gouernement was in greatest disdaine and at that time being vnacquainted with Church discipline I thought strange to heare it And here againe Mr. Dauid I am in doubt with my selfe what to thinke of you seeing I know no other oath you meane of and you haue touched none other in your Treatâ—se admonitorie what hath carried you to tâ—is absurd affirmation that the oath conceyued against Papall vsurped wicked wordly Monarchie and Hierarchie is against Episcopall authoritie shall I thinke ignorance hath done it You are giuen out and bragged of for a learned man and a Writer Or shall I thinke malice hath done it you are counted for a Christian and so I thinke you be what euer hath moued you sure I am it hath miscarryed you for let mee tell you when Zorimus Bishop of Rome sent ouer his Legates to the councell of Africke wherein were assembled two hundred seauenteene Bishops among whom it is thought Augustine was one to proue that it was lawfull to appeale vnto him from all Bishops in the world alleadging this power was giuen by the Councell of Nice after long deliberation and inquisition of the most auncient Copies of the Councell of Nice his fraudulent vsurpation was discouered and he warmed by these Fathers neuer to attempt any such thing in time to come Many reasons they gaue him as indeede they had all reason for it specially this that the grace of the holy Ghost had not with-drawne it selfe from all other Prouinces to rest in one alone to discerne there the right of all causes wherefore they willed him to abstaine from such ambition Ne fumâ—sum saeculi typhum inducere in Ecclesiam Dei videatur Here Mr. Dauid you see a solemne reiection of the wicked Hierarchie of the Bishop of Rome Did these Fathers by so doing reiect Episcopall authoritie exercised by themselues allowed accepted embraced and reuerenced in their Churches Thus haue I made cleare that you haue fained a sense of that article contrarie to his Maiesties minde contrarie to the minde of the first Fathers of our Church contrary to the minde of the present Fathers of our Church and contrary to the mind of the ancient Fathers of the Church primitiue in the foure hundreth yeere And if I should draw you vp higher are you able to denie that Episcopall gouernment was in the Church before that Romish Hierarchie was hatched out of the the shell What hath the one of them to doâ— with the other Hath the Romish Church beene more impugned by any then Orthodoxe Bishops Or hath any sort of men beene more persecuted by the Romish Hierarchie then reformed Bishops Why are you so vnrighteous as to oppresse the one vnder the name of the other Were all the Bishops who suffered Martyrdome in the first three hundred yeeres guiltie of that Hierarchie which you haue condemned And if I should draw you yet vp higher I see as much light in the word of God as giues warrant to me of the lawfulnesse of Episcopall Gouernment and I doubt not will serue to content reasonable men when they shall heare it You prouoked me to this point but you turne your backe and flie from it and I haue not any leasure to pursue a flying man hauing better studies I would more gladly ouer-take yet something will I subioyne for discharge at least of my dutie 8 These things therefore so standing the Question will be thus Seeing Episcopall gouernment in it selfe is lawfull seeing all Christian Churches haue had it seeing our owne Church had it ratified by acts of generall Assemblie for many yeeres with an happie successe of the Euangell seeing it was laid by against the will of a Christian King in his minoritie against the will of his Highnesse Regent and Lords of Councell well affected to Religion and that not simplie but with a power of reuocation queritur whether if or not a Christian King in his maioritie requiring a restitution of it the present Church hath done well to receiue it in againe especially seeing it is done without destruction of that policie so long aduised and added at length by the Fathers of the middle age of our Church for strengthening of our Discipline To contract then all the matter which you haue spread out with a multitude of idle words into a short summe There is no new Discipline brought into the Church but the auncient restored to thâ— former strength no point of later policie abolished but established and an happy vnion made euery way betweene them who should agree in one to do the worke of God This is my iudgement and I esteeme by it the name of the Church of Scotland honoured a Christian King in his most reasonable desire satisfied the peace of the Church happily procured the mouths of aduersaries stopped offence from weake and simple ones remoued and much more good easily effected if contentious and vaine spirits would not hinder it Thus is the very state of the question cleared vnto you so that you haue no cause to cry out as you doe Who should teach vs but Bishops and if they will not our bloud be vpon their heads You seeme to be very earnest here but all men may see it is but your Orpit or Ironic conceit so like as M. Dauid will be taught of Bishops a sort of profane men without either learning or grace in your account But you neede not make the halfe of this stirre you might be ignorant of Church-gouernement and your bloud in no danger for all that but if indeede you stand in feare least you loose your soule follow our counsell and we shall lay our life for yours Repent of your sinnes Beleeue in Iesus the Sauiour of the world Amend your life Decke the hid man of your heart with a meeke and quiâ—t spirit which before God is a thing much set by Put on loue and meeknesse leaue off strife and contention be content with your owne calling meddle not with things without your compasse whereunto albeit you might reach yet are they not so profitable as to repay your paines nor yet absolutely necessarie for your saluation doe this and it shall be well with you if not your bloud shall be vpon your owne head and none of the Bishops of Scotland shall be guiltie of it The rest of your discourses of paritie and imparitie in Church-gouernement are answered by that which I haue said neither doe you here your selfe insist in them but remit mee by particular quotations to your Epistles foureteene in number written to seuerall men contayning eight sheetes of paper bound vp in forme of a Booke and sent to mee to peruse them But you must remember it is an vnreasonable request to require a Bishop employed in daily teaching and other necessarie charges in the Church to reade ouer all your missiue Letters yet haue I looked to them as I had leasure and answered them as cause requires in this my Defence As for your Epistles if your conceit be such
the gall of your bitternesse it is returned backe to your selfe and you must drinke it You haue drawne your sword to slay such as be of vpright conuersation and it is entred into your owne bowels You vvould kindle a hellish fire in an heauenly fellowshippe and pester the Paradise of GOD vvith the pest and poyson of Satan You bring in vvorkes of the flesh hatred emulation wrath contention sedition enuie lying rayling heresie for you are the first Father of this calumnie that in our Church are Teachers of false Doctrine to defend as you thinke a Spirituall cause This is intollerable in the Church this is to shame the Church so farre as you may It were but a iust recompence of your presumption to pay you home with your owne money Neither is it alway reproueable said Nazian Radentem vicissim radere I know he commends Hero the Martyr that he came out against the Cynicks of his time Canis aduersus veros canes but where the iniurie concernes my selfe I will not so requiâ—e you You haue iudged my conscience to be corrupt done what you could to defame me I will not doe the like to you I am bound by the Apostles precept recompence to no man euill for euill And againe Be not ouercome of euill but ouercome euill with goodnesse Ver. 21. I remember mine owne lesson in the Alphabet for Sions Schollers it is dangerous to fight against Satan with his owne armour to giue rebuke for rebuke and pay home one calumnie with another for I know there is no difference inter prouocantem et prouocatum nisi quod ille prior in maleficio depraehenditur I esteeme it neither wisedome then manhood Cum virtute vincere liceat vitio superari aut etiam superare quod multo sceleratius est When a man may ouercome by vertue to suffer himselfe be ouercome by vice in another or which is much worse to striue by it to ouercome others But where your reproaches are not priuate nor personall onely but publicke concerning the whole Church I cannot of dutie but speake of them as they are vnder such names and stiles as they deserue for the cause is common and the Ministrie of a publicke Office-bearer in the Church is for the benefit of others where it is good and honest the defaming of it is not without the preiudice of many that should receiue good by it In this you haue degressed so inordinately out of the compasse of Christian dutie that I am forced to come to you with a fire from God to burne vp extinguish and vndoe your vncouth fire and with an holy anger as the hammer of God to beate downe the horne of your pride That same holy Spirit which at one time descended in the likenesse of a Doue at another discended in the similitude of Fire Meekenesse alway is not to be vsed there is a time when it becommeth Moses the meekest man of the earth to be angrie I dare not say I can rule anger as he did but shall doe what I may to restraine it I know then onely is anger good when it is a seruant to reason and a Souldier fighting for the truth Tunc neruus quidam animae est indignatio fortitudinem ad res bene gerendas praebens And here if any shame of this conflict arise vnto you it is not by my deede you haue drawne it vpon your selfe As the dirt which the Sea foames and casts vp in her flowing returnes backe againe without difficultie into her owne bosome in the ebbing so is it beleeue me with you you haue here but foamed out your owne shame your reproaches and calumnies which you haue here heaped vp and dawbed together with vntempered morter so soone as they are touched fall backe vpon your selfe and it is not my rebuke but your owne returning vnto you You haue drawne me from mine accustomed course of studie vnto a field of Contention which I like not It had beene greater pleasure to mee and profit to others I had spent this time vpon some other subiect meeter for edification of the soules of men and doubtlesse or now I had done so if you had not interrupted me but since you haue kindled a fire in the Church and your selfe falne into it and like to draw others with you into it also I will not be so vndutifull as to leaue any thing vndone that I may doe to quench it And if in pulling you out of this fire I handle you more roughly then otherwise I would and my speeches be sharper then you like wel of to heare yet I hope to speake nothing against your selfe but against your sinne not to seeke a fault in you by searching your conscience but to rebuke it where you by word plainly manifest it and in this if not you yet at least the Christian Reader will excusemee your danger is so desperate the danger wherein simple ones are drawne by you yea the perill imminent to the whole Church so euident by this trumpet of Sedition you haue blowne into it like another Bichraean Sheba that I am forced to doe as I haue done Yet by Gods grace two things I shall keepe Patience and Loue the one in my selfe Cauendum enim est ne vindictae cupiditate amittatur ipsa patientia quae pluris est habenda quam omne quod potest inimicus etiam inuito auferre The other toward you I haue and I will loue you whether you will or not neither shall your raging in this Feauer alienate mine affection from you But indeed I looked for better fruits from you and expected you should haue beene answerable to your stile Theagrius The husbandrie of God should abound in fruits of the Spirit which are loue peace gentlenesse goodnesse meekenesse but how farre you haue digressed from these I hope you will see better when you come to your selfe againe Surely if mine enemie had defamed me I could haue borne it or if mine aduersarie had exalted himselfe against mee I would haue hid my selfe from him but it was thou O man euen my familiar and my companion who delighted to consult together and goe to the house of God as companions What can the most professed enemie of the Gospell doe more then you haue done You haue rewarded me euill for good and so haue brought your selfe vnder the danger of that fearefull sentence He that rewardeth euill for good euill shall neuer depart from his house I wish your eyes may be opened to see it and God may giue you grace in time to repent of it But now to come to the matter The spight of your furie runnes first against my name and that with such violence as declares a great force of inordinate affection in you to ouer-runne it if you could For so you begin THE ADMONENT RIght loued brother while I am in expectation of the answere you promised to my Letters I receiued by euenture your Apologie written in
defence of your fame as you giue it out in your Preface and proues you should so doe by diuers authorities of diuers Doctours yet as good will thinke Fame should be despised or procured and retained by good actions c. THE ANSVVERE HVmano capiti ceruicem pictor equinam c. Mr. Dauid begins at right loued brother but that this agrees no better with the progresse of his Paralogie then a mans head set vpon a beasts body will be manifest in the own place The Locusts that came out of the bottomlesse pit had a face like a mans face but their teeth were as the teeth of Lyons and their tailes like vnto the Scorpion it becomes not a professed Christian to be like one of them Doe you not here come to mee as Ioab did to Amasa hee tooke him by the beard with the right hand to kisse him and said Art thou in health my brother and smote him with the left hand As siluer drosse ouer-laied vpon a pot-shard so are burning lips and a false heart if a louing heart had moued your lips in louing manner to call me Right loued brother you would haue spared to spew out such raylings as after followes but you haue bewrayed your selfe Salomon heere hath found you out to be but a guilt Pot-shard pretending by one word Christian brotherhood when all the rest of your words and deedes proues the contrarie as concerning me What euenture caried mine Apologie to you I care not I published it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking truly on my conscience to men as conscience spake vnto me onely to remoue such offence as weake Christians might conceiue through the calumnies of a lying Libeller I did it with such moderation of words as I cannot thinke it offended any man if I were in the wrong to any it was to my Brethren who stand for Episcopall gouernment in that I set it lower to procure peace then I should haue done yet it offends Mr. Dauid though it no way concerne him he will be a busic-bodie and meddle with other mens matters where-vnto he hath neither calling nor commission What your Doctours are who mislike that a good name should be defended yea that it should be despifed I know not you say it but you cite them not as good you call them as Philo Tertullian Ierome Ambrose Nazianzene Augustine These men are small in Mr. Dauids conceit here in the very entry giuing vs a taste of that humour wherein you continue and encrease in the rest liberall enough in your as good a word frequently vsed of them who are scant of matter yet faine would be contending but this chaire is too high for you to be the Palemon of Doctours past and present can you tell their value can you match them rightly you still vsurpe it but will be found to take too much vpon you A name sayes your Doctors should be despised or else say you obtained and retained by good actions not by Apologies The first is true no man denies it a good name should be procured by good deedes but why seclude you the second Are not Apologies lawfull yea needfull to conserue a good name begotten of good actions when an euill tongue would destroy it For why will good actions stop the mouthes of backbiters Will innocencie it selfe fence a man against the strife of tongues No it kept not Iesus the iust from the scourge of the tongue Was not Samuel an vnrebukeable man among men yet forced to vse Apologie Behold here am I beare record of me before the Lord whose Oxe haue I taken or whose Asse haue I taken or whom haue I done wrong to or whom haue I hurt or at whose hand haue I receiued any bribe to blinde mine eyes therewith Mr. Dauid many a time in your admonitorie you charge me for a corrupt louer of gaine but I adhere to Samuels protestation before the Lord against you and against all creatures I could tell at how manie hands I haue refused gaine euen for a shew of vngodlinesse but that creature was not is not that can conuict me of receiuing it And was not Saint Paul a faithfull seruant of God a painefull man in the worke of the Ministrie yet compelled to plead his cause by Apologies before men What shall I say the Christians of the primitiue Church were men of a godly life yet so sore oppressed with calumnies that Iustin Tertullian other Fathers of the Church were forced to defend them by Apologies A worthy constant and couragious man of God was Athanasius was he not without cause accused as a Murtherer and Sorcerer that he had slain Arsenius cut off his right arme to vse it in witchcraft and so forced to purge himselfe by Apologie And is not this it which I tolde you so clearely in mine Apologie but that you can see nothing which pleaseth not your humour I tell you it now therefore ouer againe It is Satans policie to staine the Name where hee cannot corrupt the Conscience and to disgrace the person by contempt of men where he cannot dishonour them by trapping them in his owne snare Sore hath mine aduersarie thrust at mee from my young yeeres by change of tentations hath hee sought to winnow mee if you had read my little Dialogue it could haue told you I haue beene trained vp with the wrastlings of GOD. Many wayes hath the Enemie sought to snare me that he might shame me and in shaming me might shame the glorious Ministrie committed to me though least and vnworthiest of all his seruants But my Lord prayed for mee and his grace preserued me that Satan got no vantage against mee to the disaduantage of the Gospell but now hee hath changed his battell and heere is the point what Satan could neuer obtaine of mee by inward tentation hee would make the world beleeue by outward calumnie that he had obtained it and that he had made me a man of a corrupt conscience and of an vnhonest heart toward God and man Before he fought against mee with inward tentations and I resisted him by instant prayer now he impugnes me by outward calumnies he hath not I thanke God corrupted my conscience but he would make men beleeue that he had done it and here it offends Mr. Dauid I should resist the enemie and defend my selfe by Apologies Since he hath changed the manner of his on-set why may not I change the manner of my Defence for in all this I take him for my principall partie Thus stands the question betweene Satan and mee and I am sorie for you that you come in to second him and serue him for an instrument to carie his lies vpon the chariots of your tongue and penne to the eares and hearts of others for to speake according to truth this is the place vvherein you stand at this time you haue taken you to be Satans second in this combat against me at least he hath abused you to follow him ignorantly
to defend your owne though with the interest of theirs And againe you say That such as shall be liberall to speake against you appearingly you call them carnall contentious Spirits Demi-gods as if God had set his tribunall in their tongue or made them Iudges of mens Consciences Libellers of lies Shemeis Raylers Busie-bodies Night-birds c. THE ANSVVERE DOe you not here speake as one of the children of men set on fire whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharpe sword Are you not heere blowing at the coale to kindle if you can a fire among brethren To strengthen your feeble cause you cry for a partie and goes about not with the godly policie of S. Paul to deuide Pharisies and Sadduces but with the godlesse impietie of the Serpent to sowe the seede of dissention among brethren That euill-one doth it in the night when men are sleeping and you are not afraid to doe it in the day and all men looking vpon you Is it true which you haue said speake you iustly and haue you iudged vprightly Will you throw these words of mine against my brethren are you become so brazen-fac'd haue you shaken off all shame and taken libertie to say what you like yea euen against your owne light for you dare not say plainely to it but appearingly say you I call them so Are not my words plaine said I not in mine Apologie I am sure no well aduised Christian will fight with such armour if I thinke no Christian will doe it farre lesse will any brother of the Ministrie doe it Are they who are contrarie minded in Church-gouernment otherwise stiled by mee then Reuerend Fathers or Brethren God knowes they are so in my heart as I haue termed them in speech Yet you say I haue iniured them in their name My speech was then against a lying Libeller and some other professours whereof some are preposterously zealous others prophanely presumptious to giue out rash iudgement of all men I knew not then that you had beene one of that sort but since my words haue beene to you like the breath of the Hart to draw such a Serpent as you out of your denne and make you know your selfe in your owne colours I cannot but tell you plainely that you are one of them to whom all these Epithets rehearsed by you are competent a few onely excepted Carnally contentious a rayling busie-bodie a Demâ—god vsurping Gods tribunall you haue here declared your self but of others I cleare you that you are not a night-bird a chatterer in secret a biter behinde backes For the height of your pride and stoutnesse of your conceit carries you so farre that you thinke it too little for the greatnesse of your reputation to be a Pestilence walking in darknesse Nay for the honour of your name you must be daemonum meridianum a plague that destroyes at noone and an arrowe that flies by day to slay the innocent This is wickednesse more then enough and yet Vt sit supra modum peccans peccatum you will adde drunkennesse to thirst and not content to slay one you will as I said be a fire-brand in the Church to burne all kindling continuing encreasing fierie contention among brethren It became you rather of Christian dutie if you knew it to bring words of modestie truth and loue like water to quench the fire that is then by words of strife and contention to kindle it where it is not et sic oleum camino addere Thinke you Mr. Dauid to goe betweene vs and our brethren beleeue mee they neede not your patrocinie at our hands nor we yours or any mans at theirs euen the Lord knowes how wee haue tendred their names they are our brethren wee dare goe neerer them then you to liue with them to die with them where discrepance of iudgement is about things externall God knowes it is with our mutuall griefe where consonance is as blessed be the Lord it is in all points of Faith it is with our mutuall ioy And since the beginning of this Controuersie I did euer thinke it a lamentable thing to see such as agree in vnitie of faith disagree in a matter of Discipline and that those who could happily haue concorded on a scaffold to scale the truth of God professed by them both if so the Lord had called them vnto it should thus vnnecessarily discord for a question of externall Church-gouernement in it selfe not absolutely requisite to Saluation But this as I said in mine Apologie is the pittifull condition of humane infirmitie If I cannot mend it I shall at least mourne for it and will daily pray to my God that he would set peace in Ierusalems borders and vnite the hearts of his seruants into one Neither will I despaire of it but will pray the Lord to stirre vp in this Church such a man as Athanasius was and blesse the worke of this Vnion in his hands A powerfull instrument of the Lord was hee to conserue puritie of Doctrine by his singular constancie with peace among Preachers by his godly wisedome for this was he renowned as Columen Ecclesiae in his time Many times was hee banished by deceit and often-times forced to flie to eschew the furie of his enemie but none of all his sufferings purchased him such commendation as this that when hee came home and found a Schisme among the Fathers of the Church for a greater cause then any that is among vs praised be God yet he happily composed it Vtraque enim parte leniter humane accersita verborumque sententia diligenter accurrate perpensa postaquam Concordes reperit nec quantum ad doctrinam quicquam inter se dissidentes ita negotium transegit vt nominum vsum ipsis concedens rebus ipsos constringeret For calling both the parties with meekenesse and loue vnto him and iudiciously pondering either of their opinions he perceiued that concerning Doctrine there was no difference the diuersitie was about words the matter vvhich either of them beleeued one and the same hee did therefore so compose this discord that leauing vnto them free the vse of the words names hee bound them both with necessitie of the matter it selfe I wish againe that such an Athanasius were among vs for I can see nothing but strife about words and persons there being otherwise agreement both in the matter of Doctrine and Discipline The same power of gouernement that now is in our Church was alway in it now vnder the name of a Bishop before vnder a name equiualent to it And when both the names were silent yet the power of them both euer exercised by some When the name was not the matter remained the power I meane in substance But now contention is growne to such heat that an Office tollâ—rably lawfull needfull in it selfe is thought vntollerable vnder such a name and for such persons as are with it or against it A lamentable matter for the which I sigh within
King requires the wall to be repaired and that vpon reason yea forced thereunto of necessitie is it not better that Pastors and people in this should obey their King then otherwise by refusing and resisting should procure and continue a needlesse debaite betweene a Prince of such knowledge and pietie and his people betweene a King and his Church and betweene faithfull zealous godly and learned Pastors among themselues And now Mr. Dauid thinke shame that you professe to haue so great respect to a simple Labourer but no respect to a singular King no more then if hee had not to doe with the worke at all rather then a simple Labourer be hurt say you let the building stand rather then a singular King be offended say I let the wall be renued Where pride is where fectlesse and needlesse contention is whether with you or vs I leaue it to the consideration of the Christian and iudicious Reader What regard the auncient Fathers of our Church had to his Maiestie in his minoritie how loath any way to make his Highnesse regent and the Lords of Counsell their partie by giuing them any cause of offence the monuments of our Church can witnesse But now the pleasure or displeasure of a Christian King in his old age is nothing regarded yea it is maintained for an Axiome that Christ his Kingdome is dishonoured when helpe is sought from the arme of a Christian King I thanke God what euer my minde was in Church-gouernment I knew not I loued not such foolish pride Then I thought out of simplicitie that euery mans minde had beene like mine owne seeing I see it is otherwise and far otherwise they must excuse me to mislike in them that which I neuer loued in my selfe that is a proud conceit of singular sinceritie a disdaine of others a delight in needlesse contention and a misregard of a Christian King of whom we haue neuer esteemed as we should and as time will force other ages to acknowledge Your third interrogatorie now followeth THE ADMONENT VVHether the wals should be retained in that estate wherein they are built and as they are after the direction of him who is both Lord and chiefe builder a cunning master of the worke or if wee should cast them downe and build them againe after the pleasure of the Prentises and conceit of the Labourers THE ANSVVERE MAster Dauid is so forward in his owne purpose that he forgetteth his speech or else his tongue runnes before and tarries not on his minde A labourers office is the basest of any who are imployed in a building Mr. Dauid came neuer to this honour as to bee a Labourer in Gods house yet hee dishonours it so farre that where in the former Section hee said hee will rather haue the Master of the worke albeit hee were a King offended then a Labourer be offended now hee saith the Master of the worke his word should bee a Law and a Laboures conceit should not be regarded Doe you not here proclaime your inconfiderate folly But now to your Interrogatorie take this for an answere Your question is out of question to vse your owne words in this you are your owne Antigonist you shall haue none of vs your contradictor turne your question into an Assertion wee assent to it Let the Tabernacle be built after the patterne which God shewed Moses in the Mount let the forme of Church-gouernment be learned from Christ and his Apostles let the auncient Fathers of the primitiue Church be followed where they are followers of Christ and such as will doe otherwise let them be accounted Nouices Prentises ignorant Builders whose conceit may not should not be a warrant in so great a workemanship Your fourth Question followeth THE ADMONENT IF we should pull downe the wals quite with our owne hands and dismantle the towne wholy THE ANSVVERE THis is as needlesse a question as the former and nothing else but an idle conception of your owne braine yea worse then Idlenesse an exceeding great malice that because the Citie is not gouerned after your humour you will encourage the enemie to besiege it and signifie to them by your warning Peece that the towne is dismantled and hath no wals to hold them out Is not this to encourage them boldly to set on But though such vnnaturall Mutiners as you would betray it bewraying the weakenesse of it to the aduersarie your euill hart may foome out your owne shame and procure your selfe the iust reward of such vile treason but the Lord for his names sake will protect the Citie build vp the wals thereof and loue it still And now if any truth Mr. Dauid remaine in you concerning this matter tell mee doth this Citie want any wall that euer it had or rather are not the Towers and strengths of the wall fortified that the Samaritanes Tobie Sanballat and their complices grudge and murmure to see Ophell Mariamne Phaselus built vp againe To be plaine with you wants there any Ecclesiastique Session want wee Synods Prouinciall or Nationall Is any censure of Admonition Suspention or Excommunication taken away they are rectified roborated but not remoued how then say you the towne is dismantled Your fift Interrogatorie followeth THE ADMONENT YEa in effect if wee should receiue in the Plague that hath proued so that hath beene cast out and cut off for corruption THE ANSVVERE SPeake more sparingly if you meane not to proue a pestilent man in the Church You call Episcopall gouernment a pestilence so you say but you proue it not Much take you in this Treatise vpon your tongue as if it were a sufficient warrand for all your Assertion The goodman said it for if you come to probation how hath it as you say proued a Pestilence the common argument you thinke is knowne well enough that the Episcopall degree was a step to Antichrist then must you graunt it was in the Church before Antichrist yea truely long before Papall tyrannie was hatched which is the worldly and wicked Hierarchie our Church hath abiured Episcopall gouernement was in the Church and you haue no more reason to condemne Episcopall superioritie although as you alledge Papall primacie had come of it then you haue to condemne Veritie because Heresie came of it per accidens If man had neuer beene ordained sinne by man had not come into the world if the word of truth had not beene preached the people of heresie had not followed if there were not a bodie there should not be a shadow if there had neuer beene a Bishop there should neuer haue beene a Pope as you say What then because sinne is euill is the man made by God not good because Heresie is abhominable is not Veritie approuable because the shadow is a vaine thing is the bodie so because the Pope is a Plague in the Church is the Bishop so also If this be a proofe of your best Logicke what will the rest be But say you it hath beene cast out of the
comes of them when they begin to change Euen as the finest wine turnes into the sharpest vinegar How then shal a man be without feare but I nothing doubt it is in his Maiestie his chiefe cares to establish it and that by fensing it against all euils specially tyrannie libertie briberie partialitie sloath which you haue obiected and where desperately you insinuate that the Office of a Bishop will neuer doe good A Wolfe say you will be a Wolfe and all the world had sworne it and will worrie too when the Shepheards backe is turned you but speake of your owne either ignorance or euill set affection considering how many famous Bishops without the reuerence of a Christian King liued as Fathers to the Church faithfull Preachers of the Gospel and died constant Martyrs for the testimonie of Iesus but Mr. Dauid will haue all these rauening Wolfes The other cause why my feare should be greater followes THE ADMONENT THe Office of Bishops then pretended no preheminence now it doth then it was subiect to Presbyteries now it is freed from them then it was bound with caueats now it is let loose Then euery Preacher might speake against it now none reproues then were all alike friend and good fellow with their Pastors now his Lordship c. THE ANSVVERE MAster Dauid wee know better what was wont to be in our Church then you there was neuer all alike as you say in it our gouernement was alway Aristocratick for albeit by constitution for that time paritie was allowed yet was it not practised there was euer some leaders rulers honoured and reuerenced by other Pastors and good reason so should bee what else see you now if the persons liked you the purpose is the same Since the beginning of our Church Bishops Superintendents vvere neuer subiect to the iudgement of their brethren in the matter of their office nay not to their Synods but were reserued to be iudged onely by the generall assembly but you affirme the contrarie pertly enough looking for no controlement Bishops are not let loose suppose they be not left to your teddering But this offends you that they are called Lords let me enquire at you Is honour giuen to any in the Church but for the honour of all if they could looke to it with loue and humilitie euery one might say Honoris vestri participes et nos sumus Will any member of the bodie grudge to see another honoured or rather in the honour of one doe they not all reioyce and esteeme themselues to be honoured Mr. Dauid there is a pride which loueth honour and preferment Our Lord condemnes it there is another pride that disdaines to giue it and I may well say it is the worst pride of the two I will not thinke that either Elijah or Samuel were vaine-glorious when the one was stiled by Obadiah and the other by Anna My Lord Surely it is a weake and vaine minde that is puft vp with so small a winde and yet I am sure both Anna and Obadiah in giuing them this honour did but their dutie But I thinke M. Dauid in this will not be contentious for in the backe of his Letter directed to Bishops he writes To his verie good Lord And then in the subscription within Your L. or wisedomes What he meanes by this I know not he will giue his owne reason hee saith it is a nouation and corruption to call one Pastor a Bishop more then the rest yet hee doth it and here hee practises in secret that which he impugnes in publick and so decâ—iues his complices giuing honour himselfe to Bishops which he saith should not be giuen them they haue cause to feare least sometime hee forsake them Now you proceede THE ADMONENT YOu make a faire shew by bragges to corroborate all by the word of God and example of the Church Primitiue iolly words sooner said then proued strings much harped on by diuers but to little vse and wherein the more men diue the more they cleare the contrarie it may be easily seene through all the subtilties clouds and colours that they cast on it who haue busied themselues in that matter euen your Sarauia euen whosoeuer whom the more men reades the lesse effect they see in him they I say who haue not their eies blinded with some other thing such as blindes not the eies of the wise THE ANSVVERE VVHether it be a faire shew or a solid substance wee will trye when it comes to the point You will not haue it heard that the Primitiue Church had Bishops you may aswell denie that the Sunne shined vnto them you call this a Subterfuge and a large field whereunto we runne to eschew the chocke of the question which say you is this Whether these Bishops that now are and as they are now be lawfull in the Church of Scotland or if the oath hinder But prouoke at leasure ere we part you will finde vs by Gods grace at the chocke of the Question and your selfe chocked with it for all your boast but I must first goe through this hedge of Bryers and Brambles which you haue laid in my way You set light by our Sarauia as you call him but you deceiue your selfe if you thinke our strength is in Sarauia for mine owne part I neuer read him so much as I haue done you and of that which I haue read I see Sarauia will stand for himselfe for all you are able to say your little Dagger will not reach to him and it were shame for you now though you might to strike at a dead man as I heare hee is it were greater manhood to encounter with Downame you dissemble that you know him but if you doe and mislike him hee is readie to fight with you in that cause till your Logicke panne be cleane dryed vp or the cause renounced One thing you haue that no man can see any thing in Sarauia but Sophistrie and falshood except those whose eyes are blinded with some other thing such as blindes the eyes of the wise you would seeme here to be modest yet of purpose as mordent as you may be whom you would insimulate of briberie Aduise with your selfe if you be seeking any such here as the By-word is You are in the wrong Close I told you before you were acquainted with the Muses onely the Dorit Muse hath beene strange vnto you you were capable enough of her instruction but shee tooke no paines vpon you it is meetest you should meane you to Melpomene her mourning moodes might procure you pittie but out of your pride and male contentment to blot such as you are bound to honor and secretly to insinuate that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as gaue iudgement for gifts is intollerable presumption I protest before God I know none such in the Church I would not say it for all the world If any such be of all men they are the most miserable if they be not Mr. Dauid declareth what
corruption in mee hath had any secret respect to these Idols beleeue mee my heart is not priuie vnto it I know there is no man in whom the seede of all sinne is not If I come to be examined before God I will protest with Dauid Lord enter not into iudgement with mee for in thy sight shall no flesh be iustified I know not mine owne soule many euils are in it which are hid from mee for God is greater then the conscience and knoweth many things of vs which our owne conscience knoweth not But so farre forth as a man can know himselfe in this whereof I am accused I may answere you boldlie My lips haue spoken no wickednesse and my tongue hath vttered no deceit It was not the loue of Gaine or Glorie that hath wrought this change of my minde In this you haue wrongfully and now after mine Apologie and oath of Conscience wickedly accused mee God forbid I should iustifie you vntill I die I will neuer take mine innocencie from my selfe I will keepe my righteousnesse and will not forsake it mine heart shall not reproue mee of my dayes This is Mr. Dauid the right application of this example But now you proceede THE ADMONENT NOW to looke backe but euen a little vpon this that wee haue alreadie said what is this wee see standing at the very entrie Is it not Fame and is not that a great Idoll as euer was in the World the cause of huge Idolatrie and yet haue you reared it vp here openly in a publike place THE ANSVVERE SVrely if you were not like an Idoll of the Nations that hath eyes and sees not I am sure you would not speake as you doe You complained in the preceding Section Alas we are blinde and truely you are much blinder then I supposed you had beene and now you say you see an Idoll and what an Idoll Fame Mr. Dauid it is but your dimme sight which causeth you to take one thing for another you are like that blinde man of whom wee reade in the Gospell when hee saw men hee thought hee had seene trees for his eyes were not yet well opened Stay a little iudge not out of your darke sight Pray IESVS to touch your eyes againe and you shall see more clearely what you thought to haue beene an Idoll and called so it is not so indeede it is a more excellent yea a most necessarie thing for a good name is as a precious Oyntment it is to be chosen aboue all riches Salomon said so hee saw as well as you and S. Paul will haue a Bishop well reported of euen of them which are without but if a good name had beene an Idoll hee would not haue so necessarilie required it Now you returne againe to your former blasphemous railings refuted by mee repeated now by you for so well is Mr. Dauid pleased vvith the tune of this Song that hee must sing it ouer oftner then once THE ADMONENT ANd that inconstancie with how blushfull things is it shielded how too like to Rahels Idols in her blushfull confession seeing for the eschewing thereof 1. Errour must be confessed 2. Erronious Doctrine 3. Rash affirming of vncertainties 4. Headinesse 5. Papisticke implicite faith 6. Falsifying of Gods Message 7. Prophaning the Chayre of Veritie 8. Carelesnesse of Calling THE ANSVVERE AND a mighty strong winde rent the Mountaines and brake the Rockes but the Lord was not in the winde and after the winde came an earth-quake but God was not in the earth-quake and after the earth-quake came fire but God was not in the fire Mr. Dauid now againe gathers his breath bends vp his bowels to bring out a mightie blast of winde out of the Desart and Wildernesse of a a barren heart against me not vnlike the winde wherewith Satan ouer-threw Iobs house and children at one blow so would this Reuiler ouer-turne my Name Ministrie Conscience and all with this one stroke and violent charge Many furious fierie and mightie boistering words of winde hath hee blasted out vpon mee but God is not in them I will abide with Elijah till the Lord come in a soft and peaceable voyce he speaketh peace to the hearts of his Saints The Lord will looke on mine affliction and doe me good for his cursing this day The refutation of them see Sect. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. c. Certainely it is euill more then enough to see men degenerate into beasts through the want of reason but it is much worse to see a man become a Diuell by abusing his reason so maliciously that they Qui Angeli sily Dei esse debeant ne hoc quidem vt homines esse videantur sibi reseruarunt who should be Angels and Sonnes of God reserue not so much modestie to themselues as whereby they may seeme to be men or to put difference betweene them and beasts yea rather worse then beasts euery beast hath some one euill qualitie of the owne but you will finde a man so beastly that in him they are all collected in one Irascitur vt Serpens pungit vt Scorpio insidiatur vt Vulpes imo quasi Diabolus atrocia suscipit bella in fratrem And this hating abhorring deuouring one of another argueth it not saith the Apostle a carnall man yea truely Non humanae mansuetudinis sed immanitatis est belluarum it is beastly barbaritie and not that mansuetude which becommeth men The Lord who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manure by his grace the heart of Theagrius and all our hearts that these thornes and bryers may be rooted out of them and like a ground blessed of the Lord they may bring forth the spirituall fruit of Meeknesse Truth and Loue. Now you proceede to improue my Reasons and ere euer you doe it you take a Decree to your selfe to call them ridiculous and fectlesse but what is it which may not be labefacted by words THE ADMONENT THE first is to comfort the King for that you insinuate that his Maiestie may haue the comfort of his Subiects Alas what say you take you on a Bishopricke to comfort the King who will beleeue you and that it is not rather to comfort your selfe THE ANSVVERE YOV dispute with words not comely and with talke that is not profitable Shall a wise man speake words of the winde how vnlike your words are vnto mine the iudicious Reader will consider by reading mine Apologie My reason I doubt not will be thought weightie of all honest hearts this it is Seeing we haue a Christian King sustaining contradiction of the Aduersarie for the Gospels sake it is no reason his Highnesse should be grieued with the contradiction of his people also specially for a matter not so materiall as you would make it for a point of Discipline not of Faith wherein his Maiestie doubtlesse hath the best end of the cause also Is there no pittie nor compassion to such a Father of the Church and Common-wealth Shall his
Maiestie be loadned with burdens at all hands grieued with enemies and grieued with Subiects also This is my reason it moued mee then it moueth me yet and made mee to resolue that I would not be contradictorie to his Maiestie in any cause for the which I dare not giue my life and I trust such a cause shall neuer fall into the heart nor hand of the Lords annointed This was my resolution long ere any motion of a Bishopricke was made to mee God knoweth it men know it thinke you and yours what yee like to the contrarie Now this reason you answere this way Who beleeues you that you tooke on a Bishopricke to comfort the King and not rather to comfort your selfe Is not this thinke you a iust confutation yet wee must take this for a sufficient proofe that Mr. Dauid saith the contrarie who may not see that in stead of reasoning you raile you shame your selfe you answere not mee It is very well knowne I sought not a Bishopricke I thinke in this I shall haue no accuser to charge mee with Ambitus and after that his Maiestie vnrequired vnknowne or vnlooked for of mee had out of his Maiesties owne free pleasure presented mee vnto it there interceeded more then eighteene weekes before that I accepted it I would not haue done so but griped more greedily at it if I had so farre regarded my selfe as you alledge Mr. Dauid I ought you no quittance neither make I any vnto you but of the very truth of mine heart I declare to such as feare God that if the respects of dutie I owe to his Maiestie and this Church had not beene stronger in mee then any respect I had to my selfe I should neuer haue accepted it This is the truth calumniate as you will You goe yet on THE ADMONENT BVT here you all commonly insult and runne out vpon it and haue euer the King the Kings Maiestie in your mouth whom we all reuerence THE ANSVVERE ANd doth this offend you Mr. Dauid is it not good reason we should haue his Maiestie in our mouths yea and in our hearts also as a singular blessing of God bestowed vpon vs for whom wee cannot be thankefull enough to our God whose fatherly loue and care and entire affection toward his people wee are neuer able to recompence no remembrance no care no seruice no obedience here can be sufficient And then that you may seeme to say something you pray THE ADMONENT TOuching his Maiestie whom the GOD of Heauen blesse in his owne person and posteritie to the worlds end and send him better comforters then any of you Bishops be THE ANSVVERE A Man that boasts of false liberalitie is like vnto Clouds without raine What your affection to his Maiestie is we are not to examine his Maiestie can best discerne it of any man but as for your prayer we say Amen to it Euen the God of heauen send his Maiestie better comforters for his Highnesse is worthy of better then the best of vs are indeede Yet this is some good that there is no want of good will in vs we wish from our hearts we were better then we are more able to glorifie God t edifie his Church to serue his Maiestie then we are And albeit we cannot doe the good which we would yet his Maiestie shall not want the good which wee may and of his Princely equitie we doubt not but his Highnesse will accept good will in part of payment And as for you Mr. Dauid if your affection to his Maiestie be so sincere as you pretend then let me demand of you in these words which Zadok and Abiathar got in commission to aske the Elders of Israel Why are yee behinde to bring the King againe to his owne house or in plainer termes and meeter for our purpose Why render you not his Maiestie all the comfort and contentment you may Or if the light of your minde in this question permit you not seeing it is but your priuate iudgement and your selfe but a priuate man why take yee vp a publike banner against his Maiestie why shew yee your selfe an open contradictor and a partie speciall seeing this is not your calling and you haue no commission for it It would fit you better to be more sparing of your words and more liberall in your deedes to proue your affection to your Soueraigne which now by your needlesse medling you haue called more in doubt then it was before And now to declare what you meane by better comforters you fall out into a commendation of our brethren contrarie minded in Church-gouernment THE ADMONENT GOe you beyond them who stand for our Discipline eyther in affection or in action or in praying or in praysing by word by writ by tongue by pen to honour him to the world within his owne countrie without to forraine Nations you know you haue not done it not can any Bishop of Scotland doe it beyond them THE ANSVVERE PRoud hautie and scornefull is his name that worketh wrath in his arrogancie What neede you to take this paines out of your pride to worke wrath among Brethren it will not be for you Mr. Dauid you shall long commend them before you offend vs. If so be the change of Court could content you I wish it were good comforters good counsellors may they be to his Maiestie you will finde no Bishop of Scotland to hinder it but by all meanes willing to procure it but more impertinent are your comparisons which follow THE ADMONENT VVIll you enter into comparison with them in any thing or can you preferre your selues Come let 's see and let vs try it but a little What can you say you loue him so doe they you pray for him so doe they c. THE ANSVVERE AS the coale or wood maketh fire so is a contentious man apt to kindle strife A false witnesse that speaketh lies and him that raiseth vp contentions among brethren doth the soule of the Lord abhorre What needes I pray you such words or how are they for the purpose of our argument Doe any of vs disesteeme of their gifts in my iudgement you had commended them better and forborne comparisons You derogate from them when you compare them with others inferiour to them in good Is there no way to aduance them but to set them on the backes of their brethren Is not this higher pride then to ride on a beast at Parliament I doubt not it is against their will but you haue mounted them so in the conceit of your vaine minde Why doe you not consider that there is in the Church diuersitie of gifts but the same spirit The Lord is a wise dispenser of his gifts who hath not giuen all vnto any one If there be one endued with a gift which another wants looke againe when yee will and you shall see hee wants some gift that another hath Dauid an excellent Prophet yet hee needed a Nathan to waken him