A sermon preached before the House of Lords, on November 5, 1680 by ... William Lord Bishop of St. Asaph.

TO THE LORDS Spiritual and Temporal Assembled in PARLIAMENT.

My Lords,

WHile I am paying my Obedience to your Lordships Commands for the Printing of this Sermon, I humbly crave leave to say something for the clearing of my self from a Prejudice, which, if true, would render me unfit to be so far owned by your Lordships, as to be admitted to Preach before You; and having done it, to be commanded to Print my Sermon. For I cannot but take notice, that both before and since I received that Honour from you, I have been tax'd as being not Protestant enough, on account of a Book, called, Considerations touch∣ing the true way to suppress Popery in this King∣dom.

How far I was concerned in that Treatise, the Preface to it sufficiently declares.

The Book it self was Publish'd in Michaelmas Term* 1.1 1676. just two years before the Popish Plot was discovered.

The design of it was proposed to me as the likeliest Remedy at that time against the same Disease under which we are now labouring for Life, or Death: but it was before things were come to such a dangerous Crisis.

I saw it was much the same Design that many of the best and most eminent Protestants, particularly Q. Elizabeth and K. James, had at several times countenanced, and put in practice with very good suc∣cess: they were, next to the uniting of Protestants, for the dividing of Papists, whose chief advantage hi∣therto has been their Union, such as it is, and our needless Divisions. But at that time I thought it more proper and seasonable than ever, upon the best Iudgment that I could make of their and our Circumstances. And I have some reason to think I was not mistaken in this. For now I see that at the very time when this was brought to me, and while I was forming my thoughts upon it, the Papists themselves were in a great appre∣hension of this very thing, as being of all other ways the most likely to blast their hopes, and to preserve us from that Ruine which they were then bringing upon us. Thus Coleman* 1.2 at that time wrote to the Popes In∣ternuncio,

† 1.3There is but One thing (saith he) to be feared, (whereof I have a great apprehensi∣on,) that can hinder the success of our Designs; which is, a Division among the Catholicks themselves. How dividing them? It follows, by Pro∣positions to the Parliament to accord their con∣junction to those that require it,—on Conditi∣ons prejudicial to the Authority of the Pope;—and so to persecute the rest of them with more appearance of Justice, and ruine the one half of them more easily than the whole Body at once. And to shew that Coleman was not singular herein, Cardinal Howard* 1.4 delivers this as their Iudgment at Rome, where, if any where, they are Infallible; Division of Catholicks will be the ea∣siest way for Protestants to destroy them.

This being said for the Design from so good Au∣thority, I have this farther to say for my self, that on∣ly the last part of that Book was my own, in which I did justifie the Reformation of this Church; and what I wrote in that part, I am sure no Papist can dis∣prove, and I think no Protestant has cause to com∣plain of it.

I thank God I have in this whole matter the wit∣ness of a goad Conscience; and I hope likewise your Lordships good opinion of my honest zeal to main∣tain

the Protestant Religion against Popery. For a farther Testimony whereof, and in obedience to your Lordships Commands, I humbly present this following Discourse.

My Lords,

I am Your Lordships most humble and most obedient Servant, W. Asaph.

Notes

• * 1.1

  That is, in the Book∣sellers style, 1677.
• * 1.2

  Aug. 30. 1675.
• † 1.3

  p. 17. o•• the Collecti∣on of Letter•• set out by order of the House of Commons.
• * 1.4

  March 1676. Ibid p. 82.