Licensed April 1. 1687. AN ANSWER TO Mr. Lowth's LETTER TO Dr. Stillingfleet In another Letter to a FRIEND LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers Hall. MDCLXXXVII An Answer c. SIR BEcause you had so often desired it I have at last forced my self to turn over Mr. Lowth's Letter to Dr. Stillingsleet I found it a very tedious and uneasie Task You had been almost as kind if you had chang'd your Pennance and ordered me to walk to Highgate with Pease in my Shooes The Way you sent me proved so rugged and uneven that every step I took I fancyed I was treading upon Cinders and Pibble-stones But I am resolved to be revenged I 'le send you another Letter that shall be as troublesome to you as that was to me But I 'le promise you for your Comfort it shall be scarce half so long and not above a quarter so Ill-natured I cannot imagine what should move Mr. Lowth to fall upon the Dean in such a manner If it were pure Zeal 't is great pity it had not been tempered with more discresion if there were any thing of particular Pique in the Case it was not managed with Artifice enough The World will never swallow the Potion when the Venom swims on the top of the Cup. The first known occasion of Mr. Lowth's ingaging of Dr. Stillingsleet was the Pretence of the Irenicum A Book set out by the Dean in his younger Years in which were many passages which his riper Judgment could not approve And this he had signified to the World in other Writings which came abroad before the Publication of Mr. Lowth's Papers But here you must note the grand Objection against the Irenicum had been formerly made by T. G. and his Companions they had found as they pretended that the Design of it was only to Ruine and destroy the Church of England And that was a thing which they Good men were not able to indure and therefore out of pure kindness no doubt they discover the Plot and warn us of the danger we had cause to apprehend from this young brisk Presbyterian that had disguised himself in Irenicum Armour The Truth of it is they had reason enough to be very desirous to be delivered from a troublesome Adversary They saw by experience they were not able to oppose his force and to secure themselves they found it necessary if possible to give him a Diversion And this seasonable assistance Mr. Lowth very wisely affords them by fomenting the Jealousies they had cunningly raised In his Treatise concerning the Subject of Church-Power besides some insinuations in the Book it self to the same purpose there is a Letter to Dr. Stillingfleet c. Printed after that to the Reader wherein he is imperiously Summoned and little less than Commanded to satisfy the Church of God by a recantation as publick as his Error Scandal and Offence And then he is gravely admonished to consider that he has not erred in the Leviora Evangelii and that the Point is whether God has a Church on Earth with its peculiar appropriated Power or not This bold and importunate demand of Satisfaction seconded with so heavy a Charge urged upon him with so much fierceness after he had given sufficient Evidence of the contrary and done the Church very considerable Service upon several occasions could not choose but incline the Dean to reject the Calumny with some degree of just resentment Which he did in a short Epistle to my Lord Bishop of London where you may see that he was not wholly insensible of the abuse but yet notwithstanding the great Provocation he had received he could not be tempted to any rude and undecent expressions Though Mr. Lowth has snatched up some of them in haste and by the help of a rare Art of Composure which he has gotten has mixed and altered and jumbled them together I know not how till he has made a shift at last to make them look almost as oddly as some of his own This you will find he has done about the beginning of this Letter which he tells us is In answer to the Deans Epistle Dedicatory For it was the gentle rebuke which had been given him in that Two-penny Letter as he elegantly calls it that put him out of all Patience and set his Blood into such a violent fermentation that I cannot observe any great abatement of the Paroxysme for eighty four Pages together It seems to be little else but a continued sit of Passion and the Dean is all along treated with that gross disrespect that it must needs be a very pleasing entertainment to the Gentlemen of the Romish Perswasion to see him who had frequently baffled the subtillest Advocates they could find not confuted but abused and affronted by an angry Man of our own Church This is certain they were the only Men I ever heard of that applauded the Letter when it came abroad His other Friends who were not much displeased with his first Book were quite ashamed when they saw This they had not a word that they could offer in defence of it The most partial Readers were not able to frame any Apology for so much rudeness That you may not think I load it with prejudice without a Cause I will make it evident in some Reflections upon a few passages of the Letter and then consider the business of the Irenicum which gave the occasion to the whole Debate If you look into the Dean's Epistle you may observe that he has expressed a due sense of the injury done him but never let fall a word any ways unbecoming a Person of Civil and Ingenuous Education But Mr. Lowth as I intimated before has raked together some scattered expressions and by a strange Liberty of adding altering and misapplying as he thought best for his purpose would make the World believe that the Dean had represented him in a woful scandalous manner After some general flourishes of Clamorous Objections riotous Pag. 12. Noises choice Epithets and the like he goes on thus If you can reap any satisfaction from loading me with the general Titles of a Plagiary ridiculous fool malicious unskillful maker of Controversies a barbarous and rude Disputer with his Brethren an accuser of his Brethren an implacable Man uncharitable unjust Slanderer proud void of Prudence and common discretion the usual Complements you are pleased to bestow upon me you may be happy in the injoyment of your humour though it hath not an Irenical Complection But I that design nothing but the pursuit of Truth and Honesty c. And a very good Design really it is and I hope he will be careful to keep it always in his eye But I must look a little and inquire into the Titles of Honour he says he is loaded with Plagiary I cannot find this Title in all the Dean's Epistle nor any thing from whence it may be gathered without mightily straining of his words It has been always accounted an ill
of expectation what might be the issue of so great a Revolution and what influence it was like to have upon the Ecclesiastical State of the Nation They that were for Episcopacy and the Legal Establishment did not doubt but that all things would return to the point from whence they had been violently removed and that they would settle at last upon the old foundation On the other side they which Dissented and retained still a very great fondness for their own Schemes of Discipline and Government were not without hopes that something might be determined in favour of Them. These refused Communion with the other and stood off with too great numbers of the People who had not yet done waiting for some effect of those many pretences of Reformation with which they had been so long deluded Upon the prospect of so fatal a Division as the separation of so great a Multitude was like to occasion the Dean at that time but a very young Man boldly ventures upon the Reconciling part It must be confessed and he has acknowledged it himself that according to the fate of most Reconcilers he was too liberal in his Concessions He had shewed that the Episcopal Government might not only be allowed of but that it had the example of the Primitive times to recommend it but then he thinks it mutable and that it might be altered to some other form if the Exigency or convenience of the Church should so require This as far as I am able to gather is a true account of the writing of the Irenicum the more particular Design of it will appear afterwards Let us now see how it was received when it came abroad and what the Dissenters what the Bishops and regular Clergy and what Mr. Lowth thought of it for his Sentiments about it seem to be very peculiar and therefore he must make one member of the Division by himself Those of the Dissenters that were obstinately resolved upon their new Models and so strangely enamour'd with their own Fancies that they could not hearken to any proposals of accommodation rejected this with the same contempt that they had done all other Arguments that had been offered for their Conviction But some of the more moderate that gave themselves the liberty of considering calmly were gained over to a submission to our Church It did not want success in that way both here and in a Neighbour Nation as the Dean has told us And we have no reason to question the Truth of what he says For when he had proved Episcopacy to be a warrantable Government at test and given it some advantages above other forms it must be a more than ordinary degree of obstinacy that could make men refuse to be obedient to it when they were once perswaded of this as probably very many were upon reading the Irenicum But Mr. Lowth esteems this but a small piece of Service and reflects upon some that had received Episcopal Ordination with how much Charity I cannot tell and then he talks of keeping of Benisices and further accession of Church Pag. 3. Dignities For whatever the matter is these Dignities are ever and anon running in his Head. But at last he concludes this matter with his wonted elegancy and respect Sure I am all the kindness you have done hereby to the Church of England and her Bishops may be put in their Eyes and they see never the worse for it O! the ingenuity of someMen Don't you remember the old Hob nail Proverb Did you ever hear it so prettily applyed But for all this I do not understand but that it might be some kindness to the Church of England and her Bishops to have the popular Odium removed which the blind-Zeal and importunate Clamours of some interested Men had fixed upon her in the late Confusions It was something sure to make it appear that Episcopacy that had been so violently decryed as Tyrannical and Antichristian was not repugnant to the word of God nor the Practice of the first and purest Ages of the Church This might serve to allay those Heats and abate the Hatred that had been most unreasonably raised against it and make Men yield a quiet submission unto it And they that were advanced so far were fairly disposed to proceed on and from being perswaded that Episcopal Government was allowable might come to see it Necessary as that which was undoubtedly of Apostolical Institution Which was the Case of the Dean himself and very probably of many Others It is a good step towards the receiving of the Truth to have the Prejudices against it taken away This at least might be thought enough to bring back the generality of the People that had been frighten'd from our Communion in the times of Rebellion It seems sufficient for them to be satisfied of the Lawfulness of Episcopacy without perplexing their Minds about the Divine Right of it since Mr. Lowth has acknowledged that they cannot be competent Judges of such Disputes Nay I fear some that had been admitted into Pag. 8. holy Orders were not throughly qualified to determine that Controversie which depended so much upon some skill in Ecclesiastical History and an insight into the State of the Ancient Church And many of these for ought he can tell might be induced by what the Dean had written to submit to the Power which they could not yet fully demonstrate And I believe there are very few real Friends to the Church of England who do not think that it were some Kindness to Her to bring those over to a Conformity to her Discipline and Worship who had otherwise remained professed Dissenters and divided themselves into separate Assemblies This certainly had been Competentwell done upon his Principles so far as it reaches But the best way to know whether this were looked upon as a Kindness or not will be to inquire how the Irenicum was received by the Bishops and Regular Clergy And they as the Dean assures us treated him with more kindness than so much as to mention any such thing to him as a Recantation c. with respect to that unlucky Book as Mr. Lowth had called it And as to the Errors and Mistakes in it They were so wise to make Allowances for the seepticalness and injudiciousness of Youth and for the Prejudices of Education As he tells us again with Decency and Humility enough Though Mr. Lowth is pleased to cast it often in his Teeth But I know not why unless it be that the Modesty of the expression is very disagreeable and a kind of Reproach to a rough and unpolished Humour But he may use him as contemptuously as he thinks sit yet better Men than he and of a higher Order were not ashamed a long time ago to entertain him with more Respect Indeed when the Irenicum came abroad they were exceedingly surprized they could not approve of every thing in the Book but there was nothing but made them admire the Author The
Project was not only Great but Good an attempt to heal the Wounds of a miserable divided bleeding Church A Design so vast and important that they could not but wonder how it should enter the Thoughts of so young a Man. And then the Method he pursued for compassing the end he had proposed though not altogether such as they would have taken yet it inclined so far to the Episcopal side as they could scarce have expected from one that had been bred up among the Mists and Confusions of those distracted and unhappy Times And the whole was prosecuted with that subtilty of Argument that Perspicuity of style and that Variety of Learning that in these respects even at those years he might have deserved the Reputation of an Eminent Divine There were some flashes of a Juvenile Fancy which would soon be corrected by a riper Judgment Some Errors there must be acknowledged but commonly of that Sort which a little further consideration would easily amend And the very slips and mistakes that were to be met with were such as were signes of great Ingenuity and had something mixed with them that could not but please those that condemned them The Book indeed might be compared to one of those Trees that are thick hung with plenty of Fruit of several growths some Ripe some Green some in the Blossom and some in the Bud which all together afford a very pleasant Prospect argue an exceeding Luxuriancy and Fertility in the Soil and may be all brought to perfect maturity in their due time When the Prudent and Reverend Governours of our Church saw the Performance they looked upon it with Admiration The Errors they observed which were almost hid in the Excellencies of the work they readily pardoned and conceived that such Pregnancy of Parts and accuracy of Learning which were very discernable in that first Essay of so young a Writer did justly deserve all the incouragement which they could give And they thought it Pity that those Abilities which had discovered themselves so soon and might be improved to the singular Advantage of the Church should not be always imployed upon some Subject worthy of them When therefore the Answer to Arch-Bishop Laud came abroad which was not long after the publication of the Irenicum some of them who had been personally known to his Grace and all of them great sufferers for their Religion and Loyalty had such an opinion of Mr. Stillingsleet that they made choice of him to undertake the Defence of the Conference with Fisher Which he set about and dispatcht in a few Months with that success that a very Grave and Learned Prelate thought fit to honour it with a Licence under his own Hand And it was afterwards entertained with general approbation and I do not see what there is in it to be despised or cavilled at by Mr. Lowth However it is plain that those Reverend Persons at whose desire he undertook the Work had great confidence of his Skill and Ability to manage a Controversie of that moment and consequence and he did not deceive their expectation in the Performance He acquitted himself so well in those weighty Disputes they had ingaged him in that they could not but have a very particular respect and esteem for him which has been constantly maintained by those of their Order ever since And if he stood so fair in their good opinion when he had so lately published the Irenicum this manifestly declares that they were not then so angry with the Book nor with him for Writing it as Mr. Lowth was pleased to be above twenty year after I will therefore as I promised consider his judgement about it by it self And what he thought of it when it first came out I cannot tell and it matters not much what ever it were But that he might not be accused for doing any thing rashly when he had pawsed upon the business almost as many years as the Dean was old when he wrote that unlucky Book out he sends a very fierce Epistle and peremptorily demands a Publick Recantation and when he had been gently reflected on for that he seconds it with this other long Letter which I have before me You see the matter was a great while a Brewing He suffered his Choller to boyl inwardly so long without giving it any vent that I fear it was become a little Adust but now I hope since the plentiful Evacuation it has had in these angry Letters he may be grown more treatable and not so apt to break out into uncivil and passionate Expressions For truly all the while he was writing he seems in a mighty wrath at the poor Irenicum And what do you think should be the reason that he above all men should have such a particular quarrel against it The Bishops you know and all the Clergy for ought that I could ever hear though they could not approve of the whole yet they were never so highly displeased but that they could pardon the mistakes that were in it And it was a very long time before Mr. Lowth himself took any notice of them Twenty year as I have told you at least now if he did really think the Book so very mischievous as he at last pretended why did he not make his Animadversions upon it any sooner if he did not wherefore did he publish them at all Or if he did verily believe that the Iremcum was such a pernicious Treatise and might be of such dangerous insluence as he would seem to apprehend what wise purpose could it serve to revive the memory of it when it was laid out of most men's hands and in a manner forgotten But I am not to answer for the prudence or Honesty of the Action I will only acquaint you with the mystery of the business why He of all men in the World should concern himself so zealously about it And I will shew it you from his own words for when he had mentioned that Pag. 12. and some other things which he liked as well All this says he might make a greater impression upon me than on some others And why so I pray Because I had for some years applyed my Studies to search after the Rights of the Church c. And what then Had no body else done the same had none of the Bishops or Clergy of the Nation bent their minds that way He does not tell us Or if he will allow they had either it seems they were not subject to such sad impressions as he was or else they had not so deep an insight into the matter They could not discover the Design as he did The desperate Design that was most cunningly laid to ruine the Church of England by shewing the People that it was certainly Lawful and in some cases necessary to submit to the Episcopal Power This is all the formidable Plot that I can see which provoked him so much and put him in such a fright that he imagines we are