under the Direction of proper Perfons who fhall be called the Commiffioners of the faid Office. Their Bufinefs fhall be to collect and digeft, under proper Heads and diftinct Claffes, fuch apparent Contradictions as have at any time, within such a certain Term of Years (to be directly specified and expressed), been published and defended by any great and learned Prelate, or other eminent Divine, without a legal and judicial Animadverfion, either from the Convocation, their proper Diocefan, either House of Parliament, or fome one of his Majefty's Courts in Westminster Hall; it being a reafonable Prefumption, if they were really and truly Contradictions to their own Sentiments (at other times written, published, and defended) to the known Sense of Mankind, and the Laws of the Land, they could not have escaped fuch Cenfure and Animadverfions from their Superiors, the Omiffion of which ought to be a certain and indubitable Proof to all Perfons of Modesty and Ingenuity, that they were not really fuch Contradictions as this Cafe supposes, nor merited any fuch Cenfure or Animadverfion; and therefore, that the Silence of fuch Superiors may be reasonably. fuppofed to amount to an Approbation, grounded on the Laws of the Land, the Intereft of the Public, or the real Truth and Nature of Things. That each of these being fairly and severally drawn out, engrossed, and attefted, under the Seal and Sign-manual of the proper Officers of the Commiffion, fhall be produced

in

any Matter of religious Debate or Controversy, and pleaded with the fame Force as Precedents, or adjudged Cafes in Law or Equity; and that a Case fo ftated, figned, and attefted by the proper Officers, shall be allowed as direct Proof upon any given Question, VOL. I. against

E

against which no Objection fhall be made, or Excep tion legally taken. Such a Regulation as this, we hum bly prefume, will be of fingular Ufe to feveral eminent Perfons, who will hereby be difcharged from any Neceffity of attempting to reconcile any apparent Contradictions betwixt Intereft and Confcience, Subfcriptions and Doctrine, or Doctrine and Practice, into which they may have been betrayed in the feveral Gradations of their Studies and Promotions; and will be, at the fame time, of infinite Service to others, who fhall at any time hereafter be compelled to make use of the fame Means, in Pursuit of the fame Ends: And for the greater Encouragement of all fuch Ecclefiaftical Perfons as fhall have recourfe to our Office, for fuch attefted Copies, &c. they fhall receive them gratis, without Fee or Reward, as an Acknowledgment of the unspeakable Service they have done to our Society, under the Mafk of a direct and avowed Oppofition.

As for Political Contradictions, they are of two Sorts: Doctrinal or Practical, both which are unavoidable in the Courfe of a long perplexed, unsteady Administration, fuch as often has, and often hereafter, may happen, in this, as well as other Kingdoms and Countries. Of these too I have a long Lift lying before me,Sed Cynthius aurem vellit- which, as they are not to be reconciled by the popular and vulgar Forms of Logic and Argumentation, must of Neceffity have recourfe to other Methods; if therefore any fuch Contradictions have been at any time reconciled by a Majority of Votes in either House of Parliament, fuch Contradictions fo reconciled, fhall be forthwith entered in our Office, and be deemed and confidered as Matters of perpetual and unalterable Record. And if

any

any Minister should be se unhappy as to be pushed by an Opposition, to reconcile any contradictory Speeches or Measures, which thall be maliciously laid to his Charge, he fhall, in every fuch Cafe, apply himself to our Office, for a Writ of Reconciliation of the afore faid Contradiction; which being figned and fealed by the Majority of our Commiffioners, and duly ftamped in fuch manner as the Law fhall direct, fhall from that Time be deemed a legal Protection, and be effectually pleaded in Bar, to any malicious, retrospective Inquiries into any contradictory Speeches, Affirmations, Declarations, Promifes, or Practices of the faid Minifter, on whofe Generofity we fhall depend for fuch a valuable Compenfation, as his particular Circumftances may require and admit, and our feasonable and neceffary Affiftance may be reasonably thought to deferve

You fee, Dear Sir, a rough and imperfect Draught of my general Scheme, which I intirely submit to your Correction. I fhall only add a Word or two, I. To fhew its Excellency and Usefulness, and how much more reasonable it is than that of our Adverfaries. 2. To give a few general Hints to all our Friends, which may be useful in the Profecution of our great Design. The Excellency of our general Scheme appears in this, that it is reasonable, regular, and confiftent: Qur Foundation is laid upon good Terra firma, where our Settlement lies, the Interefts and Enjoyments of which are the Objects of all our Senfes, which Senfes (as the Believers themselves acknowledge) are * infallible: And therefore, whilst we give up ourselves to the Di

* Senfus non poffunt falli.
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rection

rection of our Senfes, we are under the Direction of five or fix infallible Guides. And what can any reafonable Man defire more to keep him in the right Way? The Perceptions of these infallible Guides are fo vivid and strong, their Light so glaring, their Evidence fo irrefiftable, that all Mankind are agreed to call it Common Sense; and the Inferences, Conclufions, and Deductions, drawn from them, is called Reafon; for all Men agree, that Reafon prefuppofes and depends upon Common Senfe, and cannot fubfist without it. So far we are fafe under infallible Direction; and here our Guides advise us to fit down and enjoy ourselves, and make the most of the prefent; but if we be reftlefs and uneafy, and want to be making further Difcoveries, they refufe to go with us, and leave us to grope out our Way by ourselves, through Darkness and Uncertainty; which we think to be a bold and dangerous Adventure, and therefore are refolved to know when we are well, and run no Hazard in Purfuit of Uncertainties.

But the Believing Scheme is the direct contrary to all this: No visible Foundation; no infallible Direction; all is Fiction, Chimera, and Romance; their Structure is like a Cone, or a Pyramid inverted, the Bafe of which is at an invifible and infinite Diftance above the Clouds, and its Vertex terminating in fome little indivifible Point of brute Matter: So that, inftead of the regular and natural Afcent from the Bottom to the Top, their Progreffion is from the Top to the Bottom, like those bold Adventurers, who fly down a Rope from the Top of a Church-Steeple; or, like wanton Girls that crawl down Stairs with their Heads foremoft, to the manifeft Hazard of their Nofes, if not of

their Necks. In fhort, the one is infallibly safe and certain, so far as it goes: The other is full of Terror, Uncertainty, and Danger. It is therefore the Interest of Mankind to know when they are well, to keep in the fafe Way, to run no Hazard in Pursuit of invisible fairy Treasures, but thankfully to enjoy the numberless Pleasures that are ready provided to their Hands; and to convince and perfuade the filly credulous Part of our Species to do the fame, is the highest Act of Benevolence to our Fellow-Creatures. And as this is principally intended for the Benefit of the next Age, there being very little Hope of making more Converts in this, our first and great Concern must be to prevent the fatal Impreffions of Prejudice and Superstition that may be made upon the Minds of the growing Generation. For this End, we must exert all our Intereft and Power to discourage and suppress the numberlefs Charity and Grammar Schools, erected in all Parts of these Kingdoms. The Minds of Children are tender and flexible, apt to receive and retain any Impreffions that may be made upon them, by the Affection or Authority of their Teachers and Governors, and when these are applied to flatter their natural Vanity, under Pretence of informing their Understanding, no Wonder they are eafily admitted, and with great Difficulty, if ever erafed out of their Minds. Here, forfooth, they are taught fine Leffons of the Dignity of human Nature, and the glorious Prerogatives of immortal Souls; they are told, that the great Difference between Man and Man, does not depend upon the Distinctions of Birth or Fortune, but upon the imaginary Excellencies of fuperior Knowledge, Probity, Piety, and a Sense of Religion; that therefore a