He first became well known for his controversy with Dr Henry Chandler regarding the Irish massacre of 1641, during the English Civil War, in which he defended the late King Charles I. His attachment to the Stuarts also caused him to remain a non-juror. He was ordained around 1714, and in that year refused to take the Oath of Allegiance. On the discovery of the plot of Francis Atterbury, whose secretary he was, he was accused of high treason in 1722 and was forced to flee to France adopting the name of Philips.