to be questioned disputed and so made doubtful and actually rejected in many Places and partly by such other Abuses Corruptions Miscarriages and Scandals as overspreading all moved great Complaints and Discontents and earnest Defires and Prayers for an Orderly Reformation and at last produced when nothing else could prevail by the special Providence of Almighty God one of the greatest Schisms all things considered that in the Western Church hath ever been known and lastly by requiring such Terms of Communion as are not necessary for the Service of our Lord but much to the Disservice of his Interest by hindring the Re-union of many well-disposed People and contrary to his Example Directions Will 25. That the Constitution of the Church of God and the Powers and Authorities settled in it are not to be altered or subject to Alteration by such Ways and Means as civil Constitutions Powers and Authorities usually are as by Forfeiture or voluntary Agreement so as to effect any Diminution of the Power or Authority of its Successor And therefore the present Bishop of Rome notwithstanding any Miscarriages of any of his Predecessours hath as much Power and Authority in the Catholick Church as any since St. Peter who had an Authority Superior to all Bishops in that Seat ever had unless there be any thing Personal against himself and in him the Power and Authority of that Seat ought to be acknowledged asserted and maintained by all Christians as the Power and Authority of Christ and for his Service and Interest that to reject that is impious Schismatical and Heretical but yet the Personal Miscarriages of those that are or shall be in that Seat may be judged censured and corrected by the Churches of the same Division or Patriarcate either in one general Council or in several National and Provincial Synods agreeing generally upon a mutual Communication of Votes in the same Sentence But this is a Matter which as it is of great Consequence so ought to be managed with great Circumspection and much Application by all to God for his Divine Conduct 26. That the Authority even of National and Provincial Councils duly assembled and proceeding regularly ought to be respected and treated with Reverence by all Christians and if their Acts be received with a general Approbation of many other such they become of equal Authority with a General Council of all those Churches But Acts of Councils call'd general if not regularly and unanimously passed in Council or not generally received and approved afterward but disapproved either by express Declaration by contrary Practice or notorious different Sentiments of the greatest or a very considerable part of the Catholick Church are of little Obligation yet ought not to be reproachfully or rudely opposed but rather decently buried in Silence or by a more authentick Determination 27. That every Provincial Synod under one Metropolitan is a compleat Representation or Model of the whole Catholick Church which consists and is compacted of many such Sacred Corporations and hath a compleat Authority of it self to order all matters of Religion Against this Noble and Compleat Authority of the Churches of Christ have many things been very injuriously and scandalously done both by Secular Powers and by Popes and Patriarchs The Sins of both and of such as have too easily yeilded to them are very great and will undoubt edly be severely punished hereafter as of Rebels and Traitors against the Supream Majesty if not prevented here and to correct and reform what is amiss within their own Territories according to the common Rules of the Catholick Church subject notwithstanding to the Judgment Censure and Correction of more general Councils in case they act any thing contrary to those Rules But in Matters whether of Belief or Practice not deâ—â—rmined by Catholick Evidence of Apostolical Authority and which are therefore left at Liberty it may be dangerous to impose any thing but if any thing be thought necessary or expedient of that Nature it ought rather to be gently recommended than Majesterially imposed least Authority be unadvisedly exposed and Catholick Unity and Charity indangered 28. That in all Differences in the Church all Parties ought to be very careful for the Preservation of Vnity and Charity as Matters of the greatâ—st Importance in the Kingdom of Christ the very Difference being a fair Warning and Admonition for Godly Jealousie and special Caution and Circumspection to all Parties for the Peace of the Church the Satisfaction of the differing Party and the Security of the Justice and Righteousness of their own Cause lest it either be ill or if good at first in it self it become ill through ill Management and therefore to proceed peaceably patiently and amicably * 2 Cor. 10.8 13.10 Superiors with Gentleness and Condescention as having their Authority for Edification not for Destruction and therefore not Lording it over their Subjects and Inferiors with Humility Modesty Respect and Submission that they resist not the Ordinance of God each as far as Duty and sincere Conscience will allow with hearty Desire and sincere Endeavour for Accommodation and Grief and Sorrow if it cannot be obtained and without any abatement of Charity notwithstanding but with Pity for the Faults of others 29. That tho' there was much need of a Reformation when the Work so called was begun yet was not that Work as it was managed any Work of God as ordered by Him but only as permitted by Him for a Judgment upon the Church which would not reform and executed by the Instigation of adverse Powers as may be observed in 1. the Qualities of the Persons who were the principal Leaders and Actors in it and 2. the Means used to effect it all merely Humane nothing truly Spiritual and Divine I intend not in this the Scriptures in themselves but the Use which was made of them I do no Demonstration of Spirit and Power in 3. the Manner with much Arrogance Insolence Malice Hatred Violence Injustice Oppression Sacrilege and Profanation of Sacred things Factions Tumults and hot Contentions among themselves all plain Indications of what Spirit they were and 4. in the Matter or Work effected * Hence the true Cause of the Contempt of the Clergy Ye have departed c. Therefore I also have made you Contemptible c. Mal. 2.7 8 9. destructive of the Government of the Worship of the Discipline and of the Doctrine of the Catholick Church of Christ all accommodated to recommend the Preachers to gratifie the natural Disposition of the People to raise Prejudice and Odium against the Church and to draw away Disciples after them but secretly tending to the Dissolution and Destruction of the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth with divers special Gratifications of those adverse Powers and lastly in 5. the Fruits and †is very remarkable That many of the most Learned amongst us both Conformists and Non-conformists are gone off from divers Doctrines of the first Reformers and confess the Papists
the Lord and Giver of Life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son is together Worshipped and Glorified who spake by the Prophets And I believe One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church the Communion of Saints One Baptism for Remission of Sins and Remission of Sins after Baptism by the Discipline of the Church duly executed the Resurrection of the Dead and Life Everlasting in the World to come Moreover I believe That the Article of the Belief of the Holy Catholick Church was put into the Ancient Creeds and placed immediately after those of the Holy Trinity for special Reasons and as a Matter of the next greatest * Note It is the Kingdom of Christ in this World tho' not of this World a great Favour deign'd to Mankind a great Obligation to Unity Unanimity and Charity for all Schismaticks are Mutiniers and Rebels and all in a State of Schism in a State of Rebellion and the Sin of Schism in the Church is a greater Sin than the Sin of Rebellion in a Civil State tho' both may much vary according to several Circumstances Importance to be believed confessed and observed in Order to the rest 2. That this Holy Catholick Church is a Sacred Society formed into One Body by the Ministery of the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ according to a General Commission and Special Instructions received from Him under the Conduct of his Spirit and Special Providence who promised to be with them alway even to the end of the World that is with them and their Successours regularly Succeeding in their Seats the Churches founded by them and others constituted by their Successours and that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against it 3. That the Form and Government of this Great Body the Holy Catholick Church by Presbyters Bishops Arch-Bishops or Metropolitans Primates and Patriarchs was not any Humane Project or Invention or Casual thing but what was designed by the Wisdom of God as necessary for the Constitution Preservation and Government of it in and as One Intire Body and was so formed by the Apostles and their Successors by the Special Instructions and Directions of our Saviour and under the Conduct of the Spirit and Special Providence of God who had prepared the Roman Empire for a kind of Mould to form it in and wherein it received its compleat Formation by degrees in a very Natural manner 4. That there was some * This is granted by Dr. Barrow upon Conviction of Scripture divers Reasons and Authority of Fathers who generally seem to countenance it Tr. of Supr Lond. 1680. p. 46 48. Special Privilege at least of a Primacy partly given to St. Peter and which he held under our Saviour among the rest of the Apostles in our Saviour's Life-time and partly designed for him afterwards as is very observable in various Instances in the Histories of the Gospel and in divers Speeches and Actions many of them Mystical of our Saviour and was commonly believed by the Ancient Christians And that the like Priviledge as that which he held among the Apostles was by the Design and Order of Almighty God to continue in his Successors in the Church †Note Those glorious Predictions concerning the Church of Christ viz. Conversion of Nations and Subjection of Secular Powers have in no part of the Catholic Church been so eminently and even literally fulfilled as in the particular Church of Rome of Rome among the rest of the Bishops that Place being ordered by the Divine Wisdom as most fit for the Chief Seat in our Saviour's Kingdom the Church which had been occupied by the Enemy as the chief Seat in the Empire who was then to be cast out and Possession to be taken for our Saviour by his two chief Apostles as his Deputies And that such Privilege of the chief Seat hath been acknowledged by the Ancient Christians and in all after-Ages and was never denied or questioned but upon Claim or Usurpation of more than due 5. That this Sacred Society being of Special Divine Institution the Government thereof is much more the Ordinance of God than any Civil Authority in the World whatever and Disobedience thereunto a greater Sin and the Coercive Power of the Church by Excommunication duly exercised a greater Punishment than any the Civil Authority can inflict 6. That tho' both the Sacred and the Civil Power be the Ordinance of God yet the Sacred is the more Excellent in respect of the Author of its Constitution and Specification of it s more immediate relation to Him who is the Supream Being of its End of the Subject being a Sacred Society and of the Amplitude of the Society being Catholick diffused over all the World and in respect of the Extent of its Coercive Power to exclude out of the Kingdom of Christ and from the Privileges thereof And that all civil Authority ought to be Subject and Subservient to it both being very consistent and each having Means proper and sufficient to maintain its own Rights but they both ought to be mutually assistent to the Service of the Supream Lord of all and to each other in order thereunto 7. That if any Civil Authority presume to oppress any part of this Sacred Society by Persecution Usurpation or any Restraint or Impediment of the Free Exercise of the Right or Authority belonging to it or Duty incumbent upon it all such Presumption is Sacrilege and Impiety against God and just Cause for any other civil Authority to ingage for the Relief of it And upon Complaint to the Metropolitan Primate or Patriarch as Occasion may be He with a competent Number of others upon * What Qu. Eliz. did by Advice of her Privy Council in assisting the Scotch French and Dutch against their respective Soveraigns may much more be done by any others upon so Solemn Sacred Consultation and Resolution by open War on behalf of the Oppressed Consultation in Synod or by Letters may proceed to Sentence against the Offender and that justly and solemnly declared and signified to other Metropolitants and Bishops they may either leave it so to the Judgment of Almighty God or admonish other civil Authorities of it as may be judged most proper or necessary according to the Circumstances of the Case 8. That because nothing is more destructive to certain Right than Misuse †Such is that Doctrine which Dr. Barrow saith he contests against p. 30. §. 13 14. But in the next §. he saith there are great store of Divines of the Roman Communion who contract that Power into a narrower compass So that tho' he strains as much as he can the Reader is deceived who thinks he hath confuted or opposeth all Supremacy in the Pope Claim of more than is due or by a wrong Title and false or insufficient Proofs possibly ill Use and ill Defence may have so obscured the Lustre of this Right in the Church that
have been falsly charged and wronged in divers things Effects a Form of Godliness but little of the Power much Talk of Religion but little of the tâ—ue Works much in the Head but little in the Heart some Beginnings some little Progress but rarely any thing brought to Perfection or more compleat than the Chickens which are said to be hatched in some artificial Stoves which tho' otherwise brought to Maturity are all maimed in one part or other and generally Decays of Piety and Virtue even from the beginning such as made Luther complain That since the Gospel was preached in its Purity as he called it People were grown worse than under the Papacy And certainly if we come to Comparison as to the Fruits one Disciple of Ignatius Loyola since Luther Francis Xavier a Missioner of the Pope produced more true Evangelical Fruits in the compass of Ten Years or little more in Conversion of Infidels and more illustrious Evidences of a Divine Power with him than all the Reformers put together ever since Luther began to this day which is a great Divine Attestation both to his Order and to the Authority by which he was sent and the more considerable in respect of the Time the very time of the pretended Reformation as if ordered on purpose by the Divine Providence for an Evidence of the Difference of the Spirits by which the two Works were promoted And if we consider the Effects in respect of the Church of Rome I believe they will not upon a just Examination appear to have been better in those who on pretence of Reformation have made the Separation than in the Church they have gone out of and that there wants nothing but a more compleat Reformation of the Churches of the Roman Communion for a final Demonstration by an end of this pretended Reformation that it was no other than a temporary Judgment for Correction of what was amiss in the Church 30. That among all the pretended Reformations it may be a question Whether any was introduced with greater Wickedness or settled at last with greater Faults than this of the Church of England how much soever magnified by such as have or expect Preferments in it But to pass by the wicked Practices first to hector and terrifie with false Accusations and Pretences Wolsey out of his Life then the rest of the Clergy into a Recognition of an Antichristian Supremacy and Subjection of the Rights of the Church to the Will of a wicked Tyrant then the Superiors of the Religious Houses to surrender all their Goods and Estates and then by like Practices to get all confirmed by Act of Parliament partly hectoring and partly bribing and ingaging the Nobility and Gentry with the Spoils into a Compliance with the most horrible Sacrilege and Devastation of the Goods and Estates of the Religious of which ten Thousand at a time were turned out and put to shift for themselves with Forty Shillings and a Gown a piece besides all this the Guilt of which may still remain there are these Monstrous Faults the Effects of that Wickedness still remaining in the Constitution of this Reformed Church 1. As to the Government a Sacrilegious Usurpation upon the Rights of the Church in the Nomination of Bishops Deans Prebends c. with a prophane Mockery or Abuse of a Mock Election of Persons imposed upon them and in holding Synods and making and executing Canons and Constitutions all continued in the Power of the Prince by Act of Parliament and given up by the Clergy So that if we have Bishops as they are called they are neither Canonically chosen nor are permitted or dare to exercise any Authority of a National Church And should we have a Deist Infidel or one ill affected to Christianity what a Church might here be expected in a few Years 2. It is a mutinous Body actually separated from the great Body of the Kingdom of Christ the Catholick Church and hath no actual Communion with any Church which is not broken off from that Body or which is regularly and orderly by Succession of Presbyters descended from the Apostles 3. As to the Worship the Publick Liturgy has been so curtelled and disordered by Cranmer and a secret Faction in the principal part that they have abolished not only the Commemoration of the Saints and Prayers for the Dead but even the Prayer at the Consecration for the Descent of the Holy Spirit and whatever might import any thing of Oblation of the Commemorative Sacrifice of our Saviour's Passion which hath always been reputed the Principal most Solemn and Peculiar part of the Christian Worship throughout the whole Catholick Church 4. As for the Discipline if we have Bishops they are so awed by the Civil Authority on the one side with Prohibitions and hampered by their Chancellours on the other that there is little left for them to exercise of the proper Authority of a Diocesian Church but they bear the blame of those Scandals they cannot remedy 5. But after all it may be a Question Whether we have Bishops that is true Christian Bishops at all or only a sort of State Bishops without any true Spiritual and Apostolical Authority or other than what was derived from the King and dependent â—pon him These things being so I thought it my Duty to make this Profession of Faith and Declaration That I Disclaim Renounce and Detest that Horrible Sacrilege of the Dissolution of the Monasteries that greater Sacrilege of Vsurpation by the Civil Authority of the Rights of the Church instituted by Divine Authority the Sacrilegious Corruptions of the Liturgy the Erastian Heresie of Cranmer the Condemnation and Execution of the Right-Reverend Bishop Fisher Sir Thomas More and the rest who suffered in Person and the Condemnation and Deprivation of the Clergy who suffered in their Rights and Estates for Denying Contradicting or Refusing to Swear to the pretended Supremacy of the Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Matters and all Laws Statutes c. which restrain the free Exercise of the Christian Discipline or any Rites of the Church or were intended to establish confirm or authorize any of the Sacrileges Usurpations Corruptions or Condemnations aforesaid as wicked unjust and Schismatical and contrary to the Law of God and to one of the chief Fundamental Principles of the Laws of this Land and that I do sincerely and heartily desire an actual Communion as there may be occasion with all Churches under the Government of a regular Succession of Bishops and Presbyters from the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in actual Communion with the Catholick Church and desire it particularly with the Church of France being the next so qualified and in order thereunto do hereby for my part humbly make a Publick Tender thereof FINIS