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cause_n	blood_n	great_a	vein_n	1,434	5	9.4641	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36871	The history of the English and Scotch presbytery wherein is discovered their designs and practices for the subversion of government in church and state / written in French, by an eminent divine of the Reformed church, and now Englished.; Historie des nouveaux presbytériens anglois et escossois. English	Basier, Isaac, 1607-1676.; Du Moulin, Peter, 1601-1684.; Bramhall, John, 1594-1663.; Playford, Matthew.	1660 (1660)	Wing D2586; ESTC R17146	174,910	286

them from the outward communion of the visible Church and in this as in other things Buchanan hath shewed himself to be less skilled in Divinity then in Poetry The best excuse which can be alledged in his Defence is that which Mr. Du Moulin lends him which may also serve for Mr. Knox That if he hath written any thing which passeth moderation we must 〈◊〉 attribute it to his Religion but nature for its most certain both these were hot headed men and had a great Antipathy against Monarchy As for the doctrine of King killing which is a familiar doctrine amongst the Jesuits and is oft their shame and reproach they to render us as odious as themselves and by way of exchange alledge and quote in their writings the passages of Buchanan Knox and Goodman who together with them teach the same Doctrine That cunning Jesuite Petra Sancta is very curious in searching into their writings whom that excellent person Mr River answers and tels him that none amongst us approve or allow those wicked Maximes and imputes the cause to their supposed persecution which had exasperated their spirits and to the hot heads of the Nations of this Iland After this so wise and charitable a reprehension coming from a person of such eminency men of learning amongst them ought at least to have learned modesty since they refused to learn obedience of their Parliaments which condemned these Doctrines of Knox and Buchanan by their publike Acts or by the determinations of their principal Divines who have learnedly refuted them and also by considering what great pains Mr. Bloudil Mr. Valade and other judicious and learned men of Forraign Churches have taken to wash off the filth of their doctrines and behaviours which have exceedingly scandalized the Evangelical profession after so many Iterated saving advertisements one would have thought they should have preserved themselves from falling into the same offences and from giving new occasions of rejoycing to their enemies and of shame to their brethren but behold of late worse then ever their hot heads have produced such new effects of violence as gives a challenge of defiance to the very Jesuits themselves The Author of Sions Plea animates the people to war and to pull down the Bishops speaking thus Smite neither small nor great but the troublers of Israel wound that Hazael in the fifth Rib Yea if your father and mother stand in your way to prevent you dispatch them suddenly pull down the ensign of the Dragon set up the standard of Jesus Christ What If the father of the State stand in your way now when ye are busie in this holy cause must he be dispatched no doubt but they would tread upon him to make way and would serve the Son as they had done the Father 't is a point resolved on by the same Author They must strike the Basilike vein none but that can heal the Pluresie of State which is as much as to say in good English that they must cut the throat of the King for the publike good This Author were a good Scholler of the two Jesuites Guignard and Scribanius had he not too grossly borrowed their Terms for say they France was sick and they must cut the Basilike vein to heal her and Scribanius that they committed a great error on S. Bartholomews even that they cut not that vein That is that those of the Guisian Faction spared the lives of the King of Navar and the Prince of Condie Oh rare Flowers of Diabolical Rhetorick Oh the shame of Christian Religion Is this the simplicity and meekness of the Gospel Is this the way to guide Conscience into the way of peace and to set up the Kingdom of Jesus Christ or Christ on his Throne If S. Paul were alive doubtless these men would even maintain to his face that he understood not the nature of the spiritual Kingdome when he said Rom. 14.7 That the Kingdome of God is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And when he read this lesson to the Christians Let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which peace ye are called in one body They would have taught him that the Kingdome of Jesus Christ ought to be set up by the murthering of Kings the destruction of the people and the o●erthrow of States and would have sent him to their Catechise to be instructed That the Parliament Souldiers at the present ought not to consider us as their Fellow-Citizens or their Parents or their companions in Religion but as Enemies of God upholders of Anti-Christ and therefore their eye should not pity us nor their sword spare us These are the words of that abominable Catechism published by Authority for the use of the Covenanters Army Oh behold the principles of Faith wherewith these dull souls are instructed Behold the Bread of Life wherewith their Divines feed the consciences of the poor people Jer. 23.4 I have seen in the Prophets of Hierusalem an horrible thing they commit adultery and walk in lies they strengthen also the hands of evil doers Israel the daies of thy visitation are come thy Prophets are fools and thy men of Revelations are mad To these prodigious Doctrines we will joyn that Aphorism in the book entituled Altare Damascenum That all Kings have a natural hatred against Christ If ye would believe this man every one that loves Christ must bear an irreconcileable hatred to all Kings was there ever a more seditious and execrable Maxime after such a Doctrine pronounced by an Author of such account should we ask who hath put weapons into the hands of this superstitious people against their Soveraign for these poor miserable people hate the King for the love of God yea many account him an Enemy of Jesus Christ even because he is a King That we may the better discover by what spirit this man is led observe how he deals with his natural Prince he calls King James of most happy and glorious memory Infestissimus Ecclesia Hostes the most mortal enemy of the Church without doubt these who read this will question what Religion this man is of who so qualifies the incomparable Defender of the Faith who hath so vigorously and sincerely maintained the truth that if there were a Christian in the world who knew not thar great Prince neither by his admirable writings nor by the Renown of his Piety and Wisdome and should hear him call'd the most spiteful and mortal Enemy of the Church he might well imagine that King James had turned Turk and changed the Churches of his Kingdome into Mosques and sold his Christian Subjects for slaves to the Moors It were to do wrong to the testimony that himself hath given by the Immortal Monuments of his Religious Wisdome and by his truly Christian and Fatherly Government to undertake here to defend him against so unequal an Adversary wherein the injuries spoken of this excellent King turns to the ruine and perdition of

from Whom they take the use of their holy prayers have great cause to fear they will also take from them their Religion whereupon some have Fallen into a desperate Melancholy if they deal thus with us because they have a greater measure of light then we it is much to be desired that they had a little more that they fall not into the offence condemned by S. Paul and through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish for whom Christ died but when ye sin against the Brethren and wound their weak conscience ye sin against Christ 1 Cor. 8.11 12. Heretofore this faction would be spar'd in their disobedience to the Ecclesiastical Laws pretending tenderness and weakness of Conscience but now that they are become Masters of the Laws they regard not our weakness but force us to follow their fantasies without considering our doubts and scruples The King by the Articles of Uxbridge offered them liberty of Conscience but they will not give neither the King nor his subjects the like liberty Either take the Covenant or leave your Benefice was the choice they gave many Ministers Alledge to them the great and deep affliction of the people because they had taken from them their Common Prayers their Forms for the celebration of the Sacraments and of Marriage their customs of receiving the Sacrament at Christmas Easter and Pentecost and the decent manner of burying their dead with some Prayers and Texts of Scripture which put the living in mind of their mortality and raised up in them an assurance of their resurrection They will answer you that these observations are not necessary and mock at the affliction of the ignorant people But we hold that it is necessary to obey God who hath commanded us to do nothing whereby thy weak brother stumbleth is offended or made weak but be such as give none offence neither to the Jew nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God Rom. 14.21 Also the imaginary danger which they fear of things that may come to passe is a thousand times less then the present scandal and offence done to pious souls to behold all Ecclesiastical order overthrown and Liberty given to prophane and fanatique spirits to whom any thing is permitted unless to obey the King and the orders established by Lawfull Authority But let us pass to other offences There are many more besides the violation of Orders the very substance of Religion is endamaged What care do many people take to Baptize their children How do they reprove them that Baptize no more in the Name of the Father the Son and the holy Ghost Is it notpermitted to every one to Baptize or not Baptize their children and Baptism is it not refused to many Infants which are presented to be Baptized These new Reformers find so many difficulties in the capacity of their Parents that they are constrained many times to carry their children far from their dwellings to be received into the Christian Church for 't is one of the Errors of the Times that if the Father hath not Faith that is to say a Faith after their mode the Infant must not be Baptized In stead whereof the Reformed Churches in Baptizing Infants consider not the Faith of the Parents but of the Church in which they are born and the Doctrine not according as it is believed but according as it is taught Fidem non subjectivam sed objectivam For if they must be certain whether the Father hath Faith they should also be certain that he is the Father of the Infant which the Charity of the Church questioneth not Also it is an ordinary custom amongst them to rebaptize aged persons and to plunge women naked into the Water untill they say they feel faith The abuse of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper is yet worse because it is more universal and maintained by the body of their Divines We beseech all lovers of the Christian Religion to enquire themselves of these Ministers how long time they have forborn to receive or administer this holy Sacrament when was it that the heads of the Covenanters received it when is it that their Souldiers were partakers of it those zealous murtherers whose assassinations and plunderings are steeped in piety Is it because they dare not receive the body and blood of our Lord with hands defiled with rapine and innocent blood But this reason cannot serve for the Churches where the Ministers are laid hold on and forbidden to administer the Sacrament where they are Ministers How many Churches are there where there hath been no speaking of a Sacrament these fifteen or sixteen years And is it not for them to mock God to make a Directory of the manner of receiving the Lords Supper and not to make use of it yea by force to hinder execution and performance of it Our Lord Jesus hath commanded us To do this in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11.26 But behold here persons who impose a necessity not to do because they know not those who are worthy and therefore they hinder others to obey Jesus Christ taking by force the Bread and Wine from the people who were assembled to communicate and carried away the Minister out of the Church for fear he should administer the Sacrament These actions cry to heaven and will one day draw down a just vengeance These proceedings make us fear least they rank the Lords Supper amongst the superannuated ceremonies which must be abolished for in many Churches where the Covenanters are it 's not used which is a horrible thing to hear the Church of God since Christs time never before brought forth such examples Certainly since Jesus Christ would that we should do this in remembrance of him until his coming again if he should come now he would find it very strange that they had left before his coming this celebration of the memory of his death which he had so expresly commanded and it is to be presumed that he will receive no reason against his Command for the coming of Jesus Christ is the only reason which ought to make this holy Ordinance cease By this scruple that they dare not administer the holy Supper but to those alone whom they know to be worthy which is the general pretext of their party for their total abstinence they condemn not only the Reformed Churches who exclude none from the holy Communion unless they be ignorant and scandalous persons but also Jesus Christ who administred to the Disciple that betrayed him even then when he was plotting his treason in his heart By this also they even bind themselves not to celebrate the Supper of the Lord until they be inspectors and lookers into Conscience that is to say Gods For otherwise they cannot be fully satisfied of the worthiness of persons and all those who have a holy desire to partake of the Lords Table shall not be admitted until these principal Clerks of the Councel-Chamber of God have formed a Church which consists

change made in the outward skin of Religion make not the substance distasted for the most part mens spirits penetrates not much further than the superficies as indeed no further did theirs who came to reform us with the sword It s a very dangerous thing to overthrow an Order wherein the Devotion of the people hath taken root For besides the disorder that follows commonly in the Church and State they shall find that in transplanting Devotion into a new soil they cause it to die some being prophane others desperate and atheistical For an exemplary conduct of Christian prudence in this great point of publick Reformation all after ages will admire the English Reformers under the Reign of Edward the Sixth who intrapt the people as Saint Paul beguiled the Corinthians who confessed that being subtile he caught them by guile for to establish the Doctrine so as it is contained in the Confession of Faith in English Church and agrees with that of other reformed Churches they kept themselves from going openly and suddenly against the inclination of the people above all in the exteriour which although it is of less importance hath notwithstanding a very strong influence upon the common people After the Reformation was concluded upon by the Prelates and Nobles Mattins were said in the Cathedral Churches at their accustomed hours with the same Garments they were wont to wear and the same ordinary singing but the Hymns and Psalms they read in English and their Scriptures were not read in pieces but by whole Chapters and Prayers were put to God only in the Name of Jesus Christ and in a known tongue a thing which did much content the people and much edifie them and being accustomed to these things they passed by the Mass Sermons became more frequent simply instructing the people in the Truth and Holiness without any bitterness or contest whereby they gained the spirits of the people by charity which is the only method for to decide controversies and in a short time that which Superstition had drawn over the Service of God was insensibly abolished and there was a general conversion of the Kingdom wrought without any noise This prudent way wrought better effects than all the combats of Religion whether fought by Armies or Letters which have been since above these hundred years Their enemies of the Church of Rome would much rather the Reformers had disputed concerning the Doctrine and Discipline and that they had set upon them with their utmost strength Our melancholy and peevish Zelots would have done no great good upon them by the waies they now take if this task had fallen into their hands for such a great work there was need of better notions of piety and prudence than the fundamental Maximes of the reformation at present That the purest Religion is that which hath least conformity with the Church of Rome That for to do well they must do quite contrary to that which the Church of Rome doth and hereby they make all that remains of the Institution of the Apostles to become Antichristian because the Papist hath practised them Maximes which are only proper for poor seditious Spirits whose nature is like the Crab-fishes who know not how to go but backward Religion consists not in negation the saving Truths are affirmative and it would be a dangerous rule to believe altogether contrary to that which the Devil believes which would oblige us to deny the Divinity For so high an enterprise which is equally as necessary as dangerous there is required clear seeing judgments firm stable ready charitable who are able to penetrate and dive into the inside of Religion and discern the meat from the shell who without bending the Truth to the times know how to accomodate their work to the nature of men and affairs and who have the discretion recommended by Saint Paul Prove all things hold fast that which is good wisely distinguishing betwixt the Apostolical Institution and the rust that is grown on it through length of time These excellent persons manifest to the world that they well understood this secret that the matter of Religion is a thing rather adored than known by the people but the Form and Ceremony is that their eyes are fixed upon and which fills their spirits and he that pleaseth them in the exteriour shall easily prevail with them for the inward of Doctrine Now it appears that Superstition is alwayes of the same Nature although she changeth her object for the Fanaticall zeal of the people of the Covenant being fleshed and egged on to destroy the exteriour Order perceived not in the mean while that they undermined the foundations of Faith For we find amongst our enemies many different Sects Some denying the Trinity the Incarnation of the Son of God and his Divinity who neverthelesse agree altogether to hate abolish our Lyturgie with the sword without contending amongst themselves for these essential differences neither are they moved for these monstrous errors which directly oppose the glory of God and salvation of men so much are men for the most part children yea brutish in matters of Piety fastening themselves upon appearances and not upon things considering more the garment then the body of Religion The vulgar being every where of this disposition God shewed great favour to the ignorant people in times of our Fathers to put them into so good hands who knew how to lead them mildly to the Truth without exasperating them for the Discipline For to provoke and irritate them was not the means to instruct them Let all the world judge if the Reformers at present follow this example and whether they search to instruct or to provoke the people for after we have made the best and soundest party amongst them to confess that the Doctrine of the Church of England was good and holy and they be demanded hereupon why they persecute the King and his people with such rage They pay us with this miserable reason that the people are affectionate to certain things as necessary which are not necessary and they would wean them from this opinion And must they for this drown three famous Kingdoms in bloud and snatch the Crown from off the Head and the Sword out of the hand of a good King We may well tell them that they undertake an impossible thing for there is no Religion no Nation nor almost person who is not lodged there but they themselves are they not more superstitious in this point than those whom they would correct For what greater superstition for to make a necessity to contradict and oppose things where there is no necessity yea to account the abolishing of things not necessary so necessary that for it they will massacre the King and bathe themselves in the blood of the Church and State Can there be in the world a more pernicious superstition No verily if they consider that this superstition kils the soul as well as the body For those