where it had been above a thousand years in the Holy Scripture And suppose what is utterly false that soon after its being written all Christian Churches had been so corrupted as to own fifteen hundred years together those Errors which now are amongst you yet still the Scripture had been the same as much to be obeyed and followed as if it had always been so 2 King 22. When Josiah had found the Book of the Law he did not fling it by because it had been hid and neglected during the reign of Manasseh and Amon his Fathers but he caused it to be read before all the people Ibid. 23. that they might observe what was conteined in it So now we have the Holy Scriptures read and preached to us we must not reject them to follow the Customs of some of our Fore-Fathers in whose time they were hid and disregarded for they are as much the Rule of Faith as if they had never been disown'd But I say farther that our Religion was in those Churches in the East and South which never own'd Popery and even amongst you our Religion was professed you believed all along those three Creeds which you and we do still retein which contein the Articles of our Faith but not the new additions which are particular to Rome The Popes universal Supremacy and his Infallibility Transubstantiation Worshipping of Images Purgatory Indulgences c. These are neither in Scripture nor in the first Councils nor in the Writings of the Antient Fathers not so much as in your Creeds an evident mark of their novelty but in the late Councils and Constitutions of the Popes We confess indeed that there is an universal Church out of which there is no salvation according to that known saying of S. Cyprian Deum non potest c. He can be none of Gods children who is not a son of the Church But that Church is the Christian not the Roman Church and to know which is the Christian Church or which is the purest of Christian Churches for they are all Christian in some measure that own Christ we must not consult humane Histories for they cannot inform us of that and if they could we must not build our faith upon mens report De Sacâ—a l. 2. c. 21. Bellarmin saith of humane Histories Faciunt tantum humanam fidem cui falsam subesse potest that they only beget a human saith which may be erroneous Wherefore in the Controversie betwixt us which is the purest Church we must not search old Records and Chronicles to see which was the oldest the most visible or the most large and flourishing Church that is not the Question and if it were still human Histories cannot be the ground of a Christian Faith but we must examin which agrees best with Holy Scripture which we all acknowledge to be the Word of God for no doubt the true Church wherein Salvation may be had is that which holds that Doctrin which God himself hath reveled to Mankind whatever her condition may have been in times past P. There may be something considerable in what you say but you Hereties have strange cunnings and subtilties to justifie your Opinions and yet still for all you have said you are no better than Rebels against your spiritual Sovereign you are Schismatics undutiful Children that have forsaken your Mother the Church The true and only Church wherein Salvation is to be obtein'd guided and governed by the Vicar of Christ upon earth our holy Father the Pope Vna est tantum Ecclesia sub regimine unius Christi in terris Vicarii Romani Pontific is Bellar. de Eccl. l 3. c. 2. But pray do not make such a tedious Discourse as you have just now G. Good Sir sometimes short Questions cannot be answered in few words I could propose one to you much like that as you put to me which I believe would take a great deal of your time to answer that is Where your particular Religion your sacrificing of the real and corporal body and bloud of Christ for the sins of the living and the dead your Worshipping Images and Saints and making them your Intercessors your Purgatory Indulgences c. Where was all that in the time of Christ and his Apostles Whereabout can it be found in Scripture or in the antient Creeds or in the four first General Councils or in the three or four first Centuries But I will not put you to so long and impossible a Task As for our forsaking the Communion of the Church of Rome we were absolutely bound and in a manner forc'd to do it because of the many errors which had crept and been brought into it by the Ignorance Pride Avarice and Ambition of the late Popes of Rome and their Partizans and which were confirm'd by your Church and defended with that violence that it was death to any man to speak in the least against them Now you know 't is a Rule agreed on of all sides that he is not guilty of Schism that separates but he that gives a just cause of Separation wherfore I retort the charge upon you of being Schismatics except you can prove by the Word of God those Doctrins of yours we have rejected to be Divine and Orthodox for we have left your Church upon this account that you had perverted the truth of God and added many false opinions to it which ye impos'd upon the people as if they had been Articles of Faith And we find it in Scripture Ro. 16.17 Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrin which ye have learned and avoid them 't is not said except it be the Church of Rome And in another place Gal. 1.8 Though we or an angel from heaven preach unto you beyond or over and above in the Greec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the vulgar praeterquam quod what we have preached let him be accursed the Pope himself you see is not excepted Again we have left the Communion of your Church because it was Schismatic itself in that it had forsaken the Doctrin taught and believed in the Primitive Church We have come out of Rome to return into the more antient and universal Church We have left the Pope to follow Christ and his Apostles and we have forsaken you no farther than you had forsaken the truth The antient Creeds the first Councils many good and Fundamental Doctrins we hold together in these we hold Communion with you We reject your Communion only in those new Doctrins which ye have superadded to the antient and divine Faith of Christians And so likewise we rebel not against the Pope only we set God above him I 'll still acknowledge him to be a Bishop and the Patriarch of the West and perhaps I had been civil enough never to have disputed his Infallibility and spiritual Sovereignty though I find nothing for it in Scripture had I not found that he hath really erred and that very
had been impartially active in punishing Malignants against the cause of Christ and therein another Moses And indeed who would have shewed any love to those ugly Cavaliers who were Gods Enemies Remember saith Mr. Leech before he exhorted those that were on Gods side to throw down Jezabel that we cannot be rightly for God Jer. Leech p. 21. if we be not against those that are against God Gods Friends must be our Friends and Gods Enemies must be our Enemies Therefore it was I suppose that your minds were so imbittered against the Malignants that you breathed cruelty against them in your very Prayers Mr. Tesdale one of your holy Synod exhorting the House of Commons to pray for the peace of Jerusalem which was the words of his Text out of Psal 122.6 Israel saith he and Amalek join Battel daily should not therefore Moses hands be lift up in prayer and Aaron and Hur help to sustain them until the Lord hath avenged us of our Enemies of pray for the peace of Jerusalem But for a conclusion hear what Mr. J. W. Batchelor in Divinity preacht upon a Thanksgiving-day for your Victory at Hessammoor p. 10. Most of them Cavaliers are desperately wicked whom Satan hath principled to make haste for Hell there is no design so desperate as some of them will not attempt though usually they be bulletted and sent out of this life for it and sent to meet with such Matches as will keep fire for ever It seems their souls found no more mercy at your hands than their bodies did you sent them straight to Hell Whence by the way it is observable that your Power reacheth downward further than the Popes for his as yet goeth that way no further than Purgatory But what a pity 't is that you were not of the Church of Rome VVhat brave Champions should we have had And what a loss is it that such fervent Zeal was spent upon a wrong Cause But however right or wrong it appears that you made the people believe that cruelty to your Enemies was an excellent piece of Religion and most acceptable to God and so dear Sir in this we may also shake hands Pr. You are a lying Calumniator and it is your custom to load with reproaches and the blackest of crimes those whom you are not able to encounter with Reason and Arguments whoever will not dote upon your follies you 'll be sure to defame and slander with your virulent tongues and you make the vulgar abhor your adversaries by representing them as monsters Pa. Well I assure you for all your anger I had the very same thing to say to you and if you speak truth in this we are really Brothers in iniquity for you also clapt a most ugly Vizard on your Enemies face and then brought them out to be worried by the people Wicked Accursed Popish Babylonish Antichristian these were the colours you drew them in as you may see in what follows There was a Book printed 1643. by Thomas Watson call'd The Cavaliers Catechism so foul that I should be asham'd to mention it but that you was not asham'd to print it or at least to suffer it to be made publick It was thus What is your Name Cavalier Who gave you that Name My Seducers and Deceivers in mine Innocency wherein I was made a Member of the Church of Rome and consequently a Limb of Antichrist an Enemy to all Godliness the Child of the Devil and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Darkness c. What Commandments have you learned and will you keep These following To observe the Will of his Holiness of Rome To commit Treason against Kings that oppose him and To commit Adultery Rapine c. But there was as bad as this spoken out of the Pulpit Steph. Marshal in a Sermon to the Mayor and Aldermen S. Maâ—shal 1644. These are miserable and accursed men these men are Factors for Hell Satans Boutefeus and as the true Zealots are set on fire from Heaven so these mens fire is kindled from Hell whither also it carries them So Mr. J. Vicars p. 6. Vicars in his Jehovah-Jireh I mean to make the godly Reader to see the distress and danger we were plunged in by the nefarious Plots of Jesuitical Priests and perfidious Prelates for I may most justly link them together like Simeon and Levi brothers in iniquity combining and complotting to reduce us to the accursed Romish Religion the whole Book is full of the same stuff And there were Centuries of scandal us Malignant Priests printed by the order of the Committee of the House of Commons wherein the Episcopal Clergy was charged with the most detestable crimes and abominations that could be invented And Mr. White saith of them in the Preface That they were dumb Dogs Jo White 1643. against whom God had protested for their ignorance men swallowed up with Wine and strong Drink whose Tables were full of vomit and filthiness Whoremongers and Adulterers who as fed Horses neigh'd after their Neighbours Wives Buggerers that changed the natural use in that which is against Nature men unfit to live or to preach among Christians Priests of Baal of Bacchus of Priapus Pray what could you have said worse not only of us but even of the lewdest Turks and Heathen So Mr. Gill. at Edinburgh in his Sermon to the House of Commons on Ezek. 43.11 And if they be ashamed of what they have done c. saith at the 13 pag. Gillesâ— 164â— The first Application shall be to the Malignants enemies of the Cause and people of God at this time who deserve to have Jeremies blaâ—k mark to be put upon them Jer. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination Mr. Tesdale likewise in his fore-mentioned Sermon Tesd p. 8. Balaam may engross the Promotions of Moab as the temporizing Clergy of late the Dignities of our Church but upon sawey terms they must come then and curse Israel And before at the 6 pag. he had joined together the Atheists Papist Priests the Prelates Irish Rebels and the English Traitors as Sampsons Foxes to destroy the Church and Commonwealth Mr. Calamy himself that man of moderation told the Commons E Calamy 1645. p. 26. If there be any amongst you that favour Malignants because they are your Friends though Enemies to God and his cause this is a great sin to be repented on greatly I say to such as the Prophet to Jehoshaphat 2 Chr. 19.2 Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord Any body whom you knew to be a Friend or an Helper to the King was sure to be a wicked man for his pains and to have fine Epithets bestowed upon him as these Beech 1645. p. 10. Have not our new Midianites Assyrians taking to their assistance the French Philistines Welsh Egyptians Cornish Hungarians the degenerate Ishmaelites and the Renegado English have not these wrested our lives c. Nay the Magistrates themselves were
use for the Lord Mr. Tesdale in the same manner P. 15. Honourable Patriots Christ is gone forth with his triumphing Army conquering and to conquer and if you want Arms or Money or Horse for their accommodation God is the great Landlord of Heaven and Earth Art thou then Gods Tenant and dost thou owe him Knight-service and Plough-service and doth he want thy Horse and shall he not have it c. Yea verily it was so meritorious a thing to advance the interest of the holy Covenanteers that that was call'd to help the Lord and people were to do the utmost for it and then an hundred-fold here and eternal life besides was the least as they could have for a recompence Mr. Bond after a long Exhortation to pull down Antichrist Joh. Bond 1644. p. 60. and to do for the Lord in the close of all saith I will recommend unto you these two especial promises Mat. 19.29 Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren c. and Mar. 8.35 Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels the same shall find it O that they were written over the doors of the Houses of Parliament If these places do deceive an active Believer at last then let it be written upon my Grave Here lieth that Minister that was mistaken in his God and Gospel Was not the acting for the Cause highly meritorious when the greatest of rewards were to be got by it Wherein then lieth the difference Only in this That among you 't is rebelling against the King and the Church but with us 't is good works only that merit Pr. Well but them good works consist for the most part in being kind to the Fryars those good souls who have vowed forsooth to follow the counsels of perfection poverty chastity and blind obedience and yet preach themselves more than Jesus Christ and in begging about make people believe that the best service they can do to God is to do them good whereas you see by your own Citations that what our Ministers did was out of Zeal for Gods Cause to advance his Honour and not their own Profit Pa. Yea that was a piece of deceit and craftiness whereby they out did the Fryars themselves to call their own Gods interest to give specious names to their own devices as if God and Religion had been much concern'd in the establishing of them and to make the world believe that to pull down the Church was to pull down Antichrist and to set them up was to set up Christ in his Throne yet terminis terminatibus they would speak it out too that they and their followers were to be used kindly and that it was the duty and interest of the whole Nation to do good to the Saints and to make as much of them as they could I confess you never oblig'd your selves to obey the Evangelick counsels but you went as near to it as any bad Copy can resemble a good Original for you vow'd to spend your Lives and Estates upon the work in hand that was poverty to the height You vow'd to reform the Church according to the pattern of the best reformed Churches to extirpate Superstition and Heresie and to preserve the Rights and Priviledges of the Parliament and the Liberties of the Kingdoms All which I am sure was blind obedience for not one of an hundred as took the Covenant understood what these things meant and were therefore to follow you blindfold And if in stead of continency you 'll give me leave to put obstinacy we have found the three Monachal vows in the Covenant for you swore never to suffer your selves directly or indirectly by whatsoever combination perswasion or terrour to be divided or withdrawn from your blessed Vnion or Conjunction as you call'd it but zealously and constantly to continue therein all the days of your lives against all opposition whatsoever And accordingly that renowned Champion of yours who died a Martyr for the Covenant said on the Scaffold Mr. Loves Case 1651 p. 21 I did oppose in my place and calling the Forces of the late King and were be alive again and should I live longer the Cause being as then it was I should oppose him longer The good man would rather venture Damnation than break the Covenant by repenting of his Rebellion against his Sovereign so binding was that Holy League which oblig'd him to be thus ostinate But perhaps you won't believe what I have said that you made the people believe it was a most meritorious thing to be kind to you and that you preacht your selves as much as ever the Fryars did if not at least believe these precious men Mr. Dury having observ'd out of his Text Isai 52.11 that God hath vessels belonging to him tells the House of Commons Dury p. 14 God hath intrusted some with those his Vessels and charged them with the care of them to look to them to bear them up c. and then having extol'd the Covenant up to the Skies he saith pag. 24. This is a new thing in the Christian Church there is a special engagement lying upon us all more than upon other men to bear every one our own vessels to bear the vessels of each other and to bear jointly the Church and Cause of God in our hearts hands and shoulders In all the World there is not a Magistracy so eminently entrusted with such a charge over a people so nearly united unto God as you and the Parliament of Scotland are Mr. Burroughs likewise told the Parliament Jer. Burr 1645. p. 8. It hath been the honour of some of you to receive and countenance godly Ministers who suffered under the Tyranny of Prelates this Christ hath owed you for and we hope it shall be remembred for good to you and yours let not your hearts be changed towards these men And pag. 45. My Lords you are advanced to high power and honour in a Kingdom where Christ hath as many Saints I had almost said as in the World besides he expects you should use them kindly Th. Good 1645. p. 5. and 6. And Mr. Goodwin to the House of Commons observes out of his Text Psal 105.14 Here is the nearness and dearness of the Saints to God they are dearer to him than Kings and States simply considered and here is the danger of Kings and States to deal with his Saints otherwise than well And then towards the latter end pag. 52. and 53. It is not the having Saints and multitudes of Saints but the using them kindly that is the interest of a Nation The Saints of England are the interest of England look to and keep this your interest namely maintain and preserve the Saints among you and make provisions for them as you would preserve this Kingdom And then he repeats it again p. 54. The Saints of England are the interest of England write this upon your walls and have it in your eyes in all your Consultations and