State tracts, being a farther collection of several choice treaties relating to the government from the year 1660 to 1689 : now published in a body, to shew the necessity, and clear the legality of the late revolution, and our present happy settlement, under the auspicious reign of their majesties, King William and Queen Mary.

A LETTER, Containing some Remarks on the Two Papers, writ by His late Majesty King CHARLES the Second, Concerning Religion.

SIR,

I Thank you for the two Royal Papers that you have sent me: I had heard of them before, but now we have them so well attested, that there is no hazard of being deceived by a false Copy: you expect that in return, I should let you know what im∣pression they have made upon me. I pay all the reverence that is due to a Crowned Head, even in Ashes; to which I will never be wanting: far less am I capable of sus∣pecting the Royal Attestation that accompanies them; of the truth of which I take

it for granted no man doubts; but I must crave leave to tell you, that I am confident, the late King only copied them, and that they are not of his Composing. for as they have nothing of that free Air, with which he expressed himself; so there is a Con∣texture in them, that does not look like a Prince; and the beginning of the first shews it was the effect of a Conversation, and was to be communicated to another: so that I am apt to think they were Composed by another, and were so well relished by the late King, that he thought fit to keep them, in order to his examining them more particularly; and that he was prevailed with to Copy them lest a Paper of that nature might have been made a Crime if it had been found about him written by a∣nother hand: and I could name one or two Persons, who as they were able enough to Compose such Papers, so had power enough over his Spirit to engage him to Copy them, and to put themselves out of danger by restoring the Original.

You ought to address your self to the Learned Divines of our Church, for answer to such things in them as puzzle you, and not to one that has not the honour to be of that Body, and that has now carried a Sword for some time, and imploys the lea∣sure that at any time he enjoys, rather in Philosophical and Mathematical Enquiries than in matters of Controversie. There is indeed one Consideration that determined me more easily to comply with your desires, which is, my having had the honour to discourse copiously of those matters with the late King himself: and he having pro∣posed to me some of the particulars that I find in those Papers, and I having said se∣veral things to him, in answer to those Heads, which he offered to me only as Ob∣jections, with which he seemed fully satisfied, I am the more willing to communicate to you, that which I took the liberty to lay before His late Majesty on several occa∣sions: the particulars on which he insisted in discourse with me, were the

uselessness of a Law without a Judge, and the necessity of an infallible Tribunal to determine Controversies, to which he added, the many Sects that were in England, which seemed to be a necessary consequence of the Liberty that every one took to interpret the Scriptures: and he often repeated that of the Church of Englands ar∣guing, from the obligation to obey the Church, against the Sectaries, which he thought was of no force, unless they allowed more Authority to the Church then they seemed willing to admit, in their Disputes with this Church of Rome.

But upon the whole Matter I will offer you some Reflections, that will, I hope, be of as great weight with you, as they are with my self.

I. All Arguments that prove upon such general Considerations, that there ought to be an Infallible Judge named by Christ, and cloathed with his Authority, signify no∣thing, unless it can be shewed us, in what Texts of Scripture that nomination is to be found; and till that is shewed, they are only Arguments brought to prove that Christ ought to have done somewhat that he has not done. So these are in effect so many Arguments against Christ, unless it appears that he has Authorised such a Judge: therefore the right way to end this Dispute, is, to shew where such a Constitution is Authorised: So that the most that can be made of this is, that it amounts to a fa∣vourable presumption.

II. It is a very unreasonable thing for us to form Presumptions, of what is, or ought to be, from Inconveniences that do arise, in case that such things are not: for we may carry this so far, that it will not be easie to stop it. It seems more suit∣able to the infinite Goodness of God, to communicate the knowledge of himself to all Mankind, and to furnish every Man with such assistances as will certainly prevail over him. It seems also reasonable to think, that so perfect a Saviour as Jesus Christ was, should have shewed us a certain way, and yet consistent with the free Use of our Faculties, of avoiding all sin: nor is it very easie to imagine, that it should be a re∣proach on his Gospel, if there is not an Infallible Preservative against Errour, when it is acknowledged; that there is no infallible Preservative against sin: for it is cer∣tain, that the one Damns us more Infallibly, than the other.

III. Since presumptions are so much insisted on, to prove what things must be ap∣pointed by Christ; it is to be considered, that it is also a reasonable Presumption, that if such a Court was appointed by him, it must be done in such plain terms that there can be no room to question the meaning of them: and since this is the hinge upon which all other matters turn, it ought to be expressed so particularly, in whom it is vested, that there should be no occasion given to dispute, whether it is in one Man or in a Body; and if in a Body, whether in the Majority, or in the two thirds, or in the whole Body unanimously agreeing; in short, the Chief thing in all Govern∣ments being the Nature and Power of the Judges, those are always distinctly specified; and therefore if these things are not specified in the Scriptures, it is at least a strong Presumption, that Christ did not intend to authorise such Judges.

IV. There were several Controversies raised among the Churches to which the A∣postles writ, as appears by the Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Co∣lossians, yet the Apostles never make use of those passages that are pretended for this Authority to put an end to those Controversies; which is a shrew'd Presumption, that they did not understand them in that sense in which the Church of Rome does now take them. Nor does St. Paul in the Directions that he gives to the Church-men in his E∣pistles to Timothy and Titus, reckon this of submitting to the directions of the Church for one, which he could not have omitted, if this be the true meaning of those disputed passages: and yet he has not one word sounding that way, which is very different from the directions which one possessed with the present view that the Church of Rome has of this matter must needs have given.

V. There are some things very expresly taught in the New Testament, such as the Rules of a good Life, the Ʋse of the Sacraments, the addressing our selves to God, for Mercy and Grace, thro' the Sacrifice that Christ offered for us on the Cross, and the worshipping him as God, the Death, Resurrection and Ascention of Jesus Christ, the Resurrecti∣on of our Bodies and Life Everlasting: by which it is apparent, that we are set be∣yond doubt in those matters; if then there are other passages more obscure concerning other matters, we must conclude, that these are not of that Consequence, otherwise they would have been as plainly reveal'd as others are; but above all, if the Authority of the Church is delivered to us in disputable terms, that is a just prejudice against it, since it is a thing of such Consequence, that it ought to have been revealed in a way so very clear and past all dispute.

VI. If it is a Presumption for particular Persons to judge concerning Religion, which must be still referred to the Priests and other Guides in Sacred Matters, this is a good Argument to oblige all Nations to continue in the Established Religion, whatever it may happen to be; and above all others, it was a convincing Argument in the Mouths of the Jews against our Saviour. He pretended to be the Messias, and proved it both by the Prophesies that were accomplished in him, and by the Miracles that he wrought: as for the Prophesies, the Reasons urged by the Church of Rome will conclude much stronger, that such dark passages as those of the Prophets were, ought not to be interpreted by particular Persons, but that the Exposition of these must be referred to the Priests and Sanhedrin, it being expresly proved in their Law (Deut. 17.8.) That when Controver∣sies arose, concerning any Cause that was too intricate, they were to go to the place which God should choose, and to the Priests of the Tribe of Levi, and to the Judge in those days, and that they were to declare what was right, and to their decision all were obliged to submit, un∣der pain of Death: So that by this it appears, that the Priests in the Jewish Religion were authorised in so extraordinary a manner, that I dare say, the Church of Rome would not wish for a more formal Testimony on her behalf: As for our Saviour's Miracles, these were not sufficient neither, unless his Doctrine was first found to be good: since Moses had expresly warned the people (Deut. 13.1.) That if a Prophet came and taught them to follow after other Gods, they were not to obey him, tho' he wrought Miracles to prove his Mission, but were to put him to Death: So a Jew saying, that Christ, by making himself one with his Father, brought in the worship of another God, might well pretend that he was not oblig'd to yield to the Authority of our Saviour's Miracles, without taking cognisance of his Doctrine, and of the Prophesies concerning the Messias, and in a word, of the whole matter. So that if these Reasonings are now good against the Refor∣mation, they were as strong in the Mouths of the Jews against our Saviour: and from hence we see, that the Authority that seems to be given by Moses to the Priests, must be understood with some Restrictions; since we not only find the Prophets, and Je∣remy in particular, opposing themselves to the whole body of them, but we see like∣wise, that for some considerable time before our Saviour's days, not only many ill∣grounded Traditions had got in among them, by which the vigor of the Moral Law was much enervated, but likewise they were universally possessed with a false notion of their Messias; so that even the Apostles themselves had not quite shaken off those prejudices at the time of our Saviour's Ascention. So that here a Church, that was still the Church of God, that had the appointed means of the Expiations of their sins, by their Sacrifices and Washings, as well as by their Circumcision, was yet un∣der great and fatal Errors, from which particular persons had no way to extricate themselves, but by examining the Doctrine and Texts of Scripture, and by judging of them according to the Evidence of Truth, and the force and freedom of their Faculties.

VII. It seems Evident, that the passage (Tell the Church) belongs only to the recon∣conciling of Differences: that of binding and loosing, according to the use of those terms

among the Jews signifies only an Authority that was given to the Apostles of giving Pre∣cepts, by which men were to be obliged to such Duties, or set at liberty from them: and (the gates of Hell not prevailing against the Church) signifies only, that the Christian Religion was never to come to an end, or to perish; and that of (Christ's being with the Apostles to the end of the world) imports only a special conduct and protection which the Church may always expect, but as the promise, I will not leave thee nor for∣sake thee; that belongs to every Christian, does not import an Infallibility: no more does the other. And for those passages concerning (the Spirit of God that searches all things) it is plain, that in them St. Paul is treating of the Divine Inspiration, by which the Christian Religion was then opened to the World, which he sets in opposi∣tion to the Wisdom or Philosophy of the Greeks; so that as all those passages come short of proving that for which they are alledged, it must at last be acknowledged, that they have not an Evidence great enough to prove so important a truth, as some would evince by them; since 'tis a matter of such vast consequence, that the proofs for it must have an undeniable Evidence.

VIII. In the matters of Religion two things are to be considered; first, the Account that we must give to God, and the Rewards that we expect from him: and in this every man must answer for the sincerity of his Heart, in examining Divine Matters, and the following what (upon the best Enquiries that one could make) appeared to be true: and with relation to this, there is no need of a Judge: for in that Great Day every one must answer to God according to the Talents that he had, and all will be saved according to their sincerity; and with relation to that Judgment, there is no need of any other Judge but God. A second view of Religion, is as it is a Body uni∣ted together, and by consequence brought under some Regulation: and as in all States, there are subaltern Judges, in whose decisions all must at least acquiesce, tho' they are not infallible, there being still a sort of an Appeal to be made to the Sovereign or the Supream Legislative Body; so the Church has a subaltern Jurisdiction, but as the Authority o•• Inferiour Judges is still regulated, and none but the Legislators them∣selves have an Authority equal to the Law; so it is not necessary for the preserva∣tion of Peace and Order, that the Decisions of the Church should be infallible, or of equal Authority with the Scriptures. If Judges do so manifestly abuse their Authority, that they fall into Rebellion and Treason, the Subjects are no more bound to consider them; but are obliged to resist them, and to maintain their Obedience to their Sovereign; tho' in other matters their Judgment must take place, till they are reversed by the Sovereign. The case of Religion being then this, That Jesus Christ is the Sovereign of the Church; the Assembly of the Pastors is only a subaltern Judge: if they manifestly oppose themselves to the Scriptures, which is the Law of Christians, particular persons may be supposed as competent Judges of that, as in civil Matters they may be of the Rebellion of the Judges, and in that case they are bound still to maintain their Obedience to Jesus Christ. In matters indifferent, Christians are bound, for the preservation of Peace and Unity, to acquiesce in the Decisions of the Church, and in Matters justly doubtful, or of small Consequence, tho' they are convinced that the Pastors have erred, yet they are obliged to be silent, and to bear tolerable things rather than make a Breach; but if it is visible, that the Pastors do Rebel against the Sovereign of the Church, I mean Christ, the people may put in their Appeal to that great Judge, and there it must lie. If the Church did use this Authority with due Discretion, and the people followed the Rules that I have named with Humility and Modesty, there would be no great danger of many Divisions; but this is the great Se∣cret of the providence of God, that men are still men, and both Pastors and People mix their Passions and Interests so with matters of Religion, that as there is a great deal of Sin and Vice still in the World, so that appears in the Matters of Religion as well as in other things: but the ill Consequences of this; tho' they are bad enough, yet are not equal Effects that ignorant Superstition, and Obedient Zeal have pro∣duced in the World, Witness the Rebellions and Wars for establishing the Worship of Images; the Croissades against the Saracens, in which many Millions were lost; those against Hereticks, and Princes deposed by Popes, which lasted for some Ages; and the Massacre of Paris, with the Butcheries of the Duke of Alva in the last Age, and that of Ireland in this: which are, I suppose far greater Mischiefs than any that can be imagined to arise out of a small Diversion of Opinions: and the present State of this Church, notwithstanding all those unhappy Rents that are in it, is a much more desirable thing, than the gross Ignorance and blind Superstition that reigns in Italy and Spain at this day.

IX. All these reasonings concerning the Infallibility of the Church signifie nothing, unless we can certainly know, whither we must go for this Decision: for while one

Party shews us, that it must be in the Pope, or is no where, and another Party says it cannot be in the Pope, because as many Popes have erred, so this is a Doctrine that was not known in the Church for a thousand Years, and that has been disputed ever since it was first asserted, we are in the right to believe both sides; first, that if it is not in the Pope, it is no where; and than, that certainly it is not in the Pope; and it is very Incongruous to say, that there is an Infallible Authority in the Church, and that yet it is not certain where one must seek for it; for the one ought to be as clear as the other, and it is also plain, that what Primacy soever St. Peter may be supposed to have had, the Scripture says not one word of his Successors at Rome; so at least this is not so clear, as a matter of this Consequence must have been, if Christ had intended to have lodged such an Authority in that See.

X. It is no less Incongruous to say, that this Infallibility is in a General Council: for it must be somewhere else, otherwise it will return only to the Church by some starts, and other long intervals: and as it was not in the Church, for the first Three Hundred and Twenty years, so it has not been in the Church these last 120 years. It is plain also, that there is no Regulation given in the Scriptures: concern∣ing this great Assembly, who have a right to come and Vote, and what forfeits this right, and what numbers must concur in a Decision, to assure us of the Infallibility of the Judgment. It is certain, there was never a General Council of all the Pastors of the Church: for those of which we have the Acts, were only the Council of the Roman Empire, but for those Churches, that were in the South of Africk, or the Eastern parts of Asia, beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire, as they could not be summon∣ed by the Emperours Authority, so it is certain none of them were present: unless one or two of Persia at Nice, which perhaps was a Corner of Persia belonging to the Empire; and unless it can be proved, that the Pope has an Absolute Authority to cut off whole Churches from their right of coming to Councils, there has been no Gene∣ral Council these last 700 years in the World, ever since the Bishops of Rome have Ex∣communicated all the Greek Churches upon such trifling Reasons, that their own Wri∣ters are now ashamed of them; and I will ask no more of a Man of a Competent Un∣derstanding, to satisfie him, that the Council of Trent was no General Council, acting in that Freedom that became Bishops, than that he will be at the pains to read Card. Pallavicin's History of that Council.

XI. If it is said, that this Infallibility is to be fought for in the Tradition of the Doctrine in all Ages, and that every particular Person must examine this: here is a Sea before him, and instead of examining the small Book of the New Testament, he is in∣volved in a study that must cost a Man an Age to go thro' it; and many of the Ages, thro' which he carries this Enquiry, are so dark, and have produced so few Writers, at least so few are preserved to our days, that it is not possible to find out their Belief. We find also Traditions have varied so much, that it is hard to say that there is much weight to be laid on this way of Conveyance. A Tradition concerning Matters of Fact that all People see, is less apt to fail than a Tradition of Points of Speculation: and yet we see very near the Age of the Apostles, contrary Traditions touching the Ob∣servation of Easter, from which we must conclude, that either the Matter of Fact of one side, or the other, as it was handed down, was not true, or at least that it was not rightly understood. A Tradition concerning the Use of the Sacraments, being a visible thing, is the more likely to be exact, than a Speculation concerning their Na∣ture; and yet we find a Tradition of giving Infants the Communion, grounded on the indispensible necessity of the Sacrament, continued 1000 years in the Church. A Tradition on which the Christians founded their Joy and Hope, is less like to be changed, than a more remote Speculation, and yet the first Writers of the Christian Religion had a Tradition handed down to them by those who saw the Apostles, of the Reign of Christ for a Thousand Years upon Earth; and if those who had Matters at second hand from the Apostles, could be thus mistaken, it is more reasonable to ap∣prehend greater Errors at such a distance. A Tradition concerning the Book of the Scriptures is more like to be exact, than the Expositions of some passages in it; and yet we find the Church did unanimously believe the Translation of the 70 Interpreters to have been the effect of a miraculous Inspiration, till St. Jerome examined this mat∣ter better, and made a New Translation from the Hebrew Copies. But which is more than all the rest, it seems plain, that the Fathers before the Council of Nice believed the Divinity of the Son of God to be in some sort inferiour to that of the Father, and for some Ages after the Council of Nice, they believed them indeed both equal, but they considered these as two different Beings, and only one in Essence, as, three men have the same Humane Nature in common among them; and that as one Candle lights another, so the one flowed from another; and after the Fifth Century the Do∣ctrine

of one Individual Essence was received. If you will be farther informed concern∣ing this, Father Petau will satisfie you as to the first Period before the Council of Nice, and the leared Dr. Cudworth as to the second. In all which particulars it ap∣pears, how variable a thing Tradition is. And upon the whole matter, the exami∣ning Tradition thus, is still a searching among Books, and here is no living Judge.

XII. If then the Authority that must decide Controversies, lies in the Body of the Pastors scattered over the World, which is the last retrenchment, here as many and as great Scruples will arise, as we found in any of the former Heads. Two diffi∣culties appear at first view, the one is, How can we be assured that the present Pa∣stors of the Church are derived in a just Succession from the Apostles: there are no Re∣gisters extant that prove this: So that we have nothing for it but some Histories, that are so carelesly writ, that we find many mistakes in them in other Matters; and they are so different in the very first links of that Chain, that immediately succeed∣ed the Apostles, that the utmost can be made of this, is, that here is an Historical Re∣lation somewhat doubtful; but here is nothing to found our Faith on: so that if a Succession from the Apostles times, is necessary to the Constitution of that Church, to which we must submit our selves, we know not where to find it: besides that, the Doctrine of the necessity of the Intention of the Minister to the Validity of a Sacra∣ment, throws us into inextricable difficulties. I know they generally say, that by the Intention they do not mean the inward Acts of the Minister of the Sacrament, but only that it must appear by his outward deportment, that he is in earnest going about a Sacrament, and not doing a thing in jest; and this appeared so reasonable to me, that I was sorry to find our Divines urge it too much: till turning over the Rubricks that are at the beginning of the Missal, I found upon the head of the Inten∣tion of the Minister, that if a Priest has a number of Hosties before him to be conse∣crated, and intends to Consecrate them all, except one, in that case that Vagrant Exception falls upon them all: it not being affixed to any one, and it is defined that he Consecrates none at all. Here it is plain, that the secret Acts of a Priest can de∣feat the Sacrament: so this overthrows all certainty concerning a Succession: But be∣sides all this, we are sure, that the Greek Churches have a much more uncontested Suc∣cession than the Latines: So that a Succession cannot direct us. And if it is necessary to seek out the Doctrines that are universally received, this is not possible for a pri∣vate man to know. So that in ignorant Countries, where there is little Study, the people have no other certainty concerning their Religion, but what they take from their Curate and Confessor: since they cannot examine what is generally received. So that it must be confessed, that all the Arguments that are brought for the necessi∣ty of a constant infallible Judge, turn against all those of the Church of Rome, that do not acknowledge the Infallibility of the Pope: for if he is not infallible, they have no other Judge, that can pretend to it. It were also easie to shew, that some Doctrines have been as Universally received in some Ages, as they have been rejected in others; which shews, that the Doctrine of the present Church is not always a sure measure. For five Ages together, the Doctrine of the Pope's Power to depose Heretical Princes was received without the least Opposition: and this cannot be doubted by any that knows what has been the State of the Church, since the end of the Eleventh Century: and yet I believe few Princes would allow this, notwithstanding all the concurring Au∣thority of so many Ages to fortisie it. I could carry this into a great many other In∣stances, but I single out this, because it is a point in which Princes are naturally ex∣tream sensible.

Upon the whole matter, it can never enter into my mind, that God, who has made Man a Creature, that naturally enquires and reasons, and that feels as sensible a plea∣sure when he can give himself a good account of his Actions, as one that sees, does per∣ceive in comparison to a blind man that is led about; and that this God that has also made Religion on design to perfect this Humane Nature, and to raise it to the utmost height to which it can arrive, has contrived it to be dark, and to be so much beyond the penetration of our Faculties, that we cannot find out his mind in those things that are necessary for our Salvation: and that the Scriptures, that were writ by plain men, in a very familiar Stile, and addrest without any Discrimination to the Vulgar, should become such an unintelligible Book in these Ages, that we must have an infallible Judge to expound it: and when I see not only Popes, but even some Bodies that pass for Ge∣neral Councils, have so expounded many passages of it, and have wrested them so vi∣sibly, that none of the Modern Writers of that Church pretend to excuse it, I say, I must freely own to you, that when I find that I need a Commentary on dark passages, these will be the last persons to whom I will address my self for it. Thus you see how fully I have opened my mind to you in this matter; I have gone over a great deal of

ground in as few words as is possible, because hints I know are enough for you; I thank God, these Considerations do fully satisfie me, and I will be infinitely joyed, if they have the same effect on you.

I am yours.

THis Letter came to London with the return of the first Post after his late Majesties Papers were sent into the Country; some that saw it, liked it well, and wished to have it publick, and the rather, because the Writer did not so entirely confine him∣self to the Reasons that were in those Papers, but took the whole Controversie to task in a little compass, and yet with a great variety of Reflections. And this way of exa∣mining the whole matter, without following those Papers word for word, or the find∣ing more fault than the common concern of this Cause required, seemed more agreeing to the respect that is due to the Dead, and more particularly to the Memory of so great a Prince; but other considerations made it not so easie nor so adviseable to procure a License for the Printing this Letter, it has been kept in private hands till now: those who have boasted much of the Shortness of the late King's Papers, and of the length of the Answers that have been made to them, will not find so great a disproportion be∣tween them and this Answer to them.