Treatise Thoughts Upon Liberty
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-treatise-thoughts-upon-liberty-008 |
| Words | 396 |
In the name of wonder, what religious liberty can you
desire, or even conceive, which you have not already? Where
is there a nation in Europe, in the habitable world, which
* See Wodrow’s “History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland.”
ThouGIITS UPON LIBERTY. 4l
enjoys such liberty of conscience as the English? I will be
bold to say there is nothing like it in Holland, in Germany,
(Protestant or Popish,) in either the Protestant or Popish
cantons of Switzerland; no, nor in any country under the sun. Have we not in England full liberty to choose any religion,
yea, or no religion at all? to have no more religion than a
Hottentot, shall I say? nay, no more than a bull or a swine? Whoever therefore in England stretches his throat, and bawls
for more religious liberty, must be totally void of shame, and
can have no excuse but want of understanding. 21. But is not the ground of this vehement outcry, that
we are deprived of our civil liberty? What is civil liberty? A liberty to enjoy our lives and fortunes in our own way;
to use our property, whatever is legally our own, according to
our own choice. And can you deny, “that we are robbed of
this liberty?” Who are? Certainly I am not. I pray, do
not face me down that I am. Do not argue me out of my
senses. If the Great Turk, or the King of France, wills that
a man should die, with or without cause, die he must. And
instances of the kind continually occur; but no such instances
occur in England. I am in no more danger of death from
King George, than from the Queen of Hungary. And if I
study to be quiet and mind my own business, I am in no
more danger of losing my liberty than my life. No, nor my
property; I mean, by any act of the King. If this is in any
degree invaded, it is not by the King, or his Parliament, or
army, but by the good patriots. Hark! Is hell or Bedlam broke loose? What roaring is
that, loud as the waves of the sea? “It is the patriot mob.”
What do they want with me? Why do they flock about my
house? “Make haste illuminate your windows in honour
of Mr.