cuted, on the one side by rude and presumptuous insults, and base undermining treachery on the other; and that this persecution is carried on by associated malignants. The other Sermon was preached at St. Paul's London, on the 5th of November, which is a day set apart for a general day of thanksgiving, for two very great deliverances vouchsafed to this nation, by the discovery of the GunpowderPlot, and the arrival of his late majesty king William, to redeem us from popish tyranny and arbitrary power.. My lords, when ye come to hear this Sermon read, I am confident that it must appear very strange to find, that when there were two such memorable occasions for the Doctor to have set forth his eloquence in a Thanksgiving Sermon, he should in great measure pass by both the businesses of the day, and entertain his audience with a long harangue of the deplorable condition the Church was in; not so much from Papists, (the avowed enemies of the Church) as from her pretended friends, as he calls them, the false sons of the Church, who were crept into her bowels, and shewn themselves to be perfidious brethren, by defending toleration and liberty of conscience, and favouring the Dissenters. And to shew his little liking of the great work which was begun to be wrought on that day by the arrival of his late majesty, the chief turn of his discourse is, to cry up Non-Resistance and Passive Obedience. And to make it most evident, that what he said of Non-Resistance, was to cast black and ❘ odious colours upon the Revolution; he lays down a general position, That it is not law ful, upon any pretence whatsoever, to make • Resistance to the supreme power;' which supreme power, by other passages, he explains to be the regal power. And being apprehensive, that every one that heard him talking in that manner against Resistance, would see plainly he was censuring and condemning the means that brought about the Revolution, and being desirous to cast as heavy reflections as he could upon the memory of king William, he asserts, That the Prince of Orange, in his Declaration, utterly disclaimed all manner of Resistance.' My lords, every body knows, that knows any thing of the Revolution, That the Prince of Orange came over hither with an armed force; and that in several paragraphs of his Declaration, (the Doctor speaks of) His late majesty invites and requires all peers of the realm, both spiritual and temporal lords, all gentlemen, citizens, and other commoners, to come in and assist him, in order to the executing that design he had then undertook, against all that should endeavour to oppose him. Therefore it must be accounted very ridiculous for the Doctor to advance such a position, if he had no further meaning in it, than to give an account of the Prince of Orange's design in coming over here into England. And this will make it necessary for your | lordships to consider what is the true meaning of this assertion: is it not plainly to make the Prince of Orange say one thing, and at the same time do directly another? And can this be done with any other design, than to asperse the memory of the late king William ? Then as to his discourse concerning Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance, in such latitude as is there mentioned; what could it tend to, but to cast reflections upon that Resistance, which was the means which brought about the Revolution? For was there any occasion at that time to be so earnest to cry down Resistance, and preach up Passive Obedience? Can any one pretend to say, there were any symptoms of discontent throughout the nation, in any parts thereof? No: to our comfort be it spoken, no reign, no age, no history, can give a better account of the good dispositions of the people to their sovereign. Therefore, since the preaching these doctrines was needless, it does savour of some wicked design, to be talking so unseasonably of this subject. If what the Doctor very frequently asserts in this Sermon be true, That all are false sons of the Church, who assisted in bringing about the Revolution, or that joined in the opposition that was made to the encroachments which were begun by evil ministers in the reign of king James 2, against our religion and liberties; let the Doctor a little consider, how far his character of a False Brother may be carried! Every body knows, that lived in those days, that the body of the clergy of the Church of England made a noble stand against the encroachments which were then making, and appeared as active as any of the laity. And was it not by their writings, preaching, and example, that the nobility and gentry were animated to maintain and defend their rights, religion and liberties? And as an undoubted monument that this was the sense of the whole kingdom at the time of the Revolution, it is entered in the Journal of the House of Commons, on the 1st of February, 1689; "That the unanimous Thanks of the House was given, nem. con. to the Clergy of the Church of England, for the great service they had done their religion and country, by the opposition they had made to the execution of the Ecclesiastical Commission, and their refusing to read the king's Declaration for Toleration, which was then founded upon the dispensing power." And how did the archbishops receive the message that was sent them upon this occasion, that they might communicate that resolution to the clergy in their respective dioceses? Our Journals tell us, that Mr. Levison Gower the next day acquainted the House of Commons, that he had attended the two archbishops, according to order, with the Thanks of the House; and that archbishop Sancroft, and the then archbishop of York, returned their Thanks to the Commons for themselves, and Can the Doctor pretend to say, that this in behalf of all their Clergy, for their favour-word Toleration has never been made use of to able Vote. express the religious liberty and indulgence Your lordships see, the Commons were then that is granted and allowed to Dissenters? If happy enough to be thought favourable to the we wanted authorities to justify the use of the clergy of the Church of England; and yet word, after the Doctor has made use of it in those very Commons were the men who pass- the same sense over and over, in many pased the Toleration-Act, for exempting Protes-sages in his Sermons, as will be taken notice of tant Dissenters from the penalties of certain laws, as one of the most necessary acts for the good of the kingdom. And were they not encouraged to go about that charitable work, by the Petition of the Seven Bishops, presented to king James; wherein they acquainted him, That it was not for want of a due tenderness to Dissenters, which made them refuse reading his Declaration for Toleration to Dissenters; in relation to whom, they were willing to come to such a temper as should be thought fit, when the same came to be considered in parliament. But now the same hath been considered in parliament, and the Toleration hath been settled and established by the legislative authority of the kingdom and hath been ratified and approved of in his reign, by her majesty and both Houses of Parliament; Dr. Sacheverell belike disapproves of it, and is pleased to tell us in a most extraordinary manner, That a man must be very weak, or something worse, that thinks or pretends the Dissenters are to be gained by any other grants and indulgences, than giving up our whole constitution: and he that recedes the least tittle from it, to satisfy and ingratiate with these clamorous, insatiable, churchdevouring malignants, knows not what spirit they are of. After such an ample declaration of his opinion, what fatal consequences will attend the granting indulgences to Dissenters! can the Doctor imagine, that his saying, in his Answer to the Articles, That he intends not to cast the least invidious reflection upon that indulgence the government has condescended to give them, will take off the hard censures he bath passed upon Dissenters? And, my lords, if an archbishop, who hath been dead almost 120 years, cannot be permitted to rest quiet in his grave, but must have foul aspersions cast upon his memory, as being a false son, and a perfidious prelate of the Church, for interceding (as Dr. Sacheverell says) with queen Elizabeth for the Dissenters in those days: what must the present archbishops and bishops of our Church expect from Dr. Henry Sacheverell, if they do not thunder out their ecclesiastical anathemas against Dissenters, as often as the Doctor shall think there is occasion for them? My lords, I perceive the Doctor hopes to salve all he hath said against Toleration to Dissenters, by a nice distinction he hath hit upon between an indulgence and a toleration. Therefore he tells your lordships, That upon the most diligent enquiry, he hath not been able to inform himself that a Toleration hath been granted by law. by the gentlemen that are to make good the second Article, the Doctor might be put in mind, that her majesty in her Speech from the throne, on the 17th of December, 1705, hath been pleased to declare, That she will inviolably maintain the Toleration. My lords, as the time was most unseasonable for the preaching such doctrines as these, so the place was very improper for a lecture of politics: for your lordships do perceive this latter Sermon, which was preached on the 5th of November last, was preached in the great metropolis of this kingdom, before the lord mayor, aldermen, and citizens of London; from whose steady loyalty to her majesty, and firm affections to the Revolution, such vast sums have been contributed for carrying on this long war against France, which hath proved so fatal to the French king, and other enemies of this kingdom. And what more likely to give a fatal wound to the public credit at this time, than such doctrine, which tends to the overthrow of all the acts of parliament which have been made in support of this constitution? And how strange an attempt was it for the Doctor to preach against the Revolution and this government, before those citizens who owe the restoration of their charters, and all their franchises and immunities to it? But, to do justice to the Doctor he in his Answer denies, he hath said any thing of the means which brought about the Revolution. And, if your lordships can believe him, he says, he has endeavoured to vindicate the Revolution from the black and odious colours the enemies of the Revolution would throw both upon that and his late majesty. To what end and purpose then are these doctrines preached with so much vehemence at this time, unless it be to reflect backwards upon what was done at the time of the Revolution? There is certainly no occasion to preach Non Resistance to her majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, who have never shewn the least inclination to give disturbances to this present government. Was there ever known a time, in which there was so universal an agreement in all ranks and degrees amongst us? Does not every one almost strive to shew their zeal and affection for her majesty and her government? If there be any that are less quiet than their neighbours, we shall find them amongst the friends of Dr. Sacheverell, who are professedly no friends to the Revolution. Nothing is more certain, than that all that are not satisfied with what was done at the time of the Revolution, must be enemies to the present estab lishment: and it is from this source, all these declamations against men of character and station both in Church and State, do proceed. But I would have the Doctor consider, that we have laws to punish spreaders of false news, and horrible stories, of the great men and great officers of the kingdom; and it is to put a stop to these malicious practices now on foot, that this delinquent is now brought to this bar. When we shall bave read our several proofs, which will justify every particular charged on the Doctor in the Articles of Impeachment, the Commons will not doubt of your lordships' Judgment against this Defendant. Mr. Lechmere. My lords, I am commanded to assist in stating to your lordships the grounds of the Charge of the Commons, and the nature and tendency of the crimes now before you in judgment. Your lordships have had opened to you an Impeachment of the Commous of Great Britain: the subjects of both nations had an equal concern in that which is the ground of it: they are happily united in this prosecution; and the common interest of your lordships, and us all, is inseparable in its event. that. They could not therefore have acquitted themselves, if they had not made that their foundation being firmly convinced, they never can have the honour and justice of that glorious work too much at heart; nor be too jealous of those, who under any pretences, though never so specious, shall attempt to lessen it. And when they consider the certain dependance that the justice of the late Revolution itself must have upon the steps that led to it, they can have no doubt but your lordships will think him equally criminal, who condemns the means by which it was effected. My lords, The necessary means (which is the phrase used by the Commons in their first Article) are words made choice of by them with the greatest caution. Those means are described (in the preamble to their Charge) to be, that glorious enterprize, which his late majesty undertook with an armed force, to deliver this kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power; the concurrence of many subjects of the realm, who came over with him in that enterprize, and of many others of all ranks and orders, who appeared in arms in many parts of the kingdom, in aid of that enterprize. But the Commons, who will never be unmindful of the allegiance of the subjects to the crown of this realm, judged it highly incumbent upon them, out of regard to the safety of her majesty's person and government, and the ancient and legal constitution of this kingdom, to call that resistance the necessary means; thereby plainly founding that power, of right and resistance, which was exercised by the people at the time of the happy Revolution, and which the duties of self-preservation and religion called them to, upon the necessity of the case; and at the same time effectually securing her majesty's government, and the due allegiance of all her subjects. These were the means that brought about the I need say no more to your lordships of the Revolution, and which the Act that passed greatness of this cause; not for the person of soon after, declaring the Rights and Liberties the offender, but for the high importance of of the Subject, and settling the Succession of those matters which he has presumed to draw the Crown, intends when his late majesty is in question. therein called the glorious Instrument of deliThe Commons, on their part, have been ex-vering the Kingdom; and which the Comceeding careful in every step of this proceed-mons, in the last part of their first Article, ing, that it should receive a deliberation suit- express by the word Resistance. able to the weight of the cause, and the dignity of the Commons; and they observe it to your lordships, with great satisfaction, that by your ready concurrence, no difficulties have arisen to delay or discourage their Impeachment. They ascribe this to a desire in your Jordships, equally with themselves, to cultivate a good correspondence on so important an occasion, and to that due regard your lordships shew to the course of Impeachments, the ancient right, and great security of the Commons. In framing their Charge, the Commons have thought fit, by a preamble to their Articles, to lay before you the grounds of their accusation, in terms the most cogent and expressive; to the end your lordships might have early and perfect notice of the points on which the Commons intended to proceed; that your lordships, and the whole kingdom, might know the unanimous and hearty zeal of the Commons, to assert the justice of the late happy Revolution, and the foundations of, her majesty's government and administration; and that the Judgment of the Commons, on this weighty occasion, might stand fully on the Records of Parliament, and be transmitted to all posterity. Your lordships will observe, in reading their evidence, many things excepted to by the Commons, precedent to the ground of their first Article; but you will soon perceive, that all parts of the design of the prisoner center in Your lordships will find, that the prisoner, in bis Sermon preached at St. Paul's, has asserted a doctrine in direct defiance and contradiction of that Resistance used to bring about the Revolution; when he affirms the utter illegality of Resistance, on any pretence whatsoever, to be a fundamental of our constitution: and, as your lordships will hear it fully made out from the proofs, by those gentlemen to whom that part is assigned, he has also plainly declared himself, that even that Resistance used at the time of the late happy Revolution, is not to be excepted out of his fundamental role. My lords, when a preacher of the Gospel, and a minister of the Church of England, even under this happy establishment, shall of government proves, that there is not only a power in the people, who have inherited its freedom, to assert their own title to it, but they are bound in duty to transmit the same consti tution to their posterity also. thus publicly condemn the foundations on which it stands, in defiance of her majesty and the great council of the nation then sitting in parliament; it becomes an indispensible duty upon us, who appear in the name, and on the behalf of all the Commons of Great Britain, not only to demand your lordships' justice on such a criminal, but clearly and openly to assert our foundations. I crave leave to remind your lordships of the condition of things in both kingdoms immediately preceding the late Revolution: the case is stated and recorded, between the late King James and the subjects of both kingdoms, in the several Declarations of the Rights of both nations made by them at that time. I shall forbear to aggravate the miscarriages of that unhappy prince, further than by saying, that it is declared in the preamble to the bill passed in England, That by the assistance of evil counsellors, judges and ministers, employed by him, he did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant Religion, the laws and liberties of the kingdom, in the several instances there enumerated. And in that passed in the kingdom of Scotland, it stands declared, That, by the advice of evil counsellors, he did invade the fundamental constitution of that kingdom, and altered it from a legal limited monarchy, to an arbitrary despotic power. Your lordships, on this occasion, will again consider the ancient legal constitution of the government of this kingdom; from which it will evidently appear to your lordships, that the subjects of this realm had not only a power and right in themselves to make that Resistance, but lay under an indispensible obligation to do it. The nature of our constitution is that of a limited monarchy, wherein the supreme power is communicated and divided between Queen, Lords, and Commons, though the executive power and administration be wholly in the crown. The terms of such a constitution do not only suppose, but express an original contract between the crown and the people; by which that supreme power was [by mutual consent, and not by accident] limited and lodged in more bands than one: and the uniform preservation of such a constitution for so many ages without any fundamental change, demonstrates to your lordships the continuance of the same contract. The consequences of such a frame of government are obvious: that the laws are the rule to both, the common measure of the power of the crown, and of the obedience of the subject; and if the executive part endeayours the subversion, and total destruction of the government, the original contract is thereby broke, and the right of allegiance cases: that part of the government thus fundamentally injured, hath a right to save or recover that constitution in which it had an original interest. Nay, the nature of such an original contract It is mis-spending your lordships' time to illustrate this: it is an eternal truth, essential to the government itself, and not to be defaced or destroyed by any force or device. That the rights of the crown of England are legal rights, and its power stated and bounded by the laws of the kingdom; that the executive power and administration itself is under the strictest guard for the security of the people; and that the subjects have an inheritance in their ancient fundamental constitutions, and the laws of the land, appears from every branch of this government. It is the tenor of all antiquity; our histories and records afford innumerable proofs of it: and when your lordships look back on the history of Magna Charta alone, you cannot doubt of the sense of our ancestors, that they were masters of franchises that were truly their own, and which no earthly power had right to extort from them. Many others, of incontes table authority, are those valuable relicts which our popish ancestors have left us, as proofs of the freedom of our constitution, of the constant claims they made, both in and out of parliament, to their inheritance in their laws against the encroachment of arbitrary power; and when the last extremity called them to it, they never failed to vindicate them by the arms of Resistance. "Such was the genius of a people, whose government was built on that noble foundation, not to be bound by laws to which they did not consent; that muffled up in darkness and superstition, as our ancestors were, yet that notion seemed engraven on their minds, and the impressions so strong, that nothing could impair them." Upon the Reformation of religion, when all foreign power was abolished, and the supremacy of the crown was restored to its height by many acts of parliament, your lordships will always find declarations at the same time made of the rights of the people; particularly that of the 25th of H. 8, where it is said, That the realm of England is free from any man's laws, but such as have been devised, made and ordained within the same, for the wealth of it; or such other, as the people of the realm have taken at their free will and consent, and by long use have bound themselves to, as the ancient established laws of the realm, and none otherwise. Your lordships will, I doubt not, consider those laws made at that time, to be fresh and remarkable declarations and ratifications of the original contract. This excellent constitution of our government has been, through many struggles, preserved from that time to this, and the true spirit of the English nation still kept alive down to the times of the late happy Revolution; at which time the danger being imminent, not only to the laws and liberties of the kingdom, but to the Protestant Religion, the ancient virtue of the English nation exerted itself, and shone out in its full lustre, in that glorious work. The many laws passed since, more particularly those for the Settlement of the Crown and Succession, are so many repeated declarations of their late majesties, and her majesty now on the throne, together with the representative body of the nation, in confirmation of their ancient constitution. Nay, my lords, we have higher testimonies to appeal to; the many glorious successes with which God Almighty has blessed the arms of her most sacred majesty, employed in defence of the arms of Resistance, are so many testimonies from Heaven in our vindication. Your lordships take notice on what grounds the Doctor continues to assert the same position in his Answer. But is it not most evident, that the general exhortations to be met with in the Homilies of the Church of England, and such like declarations in the statutes of the kingdom, are meant only as rules for the civil obedience of the subject to the legal administration of the supreme power in ordinary cases? And it is equally absurd, to construe any words in a positive law to authorize the destruction of the whole, as to expect, that King, Lords, and Commons should, in express terms of law, declare such an ultimate resort as the right of Resistance, at a time when the case supposes that the force of all law is ceased. But the Commons think he hath, by his Answer, highly aggravated his crime, by charging so pernicious a tenet, as that of absolute, unlimited Non-Resistance to be a fundamental part of our government, and by asserting this as the doctrine of the Church of England. that Resistance which brought about the late happy Revolution. And upon this foundation it is, that they doubt not but your lordships will, in a parliamentary way fasten a brand of indelible infamy on that enslaving tenet by which it is condemned. I shall take up less of your lordships' time on the following Articles. The Commons esteem the Toleration of Protestant Dissenters to be one of the earliest and happiest effects of the late Revolution, wisely calculated for the support and strengthening the Protestant interest, the great end of the Revolution itself. They remember, with the highest gratitude to her majesty, her royal resolution declared from the throne, to preserve it inviolably; and they observe to your lordships, that it appears to them from a report on their own Journals of a Conference between both Houses, on the Bill against Occasional Conformity, (not meant to enlarge the liberties of Protestant Dissenters) that the persecution of Protestants is, in the preamble to that Bill, declared to be contrary to the Christian Religion, and the doctrine of the Church of England, and that the Act of Toleration ought to be kept inviolably; and the Commons find no exception then taken by your lordships to that declaration; but on the contrary, many expressions from both Houses, highly extolling the policy and good effects of that law. Your lordships will perceive, from the evidence of the Commons, many plain declarations of the prisoner in maintenance of this Article; but we offer it to your lordships, as a further evidence, that he most shamefully arraigns the memory of a prelate, eminent for his zeal to the Protestant religion, for his compassionate intercessions with queen Elizabeth in favour of dissenting Protestants; a reflection plainly meant by him to cast an odium on the Act of Toleration, and on the present Fathers It is a great reproach to the excellency of of the Church so eminent for their charity and our constitution, to impute such principles to moderation; and from the applauses he gives it as inevitably infer its destruction; and an to the severities shown by that queen, he illusequal dishonour to the crown of this realm, trates the calumny thrown by him on her prethe great glory of which is to be set over and sent majesty, and her approbation of the Tolegovern a nation of free-born subjects, the mean- ration: Your lordships will duly consider the est of which has an inheritance in the govern-malignity of expressions meant to condemn so ment and the laws equal with the greatest. good a law, now standing in its full force, and They likewise esteem it an high reflection to encourage the unchristian principles of peron religion itself, and the Church of Eng-secution. land, to charge its purest doctrines with such constructions, by which all irreligion and oppression would be authorized. The Commons must for ever consider themselves under the strongest obligations of gratitude to our great Deliverer, to assert the honour and justice of that Resistance by which he rescued an oppressed people from inevitable destruction; and think they should not deserve the name of subjects of Great Britain, or the least blessing of so good a government, if at this time before your lordships, and for ever hereafter, they did not assert, in the most strenuous manner, the honour and justice of The latter part of the Second Article is founded on the legal supremacy of the government in matters ecclesiastical, by which all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, by the ancient undoubted laws of the kingdom, is made subject to the civil power. The prisoner, in terms very unbecoming, has struck at this essential part of our constitution, in those words; wherein, after having persuaded the superior pastors of the Church to thunder out their anathemas against Protestant Dissenters, he defies any earthly power to reverse such sentences. My lords, the restoring the legal supremacy |