confessed, that your Clergy require the King to do their Persecuting Journey-work with the same Insolence as the Popish Priesthood use; For must not the Sovereign Monarch of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, by his Authority Royal, execute the Decrees and Anathema's of the Arch-deacons and Bishops Chancellors, by Imprisoning his loyal and useful Subjects, for not conforming to their Ceremonies? If a King will submit to this Drudgery, he shall have the vox Cleri of his side, and be as great as Noise and fulsom Flattery can make him; but in the mean time is really King but of one Moiety of his People, whilst the danger which the other half apprehend from the Secular Arm directed by Spiritual Power of Necessity, weaneth their Hearts from the Government. Thus Charles the II. who for two Years after his Return, reigned in the Hearts of all his People, was by the Act of Uniformity reduced to be King of the Church-party; and at last, whilst the Popish and Protestant Priesthood zealously contended whose Property he should be, (like the Truth among Controversial Divines) he was lost in the Scuffle.

He instanced in likewise the late King James, who (said he) had it in his power to be universally beloved and obey'd, beyond any King of England this Age has produced. His Right to the Crown was owned by all; his Wilfulness had passed upon the Church of England Party for Magnanimous Resolution, which struck such an Awe upon them, that they were coming to a Temper, and would have consented to a Toleration of Protestant Dissenters, and Roman Catholicks too, provided their Maintenance might be continued to them. Thus the Heart of all England had been set upon the King; but the Popish Priesthood would be content with nothing less than delivering the whole Nation to Satan, and their King must execute the dreadful Anathema, though 'twas manifest that he must thereby lessen himself to the size of one of the 7 Kings of Kent; for he could be Sovereign of no more than the Two hundredth part of the People. For King Charles in numbering the People, had found that the Proportion between Papist and Protestant was as 1 to 200: whereas had his own Priesthood been so favourable to him, as to have excused him from executing that Satanical Power, which by a Right purely Divine was vested in Sacred Majesty, his Reign might have been happy, and his Memory precious. What an unhappy Effect had the Spirit of Father Laud upon King Charles the First? And what hath brought Lewis the XIV. to the present Diminution of his Glory, but that haughty Insolence and unnatural Cruelty in Persecuting his own Subjects, which Father la Chaise has inspired him with? What Figure will this Grand Monarch make in Story? His Name will pollute the Annals of this Age, and his cowardly Conquests be the Scorn of Posterity. Now from all that he had said, he concluded, that for Luck-sake, as well as to preserve his good Nature, he would be cautious of being (at least) a zealous Christian.

8. 'Twas not long since I met one of my old Acquaintance, who told me that he had lately cast off these Prejudices he had conceived against the Christian Faith, by the Assistance of a Book called, The Five Letters of Inspiration. By the last of those Letters he was convinced of the reality of reveal'd Religion, from the Intrinsick value and Excellency thereof; and he was fully confirmed in his Judgment by a late Book called, The Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the Scripture. Upon this, he had read over the Old-Testament once, and the New several times, with great attention of Mind. Indeed he always thought the Moral part of the Bible very good; but then he also thought, that by the strength of his own Reason, he could have written as good a Moral himself. But by the last of these Books he was convinced, that he was indebted to Revelation more than he thought of, and considering how long the Ceremonial Law had obtain'd among the Jews, and what a profound respect they paid to the Scribes, Pharisees, and Spiritual Guides and Rulers; he plainly saw that there was need enough of Miracle to bear down their Prejudices, to make 'em leave their Ceremonies, and listen to that excellent Moral which Christ gave 'em; nay, he was convinced that no Miracles were strong enough to prevail over the Priest, or a Priest-ridden People, to become Proselytes to the Doctrine of universal Love and Charity; for (said he) if a Teacher should now be sent from Heaven with this Message, that all the Protestant Parties in England should be reconciled and live well with one another, making nothing necessary to their religious Communion, but what Christ had appointed, and such Circumstances as Time and Place, and what in the nature of the thing was needful, and if this Teacher's Mission were confirm'd by Miracle, it would have (as he thought) no better effect upon our several Sects of Clergy, and those who are bigotted to their Parties, than it had upon the Pharisees and their Disciples of old.

Having heard him speak so sharply against the Clergy after his old way, I could not but tell him that I perceived he was but almost a Christian; for he who loveth the Institution of Christ, cannot but respect those who are the Ministers thereof; at least, I hoped that he would pay a respect to the Clergy of the Church of England, which was the best Reformed Church in the World; and therefore I expected that he was already a Member of our Church: He reply'd, that he should always be ready to pay his respect to every good Man of what Order or Degree soever; he should always be willing to hear a good Minister Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him, and exhort him to the sincere Practice of it. That he was ready to contribute his share to the Maintenance of such Ministers, and to join with that Church-of-England Congregation near to which he liv'd, in publick Worship; but yet he could not condemn the Worship of other Congregations, nor exclude himself from joyning with them as occasion should serve him. So that as to Church-membership he could be a Member of any Church, which would own him upon the terms of Faith and Practice, contained in the Book he mentioned, concerning the Reasonableness of the Christian Religion, &c. But still he conceiv'd, that Church-Communion in holy Offices was designed only to raise his Devotion towards God, not towards the Clergy, which made him admire the unparallell'd Impudence of the Roman Priesthood, who measure the Religion of all Christians by their Devotion to the See of Rome, i.e. indeed to themselves; and he doubted whether any Church were sufficiently Reformed from Popery, which made any Doctrines of Faith necessary to Salvation that were not declared so in the Gospels, and where the Clergy would always distinguish between Church and State, and give the Precedency to themselves. But yet he would join with any Church as far as it promoted the Honour of God, and separate from it, wherein on pretence of Religion, he saw, that it aimed at a By-end of its own.

Here I urged him again to joyn to our Church, which had no other design but God's Glory. To this he said, that he should be glad that the Church of England would own him, though he could not be of their Party: He would willingly pass as a Church-man for his Credit-sake; for (said he) though a Man doth ever so firmly believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah whom God had of old promised, and in due time sent to give us a perfect Rule of Life, in order to make us truly religious here, and ever happy hereafter; and though a Man should shew forth his Faith by