'Ihe HIS T 0 RY of the PuRITANS. VoL. II. King treaties, purfued their traffic without fear; but when their rich Sm,•rna Chorles 11. fl t f h li !}_. f r f: 'I .; 6 ee o mere ant men, con lnmg o .eventy-two ai , under convoy of ~fix men of war, paffed by th~ J]le_ of ~ight, the englijh fleet _fell upon them and took feveral of their fhips, Without any previous declaration of p; 307 , war; a breach of faith (fays Burnet), which mahometam and pirates would have been albamed of. Projea of a .Two days after the attempt upon the Smyrna fleet, th~ cabal made tbe general mthird advance towards popery and abfolute power, by adv1fing the king to dulg~nc,, fufpend the p~nallaws againfi: all forts of non-conformiils. It was now refolved to fet the difli:nters againfi: the church, and to offer them the pro– teCtion of the cro~n to m~ke w~y for a ge~er~l tolera.tion. Lord Shciftf bury firfi: propofed It council, which the majonty readily complied with, provided the roman Catholics might be included; but when the declaration was prepared, the lord keeper Bridgman refufed to put the fea! to it, as judging it contrary to law, for which he was difmiffed, and the feals givHow it was en to the earl of Shaft )bury, who maintained, that the indulgence was re(ent 8 ed. for the fervice of the church of England. " As for the church (fays his Hilt. tuarts, l dft.. · ) I · 1 d 1 • • j r h · · !}_ r P· I66. " or wip , conceive t 1e ectaratto11 IS extream y .or t e1r mtereu, 1 or " the narrow bottom they have placed themfelves upon, and the mea– " fures they have proceeded by, fo contrary to the properties and liber– " ties of the nation, mufi: needs in a ihort time prove fatal to them ; " whereas this leads them into another way, to live peaceably with tbe dif– " fenting and different proteltants, both at home and abroad;" which Des Maiz. was true if both had not been undermined by the papifi:s. Arcbbifhop Col. p. 677, She/don, Morley, and the refi: of their party, exclaimed loudly againfi: the &c. indulgence, and alarmed the whole nation, infomuch that many fober and good men, who had long feared the growth of popery, began to think their eyes were open, and that they were in good earnefl:; but it appeared afterwards that their chief concern was for thejpiritual po1ver; for though they murmured againfi: the diJPmjing power, they fell in with all their other proceedings; which if providence h~d. not miraculoufly i.nterpofed, mufl: have been fatal to the proteflant rehg10n and the liberties of Europe. At length the declaration having been c?mmunicat~d to thefrench king, and received his approbation, was pubhihed, beanng date March 15, 1671-2, to the following effeCt: .11 new decla- " ration of in- " dulgence. " CHARLES REX, 0 U R care and endeavours for the prefervation of the rights and interefi:s of the church, have been fufficiently manifefl:ed to th~ world, by the whole courfe of our government fince our. happy re– cc fl:oration, and by the many and frequent ways of coercton that we " have
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