men who are content to be styled of the Church of England, who perhaps
attend its service in the morning, and go with their wives to a
conventicle in the afternoon, confessing they hear very good doctrine in
both. These men are much offended that so holy an institution as that of
the Lord's Supper should be made subservient to such mercenary purposes
as the getting of an employment. Now, it seems, the law, concluding all
men to be members of that Church where they receive the Sacrament; and
supposing all men to live like Christians (especially those who are to
have employments) did imagine they received the Sacrament in course
about four times a year, and therefore only desired it might appear by
certificate to the public, that such who took an office were members of
the Church established, by doing their ordinary duty. However, lest we
should offend them, we have often desired they would deal candidly with
us; for if the matter stuck only there, we would propose it in
parliament, that every man who takes an employment should, instead of
receiving the sacrament, be obliged to swear, that he is a member of the
Church of Ireland by law established, with Episcopacy, and so forth; and
as they do now in Scotland, _to be true to the Kirk_. But when we drive
them thus far, they always retire to the main body of the argument, urge
the hardship that men should be deprived the liberty of serving their
Queen and country, on account of their conscience: And, in short, have
recourse to the common style of their half brethren. Now whether this be
a sincere way of arguing, I will appeal to any other judgment but
theirs.

There is another topic of clamour somewhat parallel to the foregoing: It
seems, by the Test clause, the military officers are obliged to receive
the Sacrament as well as the civil. And it is a matter of some patience
to hear the dissenters declaiming upon this occasion: They cry they are
disarmed, they are used like Papists; when an enemy appears at home, or