ADVICE TO THE Tories, &c.

THE Wickedneſs of the Times hath been a juſt Complaint in all Ages, Paſſion having been ever powerful and on the ſide of Vice, which is the great⯑eſt Enemy to Religion. But in the pre⯑ſent Age, Vice and Scepticiſm join their Forces to deſtroy Chriſtianity. If Men were wicked in former Times, their Wickedneſs was attended with Remorſe [6] and Shame. But now they are openly and couragiouſly wicked, being ſo upon Principle, and endeavouring to ſupport themſelves by Argument, and by the ge⯑neral Example of the Age. Whatever may occaſion this Growth of Impiety, the Zeal you at all Times expreſs for the Church, encourages me to think your Endeavours will not be wanting to put a Stop to it: At leaſt, it is to be hoped, that you will avoid being your ſelves inſtrumental to the propagating ſo great an Evil.

Two Things there are which influence Men with a Regard for Religion; a Senſe of its Truth, and a Senſe of its Uſefulneſs. The firſt of theſe can affect thoſe alone who are really Chriſtians: The latter may have a more extenſive Influence, and cauſe even Infidels to pay an outward Reſpect to that whereon they apprehend the common Welfare to depend. In proportion as you leſſen ei⯑ther of theſe Motives, you do a manifeſt Diſſervice to Religion. But your being at any Time guilty of Sedition or Re⯑bellion againſt that Sovereign to whom you have ſworn Allegiance, will very [7] much contribute to make both loſe their Force upon the Minds of Men. For, If the Chriſtian Religion doth not reſtrain Men from wicked Actions, ſuch as Fraud, Violence, Perjury, and the like, how is it uſeful to Mankind? Or if it doth, how can you pretend to believe it, and at the ſame Time act in direct Oppoſition to its Precepts? And what Thoughts will other Men be tempted to have of Religion, when its great Aſſertors ſhall ſhew themſelves to be⯑lieve nothing of what they aſſert?

I have neither ſo ill an Opinion of you, nor ſo good a one of your Ad⯑verſaries, as to believe every Thing which they report to your Diſadvan⯑tage. But as it is now the general Diſcourſe and Suſpicion, that many of you, who are bound by the moſt ſo⯑lemn Oaths to be true and faithful Subjects to King George, do neverthe⯑leſs, contrary to thoſe Oaths, endeavour to undermine his Government, and in⯑troduce that of the Perſon whom you have abjured; I thought it my Duty to diſſuade you from ſo infamous a Practice, not with any Intention to fix [8] the Scandal, but to remove the Cauſe of it, if there be any on your Side; or, if there be not, to prevent your being provoked to deſerve it by the unmerited Cenſures and Reproaches of your Enemies.

Thoſe among you, who remain firm to the Allegiance you have ſworn, cannot be diſpleaſed that I endeavour to make others like your ſelves: And if this Paper fall into the Hands of any who have betrayed Faith, Honour and Reli⯑gion, their own Conſcience will be the beſt Juſtification for the making it Pub⯑lick; I ſhall, therefore, not as a Po⯑litician, who is carrying on a private Scheme for the Intereſt of any Prince or Miniſtry, but as a Chriſtian, who in⯑tends the Advancement and Honour of Religion, proceed to lay before you the ill Conſequences, which the Violation of your Oaths is like to have upon that Church for whoſe Intereſt you profeſs ſo great Concern.

It is plain then, that the publick and avowed Breach of your Oaths would prove the greateſt Injury to the Church, [9] inaſmuch as it would be deſtructive of all Religion. If Oaths are no longer to be eſteemed ſacred, what ſufficient Reſtraint can be found for the irregular Inclinations of Men? Common mutual Faith is the great Support of Society; and an Oath, as it is the higheſt Obli⯑gation to keep our Faith inviolate, be⯑comes the great Inſtrument of Juſtice and Intercourſe between Men. What⯑ever, therefore, leſſens the Sacredneſs or Authority of an Oath muſt be acknow⯑ledged at the ſame time to be highly detrimental both to the Church and the Commonwealth.

Men, by concealing other Crimes, may prevent the Scandal of them; but the Perjury of thoſe who ſhould attempt to ſubvert the Government is an avowed and open Crime. Other Crimes may admit of ſome Diminution, either on Account of the Inconſiderableneſs of their Object, or the Infirmity which at⯑tends the Commiſſion of them: But this is a Crime of the higheſt Nature, not only as it affects the Perſon of the Prince under whoſe Protection we live, but as it is in a peculiar Manner, above [10] other Crimes, an Inſult on the Deity it ſelf. State-Perjury doth not ſpring from a ſudden Guſt of Paſſion; it is no ſenſual Vice to which you are ſtimulated by the Frailty of the Fleſh. It is a cool, deli⯑berate Crime, and ſheweth a ſtedfaſt Reſolution to do Evil without Regard either to God or Man.

It may, indeed, ſeem needleſs to uſe any more Arguments in order to con⯑vince you, either that the Cauſe of Vir⯑tue and Religion is likely to ſuffer by the common Practice of Perjury and Breach of Faith, or that the Intereſt of the Church is inſeparable from the Intereſt of Religion. But I ſhall inſiſt further on a Point which, how clear ſoever, is not much attended to. It cannot be de⯑nied, that the viſible Intereſt of the Church depends upon her Credit and Reputation; which Men will be apt to meaſure by the Reputation of thoſe who ſtand up moſt zealouſly in her Defence. If therefore you, who would be thought true Sons of the Church, and warm Aſ⯑ſertors of her Priviledges, ſhould loſe your own Credit by Perfidiouſneſs and Perjury, how great a Blemiſh will you [11] throw upon her? How muſt the Ho⯑nour of the Church of England ſink in the Opinion of thoſe among us, who are already hardly Chriſtians, when they ſee the baſeſt Immoralities practiſed to promote her Intereſt? There are too many who cannot or will not be at the Pains to inquire into the Merits of the Cauſe; but, judging only by Appear⯑ances, will, from the Lives of Church⯑men, form their Idea of the Church it ſelf. Conſider therefore what Scandal you give, and how far you participate the Guilt of theſe Men, whom you en⯑courage and harden in their Contempt of the Church, by making her a Pretext for Hypocriſy and Prevarication.

Beſides, you are to reflect that the Ills of Rebellion are certain, but the Event doubtful: And conſidering the Diſadvantages the Rebels muſt lie under, you ought in Reaſon to apprehend the worſt. In caſe therefore of a Defeat, what Quarter are you to expect, I will not ſay for your ſelves, but for that Church whoſe Intereſt you pretend to interweave with your own? One Thing is evident, that if the Rulers among [12] the Whigs are, what by many of you they are repreſented to be, diſ⯑affected to the Church of England, they will then have the faireſt Pretext, as well as Opportunity, to deſtroy her. It may be thought neceſſary to bind thoſe who call themſelves the Church-Party with ſomething ſtronger than Oaths.

And with the ſame Iniquity that her Name was uſed to ſanctify the wicked Actions of her Children, may their Wick⯑edneſs be then made uſe of in order to throw an Odium upon her. This is Argu⯑mentum ad Hominem, and ſhould influ⯑ence thoſe among you who are for⯑ward to think the worſt of your Ad⯑verſaries. What Thoughts or Reſolu⯑tions the Whigs may have with re⯑gard to the Church, I know not: But I am ſure they give her the deep⯑eſt Wounds who diſhonour her by their. Friendſhip; who would be thought zealous to promote her In⯑tereſt, at the ſame Time that they deny her Power in their Lives and Practices.

[13] That which, in the Eye of Reaſon, gives any Church or Religion the Ad⯑vantage above others, is the Influence it hath upon the Lives of its Profeſſors. It is upon this foot that the Church of England, ever eſpouſing the Cauſe of Virtue, Loyalty, and all Things lauda⯑ble, in oppoſition to Libertines, Rebels, and Fanaticks, hath maintain'd her Cre⯑dit and Eſteem with wiſe Men. And if we are really concern'd to ſupport her Honour, the right Way is to put her Principles in practice, to be true to our Oaths and Engagements, and live in every reſpect as becometh peaceable and loyal Subjects. The Diffenters have been a long time ſtigmatiz'd for Men of no Loyalty, not acting upon Principle, but govern'd by the narrow unſteady Views of Paſſion and Intereſt. But will not the Satyr be doubly keen upon our ſelves, if ever we are found guilty of thoſe very Things that we ſo heartily condemn in others?

It is no eaſy matter to find out Eva⯑ſions in ſo plain a Caſe; and yet it can hardly be ſuppos'd that a Man, who has [14] any Senſe of Religion, ſhould commit Perjury without ſome Salvo to his Con⯑ſcience. Perhaps you will ſay, that if it be never lawful for a Subject to break his Oath of Allegiance to his King, then the Revolution cannot be juſtified: Or, if it may ſometimes be allow'd, why not now as well as then? I anſwer, when any Perſon, by Forfeiture or Abdication, loſeth Dominion, He is no longer Sove⯑reign: Now the Subject ſwore Allegiance to the Sovereign, and not to the Perſon: When therefore the Perſon ceaſeth to be Sovereign, the Allegiance ceaſeth to be due to him, and the Oath of courſe to bind. In the Judgment of moſt Men this was the Caſe at the Revolution. But nothing like this can be pretended now. King George legally adminiſters that Go⯑vernment to which he came with the joint Conſent and Acclamations of his People; there being nothing done by which he is leſs King now than he was at the time you ſwore to him: And con⯑ſequently there can be no Parallel be⯑tween the Revolution and the preſent Caſe. I will not undertake to juſtifie every thing that is now done in point of [15] Policy; but neither will impolitick Mea⯑ſures juſtify Subjects in taking the ſame Steps they formerly did on the ſcore of illegal Meaſures. It is one thing to ſub⯑vert a State, and another to turn out a Miniſtry.

If you ſhould have the Hardineſs to object, that King George is in truth no rightful King; and that therefore you are not obliged to pay Obedience to him: I ask, how you came then to acknow⯑ledge him and ſwear to him as rightful King? You will ſurely be aſhamed to own, that in ſo doing you acted againſt your Opinion; or that ſince that time your Eyes have been open'd, by the Diſgrace of Friends, or the Loſs of an Employment. But though we ſhould grant that he had originally no Right to the Crown, yet when a Prince is once in Poſſeſſion of it, and you have ſworn Allegiance to him, you are no longer at liberty to enquire by what unrighteous ſteps he might have obtain'd it. But there is nothing of that ſo much as ſuſpected in the preſent Caſe; it being known to every body that King George [16] came to the Crown without Force or Ar⯑tifice, meerly in Compliance with the Laws of the Land, and the unanimous Requeſt of his People.

To determine the Rights of Princes is a difficult Point, as requiring more Skill in the Laws, more Knowledge of particular Facts, more Leiſure, and more Underſtanding than moſt Men are Maſters of. But it is an eaſy matter to know the Obligation and plain Senſe of an Oath. You know evidently that you have ſworn to King George, and abjured the Pretender, and that you ought not to forſwear your ſelf. But, Do you as evi⯑dently know that Hereditary is prefe⯑rable to Parliamentary Right, and that the Hereditary Right belongs to the Pre⯑tender? If you do not, as I am ſure you cannot, why will you violate the plain manifeſt Duties of Religion, under pre⯑tence of obſerving what is at beſt but obſcure and dubious? But though the Pretender's Right to the Crown were ne⯑ver ſo clear, it would not therefore be a clear Point that you ought to be aſſiſting to him. On the contrary, it would be [17] clear that you ought not, ſince you have ſworn that you would not.

I muſt repeat to you, that what hath been ſaid was not done with a Deſign to ſpread or confirm the Reports of your Adverſaries; but only to contribute, ſo far as in me lay, to remove or prevent any juſt Occaſion of them. Leaſt of all was it my Intention to inſinuate any thing diſhonourable of the Clergy, for whoſe Character I have a high Reſpect, and whom I verily take to have been injured by the Reports of warm Men. I ſhall ſay no more, but leave you to conſider the Oaths which you have taken.