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Upon your forwardness to encourage the magistrate's use of force in matters of religion, by its usefulness; even so far as to pretend advantages from what yourself acknowledge the misapplication of it; I say that "So "instead of disheartening from, you give encourage"ment to the mischief; which upon your principle, joined to the natural thirst in man after arbitrary power; may be carried to all manner of exorbitancy, "with some pretence of right." To which your reply is, That you "speak no-where but of the use and necessity of force." What think you in the place mentioned, of the gain that you tell the sufferers they shall make by the magistrate's punishing them to bring them to a wrong religion? You do not, as I remember, there say, that force is necessary in that case; though they gaining, as you say, by it this advantage, "that they "know better than they did before, where the truth "does lie," you cannot but allow, that such a misapplication of force "may do some service, indirectly and "at a distance, towards the salvation of souls."

But that you may not think, whilst I had under consideration the dangerous encouragement you gave to men in power, to be very busy with their force in matters of religion; by all the sorts of usefulness you could imagine of it, however applied, right or wrong; that I declined mentioning the necessity you pretend of force, because it would not as well serve to the purpose for which I mention its usefulness; I shall here take it so, that the reader may see what reason you had to complain of my not doing it before.

Thus then stands your system: "The procuring and advancing any way of the spiritual and eternal interests "of men, is one of the ends of civil society." And force is put into the magistrate's hands, as necessary for the attaining those ends, where no other means are left, "Who then upon your grounds may quickly find rea"son, where it suits his inclination, or serves his turn, "to punish men directly to bring them to his religion.' For if he may use force because it is necessary, as being the only means left to make men consider those reasons

and

and arguments, which otherwise they would not consider; why may he not by the same rule use force, as the only means left to procure men degrees of glory, which otherwise they would not attain; and so to advance their eternal interests? For St. Paul assures us, that "the "afflictions of this life work for us a far more exceeding weight of glory." So that whether the magistrate may not, when it may serve his turn, argue thus from your principles, judge you: dissenters from my religion must be punished, if in the wrong, to bring them into the right way; if in the right, to make them by their sufferings gainers of a far more exceeding weight of glory.

But you say, "unless it be as necessary for men to "attain any greater degree of glory, as it is to attain glory, it will not follow, that if the magistrate may "use force, because it may be indirectly, &c. useful "towards the procuring any degree of glory, he may by the same rule use it where it may be in that man"ner useful towards the procuring a greater degree of "glory. But that there is the same necessity of men's "attaining a greater degree of glory, as there is of their

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attaining glory, no man will affirm. For without "attaining glory, they cannot escape the damnation "of hell; which yet they may escape, without any greater degree of glory." One of the ends of a commonwealth is, say you, the advancing men's eternal interests. The procuring greater degrees of glory, is the advancing a man's eternal interest. The use of force to make men suffer for the truth, what otherwise they would not suffer, is as necessary for the attaining a higher degree of glory, as using force to make men consider, what otherwise they would not consider, is necessary for the attaining any degree of glory. But you will say, "Attaining glory is absolutely necessary, but the at"taining any greater degree of glory, however desirable, " is not so necessary. Now if there be not the same "necessity of the one of these, as there is of the other; "there can be no pretence to say, that whatever is law"ful in respect of one of them, is likewise so in respect of the other." But there will always be a just pre

tence

tence to say, if advancing the eternal interests of men be one of the ends of a commonwealth, and that the force in the magistrate's hands be necessary to the attaining that end; that then the magistrate is obliged to use it; whether you will think that end absolutely necessary, or as necessary as another, or no. I shall not here trouble you again with your mistake about what is absolutely necessary; having taken notice of it in another place. Only I shall desire you to show me, that the attaining of glory is absolutely necessary, when next time you have occasion to affirm it. Attaining of glory is necessary in order to happiness: and attaining a greater degree of glory, is necessary in order to greater happiness: but neither of them is absolutely necessary, but in order to their respective ends.

And now, though as you say, you do not think 'yourself bound to take notice of all that may be done "with some pretence of right:" yet, I suppose, upon cooler thoughts, when you have considered of what dangerous consequence an argument, managed as yours is, may be to the true religion, and the sincere professors of it; and what occasion or encouragement it may give to men in power warmed with zeal, and excited by the proper ministers of their own religion, to make a wrong and exorbitant use of force in matters of religion; you will another time think yourself bound not to let it go abroad again without some caution to the magistrate in the use of it; without one word of advice at least, that since it is given him, as you say, only for promoting the true religion, he should take care, and examine impartially whether what he employs it for, be the one only true religion. It being your opinion, whenever he makes use of force in matters of religion, for the promoting any thing but that, he goes beyond his commission; injures his subjects, and endangers his own soul.

By this time, sir, I suppose you see upon what grounds I think you have not cleared those difficulties which were charged by me on your method: and my reader will see what reason there was for those imputations, which, with so loud an outcry, you laid upon me of unfair dealing; since there is not one of them which

cannot

cannot be made good to be contained either in your book, or in your hypothesis; and so clearly, that I could not imagine that a man who had so far considered government, as to engage in print, in such a controversy as this; could miss seeing it as soon as mentioned to him. One of them which very much offends you, and makes you so often tell me what I say is impertinent, and nothing to the purpose, and sometimes to use warmer expressions, is, that I argue against a power in the magistrate to bring men to his own religion: for I could not imagine that, to a man of any thought, it could need proving, that if there were a commission given to all magistrates by the law of nature, which obliged them to use force to bring men to the true religion; it was not possible for them to put this commission in execution, without being judges what was the true religion; and then there needed no great quickness to perceive, that every magistrate, when your commission came to be put in execution, would, one as well as another, find himself obliged to use force to bring men to that which he believed to be the true religion. But since this was so hard for you to see, I now have been at the pains to prove it, and thereby to clear all those imputations. I shall not instance in any other: they are all of a like kind. Only where you complain I have not cited your words fairly, if you can show that I have done it any-where in this or the second letter, to the advantage of my cause; or to avoid any argument in them, not answered; if you please to show it me, I shall either let you see your mistake, or acknowlege

mine.

And now, whether you shall think what I have said worth that consideration you promise, or take it all for cavils and impertinencies, to me is very indifferent. Enjoy, as you please, that short and easy way of answering. But if the party you write for be, as you say, God, and the souls of men; it will require you seriously to weigh your scheme, examine and put together the parts of it; observe the tendency and consequences; and, in a word, consider things, and not words. For the party of God and souls needs not any help from obscurity or

uncer

uncertainty of general and equivocal terms; but may be spoke out clearly and distinctly; needs no retreat in the round of equivalent, or the uncertainty of misapplied expressions, that may serve to amuse and deceive the unwary, but instruct no-body; and, lastly, needs no leave nor allowance from men of art, to direct both subjects and magistrates to the examination of the scriptures, wherein God has revealed to the world the ways and means of salvation. In doing of this, in a treatise where you profess "the subject of your inquiry is only "what method is to be used to bring men to the true religion," the party you profess to write for, would have justified you against the rules of any lawful art; and no christian man, of what art soever, would have denied you that liberty; and if I mistake not, the party, you say you write for, demands it of you.

But

If you find upon a review of the whole, that you have managed your cause for God and the souls of men, with that sincerity and clearness that satisfies your own reason, and you think may satisfy that of other men: I shall congratulate to you so happy a constitution. if all your magnified and necessary means of force, in the way you contend for, reaches no further than to bring men to a bare outward conformity to the church of England; wherein you can sedately affirm, that it is presumable that all that are of it are so upon reason and conviction; I suppose there needs no more to be said to convince the world what party you write for.

The party you write for is God, you say. But if all you have said aims or amounts to nothing more, than that the church of England, as now established by law, in its doctrines, ceremonies, and discipline, should be supported by the power of the magistrate, and men by force be driven into it; I fear the world will think you have very narrow thoughts of God: or that that is not the party you write for. It is true, you all along speak of bringing men to the true religion. But to evidence to you, that by the one only true religion, you mean only that of the church of England, I tell you, that upon your principles, you cannot name any other church now in the world; (and I again demand of you to do