BX
1472
Pas
| - !
3
1)
Prestur, Joan
A
FREE ADDRESS
то
THOSE WHO HAVE PETITIONED
FOR THE
Repeal of the late Act of PARLIAMENT,
IN FAVOUR OF THE
ROMAN CATHOLICS.
By A LOVER OF PEACE AND TRUTH.
TY
But I ſay unto you, Love your enemies, bleſs them that curſe
jou, do good to them that hate you, and pray for themi
pubich deſpitefully uſe you and perfecute you. Matt. V. 44.
L O N D ON:
Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul's
Church-Yard, 1780.
(Price Two-pence, or Twelve Shillings per Hun
dred to give away.)
X
BY
1412
.95
म
.
.
.
FREE ADDRESS, &C.
My Countrymen and Fellow Proteſtants,
P
ERMIT one, who hopes he feels the ſame
ardour with which you are inſpired, in the
cauſe of Religion, of Chriſtianity, and of
Proteſtantiſm, to expoftulate with you, with ſome
degree of freedom, on the manner in which your
zeal has lately operated.
Far am I from wiſhing that you had leſs zeal
than you have ſhewn. On the contrary, it gives
me the fincereſt pleaſure to find that, amidſt all our
complaints of the diſſipation and vices of the age,
fentiments of religion appear to be ſo deeply rooted
in the minds of numbers, as to make them unawed
by civil power, and regardleſs of all political par-
ties. I only wiſh to ſuggeſt to you, that the fame
zeal, exerted in a different manner, a manner
more ſuitable to the genius of that religion, and
that form of it, for which you are contending, will
much more effectually ſecure your great object.
What I earneſtly with is, that you would
confider Chriſtianity and Proteſtantiſm with more
reſpect, than to imagine that they ſtand in need
of any aid from civil power to ſupport them. The
king-
A 2
1
[ 4 ]
kingdoin of our Lord is not of this world, and
wants not ſuch ſupports as the kingdoms of this
world require, viz. rigorous laws, and a fevere
adminiftration. Chritianity addreſſes itſelf only
to the underſtandings and hearts of men ; and if
perſuaſion fail, it leaves every man to the judg-
ment of that God, who lias given to all of us
whatever talents and advantages of any kind we
are poflefled of; and who will not fail to exact
a ſufficiently ſtrict account of the uſe we ſhall
have made of them.
Had not our Saviour liimſelf power enough to
have eſtablimhed his religion in whatever manner
he had pleaſed ? Could not he who ſtilled a
tempeft, fed multitudes by miracles, blaſted the
barren fig-tree, and cleared the temple of thofe
who had converted it into a houſe of merchandize,
have, if he had plcafed, contented himſelf with
making a ſolemn proclamation of his religion,
and have puniſhed with fines, impriſonment, or
inſtant death, all who ſhould have refuſed to em
brace it? And might he not have urged every
thing that, at any time ſince, has been urged in
favour of fuch oercive meafures, viz. that it
was all for the good of men's fouls, and to prevent
others from being perverted by thoſe who perfift-
ed in their infidelity.
Whereas, on the contrary, lie did not exert his
miraculous power even to ſave his own life. His
father, he exprefly ſays, would, on his requeſt,
have ſent him legions of angels to reſcue him from
the hands of his enemies; but he wiſely declined
making any ſuch improper uſe of that power, or
of any power. For when Peter, out of a real
affection for his maſter, and an attachment to his
cauſe
A
T
[ 5 ]
eauſe as great as you yourſelves can now feel,
drew his ſword, and finote one of thoſe who were
fent to apprehend him, he inſtantly restrained his
impetuoîty; adding an awful warning to all who
Thould hereafter have recourſe to any ſimilar means,
in the cauſe of his goſpel, viz. Ail they that take the
ſword mall periſh with the ſword. And have we
not ſeen this prophecy fulfilled in every period of
the Chriſtian church to the preſent times?
When did any man, or body of men, ever riſe
up in arms, in defence of their religion and reli-
gious privileges, and proſper? What could be
more promiſing than the affairs of the Hullites in
ſome periods of their war with the emperor, or
thoſe of the Proteſtants in France againſt their
fovereigns ? But how miſerably, in the juſt pro-
vidence of God, did that recourſe to arnis fail
them both? In what did the final cataſtrophe
differ from that of the Cruſades? And no better,
we may venture to foretel, will be the ſucceſs of
all other attempts to gain any advantages to
Chriſtianity by force.
And if it be unlawful to uſe defenſive arins in
the cauſe of religion, much more muſt it be fo
to uſe offenſive ones, for which there is much
leſs excule. If our religion be of any, value, it is
fo becauſe it is true, and evidently fo. It is no-
thing but the perſuaſion of its being true that can
ever make it reſpected, and influence men's hearts
and conduct, which is the only object of Chriſ-
tianity, and leaſt of all to make men hypocrites,
profeſſing to believe what they dare not profeſs to
diſbelieve, which is all that power, in its own na -
ture, can ever do.
A 3
Do
[ 6 ]
Do but reflect on the manner in which Chrif-
tianity got the footing that it has in the world.
Was it by the help of civil laws and their fanc-
tion's ? On the contrary, it is notorious, that for
near three hundred years, all that civil laws and
their fanctions could do, were employed againſt
it, but in vain. It made its way through the
whole Roman empire, a more formidable power
than has ſince exiſted in the world, in ſpite of its
faſces, fire, torture, and death in every form that
could be deviſed.
Now, can there be the leaſt probability in the
ſuppoſition, that a religion which eſtabliſhed it-
ſelf in the world in ſpite of all civil power, ſhould
ſtand in need of the fame power merely to pre-
ſerve itſelf? Common ſenſe revolts at the idea.
It muſt be ſomething elſe than Chriſtianity, fome
evil corruption or abuſe of it, ſomething that men
can never be perſuaded to adopt, that has recourſe
to ſuch aſſiſtance.
What is the moſt obvious objection to the
Mahometan religion, but that it was propagated
by the ſword?
And what is it that makes us
revolt ſo much as we do at the uſurpations of the
church of Rome, but that it is a bloody perſecut-
ing church? And ſhall we imitate that church
in the very thing for which we moſt condemn it?
We cannot do it without incurring a greater
odium ourſelves. We thereby fix the ſame mark
of ſuſpicion on our own cauſe that we think ſo
glaring in theirs.
If we read the hiſtory of perſecution, we ſhall
be fatisfied that it was never employed in favour
of pure Chriſtianity, or conducted with a Chriſtian
Spirit. In the church of Rome, all Proteftants
agree,
[7]
agree, it was to enforce ſomething as abſurd a
paganiſin itſelf; and the temper with which it
was always conducted, was in no reſpect differ-
ent from that of Nero or Dioclefian. If the
church of England has perfecuted, it behoves her
to conſider whether it has been for the eſſentials
of Chriſtianity, or for ſome improper appendage
to it; and whether the coercive meaſures the has
had recourſe to would have been ſo ſevere, if
all worldly power and emolument had been out of
the queſtion. The ſame queries may likewiſe be
put with reſpect to the Preſbyterians of the laſt
century. The Quakers are perhaps the only body
of Chriſtians who ſtand unqueſtionably clear of
this charge.
The beſt that can be ſaid of any perſecutors
is that which was ſaid of the Jews, that they had
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Paul was alſo actuated, before his converſion,
by the ſame zeal; but he ſufficiently. condemns
himſelf for it, and he acted a very different part,
and breathed a very different ſpirit afterwards,
and yet without having leſs zeal than before.
Our Saviour himſelf forewarned his diſciples,
that they who killed them would think that they did
God ſervice. But did he acquit them of all blame
on that account? Or did he give the leaſt inti-
mation that a zeal for God ought to carry his own
followers to the ſame lengths? We are to Thew
our zeal and fortitude by ſuffering for our religion,
not by fighting for it, becauſe ſuffering in a cauſe
Thews the firmneſs of our perſuaſion concerning
its truth, which is adapted to work on the minds
of others. Chriſt himſelf conquered by his croſs,
and ſo muft we, if we be his followers. There
is
A4
[ 8 ]
is no other victory that is truly Chriſtian. It was
prophecied of him, that he ſhould not jhout nor
cry, nor make his voice to be heard in the ſtreets ; in
fo gentle and unimpoſing a way did he proceed. .
How different, I need not ſay, from the conduct
of many on a late occaſion.
But, independent of the peculiar ſpirit of
Chriſtianity, which the beſt of us are too apt to
loſe fight of, let us conſider our conduct as that
of men to men, who have equal zeal for their
reſpective tenets, and may have equal power.
Can we coerce others without vindicating thoſe
who coerce us, without ſetting them an exam-
ple, and therefore, in fact, urging them to pro..
ceed in the ſame manner?
Proteſtants ſhould not forget that there ftill
are, as well as have been, Papifts; and though
their power be happily at an end in this country,
it ſubliſts in its full force abroad, and in coun-
tries where there are Proteftants. And in ſeve-
ral countries where the government is popiſh,
there are more Proteſtants than there are Papitts
here. At the ſame time, therefore, that Pro-
teftants are as inuch under the power of Papifts
there, as Papiſts are under the power of Pro-
teſtants here, the plea of danger from them may
be more plauſibly alledged. While, therefore,
you are demoliſhing the houſes, property, and
churches of Papiſts here, you are urging the
Papiſts to demoliſh the houſes, property, and
churches of the Proteſtants abroad. That is, you
are in fact doing it yourſelves; and you may be
thankful if you do not hear
of ſuch outrages be-
ing actually committed by Papifts upon Proteſ-
tants in foreign countries. Their zeal, and con-
fequently
[ 9 ]
ſequently their indignation, is not leſs than yours;
and it is not your opinion that they have more
Chriſtian meekneſs and fortearance.
If then you would know how you ſhould be-.
have to Papiſts here, the anſwer is obvious, viz.
in the very fame manner in which you would
have Papiſts behave to Proteſtants abroad. You
ſhould Thew the favour you wiſh to receive, and
forbear as you wiſh to be forborne with your-
ſelves.
To charge ſectaries with difaffection to govern-
ment, and to affect an apprehenſion of danger to
the ſtate from them, have been the pleas of all
eſtabliſhed churches, as a juſtification of the fe-
verities they uſed towards them. This has been
alledged by Papiſts with reſpect to Proteſtants in
foreign countries, and by the church of England
with reſpect to the Diffenters in this ; though
without any foundation, except that degree of
alienation on one ſide, which is produced by ill
treatment on the other, and which it is, therefore,
always in the power of the ſuperior party to put
an end to.
You will reply, as I am well aware, that I
overcharge the picture. You are no advocates,
you ſay, for perſecuting the papiſts; and that you
who aſſociated for the purpoſe of getting a repeal
of the late act in favour of popery, were not the
perſons who burned houſes, demoliſhed the pub-
lic priſons, and let a number of deſperate banditti
looſe upon the public. I am willing to hope that
this may have been the caſe. But ſtill, in the
very foliciting of the repeal of that act, you ap-
plied to the civil authority for power to lay perſons
profeſſing the Roman Catholic religion under ſuch
reſtric-
A 5
[ 10 ]
reſtrictions, and to expoſe them to ſuch penalties
as you would be very forry that you yourſelves
1hould lie under, and be expoſed to, if Divine
Providence had fixed your abode in a Popiſh
country.
The law you have taken ſo much offence at,
only gave Papiſts leave to purchaſe lands, and
took off ſome very ſevere and injudicious penal-
ties, which put them in the power of mercenary
informers, for performing acts of their religion,
or teaching ſchool. It by no means authorized
the public exerciſe of that religion, nor did it
give them any power to teach ſchool at all. It is
Itill a hundred pounds penalty, and impriſonment
for a year, to read or hear maſs, and it is death
to make a convert to the Popiſh religion; and
this is much more than the civil power does
with reſpect to Chriſtianity in Turkey. There
Chriſtians may reſide unmoleſted, and exerciſe
every thing belonging to their religion, in the
moſt public manner, and educate their children
as they pleaſe, on paying a certain tax, though
it is death to attempt to make a convert of any
Mahometan. Shall the profeſſors of the differ-
ent modes of the ſame religion be more inve-
terate againſt each other than Mahometans are
againſt any of us ? Alas! our conduct towards
each other would juſtify a much more rigorous
treatment of us all.
You reply, that any indulgence ſhows the
good-will that government bears them, and will
encourage them to preſume upon farther favour.
This, I own, is natural. But if, by their peace-
able behaviour, they ſhall appear to have deſerved
farther indulgence, why ſhould it not be granted
them?
.
[ I ]
them? Would not you think this a reaſonable
thing in your own caſe, if you lived in France ?
You ſay that Popery is favourable to arbitrary
power, and that the favour the court ſhews them
is a proof of their being unfriendly to the civil li.
berties of this country, and that this circumſtance
has been the cauſe of the late act, and of all that
has of late been done in favour of the Papifts.
But the liberal-minded in the oppoſition were as
much friends to the bill, at the time of its paſſing,
as any in the adminiſtration, and even took a
more active part in promoting it. Adinit-
ting all that you alledge, we ought to rejoice, if,
from any principle, men do what is in itſelf
right. It is uſual in the courſe of Divine Provi-
dence for good to come out of evil, for men to
mean one thing, and God, whoſe inſtruments
they are, another.
It is, however, by no means true that Popery, as
fuch, is hoſtile to civil liberty, though of late it has
happened to be fo in this country. Was not all
Europe Catholic fome centuries ago? But were
the princes more deſpotic, or the people more ab-
ject ſlaves than they are now? The contrary is
known to be the caſe. Was there no fpirit of
liberty in England before the Reformation? Are
there not now Popiſh Swiſs Cantons as well as
Proteſtant ones? and for any thing that I know to
the contrary, they are equally zealous republicans,
and would with equal reluctance fubmit to a fo--
reign power, merely becauſe it was a catholic one.
Their nobleſt exertions in favour of their liberties
were in an age long preceding the reformation.
Had there been any thing peculiarly unfavour-
able to civil liberty, or even to republicaniſm, in
A6
the
[ 12 ]
the Popiſh religion, it might have been expected
to have appeared in Maryland during the preſent
troubles in America. But the people of that
province, though almoſt univerſally Catholics,
entertained as quick a reſentment of the wrongs
they ſuppoſed their country to have received from
this, as thoſe of any other province on the con-
tinent; and we have not found that, at this
day, this government has more friends there
than elſewhere. Like any other province, their
deputies fit in Congreſs, and are as hearty in the
common cauſe as any other members of that
body.
Even the Quebec bill, by which Popery was
very injudiciouſly eſtabliſhed in Canada, is now
well known not to have procured this govern-
ment any friends there, except a very few no-
bleffe and the prieſts. The common people have
always ſhewn a diſpoſition to favour the Ameri-
cans, and earneſtly wiſh for a repeal of that act.
In this country we make the Papiſts our ene
mies by becoming theirs. If we would make them
friends, we muſt, as they are in our power, firft
act a friendly part towards them. Remove all
the reſtrictions they are under, and then affign
any reaſon, if you can, why they ſhould not be
as much attached to this country, and the go-
vernment of it, as any other ſubjects. If they
were made perfectly eaſy with reſpect to their re-
ligion, and their civil rights, what could they
have more under a Popiſh prince? And depend
upon it, that, being men like ourſelves, and
having lived in a free country, they know the
value of civil liberty as much as you do, and
would risk as much for it.
They
[ 13 ]
They cannot themſelves imagine that there is
the leaſt probability of the Papiſts becoming the
moſt numerous claſs of people in this country; and
therefore the re-eſtabliſhment of Popery and the
lubjection of the Proteſtants, is a thing too chi-
merical for them to entertain any idea of. A
free toleration, therefore, in this country, is all
that they can even hope for. Beſides, there is
no Popiſh prince whoſe pretenſions to the crown
of England deſerve the leaſt notice. The idea is
abandoned both here and abroad:
And if our
own ſovereign change his religion, and become
a Papiſt, he immediately forfeits his right to the
next proteſtant heir.
Much of the intemperate heat that has been
ſhewn on this occaſion, has, I doubt not, ariſen
from your having read the hiſtories of Popiſh
perſecutions, and of the treachery and cruelty of
Papiſts to Proteſtants in former times; and the
popular cry is, that Popery is not changed, but
that it is the ſame faithleſs bloody religion that it
But I would beg leave to obſerve, that
in all ages perfecution has often been carried on
with merely political views, or from ſome miſap-
prehenſion of danger to the state from ſectaries; and
alſo, that, in all ages, there have not been wanting
great numbers of zealous Catholics in other ref-
pects, who have abhorred perſecution as much
as any proteſtant, and who would have been as
much ſhocked at the thought of imbruing their
hands in blood, or of deceiving their neighbour
to his hurt. I have no doubt but that there juſt
and humane ſentiments are become very general,
if not univerſal, among Papiſts, eſpecially thoſe
in England,
ever was.
[ 14 ]
If Popery be unchanged in the courſe of the
laſt century, which has produced ſo great a revo-
lution in European manners, I will venture to
ſay it is the only thing that is fo; and that no-
thing leſs than a miracle can have exempted it
from the power of thoſe influences, which have
not failed to produce a change in every thing
elſe. It may be true that no authoritative altera-
tions have been made in its canons. But when
time and reflection changes men, their inſtitutions
their cuſtoms and conduct will, in ſome way or other,
change with them.
The church of England is, in itſelf, the ſame
thing that it was in the time of queen Elizabeth;
þut were all the laws againſt the Diffenters now
in force (as they were with reſpect to many of
them till lately, and ſome of them remain to this
day) would any perſon be in fear of ſeeing them
executed with the ſame rigour that they were in
the reign of Elizabeth, or thoſe of the Stuarts?
And are not the Diſſenters of the preſent age very
different from what they were in the ſame period?
The ſame muſt, from the nature of things, be
the caſe with the Papiſts, becauſe they are men.
as well as ourſelves. For my own part, in Eng-
land or abroad, I could ſleep with the ſame fecu-
rity under the roof of a Papiſt as under that of a
Proteſtant of any denomination whatever, if my
hoft was a man of equally good character in
other reſpects.
As to the abominable maxims of the Jeſuits;
we ſhould not forget that they were firſt, and
moſt effectually decried by the Papifts themſelves,
eſpecially by the celebrated Paſcal, in his Pro-
uincial Letters. Are not the Catholics in Eng;
land men who are as fair in their deaings, and as
gene-
[ 15 ]
generous in their conduct, as other people? And
if they were ſo very treacherous and faithleſs as
many perſons imagine them to be, why have
they not long ago emancipated themſelves from
all our reſtrictions, by taking the oaths that other
people take? If it is their opinion that the Pope
can abfolve them from the obligation of ſuch
oaths, they have been great fools not to have
availed themſelves of it. Oaths, declarations,
and ſubſcriptions give men acceſs to every thing
in this country ; but, in the nature of things,
they cannot be any tie except on the honeſt and
conſcientious. The Papiſts, therefore, not taking
this advantage, is the cleareſt proof imaginable,
both that they are honeſt and conſcientious, and
that they do not believe in the diſpenſing power
of the Pope, as is commonly imagined.
Much, you think, is to be dreaded from the
known zeal of Papifts to increaſe their party.
But it is paying yourſelves a very ill compliment to
fuppoſe, that there is leſs zeal in Proteſtants, to
counteract the effects of theirs. To zeal ſhould
be oppoſed zeal, not acts of parliament, or out-
ward force. If, inſtead of employing your zeal,
as you have done, in foliciting acts of parliament,
procuring petitions for that purpoſe, and acting
as ſpies upon Papiſts, in order to detect them in
the exerciſe of their religion, and puniſh them
for it (to ſay nothing of burning their houſes and
places of worſhip) if I ſay, inſtead of employing
your
zeal in this manner, in which, from the na-
ture of the thing, much bad paffion, hatred, and
malice, will neceſſarily mix themſelves, you hiad
acted as the apoſtle did when inſpired with zeal in
propagating the goſpel, viz. teaching from houſe to
houſe, being conftant in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon, in
meek-
( 16 )
meekneſs inſtructing thoſe who oppoſed themſelves,
diſputing publicly where neceffary, and Thewing
" upon all occaſions an example of a more Chrif
tian temper, eſpecially the moſt perfect good-
will and affection to thoſe who were unhappily
intangled in error ; you might with much more
confidence have looked up to God for a bleſſing
on your labours; and you would certainly, in
the natural courſe of things, have done much
more towards preventing the growth of Popery,
than you are likely to do at preſent. The mind
of man (and that alone is the thing which, in this
caſe, you have to do with) naturally yields to
gentleneſs, and oppoſes itſelf to conſtraint.
Had this method been adopted in the time of
William and Mary, inſtead of enacting the coer-
cive laws which are now the ſubject of general
difcuffion, the number of papiſts in this country
would now, I am confident, have been very few.
And at preſent, notwithſtanding the difference
has been kept up by every thing that can work
that way, and the Popiſh prieſts are continually
urging one of the moſt powerful of all motives,
viz, that we dare not truſt our cauſe to ſimple and
fair argument, and that they are obliged to con-
ceal much of the luſtre and peculiar charms of
their religion ; it cannot be ſuppoſed that the Pa-
piſts are more than one in a hundred to the Pro-
teftants. And of late years, in which there has
been more of connivance, if not of proper tolera-
tion, it is clear to me that their number is much
decreaſed, and that the accounts which have been
fo induſtriouſly propagated to the contrary, are an
impoſition on the public. Now what can men in
their ſenſes have to dread from one in a hundred
in
[ 17 ]
in the community, ſeparated from one another,
and connected by friendſhip and confanguinity
with the Proteftants, as the Papiſts among us are;
even fuppoſing, what by no means appears to be
the caſe, and what is extremely improbable in it-
ſelf, that they are ever ſo hoſtile to the reſt of
their countryinen.
It is well known to all who are acquainted
with foreign countries, that it is with difficulty
that Popery holds up its head, where there is any
opportunity for free inquiry, and conſequently any
degree of learning or knowledge. It would,
therefore, be perfectly miraculous, if, at the
fame time, it ſhould be increaſing and gaining
Itrength in this country.
As to the claims of the Popes in temporal mat-
ters, they were never admitted in many catholic
countries at any time, not even in the darkeſt ages;
they were never acknowledged at all but for parti-
cular political purpoſes ; and they have now been
long univerſally exploded. Even in ſpirituals, the
power of the Pope is very little in France, and
his perſonal infallibility is, I believe, no where
allowed. I even queſtion whether it is pretended
to in Rome itſelf. In theſe circumſtances, in-
ſtead of feeing reaſon to call for more reſtraints,
now ſeems to be the time when the greateſt in-
dulgence ought, in good policy, to be given to
Papifts. They can never more become formida-
ble, and they may be effectually gained by it.
For my own part, I fincerely with the Papiſts
might have full liberty to diſplay, in all its ſplen-
dour, the whole of their religion, that our peo-
ple might be ſatisfied that they had ſeen the whole
of it, and that there was not, as they may now
ſuppoſe,
[ 18 ]
fuppoſe, ſomething better than any thing they
had ſeen kept out of ſight. Their proceſſions
Thould paſs through the ſtreets of London unmo-
leſted by me ; and I would truſt to the good ſenſe
of Engliſhmen, that they would no more be
tempted to fall down before a God of paſte, in the
ſhape of a round wafer, than before an image of
wood or ſtone. The ſpectacle would certainly
excite their ridicule, not their devotion. This Í
think I could be anſwerable for with reſpect to all
Diflenters and Quakers. As to the members of
the church of England, let the clergy ſpeak.
Thoſe of you who think there is ſomething pecu-
liarly inchanting in the trappings of popery, ſhould
conſider that this is but an imperfect imitation of
the pomp and fplendour of the ancient heathen
religions, from which all the Popiſh ceremonies
were borrowed ; and that all this fell before the
fimple religion of Jeſus, at a time when it had
no ornaments at all, but was as naked of all pomp
and ceremony as that of the old Puritans or mo-
dern Methodiſts. The primitive Chriſtians do ,
not appear to have been under any apprehenſion
about the effect of this pomp and ſhow. It was
a topic of ridicule with them, and ſo would the
Popiſh ceremonies be with.us; and as little ſhould
we have to dread from them, provided that, like
the primitive Chriſtians, we were affiduous in
giving the common people rational information.
That the common people muſt have ſomething of
ſhow and fplendour to ſtrike their imaginations,
is a mere modern prejudice, unſupported by any
fact. The great body of the early Chriſtians were
exactly ſuch common people as are ſuppoſed to be
moſt ſtruck with this ihow; and yet they readily
abandoned
[ 19 ]
abandoned all ſhow, and many things more
tempting than ſhow, for a religion merely ra-
tional in its principles ; and they ſubmitted to
the greateſt hardſhips for their adherence to it.
All the reformations from Popery were made by
plain people, in fact diſguſted with the folly of
ſuch ſplendour. And when men have once aban-
doned theſe things, can there be any danger of
their wiſhing to return to them. The Diflenters
in general neither have, nor want any allurements
of this kind; the Methodiſts have nothing to
charm them in this way beſides mere pſalm-finging: ;
and the Quakers, as compact a body of Chriſ-
tians as any, have not even that.
Many of you ſeem to be more particularly
alarmed at the idea of the Papifts having ſchools,
which, however, the late aềt did not authorize
them to have. But is there any right more clear-
ly founded in nature than that of parents educat-
ing their own children, or of chuſing inſtructors
for them. For my own part, I had much rather
have no children at all, or be obliged to throw
them into the Thames as ſoon as they were born,
than have them on any other terms.
rents have always felt in the ſame manner; and
accordingly hiſtory rings with the loudeſt com-
plaints whenever this natural right has been in-
fringed, as it has been in the cafe of fome Protef-
tants abroad, and of the Jews in former periods.
But admitting that Papiſts would keep apen
ſchools, and receive all the children and youth
that were brought to them, they cannot, in this
country, compel any parents to ſend them their
children. If they have zeal enough to teach
gratis, let it be counteracted, as it naturally ought,
by
Other pa-
[ 20 ]
by equal zeal on the part of Proteſtants. Let
them teach gratis alſo, and invite the children of
Papiſts; and not be like the dog in the manger,
neither do ſo good a deed themſelves, nor ſuffer
others to do it.
We have already ſeen enough, I ſhould think,
of the miſchief of reſtraining Papiſts in the edu-
cation of their children in time paſt. The con-
fequence has been, that, having no proviſion for
education, and eſpecially for liberal education, at
home, they have been obliged to ſend their chil-
dren to foreign feminaries, where they unavoida-
bly acquired a thorough averfion to the conſtitu-
tion and principles of the Engliſh government,
which is ſo hoſtile to them. Whereas, had they
been educated at home, they would have been
exactly in the caſe of other Diſfenters from the
eſtabliſhed church, as zealous for our free conſti-
tution and government as any other perſons born
in the country, and enjoying the advantages of it;
and they would have reſpected the eſtabliſhed
church more or leſs, as they ſhould have been
treated by it.
This would take place more effe&tually if our
univerfities had not adopted the narrow and ill-
judged policy of excluding from the advantages
of education there, all who cannot ſubſcribe to
the articles of the church of England; though,
to ſecure this point, they oblige Itudents to do it
at an age in which it is impoflible that they ſhould
have any underſtanding of what they ſubſcribe.
Another evil that has ariſen in a great meaſure
from Papiſts being obliged to ſend their children
abroad for education, is that the accounts brought
to England of the cheapneſs and other advantages
of
[ 21 ]
of that educatian, have induced many Proteſtants
to ſend their children to Popiſh feminaries, from
which many return much leſs zealous Proteſtants,
and ſome abſolute converts to Popery. Whereas
the contrary practice of admitting Papiſts into our
univerlities would neceſſarily have been the re-
verſe of this, viz. leſſening the bigotry of them
all, and making many converts to Proteſtantiſm.
But this is only one cafe out of inany, in which,
by the righteous providence of God, bad policy
defeats its own ends.
To conclude ; Let us not terrify ourſelves, and
eſpecially into acts of inhumanity and wickedneſs,
by mere chimeras of our own brain. Let us
ftrialy adhere to the golden rule of the goſpel, a
rule of univerſal application, viz. to do to all others
as we would that they ſhould do to us.
Let us con-
ſider how we would wiſh to be treated in Popiſh
countries, and make that the rule of our conduct
to Papiſts in this. Let us by all means ever do
what is right and good, and truſt in the providence
of God for all the conſequences.
If we be Chriſtians, and act upon truly Chrif-
tian maxims, we ſhall do even more than this.
We muſt love our enemies, and overcome evil with
good. Let us then ſudy the things that make for
peace, live in love and peace with all with whom
we have any intercourſe, and the God of love and
peace will be with us.
If you ſuſpect the writer of this Addreſs to be
either a Papiſt, or to have particular friendſhips
and connections with Papifts, you are much mir.
taken. My religious principles are at leaſt, as far
removed from thoſe of the church of Rome as
thoſe of any of you whom I am addreſſing. I be-
lieve
[ 22 ]
lieve Popery to be the inoſt conſiderable part (not
the whole) of that Antichriſt which God will deſtroy
in his own time, and the deſtruction of which he
has begun to accompliſh already. But the wrath
of man worketh not the righteouſneſs of God. What-
ever it be that oppoſes the kingdom of his fon, it
will ſooner fall if it be left to itſelf, and be aſſailed
by nothing but the ſword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God, than by any exertion of human force.
In the mean time, I ſtand in need of liberty
inyfelf, and I wilh that every creature of God
may enjoy it equally with myſelf. May his will
be done on earth, as it is in heaven; i. e. volunta-
rily, and chearfully; and may we by our humane,
rational, and Chriftian treatment, triumph over
the minds, and not, by the aid of civil power,
over the perſons and properties of our deluded
fellow citizens.
I am,
My Proteſtant brethren, and fellow citizens,
Your's in the Faith, Hope, and Spirit of the
Goſpel,
June, 1780.
I Lover of Peace and Truth.
[ 23 ]
A PARABLE againſt Perſecution, from the
Miſcellaneous Works of Dr. FRANKLIN,
p. 72.
A
ND it came to paſs after theſe things,
that Abraham fat in the door of his tent,
about the going down of the ſun. And behold a
man bent with age, coining from the way of the
wilderneſs leaning on a ſtaff.
2. And Abraliam aroſe, and met him, and ſaid
unto him, Turn in, I pray thee, and waſh thy
feet, and tarry all night; and thou ſhalt ariſe early
in the morning, and go on thy way.
3. And the man ſaid, Nay; for I will abide
under this tree.
4. But Abraham preſſed him ceatly : fo he
turned and they went into the tent: and Abraham
baked unleaven bread, and they did eat.
5. And when Abraham ſaw that the man bleſſed
not God, he ſaid unto him, Wherefore doſt thou
not worſhip the moſt high God, Creator of hea-
ven and earth?
6. And the man anſwered and ſaid, I do not
worſhip thy God, neither do I call upon his name;
for I have made to myſelf a god, which abideth
always in my houſe, and provideth me with all
things.
7. And Abraham's zeal was kindled againſt the
man, and he aroſe, and fell upon him, and drove
him forth with blows into the wilderneſs.
8. And God called unto Abraham, ſaying,
Abraham where is the ſtranger ?
9 And Abraham anſwered and ſaid, Lord, he
would not worſhip thee, neither would he call
upon
[ 24 ]
upon thy name; therefore have I driven him out
from before my face into the wilderneſs.
10: And God ſaid, have I borne with him
theſe hundred and ninety and eight years, and
nouriſhed him, and clothed him, notwithſtand-
ing his rebellion againſt me; and couldft not
thou, wlio art thyſelf a ſinner, bear with him
one night!
This Day is publiſhed, Priie 2d. or 125. per
Hundred to give away,
::
Printed on a broad Sheet, to be hung up in Halls,
Compting-Houſes, Warehouſes, Workſhops,
Kitchens, and on Country Church Doors, &c.
The W AY to WEALTH,
OF POOR RICHARD'S PRECEPTs, recommending
Induſtry, Frugality, and an Attention to one's
own Affairs.
Printed for J. JOHNSON, No. 72, St. Paul's
Church-Yard.
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