Modern religion and ancient loyalty a dialogue.

Modern Religion AND Ancient Loyalty: A DIALOGUE.

Loyalty.

WHAT black Decree of Over-ruling Fate, Ordains me thus Unfortunate of Late, Who once made Nations Happy, and their Princes Great? The People's Safety, and the Throne's Delight, Religion's only Darling Favourite; Whose holy Priests assisted at my Birth, Nurs'd me as Vertue, and proclaim'd my Worth Thro' all the Christian Kingdoms of the Earth. Where long, as Monarch of the Heart, I Reign'd; By all Approv'd, and by the Church Maintain'd; To me their Love, I gratefully repaid; And Nations where I dwelt, I easie made: Preserv'd the Subjects Duty to the Crown, And made the People and the Prince but One.

I all things in a happy Medium steer'd, Clad in Bright Innocence, unstain'd appear'd, Beloy'd by all Good M••••, by none but R••bels fear'd. But now, alas! by some prevailing Chance, That sprang from Int'rest, Pride, or Ignorance, Or some Rebellious Seeds that Lurk unseen, Within the Hearts of blind mistaken Men, Am I Abandon'd, Slighted, and Despis'd, And from my Milk-white Robes in Rags Disguis'd; Thrust out of Country, City, Church, and Court, And Foo•• Ba••-like, become the Publick Sport. Corrupted thus, they all conspire my Doom, And raise inglorious Int'rest in my room. Int'rest, that oft Contaminates the Saint; And makes the Knave in holy Language Cant. Int'rest, that first taught Innocence to sin; And bribes the Heart to let Corruption in. Int'rest, that over All bears Sov'reign Sway, Makes the Friend faithful, and the Rogue betray, The Soldier hazzard Life, and the Great Man Obey. Tell me Religion— Why do your Teachers suffer me to Fall, Once so Upheld, but now the Scorn of all; Excluded from your Pulpits, and betray'd; By your Revolving Priests am Odious made; What was your Doctrine once, why do you now Evade?

Religion.

Faction Prevailes, and does too Pow'rful grow; You see I'm brought by Tolleration Low. How can You hope by Me to be Advanc'd, Since I my Self am thus Discountenanc'd? My spurning Foes on ev'ry side Aspire: I Lose my Pow'r, They Gain what they Desire. How then can I (Reduc'd by their Designs) Promote Your Int'rest, when my Own Declines? No more can I Redress thy Present State, Than Falling Princes make their Favourites Great. The Growing Factions thy Obedience blame, And call thee but an Empty Sound, a Name; They think thee Giddiness, a Church-Disease, And Tumble and Transfer thee as they please. Thou canst expect no Favour in an Age, Where Truth is hiss'd from off the Publick Stage; And Vertue hides her Head, whilst Pride and Envy rage. Thy hateful Strictness would my Followers Fright, Who brand thee with the Name of Jacobite; Tho' known to all Opinions, few apply thee right. When Both Acknowledg'd One Supreme Command, Like Faithfull Friends, we then walk'd Hand in Hand; But since the Pow'r of Heaven has chang'd the Scene, By Notions False you have Misguided been; And thro' Erroneous Principles, Dissent From Me, and Heav'ns Appointed Government.

In Your Behalf how can my Clergy Plead, If you deny Submission to my Head; And think your self Vnalterably Bound To the meer Name of King, wherein no Pow'r is found? Whilst you Refuse your stubborn Neck to Bow T' Authority, both Church and Laws allow; And like a Treacherous G••ide betray the Blind, To Grope for Treasure, which they ne'er can find, To all my Priesthood Odious wilt thou be; And canst no Aid expect from Them or Me. We Yield Allegiance to the Sov'reign Sway; Who heav'n Anoints, Religion must Obey. Till you Submit, you can no Longer Bind; The Free-born Subject won't be so confin'd: And if they be, when once they've Broke the Chain, Like Bears, 'tis hard to Fetter them again. They'll hazzard All to set their Minds but Free, So highly do they prize their Liberty; That darling Object of the Peoples Love, The only Spring that does the Publick move; The Peasant's Comfort, and the Rich-man's Care, The Crown of Peace, and common Cause of War; A Kingdom's Pride, Strength, Safety and Delight, The Monarch's Duty, and the Subject's Right; A Pleasing Bliss the dullest Lump desires, The only Native Good that all Mankind Admires. But You an Adamantine Yoke design'd, Attempting, by a Lawless Force, to Bind;

And make Allegiance such a Fatal Chain, That cannot, must not be dissolv'd by Man. How can such High-flown Loyalty agree With Bounded Pow'r, and Native Libertie? For if Obedience be the Subjects part, When Kings an Arbitrary Pow'r exert, What Lawful Fence or Bulwark can there be The People to secure from Slaverie? What Rights or Freedoms can a Nation boast, But what may be by Sov'reign Pow'r ingrost? What Law can Hinder, or what Curb Restrain, The wild Ambition of a Vitious Man? All at a Tyrants Mercy then must be, Religion, Life, Estate, and Libertie; The People all are Slaves, none but the Monarch Free. Besides— Submission of the Whole implies Consent; And Absolute Confirms the Government. If you Bear Wrongs, and may Prevent the same, Who but the Sufferers shall Deserve the Blame? Such Passive Tameness, when you've Pow'r to Nil, Concludes you as a Partner in the Ill. The Patient Bigot who Resigns his Rights, In Duty to a Tyrants Will Submits; Against the Publick Good and Safety, Errs; And basely Does more Injury than he Bears.

Thus by degrees Intails a Slavery; And Gains the Curses of Posterity; These are the sad Effects of too strict Loyalty: From hence you're term'd a musty Roman Cheat, Allmost Exploded, and grown Obsolete. As far as You the Nations Rights Secure, And Bind Allegiance to the King in Pow'r, Such Loyalty I Hold, and such Maintain, Whose Chain's no longer than a Prince's Reign. But such Deny as cannot be Remov'd, When Iust the Cause, and by the States Approv'd. If such Exploded Tenets you Defend, I'm no more Yours, than You the Kingdom's Friend.

Loyalty.

Too Well, alas! Grave Guide, you know the Cause, Made me Aspire and Tow'r Above the Laws: Your Frenzy Rais'd me to a Heighth too Great, From whence I Sunk to this Dejected State: Unlawfull Greatness in Contempt oft Ends, A sudden Fall too quick a Rise Attends. And when Beneath the Publick Scorn I lay, Thus left, You Steer'd your Course another way: So the Rich Churl, from all Misfortunes free, Proudly Shuns Others in Adversitie. First by your Priesthood was I made too Great, Preach'd up as the Main Prop of Church and Sate;

Enjoyn'd on all, as Monarchies best Friend, On whom the Throne and Nation's Peace depend; As spotless Vertue in the Church receiv'd; Taught as sound Doctrine, and as such Believ'd. Thus did your Clergy blaze my Fame— 'Twas I first Tam'd the Brutal Rage of Man; In me alone Obedience first began. I was the Reins to which the Curb is ty'd, By which Great Men their Lesser Agents guide. The Soldier I with Noble Warmth Inspire, (True Loyalty the Chillest Thoughts could Fire) And turn by force of Duty, Fear into Desire. I taught the Subject, by an Inward Voice, T' Obey his King, not by Constraint, but Choice; And wade thro' Dangers to Protect the Throne, Bent on his Prince's Safety, heedless of his Own. If you to Kings are such a Faithful Friend, As your Learn'd Clergy to their Flocks pretend, Why do they not my Exc'lent Use Proclaim, And to the World define me what I am? To some known Rules why am I not Confin'd, Or why thus tost with ev'ry change of wind? Tutor'd by you from Vertues School I came; So place me, I may always be the same; For if I'm no where fix'd, I next to nothing am.

Religion.

In Times of Old, when Man forsook his God, And Pride and Envy scatter'd were abroad; When those Iust Moralls that preserv'd our Peace, (Ere Kings were chose) began at first to cease, Ambition did the Heart of Man possess, Taught him t' Insult, to Conquer, and Oppress; And magnifie Himself, by making Others Less. The World encreas'd, worse Quarrells still began; No Beasts such Enemies as Man to Man: Small were their Comforts, great was their Di••••ress, Like Fish the Mighter pray'd upon the Less. These Cruel Ills and sad Disorders brought Desire of Kings into the People's Thought, That by his prudent Rule might be Appeas'd Those dire Confusions, which Themselves had Rais'd. To Laws most fit they both Subscrib'd Consent, To preserve Iustice, and Abuse prevent; And on this Basis built their Regal Government, Thus did the Suff'rings of V••polish'd Man, Make the Wild Heard for Kingly-Pow'r complain, From their own Ills they might prote••ted be, And dread no more each others Enmity; Thus chang'd for Humane Safety Savage Liberty.

With glad Submission, they the Laws Obey'd, The Laws their Ruler and Themselves had made; Then Prince and Priest in Friendly Vnion joyn'd; The Crowd with Ioy some Native Rights resign'd. By crafty Dreams, and Inspiration led, What's first their Choice, was then their Duty made; The Lord Commands you now to bow your Stubborn Head. Then was that Bond call'd Loyalty contriv'd; From hence your Ancient Pedigree's deriv'd. At first the People did on Terms agree, Protect Vs, we'll Your Faithful Subjects be; But if you, like the Crane, exert your Power, Make us your Slaves, and us poor Frogs Devour; The King's Dissolv'd, when you our Lives Betray, And we are bound no longer to Obey. If he Destroys those Rights he should preserve, Subjects may Iustly from their Duty swerve. If he's a Tyrant, Faithless, and Vnjust, He Forfeits, when he Falsifies his Trust. All Obligations, on the Peoples side, Are, by his breach of Covenant, made void. When led by Vice, he ceases to maintain Iustice, the Law of Heaven has made it plain, He has no longer any Right to Reign. Then what is Loyalty, that hide-bound thing, That does to Misery all such Bigots bring; Who, when the Pow'r is lost, pursue the Name of King.

So the fond Cur, when his kind Master Dies, Pines o'er the Grave, where his dead Sov'reign Lies, Expecting ev'ry Moment he again will Rise. Into like Errours you your Friends betray, And lead them as a Will i'th' Wisp astray, To wander in great Danger, from the beaten Way. You ought to bind the Subject to the Throne, With due respect to Him, who iustly Rules thereon. If you direct t'wards Persons, wrong's your Aim, For they may Change, But still the Pow'rs the same, Which is from Heav'n deriv'd; and Pow'r alone, Confirms the Right of him that Guides the Throne: And when that Pow'r, by want of Conduct's lost, The King's Dissolv'd that can't Maintain his Post. Thus if the the Prince beyond the Laws has Err'd, Subjects Allegiance may be then Transfer'd, To that Great Mind whose Wise Capacious Soul, Hath rais'd him to be next most fit to Rule. Or if thro' Weakness, or Imprudence grown Too Tame, to do the Iustice of the Throne, How can the People rest on his Protection? Then who so e'er intrudes with Greater Might, And shall divest him of his Sov'reign Right, If to his Government the Land agree, By greater Pow'r has greater Right than he:

If so than you are False, and should Comply, With him that bears the Soveraignity. And Teach your Misled Followers to bring, Obedient Hearts, as the best Offering; Not to the Person only, but the Pow'r of king.

Loyalty.

From my old Friend, what Doctrine do I hear; In what strange Monstrous Shapes do you appear? In a few Years how you have chang'd your Text; And show'd your self too Fickle to be Fix't: The Ancient Purity you once might Boast, In Int'rest, Pride, and Flatt'ry now is Lost. And all your Glories, which appear'd so bright And Dazling, Shone by Faith and Reasons Light, Look Dim, as if Eclips'd by Sinful Pleasures Night. When Priests were nearer much to Heav'n Allied, And Grace and Truth their Doctrines Beautified; Teaching in gross, with Pains, the Peoples Good; And they the same with Innocence pursu'd: Then was I Great, in each Goods Mans Esteem; And only then Shin'd Bright the Diadem. When Kings, as Gods Vicegerents, were Allow'd, Not Chosen, by the Blind and Partial Crowd; But held too Sacred to be Bound in Bands, Or be Defil'd by th' Multitudes Rude Hands. But by a Right Divine the Scepter Swai'd, And all thus Taught, the God-like Man Obey'd.

Then Led by Grace, your Sable Tribe were bent, To lengthen out the Reins of Government. Passive Obedience was the Prophets Dream; And Non Resistance was the Preachers Theme. Into these Yoakes the People you Betray'd, Till Gall'd them with the Rig'rous Chains you made. Who but your selves Advanc'd this Airy Thought, Call'd Duty Then, tho' Now as Slav'ry Taught. Thus what you once Upheld, you now Crush down, To Faiths Contempt, and Scandal to the Gown: If they are Useful Truths, which once you Teach, Why not continue still the same to Preach? And if false Principles, why then Maintain, What now you hold so Dangerously Vain? T' Assert what's False, or Truth Condemn's a Crime, For Each are still the same at every Time: Be't Right, or Wrong, you still incur a Blame; Yours was the Errour, and to You the Shame. No Various Constitutions can excuse, Such Shists and Turns your Unfix'd Clergy use, To Heav'ns Dishonour, and the Worlds Abuse. If they, like Shuttle-cocks, Fly too and fro, How shall Mankind their Faith or Duty Know? If the True Light must Kindle and Expire, As th' Int'rest of the Prince, or Priest require, Who then would Rashly with the Church Believe, Or Pin his Faith upon the Prophets Sleeve? Religion sure the Wise would lay aside, And choose Dim Reason as the Surer Guide.

Since fatal Turns and Changes now Devide Those happy Links, in which we once were ty'd; And we in Sov'reign Pow'r thus disagree, Thro' our old Christial Law I'll let you see, What you once Taught, and I now hold a King to be. In Chearful Straines these Joyful Truths I Sing, Sacred's the Royal Person of the King, By th' Laws allow'd to be alone Supreme; And holds of his Own Right the Diadem. A Monarch, and Subordinate to none, Accountable on Earth, to God alone, Immovably United to the Throne. As Heav'n it self, whose only Law is Will, Head of all Pow'r can therefore do no Ill. So Kings, in their own Kingdoms, are the same, Can do no Wrong, and so Incur no Blame. Judges and Counsellors being chosen free, T' Advise, Determine, and if Faults their be, Thay skreen the Prince from all Rebellious Calumny. The Laws, by the Three States in Union made, (Joyn'd, or apart, the Sov'reign's still the Head) Have rendred Plainly, and beyond Dispute, The Throne from all Coercion Absolute. The Laws Divine, with Humane Laws accord, For, Touch not my Anointed, says the Lord, Which proves that whatsoever Princes do, It's still the Subjects Duty to be True; And Render unto Caesar what's his Due.

These Pious Doctrines Long did you Maintain; These Truths first bred me in the Heart of Man: Then was I Doted on by ev'ry Priest, Tho'now become each Cocks-comb common Jest: Over Smooth Tongues, from Pulpit did I Glide, And in each Subjects Mind Triumphant Ride, Became the Christians Duty, and the States-mans Pride. The Soldiers Honour, and the Clergies Fame, The Kingdoms Safety, and the Rebells Shame, The Lawyers Argument, the Poet's Theme, The Young Mans Glory, and the Old Mans Dream, The Prince's Pleasure, and the Peoples Joy, God Save the King, the Pray'r of ev'ry Boy. These Epethites your Clergy once could give; And Preach'd, and Pray'd I might for ever Live. Approv'd me as a Virtue fit to Reign, And bear Dominion in the Hearts of Men. But that Church Wind that Aided in my flight, And rais'd me up to such a Tott'ring hight, By Saints strong Bellows, from the Pulpit-blown, Be'ng turn'd against me, brought me tumbling down: Where Buri'd in Contempt, my Fate I Mourn, Till Rais'd again, to serve some Holy Turn. So the Lame Patient, when he's eas'd of Pain, Slights his old Wounds, and does the Salve disdain, But when it Smarts, is glad to use the like again.

FINIS.