[3.] When any have entertained any singular opinion, in matters of great weight and importance, such as nearly con- cern the glory of God, and the minds of Christians in reve-
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reiice of his holy name are most tenderly affected withal, so that without much horror of mind they can scarce hear those errors, whereby those grand truths are opposed ; yet those persons, who have entertained such uncouth opinions, shall not be content so to have done, and also in all lawful ways (as to civil society) endeavoured to propagate the said opi- nions to others, but in the pursuit of this their design of op- posing truth, shall publicly use such expressions, or perform such acts, as are fit to pour contempt and scorn upon the truth which they do oppose, reviling it also, or God himself so represented, as he is in the truth they abominate, with odious and execrable appellations (as for instance, the call- ing the Holy Trinity, 'TricipitemCerberum'); if the question be put, whether in this case the magistrate be not obliged to vindicate the honour of God by corporal restraints, in some degrees at least, upon the persons of those men, truly, for my part, I incline to the affirmative. And the reason hereof is this : though men, through the incurable blindness of their minds falling into error of judgment, and misinter- pretation of the word, may disbelieve the deity of Christ, and the Holy Spirit ; yet that any pretence from the word, persuasion of conscience, or dictate of religion, should carry them out to reviling, opprobrious speeches of that, which of God is held out contrary to their apprehensions, is false and remote from reason itself. For this cause Paul says he was a blasphemer, not because being a Jew he disbelieved the gos- pel ; but because so disbelieving it, he moreover loaded the truths thereof with contumelious reproaches. Such expres- sions indeed differ not from those piercing words of the holy name of God, which he censured to death. Lev. xxiv. 13. but only in this, that there seemeth in that to be a plain opposi- tion unto light, in this not so. The like may be said of a Jew's crucifying a dog.
[4.] There are a sort of persons termed in Scripture arciK- TOi, 1 Thess. V. 14. ayopaloi, Acts xvii. 5. droTrot, 2 Thess. iii. 2. avaiTOTaKToi, 1 Tim. i. 9. and the like, disorderly, va- gabond, wandering, irregular persons, fixed to no calling, abiding in no place, taking no care of their families, that under a pretence of teaching the truth, without mission, with- out call, without warrant, uncommanded, undesired, do go up and down, from place to place, creeping into houses, &c. Vol. XV. R
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Now that such ways as these, and persons in these ways, may be judicially inquired into, I no way doubt. The story is famous of Sesostris king of Egypt, who made a law, that all the subjects of his kingdom should once a year give an account of their way and manner of living, and if any one were found to spend his time idly, he was certainly punished ; and the laws of most nations have provided that their peo- ple shall not be wanderers, and whosoever hath not a place of abode and employment, is by them a punishable vaga- bond. And in this by much experience of the ways, walk- ing, and converse of such persons, I am exceedingly con- firmed in. I did as yet never observe any other issue upon such undertakings, but scandal to religion, and trouble to men in their civil relations.
[5.] When men by the practice of any vice or sin draw others to a pretended religion, or by pretence of religion draw men to any vice or known sin, let them be twice pu- nished, for their real vice, and pretended religion. The truth is, I have been taught exceedingly to disbelieve all the strange imputations of wickedness and uncleanness,that are imposed upon many, to be either the end or the medium of the practice of that communion in religion, which they do profess and em- brace. I remember that when I was a boy, all those stories were told me of Brownists and Puritans, which afterward I found to have been long before the forgeries of Pagans, and imposed on the primitive Christians. I dare boldly say, I have heard stories of them a hundred times, holding out that very thing, and those deeds of darkness, which Minutius Felix holds out in the tongue of an infidel concerning the Christians of those days ; but yet because sundry venerable persons, to whom antiquity hath given sanctuary from being- arraigned in the point of false testimony, have left it upon record of sundry heretics in their days, as the Gnostics and others, that they were conjoined into ' societates tessera pollu- tionis,' and some assert that the like iniquities are not wholly buried ; I made the supposition, and hope that if they depose themselves from common sense and reason, the magistrate will never exalt them to the privilege and exemption of religion.
In these, and such like cases as these, when men shall break forth into disturbance of common order and enormities
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against the light of nature, beyond all positive command of any pretended religion whatsoever, that the magistrate ought to set hedges of thorns in their ways, sharpened according to their several delinquencies, I suppose no man not abhorred of common sense can once hesitate, or doubt. And I am the more inclined to assert a restraint to all such as these, because it may be established to the height, without the least prejudice unto the truth, though persons erring should enjoy the place of authority.