invite such to take the Pastoral care of their Souls as are duly qualified that such qualified persons should not accept Ordination on such wicked terms is past doubt But what if they live so remote from any other Christian Kingdom that they cannot have Ministerial Ordination elsewhere Wiâ—l any say that in this case those qualified persons for want of this Ordination ought not to â—â—ke on them the Pastoral charge of those people which God hâ—s given them such abilities for and such a Call by his providence 〈◊〉 To say this were to set up the Rule about the regular ordeâ—ing the Ministry above the ends of the Ministry it self and o◠〈◊〉 circumstances of the Duty to the substance of it Wher◠〈◊〉 â—sitive precepts must always yield to moral and matters or 〈◊〉 order to the end of the Duty ordered and the former must nâ— be pleaded against the latter Ordination by Pastors is noâ— therefore there necessary where it cannot be had without sin and yet without a Ministry the interest of the Gospel and the salvation of Souls are like to suffer the most visible prejudice and detriment For these are matters infinitely more precious and valuable than any Rules of external order and the very end those Rules aim at and are subservient to And if this be not granted it must be left to the pleasure of such corrupt Pastors whether the people who cannot joyn in communion with them shall enjoy the means of their salvation or be obliged to live like Atheists without any publick worship of God. And he that asserts this may next assert that God has left it to their pleasure whether the people shall be saved or damn'd and that 't is better they should be canonically damn'd than uncanonically sav'd I propose these Cases to shew the vanity and falsehood of that Notion some make such a noise about viz The necessity of an uninterrupted succession of Ordination And if that principle be false much more is theirs who assert the necessity of Successive prelatical ordination But tho in such extraordinary Cases The extraordinary call of God's providence is sufficient to authorize a man to the sacred â—ffice and supâ—lies the defect of Ministerial Ordination Yet the command of God which enjoyns such Ordination does oblige where it may be had and the neglect of it wou'd bring great confusion and disorder into the Church and expose it to the danger of being corrupted and divided by unqualâ—fied Intruders The only thing that remains to be consider'd under this Head is Who are entrusted with the power of ordination Or whom has Christ appointed to approve and invest others in the Ministerial office Answ Those are entrusted with this power and appointed to this woâ—k Who are themselves such Bishops or Elders or Pastors as the holy Scriptures describe He that denies this is oblig'd to acquaint us what other Officers the Apostles left in the Church to whom this sole power of ordination was entrusted then or what other officers claimed and exercised it in the primitive Church Which none that I know of ever pretended to do But now those whom the holy Scriptures call Bishops or Elders were the stated pastors of particular Congregations That the same persons are in Scripture call'd Bishops and Elders is too palpable to be denied However the Authors of the Preface to the Book of Ordination are pleased to say the contrary viz. That 't is evident to all men diligently reading the holy Scriptures and ancient Authors that from the Apostles time there have been these orders in Christs Church Bishops Priests and Deacons as several offices and even this palpable mistake among the rest we are required to declare our assent to Those who are 20 Acts. 17. called the Elders of the Church of Ephesus are commanded v. 28. to take heed to all the Flock over whom the holy Ghost had made them overseers or Bishops The description of a Bishop 1 Tim 3 ch and of an Elder 1 Tit. are the same And Titus when directed to ordain Elders must see that they be blameless for a Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God v. 6 7. That these Bishops or Elders were Pastors of single congregations is evident from the Duties enjoyned them towards those under their care and from the Duties which the Flocks are required to pay them They are to labour among the people and admonish them And the people were to know and esteem them highly in love for their works sake 1 Thess 5 12 13. They were to rule their Flock speak the word of God to them and to watch over their Souls as those that must give an account 13 Hebr. 7 17 24. They were to take heed to all the Flock over whom the Holy Ghost had made them overseers 20 Acts 28. Wherein the Apostle proposes his own practice while he stay'd among them as their temporary pastor for their imitation viz That he taught them publickly and from house to house and ceased not to warn every one with tears day and night 20 Acts 20 31. v. They were to bee ensamples to the Flock who were to follow their Faith considering the end of their Conversation 1 Pet. 5. v. 3 compar'd with Heb 13.7 They were to visit the sick and pray for them James 5 14. see Dr. Hammond's Annotations on these places applying them to Bishops Now let us consider whether these mutual duties betwixt Pastor and Flock were to be performed betwixt the Pastor or Pastors of a single congregation and the congregation committed to their care or betwixt a Diocesan Bishop and so vast a Flock as his Diocess That one or more Pastors of a single congregation associated for personall communion are capable of performing these duties to their Flock and their Flock to them is past all doubt But can these mutual Duties be perform'd betwixt a Diocesan Bishop and his Diocess Is he capabâ—e of labouring amongst them in word and being esteem'd of them highly for his Works sake when very few comparatively of his Diocess ever saw him or heard him preach Can he watch over the souls of all in his Diocess as his Flock and warn them of their evil courses when he knows not one of them in many score thousands Can the Diocess follow the Faith of such Bishops and consider the end of their conversation and propose them as their patterns when not one in many thousands know any more of the life of their Bishop than if he lived at the other end of the World Are such Bishops obliged to visit the sick of their Diocess Can they rule them by the exercise of Church-discipline against the notoriously scandalous when perhaps there are forty or fifty thousand such in their Diocess Can they use all the due process of serious reproofs and perswasions that are requisite to be uâ—ed for reclaiming such sinâ—ers when there is so vast a number of them and those so remote in their habitations and the Bishops wholly
terms of the Ministry as Christ's own Laws forbid his Ministers to obey If all ought not to forbear their Ministry who are forbidden by an unjust Law What is there in the case of the silenc'd Ministers that shâ—uld oblige them to it I know nothing can be imagin'd but this That obedience to that Law tho unjust would in their circumstances tend more to the good of the Church and sou s than all their ministerial labours And if any can make this good I doubt not but they will forbear For proof of the contrary see p. 27 28. under the former Head. All the Quest therefore will be concerning the conditions of the Ministry that by the foresaid Law were impos'd upon them For the first mentioned the Declaration of Assent and Consent c. Are there not many thousands of sincere and upright Chrâ—stians in these Kingdoms who do really judge kneeling at the Sacrament unlawful because they account it a symbo izing with the Church of Rome in a ceremony abus'd to Idolatry who judge the Cross in Baptism unlawful because 't is a new Tessera or symbol of our Christian Profession of humâ—ne Institution to which those very duties and blessings of â—he Gospel are annext which our Lord has annext to Baptism â—specialâ—y when the words of the Canon are To dedicate them â—y that badge the sign of the Cross to the service of Christ whose benefits â—â—stow'd on th m in Baptism the name of the Cross does represent Or whâ— scruple the use of Sponsors in Baptism to undertake that work which â—s the Parents duty and not theirs unless the Parent be incapable and the more because the 29â—h Canon of the Church saâ—th No Parent shall be urged to be present nor be admitted to answer as Godfather for his â—wn child He that knows not there are many thousands who judge â—hese things unlawful and yet are persons as eminent for their piety as those that are otherwiâ—e minded is either a stranger to these Nations or has very little charity left Whether these persons be mistaken in these scrupâ—es or no I do not now dispute nor is it necessary to my Argument to suppose them in the right But I wou'd hope it will be granted me that their credible profession of Religion gives them a right to all the seals of the Covenant and that 't is not lawful to debar them from the Lords-Supper or their children from Baptism on the account of these scruples To say otherwise were to make it lawful for the Ministers of Christ to reject those whom they have all imaginable reason to beâ—ieve that their Lord receives nay whom he has commanded them to receive Rom. 14.1 Whereas to reject sâ—ch is a heinous degree of Schism and opposite to the great law of Charity and Christian forbearance which Pastors as well as people are concerned in 'T is the very sin Diotrephes is charg'd with 3 Ep. Joh. v. 10. Now if it be unâ—awful to deprive such of external Church-priviledges as in the judgment of rational Charity have a right to them then 't is unlawful to profess our Assent and Consent to a Book which obliges us to thâ—s Uncharitable and Schismatical practice For the Book obliges us to administer the Sacraments only in the manner there prescribed and by the Canons of the Church those Ministers incur the danger of Suspension that do otherwise So that we cannot be Ministers without approving thâ—se Schismatical Conditions of Church-Communion and perhaps excluding the most sober part of a Parish on the account of them Whereas Christian Love forbids us to Exclude such and much more forbids us to Assent and Consent to their Exclusion For the 2d Condâ—tion of the Ministry That Clause in the Oxford Oath wherein we must swear never to endeavour any Alteration of Government in the Church Do's Mr. K think there are no Corruptions in the Government of the Church which if alter'd and reform'd wou'd greatly conduce to the advancement of real Religion Is the exercise of Church-Government by a Lay-Chancellor and the manner of their process in the Spiritual Courts no corruption that needs amendment What when so solemn a thing as the Censures of the Church is manag'd more like a dâ—sign to correct mens purses then either the Errors of their Judgment or disorders of their Practâ—ce and as Dr. Burnet in the life of Bishop Bedel complains That Excommunication had lost all its force as a Spiritual Censuâ—e and was dreaded only on the account of the effects it produc't in Law. And these matters are not since chang'd for the better Is that Discipline by which every particular Church shou'd be as much as possible preserv'd from the infecti n and scandal of notoriously wicked members possible to be exercised by a Bishop or his Lay-Chancellor for a whole Diocess containing 3 or 4 hundred or perhaps as many more particular Churches For Instance Is the Bishop of Lincoln whose Diocess contains in it 1000 or 1100 Parish-Churches capable to calâ— all the scandalous sinners within that vast Precinct to Repentance to examine the crimes alledg'd against them use all the admonitions and reproofs that tend to reclaim them and after due evidence of their impenitency cast them out of Church Communion How many thousands must he have at once in his Court if he exercised Church Discipline as strictly as the H. Scriptures enjoyn or as the common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book owns it was practised in the primitive Church See Pref to the Commination used in Lent. And does there need any plainer Argument of the impossibility of it then that this Discipline was never actualâ—y exe câ—sed by the Bâ—shops to any purpose nor one scandalous siâ—ner of a thousand in a Diocess ever call'd to Repentance for his notorious crimes or censured for his continuing in them unless it were some scrupulous Nonconformist And does Mr. K. think these things need no alteration If he doth so I would gladly know What Church-Government or Discipline signifies To what purpose then is all this stir about an Empty Name when there is no use to be made of the Thing to the great purposes it 's intended for when 't is not exercised to preserve the honour of Religion by a credible profession of it in particular Churches and to secure those Churches from the pernicious influence of such whom their Haeresies or their scandalous crimes render unfit for Christian Society If these things be gross abuses If the present Church-Government render Discipline impracticable and deprive Parish-Ministers of an essential part of their Office Is it lawful to swear We will never endeavour an alteration of this and that without any limitation signified as in an irregular manner or beyond our particular Sphoere Is it lawful for those who know these to be corruptions which have greatly depraved the Church and dishonoured Christianity to swear they will never eâ—deavour to amend them They might as well bind themselves by oath never to Repent nor Promote the
Vindiciae Calvinisticae OR SOME IMPARTIAL REFLECTIONS ON THE DEAN of LONDONDEREYS CONSIDERATIONS That Obliged him to come over to the Communion OF THE Church of Rome AND Mr. Chancellor KING's Answer thereto IN WHICH He no less Unjustly than Impertinently Reflects on the Protestant Dissenters In a Letter to a Friend By W.B. D.D. 3 Ep. Joh. 9 10. But Diotrephes who loveth to have the Preeminence among them receives us not Neither doth he himsâ—lf receive the Brethren and forbiddeth them that would and casteth them out of the Church DVBLIN Printed by A. Crook and S. Helsham Printers to the Kings most Excellent Majesty on Ormond-Key and sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster 1688. TO THE READER THOV wilt find the worthy Author of this ensuing Tract opposing two persons of a very different Character M M. whose scruâ—les are so mean and so often answered that as they could have little influence in his Change so they deserved no new Consideration The most material of his Questions may be reduced to this Being that the Church of Rome by her usurping shifts propagated her Apostacy to her neighbour Churches how can any of those belong to the Catholick Church if they ceas that Apostacy and regain their former state The answer is easie unl sâ— infection do for ever subject a Church to that Church which infected it Can any man doubt whether the British Churches had equal authority to reform themselves for Christ's sake as they had to admit these corruptions for the Popes sake The other Person is M K who hath needlesly yea to the apparent dammage of his cause bitterly censured the whole body af Nonconformists Whether his novel notions or the unseasonable publication of matters of debates among us be most culpable it 's hard determining The sad consequences were so obvious that great importunity fail'd to encline my undertaking our vindication though the charge against us is great and the proof attempted from mistaken principles But seeing the Author with others judged a reply needful and represented our silence as turned to our reproach I am perswaded to preface the ensuing Book wherin thou wilt find both evidence and candor I shall only hint at what the Book is concerned in and insist on some Criminations the Author overlooks Mr K's excluding us from the Catholick Church can harm us little when he gives us a discription of this Church so entirely Popish and opposite to the joynt testimony of Protestants S. 68 of the Church in a controversy betwixt the Romanists and us The Articles of the Church of Ireland define the Catholick Church in the Creed 4. Bell de Eccl milit lib 3 Cap 2. to be the invisible body of Elected Saints in heaven and earth But all of M K ' s. description is Bellarmines own who strangely confounds a particular Church with the Catholick Church visible out of which particular Churches are formed unless you admit Infidels for Members and into which they are resolved unlâ—ss they cease to be Catholick Members when their Pastors dy or remove Wheras M K. might have known that the Catholick visible Church as entitive is made up of professing Christians and particular Churches are but secondary members of this body as Organical by Aggregation But the Dissenters will deny his charge by further proving that they are subjects to their lawfull Pastors that such are not their Pastors whom he chargeth them with separation from And they can justify their Seperation to be a duty and so no bar to their Catholick priviledg if they had some times been subject to such Yea it 's manifest the Church of England account us within the Pale of the Church by her calling us Brethren departed in the Faith when dead and too oft Excommunicating us when alive His charge of Ecclesiastical Rebellion cannot yet affect us when we think that we justly deny the Convocation to be a fit Representative of all the Pastors in England and not a supreme power over all our Churches yea and suspect a definition of the Catholick Church by such regent Officers as what favours the Vniversal Headship and may well end in the Pope as principium unitatis His positiveness in our duty to be silent when suspended without regard to justice of the ground of it imports he hath forgotten that Casuists generally determin that an unjust sentence bindes not before God or the Church and that Pastors power in the church is not of the same extent as a Kings in the State but under the limits of many more instituted laws But these matters being debated in the book I proceed M K 's Sarcasm against our cant from M M ' s. allusion to a plain scripture p. 13 may call him to suspect what spirit himself is of Luke 9 55. and others of his sort who redicule scripture passages though used in the sence of the spirit that inspired the writers of the scriptures and condemn in us those principles which were the common sence of Protestant Bishops but yet these must be the only Protestant Successors because they keep up the ceremonies tho they despise many important doctrines which they more vallued themselves by Reader thou maist wonder how M K. that affirmeth no ministers may reform no nor preach against the Establisht Church can publish these thoughts of his so repugnant to the sence of the Church and undertake to reform the very Catholick Church by a definition of it so opposite to that his Church hath published He Reproacheth us with the favours we new recieve from men of M M 's perswasion M K. P 39. Reply We thankfully own the Kings Favours without ungrateful enquiries into the grounds of it nor yet doubting but we shall take care not to forfeit what he thinks meet to grant But why should you that dislike an Inquisition grudg us a little ease I believe you are not for blaming the Magistrate when the Rods and Axes are disused Are not the miseries great enough which we have endured at your hands for refusing to sin in doing things which you had nothing but the bare authority of the imposer to plead for But I heartily wish all our hardships so forgoten by us as that they neither abate charity nor prevent union on Christian Catholick terms I confess it 's no small amazement to hear the Prelatists reflect on the present liberty of Dissenters Are we blameable for meeting now we do it with safty when we suffered so much rather than forbear it Can they that have refused Preferments endured prisons reproach and loss of estates for their principles be suspected apt to renounce or betray them for a smile How can these men that t' other day resolved all law into the Kings meer will now brand our meetings as unlawful But this will convince the world that that party will allways Skrew up the point of Loyalty whose Interest the Government pâ—omotes and yet may challenge their own sentiments when the Throne is
Repentance of others If any say the meaning of the Oath is only that they will never endeavour this by any sinful means or beyond their private sphere Why could not these necessary words be put in And that this dangerous sense was never intended by the Convocation is evident from the 7th Canon where they thus speak Whosoever shall hereafter affirm that the Government of the Church of England under his Majesty by Archbishops Bishops Deans Archdeacons and the rest that bear Office in the same is Antichristian or repugnant to the word of God let him be â—xcommunicate ipso facto and so continue till he repent and revoke such his wicked error They that thus suppos'd nothing in their Government repugnant to the word of God did without doubt intend to bind the inferiour Clergy from all attempts to alter it and so contriv'd this Oath that an Allegiance might be in these Nations sworn to the Bishops as well as the King. For the 3d. viz. Reordination The Divines of the Church of England generally own it unlawful and consequently the imposition of it supposes Ordination by Presbyters a Nullity For such therefore as were so ordain'd to consent to Reordination is to own the Nullity of their former Administrations and cast the basest slurr on a great part of the Reformed Ministry And this reminds me of a passage in the Preface to the Book of Ordination which acquaints us with the judgment of those that compos'd it Viz. And to this intent that these Orders be reverently esteem'd No man shall be accounted or taken for a lawful Priest in the Ch. of Engl. or be suffer'd to execute the Function except he be called according to this form or hath had formerly Episcopal Ordination And this we must profess our Assent and Consent to which he that can do and makes conscience of declaring nothing but what he really believes has either a large stock of ignorance or very little charity as will appear by what is said on the Head about Mission The Authors of that Preface cou'd not but foresee that such Declarations would effâ—ctually choke a great part of the Ministers in England and Ireland and 't is hard to imagine what other design they could have in requiring their Assent and Consent to such passages as these For the Oath of Canonical obedience viz. That the Priests or Deacons will reverently obey their Ordinary and other chief Ministers to whom is committed the Charge and Government over them I suppose 'T is meant of obedience to their Ordinary in what he prescribes agreably to the Canons which are the known Rule he governs by And so we should be obliged to read the sentence of excommunication against all that the Bishop or his Chancellor may according to those Canons excommunicate now he may excommunicate all Nonconformists And we that know them to be men of holy and blameless lives must swear to obey the Bishop by publishing his schismatical sentence I might have added several things more on this Head were it necessary I know some have told the world â—reely that in their Declaration of Assent c. they intend no more than to receive those Books as an Instrument of peace so that they will not preach against any thing contain'd in them as some subscribe even the Articles themselves To which I need only answer 1. It us'd to be acknowledg'd by Prot. Casuists as 't is largely asserted by Bishop Sanderson de Juram That to stretch the words of Laws Oaths and Promisâ—s to meanings different from their common use is sinful and a practice fitter for those that own the Doctrine of Equivocations c. than sincere Christians or good subjects Now if to Assent and Consent to all things contain'd in and prescrib'd by a Book be not an Assent to them as true and Consent to them as good or lawful 't is impossible to understand the sense of those two words And what might not a man in this lax sense declare his Assent and Consent to tho never so much against his judgment provided he did not think himself oblig'd to speak publickly against it That the Parliament never intended that lax sense appears hence That when the House of Lords added a Proviso that the Declaration in the Act of Uniformity should be understood but as obliging men to the use of the Book the House of Commons refus'd it at a Conference about it and gave such reasons against that sense and Proviso to the Lords upon which they acquiesc'd and cast it out 2. Whatever meaning be put on the forementioned declarations and oaths None can exercise his Ministry in the Church of England without denying the priviledges of Christianity to those that have a right to them and without quiting an essential part of his office as Pastor of a particular Church or incurring the danger of suspension for doing otherwise And the Ministers of Christ must not put themselves under such a necâ—ssity of acting uncharitably and schismatically towards his true Members nor thus wiâ—fully maim and deprave their Pastoral office I appeal then to the Judgment of all Whether if these conditions of the Ministry be sinful That Law be just that shall enjoyn them and make mens forswearing themselves necessary to the preaching of the Gospel I am very sorry Mr. K. and some of his Coat should so often necessitate their Brethren to harp on this ungrateful string They pay too great a deference to the Laws of the Land to cast any needâ—ess Reflections on them But men ought not to bear silently the charge of Schism and Church Rebellion who are no way guilty of it Especially when their silence and neglect to vindicate themselves may tempt others who are not acquainted with their case to censure and hate them wrongfully as cloth'd with these odious characters I hope the precedent discourse has evidenc'd the charge to be undeserved and false And therefore whatever expressions seem to grate on the Laws must be imputed to the unhappy necessity put upon them to give a true representation of their case by the virulent accusations of their brethren from whom one wou'd think they might rather expect some pitty I doubt not but the moderate and charitable part of the Conforming Clergy have other apprehensions of their brethren and are asham'd of these passages in M. K's Answer But for those that approve the silencing Laws arraign their Brethren as Church-Rebels for not obeying them and condemn those societies that need and embrace their help meerly on that score as no parts of the Catholick Church even when they exclude not the Popish Churches It will appear I think from this Paper that their Arguments are not so strong as their Passion and a little more charity wou'd advance the reputation of their Intellectuals as well as Morals Such men may long exclaim against our divisions but their own principles and temper are the most insuperable obstacle to the healing of them Having considered the Questions
affection to a Party perverted his judgment I shall now put an end to this long Letter by a few reflections on these matters 1. I could heartily wish Mr. K. and all that approve these passages in his Book to consider seriously Whether they are acted by true Christian charity and love whilst they deny so many Christian Churches in these Kingdoms living under the Pastoral care of Orthodox and pious Ministers never justly silenc'd to be any part of the Catholick Church and that upon such Principles as pass the same hard censure on all the Reformed Churches that were set up as separate from Popish National Churches To unchurch true Churches is the most opposite to that love which is the life of Christian Unity and is the highest degree of Schism How much more to unchurch so many and those so eminent for the purity of Faith Worship and Practice nay for their charity too towards those parts of the Catholick Church that are less pure than themselves I should heartily rejoyce if any one could shew me any Churches on this earth wherein there is a more pure peaceable and credible profession of Christianity made as to its integrals as well as essentials than in those Reformed Churches abroad and those at home which I have here been obliged to defend from the Assault of a Protestant Divine I am farr from denying our Parish Churches to be true parts of the Catholick Church and I hope all that account themselves oblig'd on the reasons suggested in this Paper to frequent other Christian Societies do esteem them as such and own all the credible profession of Religion made among them Tho there are many things wherein they cou'd desire them reform'd especially they cou'd wish them that liberty of consenting to their own Pastors which was the general practice of the Catholick Church in its purest Ages and was confirm'd by the judgment of so many Councils See Mr. Baxters Church History passim and his Answ to Dr. Stillingfl p. 128 129 c and Blondel de jure plebis c. And they would be glad to see some tolerable exercise of that true and godly discipline which the Common-prayer book acknowledges was practic'd in the primitive Church and the restoration whereof it saith is much to be wished But the mischief is tho they have a profest assent and consent to this 't is only to wish it for they have sworn to endeavour no alteration how desirable soever 2 I wou'd hope that long experience will convince us all of the necessity of more large and comprehensive terms of Christian Concord as farr as that is to be expected or attain'd on earth I hope the Churches unity will no more be lay'd by Protestants on such humane Canons as are not only unnecessary but contrary to the Churches interest and edification Nor the breach of such a sinful unity be branded as Schism and Church-Rebellion Mr. Hales of Eaton and Dr. Stillingfleet once were of another mind and lay'd the charge of Schism in all such cases at the right Door viz. the Imposers 3. Tho I can expect no perfect cure of our divisions unless the Churches in these Nations were cemented on a more wide and Catholick foundation I mean not the schismatical terms of the Roman Church Yet I wou'd humbly propose it to the Consideration both of the sober charitable Conformists and Nonconformists whether something may not be done to promote some considerable degrees of Concord even while the differences of our judgment and practice do remain May they not publickly declare they own each others Assemblies for true Christian Churches May not their members to testifie a true Catholick charity maintain occasional Communion shou'd it not be own'd scismatical on either hand to confine that part of Christ's Catholick Church which is in these Kingdoms to either party May not the Pastors own each other for true Ministers of the Gospel and Pastors to such as consent to their Pastoral relation I speak of such as want not the necessâ—â—y qualifications May they not rejoyce in the success of each others labours for promoting that common Interest of Christianity wherein both â—re agreed For sure that ought to be infinitely dearer to us then the narrow Interest of a party or the Interest of more dubious Opinions aâ—d modes of Worship May they not concur to promote each others just esteem and reputation in order to the success of their labours May they not maintain a more amicable correspondence in order to a nearer union of their affections and if possible of their judgment and practice too May they not forbear unjust Caâ—umnies and reviling language to render each other odious May they not love and honour in each other whatever there appears of the Image of their Lord and Master his gifts and graces May they not both joyn in the defence of the Reformed Religion upon the common principles wherein the Protestant Churches agreed And would not so much of mutual affection and concord tend more to credit true Religion and strengthen its real Interest then the contrary uncharitable narrow and irreconcileable Temper I doubt not but the truly moderate on both sides are acted by this truly Catholick and Christian Temper And it wou'd be a comfortable presage to these Churches to see this temper more generally diffus'd and prevalent among us But for those that will still fancy Christ has every where committed the government of his church to Diocesan Prelates and by catholick Vnity mean a subjection to all their cannons and censures and make all disobedience to their commands when contrary to the commands of Christ Schism and Church Rebellion They may long talk of Catholick Unity and Peace But they are next to the Papists the most dangerous enemies of it For they have too deep a tincture of their humour who make a mighty noise about Vnity but when we come to enquire where it lies They mean a subjection to a certain Gentleman that dwells at Rome or at best to that Clergy who adhere to him in all the corruptions of Christian Doctrine worship and Practice Lastly I wou'd advise all of Mr. K's mind to consider well the Catholick principles suggested in this paper in opposition to his schismatâ—cal ones to the case of a popish convocation in Eng. or Irel. shou'd such a convocation suspend him from preaching his protestant doctrine administring prot sacraments as D. M. calls them and he go on to do it By his own Notions he wou'd be a schismatick and Church-Rebel by mine a faithful pastor to his Flock and a Loyal subject of Jesus Christ And therefore whether his principles or mine be more honest more agreeable to the holy Scriptures more serviceable to advance the Authority and Interest of Christ more conducive to the welfare of Souls I leave to his own conscience to determine on second thoughts And doubt not but most of his own Brethren will acknowledge mine to be so I cannot but reflect on