That the Clergy of the Church of _England_ had enjoin'd
Things, and taught what they had no Warrant for from the Gospel, and
that King _James_ the First, as well as his Son, who succeeded him, laid
Claim to a more absolute Power, than was consistent with the
privileges of Parliament and the Constitution, in undeniable. Religion
then and Liberty, being two topicks, that Abundance was to be said
upon in those Days, became the Subject and Foundation of the Quarrels
between the King and Parliament, that afterwards broke out into a
Civil War.
Hor. I was not born in _China_ or _Lapland_: there is not a Boy of Twelve
Years old, that is ignorant of the Causes of that Civil War.
Cleo. I don't question your Knowledge; but only mention these Things,
that from the Nature of the Dissentions, and the mischiefs that ensued
upon them, we might see the Impossibility, that either Party should
have acted from a Principle of Christianity. I shall now endeavor to
demonstrate to you Two Things; the First is, that Clergymen, by a
small Deviation from the Gospel, may so egregiously impose upon their
Hearers, as to make even sincere Men act quite contrary to the
Precepts of it, at the same Time that those subtle Declaimers shall
seem to be full of Zeal, and to have the highest Value for
Christianity. The Other is, that in a well disciplin'd Army, Acts of
Devotion, and an outward Shew of Religion may do vast Service for the
obtaining of Victory, tho' the General who appointed and order'd them,
was an _Atheist_; the greatest part of the Clergy, who perform'd and
assisted in them, were Hypocrites, and the Generality of the Men were
wicked Livers.
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