I shall not speak any thing of the present state of this protestant religion as unto its political interests in the world. It is in general kno^vn to most, -and hath been particularly inquired into by many. I shall only briefly consider something of its weakness, its danger, and what is like to be the issue of it, as unto its public profession, in the world; which are the subjects of many men's daily converse.
The pohtical weakness of the protestant religion ariseth solely from the divisions that are among them by whom it is professed : and these are of two sorts; — first, Such as are of a civil nature, amongst princes and states; and, secondly. Such as are religious, among divines and churches. As unto the first of these, some good men, who value religion above all their earthly concerns, measuring other men, even princes, who profess religion, by themselves, have been almost astonished that there is not such a thing as a protestant
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interest so prevalent amongst them as to subordinate all particular contests and designings unto itself. But whereas there was formerly an appearance of some such thing, which had no small influence on public counsels, and produced some good, useful effects, at present it seems to be beyond hopes of a revival, and is of little consideration in the world. Could such a thing be expected, that the nations and the powers of them which publicly profess the protestant religion should avow the preservation and protection of it to be their prin- cipal interest, and regulate their counsels accordingly, giving this the pre-eminence in all things, their adversaries would be content to dwell quietly at home, without offering much at their disturbance. But these things are not of my present consideration. Nor do I think that any sort of men shall have the glory of preserving the interest of Christ in the world ; he will do it himself.
Again: the religious differences that are amongst them as churches do weaken the political interest of Protestants. They have done so from the very beginning of the Reformation. And when the first differences among them were in some measure digested and brought rmto some tolerable composure, about sixty years ago, there was an inroad made on the doctrine that had been received among the re- formed churches by novel opinions, which hath grown unto this day, to the great weakening of the whole interest; and, as far as I can see, it is in vain to dissuade men from contending about their small allotments in the house, or, it may be, but some supposed appurten- ances of them, whilst others are visibly digging at the foundation, to oppress them all with the fall of the whole fabric. In these things lies the sole outward political weakness of the protestant interest in the world, whose direful effects God alone can prevent.
We may hereon inquire, what at present is like to be the issue and event of this protestant religion, as unto its public profession in the world; for the adversaries of it do every day discover, not only their desires and endeavours for its extirpation, but their expecta- tions also of its speedy ruin. They suppose the time is come when that heresy, as they call it, which hath so long infested the northern nations, shall, by their arts, contrivances, and power, be utterly rooted out. And it is known that those discoveries of their minds and hopes herein, which have occasionally come unto light amongst us, are but indications of those counsels and combinations, in other places and among other persons, whereby their hopes are to be ac- complished. And if it were unto our present purpose, much might be offered to manifest that those consultations and contrivances, which are constant in the managers of the papal interest, both at Rome and elsewhere, for the utter extirpation of the protestant re- ligion, have been ordered, disposed, and cast into such methods, as
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not only to stir up all means of expedition, but also with respect unto a speedy, immediate execution.
We shall, therefore, briefly inquire by what way and means this may be effected, or what is like to give this design an accomplish- ment, giving every thing its due weight and consideration ; for what the event will be, God only knows.
The ruin of the protestant religion, as unto its public profession, nmst be either by a general defection from it, or by a force upon it, or by a RECONCILIATION and coalescency with the Roman church.
1. This defection must be either of the jjrinces, or of the clergy, or of the 'j^^ojjle, or of them all in conjunction.
(1.) Of the first, or the defection of princes unto the Papacy, we have had some instances in the last age, but scarce of any who have been absolutely sovereign or supreme ; \mless it be of one who, together with her religion, wisely and honestly left her crown. But I suppose there lieth here no great danger or fear as to kings, or such as on whose authority the profession of religion in their dominions doth much depend ; for they are too wise to be weary of their present station and liberty. Who can suppose that any of them would be willing to stand at the gates of the pope's palace barefoot, for a night and a day, and be disciplined to boot, as it was with one of the greatest kings of England ? or to hold the pope's stirrup whilst he mounted his horse, and be rebuked for want of breeding in holding it on the wa'ong side ? or would they lie on the ground, and have their necks trod upon by the pope, which a courageous emperor was forced to submit unto ? or have their crowns kicked from their heads by the foot of a legate ? or be assassinated for not promoting the papal in- terest in the way and mode of them concerned, as it was with two kings of France ?