could go on with- out Remorfe, in a Pradice fo unjuft and abominable as this has been reprefented in fome late Writings. Upon the whole, if I might be thought worthy to advile the Diffenters, they fhould not take their Mealiires of Fitnefs or Uniitnels for the Attempt, either from an old or new Parliament • but they Ihould wait till

they

( i6 )

they have wrought the Body of the Na- •tion into a Belief, that there ought to be no Church-Eftabliftiment at all, or into a thorovv Diflike of the prefent Eftabliihment, or at leaft into a greater Difpofition to give it up, or to fee it hurt, than hitherto appears either a- mong Clergy or People. And to pro- ceed regularly in the Work, they fhould alio wait till they have leen they have convinced the Crown, that an Epifcopal Church is not fo well adapted to the Support of Monarchy, as the Presbyte- rian or Independent Model ; or that the Services which the Bilhops and Clergy, and the Friends of the eftablilh'd Church can perform to the Monarch upon the Throne, are not confiderable enough to be put into the Balance againft thofe which He may exped from the DifTenters and their well-Wilhers ; or that among thofe who are wilJing to give all the Pledges which the Law requires for the Security of Church and State, there are not Numbers or Abilities fufficient for

the

(i7)

the Adminiftration of Offices, Civil an^ Military. And there is one Difficulty- more which lecms to lie in their Way ; That by the Ad of Union in the Sixth of Queen ^/?/?^, All and (tngidar A^s of Parliament then in Force ^ for ihe E(iabH/Jj??2ent and Prefer'vation of the Church of England, and the Do5irin^ Worfljip^ Difciplin afid Government there- of frail remain and he in full Force for ever: And this Ad is alfo declared to be an cfjential andfunda?nental Part of the Union between the two Kingdoms* .

When the Way is thus prepared, they will cafily attain their End ; but this will be a Work of Time ; and I am apt to think, they will" find it difficult to periiiade confiderate and impartial Men^ that the Bounds between the Church and the Diffenters can be more wifely adjuiled, than is already done in the Set- tlement made by the Legiflature im- mediately after the Revolution ; when that Matter was maturely confidered by as able Heads as any Age has produced, and at a Time when the Diffenters can- G ao£

( i8 )

not pretend, that there was not a Dif- pofition to confider their Cafe in the moft favourable Light that the Confti- tution in Church and State would fairly admit. We have had long Experience of the good Effects of what was then fettled ; and one may venture to fore- tell, without the Spirit of Prophecy, that whenever that Foundation is al- tered, (whenever the Church fhall break in upon the Toleration, or the Tolera- tion upon the Church) the Peace of this Country is at an End,

FINIS,

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