in Order or Office as Mr. Humphreys has largely prov'd in a late Book called the Healing Attempt We wou'd humbly desire 'em to use their interest that that unhappy Clause may be ras't out of the Preface to the present Book of Ordination in which 't is so peremptorily asserted That 't is evident to all men diligently reading the H. Scriptures and ancient Authors that from the Apostles time there have been these three Orders in Christ's Church Bishops Priests and Deacons That by three Orders they mean three Offices is plain from the very following words which Offices were evermore had in such Reverend Estimation c. Now it seems to us very unreasonable that all Ministers shou'd be by the Act of Uniformity oblig'd to profess their Assent to this proposition when 't is so contrary to the current judgment of the generality of the most Eminent Protestant Conforming Divines in those 3 foremention'd Reigns to whom we might add several very learned ones in the Reign of K. James the first and K. Charles the first and 2d but especially when 't is a Proposition at best disputable both among learned Protestants and Papists and as far as we can judg rather evidently contrary to the holy Scriptures and to the first and purest ages of Christianity So that we fear that few Ministers can sincerely profess their Assent to this Assertion who have taken the pains to make any impartial enquiry into this matter And we are the more desirous of having this Clause ras't out because this new Opinion of Episcopacy being a distinct Order and Office from Presbytery is the ground of that uncharitable practice of the Establisht Church in requiring Reordination in all such at home as have been ordained by Presbyters i. e. true Scriptural Bishops and Pastors as a necessary condition of being admitted to the exercise of their Ministerial Function nay in urging Reordination too on all the Ministers of Reformed Churches abroad who never had Diocesan Bishops among ' em As if all the administrations of those Eminent Ministers in France who are now so honourable Confessors in the cause of Reformed Christianity were mere Nullitys till Prelatical Hands were laid upon ' em 2. Since the Archbishops and Bishops claim the Government of the Church as their Province we humbly wish they wou'd endeavour to recover the spiritual part of their Authority out of their Chancellor's hands who have so long usurpt the keys of sacred Discipline and have hitherto so scandalously manag'd 'em as to bring the solemn censures of the Church into general contempt And no wonder when they are prostituted to so vile a purpose as that of filthy lucre and thereby the Temple of God is turn'd into a House of Merchandize We do not speak this against the power of the Spiritual Courts in those Civil Causes or in those Ecclesiastical ones which their Majesties in pursuance of their just power circa sacra may authorize 'em to determine but only their assuming the cognizance of all cases of scandal so far as they subject men to the censures of the Church and being entrusted with the infliction of those censures even in reference to all the numerous causes that come before 'em so few of which properly belong to an Ecclesiastical Judicatory For besides that we think That the power of inflicting those censures belongs to Pastors and cannot be delegated by 'em to a Layman it seems a certain and unavoidable tho pernicious consequence of such Spiritual Courts being entrusted with the sentence of Excommunication to enforce all their Decrees that the most awful judgment on earth is like to use my Ld Bacon's expressions to be made an ordinary process to lacquey up and down for fees * Consider for the better establishing the Ch. of Engl. We doubt not their Lp's have read Bp Bedel's Life wrote by the present Bp. of Sarum wherein there is so loud and just a complaint of the gross abuses of this kind and so noble an example set 'em of zeal for the Reformation of ' em And no doubt if they wou'd concur in their imitation of it they might do it with rational prospect of greater success and be happily instrumental to wipe off some part of that stain brought on the Church by her tolerating these corruptions which as the foremention'd Bp of Sarum relates pious Archbishop Usher so greatly lamented and apprehended it wou'd bring a curse and ruine upon the whole Constitution See Bp. Bedel's Life p. 86 87 3. We cou'd heartily wish that when their Lp's have recover'd their own Authority out of their Chancellors hands they wou'd exercise it in concurrence with the Presbyters of their several Dioceses And herein also the foremention'd Bp. Bedel set 'em an excellent pattern Ib. p. 90. And we hope the Bp of Derry will urge 'em to an imitation thereof since he has laid it down as their common Opinion and Judgment p 175. That the Government of the Church in such districts as those of our Dioceses ought to be in a Presbytery with a Bishop as President and Governour by Christ's Appointment 4. We wou'd also humbly desire 'em to restore that Godly discipline which the Common-prayer-book tells us was in the primitive Church for bringing such as were convicted of notorious sin to publick profession of their Repentance For since the Church in the Office of Commination yearly declares that the Restoration of the said Discipline is much to be wish't It will look like a mocking of Heaven yearly to repeat such lazy wishes of it when there are no serious attempts made towards it And we can seee no reason why the Curses peculiar to the Mosaical Dispensation shou'd be substituted instead of it 5. We cou'd wish that part of the Office for Visiting the Sick might be review'd which concerns Absolution For since there is no other Absolution own'd in the Reformed Churches but either publishing the conditional offers of pardon in the Gospel or a ministerial releasing those from the Censures of the Church on whom they had been inflicted before We think it dos too much countenance the judicial power of Absolution claim'd by the Romish Priests for the Minister to absolve the uncensur'd in so peremptory terms I absolve thee from all thy sins in the name of the Father c. For they seem to make the Minister pass a more positive judgment of the sick man's Repentance than he is capable to do 6. In order to the more effectual exercise of that godly discipline foremention'd We wou'd earnestly request that the Parish-Ministers may be restor'd to that Pastoral power which Archbishop Usher in his model of Episcopacy shews that they were invested in according to the former Book of Ordination but of which they seem now depriv'd by the many changes made in the new See the Healing Attempt p. 57 58 59 c. 'T is certain they are most capable of a personal inspection of the lives of their Flock and consequently
be instant in season and out of season to reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine For these latter expressions seem to explain the former And I hope he will allow the Apostle Peter to have preacht in the 2 Acts from the 14th to the 40th ver And yet what he spoke is call'd an Exhortation v. 40. Nay to put the matter out of doubt 't is said of John the Baptist 3 Luke 18. That many other things in his Exhortation he preached unto the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again he saith That interpreting the Scriptures applying 'em and exhorting the people from 'em in a Christian Auditory is never call'd Preaching Now either those many discourses of the Apostles recorded in the Acts are not Preaching or else quite contrary to the Bp's notion Preaching was interpreting the scriptures applying 'em and exhorting the people from ' em For I would fain know what else he can make of the Apostle Peter's Sermon 2 Acts from the 14th to the 40th 3 Acts from the 12th to the end 4 Acts from the 8th to the 20th Of Stephen's 7 Acts. Of the Apostle Peter's 10 Acts from the 34th to the 44th Of the Apostle Paul's 13 Acts in which single instance the Bp. will find almost all his Notions overthrown together For v. 15. After the reading the Law and Prophets the Rulers of the Synagogue send to Paul and his company this Message Ye men and brethren if ye have any word of Exhortation for the people say on The Apostle addresses himself to comply with their proposal And accordingly his discourse contains an Explication of several passages out of the Old Testament relating to the promised seed of Abraham an application of 'em to our Blessed Saviour and an exhortation to 'em from thence to believe in him and not despise and reject him And this very discourse the Apostle calls declaring glad tidings or preaching for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 32. If the Bp. object this discourse was not in a Christian Auditory 't is easily answer'd What can the difference of the Auditory signify to alter the nature of the discourse As if the very same discourse in a Synagogue shou'd be preaching but quite another thing in a Christian Church 'T is plain here that the Apostle preacht when he interpreted the Scriptures relating to Christ applyed 'em and exhorted the people from 'em so that these are the same thing And if he still pretend that such Exposition and Application had some other name given it when us'd in a Christian Auditory than that of preaching I shall to remove this shadow of a pretence farther add I suppose he will not doubt but the Apostle Paul either found or at least planted a Christian Church at Rome long before his two years expir'd and yet he is all that time said to preach the kingdom of God among ' em So no doubt there was a Christian Churâ—h at Ephesus and yet Timothy residing there is exhorted to preach the word to be instant in season and out of season And in the place I first alledg'd the Apostle Paul was desirous to preach the Gospel to those at Rome whose Faith was already so eminent and so publickly known and celebrated And indeed tho the Gospel be in the strictest sense only news to those that first hear it yet it dos not cease to be good tidings or a joyful message for being often repeated So that since the Bp. has so ill hap in every one of his Criticisms I wou'd advise him to be more sparing and deliberate in offering 'em to publick view for his talent dos not seem to lye much that way IV. The Scriptures have left it to human prudence to determine What portion of 'em shall be read in our publick Assemblys and in what order and method To clear this We must consider there are two ways of Reading the Scriptures in order to the peoples instruction from ' em As either 1. When some considâ—rable portion of 'em is read together As some part of a Book or Epistle a Psalm c. For the division of the Scriptures into chapter and verse are but a matter of late Invention 2. When several passages are read out of several Books of the Old or New Testament which are parallel to each other and serve to explain the same Doctrine or clear and enforce the same duty And tho the phrase of Reading the Scriptures be by common custom appropriated to the former yet if we will speak strictly It dos as truly belong to the latter and 't is of this latter way of Reading the Scriptures for the people's instruction that we have the clearest warrant from the examples of the Apostles and the accounts given us in the New Testament of the practice of the Christian Church Nor do those banish either of these ways of reading either an entire portion or several parallel Texts that interpose an explicatory and applicatory Paraphrase between the several parts that are read Nor dos the Bp that I can find so much as pretend to produce any thing from Scripture against the intermixing such a paraphrase in our reading the Scriptures Now if he consult all the Sermons of the Apostles recorded in the Acts he will find that they did read or what is the same did recite verbatim and propose to the consideration of the people several passages of the word of God all tending to illustrate and prove some truth or duty of the Christian Religion And their practice herein was conformable to that of our Blessed Saviour who employd the first Christian Sabbath I mean the day of his Resurrection not in reading an entire portion of Scripture but in expounding to the two Disciples all those passages in Moses and the Prophets that related to himself and his death resurrection and ascention 24 Luke 24 Luke from the 13th to the 28th Nor do I find in that account given of the Worship of Christian Churches 1 Cor. 14 chap. any mention made of Reading the Scriptures as a distinct thing from Doctrine and Interpretation So that I know of no one precept or example in all the New Testament relating to the Christian Church for this way of reading unless what may be inferr'd from the 4 Col. 16. And when this Epistle is read omong you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea But then we must not urge the Inference from these words too far for I know of none that think themselves oblig'd by it to read a whole Epistle at one time tho no doubt it was fit the Colossians shou'd so read this Epistle then as we shou'd be as forward to read a much longer that came newly to us from the same inspired Pen. And yet because reading an entire portion of Scripture was so constantly practis'd in the Old Testament and the reason of it seems in part to extend to us I do
way concern'd in their errors I know not And I desire his Lp. to consider what else he can make of the following passages P. 137. Speaking of these external postures of Reverence he saith In cases of necessity we think they may lawfully be omitted But you are taught that in no cases they may be lawfully practis'd You are taught rather to stay at home than to conform in their outward gestures or circumstances You are advis'd rather to abstain all your lives from the Lord's-Supper than receive it kneeling Now if you think God hates 'em so much c. and accounts 'em a polluting his Ordinance c. Answ If his Lp. cannot produce so much as one among the Dissenting Ministers that ever taught their people That such postures of bodily Worship may in no cases be lawfully practis'd then I hope he will own himself guilty here of a very immoral practice And if he can produce any such person I dare undertake that he shall be publickly censur'd by his Brethren for teaching so senseless and ridiculous doctrine But to make this a general charge against us is the most inexcusable aspersion that he cou'd possibly cast upon us and such as we must demand from him that he either prove or ingenuously retract I might say the same concerning our people's being taught rather to stay at home than to conform in their outward gestures if he understand this of scriptural gestures us'd in the Establisht Church For what he adds as to kneeling at the Lord's-Supper he cannot be ignorant that some of the most considerable Writers for the NC's Cause in England have defended the lawfulness of it tho his Lp. cannot do it without contradicting himself There are others indeed that do think it unlawful because they think it not only unsutable to the nature and design of the Institution but a needless symbolizing with the Romish Church in a posture abus'd to the most pernicious Idolatry by which they are the more confirm'd in that Idolatry notwithstanding the publick protestation of the Establisht Church against that abuse I shall therefore only add That if any refuse to receive the Sacrament kneeling his Lp. has the least reason to blame 'em who by the Rubric and Canons is oblig'd to give it to none in the Church but such as kneel For sure 't is a lesser fault to be too rigid and scrupulous as to our own practice than to impose it on others too and to deny them the priviledges of Christian Communion for want of conformity to an unscriptural gesture If the former run into an extreme moderate persons may have some right to reprove 'em but those have none who run much farther into the other Again What excuse can the Bp. have for that passage p. 138 139. But in your Meetings there is no obligation on any one to signifie his concurrence with the Congregation in any ordinary act of worship either by word or gesture and therefore this end of publick Assemblys viz. to signifie our sense and belief of the Being c. of God and to stir up the same in others is utterly defeated by you The Directory dos not require or allow the people so much as to signifie their assent by adding their Amen to the Prayers or Thanksgivings there offer'd But on the contrary you ridicule those that practice it pursuant to the directions and examples in Scripture And as to gestures such as kneeling standing or bowing the body you condemn 'em all as Relicts of Idolatry and Superstition There remains therefore in your Assemblys nothing whereby the people may testifie their belief or assent to what they hear which was one design of the Meeting Thus by turning all bodily Worship out of your Assemblys you have made void this great end of 'em and left no visible distinction whereby any one may signifie whether he assents to the Worship offer'd or dissents from it The whole assembly being to one another meer Spectators and Hearers not Joint-Worshipers Answ His Lp. was I suppose weary of retailing his aspersions and therefore here gives 'em to us by whole-sale For 't is not true that there is no obligation on any in our Meetings to signifie his concurrence with the Congregation in any ordinary act of Worship by gesture For the Directory requires that such as come into the Congregation shou'd reverently compose themselves to joyn with the Congregation in that Ordinance that is then in hand Which implys their joyning in such devout gestures as the nature of that particular Ordinance dos require And their constant attendance on the several parts of publick Worship with their reverent behaviour therein is a publick declaration of their joyning in it 'T is again untrue that the Directory dos not allow the people to signifie their assent to the publick Prayers and Thanksgivings by saying Amen For the very Catechism compos'd by 'em in explication of the Conclusion of the Lord's-Prayer implys the contrary that we shou'd in Testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard say Amen I confess I know not what sort of modesty has made it too usual among us not to repeat our Amen so loudly as is generally done in the Parish-Churches And in this particular I am of the same judgment with the Reverend Author of that Sermon in the morning lectures on 1 Cor. 14. v. 16. who advises the pronouncing it more aiudibly Nor do I know of any Dissenters that ridicule any Conformists for doing so But to charge us as he here dos with condemning kneeling standing or bowing down as Relicts of Idolatry and Superstition is so gross a calumny and so unbecoming a man that pretends to sincerity candour that he is oblig'd in common justice to repair the wrong he has here done us For kneeling and standing are postures so universally us'd by the Dâ—ssenters and so frequently recommended and urg'd in their Printed Discourses and Sermons that they cannot without the most stupid self contradiction condemn 'em as Relicts oâ— Idolatry and Superstition Nor did I ever hear of one person that ever scrupl'd the use of ' em Some may indeed have censur'd Kneeling at the Sacrament bowing towards the East or the Altar c. as such Relicts of Idolatry and Superstition but what 's this to the use of those postures in Religious Worship in general of which the Bp. here speaks For those weak people of whom he tells us p. 141. That they object against kneeling and standing in the Congregation that 't is troublesome to 'em They do indeed offer a very lazy excuse and if the Bp. has met with any such he dos well to shame 'em out of it But I can by no means be of the Bp's opinion that any leave them on this score because they find a way of Worship among the Dissenters easier than theirs Nor do I find that a man can sleep more securely and quietly in the Meetings than in the Parish-Churches I am sure I have oftner
and yet I wou'd sooner suffer my Right Hand to be cut off than that any such Expression should drop from my Pen that should thus confine the Church of Christ to the Dissenters and censure others as fallen off from it For I honour the Parish Churches as a very excellent part of the Catholick Church and such as compar'd with the Roman Greek Abissine c. Churches has attained to an excellent degree of Reformation P. 167 168. He suggests to his Clergy That they cannot be supposed to be zealous in their Office out of any private Interest or prospect of particular profit because their Maintenance and Preferments are ascertained by Law and depend not on the voluntary Contribution of the People and he insinuates on the other hand That the Dissenters are more liable to be acted by other Motives since they must attain to Honour or Support by making or gaining a Party Answ If the Dissenting Ministers be acted in their Nonconformity by a Regard to Temporal Interest they deserve to be begg'd for Fools Does he think that upon their Conforming they might not aspire to Ecclesiastical Dignities and Preferments as well as others if their Judgments cou'd comply with all the Declarations and Subscriptions that are requir'd How many cou'd I name him no way inferiour to his Lp. in any Ministerial Abilities who never had so much as 100 l. a year from their People while he enjoys by common Report a Bishoprick worth 2000 Not that they envy him his Wealth but they think it unreasonable he should upbraid them with their Poverty as if it laid 'em under Temptations to counter act their Judgments to serve their Interest when if they cou'd have done so they never needed to expose themselves to those Necessities For it 's plain that quite contrary to what he suggests the Temptation of Interest lies chiefly on the other side What Interest can influence those Dissenting Ministers to make or gain a Party who are sure to be Losers by their adhering to it and have all possible prospect of bettering their Condition by forsaking it And how much greater danger are those in of being influenc'd by it whose excessive Preferments depend on their turning the Church into a Party by keeping up narrow uncharitable terms of Ministerial Communion And why should he think the Inferior Clergy may not be mov'd to be zealous in their Office from a prospect of Interest and Profit Does he think himself and his Brethren Immortal May they never expect a Fall of Church-Preferments Or are those Preferments so corruptly distributed that no diligence of an inferior Clergy-man in his Office will signifie any thing to recommend him to ' em Does Favour or Bribes so entirely prevail as to exclude all consideration of Merit Either he reasons very weakly here or else he insinuates what is very little to the credit of the Church P. 88. He does well to remind 'em that they are Ministers of the Gospel not of a Party Answ But why then does he speak of all that dissent from 'em as fallen from the Church and become Infidels He also in the same page justly speaks of our differences as of little concern comparatively with the common Interest of Holiness and Religion But when he tells us of these differences being insisted on only as the occasions Badges of those People who being resolved to separate themselves are oblig'd to take up little differences for a distinction I would gladly know who are most chargeable with taking up little Differences to make 'em the Distinguishing Badges of a Party They that arbitrarily impose such Unnecessary Terms of Ministerial and Christian Communion as our Common Lord never requir'd and so make their own dividing Hedge and Enclosure in his sacred Vineyard or they that only scruple compliance with these suspected Terms and desire that the Common Rule of Christianity may be the only Rule of Conformity They that on the account of these Differences cry up themselves alone as the Church or they that plead only to be a part of it or at most a more uncorrupted part One wou'd think the former look more like persons resolv'd to separate themselves especially when they contrive such Racks for mens Judgments and Consciences as the Act of Uniformity contains And the latter cannot reasonably be supposed so obstinate unless he imagine 'em fond of Poverty and Misery and in love with Separation for its own sake P. 169. He suggests That while they have been defending their Common Christianity against Papists Deists and Socinians the Dissenters have taken that advantage to undermine 'em with their People nay that some of 'em have even joyn'd with those Enemies to pull down their Constitution Answ I think it is apparent that the Dissenters have rarely wrote in defence of their own Cause without being assaulted first It was he first started the Controversie in this Kingdom by excluding 'em from the Catholick Church It is he has again renew'd it by a fresh Charge of our Worship having little of God's immediate Appointment but abundance of Humane Inventions Now if we be guilty 't is indeed reasonable we should be silent But if innocent does he think our Reputation too inconsiderable to be worthy of a Defence against the most severe and yet the most unrighteous Accusations And if he did formerly with the same Sword attempt to stab his Popish Adversaries and his Dissenting Brethren can he blame them for warding it off themselves especially when at the same time they warded it off from the generality of the Reformed Churches whose Reputation he must have wounded through our sides and directed the point of it more fully against the Papists But I would gladly know who those Dissenters are that join'd with the Papists Deists and Socinians in a Confederacy to pull down their Constitution For I cannot imagine what ground he has for this Charge unless he refers to the attempts made in the late King James's time towards the Repeal of the Penal Laws and Test And if he intend that dos he not know That there were far more of their Clergy even the Dignitaries of their Church that join'd in that design with the Court then of Dissenting Ministers of whom I could never hear of above One or Two concern'd and even they had been both exasperated by the barbarous Execution of those Laws upon themselves And was it more criminal in them to attempt to burn the Rod that had so unmercifully lash't 'em then in those to join in that design who had no other temptation then hope of Court-Favour and Preferment Nay dos he not know that the Body of the Dissenting Ministers and People generously refus'd to concur in that design when earnestly solicited to it meerly because they valu'd the general Interest of the Reformed Religion before any seperate Interest of their own And wou'd not a man of candour and ingenuity have rather commended the carriage of the main body of 'em then reproach't 'em
require 3. That particular Churches their respective Elders and Members ought to have a Reverential regard to their Judgment so given and not dissent therefrom without apparent grounds from the Word of God These are Propositions of the same import with those in the Reflections and they are so far from being inconsistent with any Principle of those call'd Presbyterians that the most eminent of those at London have subscrib'd ' em 'T is true indeed the Presbyterians do assert more then this and the Assembly of Divines in their humble Advice concerning Church Government have some Assertions to which the Congregational Divines do not fully assent But as to these Differences as I have not in the foremention'd Book declar'd my own Judgment so I know no right the Bishop has to declare it for me when he dos not know it I have indeed quoted the Judgment of Archbishop Vsher concerning the Antient Councils which he thought were not for Government but Vnity c. And if he will on this account rank that Venerable Primate among the Congregational Divines they will no doubt think themselves greatly honour'd with his company But for my own Thoughts I shall freely subjoin that I am greatly inclin'd to think That the difference between those that make Synods only Consultative Meetings and those that call 'em Church Judicatories and ascribe a Governing Power to 'em is in a great measure rather verbal then real For those that make 'em Church-Judicatories assign 'em only a Ministerial and Declarative Power and never imagin'd that the People ow'd a blind obedience to their determinations And those that make 'em only Consultative Meetings for preservation of Concord yet assert such a deference due to their Judgment That it shou'd be complied with both by particular Pastors and their Flocks in all things not repugnant to the Word of God Nor do they deny that such Synods may disown such particular Pastors and their Flocks as walk disorderly by rejecting their just and necessary Determinations as no Members of their Association or that they may entirely disclaim Christian Communion with those particular Churches that persist impenitently in maintaining such corruptions in Doctrine and Worship as directly strike at the very Vitals and Essentials of the Christian Religion And I see not what those can justly attribute to such Synods more then this who make 'em Governing Assemblies or Ecclesiastical Judicatories Nor do I know any great difficulty there is in moderate and wise men's joining in all the real use of such Synods in order to the preservation of the Churches peace notwithstanding these different Names or Notions they affix to such Ecclesiastical Assemblies and their Determinations Of which more may occur when I consider what his Lp. objects against the Principles he ascribes to me On the other hand The Bishop has not truly stated the difference between the Presbyterians and Prelatists when he tells us 'T is concerning these particular Districts namely Whether the government over 'em ought to be in a Presbytery with a Bishop as President and Governour by Christ's appointment or in a Colledg of Presbyters absolutely equal Answ Dos not his Lordship know that our Modern Prelates not only pretend to a distinct and superior Office and not meerly a higher degree in the same Office but assume all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to themselves Do they not plainly exclude all Presbyters from any share in it Are not all Church Censures past by the Chancellor solely in the Bishop's name without any concurrence of the Presbyters of the Diocess who have no voice in 'em nor are so much as call'd or requir'd to be present in the Spiritual Court Nay If this be all that our Prelates pretend to viz. To be Presidents in a Diocesan Synod in which the Presbyters of the Diocess share in the Government How came they to reject Archbp. Vsher's model of Episcopacy that allows such a stated Presidency to Bishops when this was offer'd by the Divines call'd Presbyterians at the memorable Savoy Conference as the ground of Accomodation For tho those Divines did not think such a stated Presidency of one Person of immediate Divine Appointment yet they thought it such a prudential human Constitution as they cou'd for peace sake submit to But he knows the Bishops rejected that Offer with scorn nay wou'd not stand to the King's Declaration about Ecclesiastical Affairs that gave 'em much more of power then Archbp. Vshers model So that his Lp. seems not to understand the Principles of his Brethern and I am beginning to hope is of more moderate Sentiments in this point then those Commissioners at that Treaty were It remains only under this Head that I consider what he has to object against those Principles of mine as they are now truly cited from the Reflections For I hope he dos not think me oblig'd to defend Positions that are none of my own Now it is manifest saith he That these Principles of theirs-are much more different from your Principles then ours are And the difference is much greater and more material For it 's possible on your Principles and ours to preserve Vnity and keep up some value for Excommunication since he who is censur'd in one Church cannot be received in another neither with you nor us Whereas in the Congregational way he that is Excommunicated in one Congregation may remove to another or set up one for himself if he pleases At the worst if he shou'd it wou'd be counted but an irregularity These Principles are destructive to the Peace and Unity of the Church as well as to our common Cause Answ For the Congregational Divines I see no difficulty in clearing their Principles from these invidious consequences he draws from 'em for all of 'em assert that he who is justly Excommunicated in one Church ought to be receiv'd by no other whatever But for my own which I am only here concern'd to defend I wou'd desire his Lp. to review his Arguments and tell me where the force of 'em lyes What Vnity of the Church are those Principles lay'd down in the Reflections destructive of Is it destructive to the Churches Unity to assert That the Light of Nature and general Rules of Scripture oblige the Pastors of the Church to associate for it's preservation by their mutual Consultations And that the Judgment of such associated Pastors shou'd be submitted to whenever 't is not repugnant to the Word of God Nor do I disallow but approve of Associations in those lesser or larger Districts and the regular Subordination of the lesser to the greater What then can he find in my Principles destructive of the Churches Unity unless he imagines it to be so That I assert That the People do not owe a blind Obedience to such Synods and that such associated Pastors have their power for Edification and not Destruction And dare he pretend the contrary Dos not the Church of England declare That all Councills may err and will he assign
an absolute Authority in the Church to those that are but fallible Nay is not the pretence of the People's being absolutely oblig'd to receive and submit to the Decisions of General Synods the very foundation of Popery and the chief source of all those monstrous corruptions in Doctrine and Worship which have been establish't in it by the pretended decisive Authority of such Councills Have not all those Councills that have claim'd such unlimited Authority been the fatal Engines of Tearing and corrupting the Christian Church instead of preserving it's Purity or Peace As he may see prov'd with uncontrolable Evidence in Mr. Baxters History of Bp's and their Councills and in the defence of it Again How do these Principles of mine hinder the keeping up a just value for Excommunication or any other censures of the Church For it no way follows from 'em That he who is censur'd in one Church may remove to another or set up one for himself if he pleases For he that is justly censur'd in one Church shou'd not be receiv'd by any other whatsoever And where the Pastors of particular Churches are associated as I suppose they ought to be this is always one necessary Rule for the preservation of Unity 'T is true If the person Excommunicated complain of wrong done him he may refer his Case to the Judgment of the Classical or Provincial Synod for redress of it But if it appear that he is justly Excommunicated For any other Pastor to receive him 't is such an irregular practise as if persisted in may justify his Brethren in excluding him from being a Member of their Association And for a justly Excommunicated Person to set up a Congregation for himself is so hainous an Addition to the crime for which he was Excommunicated that such associated Pastors may justly warn the People against the danger of encouraging him in so impudent an Usurpation of Authority in the Church when he is not fit to be so much as a Member in it Nor wou'd this Usurpation of the sacred Office by such a justly Excommunicated Person be only an irregularity if he means by that a disorder that 's culpable indeed but yet tolerable and inconsiderable For he is incapable of the Sacred Office because destitute of the qualifications necessary thereto 1 Tim. 3. So that upon the whole the Bishop is grosly mistaken in supposing that any Principles of mine are more different from those of the Presbyterians then those of the Prelatists are For I have asserted none but what any Presbyterian will grant tho they may assert more then my Subject then led me to Whereas the Principles of those Prelatists that approve our present Constitution are not only very different from theirs but truly lessen the value of Excommunication and render Church Discipline impracticable For what can more effectually pour Contempt on the Censures of the Church then to have the most solemn of 'em I mean Excommunication decreed by a Lay-Chancellor and what is worse decreed usually upon so frivolous causes in so rash and precipitant a manner and made meerly an engine to squeeze the purses of men rather then reform their manners And what can more effectually render true Church Discipline impracticable then for one man to engross the whole exercise of it in a large Diocess containing many score or hundred Churches whereas every Pastor finds it a work hard enough to perform it aright in his single Congregation and to exclude those particular Pastors entirely from it to whose office it dos belong and without whose concurrence it can never be rightly administred I shall only add That what any Conforming Divines have wrote in answer to any Principles of mine I know not And for such Books as Mr. Baxter has wrote in defence of the Non Conformist's Cause such as his Non-Conformity stated and argued and his Treatise of Episcopacy If he think 'em carefully answer'd I wish he would direct us to the Answerers For I know of no such Answerers unless he take railing or nibling at Books to be answering ' em But if he refers to the Debates between Mr. Baxter and Dr. Stillingfleet and to the vindication of the latter against M. Humfrey's and Mr. Baxter he may easily see how little that vindication signifies in the first part of Mr. Baxter's Catholique Communion which is a survey of the Vindication And by the way that judicious Divine was so far from entertaining Principles so destructive to those of the Northern Presbyterians as the Bishop here groundlessly imagines that he commends those in Scotland for their National Church-confederacy and the happy concord produc't by it Nation Churches p. 5. 6. For his last Request to the Presbyterian Ministers of his Diocess That they wou'd concur with him in beating down such Vices and Immoralities as are opposite to our common Christianity such as Adultery Fornication Blasphemy Profanatian of the Lord's day c. I doubt not he 'll find their most ready complyance and have both their hearts and hands to concur with him in so necessary a work And I may I think venture to assure him they will receive no Persons Excommunicated for such Vices into their Congregations nor give 'em the least countenance But I hope his Lordship will not reckon those guilty of Fornication who are Married by Non-Conformist-Ministers upon due publication of the Banes of Matrimony nor expect that they shou'd reject their own Members when the Spiritul Courts for want of other prey on that score draw 'em into their Churches and bring 'em under their Lash Nay as they have very little hope of any great Reformation of manners from either the Persons that compose those Courts or their manner of proceeding in 'em both which they think greatly need to be reform'd so I hope his Lordship dos not expect that they shou'd turn Informers to bring Grist to their Mill. And if complying thus far with his Lordship 's foremention'd requests will contribute so much to his living more easily with the Dissenters and to the taking off that uncharitableness which the differences that remain are apt to cause I hope those of his Diocess will herein give him all the reasonable Satisfaction he can desire And then I hope his Lordship will not continue the feud on his part by putting such uncharitable Sour Covenants into his new Leases as plainly imply his Intentions and endeavours to expel them and suppress their meetings wherever his power and Interest can reach For otherwise he will give 'em too great occasion to apply to these obliging expressions when compar'd with his Actions that unhappy Remark The voyce is the voyce of Jacob but the hands those rough and hairy ones are the hands of Esau III. For his Lordship's Advice to the Conforming Laity of Derry I Shall take no farther notice of it then to express my great satisfaction 1. In his recommending to 'em the Worship of God in their Familys The general neglect of this has been one