those that are acquainted with St. Hierome's Writings well know that this Passage was intended to beat down the Usurpation of the Deacons at Rome who then began to out-top the Presbyters on this Account he was tempted to magnifie and extoll the Place and Dignity of Presbyters in the Church And though he said that Bishops and Presbyters are all one He yet in other places excepts the Office of Ordination and Government And does at other times plainly and frequently assert the Authority of Bishops over Presbyters and did himself constantly live in Communion with and Subjection to Bishops John Calvin could not advance himself at Geneva without the Bishop's Fall and yet had all things belonging to a Bishop but the Name As Old Noll had in the Monarchy but the bare Title of King The Geneva or Presbyterian Discipline was begotten in Rebellion born in Sedition and nurs'd up by Faction Aerius was one of the worst Friends you cou'd have produc'd he was vex'd to see himself slighted and not preferr'd to a Bishoprick as his Companion Eustathius was And this made the haughty Man start aside and talk extravagantly against Bishops â—â—at the Church branded and excommunicated him for an Heretick and Epiphanius represents him little better than a Mad-man distemper'd by Pride Emulation Envy Covetousness Ambition These were the Causes of his opposing Episcopal Government If you consult Blondell Salmatius and Daillé whose great Parts Learning and indefatigable Industry cou'd if any thing have made out the contrary you 'll see they have been forc'd to grant That Episcopacy obtain'd in the Church within a few Years after the Apostolick But our Church can safely carry it higher even to the Apostles themselves so much you urg'd me to speak concerning the Antiquity and Dignity of Bishops in the Church Dissent We all acknowledge we have had Freedom enough to speak for our selves we have but one thing more to plead and then we shall submit to your Lordship's Determination Our Separation from the Church must be allow'd because there are in it many wicked People scandalous ill Livers who for want of due Exercise of Discipline or by the Inadvertence or Connivence of its Governours do remain in it and so give us just occasion of Offence and Separation There are two Texts of Scripture for us in this Case 2 Cor. 6. 17. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing so Rev. 18. 4. Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues Judge This I take to be none of the least Absurdities the Dissenters are guilty of Are there no such Mixtures no Offenders no ill Livers amongst you Are they all holy harmless and pure that come to your Congregations If not you have the same Reasons to separate to come out from among them as to withdraw from the Church for fear of Pollution and by the same Argument you must never join in any Communion while the World endures The want of Discipline we may thank you for You You Dissenters are the Cause that so many Immoralities are now tolerated That Excommunication and other necessary Censures of the Church which formerly kept People in good Order and preserv'd the Honor and Reputation of Religion are by your Encouragement of Disobedience both omitted and mock'd at And were you truly Men of tender Consciences this one Consideration would make your Hearts ake Look into the State of the Church under the Jewish Administration and you 'll find that the Sins of neither Priest nor People owning the True God became at any time the occasion of Separation to them What Sins could be greater than those of Eli's Sons And yet did not the People of God Elkanah and Hannah by Name refrain to join with them in the Publick Worship 1 Sam. 2. 17 24. In Ahab's time when all Israel halted betwixt God and Belial yet then did the Prophet Elijah summon all Israel to appear on Mount Carmel and held a Religious Communion with them in Preaching and Praying and Offering a Miraculous Sacrifice 1 King 18. All along when both Prince Priests and People were very much deprav'd and debauch'd in their Manners we don't find that the Prophets at any time exhorted the Faithful and Sincere to separate from the rest or that they themselves set up any separate Meetings but continu'd in Communion with the Church preaching to them and advising them to Repentance Look into the New Testament you 'll see in the Apostolick Churches of Corinth Galatia and the seven Churches of Asia many of the Members were grown very Bad and Scandalous yet we don't read the Example of any Good Man separating from the Church or any one Precept rightly understood from the Apostles so to do They don't tell them that the whole Body was polluted by those filthy Members and that if they would be safe themselves they must withdraw from their Communion but exhort 'em to use all Means to reclaim them And if neither private nor publick Admonitions and Reproofs wou'd do then to suspend them from the Communion of the Church till by Repentance and Amendment they render'd themselves capable of being restor'd to Peace and Pardon Our Blessed Saviour knew the Jewish Church to be a corrupt Church Priests and People lewd and vicious yet kept in Communion with it and commanded his Disciples so to do We read that the Scribes and Pharisees who rul'd the Ecclesiastical Chair at that time had perverted the Law corrupted the Worship of God were blind Guides devoured Widows houses were Hypocrites and such as only had a Form of Godliness yet did not our Saviour separate from their Communion but was made under the Law freely submitted himself to all the Rites and Ceremonies of it He was circumcis'd on the Eighth Day redeem'd by a certain Price being a Son and a First-born observ'd the Passover and other Feasts enjoin'd by their Law Yea and that of the Dedication too which was but of Human Institution was baptiz'd amongst them preach'd in their Temples and Synagogues reason'd with 'em about Religion exhorted his Disciples to hear their Doctrine though not to follow their Practices Now what greater Cause on the Account of Corruption and Manners could be given to separate from a Church than was there Yet how carefull was our Saviour both by his Example and Precept to forbid and discountenance it Consider the Representations of a Church given in Scripture and elsewhere to shew that it is a Mixture of Good and Bad 'T is call'd a Field in which Wheat and Tares grew up together a Net wherein are Fishes of all sorts a Barn wherein there is Corn and Chaff a Vine that has fruitful and barren Branches an House in which are Vessels of Gold and Silver and of lesser Value a Marriage-Feast at which were wise and foolish Virgins c. St. Hierome compares the Church to Noah's
Repentance Yet you know Gentlemen That the Son is not to bear the Iniquity of the Father to be punish'd for it if he does no way partake in the Fathers Sins 'T is very rare I confess but not impossible for such a Son to turn Honest in making full Restitution to every injur'd Man though he leaves himself as naked Aesop's Crow And if Miracles are not ceas'd this may be Mr. Mouth 's Case and when 't is so the Church has no farther Cause to grate upon him for his unfortunate Descent but be over-joy'd at the true Conversion of so great a Sinner The Book finds mighty fault with the present Choice of rude and illiterate Commissioners few real Gentlemen being employ'd in that Province And what of all this Tho' 't is true an honourable Cobler should not go beyond his Last nor by ill Management make the publick Taxes over-grievous to the People yet there wants not a Salvo or two for this sore Inadvertence It serves if for nothing else to take off the Odium and Blame from the Gentry and does good that way It gives us a bitter Taste of Popular Government creates a nobler Esteem for the Gentlemen of the County than if we had never known the difference betwixt Rudeness and Civility by the Carriage of these Men. Is 't not a great Incivility to force a Knight and Baronet to confess he 's no true Friend to a Corporation where he expects Favour That he never did or can do good there What Boldness is this Gentlemen of the Jury to assert a thing so apparently absurd Pray who was it that remov'd the Soldiers Who that procur'd the Assizes Ask the General consult the Judge they 'll tell you perhaps they heard nothing of our Knight in all this But may we not believe Sir Anthony's Letter before their Sayings Litera scripta manet when Words vanish into Air and are forgotten I desire our Trusty Secretary A. B. to produce that Letter in Court shew publickly that 't was no Sham And then The Book prates about one John Ponteus There 's no such Man now living and 't is a great Rudeness if not Inhumanity to disturb a dead Man's Ashes Was he here you 'd see how much he resents this Indignity to have an ingenious Man's Name fix'd on an illiterate Broker This Man snuffs at the sign of the Devil 's cloven Foot very unwilling to own that this Emblem of Mischief is made out by his endeavour to rend and divide the Church He denies his having the Pictures of a Woman and Child in the Book mention'd and thinks it time to forget the old Story of the poor Widow and Orphan so much talk'd of to his disgrace He gain'd nothing by that Bargain his offering Twenty Pounds for their Goods above his own Appraisement when he was entrusted in that Affair as the most Righteous Man that cou'd be found among the Saints should be look'd on only as his Charity to the Widow and Orphan and not to conclude from that Offer that he had left room in the Valuation to be a Knave to them Another of the Book 's Errata's is the bringing a sweet innocent Babe upon the Stage of Contempt to expose him so soon as born Poor Creature uncapable of making the least defence for himself 't was unfairly done no Man knows what Barr or Obstruction this may prove to his ensuing Fortune Friend Henry was too plain beyond Good Manners in telling the Saints what the Companion of Vice is little thinking how near it borders upon Impudence for him to undertake the Regulation of Elections or what Mischief he has done by declaring for the Church All this struck such a Damp among the Dissenters that they seem'd for a while to be void of sense It brought so great a Disorder into the peevish Constitution of our principal Patron our modern Thomas Aquinas that in meer Spleen and Discontent he scarce staid to bid adieu to the Saints Ah! had we lost twenty Sir Anthonies and twice that number of hopeful ' Squires if such and so many might be found and kept this Champion of our Cause alive our Sorrows wou'd be dry not half so insupportable as this Loss to the whole Party Old Father Elymas with his empty Porringer looks wondrous sour and uneasie thinks it very hard measure to be damn'd for Feeling He might well hope to be exempted out of the Catalogue of Offenders since so many of his own Saints are guilty of greater Crimes Besides he stifly pleads Predestination for all things and excuses himself and others in this Argumentative Way If Men lie under an inevitable Fate of sinning 't is very unreasonable to condemn them for those Faults not in their own Power to avoid This Book would ridicule Mr. Mouth for his want of Learning He scorns your Bono Fido's or Stattu-Co's these were merely put upon him Pray Gentlemen hear him speak for himself and Friends MOUTHEI ORATIO SI vitae vilitati ut Sanctorum non minimus ausus sim patrocinari Estote Judices plurimùm Amoris nostri infelicis delictum tueri possim Quidni enim id liceat quod Majoribus probatum sancitum Legibus Apud Lydios in morem Filias meretricari nactas eo quaestu dotem adferre sponsis Prostituebantur olim in Templis Virgines si Fides Authoribus victima crat quaeque polluebatur Nonnè scortis quondam Romae Vicus iis Impunitas quamdiu Suburrâ Filias Sodomitis Loth ut Hospitibus parcerent obtulit caedem cogitavit posse stupro redimi An peccavit tradendo aut scelere immunis si Bonum Amor Quorsùm in omnes non diffunderetur Id Leges sinunt quibus corporum usus permittitur nihil Natura fecit quod commune non est Non me tamen latet quid Ecclesiae Reverendi moribus austeri apud suos ob dignitatem in Honore de his statuunt In nos quasi codices sacri pugnarent quod Religioni Communitati sit noxium à nobis tueretur Tali autem Virorum Genere quis pellicatu Lege aut Scientiâ Inclytus tangi volet Trahunt coercent Fata Obest consilio Juvenum Ardor quibus pro ratione Impetus pro virtute Temeritas est Dixi. If Mr. Mouth was no part of a Scholar at the Penning of that Book I 'll promise you he 's wonderfully improv'd in a little time He has said more than could well be expected from him to make it out That a Community of Women is no Sin He likes any thing that 's common but Common Prayers and if that Part of the Book is not sufficiently answer'd I 'm much mistaken so far I believe we have out-done the Church The Church-Party are not generally those very Wise Men as they are represented They daily enrich their Enemies and give little or no Encouragement to their true Friends don't shew any great Love or Regard for their Religion are not
succeed Teach Men the Art of groping Hens And Grope for Grope makes them amends Wou'd every Man his Butt'ry shut Then neither Mealman's Dog nor yet A sharper Curr cou'd steal a bit Cheer up my Friends Flesh has its failing What if in Burrough 't is prevailing The matters not worth our bewailing For I have made it very plain Our Neighb'ring Saints are much more vain If this piece of Poetry works kindly for the Dissenters we 'll set a pleasant new Tune to 't it may be more grateful to some of our Saints than any Hymn or Psalm of David metred and set by the greatest Art of honest Hopkins and Sternhold in the Beginning of the Reformation Now we have sweetned the Court and put all into some good Harmony before the Jury goes out to agree upon their Verdict 't is proper to hear some able Counsel on both Sides relating to this Cause Between the DISSENTERS and the CHURCH Judge If you say no better for the Saints than has been hitherto offer'd in their Defence against the Book I give my Opinion That after all their Articles about the Errours and Insufficiencies of it the sober Party are Ten or Fourteen times worse than they seem'd before this Trial. But let the Jury do as they see fit I am not to prejudicate I am bound to let you know what I apprehend to be good Sense and Law to instruct not to govern you Pray attend to the Counsel for First the Dissenters Secondly the Church We 'll hear them with Patience Dissent Advoc. My Lord and Jury I 'm retain'd in the GOOD OLD CAUSE I 'm for Conventiclers against Church-Men I must tell the Court That the Cause before you at this time is very weighty the Peace of our Town the Wellfare of our Country depends upon it The first Argument I shall offer for the Saints is their Infallibility Every Dissenter from the Church carries an undoubted Pope in his own Breast so that 't is strange nay almost impossible for him to be mistaken in my Opinion Though all other Men find the woful Infirmities of Humane Nature the Weakness and Short-sightedness of their Understandings and the daily Experience how prone they are to Errours and Misapprehensions yet the Saints are alway sure positive and peremptory that they are in the Right and all others in the Wrong that differ from them The early Prepossessions of their Opinions the powerful Prejudices of Education an implicit and unexamin'd Belief of what their Guides and Leaders teach 'em have such mighty irresistable Force upon their minds That they no more doubt the Truth and Goodness of any Cause they 're engaged in than they question the Certainty of the Scriptures or the plainest Demonstrations in the Mathematicks Can it be suppos'd that Men who pass for Saints can have any Pride Partiality or Self-Conceit to put them out of the Right Way or that they can possibly think more highly of themselves and their Way than in Duty they ought to think If not The Conventicle is better than the Church Church Advoc. My Lord and the Court I am for the honest Church-Men was in hopes That the Dissenters had been sick of their Old Cause I know some of the Wisest of them wish they had never been at Controversie with the Church they have had such ill luck as to be worsted in all their Arguments In answer to this of Infallibility The Church-Men truly say That as there 's but one Independent so but One Infallible Being which is GOD. We derive all our Gifts from that Fountain and no Man can be sure of any Point of Faith but as he 's directed by the known Dictates of that Infallible Wisdom That the Dissenters are not void of Mistakes seeing they do apparently contradict and oppose each other and frequently themselves too in Matters of Religion That the things wherein we differ are confessedly disputable and therefore not certain and every Dissenter agrees to this That the Church is the Best Religion and Government next to that of his own particular Fancy and Opinion and by consequence must be really best as being held so in the most general Esteem and Approbation of Religious Men. The Presbyterian would rather turn Church-Man than be an Anabaptist The Independent would do so than be a Quaker The Quaker was he to change would chuse the Church sooner than any other Pesuasion in England so that the Church being voted for on all hands to have the second Place to be approv'd before and above all other but that which the particular Dissenter pretends to it may well be concluded by Majority of Voices to be the BEST to be preferr'd to any single Opinion whatsoever which has no other Foundation to support it but it self And this particular Opinion upon due Enquiry may proceed from nothing but Humour or Interest the Conduct of a mis-inform'd Judgment Passion Self-Love Fancy or Mistake more than the Real Concerns of Truth and Piety Both which are constantly defended by This Church A Church founded on the firmest Rock against which the Storms and Tempests the Policy and Force of Hell have not yet totally prevail'd nor ever will unless by our Divisions and Contempt we provoke the Vengeance of Heaven to remove her from us Dissent Advoc. Yet Brother we have terribly shak'd your Church and it seems but in a tottering Condition at this time Though Hell can never prevail so far but that there shall be a Church to the end of the World yet this is not meant of a National but the Universal Church of Christ Ch. Advoc. I grant that many National Churches where Christian Religion had a long time slourish'd have been deliver'd up into the Hands of Turks and Infidels we have then the greater reason to look about us And if there should be no Remedy but that our Church must fall shall English-Men throw it down Will it be any Credit to Dissenters to overturn the Church or to grow unreasonably fond of those methods to strengthen the Protestant Interest which the Malice and Subtilty of the Devil and his Instruments have contriv'd to destroy it Diss Advoc. That in all their Divisions the Dissenters will tell ye they have no ill Designs upon the Church only are for the Advancement of the Reform'd Religion into a greater Perfection than the Church of England is yet arriv'd at in these four Points Doctrine Worship Discipline and Life Ch. Advoc. I wish you had no worse Ends than these in your Separation and that upon fair Trial it may appear that these Ends are possible to be obtain'd by this Means the People are put in Expectation of a Blessed Change a fine New Church-Government a Presbytery for an Hierarchy and perhaps not long after a Government of State instead of a King Diss Advoc. Let me proceed distinctly I hope I may be able to satisfie the Court. First For Doctrine we are for proposing higher Notions than that Church ever taught To feed the