indulgent to Presbytery withstood the re-ordaining of those Scottish Presbyters elect Bishops upon this reason That they might not seem to question the Ministry of the Reformed Churches For which cause who can forbear to censure the palpable absurdity of some latter Prelatists that unchurch all the forreign Reformed Churches and nullifie their Ministery and Ordinances They have taken up a most destructive killing opinion which 〈◊〉 the unspeakable advantage of the Romish Church lets out the Vitals of the Protestant Cause and Religion And shall any that are hearty Protestants be fond of such Opinionists Moreover it is no less evident that the Prelacy as it stood in England is without the warrant of Divine right and that not only in regard of Lordly titles and exercise of temporal Dominion but also in regard of sole Jurisdiction and deputation of power Is there any text in the Scripture where the name and work of a Bishop is appropriated to a superior Order or degree in the Ministery Do not all the texts of Scripture that mention the name and work of a Bishop attribute both to all ordained Ministers Can there be a clearer evidence that a Bishop and Presbyter is the same spirituall Officer Besides to maintain the Divine right of Prelacy it sufficeth not to shew from Scripture any kinde of difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter unless it can be likewise proved that the Bishop is the alone subject or receptacle of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that he alone hath rule and government over all the Presbyters within his limits yea and over all the Churches leaving no power to the Presbyters but to execute his Injunctions But there is nothing more express then that the Holy Ghost hath made all Presbyters to be Bishops or Overseers and hath commanded them to rule the Church and to exercise Episcopacy or to take the oversight thereof And that this is the sence of the Church of England is manifest by appointing the exhortation of Saint Paul to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus and the character and qualification of Bishops written by the same Apostle unto Timothy to be read unto Presbyters at the time of their Ordination Hereupon a late famous Defender of Prelacy was driven to leave the beaten path of Episcopal Divines and to take a new way but to the ruine of the Cause maintained by him He saith That although the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elders hath been extended to a second Order in the Church and is now in use onely for them under the name of Presbyters yet in the Scripture times it belonged principally if not only to Bishops there being no evidence that any of that second Order were then instituted though soon after before the Writings of Ignatius such were instituted in all Churches Here it is fully granted that the Scripture Presbyters were Bishops and that the second Order of meer Presbyters which were no Bishops was not then instituted whereupon it follows that a meer Presbyter who is no Bishop is not of divine institution but a meer humane Creature if the holy Scriptures be the perfect Rule of all Divine Institutions Neither is the abatement of Prelacy unto moderate Episcopacy or Presidency any departure from the practice of the ancient Church but a true reviving of the same which was an election made by the Presbyters of one of their own number to preside amongst them and that upon no pretence of Divine Right but for remedy of Schism as Jerome witnesseth And with this Bishop or President the whole Presbytery joyned in the common Government of the Church Bishop Usher plainly shews how easily the ancient form of Government may be revived again and with what little shew of alteration namely by erecting a Suffragan Bishop in every rural Deanery into which every Diocess is subdivided who may every moneth assemble a Synod of all the incumbent Pastors within the Precinct and according to the major part of voices conclude all matters that should be brought into debate before them yet with a liberty to appeal if need require to the Diocesan Provincial National Synods That the number of Bishops should be very much augmented doth evidently appear to all that know and consider the weight of Episcopal Superintendency and the learned Bishop now mentioned gives a hint that their number might be very well conformed to the number of rural Deaneries Surely so many hundred populous Parishes now under the Government of one Bishop might be well divided into many Diocesses ample enough And such a course would make not only for the edifying of the Church by the more effectual inspection of many Bishops for one but also for the advancement of Learning by the multiplication of preferments Wherefore nothing of the Churches being or well-being nothing of Divine Institution or primitive practise doth withstand the reduction of Prelacy to moderate Episcopacy or the ancient Synodical government to which the Presbyterians may conform without repugnancy to their principles Section XXIV The point of Ceremonies comes next under debate And for as much as it concerns Divine Worship it is of high importance and a tender point of Conscience And herein we affirm that the Presbyterian concessions are no way defective but sufficient and ample unto all regular devotion in divine Service All natural expressions of devotion or natural external worship they readily acknowledge as kneeling and lifting up of the hands and eyes in prayer and such like which are called natural because nature it self teacheth all Nations to use them without any divine or humane Institution and a rational man by the meer light of nature is directed to them yet not without some government of counsel and discretion For in these things nature is in part determined and limited by the custome of several Ages and Countries and by the difference of several Cases In the act of adoration the prostration of the body is used according to nature in some ages places and occasions and not in others In ancient times the wearing of fackcloth and ashes and renting of clothes were fit expressions of humiliation and that according to nature yet the same suits not with our times For herein nature is subject unto some variety and now adays the wearing of the meanest apparel were sutable in a day of Humiliation because it is now a convenient natural expression of self-abasement and a kind of abstinence Likewise kneeling is a natural prayer-posture but where it cannot be used conveniently standing is naturally agreeable nevertheless neither the one nor the other is necessary where infirmity or other necessity makes it inconvenient Moreover they do not scruple the meer circumstances of order as time place and method without which humane actions cannot be performed They allow and commend all matters of decency as decent Churches or meeting places and furniture as a Pulpit Cloth Communion Cup and a grave habit for a Minister and in holy duties a grave posture of body composed countenance and
to be against the Rules of Government to hold under a rigid yoke a free people of such a number and quality and intermingled in all estates and rauks and intimately conjoyned with all parts of the body Politique that it is almost impossible to exclude their Interest from a considerable share in publique actions Besides is it for the service of Christ and the encrease of his Kingdom the Church that so many able Divines should be debarred the use of their Lords Talents that so many laborious Ministers should sit still in silence that when Christ teacheth us to pray that the Lord would thrust forth Labourers into his Harvest those Labourers should be thrust out of his harvest Surely this would make a cry in the ears of the Lord of the Harvest Let me add this 'T is a hard matter to silence them that will preach virtually in pious Conferences whose occasional and Table Discourses will be a kind of Sermon Let me offer a third way Will they afford them liberty of Conscience and yet stave them off as a divided Party to stand alone in their Principles and Interest Verily I cannot think it is in their heart so to do What then remains but to prepare the way and to make the path straight for a solid and perfect closure by laying aside those unnecessary occasions of stumbling Section XVII If the neglect of brotherly Pacification hold on and the Hierarchy resolve upon their own advancement to the highest pitch one may well conclude That they make a full reckoning to wear out the Presbyterians and to swallow up their Interest conceiving they are able to effect it by degrees and that greater changes then these have been wrought without much ado And we confess indeed that a great change in Religion was made by Qu. ELIZABETH without much dispute or difficulty The alteration was not sudden but gradual Camden writes That in the entrance of the Queens Reign for a whole moneth and more the Roman Religion stood as it did at the death of Queen MARY On the 27. of December the Epistles and Gospels the Lords Prayer Creed and Ten Commandements together with the Letany were read in the English Tongue On the 22. of March the intire use of the Sacrament in both kinds was restored by Parliament On the 24. of June the Sacrifice of the Mass was abolished and the whole Liturgy restored into English In July the Oath of Supremacy was given to the Bishops And in August Images were taken out of the Churches and broken or burnt Why may not the Hierarchical Interest swallow up the Presbyterian as easily as Protestantism prevailed over Popery Surely I take these several cases to be very different And first because Queen ELIZABETH had this fundameutal maxime as agreeable to her Conscience and the Interest of Her State to banish hence the exercise of the Roman Religion But our Gracious King in His Christian Prudence and Compassion seeks the uniting of His Protestant Subjects and the healing of their breaches by His Wife and Gracious condescentions already Declared Besides in the beginning of the Queens Raign the inferiour Clergy of this Kingdom universally appeared to be but lukewarm Papists and many of them might be supposed to be Protestants in hearts and the most of them very unlearned and indifferent men in Religion And a great part of the Hierarchy were not more zealous than the rest For when at that time the Ecclesiastical Promotions in England were numbered above nine thousand four hundred in all there were not more then fourscore Rectors of Churches fifty Prebendaries fifteen Heads of Colledges twelve Arch-Deacons twelve Deans six Abbots and Abbesses and fourteen Bishops that refused the Oath of Supremacy Also the English Service was so prepared that it might be no abomination to the Papists no positive thing therein occurring repugnant to their Doctrine for which cause they frequented the same for the first ten years and the Pope did not in many years send forth his thunder lightning against the Queen And Popery being in substance a Religion contrary to what was publickly professed had no advantage for encrease by publick Preaching or Books publickly allowed All these accidents did help forward to an absolute settlement of the Protestant Religion But we may find the state of things far otherwise in point of disposition or inclination toward the Dominion of absolute Prelacy and the rigorous imposition of Ceremonies and the extirpation of the dissenting Party For there are now in England thousands of Ministers dis-satisfied in the Hierarchy and Ceremonies who are all competently and many of them eminently learned They are not generally of light spirits but steddy and well resolved and tenderly affected touching their spiritual liberties The way which in scorn is called Puritanism is not another Religion in substance than Protestantism but the very same or one branch thereof distinguished from the other by an accidental difference Protestant and Puritane Doctrine and Worship all men may know to be the same for substance and Puritanism will grow up with Protestantism notwithstanding all opposition as I have manifested in the former discourse Commonly those people who try all Doctrines by Scripture and are swayed more by its Authority than by the Ordinances and Customs of men do much hesitate and stagger concerning the sole Jurisdiction of Bishops the pomp of the Hierarchy and sacred mystical Ceremonies of Humane Institution And therefore let the Episcopal Party never look to be rid of these difficulties till they remove the matters in Question whereat a knowing people are always ready to stumble Neither in these times are the Presbyterians so hateful a generation as some would have them they are odious to none but those to whom they were ever odious or else to such Ignorants as follow the Cry and speak evil of they know not what They have had no considerable loss of their number by revolt and whatever comes to pass they think never the worse of their main Cause which I have expressed in the Character given of them And if some or many of them have a liberry in their own judgements touching conformity yet that conformity will not strengthen the designs of those Prelatists that are most rigid in such impositions and seek to tread down the Presbyterians It was a notable question which a Carthaginian Senator put to Hanibal's Agents after the great overthrow given to the Romans at Canna When they had magnified Hanibal's great Atchievements Hanno asked them Whether any of the Romans had come to demand Peace and whether any Town of the Latines or any of their Colonies had yet rebelled against the Romans The Agents denying the one and the other Hanno replied Then is the War as intire yet as at the first I apply this to shew how easily men mistake the progress of their own affairs and think themselves to be ready for a triumph when indeed they have gotten little and the state of the controversie is still
beholds his undoubted Interest set forth to his hand and made plain before him which is no other then a well tempered and composed state of Affairs both Religious and Civil in all his Dominions by the abolishing of former differences and the reconciling of all reconcileable Parties and especially of those grand Parties which if made one do upon the matter carry the whole Nation And this His Majesties Wisdom hath already observed in that excellent Proclamation against vitious debauched and profane persons in these words That the Reconciliation and Union of hearts and affections can only with Gods blessing make us rejoyce in each other and keep our Enemies from rejoycing And this is the earnest expectation and hope of the Religious and well affected to publick Tranquility That the King our Supream Head and Governour whose gracious Disposition doth not suffer him to cleave to any divided part of his Subjects and to reject others that are alike Loyal will as a Common Father protect and cherish all those that are found capable and worthy and become our great Moderator by his Authority and Wisdom to lessen differencies and allay Animosities between dissenting brethren which already agree in the main Points of Religion What was it that brought home His Majesty with such impetuous affection impatience of delay even in those as well as others who must needs know that an abatement of their particular interest would follow What was it I say but a clear knowledge and foresight that all would run to rack and ruin unless the Publike State did settle speedily upon a national bottom which could not be any other then the ancient Royal Family Wherefore let our hearts reioyce that our Dread Soveraign proceeds to build his Designs not upon the interest of any one Party though numerous and powerfull but upon the common Tranquility and Security of the Nation So by the blessing of God he will continue a happy and mighty King over a happy and contented people who will esteem him their Wealth and Strength and Stability because they know that none but He under God can make them happy and that they can Center and Bottom on none but Him Section IV. Among the various dis-agreeing Parties within this Kingdom which seem to render it an indigested Masse of people two main ones appear above the rest of so large an interest that if by any means they might become no more twain but one they would take in and carry along the whole stream strength of the Nation And these two are the Episcopal and Presbyterian Parties each of them highly laying claim to the Protestant Religion And undoubtedly whilest these two remain divided the Kingdom of England and the Protestant Religion is divided against it self This dis-union is removed either by the Abolition of one Party or by the Coalition of both into one The former if supposed possible cannot be accomplished but by violent and perillous ways and means The latter is brought to pass by Accommodation or mutual yielding Moreover there is a third way imaginable Toleration indulged to the weaker side In which of these waies lies the true Interest of the King and Kingdom is the great Case of the time and the Subject of this Discourse which presumes not to informe his Majesty but in subordination unto his declared moderation and condescention endeavours by shewing things as they are to convince and perswade Interessed persons that the Pacification begun for this Interim may be intire and perfect and fully setled for perpetual unity The whole matter rests upon three main Enquiries I Qu. Whether in Justice or reason of State the Presbyterian Party should be Rejected and Depressed or Protected and Incouraged II Qu. Whether the Presbyterian Party may be Protected and Incouraged and the Episcopal not Deserted nor Dis-obliged III Q. Whether the Upholding of both Parties by a just and equal accommodation be not in it self more desirable and more agreeable to the State of England than the absolute Exalting of the one Party and the total Subversion of the other And here let none prejudge the matter by reason of the name Presbyterian which with some is rendred odious but let the Character hereafter given be heedfully observed Let none take offence at the name of Prelate or Prelatist which is not used for envy but for distinctions sake Moreover the reasons why the first Inquiry is propounded on the Presbyterians behalf are because Episcopacy now stands on the rising ground and seems to have no need of an Advocate Also the Presbyterians aim not at an ample splendid and potent State but at Liberty and Security in their lower Orbe and chiefly because they are by some mis-represented and by many mis-apprehended and pre-condemned as inconsistent with publick tranquility in Church or State Section V. As concerning their true Character the Notation of the name whereby they are called is both too shallow and too narrow for it The word Presbyterian hath not sufficient depth to go to the root of the matter nor breadth sufficient to comprehend this sort of men That Form of Ecclesiastical Government by Parochial and Classical Presbyteries Provincial and National Assemblies is remote enough from their main Cause and those firm bonds that make them eternally one in respect whereof many that approve a regulated Episcopacy will be found of their number For there is a vast difference between the ancient Episcopacy and the height of Prelacy or Hierarchy of the latter times This later only is the true opposite of Presbytery And so they may not abhor to be named in several respects both Presbyterian and Episcopal yet not Prelatical Some of them commend and I think most of them here in England allow in order to peace Episcopum Praesilem non Principem Wherefore as concerning their main and rooted principles they admire and magnifie the holy Scriptures and take them for the absolute perfect Rule of Faith and Life without the supplement of Ecclesiastical Tradition yet they deny not due respect and reverence to venerable Antiquity They assert the study and knowledge of the Scriptures to be the duty and priviledge of all Christians that according to their several capacities being skilfull in the word of Righteousness they may discern between good and evill and being filled with all goodness may be able to exhort and admonish one another Yet they acknowledge the necessity of a standing Gospel Ministery and receive the directive authority of the Church not with implicite Faith but the Judgement of discretion They hold the teaching of the Spirit necessary to the saving knowledge of Christ Yet they do not hold that the Spirit bringeth new Revelations but that he opens the eyes of the Understanding to discern what is of old revealed in the written Word They exalt divine Ordinances but debase humane Inventions in Gods Worship particularly Ceremonies properly Religious and of Instituted Mystical signification Yet they allow the natural expressions of Reverence and Devotion as
offensive and groaning more and more under that yoke of bondage as they coneeived they waited for deliverance and were in the main of one soul and spirit with the Non-Conformists And even then the way called Puritanism did not give but get ground But now the Tenents of this way are rooted more then ever and those things formerly imposed are now by many if not by the most of this way accounted not only burthensom but unlawfull And after a long time of search and practice the mindes of men are fixed in this opinion and are not like to be reduced to the practice of former times and therefore in al reason the imposing of such matters of controversie as by so many are held unlawfull and by those that have a zeal for them judged indifferent not necessary cannot procure the peace of Church and Kingdom Section IX That this numerous party will not vary from its self or vanish upon changes in Government or new Accidents doth hence appear in that it doth not rest upon any private temporary variable occasion but upon a cause perpetual and everlasting Those forementioned Principles of science and practice which give it its proper Being are of that firm and fixed nature that new contingencies will not alter them nor length of time wear them out They are the great things of God which have a great power over the spirit of man And they are imbraced by such as highly prize them not for temporal advantages whereof they have no appearance but for an internal excellency discerned in them as being necessary to the glory of God and the salvation of men And consequently to these men it is not satisfactory at all adventures to be of the State-Religion or to believe as the Church believes Neither will they be dissolved or much weakned by the declining haply of some principall Ones who being bought off by preferment may turn prevaricators For notwithstanding such a falling off the inward spirit that actuates the whole body of them and knits them to each other will remain in full strength and vigour And though many others through weakness or mildness should stagger and give ground in the points of lesser moment and more controverted yet the root of the matter may remain in them and as to the main they may be still where they were But what are those great things for which this sort of men contend Surely they are no other then the lively opening of the pure Doctrine of the Gospel the upholding of all Divine Institutions particularly the strict observation of the Lords day a laborious and efficacious Ministry taking hold of the Conscience and reaching to the heart a godly Discipline correcting true and real scandals and disobedience in a word all the necessary and effectual means of unfained faith and holy life that the Kingdom of God may come in power And for these things sake they are alienated from the height of Prelacy and the pomp of Ceremonious Worship This was well known and provided against by the swaying part of the later Prelatists For in as much as they could not quell the Puritans by the rigid injunction of Conformity that they might give a blow at the root Lectures were suppressed afternoon Sermons on the Lords day prohibited under pretence of Catechizing which was only a bare rehearsal of the Form of Catechism for Children without explication or application of those principles a Book for sports and pastimes on Sundays enjoyned to be read by Ministers in their Parish Churches under penalty of deprivation sundry superstitious Innovations introduced a new Book of Canons composed and a new oath for upholding the Hierarchy inforced Far be it from me to impute these things to all that were in Judgment Episcopal for I am perswaded a great if not the greater part of them disallowed these Innovations Nevertheless those others that were most vehement active watchful vigorous did not by all the aforesaid means advance but rather weaken their Cause and lessen themselves in the esteem of observing men and the oppressed party increased in number and vigour It is therefore evident that this Interest for which we plead is not like a Meteor which after a while vanisheth away but is of a solid and firme consistence like a fixed Constellation And the injuries done unto it are not of that nature as to be acted once and for all and then to pass into the grave of oblivion but they are lasting pressures to a perpetual regret and grievance And should not these be done away especially when the occasions thereof wil be found not necessary but superfluous Section X. There remaineth yet some greater thing which strikes deep into this Enquiry which at the first glance perhaps may seem a fancy but by impartial judgement will be found a manifest and weighry truth namely that as this Interest will never vary from its self so it will never be extinguished while the State of England continues Protestant I do not now argue from Maximes of Faith and Religion as that the life and power of Christianity shall never fail that after the greatest havock of the true Church there will be a remnant a seed that shall spring up to a great increase after a little season but I have here entred upon a way of reason and let men of Reason judge Suppose that the Persons now in being of this strict profession were generally ruined and rooted out yet let but the Protestant Doctrine as it is by Law established in the Church of England be upheld and preached and it will raise up a genuine off-spring of this people whose way is no other then the life and power of that Doctrine as it is not onely received by tradition education example or any humane authority but also imprinted upon the spirit by a lively energy and operation And this I further say and testifie let but the free use of the Holy Bible be permitted to the common people and this generation of men will spring up afresh by the immortall seed of the Word For that pure spiritual and heavenly Doctrine pressing internal renovation or the new Birth and the way of holy singularity and circumspection and being written with such Authority and Majesty must needs beget though not in the most yet in may a disposition and practise in some sort thereunto conformable This is evident in reason if it be granted that the sacred Scriptures are apt to make deep and strong Impressions upon the minds of men And whosoever denies this as he is in point of Religion Atheistical so of Understanding bruitish For even those impious Politicians who in heart make no account of Religion yet will make shew of giving reverence to it because it is alwaies seen to have a mighty influence upon men of all ranks and degrees Wherefore upon the grounds aforesaid I hold it a matter of unquestionable Verity that the way in scorn called Puritanism will never utterly sink unto Protestantism it self shal fail
and pull down but not to build up They do not hang in the air bur build upon a firm ground they have setled principles consistent with the rules of stable policy Contrariwise Fanaticks truly and not abusively so called do build castles in the air and are fit instruments to disturb and destroy and root out but never to compose and plant and settle for which cause their Kingdom could never hold long in any time or place of the world Upon this ground Presbytery not sectarian Anarchy hath been assaulted with greatest violence by the more observing Prelatists against this they have raised their main batteries this appeared formidable for it is stable and uniform and like to hold if once setled in good earnest This party do not run so fast but they know where to stop they are a number of men so fixed and constant as none more and a Prince or State shall know where to find them They do not strain so high but they consider withal what the Kingdoms of the world will bear and are willing to bring things to the capacity of political Government They can have no pleasure in commotions and alterations for order and regular unity is their way and therefore stability of Government and publick tranquility is their interest It is most unreasonable to object that the late wilde postures extravagancies and incongruities in Government were the work of Presbytery or Presbyterians The Nation had never proof of Presbytery for it was never setled but rather decryed and exposed to prejudice by those that were in sway and that in the more early times of the late Wars The truth of this matter is cleared by a passage of our late Soveraign in a Letter to his Majesty that now is All the lesser Factions were at first officious Servants to Presbytery their great Master till time and Military Success discovering to each their particular advantages invited them to part stakes and leaving the joynt stock of uniform Religion pretended each to drive for their party the trade of profits and preferments to the breaking and undoing not only of the Church and State but of Presbytery it self Thus the joynt stock of uniform Religion was left and Presbytery neglected before the first War was ended Yea and those that stedsastly adhered to it were maligned and reviled by the exorbitant party for opposing their new models or agreements of the people Section XVII Neither can Sects or Schisms with any truth or justice be reckoned the Off-spring of Presbytery Consider the French Dutch Helvetian Churches how intire they keep themselves in Orthodox Vnity from the Gangreen of Sects and Schisms A wide Breach was once made in the Netherlands by Arminius and his Followers but after some years conflict it was healed by the Synod of Dort The Church of Scotland is inferiour to none in the unity of Doctrine and Church-Communion and their form of Ecclesiastical Policy and method of Discipline is very effectual to prevent the broaching of Errour King James in discourse with an English Bishop is reported to have rendred this account why so few Heresies and Errours of Doctrine are united and prosecuted to the publick disturbance of that Church Every Parish hath their Pastor ever present with them and watching over them and he with his Elders and Deacons hath a weekly meeting for censure of manners by which he perfectly knows his Flock and every abberation of them in doctrine practise and lest any heresie might seize upon the Pastor they have their Presbyters which meet together once also every week in the next chief Town or City and there they have their exercise of prophesying after which the Moderator asks the judgement of all the Pastors concerning the doctrine then delivered or of any other doubtful point then propounded and if the Presbytery be divided in their opinions the question is under an injoyned silence put over 〈◊〉 the next Synod which is held twice a 〈…〉 which the Pastors of that quarter or province do duly resort accompanied with their Elders and any question of doubt is either decided by that Assembly or with charge of silence reserved to a national Synod which they hold every year once whither come not the Pastors onely but the King himself or his Commissioners and some of all orders and degrees sufficiently authorized for determining of any controversie that shall arise among them Could the Bishops in former times procure a greater unity in the Church of England Whence therefore should this charge arise peradventure some Presbyterians have turned Sectaries Surely it would be taken for a weak arguing to say That Prelacy is the way to Popery because some Prelatists have turned Papists The truth is Sectarianism grew up in a Mystery of Iniquity and State policy and it was not well discerned till it became almost triumphant by Military successes But after that its growth and strength did manifestly appear Presbytery began to struggle with it and so continued until by the power of the Army it was inforced to sit down but never to comply Whereupon the tongues and pens of Sectaries were imployed against none more then the Presbyterians And I should be glad to hear of such bitter Invectives of the Papists against the Prelatists not that I rejoyce in the sin of the one or the suffering of the other but that the Protestant friends of Prelacy might more incline to their Protestant Presbyterian Brethren Surely the way to prevent the growth of the two utmost extreams is for the two middle parties to draw up and close together But however the world goes the Presbyterians shall ever keep as good a distance from the Sectaries or Fanaticks as the Prelatists shall from Papists And verily there is no greater bar against Fanaticism then the right Presbyterian principles as not to sever but joyn the written word and spirit for direction the spirit and use of Ordinances for Edification to erect a stated Church-Order and Discipline to allow to the Church a directive and to every Christian a discretive judgment to insist only upon Divine Scripture Warrant and to wave humane authority in matters of Religion For such is the temperament of these Maximes that they commend and require a distinct knowledge and illumination in the mind and in the affections lively motions and stirrings against Formality and blind Devotion and so do satisfie the minds of those who conceive that in true Religion there is spiritual light and life and power and also they shew the necessity of the written Word of constant publick Ordinances and private Exercises of Religion and of the direction and discipline of the Church all which do serve to settle the mind against dilusive impulses and wild fancies and raptures Section XVIII But of all the prejudices and scandals taken against this way there is none greater then this that it is represented as tyrannical and domineering and that those who live under it must like Issachar crouch under the burdens In
the degenerate and corrupt times We see the greatest Kings and Monarchs have their Councels There is no Temporal Councel in England of the higher sort where the Authority doth rest in one person Again he saith Bishops have their infirmities and have no exception from that general malediction which is pronounced against all men living Vaesoli c. Nay we see the first warrant in spiritual causes is directed to a number Dic Ecclesiae which is not so in temporal matters Again we see that the Bishop of Rome fas est ab hoste doceri and no question in that Church the first Institutions are excellent performeth all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as in Consistory and whereof consisteth this Consistory but of the Parish Priests of Rome which term themselves Cardinals à Cardinibus Mundi because the Bishop thereof pretendeth to be universal over the whole world Touching the second point the deputation of their Authority he saith the Bishop exerciseth his Jurisdiction by his Chancellor and Commissary official c. We see in all Laws in the world offices of confidence and skill cannot be put over nor exercised by Deputy except it be especially contained in the Original Grant and then it becomes dutiful There was never any Judge that made a Deputy The Bishop is a Judge and of an high nature whence cometh it that he should depute considering all trust and confidence is personal and inherent and cannot or ought not to be transposed Surely in this again ab initio non fuit ita But it is probable that Bishops when they gave themselves too much to the glory of the world and became Grandees in Kingdomes and great Councellors to Princes then did they deleague their proper Jurisdiction as things of too inferiour a nature for their greatness and then after the similitude of Kings and Count Palatines they would have their Chancellours and Judges This and much more hath that great Scholar Lawyer and States-man observed in that excellent discourse Yea our late Soveraign in his discourse touching the differences between himself and the two Houses in point of Church-Government declares in these words that he is not against the managing of the Episcopal presidency in one man by the joynt counsel and consent of many Presbyters but that he had offered to restore it as a fit means to avoid those errours and corruptions and partialities which are incident to any one man also to avoid Tyranny which becomes no Christians least of all Church-men besides it will be a means to take away that odium and burden of affairs which may lye too heavy on one mans shoulders as he thought it did formerly on the Bishops here Section XXXVIII By the desired reduction of Prelacy to the coalition of Episcopacy and Presbytery in a due temperament His Majesty will be so far from giving up or weakning that power and influence which in right and reason he ought to have over Church and State that he will thereby gain a surer and a larger interest Bishops lessened in power and encreased in number and resident in the Churches and duly dispencing the Word and Sacraments are not like to alienate the King from Parliaments nor Parliaments and people from the King but will become more popular and able to fix the hearts of the people to obedience and loyalty And this popularity of Bishops and Presbyters being alone without potency is no rational ground of distrust or jealousie to the King For their influence upon others will not be from greatness of power and command but from venerable esteem and reputation and that stands upon their prudent pious and peaceable behaviour Besides his Majesty can easily keep them in such dependence on himself as that he shall not hold this interest at their courtesie Do any suggest the Presbyterians may grow upon him Surely there are and will be enough to balance them Certainly they have seen so little good of changes that a reasonable condition with security will be acceptable to them Undoubtedly the union of both parties by an equal accommodation is the interest of Prince and people the strength and stability of King and Kingdom Let neither side lay hold on present mutable advantages to press them too far but let all consider what will stand with lasting tranquillity And above all let his Majesties wisdom who hath the high concernment of three Kingdoms for himself and his Heirs for ever lay a good and solid foundation for the time to come Section XXXIX Finally this accomodation is the interest of Jesus Christ the Redeemer and Head of the Church in as much as it takes in and secures thousands of godly able Orthodox Ministers thousands and ten thousands of godly peaceable Christians who otherwise might be rejected and oppressed And it may well be acceptable to the whole Christian world because it bears conformity to the whole State of Christendom to the forreign reformed Churches in Presbytery to the rest of the Churches in Episcopacy and to the ancient Church next to the Primitive times in the orderly conjunction of Episcopacy and Presbytery FINIS THE Second Part OF THE Interest of England In the Matter of Religion Unfolded in a Deliberative Discourse PROVING That it is not agreeable to sound Reason to prefer the Contracted and Dividing Interest of one Party before the general Interest of Protestantism and of the whole Kingdom of England in which the Episcopal and Presbyterian Parties may be happily United Written by J. Corbet Rector of Bramshot The second Impression Corrected and amended LONDON Printed for George Thomason and are to be sold at the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Church-yard 1661. I Intreat the Reader to take notice That in these Discourses I do not mention parties to maintain Division but to procure Vnion That necessity compels me to use those names of difference which I heartily wish might be no more remembred But whilst disagreeing Parties last names of difference cannot cease and to forbear their use is to little purpose My business is to take things as I find them and to state the Case between the Dissenters and to shew how far they agree and how little they differ for this end That Parties both Name and Thing might cease for ever Moreover as I use not the name of Presbyterian in the way of glorying so I use not the name of Prelate or Prelatist in way of reproach but meerly for distinction sake and I have warrant for it from the friends of Prelacy with whom it is not unusual to mention the name of Prelate in an honourable Sence The Second Part of the Interest of England in the Matter of Religion THe former Treatise of the Interest of England in the Matter of Religion makes known the way of peace in the reconciling of those two grand Parties the Episcopal and Presbyterian which if made one would take in and carry along the strength of almost the whole Nation The whole structure thereof rests upon these Positions as
hath not happened by the prevailing force of one Party but by the unstrained motion of all England what reason is there that one Party should thrust the other out of its due place of rest upon the common Foundation When common consent hath laid this excellent Foundation of peace and quietness let not the Superstructure of particular unnecessary forms cast off some as a divided and rejected Party but let that which hath made peace keep peace which by Gods help it will surely do if timely observed and followed Section XXVI We cannot gain say but the composure of these differences hath much difficulty and requires much prudence care and patience in those that are at the helm of Government Nevertheless it may be effected if the judicious on both sides will give consent and they will give consent if they have a single aim to procure the peace of Gods Church and the increase thereof and particularly the increase and stability of Protestant Religion Suppose the Roman Grecian Armenian Ethiopick together with all the Protestant Churches yea and the whole Christian world might be drawn into one Church-Communion and Order upon as easie tearms as English Prelatists and Presbyterians may if they have a heart to it were it not prodigious uncharitableness and fury of opposition to withstand it As all the Lovers of Christianism would pursue the Union of all Christian Churches upon such tearms so should all the Lovers of Protestantism pursue the Union of all Protestant Churches seeing the Doctrines wherein they harmoniously agree will enable them to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace if the heart be not opposite to the power of those professed Doctrines To heal the wounds of the Protestant Cause how glorious is it But to refuse and withstand this healing how doth it cause the Popish faction to glory against us Let not our adversaries rejoyce nor the uncircumcised glory in our shame Section XXVII We have the examples of Christian Princes even of those of the Roman Faith who would gladly have made up breaches in Religion among their people by yielding in things of greater moment in the Church of Rome then any of the points in question are among disagreeing Protestants In the Council of Trent Ferdinand the Emperour and Maximilian his son King of the Romans and the French King and the Duke of Bavaria made it their business by their Embassadors for quieting of their Dominions that the Communion of the Sacrament in both kinds the Marriage of Priests and Divine Service in the vulgar tongue might be allowed These things are of greater importance among the Papists then the things now in question are among the Protestants of either perswasion if we judge by their declared Opinions and not by some hidden design And those forenamed Princes would surely have taken that way for uniting their people had their power been independent in matter of Religion but having dependance upon the See of Rome they could do nothing without the Authority either of the Pope or the Council from either of which they perceived after much instance that such Reformation could not be hoped for Moreover those Princes being of the Roman Faith had a fairer pretence according to Popish Principles to crush the dissenting Part of their Subjects by laying Heresie to their charge and so in time to root them out then any Protestant State can have to extirpate the Presbyterians Likewise the Emperour Charles the fifth after his great Atchievements designing to establish an intire Dominion in Germany conceived that his way was to unite the German Nation in point of Religion by a kind of reformation or Accommodation for which he laboured so much in procuring and upholding the Trent-Council until at length despairing of his Sons succession in the Empire he laid aside all thoughts of restoring the ancient Religion in Germany and by consequence all care of the Council though he continued many years after in the Imperial Authority Now though all these Princes were deceived in expecting such a Union by means of that Council which by reason of divers and important Interests of Princes and Prelates could not possibly have such an end as was by some of them desired yet herein they took not their aim amiss that the re-uniting of their broken people by using a Temper and Accommodation was the best way to keep their Estates intire Section XXVIII I am the more importunate in pressing home the motion of brotherly Agreement considering the time which may be the only time For the present condition of these Affairs seem like to the state of a sick body which Physitians call a Crisis when nature and the disease are in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the conflict to carry it for life or death Peace and Concord in Religion seems now to approach to its Crisis whether it shall prevail and live or dye and fail for ever It may justly be feared that the time is now or never For if after so long and sad divisions and the calamitous effects thereof an implacable spirit shall be seen to bear sway in this time of restauration and expected union it may beget a despair of all future reconciliation If after such and so long calamities all the concurring circumstances of the late Revolution will not incline mens heares to Peace what will do it This is a day of gracious Visitation Happy England if in this its day it knows the things that belong to its Peace Having pressed the Vnion by these Arguments I proceed to remove certain impediments Section XXIX One great impediment is an erroneous judgment touching the times foregoing the late Wars For as much as great and manifold distempers have happened and continued in this Land since the beginning of these troubles the defects of former times are quite forgotten as it commonly comes to pass that latter miseries it drawn out to any length do drown the rememberance of by-past evils but he who discerns only things at hand and not affar off is purblind I abhor to take upon me the defence of our late distracted times the distempers whereof I would not in any wise palliate Nevertheless let this be noted distempers have their times of breeding as well as of breaking forth Certainly that dismal Tempest which succeeded the long Calm in this Nation had its time of gathering in the Clouds To heal the symptomes of a disease its rooted cause being neglected is but a palliative cure To take away the irregularities of these latter times and not to inquire into the former causes is to hide but not to heal the maladies of this Kingdom Section XXX Another errour which turns away mens eyes from beholding the true state of their own affairs is a contempt of the dissenting Party and of their Opinions as silly and irrational with which is joyned a vain conceit that the whole Party with their Opinions would soon fall to the ground if a few turbulent and factious spirits as
we conclude that those who agree in the Doctrine of Faith cannot disagree in the substance of Worship They differ only about the Liturgy and Ceremonies And the dissenting side oppose not all Liturgy but desire that the present form may be changed or reformed They oppose not any circumstance of Decency and Order but desire that mystical Ceremonies of humane institution may be abolished or not injoyned Section XX. Thus the Coalition of these two Interests into one appeareth possible because their conscientious principles on both sides have not that repugnancy but that they may well close together in a due temperament and constitute one solid Ecclesiastical politie And nothing hinders this conjunction but the obstinacy either of one or both parties from a humour of opposition or incurable enmity or some carnal designe Among the Bishops and Episcopal Doctors some of the most eminent have witnessed to the world their desires of Accommodation by their endeavours and proposals that way The Presbyterians preferr an uniting accommodation though upon yielding terms before division with an intire Toleration The incomparable Bishop Usher in the beginning of the late Troubles proposed his model Intituled The Reduction of Episcopacy unto the form of Synodical Government received in the ancient Church as an expedient for the comprimizing of the now differences thus declaring That by Order of the Church of England all Presbyters are charged to minister the Doctrine Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded and as this Realm hath received the same And that they might the better understand what the Lord hath commanded therein the Exhortation of St. Paul to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus is appointed to be read unto them at the time of their Ordination Take heed to your selves and to all the flock among whom the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to rule the Congregation of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Mark well how this pious learned Prelate declares his own sence and interprets the meaning of the Church of England that the Holy Ghost hath made all Ordained Ministers Bishops or Overseers to rule the Congregation of God He saith further Though in our Church this kinde of Presbyterial Government hath been long dis-used yet seeing it still professeth that every Pastor hath a right to rule the Church and to minister the Discipline of Christ as well as to dispense the Doctrine and Sacraments And the restraint of the exercise of this Right proceeds onely from the custom now received in this Realm no man can doubt but by another Law of the Land this hinderance may be well removed If the Presbyterians imbrace these or such like Proposals what hinders the agreement in that great and most difficult point in difference to wit Church-Government Section XXI If both parties refuse to meet each other and to walk together in a middle way the weaker party must needs be tolerated There is indeed a third way by subverting the rejected side but we believe that in the present case it is so abhorrent to humane reason and Christian Charity thâ—â—we will not take it into consideration Wherefore the Question lies between an Accommodation and a Toleration which of these two shall be chosen and why the former is more desirable for both sides then the latter I offer these arguments And first Multiformity of Religion publickly professed doth not well comport with the spirit of this Nation which is free eager zealous apt to animosities and jealousies besides that it hath ever had a strong propension to Uniformity Also it is too well known that the dividing of Church communion is the dividing of hearts and that we shall not live like brethren till we agree to walk in one way Only let this be well observed and ever remembred that the necessary and injoyned terms of this Unity be not in things superfluous but necessary at least for edification order and peace Moreover Toleration being not the daughter of Amity but of Enmity at least in some degree supposeth the party tolerated to be a burden especially if conceived dangerous to the way established and commonly holds no longer then meer necessity compels and consequently neither party take themselves to be safe the one alwaies fearing to lose its authority and the other its liberty And if men will lay aside self-conceit and fond indulgence to the way of their own perswasion they will quickly finde that the temper of this Kingdom doth not well accord with extreams on either hand Certainly well-minded and serious people were never better prepared for an equall Accommodation They are weary of tedious dissentions in Church and State and have seen felt the sad consequents thereof and could they once attain to setled union upon the same grounds they would do their utmost to hold and keep it inviolable Without controversie the earnest thoughts of such a compoture did expedite the peaceable return of his Majesty The Presbyterians vigorously acted for it although they knew there were some that breathed out revenge and cruelty against them yet they hoped that the prevailing part would be sober and carry it with all moderation But they relyed chiefly upon his Majestie 's Wisdom Equity and Goodness whose Virtues attested by faithfull witnesses proclaimed him the Soveraign Reconciler and Healer of our breaches And surely they will never repent of their honesty and loyalty And let them rest assured that their moderation shall plead for them in the time to come Section XXII If one party coming forward to meer their brethren make a tender of such propositions as in al reason may procure unity and order in the Church and cannot pass further without regret of Conscience in this case for the other party to go about to strain them higher is most unreasonable and uncharitable Let them remember his Rule who is Lord and Head of the Church Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye the same unto them Now such proposals may suffice for peace which will not satisfie humour and faction and carnal interest Unity and order may be obtained by those terms that do not prejudice the conscientious principles of either party and are not defective in things necessary I mean not onely to salvation but to the Churches peace and edification and verily to insist upon such terms alone is the most Christian and most rational way to a solid and sure peace As for the Presbyterians what they offer will sufficiently attain the said ends and what they stand upon doth not cross the said rule of Charity and Prudence Their proposals touching Prelacy Liturgy Ceremonies and Canonical Subscription are in no wise repugnant to the Churche's being or wel-being Section XXIII That Prelacy as it stood in England is not essential to a Church-State we call to witness the far greater number of Protestant Episcopal Divines yea the whole current of them till the times next fore-going our Civil wars Archbishop Bancroft no way