to imagine that they should all go once a week from the most distant places to Jerusalem unless they had very little business at home or were extraordinary Travellers They had their Proseuchae and Synagogues for publick worship and their private devotions which might be said any where All inferior Altars and places of worship were in communion with the supream one and the persons who did legally and regularly communicate at them were likewise understood to partake thereby of that one Altar and therefore if the Synagogues be certainly the patterns of our Christian Assemblies Ibid. pray Sir assign us an Altar with which we must hold communion which will surely be that of the Bishop according to the sentiments of the primitive Church Nor was the precept of offering only upon one Altar so purely ceremonial but that it was founded upon very rational tho mystical principles according to tne sense and interpretation of the Hellenistical Jews the end of it was to distinguish the Segullah or peculiar people those that were in special Union and Covenant with the Deity from those that were not or had broken off from it The principle and archetypal head of that Union was God himself to whom none but the Segullah were united The Segullah were united by Sacraments which were the legal Symbols and Ratifications of that Union the High Priest was the representative of the Archetypal head so that none could be in Union with God unless united to the High Priest None united to the High Priest unless they did partake of that Altar where he offered and those which were dependant upon it And therefore the Sacraments belonging to Schismatical Altars viz. that of Samaria and its dependents erected in opposition to that of the true High Priest did not unite them to God neither consequently were the Worshippers at that Altar to be reckoned of the Segullah or peculiar people but rather as the Altar of Samariah was against the Altar of Jerusalem so were the Samaritan worshippers against the true Israelites Now the Christians I hope are as well united to the Father and the Son as ever the Jews were They are as truly the Segullah or peculiar people and the ways of transacting that Union by the Evangelical Sacraments and Priesthood as certain And therefore have been maintained by the Primitive Fathers and Mr. Dodwell upon the same manner of reasonings which the Jews used See his one Altar And if this way of reasoning be good there are two other Texts in the old Testament which will help to discover the notion of Schism one relating to that Altar of the Tribes beyond Jordan Joshuah 22. the other to those of Jeroboam 2 Kings 17. Nor is any thing in this foolish paragraph conclusive against these reasonings which it was either designed to Answer or else it is very impertinent No man ever denied that Christians might pray every where in any Kingdom City or place wheresoever they come only we desire it may be remembred that the Jews had the same liberty And if private Christians may pay their devotion to Almighty God any where in the Church in their Families in their Closets in the Fields and any other place they certainly have the liberty to pray every where and yet this cannot vacate the obligation of holding communion with one Altar for the Jews themselves had the very same liberty while they were under that obligation If Christians have a liberty to build their Oratories and Churches for the public service of Almighty God wheresoever they please without being excluded or confined to any place they may certainly fulfil the Gospel rule of praying every where and yet this will be no prejudice to their holding Communion with the Bishop of the Diocess For if Uniting our Selves to a Congregation in communion with the Bishop be any violation of that Gospel rule because they meet in a particular Church and the Bishop lives in a particular City I cannot see how Mr. H. and his Vindicator will acquit themselves from the same guilt whose Congregations are confined to a particular house or a particular stable Their people must be with their Teacher where ever he assembles ours with their Priest at the place of publick worship And if we are to be condemned for breaking this Gospel rule I can see no reason why Mr. H. and his followers should plead not guilty 'T is true we are not confined to that one Altar at Jerusalem the obligation was taken away by the authority of our Saviour Joh. 4.21 in his answer to the woman of Samaria The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father Not that it was forbidden to worship at either of those places in the times of the Gospel but the true Evangelical worship should not be confin'd to either the Jewish dispensation was to be laid aside and a more spiritual one introduc'd the literal to be exchanged for the mystical Israel The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth v. 23 24. That which under the Gospel was to answer the High Priesthood should not be confined to one City or one Mountain and that which corresponded to the worship she then discoursed of namely the sharing in the same Sacrifices should be henceforth so spiritual and free that all people might partake and communicate in it however distant their residences were which they could not do before This as it is the genuine sense of our Saviours discourse so methinks these following observations may be drawn from it 1st That there is something under the Gospel which does really correspond to that solemn worship at Jerusalem for it being that only which the woman discoursed of to our Saviour his answer must necessarily bear a relation to it And therefore the worship at Jerusalem and the spiritual worship were a type and antitype one of another So that as all the Jews did communicate at one Altar in the like manner Christians must partake in the same spiritual Sacrifices 2dly That as the design of those anniversaries was to keep 'em in the same Communion so that spiritual worship here spoken of is for the very same end 3dly That as the Priesthood and Altar were the principles of unity amongst them so there is a mystical Priesthood and Altar which do the same thing among us 4thly That as he who broke the communion with that Altar was off from the Church of the Jews So he who separates from ours is divided from the body of Christians And 5thly That as in one case they forfeited the Jewish priviledges so they do likewise the Christian in another These two last observations were included in the discourse as is plain from our Saviours confining Salvation to the Jews For the conclusion bearing a
ever liv'd in the world were expresly against him Leg. 12. Tab. Separatim nemo habessit Deos neve novos neve advenas nisi publice adscitos privatim colunto constrâ—…cta à Patribus delubra habento Ritus Familiae Patriaeque servanto So that I know no Patron either Christian or Heathen the Gentleman has to appeal to unless it be his own scattered Party or some of his Friends the New Whigg Atheists And as for their Judgment and Approbation much good may it do him I know no Man of ours that envies his happiness There is a wonderful vein of Argument not to say Discretion in his management of T. W.'s Honours pag. 7. If he supposes any weakness in himself he does not pretend to be infallible Suppose he makes but a slip in style which he hopes a Friend will pardon the performance must necessarily be all vicious But on the contrary if he allows a Dissenter the least grain of Christian temper humility or consideration so as not to be totally divested of all three it is enough to saint him he needs trouble himself no further for his condition is very hopeful and cannot be desperate pag. 8. But above all the Address to the Sceptic does most afflict him especially that T. W. should suppose any Sceptic to be obstinate pag. 9. Now for my part I cannot perceive that ever he supposed any such thing his words are these If thou be Sceptical a slighter of our Religion obstinate and perverse a despiser and reviler of the Clergy By which it is plain T. W. intended four several Characters of those who are Enemies to the Church now there is no necessity that they should all be united in the same person but if they are all found among the members of the same Faction as certainly they are it is abundantly sufficient to acquit the Alderman However the witty Vindicator by changing Sceptical into Sceptic and putting obstinate to it takes care to make Nonsense where otherwise it is not to be found This being a part of the Ingenuity of these Gentlemen to make Faults where they cannot find them and to raise Blunders out of their own imagination and then confute them which surely is the worst tho' one of the easiest ways of arguing that a man can chuse He is mightily offended with the Alderman for making the Ninth Article of the Apostles Creed the Standard whereby to discover Schism as if it were a most heinous Crime no less than declining the Authority of Scripture to make use of it The profession of that Creed has been the badge and symbol of all orthodox Christians for many past Centuries which certainly it would not have been if they had not all believed it to be agreeable to the Scriprure And unless these Gentlemen have a mind to extinguish all the former sentiments of the Christian Church that they may the better impose upon the World what ever Notions they please I know no reason why it should now be laid aside 'T is plain T. W. never intended to rival the Scripture with this Article for he goes on immediately to explain it by the sacred Text tho in this Case he cannot be so happy as to please our peevish Author He quarrels with him likewise about the Origination of the Catholic Church and is angry that he does not date it from the Creation of Angels or from the Beginning of the Jewish Church As if the Gentleman had never heard of the distinctions betwixt the Church Visible and Mystical Jewish and Christian or some body or other had put it into his head that the Angels are Christian it being the Catholic Church under that denomination only that T. W. spoke of When our Saviour uttered those words Mat. 16.18 Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church I desire to know of the Vindicator whether he did not speak of the Church de futuro and as yet unbuilt And when St. Luke says And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved whether he did not speak of it as already begun so that the Christian Church must have its beginning betwixt the time of that first saying to St. Peter and that other in St. Luke If the Gentleman will try his Chronology and assign us the year and day we shall gladly hear him but if he will still derive its Epocha from the Creation of Angels we are ready to assert the contrary In the mean time he ought to be a little sparing in his Reflections upon T. W. for if he were a Dunce and a Blockhead or a ridiculous Trifler for this account of the Origination of the Catholic Christian Church both * Probantibus actis Apostolorum descensum Spiritus Sancti quam Scripturam qui non recipiunt nec Spiritus Sancti esse possunt Qui necdum Spiritum possint agnoscere discentibus missum sed nec ecclesiam defendere qui quando quibus incunabulis institutum est Hoc corpus probare non habent Tertull. de Prae. cap. 22. Tertullian and St. Jerome †Acta Apostolorum nudam quidem sonare videntur Historiam nascentis Ecclesiae infantiam â—…xere Hieron Ep. 103. not to say our Saviour and St. Luke must equally be comprehended in the same charge Nay the Vindicator himself grants in the next Paragraph that the Apostles and Disciples were the Church without either Jews or Angels And therefore if T. W. were a Fool for passing them by I hope the Gentleman will not disdain to bear him company He is mightily troubled pag. 11. about the admission of Church-Members that it cannot be done barely upon their profession of Faith without complying with some significant Rites that are alien to Scripture-Rules If he had but told us plainly what he had meant I could have given a more direct Answer in the mean time let him know that we decline the Charge The Disciples and Believers submitted to the authority of the Apostles in things indifferent And if our English Dissenters would be as just to their Successors according to the rules and examples recorded in Scripture no body would require more from ' em As for the saying of the Bishop of Worcester which I suppose he durst not quote because he was conscious to himself that it was nothing to his purpose it concerns the Papists only and for what belongs to us I refer him to many other excellent sayings of the aforesaid Bishop in his Unreasonableness of Separation In the next paragraph he complains that Christianity does not make a greater progress in the world and immediately charges the failure upon needless ceremonies and want of worth in the managers Now whether this be so or not he may easily try if he will either send Mr. H. or go himself for I do not question but he will allow both to be exceedingly well qualified and give a call to the unconverted Let 'em try the Emperor of China or the Cham of
of the Law So that every duty you can name is included in it and every sin a violation of it The Thief breaks Charity when he picks his Neighbour's Pocket The Murderer when he cuts his Throat The Traytor when he conspires against his Prince And the Schismatic who makes Broils and Factions in the Church But still if any one should ask you Pray Sir What is Treason and you should answer Vncharitableness What is Murder Vncharitableness What is Theft Vncharitableness What is Schism Vncharitableness I believe no man would take you for a Conjurer in Logic any more than in Divinity And yet this is all that Mr. M. H. has done towards furnishing the world with a New Notion of Schism and to acquire to himself the glorious Titles of Modest and Ingenious which the Vindicator so liberally bestows upon him pag. 3. which how well he deserves let the Reader judge and upon these doughty premisses he founds his Description of Schism which ought I suppose to have been a definition that being much more proper for a Man of Art and much more suitable to his design of giving you the true nature or formalis ratio which are things a little too nice to be regularly inferred from every bungling Description And having thus far enquired into Mr. H's Account let us now return to the Vindicator I fancy they are both of a Family and therefore let us see whether he may not put in a better claim to the aforesaid Titles He acquits Mr. H. pag. 4. from being Author of the Reply fearing lest he should have a share in the credit of it of which there was no great danger for every body at first sight was willing to discharge Mr. H. it being not easy to imagine that he that could be the Author of such a Book as that of Schism should ever be able to make any tolerable Vindication In the next page he condemns T. W. for preferring Churchmen before Dissenters i.e. his Friends before his Enemies To this I shall only answer That it is natural to all Mankind and his own usual practice and therefore I may as well blame the Vindicator upon the same score especially for so partially preferring Mr. H. before Dr. Hammond p. 49. He boasts pag. 6. how early he and his Party were aware of the Advances of Popish designs I would fain know where their Eyes were during the whole Reign of King James II. and the Toleration of King Charles when according to the sense of all wise Men the Popish Agents were most industrious In all the glare of Gospel-light these Gentlemen could see no danger but rather did all they could to shelter and hide the design from other observing Protestants Dr. W. * Vox Cler. p. 10. had 100 l. for writing a Book to that purpose Lobb and Owen were in Fee with King James Several of the principal Nonconformists assisted in the management of the Jesuitical Intrigue Many of their present Patrons were the Men pitcht upon at Court to compleat our Ruine by repealing the Penal Laws and Tests and thereby letting Papists into the Parliament and their Priests into our Churches No Man among them opened his mouth against the common Foe or endeavoured to fortify his Conventicle against Popish delusions And in the whole Catalogue * Vid. Catalogue of all the Discourses published against Popery during the Reign of K. James II. p. 33. printed at Lond. A. D. 1689. of Authors that appeared during that Reign in the defence of our Religion there were but Two Nonconformists in all England who had the Honesty and Courage to set Pen to Paper in those Controversies So that altho' these Gentlemen can be aware of Popery as soon as any People living perhaps when the greatest danger is what themselves invent yet as the wise man observes A Gift blindeth the Eyes Sprinkle a little Money among their Leaders and give a Toleration to the rest that the Subjects may be paying in the Countrey while the King pays them at London they are all easy and well satisfied while they are all getting money so that do what you will they apprehend no danger I appeal to the Memory of all England whether this be not the Case I appeal to your own Consceences wishing that you may repent and beg pardon For I must tell you further and perhaps it will be a kindness to let you know it that however successful you may seem to your selves in preserving your Reputatton among the less discerning Mob yet the more sober and thinking People are very much scandaliz'd at these Practices and sometimes do not stick to say That your zeal against Popery is all counterfeit your design only to get uppermost and that you can either rail against the Papists or join with them whether way soever does best fit your purpose of ruining the Church Nay some uncharitable People go further and say That since you join'd with Popery against the Church more than ever you did with the Church against Popery they are afraid lest if that Religion should prevail which God forbid you would be a great deal better Conformists than you are now He is again angry with T.W. for mentioning those great Men who have written in defence of the Church pag. 6. and endeavours to oppose him with another Catalogue of baffled Names Reynolds Cartwright Blondel Amies Daille c. People that have been so fully answer'd and confuted by Mr. Hooker Dr. Hammond Bishop Pearson Mr. Dodwell and others that if the power of Reason could ever prevail against Interest and Prejudice a Man would think there needed no further Arguings with these Gentlemen whether this be so or not we are willing to refer with him to the judgment of all disinterested persons if the Vindicator will but tell us where we may have a Councel of those who are truly such For to me the whole Christian world seems to be concerned in these Controversies Those who have a Liturgy and Ceremonies or Bishops as well as we and those that would have all these if their circumstances were so happy are certainly for us And as for that smaller Party who are for none of these and are most of them confined within our King's Dominions they are all biassed and interessed against us so that in rejecting the judgment of every interessed Party methinks the Gentleman learnedly appeals to no body at all Only perhaps the Turks Jews and Heathens in his Opinion may be proper Judges who I confess are not much interess'd in the quarrels among Christians And yet taking in all Mankind which must surely comprehend those that lived in former Ages as well as the present and I am sure they do not appear to be the Patrons or Friends of his Schism the Jews must condemn him upon the same Principles as they did the Samaritans the Turks and Persians laid too much stress upon the business of Succession and the most rever'd Laws of the noblest body of Heathens that
of that Nation and when he refus'd to be Ordain'd by Lucius of Alexandria the Bloody Arian the Roman Magistrates we find carried him to the banished Bishops for Orders which they needed not have done if they had been of the Mind of our Author For if Ordination be nothing more but a publick Approbation of Ministerial Abilities by the most competent Judges Moses was really Ordain'd before ever he came at those Bishops his Ministerial Abilities being publickly Approv'd by the Roman Magistrates and the Queen before he left his own Country Ang. sac p. 423. Tho. Chesterf de Episc Cov. Lich. Ibid. p. 425. So when Peada King of the Mid-Angles was Converted and Baptiz'd in Northumbria he brought Home with him four Presbyters viz. Cedda and Adda and Betti and Duma that he might Propagate the Christian Religion among his own Subjects and Diuma was afterward Consecrated the first Bishop of the Mercians and Mid Angles by Finan Bishop of Northumbria and yet I doubt not but his fellow Presbyters were competent Judges and might have made him a Bishop as well as Finan if our Author's way of Ordaining had been then found out But as the Church never dream'd of any such rare Inventions so it is plain they thought Episcopal Ordination necessary that the only way of deriving that Authority from our Saviour was by Succession and that no Man might Administer in Sacred things unless he were thus Admitted And for this Reason the Councel of Celichyth under Wulfred Archbishop of Canterbury were so wary that they would not admit an Stranger of the Scotch Nation to perform any Sacred Office quia incertum est nobis unde an ab aliquo Ordinentur Spelm. Concâ—… Ang. Tom. 1. 329. because it was uncertain to them by whom and whether they were ordain'd by any body at all Now as it is plain from all these Instances that the Christians of several Countries and Ages were of a quite contrary Opinion to that of our Author so I might add several more were I not to deal with Persons who rather than lay aside that Scheme of Government which they have lately espous'd will despise all Antiquity insomuch that the practice of the very Apostles themselves cannot escape their Censure Vind. p. 27. witness that unseemly Jest wherewith the Vindicator endeavours to Ridicule that Sacred Ceremony viz. Imposition of Hands which being used by St. Paul in the Ordination of Timothy what is here said against it in General Terms is no less a Libel upon him than it is upon us I wonder who taught him the Notion of an uninterrupted Succession of our English Monarchs from the Eldest Son of Noah Ibid. If he can produce it from any Author I shall then believe that he can speak truth for once In the mean time I cannot but admire that a Man who disputes with so much Pertness as if every thing that he says were all Oracle should want either the Sence to understand or Integrity to report so plain a Notion If our Loyalty to English Monarchs is so great a Trouble to these Gentlemen that they cannot hear it asserted without torturing their Ears we cannot help it I confess it is no more than what I always thought and since the Gent. so freely owns it I hope it will be taken notice of For the Government which Gâ—…d be thanked is not yet quite a Commonwealth must needs be concern'd in that Grievance And he that can libel the Grandfather with so much Impudence Vind. p. 57 c. and triumph in the Subversion of those Principles which lately supported the Monarchy cannot be thought to wish very auspiciously to the present Reign And yet notwithstanding their Natural Aversation and Spight against Monarchy so easie and flexible are those Gentlemen to any thing of their own Interest that when King James the Second afforded 'em a Tolerat on No Complements were too high for him Subversion of Religion and cutting of Throats the dangerous Consequences of a Popish Successor were absolutely forgotten The Monarch was no Bugbear nor the Papists neither Prerogative and Dispensing Power were harmless innocent things His Leige-People the Dissenters Leads Address June 25. 87. were vying who should most feelingly express a Thankful Heart They magnified him as the Generous Leading Pattern to the Princes of other People and a Father to his own The Assertor and Restorer of God's immediate Dominion over Conscience the covering Cherub under whose refreshing Shadow they promis'd themselves Rest The First and Happy Instrument Independ and Bipt in the County of Glou. May 87. Dissent of Maldon Great Coghall c. July 9. 87. Dissenters in Leathward in Cumberl Aug. 87. Presbyter of Colchester Aug. â—… 87. under God of the present and future Peace and Prosperity of his Dominions One designed for great Services the blossoming whereof was then made visible in his Celebrated Wisdom in happening upon the most melodous Harp to charm all evil Spirits that many other Princes had no Skill to use though according to others Concarring herein with many Noble Princes before him But as others thought fit to express themselves Of all that ever sate upon the English Throne It shall only be said of Your Maiesties Reign That from the Western Ocean even to the Frozen Thule then had the Churches Rest and were multiplied no one forbidding them Your Royal Indulgence like the Sound of the Jubilee Trumpet has so exhilarated the Hearts of your Dissenting Subjects that they want Words to express their Gratitude and Tongues to Celebrate your Clemency c. So dear was that Unhappy Prince to these People upon the Account of the Indulgence though at the same time they knew well enough that he inte ded hereby the Ruine of the Establish'd Church that they follow'd him with Acclamations and Shouts beyond all others wherever he came The Flattery of their Addresses had no other Bounds but want of Wit You have hereby ecchoed to the angelical song which brought him into the World who at his ingress into it brought peace and at his egress out of it bought peace and thereby immolated that Resignation of a narrow interest for the Divinity of a more general Preservation and so tuned the strings of your auspicious Government as to make melody over your whole Empire Presbyt of Hull Octob. 87. And a little after they call him plainly their Redeemer and that Defect was oftentimes supply'd with Fustian and Blasphemy He that reads 'em wou'd think many parts of 'em to have been taken out of their Prayers insomuch that God Almighty and King James the Second had in many instances the very same Complements Nay if the Prophets did any where magnifie the Divine Clemency by a most extraordinary flight of Expression it was presently got into the Addresses and apply'd most ingenuously to King James to enhaunce the Dissenters Gratitude for that Illegal Act. So that methinks there is little Room for this Gentleman to