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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56807	The conformists plea for the nonconformists, or, A just and compassionate representation of the present state and condition of the non-conformists as to I. The greatness of their sufferings, II. Hardness of their case, III. Reasonableness and equity of their desires and proposals, IV. Qualifications, and worth of their persons, V. Peaceableness of their behaviour, VI. The churches prejudice by their exclusion, &c. humbly submitted to authority / by a beneficed minister, and a regular son of the Church of England.	Pearse, Edward, 1631-1694.	1681 (1681)	Wing P976; ESTC R1092	66,864	80

without the Common-Prayer See also Mr. Blake Covenant sealed p. 308. as I my self have known nor any Child rightly baptized without the Cross yet by this Act of Uniformity they must declare Assent and Consent to all and every thing to Cross as well as Baptism to Ceremony as well as Substance And how easie was it for sinful people and weak to say See what these Men can do Yea in case that in any after-time wise and moderate Governours should see a necessity of making Alterations Then again teaching Scorners to say Yea see what these Men can do to the great dishonour of Religion and disgrace of the best of Ministers And one would think that because the Courts continue to swear Churchwardens to present they had Spies enow upon our Nonconformists and Punishments smart enough they might have spared to require this Declaration or if they had thought us honest our promise to conform had been sufficient tho kept in the Registers and made at our Institutions Yet through this Dishonour we attain our Honour They are debarred from all exercise of their Ministerial Abilities their Wives and Children turned out of doors and when they had made a sad and chargeable Remove of late must remove again upon the Five-mile Act. And these Penalties were next to Death and I conceive proved the Death of many I remember the Renowned Bishop Morton wrote these words to the Nonconformists and desired them earnestly to consider the Censure of the Apostle's Wo being so dreadful I ought not to esteem any thing a just Cause why I should wilfully incur the Censure of Silencing my self from Preaching for which I ought not as willingly to adventure my Life The General Defence of the three Ceremonies Part 1. p. 163. The Nonconformists have suffered what is next to Death and too many have suffered even unto Death in Prisons where several caught their Death and others died it is a dreadful story of whom shall their Deaths be required And it is easie to retort those words of the Reverend Bishop Imposers should not esteem any thing a just Cause of bringing any under the censures of Silencing of Preachers from preaching for which they may not adventure to take away their Lives It is objected That they sin against the Law And they may answer Who procured the Law it is the Magistrate's Sword but who moved him to draw it They are told they have no cause to complain of Sufferings for the Magistrate hath been merciful and hath not execued the Laws Thanks be to God for the Mercy but all have not been so merciful as the King hath been or many inferiour Magistrates but their Mercy hath not been kindly taken by many who should have more tender bowels than any Man that wears a Sword To conclude A reasonable Understanding may judge that Law not fit to remain in force that is not fit to be put in execution That Law cannot be good that is not fit to be brought to act without more real hurt than good And if the wise and merciful God hath by many remarkable Providences put a stop to their execution it is time for Men to annul the Law 2. The Penalty is hard upon them that make their offers to be admitted into the Churches Service or that would come in but for these Injunctions It is but a narrow passage that is made for them that enter in yet what shall they do who have spent all they have in a Preparatory Education In they must tho but to a Curacy which is not easie to be had It is grievous to think with what Implicit Faith they do what is to be done yet must Assent to more than ever many have studied rather following Example than Reason or else there is nothing for them to do Others that are enclin'd to Learning and to serve in the Gospel are deterred upon many accounts and have great prejudices against Conformity because of the great reverence they have to Nonconformists and these are under a great temptation to perpetuate a Nonconformity which is more sutable to their inclinations as being a state of freedom to their Consciences from great Bonds and Obligations tho an Estate attended with hazard to their Bodies and Estates And all young Students are under this necessity either they must subscribe hand-over-head or else they must spend their time in these endless Controversies of the Church and be engaged in the dolefull and fearfull Wars of the Church on one side or other 3. The third Consideration that pleads for our Non-conforming Brethren is taken from the Reasonableness of their Demands I distinguish these Demands into those Proposals made by the Commissioners in the Savoy Anno 1662 with that Modesty Gravity Humility and Reason treating the Bishops and other Commissioners as Superiours 2. Into those which have been repeated by particular Persons and may be seen in the Writings of Laborious and Catholick Mr. Baxter Mr. John Corbet and Dr. Owen in his learned and moderate Book of Church-Peace Love and Unity I shall only generally compare what they humbly desired with what was declared 1. In his Majesties gracious Declaration concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs a most large and healing Plaister for the Churches Wounds and might have been a Pillar to have born up the Church in Unity as his Gracious Act of Indempnity and Oblivion hath held up the State if some Men who can be loyal for their own ends had not perhaps bin industrious to make Divisions by their Affected Terms of Union 2. They humbly moved but for what great Men and famous in the Church of God to all posterity thought fit to grant In that Year 1641 there was a Committee for Religion appointed in the House of Lords ten Earls ten Bishops ten Barons The Bishop of Lincoln Williams sent a Letter to some Divines to attend that Service who met in his House Breviat of his Life p. 24. the Deanery of Westminster upon which Arch-Bishop Laud hath this Note Upon the whole matter I believe this Committee will prove the National Synod of England to the great dishonour of the Church and what else may follow upon it God knows These Divines were no less Men than the most Venerable Arch-Bishop Vsher Bishop Williams of Lincoln Dr. Prideaux after Bishop of Worcester Dr. Brownrig after Bishop of Fxeter Dr. Ward Professor of Divinity in Cambridge and Arch-Deacon of Taunton Dr. Featly Dr. Hacket of late Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield All these subscribed a Paper called The Proceedings c. touching Innovations in Doctrine and Disoipline of the Church of England together with Considerations upon the Common-Prayer Book Out of which I draw a Parallel with the Proposals of the Divines appointed to treat by his Majesty's Commission with the Archbishop and Bishops and other Divines of the Church of England at the Savoy See Account of the Proceedings printed Lond. 1661. The Divines appointed to meet in the Dean's House 1641. Considerations on the

got their Deaths as above-said It hath been a dear Separation to them The Nonconformity hath lost some Ministers many thousand pounds And what have all these things been for For their own Faults Humours factious Nature c. Have none of them any Wit Reason Policy Religion Conscience Are all so naught or so foolish such Babes or Mad-men that they hate Peace hate their Wives and Children and their own Flesh Or cannot chuse what 's best a good Living or a nasty Prison or be in peril of it O that we would forbear to judg our Fellow-Servants They declare plainly and truly They that think them to be against a Church-Government because they cannot conform to all particulars in this are much mistaken they cannot conform to the present Constitution Who should best know that They or We Will it follow we can therefore they may Or that good Men have therefore all good Men can Two things have been declared by them 1. That they cannot forbear then Ministry preach they must 2. As dear as Preaching is to them and the Magistrates favour and a portion of the setled Maintenance yet they cannot comply on the Legal Terms But have they attempted their Liberty by any treacherous Conspiracies Have they preached Seditiously or been Achans in the Camp or Nadabs and Abihu's They ask no Favour fear no Accusations They may say as that excellent Mr. Joseph Allen in his gallant Speech wise humble and fully to the Judg when sentenced to pay a hundred Mark and lie in Prison till it was paid He was glad that it had appeared before his Country that whatsoever he was charged with he was guilty of nothing but doing his Duty and that all that did appear by the Evidence was only That he had sung a Psalm and instructed his Family others being there and both in his own House and that if nothing which had been urged would satisfy he should with all chearfulness and thankfulness accept whatsoever Sentence his Lordship should pronounce upon him for so good and righteous a Cause Life of Mr. Jof Allen pag. 59. Object But some of them gather Churches Preach in time of Publick Service and are ill-tempered Men c. A. I meddle not in this as it is a Matter of Controversy stated and agitated by different Persuasions But as it is a Matter of Complaint and so I say we ought to do all that good Men can do for one Mind one Way to narrow Controversies by enlarging Conditions of Communion 2. Many cannot help preaching in time of publick Service 1. Because else they cannot preach at all for the distance of their Auditors 2. Against their Wills they are constrained because many that refuse to hear the Publick Ministers would be drawn to Meetings of Anabaptists And this was one reason which good Dr. Staunton in particular gave for his preaching at St. Albans at such times So many of the Non-conformists are a second Sieve if they preach not much Corn would fall to the gathered heaps of other Dissenters 3. Seeing they are under an Obligation of Preaching in one sence the more publick their preaching is the better for then they will be sure to preach nothing but what all may hear 4. The Law makes no difference between Publick and their own Houses if they exceed Five if therefore they Judg themselves and none can better judg than themselves obliged to preach upon peril of the Law they take the more publick Places no greater Penalties being to be suffered for that than a meer private Corner Lastly Hath any of them suffered as an evil Doer taking evil doing in the common sence or desarved to suffer these eighteen Years Have they not asserted the Common Interest sought the publick Welfare opposed Popery and been as obedient Subjects to the King as any other save only in this controverted Point What pity is that the Bosom of the Church were not as open and as large as the King 's gracious Protection is to them as leading peaceable and quiet Lives in all Godliness and Honesty What tho they complained have they sease or are they stupid Have they stirred Sedition and distracted the Government taking the advantage of a horrid Plot to play their own Game or laid a Counter-mine as it pleased one of our Moderators or Plot-discoverers to entitle his Book If they are so gracious with the rich Tradesmen and populace it shall be to their Honour and is to their Comfort that they have made no other use of the goodness of the People than to save their Souls How glad should all true Protestants he that the Presbyterian Plot is fallen together with their own Popish Plot upon the same Pates Or was the Separation of the Non-conformits the Door by which Popery was entering in Then indeed the Door must be stopt up by all means But by this time it is but too apparent and with grief be it written that the Church of England had bred such Birds as would have plucked out her Eyes The Heifers always went in the Church-yard with which the Papists plow'd shameless Hypocrites that cried up the Church to throw it down Not to multiply Objections and Answers It is or may be clear that nothing but Conscience of Sin and Duty doth govern the Learned Judicious and honest Non-conformists I suppose there are many of them that deserve these Characters and because they are governed by their Judgments and Consciences it is the great Duty of Governors to have respect to them and to take away all Occasions of our Bleeding Divisions It is in the Power of our Governors to remove the Causes and not in them If the Judgment and Consciences of our Governours be to walk strictly according to the Rule and Measure of our Conformity and cannot relax nor remove any part of it and the Judgment of the Non-conformists be that they cannot come up to it then the Divisions must remain as now they are and the Decision be deferred to the last coming of Jesus Christ But may it not be decided before that for where hath Christ made the Governors Consciences the exact Measure of other Ministers But our Laws declare most of the things in Controversy to be in their own nature indifferent to be mutable and therefore it is in their Power to take away both the Things and the Obligation to them and to bind us only to the Observation of necessary things and to leave things which they found indifferent as they found them without judging one another And for this reason Wisdom and Charity requires a relaxation upon their parts and they have this to plead for them that they have long tried to bring Ministers and People to an uniformity in these things but could not and therefore for Peace and Love Unity and Edification they have taken away their Obligation That the Non-conformists cannot subscribe and declare and subject themselves to this Yoke how easy soever it seems to many because they cannot in their