people an inward worship of soul in spirit and in truth before God but withal I enjoyn outward worship of the body which is but a reasonable service to God that made the body exemplary and significant before men in such habits and gestures as may most conduce by the advice of the whole Church for the private spirit of the prophets in those things ought to be subject to the publick spirit of the Prophets to reverence devotion and edification in knowing humble meek and quiet spirits rightly discerning the innocent nature of such things not prohibited and so indifferent and the Christian liberty allowed to them to use those things indifferent when commanded and to lay them aside when not commanded However let the many Obligations to unity by the true Faith you joyntly professe give you more satisfaction then the occasions of dividing the Ceremonies in which you differ give you offence so that you may not upon so small occasions in such small matters sacrifice to your private passion and perswasion the publick Peace and Prosperity of the Church especially since I never heard of any sober Christian or truly godly Minister who being in other things prudent unblameable and sincere did ever suffer any check of conscience meerly upon the account of having been conformable to and keeping communion with me nor did they ever complain of Ceremonies Liturgy and Episcopacy as any damps to their real graces or to their holy communion with Gods blessed spirit but admired them as the united influence the joynt consent the combined devotion of all good Christians in this Nation who publickly agreed with one mind and in one manner to serve the Lord in a way allowed by the most pious of Princes practised by the best Nobility owned by the wisest Gentry maintained by the most learned Clergy and embraced by the best sort of Commons I allow only such Ceremonies as make religious Duties not more pious but more conspicuous not more sacred but more solemn not more spiritual and holy but more visible imitable and exemplary to quicken my children to allure others to instruct and edifie all 5. Are ye offended with my Canons and Injunctions Is it fit that a few men whom order and Policy hath made inferiour to others as the Rulers and Representatives of the whole society should prefer their own private Opinions and Judgements before the well-advised Results the learned Connsels the pious Endeavours and solemn Sanctions of so many eminent for piety prudence integrity publick influence and just Authority 6. Are my solemn Fasts and Feasts your grievances those solemn remembrances of Gods Mercy to men in Christ celebrated with prayer praises preaching and communicating to Gods glory and all sober Christians improvement according to the known president of the Jews and the general practice of the Christian Church What harm is there if some good men observing a day observe it to the Lord and others not observing a day observe it not to the Lord 7. Do you resent my Endeavours for Unity and uniformity Alas I desire only that men sincerely worship one true God and profess the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ that they may be partakers of the gifts and graces of the blessed Spirit and may have an holy communion with that adorable Trinity and with one another in love and charity as Christians enjoying the noblest life the sweetest society and most heavenly fraternity imitating God emulating Angels Children and expectants of happiness Partakers of grace and daily preparing for eternal Glory that all men who have been called baptized and instructed by lawful Ministers here in the mysteries and duties of the Gospel may make a joynt and publick profession of the Christian Faith and Reformed Religion in the name and as the sense of the whole Nation grounded upon the holy Scripture guided also and administred by that uniforme order due authority and holy Ministry for Worship and Government which according to the mind of Christ the pattern of the Apostles and the practice of all primitive Churches hath been lawfully established by the wisdom and consent of all Estates in this Kingdom for Gods honour the Churches safety the publick peace and the common good of souls 8. Do I not allow you a just liberty to do such things constantly and chearfully which are most proper and advantagious to the nature and excellency of men to think what is true to do what is fit and enjoy what is just in reference to God others and your selves I have taken from you no liberty but that of doing evil you are at liberty to enjoy all the comforts priviledges and Ordinances which Christ hath instituted in an holy order and regular way for private or publick good and to hope for that reward and crown which God the righteous judge hath promised those that persevere in well doing My highest aim is that you may have liberty to exercise a good conscience void of offence towards God and towards man that they may willingly in all things live honestly 9. Are ye displeased with my Members Alas innocent men they pursue after the knowledge of and communion with God in order to a rational religious spiritual gracious perfect and unchangeable life enjoying themselves in the blessed enjoyment of God the enjoyment of whom satisfieth all their desires rewards all their duties requites all their sufferings compleats all their happiness crowns and perfects true Religion They endeavour that on earth which they hope for in heaven viz. a right knowledge and a willing performance which as reasonable they owe for ever to God their Maker Preserver and Redeemer in Christ With this religious frame and temper of which themselves only are conscientious they prepare for a glorious and blessed immortality with a sincerity of heart and uprightness of conversation which hath no other Rule but Gods Word no other End but Gods Glory no other Comfort but the Constancy of this Disposition to their Lives end Innocent men they look for one common Salvation they use one common Sacrament they professe one Faith and Rule of Holiness they have one Gracious Temper the same inward sense of Duty and Devotion they walk in the same order with the Catholick Church over the face of the earth 10. Do you envy me my Patrimony and Maintenance what the Law of God allows me what the Gospel hath provided me what the Piety of Elder times hath bestowed upon me what good Kings Peers and people of their own endowed me with freely honouring the Lord with their substance that they that served the Altar might live by the Altar O why may not my children who attend the Gospel live by the Gospel since they attend a Ministry as venerable in its Mysteries as clear in its Doctrine as glorious in its chief Minister Jesus as painful to it's Ministers and as comfortable to pious and devout souls as the Ministry of the Law Why are you offended that they of my children that are taught should
murmers which I hear What faults of mine have raised those bitter reproaches which I bear What enormities of mine have provoked those imminent dangers which I fear O why is it that ye who own my Saviour who have submitted to my Doctrine as your Rule who have partaked of my Sacrament as your refreshment and comfort O why is it that ye hate and dispise me that ye strip and wound me that ye tear and mangle me that ye impoverish and debase me that ye make me a scorn an abomination an hissing and astonishment to all that see me a derision and a mocking to my enemies round about me Alas all men of weight and worth for parts and piety for judgement and ingenuity for conscience and integrity for grace learning and renown know my innocency thus far that as to the foundation of Faith and Rule of holiness I have only adhered to Gods blessed Word as for the Circumstances and Ceremonies of Religion I use in them prudently and charitably that liberty and power which I suppose is allowed here for peace order and decency by that blessed God who is not the Author of Confusion but of peace as in all the Churches of the Saints If we may believe the integrity of those Reformers that setled this Church whose learning worth and piety hath been confirmed by the Testimony of so many wise and religious Princes by the approbation of so many learned and reverend Convocations by the applauses of so many other reformd Churches if we may believe the preaching living and dying of so many hundred excellent Bishops and Ministers or the Prayers and proficiencies of so many thousand of godly Christians or if we may believe the wonderful blessings and special graces of a merciful God attesting the verity integrity and sanctity of my Christian Constitution for many happy years or if you will believe all men in England who have by oaths and subscriptions by Vows and Protestations resolved to maintain the Protestant Religion as it was established in the Church of England who dispair any where to find the way of truth and peace of holiness and happiness but in the use of those holy means and in the exercise of those divine graces which accompany salvation within me professed and enjoyed I know nothing excellent in any Church for outward policy inward tranquilitie and eternal felicity nothing that was pious or peaceable moral or vertuous ritual or spiritual orderly or comely or any way conducing to truth and holiness to grace or vertue to the souls edification and comfort which was not by me entertained with competent Maintenance noble Encouragements ingenuous Honours peaceable Serenity and munificent plenty In which I flourished so many years by Gods goodness and mans indulgence Alas whatever I have done in the settlements of the Rites Circumstances and Decencies of Religion I have observed that modesty wisdom and humility that became a Church of Christ in discreetly and ingeniously complying with sober primitive and venerable Antiquity in the Church as far as it observed the Rules of Gods Word and went not beyond the liberty allowed it in point of Order and Decency O you are too knowing to be ignorant and too ingenious to be insensible of your duty to God and your respect to me who was heretofore so much loved by my Children applauded by my Friends reverenced by my Neighbours seared and envyed by mine Enemies for those spiritual Gifts Ministerial Devotional and Practical which were evidently seen in me those heavenly influences which people received from me those gracious examples and frequent good works set forth by me the blessed experiences men enjoyed with me the charitable simplicities exercised by my members the numerous Assemblies the frequent Devotions the reverent Attentions the unanimous Communions the well-grounded hopes and unspeakable comforts which thousands enjoyed both living and dying in obedience to and communion with me which to impartial men were most impregnant evidences and valid demonstrations of true Religion and a true Church setled by the joynt consent and publick piety of a Christian Nation He was a wise holy and reverend Son of my bosome who said That in the greatest maturity of his Judgement and integrity of his Conscience when most redeemed from juvenile Fervours popular Fallacies vulgar Partialities and secular Flatteries he declared to the present Age and posterity that since he was capable to move in so serious a search and weighty a disquisition as that of Religion is as his greatest design was through Gods grace to find out and persevere in such a profession of Christian Religion as hath most of truth and order of power and peace of holiness and solemnity of divine verity and Catholick antiquity of true charity and holy constancy so he could not apart from all prejudices and prepossessions find in any other Church or Church-way ancient or modern either more of the good he desired or less of the evil he would avoid then he had a long time discerned and upon a stricter scrutiny more and more in the frame and form in the Constitution and Dispensation of the Church of England No where saith he diviner Mysteries no where sounder Doctrinals bolier Morals warmer Devotionals apter Rituals or comlier Ceremonials All which together by a meet and happy concurrence of piety and prudence brought forth such Spirituals and Graces both in their Habits Exercises and Comforts as are the Quintessence and Life the Soul and Seal of true Religion those more immediate and special Influences of Gods holy Spirit upon the Soul those joynt Operations of the blessed Trinity for the Justification Sanctification and Salvation of a Sinner 1. Can you blame my Government that ancient and Catholick Government of godly Bishops which is so agreeable to Right Reason so suitable to the Principles of due Order and Policy among men so consonant to Scripture-wisdom both in Rules and Patterns so conforme to the Catholick and Primitive way of all Christian Churches throughout all Ages and in all places of the world Would you have me against all charity modesty humility or equity to fall away from the Apostolical way of all Famous Churches and religious Christians to cast off the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nec conciliis institutum sed semper retentum non nisi authoritate Apostolica institutum the Apostolici seminis traduces Episcopos that universam successionem Episcoporum those successiones ab initio decurrentium Episcoporum that ordinem Episcoporum qui in Johannem stat Authorem that toto orbe decretum Shall I not enquire of the former Age and prepare my self to the search of my Fathers for I am but of Yesterday and nothing Shall not they teach me and tell me and utter words out of their hearts Shall not I stand in the way and ask for the old way which is the good way and walk therein Would you have me give offence to the
lying hid in the depth darkness and ambiguity of Original words without skill in Languages How can they attain the genuine and emphatick sense of the Word of God without skill in the Original words and phrases How can they maintain the truths I have established and confute the errours I have condemned How can they detect the fallacies with which my poor people are deluded and convince the gain-sayers with which I am troubled and discover those sophisms in which poor souls wrap themselves darkning wisdom with words without understanding without the art of sound reasoning How can they convey the holy truths they are furnished with to others without an holy Eloquence a sacred Perswasion and Rhetorick which may commend them to mens minds and enforce them upon their hearts how can they satisfie themselves and others in the Controversies of this Age without the Observations Histories and Customs of former Ages and standing in the ways and asking for the old which is the good way and walk therein so find rest for their souls How is it possible for those poor creatures to understand sundry passages of Scripture depending upon propriety of words Idioms or upon the Customs Rites Proverbs Forms Usages Laws Offices and Antiquities of the Assyrian Persian Greek and Roman Governments without a competent portion of humane Learning My Religion was as the Kings Daughter all glorious within attended on by Arts and Sciences those Handmaids who cloathed her with garments wrought with needle-work of divers colours embroidering her with pathetick Elegancies with solid Eloquence and Orations with Sublimity and Gravity with Method and Acuteness with excellent Morals and useful Observations of a very sober sense But now alas it 's exposed to a prophane world with the ridiculous impertinencies and foolish adventures of men zealous but not according to knowledge What empty discourses do I hear what incoherent Notions do I read what vain trifles am I troubled with what pilfering learned mens works do I endure O what abundance of things should a Minister understand O what a great defect is it to be ignorant of them O how much do we miss a competent Knowledge in ordinary Ministers 1. To satisfie themselves and others exactly in the true and original will of God. 2. To explain and unfould the words in which Gods will is originally expressed and to endeavour by all means a right notion and conception of them as they are to be understood in the Scripture 3. To shew exactly what are those saving truths which are naturally contained in those words so explained 4. To confirm those truths so drawn out of the Scripture by such evident Arguments and powerful Reasons as may establish the true believer and convince the Gainsayer 5. To press those truths so made manifest upon men with that power that they may have their proper influence and efficacy upon mens hearts and lives The honest men that are industrious I would willingly encourage provided they have what I wished always and shall now expect in all my Priests and Deacons solidity gravity modesty piety and some savour of Learning joyned with humility and zeal with humanity some methods of intelligible Reason and profitable Scripture-Divinity The Law was published by Moses learned in all the Learning of the Egyptians The Gospel was propagated by St. Paul bred up at the feet of Gamaliel in all the varieties of Heathenish and Jewish knowledge the Primitive Fathers as Clemens Alex. Euseb Tertul. St. Aug. St. Ambrose Min. Fel. Lactant. and others maintained the Faith so propogated by their comprehensive Learning Therefore I have taken care that none should be admitted to Orders but they who are approved by sober and wise men as who have given themselves wholly to these things that their profiting may appear unto all as men of whom there is some hope because of their promptness of wit quickness of conceit fastness of memory clearness of understanding soundness of judgment and readiness of speech that they may in time by art industry experience and observation become skilful Linguists subtile Disputants copious Orators exact Critiques comprehensive Historians profound Divines and powerful Preachers that throughout the three Kingdoms I may have those that may settle the people rightly instruct the ignorant clearly satisfie the doubtful fully meet with the seducers skilfully and promote piety and peace succesfully As the times now are wherein Learning aboundeth even unto wantonnesse and wherein the world is full of Questions Controversies Novelties and Niceties in Religion and wherein most of our Gentry and people are by the advantage of long peace and the customs of modern Education together with a multitude of English Books are able to look through the ignorance of a Clergy-man and censure it if he be tripping in any point of History Cosmography Moral or Natural Philosophy Divinity or the Arts yea and to chastise his very method and phrase if he speaks losely or impertinently or but improperly I as these times are must not admit any Clergy-men without a competency of Learning as who may endeavour by their prayers care and industry to improve the Learning they have so as they may be able upon good occasion to impart a spiritual gift to the people of God whereby they may be established and to speak with such understanding sufficiency and pertinency in some good measure of proportion to the quickness and ripeness of these present times shewing in their Doctrine uncorruptness gravity sincerity sound speech which cannot be condemned that they which are of the contrary party may be ashamed having no evil to say of them I whose Clergy professed to use and prayed to God to bless their long Preparative Studies Meditations Writings Readings habitually to fit them for that dreadful work and for every actual discharge of it I am ashamed of those poor Smatterers who have gathered a few raw and indigested Notions either by superficial reading of the Scriptures or by hearing some Sermons or by gleaning a little here and there from the plainest Writings without any Critical Historical or Polemical Learning who are fit implements to bring in such ignorance irreverence Atheism Superstition and Confusion as shall quite put out the Christian and reformed Religion in this Nation reducing all to the ancient darkness looseness and barbarousness which hath been established by persons of real abilities of good Learning sound knowledge sober Judgements orderly Method grave Utterance and weighty Eloquence which all wise and sober Christians expect should appear in every true Minister of the Church of Christ in such a competent measure and evident manner as they may be able comfortably to discern them and usefully to enjoy them I am ashamed to see a Roll of four hundred and six and twenty Tradesmen who 1. out of desultory restlesness 2. out of covetousness and ambition 3. out of sullenness and discontent 4. out of pride and envy having intruded in former years into the sacred Calling of a Minister are now ordained