and some Eminent Dissenters have declared that they could not give their assent and consent to our Liturgy because these were false Now by false they do not mean that they are contrary to Scripture for there are no Rules in the New Testament for this purpose and that in the Old for finding their first Months in the Year by the approaching Harvest and Offering their First-fruits on the sixteenth of the first Month cannot possibly agree to us whose Harvest is not ripe till the latter part of the year But by false they generally mean that they are not agreeable to themselves and whereas our rule to find Easter is to keep it on the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the twenty first of March by our very Tables as they say it appears that we frequently keep it otherwise Now this is a great mistake and shows the Ignorance of those that object it The Fathers met at the first Council of Nice and those before that time also did generally agree that Easter-day should always be kept on the Sunday the day of Christs Resurection and therein the Christians differed from the Jews who kept the Passover any day of the Week They also agreed to keep it after the Vernal Equinox and in this they agreed with the Elder Jews Aristobulus the Author of the Book of Enoch Philo c as it is observed by Anatolius in Eusebius And lastly at or after the full Moon according as God ordered the observation of the Passover in the Book of Exodus Now because these were great disputes about the precise day of the Venral Equinox and Astronomers have not yet learned to Calculate a New-Moon exactly and one quarter of an hour near the division of a Day may make the New-Moon a day sooner or later therefore the Fathers in the Nicene Council and other Learned Men since have esteemed it the best way to appoint a fix'd Equinox and a perpetual rule for the discovery of the New-Moons which if in long Tract of time should vary from the true Equinox and the true New-Moons yet such errour would not create that difference and disorder in the Church which continually arose by their several Calculations and this was called the Ecclesiastical New-Moon All Wise men constantly observing that it was not a matter of so great moment whether we kept Easter a little sooner or later so that all Churches would agree in the same time and there might be no Schism in the body Now the Equinox was fix'd by the Nicene Council on the twenty first of March and that hath been constantly observ'd by all Christian Churches of the World as the Vernal Equinox till A. D. 1582. when it was alter'd by Pope Gregory the 13th which was since the beginning of our Reformation and our rejecting the Papal Supremacy Then for the discovery of the New-Moons for ever they having observ'd that the New-Moons after 19 years returned to the same days of the Month in a Julian year and very near the same time of the day they made a Cycle of New-Moons for 19 years according to the skill of the best Calculators of that Age and order'd that Cycle to be of perpeâ—ual use in the Church for the discovery of the Paschal New-moons Which for its great use and establishing peace and union in the Christian Churches was put down in all their Kalendars in Golden Letters and thence call'd the Golden number Ambrose Epist 83. Majores nostri convenientes ad Synodum Nicaenam congregatis peritissimis calculandi novemdecem annorum collegere rationem quasi quendam constituere circulum quem Enneadecaterida vocant c. Dionys Exig Ep. 1. Venerabiles 318 Pontifices qui Nicaeae convenerent 14mas lunas paschalis observantiae per 19 annorum circulum stabiles immotesque fixerunt quae cunctis saeculis eodem quo reponuntur Exordio sine varietatis labuntur excursu c. Our Church likewise hath taken care to print this very Cycle of New-Moons in the first Column of her Kalendar see Isidor Orig. p. 967. by which the Ecclesiastical Full-Moon is discovered And to make all plain in our great Church Bibles this is explained in these words The Golden number is so called because it was written in the Kalender with letters of Gold right at the day whereon the Moon changed and it is the space of 19 years c. And tho' in this space of almost 1300 years since that Council this Cycle of New Moons is too late for the true New-Moons in the Heavens by 4 days and some hours yet no Christian Church in the world did go about to disturb the peace and quiet of the Church in such a trivial matter till it was about 100 years since very Schismatically alter'd by Pope Gregory To bring this matter to a Conclusion let it be observed First That our Kalendar is agreeable to it self and if we find the New-Moons according to this ancient and authentick Cycle we always keep Easter the first Sunday after the first Full-Moon after the Vernal Equinox fix'd upon the 21st of March. Secondly That in following this method we agree with all the Christian Churches in the World from the Council of Nice to A. D. 1582. i. e. for the space of near 1200 years Thirdly That we now agree with the Greek Church and all the Eastern Christians who keep Easter at the same time as we do For the Greek and Armenian Churches see Mr. Rycaut p. 416 for Ethiopick Churches see Ludolfus c. And withal those Protestants whose Reformation was established by the consent and agreement of the Regal authority before the alteration made by Pope Gregory Fourthly It 's an opinion very agreeable to the peace and union of Christian Churches that that which hath been once established by an Universal Council ought not to be altered by a Provincial Synod and this matter having been famously settled by the first general Council and that also as to this particular confirmed by several others and by the first Council of Antioch all ordered to be excommunicated that disobeyed it we ought not to make alterations And I pray let it be observed that our Church did by her representatives give consent to some of those very Councils At the Council of Arles in France A. D. 314. were present three English Bishops and the very first Canon agreed on there was this Ut uno die tempore Pascha celebretur i. e. That Easter should be every where kept the same day Which seems to have been the very first resolution about this matter in the Council of Nice Euseb vit Const l. 3. c. 18. And Constantines Letter giving an account of the first Council at Nice expresly gives us the agreement also of the Brittish Churches to the keeping Easter after that method Euseb vit const l. 3. c. 19. Socrates Hist p. 285. Lastly let it be considered before we change how we shall alter for either we must follow the new method of
Episcopal Government of England what is there in it that is dangerous or may alarm Mens Consciences and if this be capable to deprive us of Heaven who is there that entred there for the space of 1500 Years for all that time all the Churches in the World had no other Government c. 6th When the Presbyterians had in their Solemn League and Covenant condemned Episcopacy the Ministers at Charenton and of the other Reformed Churches in France the Professors Ministers and Consistory of Geneva and other Reformed Churches in those Part were so scandalized as that they feared it would bring an indelible Scandal upon the Reformed Churches c. King Charles's Large Declaration p. 75. 4. When any of the Eminent Men of other Reformed Churches censured the Church of England it was upon our being falsly represented to them What Calvin wrote against our Liturgy was only upon the sight of the first Edition of Edward the 6th's Common-Prayer Book and a Malicious Account he had received from some at Franck fort Beza in his Letter to Archbishop Whitgift March 8. 1921. Declared that in his Writings touching Church Government he ever opposed the Romish Hierarchy but never intended to impugne the Eccesiastical Polity of the Church of England nor to exact of them to frame themselves after the pattern of our Presbyterial Disciplene he wisheth that the holy College of our Bishops may for ever continue and maintain their Right and Title in the Churches Government c. And if Beza at any time wrote otherwise he was abused by slanderous reports which caused him to do it saith Bishop Bancroft in his Survey p. 141. And his Guess we have confirmed by a Letter from Gualter to the Bishop of Ely A. D. 1572. and Printed by Archbishop Whitgift We admonished your Adversaries not to move any Contention in the Church for matters of so small importance and we thought the matter had been Buryed when contrary to all Mens expectations there came Two English Men from Geneva and bring from Master Beza whose Ears they had before filled with forged Accusations Letters full of Complaints and desire that we would help the afflicted State of England and advised me to make a Journey to you to which was joyned the Report of these two who reported the same things to us that they had done at Geneva and set down in Writing many Superstitions which they said were now defended in England but afterwards Letters from D. A. a singular honest Man delivered you all from blame Since that time we have had nothing to do with those lying busy-bodies for not long after it plainly appeared that they went about and were the chief Authors of Disturbances in the Palatinate Churches and brought much trouble and disquiet to them Wherefore I beseech you that you would not have any ill opinion of Gualter who bears a singular affection to the English and is perswaded of our exact consent and agreement c. In our late Civil Wars Milton and Georgius Hornius under the Counterfeit Name of Honorius Reggius a Professour at Leyden and some others were hired to give a false and abusive account of the Church of England to the Foreign Churches and the very Assembly of Divines at Westminster wrote a Letter which was sent to the Belgick French Helvetian and other Reformed Churches to assure them that the King made it his business to root out the Protestant Religion and used all means possible to reduce the whole Nation to Popery Bibl. Regia p. 64. And of this we have as much reason to complain now as ever it being notoriously known that not long since a Gentleman of considerable quality made a Journey on purpose into France to represent the Bishops and Clergy of the Church of England as Popishly affected it being the lot of this Church to be misrepresented by Men of Designs and Malice for both Papists and Fanaticks as may best serve the turns of its Enemies in different Seasons 5. Let us see what opinion the Universal Church hath of such as in opposition to Bishops are ordained by Presbyters the 31st of those that are called Apostles Canons If any Presbyter despise his Bishop and set up separate Meetings let him be Deposed and the People Excommunicated The 5th Canon of the Council at Antioch decreed that if any Presbyter despising his Bishop separate himself from the Church and make Meetings of his own after the First and Second Admonition he ought to be condemned and not allowed to Preach and if he still go on to disturb the Church he ought to be punished by the Secular Power as a Seditious Person This Canon is received into the Code of the Canons of the Universal Church and was confirmed in the 4th general Council at Chalcedon Act 4. Athanasius in his 2d Apology tells us that Coluthus a Presbyter passing by the Bishop of Alexandria ordained several Persons all his Ordinations were declared void and all that he had ordained were reduced to the order of Laicks And I want an instance of any one Reformed Church in the World where Bishops are established that Ordination by Presbyters in opposition to them is allowed as valid and I think the Church of Rome is the only Church in the World that being governed by Bishops allows of Presbyterian Ordination not regularly and of course but by an extraordinary faculty from the Popes inexhaustible Power Of which see Willet in Synopsi Papis controv 16. q 2. Theol. Rhem. in 1 Tim. 4. 14. Forbesii Iren. p. 176 177 178 179. where he largely proves it from the Canonists Schoolmen c. I am sure the Papists have often objected it to us that we have no Priests because we have no Bishops Bancroft's Survey p. 166 and have taken a great deal of Pains to set about the Nags-Head Fiction and destroy the order of our Bishops which shews how glad they would be to have them all destroyed Lastly such Eminent Divines of the Foreign Churches that have come into England and had only Ordination by Presbyters and received Preferment here have readily and willingly received Episcopal Ordination and now it hath pleased God to send over so many French Ministers into our Kingdom I do not find but that they readily and chearfully comply with our present Establishment in this particular also From all which it 's evident that the Presbyterians will not comply with Hypothetical Reordination that in most of the Protestant Churches they are not ordained but by Bishops or Superintendants that where they have neither they heartily wish for them and desire them and account Ordination by Presbyters in opposition to Bishops to be Schismatical and not allowed in any Protestant Church in the World and by consequence our doing it in England cannot be a likely way to promote the Peace and Vnion of the Protestant Churches A set Form of Prayer was seriously opposed by the Presbyterians at the Savoy who p. 23. tells us that serious Godliness is like to
Protestants abroad were much offended with the Rites and Offices of the Church of England Thus their great Founder T. C. in his Preface to the Admonition Out of the Realm they have all the best Reformed Churches in Christendom against them i. e. The Presbyterians against the Church of England In his Admonition he frequently appeals to the best Reformed Churches and particularly p. 286. Our Ordination by Bishops is strange from the use of all well reformed Churches in the World In the Solemn League and Covenant they all Swore To endeavour the Reformation of Religion according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches Ordinance of Parliament for taking away the Common-Prayer Jan. 3d 1644. Resolving to Reform Religion according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches Preface to the Directory The Liturgy of the Church of England hath proved an Offence to the Reformed Churches abroad That we may answer the expectation of other reformed Churches The Presbyterians assembled at the Savoy in the Year 1660 declare That in the Liturgy are things that have given offence to Learned and Judicious Drvines of other Reformed Churches In their Petition for Peace p. 9. And if you should reject which God forbid the moderate Proposals which now and formerly we have made we offer to your consideration what judgment all the Protestant Churches are likely to pass on your Proceedings And again p. 10 How strange must it needs seem to the Reformed Churhes to the whole Christian World c. p. 13. The Pastors of the most Reformed Churches take this Conformity to be Sin And after this manner they declare all the World on their side and that the Foreign Churches admire at the stiffness of the Church of England by which contrivance though never so false they raise the heats and clamours of the ignorant and unthinking part of the Nation against the Church of England And still they go on to clamour against us without any proof though they have been so often urged to it and I here challenge them all to produce any one Authentick Act of any National Reformed Church in the World which hath at the least Reflected upon or Censured the Established Church of England And yet all this however vile and base is no more than we might justly have expected from the Professed Enemies of our Peace and Establishment but that which raised the admiration and astonishment of all Sober Men was to see the Professed Sons of the Church of England Men of Rank and Dignity embark'd in the same bottom of mistake and error and pursuing the same hideous outcries against us a mistake they could not run into but for want of good Books or good Company which would have informed them better and too much consining their Studies and their Conversations to that ill sort of Men. So that now our Church may justly take up the complaint of David Psalm 55. 12 14 15. It is not an open Enemy that hath done me this dishonour for then I could have born it but it was even thou my Companion my Guide and mine own Familiar Friend We took sweet Counsel together and walked in the House of God as Friends Of this sort is the Discourse concerning the Ecclesiastical Commission p. 24. The Eyes of all the World be open upon us all the Reformed Churches are in expectation of something to be done which makes for Vnion and Peace And a Letter to a Member of Parliament in favour of the Bill for a Protestant Union p. 5 For them that have not Episcopal Orders there will be such a provision made as will satisfie all the Ministers of the Foreign Protestant Churches Again p. 6. And for French and German and other Foreign Christians of the Reformed Religion I am well assured by Letters sent from Holland Geneva Switzerland and other Places not to speak of the Churches of the Lutheran Communion which write the same that they esteem the Conditions proposed in this Bill which hath been communicated to them as Terms fit for uniting of Protestants Where by the way I cannot but admire at the speed and diligence of this Persons Correspondence the King had not accepted of the Government till February after this the Convention is declared a Parliament and then after some more necessary things for setling the Government a project is set on work for a Bill of Union and yet he had sent a Copy of the Contents of it to Germany Holland Geneva Switzerland c. and received their several Approbations of it in March for that Paper is Licensed April 1st And yet it 's more strange that even the Churches of the Lutheran Communion should approve the conditions of that Bill of Union It was not long before that an excellent Author of undoubted credit gave us an authentick account of a Letter from several Ministers in Germany That the greatest part of the Protestants of Europe have been extreamly scandalized at our Dissenters That the Dissenters ought by no means to have separated themselves for the form of Ecclesiastical Government nor for Ceremonies That the Bishops have justified themselves from the reproach of being Popishly affected and of Persecuting the Dissenters they have made it appear that they were only Calumnies invented by their Enemies to render them odious to Protestants How much better would it be for the Dissenters to re-unite themselves to the Bishops with whom they differ only in some Points of Discipline And now quite contrary all the Reformed Churches expect that we should comply and unite with the Dissenters But without crossing the Seas we may make a fair guess at the incredibility of all this Foreign Account by the very next Pretence which gives as strange an Account of our selves at Home I am not singular in this for amongst all those who have appeared in the Churches cause as well against Dissenters as Papists I do not know one single Person that is not a well-wisher to this Bill and I believe they will all tell you so The direct contrary being manifestly true not only in several of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners who were call'd together to consult of that matter but also in the far greater part of the whole Convocation And if that Author be mistaken in the Age he lives in we have great hopes to think he is as much mistaken in the Ages past for so it follows Arch-Bishop Usher Bishop Sanderson Dr. Hammond and a long Order of other most Worthy Men of the last Age whose Memory is most precious in our Church had they been now alive would with all Zeal have promoted this Bill of Vnion Which very Paragraph is the reverse of one of Mr. Baxters in his Answer to Dr. Stillingfleet I am past doubt that Richard Hooker Bishop Bilson Bishop Usher and such others were they now alive would be Nonconformists yea I can prove it c. and if so they would not be for the Bill of Union which hath been generally opposed by the Nonconformists
The Preface to the Directory runs in the same Style We have no intention to disparage our first Reformers of whom we are perswaded that were they now alive they would joyn with us in this Work And thus its evident that these Sons of Comprehension joyn with the Dissenters to cry it up that all the World is on their side and clamour against all that oppose them as the Thessalonians did against the Apostles Act. 17. 6. These Men would turn the World up-side down whenas their despising of us and magnifying of the Foreign Churches is like that which OEcolampadius tells us in his Epistles p. 177. Aliis OEcolampadius aliis Zuinglius sordebat atqui nos amici sumus fuimus semper nemo gratificatur nobis qui propter nos dissidium seminat i. e. Some despise OEcolampadius and some Zuinglius but we are and always were Friends nor doth any one please us that sowes Discord upon our Accounts Let us therefore take a short view of the judgment of the Foreign Divines and see what Opinion they have of this stiff vile sinful Church of England As the Reformation in general consists of Lutherans and Calvinists so I find that agreement betwixt them in the most material Things as that Calvin himself subscribed the Lutheran Confession of Ausburgh and a whole Synod of his Disciples at Charenton in France in the Year 1631. declared That there was no Idolatry nor Superstition in the Lutheran Churches and therefore the Members of their Churches might be received into Communion with them without renouncing their Opinions or their Practices so that tho Papists and indiscreet Fanaticks have endeavour'd to set these two great parts of the Reformation as far asunder as possible yet the more sober Protestants have thought them very reconcilable and always endeavour'd it Now the Church of England hath been Establish'd in a middle way betwixt both extreams and laid aside those things which on either hand gave the greatest Offence by which means our Establish'd Church hath been look'd upon by moderate Men as the very Center of Union and Harmony of all the Protestant Churches in the World For this very reason when Calvin offer'd his Assistance to Arch-Bishop Cranmer he was refused by him The Famous Dr. Humfrede who was one of those Learned Men that fled abroad in Queen Maries Reign in his Prax. Cur. Rom. p. 70. tells us Nos non sumus Calviniani nec Reformationem nostram Calvinismum dicimus We are not Calvinists in England nor do we call our Reformation Calvinism and yet this was the Religion establish'd by Queen Elizabeth when that great Man wrote and Sir Edwin Sandys who had made a diligent survey of all the Religions in Europe saith expresly p. 214. That no Luther no Calvin was the Square of our Faith Now for our Church thus happily establish'd to alter to either extream is so far from promoting the Union of the Reformed Churches that its the most likely way to hinder it If we look upon the Lutheran Churches they have either Bishops as Denmark Norway and Swedland or else Superintendants which is another Name for Bishops who have power of Ordination and Jurisdiction as our Bishops in England They have all set Liturgies and Forms of Prayer they observe Holy-days and set-Fasts have Organs Hymns and Anthems they wear Surplices use the Cross in Baptism receive the Communion kneeling and make use of all those Rites which have been objected against the Church of England so that to alter these must needs give Offence to all those Churches and set us at a greater distance from them And as these Alterations proposed can never tend to an Union among Protestants so they must needs look ill at this time when not only all these Churches are united to us in one common Alliance for the defence of our Religion but also the very next Branch of our Royal Family is so nearly related to them As for such as propose our Union with the reformed Churches of France Geneva and Holland let them consider that the first of these is not and so we have now less reason than formerly the second is only a particular City for the Swiss are generally Lutherans and it s a very unreasonable Project of Union to have three Kingdoms alter their Religion for conformity with one City when at the same time they set themselves at a greater Variance with so many Kingdoms of the Reformed Religion As for Holland it s well known that they allow of all sorts of Religions and its impossible that any setled Uniformity amongst our selves can ever bring us to an Union to such a mixture and variety The Christian Religion was first planted among them by an English Bishop and our Reformation was fix'd and setled here before theirs began But because the Dissenters boast that the Reformed Churches of France and Holland and Geneva were always on their side and joyn'd with them in their abhorrence of the Church of England I will next consider what Opinion the Learned Men even of those Churches have had of ours First for Geneva And for his Learning and Eminency I will begin with the Famous 1. Beza Who in his Letter to Arch-Bishop Whitgift hath these Words The English Church is the Harbour of all the Godly and the Preserver of all other Reformed Churches 2. Spanheim Professor there in his Epistle to Arch-Bishop Vsher and others I often call to mind those Fortunate Isles of yours That Beauteous Face of your Church That Reverence in the Publick Worship of God The Church of Geneva hath a great affection to the British Churches whose Bishops we admire for whose Prosperity we daily Pray that your Church may continue to praise God as it doth that the Bishops may continue in their Authority and your Church in Peace c. and this was Written A. D. 1638. Then for his Successor 3. John Diodate Professor at Geneva in his Answer to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster when they had desired his Opinion about their Proceedings England in the time of its Episcopacy was the very Eye and Excellency of all Churches Christs own choice and peculiar What a sad Spectacle is it to see that Church trodden under Feet An horrid thing that you have done and never before heard of amongst the Reformed Churches We are struck with Horrour at the change of the glorious Face of that Church may God restore your Churches to that high Estate and pitch of Holiness and Glory in which they have hitherto excell'd and out-shin'd all the Churches upon the Earth And this is the esteem Geneva had for the Episcopal Church of England and certainly we ought not to alter the best Church in the World to comply with that which by their Confession is not so good In the next place let us see the French Divines I will begin 1. with Casaubon in his Epistle to King James the I. The Church of England comes nearer the form of the flourishing Christian
Church of old than any other it hath taken a middle way betwixt those Churches which are amiss either through excess or defect If my Judgment doth not deceive me the most sound part of the whole Reformation is in England 2. The learned Bochart in his Epistle to Bishop Morley There are none of the reformed of France if they happen to be in England but willingly joyn with the Church of England as by Law establish'd and as soon as they can get a competent knowledge of the English Tongue are present at her Offices and receive the Holy Communion there which I have often my self done at London and at Oxford This is not only my Opinion but of all the Pastors of the Reformed Religion in France 3. Peter du Moulin in the Preface to his Fathers Answer to Perron The Church of England hath more of the Primitive and Apostolick Church-Government than any other Church in the rest of the world The French Protestants have the same good Opinion of it and desire to enjoy the same Government if they might be so happy 4. Monsieur Claude in his Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet The Church of France hath always looked upon and considered the Church of England not only as a Sister but an elder Sister for which we have a respect and veneration and daily pray 5. Monsiur Le Moyne in a Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet All the Protestants of France Geneva Switzerland Germany and Holland look upon the Church of England as a very Orthodox Church All the Protestant Churches have always had a very great respect for the Purity of the Church of England And in another Letter to Dr. Brevint published by Dr. Durell I praise God for our Reformation in France but I fear not to say that if we had kept Bishops and as many Ceremonies as would serve to fix the Attention of the People without Superstition we should have seen for certain far greater progress of the Reformation To which I cannot but add what Monsieur Ronee a French Embassador in England when he saw our Solemn Services and Rites told King James the First That if the Reformed Church of France had kept the same Order among them which we have he was assured that there would have been many thousands of Protestants more than now there are And this Observation is so undoubtedly true that it long since forc'd this Expression from one of our bitter Enemies Sanders de Schism Angl. p. 283. Queen Elizabeth in her Reformation kept many of the Rites and Manners of the ancient Church which very much conduced to the Firmness and Establishment of her Heresio for had things been left to the capriciousness of some of the new Clergy that talk'd much of the Gospel-Liberty it had all long since vanish'd into Smoke but by her Polity was strengthned and supported 6. Monsieur De L' Angle in his Letter publish'd by Dr. Stillingfleet p. 421. I am sure with what an exceeding Joy the Protestant Churches of France would enter into Communion with you i. e. the Church of England And in his Letter to Durel published by him p. 70 71. I rejoyced very much at the establishment of the Anglico-Gallicane Church i. e. the French Church with the English Common-Prayer and Rites that this may make known to the World the Communion that is betwixt us and that the Reformed Churches of France have not that aversion against the Discipline of the Church of England which some Men report they have I am certain my Collegues are of the same mind with me And again p. 143. My Heart did leap for joy when I heard that your Liturgy and ancient Discipline was restored i. e. in the year 1660. To these Testimonies I will add the Observation of Durâ—â— a French-man also p. 92. When the French Church in London was establish'd with the English Liturgy and Rites tho Providence brought over many Ministers from beyond the Seas some from Geneva some from France some from Germany some from Poland some from Lithuania some from Piemont and almost from all the Reformed Churches we have seen none of them that made any difficulty to assist at Divine Service and conform all of them received the Sacrament kneeling c. And I cannot but wonder with what Face the Men of this Age press us to make Alterations for the sake of other Reformed Churches when we see those of the Reformed Religion of France who are all Calvinists and who out of Zeal to God's Glory readily sacrificed all their Secular Interest to their Religion and come over to this Kingdom have universally joyn'd with the Church of England in her Liturgy and Rites received the Lords Supper on their Knees had their Children Baptized with Godfathers and signed with the Sign of the Cross c. and all this at a time when the Laws of this Kingdom gave them Liberty to joyn with what Communion they pleased Which was such an unanswerable Argument to our Dissenters God having as it were brought a Nation from another Kingdom to convince them that it was generally observed throughout all the Kingdom that the Dissenters were very cold in their Charity towards them If we look into the Churches of Holland 't is true all sorts of Religions are allowed but it 's evident that the great and Leading Men there have ever had a great Esteem for the Church of England witness the great Respect and Honour they had for the English Bishops in the Synod of Dort when they neither had nor desired any Representatives from our Presbyterians Witness the two Famous Vossius's Father and Son who always spoke with all Respect and Honour of the Church of England and so far approved of our Cathedral Service as that the Father was Prebendary of Canterbury the Son Prebendary of Windsor Witness the Famous Grotius who always admired the Church of England above all the Churches in the World and upon his Death-bed recommended it to his Wife and such others of his Family that were then about him obliging them to adhere firmly to it which was readily obeyed by them Bishop Bramhall ' s Vind. of Grotius cap. 2. Witness the two Junius's and many others but I shall only add the present Famous Living Instance his present Majesty King William who was born and always bred in that Church and yet from his first coming into England hath readily and constantly joyned with the Church of England used her Liturgy with great Devotion and Honour and observ'd all its Rites and Ceremonies as Kneeling Standing c. in their proper places and upon all occasions hath declared himself zealously and heartily in her Praise and Commendations and promised his Protection of it and all this at such times when the contrary Interest wasmost prevalent and he was daily beset with those that were no Friends to the present Establishment All which is an undeniable Argument how readily those of Holland would joyn with us As to the Northern Churches we have
a great Example before us in the Prince of Denmark And lastly For the Church of Scotland not to mention the several Synods and Acts of Parliament by which Bishops set forms of Prayer c. have been established amongst them and the same Rites as are in the Church of England Not to mention the great number amongst them that at this time are vigorous Asserters of Episcopacy Let King James the First speak for all in his Speech delivered in the Star-Chamber An. Dom. 1616. I say in my Conscience that the Church of England of any Church that ever I read or knew of present or past is most pure and nearest the Primitive and Apostolick Church in Doctrine and Discipline and is sureliest founded upon the Word of God of any Church in Christendom And having thus far seen the great Esteem the Reformed Churches abroad have for the Church of England as by Law established let us next fee what Opinion they have of the Presbyterians and other Dissenters amongst us I will begin with Calvin who in his Book De Necess Ref. Eccl. saith If any be found that do not reverence such an Hierarchy i. e. such as we have in England and subject themselves to the same with the lowest Obedience I confess there is no Anathema whereof he is not worthy And again In a well-setled Church diversities of Customs is not to be suffered Next for Beza in his Epistle to the English Puritans from Geneva A. D. 1567. of his Epistles p. 97. I tremble to think that any should perform their Ministerial Duty against the Will of her Majesty and the Bishops And in another Epistle to Archbishop Grindon A. D. 1566. speaking of the same Persons It s in vain for them to pretend weakness in a Kingdom where the Gospel hath been preach'd so many years and been confirmed with the Blood of so many Martyrs Gualterus in his Epistle Dedicatory of his Homilies upon the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians calls those morose and ignorant who for things indifferent trouble the peace of the Church of England and separate from her Communion Who whilst they endeavour to reduce the Church of England to that model and form which they have fancied disturb her peace which we heartily rejoyce to see restored among you To which I will add his Words in his Letter to the Bishop of Ely A. D. 1572. I would never have sent my Son into England the only Son by my Wife Zuinglia whose memory is dear to me except I had throughly perswaded my self of our consent and agreement Casaubon in his Ephemeris A. D. 1610 Nov. 1st in Moulin's Def. p. 7. hath this Prayer Thou O Lord Jesus preserve the Church of England and give a sound mind to the Nonconformists who deride the Rites and Ceremonies of it The Learned Bochart in his Epistle to Durel Those who refuse to communicate with the Church of England because of her Ceremonies are Schismaticks find your Liturgy very good and well ordered Capellus in Thes Salm. de Liturgia Of late there arose in England a froward scrupulous and overnice not to say Superstitious Generation of Men who not only blame but Cashire and Abolish the Liturgy used hitherto in their Church for causes very trivial and almost of no moment at all the Lord grant that they may come to a better mind Mr. Claude in his Letter published by Dr. Stilling fleet The Dissenters holding their Assemblies apart separating from the publick Assemblies c. is real Schism odious to God and Man of which the Authors and Patrons cannot avoid rendring an account before the Tribunal of God Mr. Le Moyne in his Letter A. D. 1660 published by Durell If ever any made their ungratefulness notorious they are the English opposers of Episcopacy What good have these troublers of Israel that are so contrary to Bishops done for well nigh Twenty Years that they have ruled Have not all things grown worse Heresy grown bold Did ever Satan work more mischief than since the time that these Men became Masters for a re-union of all the foreign Reformed Churches the King of England must preserve the Bishops And in his Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet Whence is it that some English Men have so ill an opinion of the Church of England and divide rashly from her as they do Is not this to divide from all the Ancient Churches from all the Protestant Churches which have always had a very great respect for the purity of that of England I look upon these Men as Disturbers of the State and Church and who are doubtlesly animated by a Spirit of Sedition Societies composed of such Persons would be extreamly dangerous and could not be suffered without opening the Gate to disorder and advancing towards ones own ruine to cantonize themselves and make a Schism to have the liberty to vent such vanities is very ill conduct Mr. Goyon in his Letter published by Durell Those are in a Dream and dote who have an Opinion that the Conscience is wounded by living under the English Liturgy and they wrong us very much when they quote us to foment a Schism extreamly scandalous And thus I have given the judgements of the most eminent Men of the Reformed Religion of France Holland and Geneva and shewed what opinion they have of the Church of England as by Law established and what opinion they have of the Dissenters from it and whoever seriously considers these things will find no reason for us to alter our establishment in order to an union and complyance with the foreign Reformed Churches It s hard to meet with any one considerable Protestant Writer that speaks ill of the Church of England besides the Dissenters that live amongst us and some few that have been prejudiced by them And should we compare the Eulogies and Praises that these Foreign Divines give the Church of England with the opprobrious Language it generally receives from our own own Dissenters we must conclude that they and the Foreign Divines are not of the same judgment I will mention only the Divines of the Savoy Conference p. 3. where we have their Synodical Judgment in these words We take the Common-Prayer to be a Defective Disorderly and inconvenient mode of Worship it would be a Sin to use it c. How different is their Language from that of the Foreign Divines But lest it be objected that these are only general Expressions I have mentioned and that notwithstanding all this the Foreign Churches would be glad to have these Alterations made which have been proposed I will next consider most of the things that have been insisted on to be changed and see whether the Foreign Reformed Churches will be better pleased with them as they now are or as those that delight in change would have them And because the Kalendar is the first thing insisted on to be altered we will begin with that and first the Reading of Apocryphal Chapters in the Church and especially
France in their Book of Discipline p. 391. have this rule Les livres de la Bible soit Canonique ou autres ne seront transformez en Comedies ou Tragedies i. e. the books of the Bible whether Canonical or others shall not be used in Plays in which Words they first call these Apocryphal books part of the Bible and then take care that they be not prophaned And thus it 's evident that all the Primitive and Purer Ages of the Church all the Eastern Western and African Churches all the Lutheran and Calvinistical Churches beyond Sea do either read these books publickly in their Churches or very expresly approve of it nor is there any one instance of any Reformed Church that since the Reformation read them publickly as we have done but still continues to do so and our English Dissenters are condemned by all the Churches in the World in leaving them out of their Bibles who were the first body of Christians as far as I can find that ever did so To make this the more evident I shall here give a Catalogue of the publick large Bibles of all the Countries I could meet with in all which upon examination I find the Apocryphal added for the same intent as in ours viz. For the Example of Life and the Instruction of Manners A Catalogue of Bibles Printed with the Apocrypha English with Archbishop Cranmer's Preface Lond. 1541. By Coverdale Lond. 1550. By Command of Q. Eliz. Lond. 1578. Welch Lond. 1588 Scotch Edenburgh 1596. English translated by Wicliff a M. S. with a Prologue in which are these words Holy Church readeth Judeth and Toby and the Books of Maccabees but receiveth not them among Holy Scriptures so the Church readeth the two Books Ecclesiastici and Sapience to edify the People not to confirm the Authority of Teaching Bohemian 1613. Danish at Copenhagen 1550. French at Geneva 1588 At Amsterdam 1669 German 1604 Of Luther's Translation Heidelberg 1617 Dutch at Frankfurt 1580 Armenian at Amsterdam 1666 Spanish by Protestants Amsterdam 1602. Hungarian by the Protestant Bishops of Hungary at Hannover and Oppenheim 1608 Muscovitish at Ostrogoth 1581 Italian by Deodate 1607 Latin by Castalion dedicated to King Edward the 6th Bas 1573 By Junius dedicated to William Prince of Orange 1592 By Robert Stephens Paris 1540 Critici Sacri 9 Tomis Lond. 1666 Hebrew Polyglott 〈◊〉 Lond. 1567 Septuagint Syrtach Vulgar Latin And indeed amongst all the Bibles which I have seen I find them only left out in the Spanish Bible examin'd by the Inquisitors printed at Ferara 1553 and that of New-England in the Virginian Tongue printed at Cambridge in New-England 1663. So that if to comply with our English Dissenters we must strike out these Apocryphal books I know no Bibles we shall follow but that of the Inquisitors of Spain and the Commissioners of New-England And to conclude this head I shall put down these five observations First That no Papist ever made use of this as an Argument that our Church own'd these Books as Canonical so that there could be no feal ground for this objection Secondly That there neither is nor ever was any one Christian Church in the whole World that had set Lessons appointed for every day in the year as we have but some of them were taken out of the Apocrypha Thirdly That no one foreign Church whatsoever did ever declare themselves offended with the Church of England in this matter but as I have shewed generally approve it Fourthly That these very persons who complain of our reading Apocryphal Chapters for Lessons make no complaint of having Hymns printed in their Bibles before and after Davids Psalms in meeter and being frequently used in the Church instead of them Which is agreeable to the practice of Holland where that Church before Sermon sings a Hymn composed by one John Wittenhaven as we do any one of our Psalms Fifthly That the great Promoters of this objection do not stop here but urge it to the laying aside Sermons and Homilies as not being within the Canon yea and the Scripture and Lessons themselves and as we have reason to fear laying aside all publick service whatsoever T. C. in his admonition p. 221. would have no Homilies read in the Church because nothing but the voice of God and holy Scriptures should sound in his Church and this will destroy Sermons and Preaching also The Author answered by Bishop Nicolson in his Apology p. 184. is angry with our Church for reading two Lessons and would have but one And that Lesson also is in danger by the Author of the Letter to the Convocation p. 21. where he proposeth the leaving out the first Lesson in the Afternoon upon short days and in Country Parishes to read Prayers without Lessons So that upon the whole however it seems to some a small to others a reasonable matter I do not say to leave out for then that should have been done at first but to reject the Apocryphal Lessons yet in this we shall separate from the Primitive the Eastern Western and African Churches from most of the Reformed Churches we must alter the 39 Articles of Religion which have been so generally received and applauded for they declare that the Church doth read them We must alter our Apologies and Canons for there Canon 30. Juells Apol. p. 170. it 's declared that it was so far from the purpose of the Church of England to forsake and reject the Churches of Italy France Spain Germany and other Churches in all things which they hold and practis'd that as the Apology of the Church of England confesseth it only departed from them in those particular points wherein they were faln both from themselves in their ancient integrity and from the Apostolical Churches To this agreeth the Apology for Protestants by a French Divine and translated A. D. 1681. p. 23. As to the reproach cast upon our first Reformers it is one of the greatest injustices in the world for nothing can be clearer from their own writings than that it was never their intent to subvert the ancient Government of the Church nor to abolish those Religious Rites and Holy Ceremonies which the piety of the primitive Christians had introduced but only to take away the abuses of them So that in making unnecessary changes in these things we shall destroy the very foundation and principle of the Reformation And that this rule is properly applied to the matter in hand is evident from the declaration of our Church at the beginning of the Liturgy where the reading of the Lessons as is appointed is called a godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers agreeable to the mind and purpose of the old Fathers Upon all which accouuts it is evident that we ought not to consent to the taking away the Apocryphal Lessons and that the Reformed Churches do not desire it of us Secondly As to the Rules and Tables for finding Easter great objections have been raised against our Church
the Church of Rome and the Decree of Pope Gregory and therein we shall not only take away our agreement with the Greek and Eastern Churches but shall more than ever be cryed out against by the Dissenters for complying with the Church of Rome Or else we must establish a particular method of our own and that would look very ill and far from promoting the peace and union of Christian Churches that in a thing so very indifferent in its own nature we should fall from and contradict all the Christian Churches in the World How much such an alteration would tend to promote Faction and Schism I leave all the World to judge I pass by the silly objection of our keeping two Easters in one year For if by year we mean the exact revolution of 365 days according to all rules now used in the Christian World we must keep two Easters in one year every third year or thereabouts Or if we mean that we keep two Easters betwixt one 25th of March and the next this may be easier mended by beginning our year only at Jan. first as is the more usual way and so there is never two Easters in one Almanack And if we kept Easter according to the true New-Moons and the true Equinox the same objection would continue and always must so long as our beginning of the year is betwixt the Paschal Terms whereof the first was always fix'd at the Equinox which now happens before the 25th of March this being the nature of movable Feasts I may very well pass by also the objecting of the Saints and Bishops Names continued in our Kalender which as it's generally used in the Lutheran Churches so is evidently done for a Civil and not any Religious use as hath been long since declared in the Preface to Peces Privatae published by authority A. D. 1573. The words are Not that we repute them all for Saints or holy men but that they may be as notes of some certain things and fixed seasons the knowledge of which is very beneficial of which sort are Hilary Valentine David St. George Martin Swithin Lammas Giles Holyrood Evispine All-Souls Leonard Cicilia O Sapientia c. And so as far as I can see the only way to continue peace and union amongst our selves and with other Protestant Churches is to continue the Kalender as it is Pass we next to the grand objection against the old version of the Psalms used in the Common-Prayer-Book and the way proposed for the amending it not by taking that of our Bibles which is not liked but a more correct one in their hands So the Author of a Letter from the Country p. 6. The Psalter added to our Liturgy is not now so defensible when there is a more correct in our hands then complains of its manifold variations from the Hebrew and frequently mistaking the sense this must needs create no little scruple in Mens minds by having inconsistent and differing Translations Again p. 13. in comparing the two Translations of the Psalms we find them in some things inconsistent and one time the one to deny what the other affirms viz. Psal 105. 28. And again the Letter to the Convocation p. 15. must we be forc'd to read the old Translation of the Psalms and impose that on the people for true Scripture which in so great a number of places quite differs from it Here is in all this complaint not one word of the singing Psalms which are not only different in Words and Phrases from both of them but in the sense also as being composed from a more ancient English Version than either of them And so the Protestant Churches of France continue to Sing the Psalms according to Marrot's composition full of uncouth words and expressions Apol. for Prot. p. 76. and read their Bible according to a Version made at the beginning of the Reformation p. 82. which looks as if the Authors of these Objections were of a Presbyterian Original i. e. have a great Veneration for Hopkins and Sternhold and a natural antipathy to the Common-Prayer However weighty this Argument be to us at home yet Foreigners are not concern'd in it And tho however we do not do it most certainly the Parliament will as saith the Author of the Letter to the Convocation p. 23. It was far otherwise in Queen Elizabeth's time when the Convocation was very earnest upon this very design of altering the Translation of the Psalms in the Liturgy and were by the Parliament seriously disswaded from it Hammond L'Estrange's Alliance of Divine Offices p. 75. But the best is this confident guesser is here mistaken also and our old Translation hath outlived that Parliament Not to mention that if we lay aside this Version and take a new correct one never yet Printed into our Liturgy the objection remains as at first and here may be as much difference betwixt the Psalms in the Common-Prayer of a new more correct Edition and that in our Bibles as is now Nor was it ever proposed or so much as hinted in the Commission to the Convocation to have a new Translation of the Bible As to the Translation used in the Liturgy it is not made from the Version of the Septuagint nor from the Vulgar Latin as is evident to any one that will compare them And King James's Translators of the Bible declare of the meanest of our English Translations of the Bible that they were the Word of God And tho in some places it seems rather to agree with the Septuagint yet it seems done chiefly in such places where we have great reason to believe that the Septuagint is more correct and more agreeable to the Original Hebrew So Psalm 14. 5 6 7. are not in our present Hebrew Bibles but yet are quoted thence by St. Paul Rom. 3. 10 11 12 13 c. and Psal 51. 4. our Common-Prayer reads it and clear when thou art judged agreeable to St. Paul Rom. 3. 4. but the Version used in our Bibles is different from both Clear when thou judgest And if we would but take the pains to compare both Translations of the Psalms with the common Version of the New Testament it will be easie to find many places where our old Translation is more agreeable to the New Testament of which take these few instances Mat. 1. 43. He trusted in God let him deliver him now if he will have him Psal 22. 8. in the Liturgy He trusted in God that he would deliver him let him deliver him if he will have him Psal 22. 8. in the Bible He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him Rom. 10. 18. Their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world Psal 19. 4. in the Liturgy Their sound is gone out into all lands and their words into the ends of the world Psal 19. 4. in the Bible Their line is gone out through all the earth
our Liturgy which is also sung in our Cathedrals and Colleges and is much better than the other Psalterio Hieronymi ex Hebraicis pâ—propagato Ecclesia Romana locum non concessit quia veteri certis constricto numeris modulando assuetae Christianorum aures universeque adeo Ecclesiae alterius novitatem ferre nunquam potuerunt Huetius de interpret p. 109. Not to mention that in the year 1660 there was far greater reason to take the new Translation which only had been in use for 12 years together into the Liturgy than to do it now the old Edition hath been in constant use for thirty years together and yet that wise Convocation refused to do it then The Translation of the Bible made in the time of King James I. was upon the importunate complaints of the Puritans that they could not subscribe to the Common Prayer-Book since it maintain'd the Bible as it was there Translaed which was as they said a most corrupted Translation and yet they were some of the first that quarrelled at it as soon as it was made and few or none conform'd upon that account and the Papists presently clamour'd against us for altering our Translation so ost And the very Translators after they had examin'd all the old and made a new Translation declared That there was no need of a new Translation nor of a bad one to make a good one but only to make a good one better Next let us consider the project of leaving out the Athanasian Creed occasioned by 4 four questions proposed against it whereof the last is from the Council of Ephesus against all additions being made to the Creed and so strikes at the whole Creed as well as the condemning Sentences Letter from the Country p. 14 15. Must we always pronounce all damn'd that do not believe every tittle of Athanasius ' s Creed Letter to the Convecation p. 15. And both these give ample incouragement to that Heretical and virulent Book which at that very time was publish'd against that Creed and no less against the Trinity it self the Book sold openly many of them were given about and magnified by the party without any controul of that sort of men of Latitudinarian principles till at length it received a just censure from the honest Clergy of the lower House of Convocation tho at that very time to the admiration and scandal of all sober men that very censure was there also by great and leading men opposed It 's objected by the Author of the Letter from the Country p. 14. he finds a great dispute between the Greek and Latin Church about the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son now the first question is whither of these two Churches be in the right Now the prosession of the Holy Ghost from the Son is in the Nice Creed also received in our Liturgy and confirm'd by the 39 Articles of our Religion and Art 5. expresly declares that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son and so here is an Article of Faith call'd into question Not to mention the exact Harmony and Union of all the Protestant Churches of the World in this point I except only Arrians Socinians and such other Hereticks who ought not to be call'd Protestants And therefore the leaving out of the Athanasian Creed upon such a reason must needs give great offence to all the Protestant Churches in the World More particularly the Athanasian Creed is at this day approved of and Authoriz'd by the Confession of the Reformed Churches of France first Published A. D. 1561. We receive the three Creeds Apostles Nicene and Athanasian Creed because they are agreeable to the word of God By the Belgick Confession of the Synod of Dort Art 9. we willingly receive the three Creeds the Apostles Nicene and Athanasian Creeds By the Confession of the of the Churches of Saxony Art 1. we have always constantly embraced the three Creeds and their natural sense and by Gods help we will always imbrace them By the Confession of Wirtenberg Art 1. we believe one God and three Persons as they are explained in the three Creeds the Apostles Nicene and Athanasius ' s. By the Confession of the Palatine Churches Art 1. we believe all things contained in the Holy Scriptures as they are explain'd in the Apostles Creed Nicene and Athanasius ' s. By the Confession of the Bohemian Churches Art 3. particularly we receive the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds By the Confession of the Churches of Poland and Lithuania who A. D. 1645. expresly received the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds The Russian Churches receive and use these three Creeds after the Psalms for the day the Priest readeth the Ten Commandments and Athanasius ' s Creed out of the Service Book Pagiâ—t Christianogr p. 81. The very Directory drawn up by the Presbyterians at the Savoy A. D. 1661. p. 26. orders the Athanasian Creed to be read in the Church and lastly when some Arrians would have had Beza left it out at Geneva he returned this answer Epist 56. certe in tuam gratiam non mutabitur in Ecclesia Symbolum Athanasij nec Nicenum cum nemo adhuc inventus est qui se opponeret quem Deus borrendo judicio non per diderit i. e. certainly for your sake the Church will not change the Athanasian Creed or the Nicene since no one ever yet opposed them whom God did not destroy Now let all the World consider what a strange way here is proposed for the Union of all Protestant Churches to the Church of England viz. by laying aside or leaving indifferent the use of this Creed which all the Protestant Churches in the World even those of Geneva Holland and English Presbyterians do in their very Confessions of Faith and Devotions so heartily retain and magnifie Proceed we next to Baptism and against this Office two things are objected 1. The use of the Cross 2. Godfathers 1. Against the Cross it 's proposed by the Letter from the Country p. 8. to leave the case wholly indifferent to use or not use the Cross p 9 If the Minister scruples the use of it let another perform that Service if any of the Layety let the Minister baptize without it And the Letter to the Convocation p. 9. the Cross in Baptism is become not only useless but also mischievous occasions dissentions and schisms is an ensign of War to make us fight against each other a Cross of torment whereon to crucifie the Lord of Life in his body the Church and rent its bowels asunder by those lamentable divisions which it causeth amongst us the Church of England cannot be guiltless if she do not something herein c. It 's a sad thing that the Cross of Christ should produce all this difference amongst Christians Well then let us take away the use of the Cross in Baptism and see whether there is likely to be a greater Union amongst the Christians Ask all Churches of the World fâ—om Christs time
must be undeniably allowed that antiquity never used Kneeling at the Sacrament it having been the constant practise of all the Churches in the World to communicate standing If you ask how this appears they have nothing to say but that the Primitive Christians in memory of Christs Resurrection for some Ages after it stood at their Prayers on Sunday and betwixt Easter and Pentecost by which they suppose that the Sacrament was received in the same posture as they said their Prayers Their Prayers at other times were upon their Knees as indeed this very Order supposeth Tertull. ad Scap. Quando non geniculationibus nostris siccitates depulsae i. e. When did not our solemn Prayers upon our Knees bring down Rain Origen in Num. c. 4. Hom. 5. Nam quod flectimus orantes c. where he relates the custom of the Church to pray Kneeling And in his Book de Orat. p. 157. he saith that they generally kneel'd at Prayers except in case of Sickness Now the Primitive Christians received the Sacrament on other days than Sunday or that space betwixt Easter and Pentecost and that they received it daily is evident from St. Cyprian Tertullian St. Austin St. Hierom and many other Fathers and by consequence if they received the Sacrament in a posture of Prayer they received it Kneeling And that there might be a through Reformation and no part of the Liturgy left entire some have had the confidence to except against the Collects themselves as too short and not so pertinent I shall only remind such of what the Devout and Judicious Dr. Sanderson said of them viz. That the Collects were the most passionate proper and most elegant expressions that any language ever afforded and that there was in them such Piety and that so interwoven with Instructions that they taught us to know the Power the Wisdom the Majesty and Mercy of God and much of our duty both to him and our Neighbour And if some late Collects are intended as a Specimen by which the old are to be mended I believe few will rejoice in the change Excommunication for contempt is complain'd of in both the Letters to the Convocation as a matter highly scandalous and that we thrust out of the Church the best of our People for some penny or two penny Cause in our Ecclesiastical Courts Now this Objection is proposed more peevishly than ever it was done by the Dissenters After T. C. in his Admonition p. 175. the Puritans Petition to Kings James I. A. D. 1603. That Men be Excommunicated for Trifles and Twelve-penny Matters So that from their Objection of Twelve-penny Matters this Author hath stretch'd it to Peny and Two-peny Matters But let us apply our Selves to the Protestant Divines of the Foreign Churches and see what they say to it The Dutch Divines in Sunops Pur. Theol. p. 710. say That the Penalty of Excommunication is chiefly incurr'd for neglecting and despising the Censures and publick Admonitions of the Church In the Ecclesiastical Laws of Geneva p. 44 45. They that do not obey the Orders of the Church after due Admonition are order'd to be Excommunicated If we look into Scotland and see Constit Eccles Scot. cap. de Offensis A small Offence or Calumny may justly deserve Excommunication if the Offender be stubborn and contumacious 1 Book of Discipl 9. Head All Families must appear once a Year before the Presbyter to be examined and if Children or Servants be suffered to continue in wilful Ignorance they must be Excommunicated c. And how severe their Excommunication is appears from the 7th Head No Person may have any converse with him that is Excommunicated not Eat nor Drink with him nor Buy nor Sell with him nor Salute nor Speak to him his Children born after the Sentence may not be admitted to Baptism c. And I must say the contempt is the greater when the occasion of it is so small Lay aside severe Penalties for Contempt and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction is lost and to what purpose should any Court have a Power to determine if there be no power given it to force the Execution of it If we look upon Foreign Churches we shall find that they are more strict in having their Canons and Constitutions observ'd than we are in England I will not mention the Severities of the Scotch-Kirk and New-Englands Discipline as not being reasonable nor suited to the Nature of the Thing but in so plain a Case let Calvin and Beza the two great Apostles of Geneva speak for all Calvins Instit l. 4. c. 5. sect 10. Let no one that despiseth the Authority of the Church go unpunished much less let any Body be permitted to break the Vnity of the Church Christ looks upon such as Deserters and Runnagado's a separation from a Church of God is a renouncing of Christ nor can there be any greater Crime Again in his Comment on 1 Cor. 14. It s easy to prove that Ecclesiastical Canons ought not to be accounted for Humane Traditions since they are founded in the Word of God and have a manifest approbation from the Mouth of Christ Beza in Epist 1. Shall we say that Men ought to have Liberty of Conscience In no wife as this Liberty is understood that every one should Worship God as he pleaseth for this is a meer Diabolical Opinion to let every one perish that will it s a Diabolical Liberty which hath filled Poland and Transylvania with so many Heresies And again the same Beza in his Epistle 24. to some Dissenters in England Things in their own Nature indifferent change their Nature when they are commanded or forbidden by any lawful Authority Laws about Things indifferent bind the Conscience so that no one can wilfully break them without Sin To him agree the Dutch Divines in Synops Pur. Theol. p. 453. No Body can wilfully disobey the Ecclesiastical Constitutions about indifferent Things without Sin But because this is a Matter so very evident I shall only add that in the Directory made by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster p. 9. its expresly declared That no Persons should absent themselves from the Publick Ordinances upon pretence of Private Meetings And the Words of Mr. Baxter in his Reasons of the Christian Religion p. 485. No Christian must pretend Holiness against Vnity and Peace And every tender Conscience should be as tender of Church-Divisions and Real Schism as of Drunkenness Whoredom or such other enormous Sins We come next to consider the great Point of Orders and which seems to have been principally aimed at viz. The allowing of Presbyterian Orders as valid the Author of the Letter from the Country p. 10 11. proposeth three Expedients The first is Bishop Bramballs The second is Hypothetical The third is that of the Bill of Vnion To the first I answer that Bishop Bramhall did never allow of Presbyterian Ordination but did actually and with all the Rites and Methods of our Church re-ordain such as had been only
ordained by Presbyters as is evident from that very Place in the Life of Bishop Bramhall from whence this Author quotes a Passage and what he did for Peace Sake was only this That in some of their Certificates of their being ordained by him he declared That this New Ordination did not destroy their former Orders if they had any c. And it s abundantly evidently that that Bishop did re-ordain many of them To the last of these three ways I return no Answer because he himself doth not tell us what it was that was proposed in the Bill of Union The second was the principal Method insisted on and that is Hypothetical Re-ordination in which the Office of Ordination was to be omitted and the Person kneeling before a Bishop the Bishop was to say If thou art not already Ordained I Ordain thee or else in these Words I pray God that thou be ordained c. And this is justified by the Instance of Hypothetical Baptism To all which I reply 1. That the Presbyterians the Persons we are to satisfy have already declared against Hypothetical Ordination so the Presbyterians at the Savoy in their Petition for Peace p. 2. We earnestly beseech you that Re-ordination whether Absolute or Hypothetical be not made necessary for the future Exercise of our Ministry now to grant them what they have already declared against is no probable way to the Union pretented 2. Hypothetical Baptism is of Two sorts 1 st When 't is not known that the Child hath had any pretended Baptism with Water in the name of the Trinity and then the case is not the same as this Of such hypothetical Rebaptization the 5th Council of Carthage c. 3. is to be understood where they commend the Words of Leo Iteratum dici non potest quod nescitur ess factum i. e. That cannot be said to be repeated which was never known to be done The 2d is when all that hath been done is exactly known but the authority of the Persons Baptizing or Authenticalness of what is done is called in question and in this case the Presbyterians do not allow of Hypothetical Baptism witness the Synops pur Theol. p. 617 Neque Baptismus conditionalis probandus est qui a Pontificiis observari solet i. e. neither do we approve of Hypothetical Baptism which is used by the Papists for they to gain respect to their own Church endeavour to perswade such other Christians as are admitted into their Church to be hypothetically Rebaptized of which we have one famous instance in the Church of the Abyssines reported by Ludolfus in Hist Aethiop l. 3. c. 6. Patres Societatis Habessinos omnes promiscue rebaptizaverunt sub conditione tamen si videlicet prior Baptismus non rite fuisset peractus quae res magnam illis invidiam conflavit i. e. The Jesuites rebaptized all the Habessines with this condition namely if their former Baptism was not rightly performed which thing occasioned great troubles against them Which troubles he reports cap. 13. The Habessines hated them for nothing more than their repeating of their Baptism as if before that they had been Heathens and Publicans And is it not evident that Hypothetical Re-ordination will produce the same troubles here when by this very Act our Church plainly supposeth that they were not ordained before But to make all this matter plain I will first set down the opinion of the English Presbyterians then the opinion of the Foreign Reformed Churches 1. For our English Presbyterians T. C. the Ringleader of that Party having been ordained by a Bishop is said to have renounced his orders and taken new orders from Presbyters in Scotland The Presbyterians reordained Mr. John Cuningham formerly ordained Priest by the Bishop of Galloway Ravil rediv. p. 29. A whole Synod of the Puritans at Coventry A. D. 1588 June 10 condemned Ordination by Bishops as unlawful and farther declared the very calling of Bishops unlawful Bancroft's Engl. Scotizing p. 86. T. C. in his Admonition p. 127 desires the Bishops to be laid aside from ordaining Ministers and to bring in the true Election by the Congregation And in his Prayer before his Sermon at Banbury printed in the Life of Archbishop Whitgift p. 47. O Lord give us grace and power all as one Man to set our selves against the Bishops Apologetical Narrative It s a sin to take Episcopal Orders or to own the Authority of Bishops And to mention no more in the Solemn League and Covenant the Presbyterians of both Nations swore to the Extirpation of Prelacy i. e. the government of the Church by Bishops And accordingly in Scotland the Presbyterians have generally persecuted all those that had Episcopal Ordination 2. For the Foreign Reformed Churches observe 1sit That the Churches of Denmark and Norway are governed by Two Archbishops and Fourteen Bishops The Churches of Swedeland are governed by One Archbishop and Six Bishops the Churches of Hungary and Transylvania are governed by Bishops the Reformed Churches of Bohemia have a succession of Bishops as we in England Pass we next to the Reformed Churches of Germany which are in effect governed by Bishops whom they call Superintendants Their Office is described in the Harmony of Confess p. 227. to visit Parochial Ministers to preside in Synods to examine and ordain Persons fit for the Ministry c. To which agreeth Carpzovins Jurisp Eccl. l. 1. Comenius in Annot. ad rat disc fratr Bohem. where he observes that St. Hierom calls a Bishop Superintendant in Armenia the Bishop is called Martabet which signifieth Superintendant saith Rycaut Hist of Arm. Churches p. 392. And Zanchy saith that the Protestants have Bishops and Archbishops but that instead of good Greek Names they call them by bad Latine ones Superintendants and general Superintendants And when in the Book of Policy A. D. 1581. for the Kingdom of Scotland the Office of Superintendants is described it is in these Words Imprimis The Superintendant of Orkney his Diocess shall be the Isles of Orkney c. The Superintendant of Rosse his Diocess shall be Rosse c. The Superintendant of Edenbrough his Diocess shall be c. The Superintendant of Glascow his Diocess c. In all Ten Superintendants for that Kingdom Then follows the Function and Power of the Superintendant He shall plant and erect Churches order and appoint Ministers Visit c. See the Proceedings at Perth p. 14 15. And in all such Churches where they have Superintendants there is no Ordination allowed but by them An Account of the Persecuted in Scotland p. 58. There is not a falser Proposition in the World than that the Inclinations of the generality of the People in Scotland are against Episcopacy and let us have a Poll for it when they will and you shall quickly see the Demonstration Of the Vulgus the Commonalty not a Third Man throughout the whole Kingdom is a Presbyterian And of Persons of better Quality and Education not a Thirteenth In all the Country on
the North of Tay thre never was above Three or Four Meeting-Houses and these too very little frequented At Perth where a Presbyterian Minister hath got the Church not One in Ten go to hear him not one of the Magistrates The like at Cowpar in Fife at st Andrews Sterling Burnt-Island c. Even in Edenbrough the Presbyterian Ministers are not so much frequented as the Regular Clergy Whatever Friends the Presbyterians there had a Year or Two agoe they arethis day diminished by a Third the People have enough of their Cant and are weary of their Sermons 2. Those Reformed Churches that are not governed by Bishops earnestly desire them To this purpose the Scottish Forbs in his Irenicum Printed A. D. 1629 p. 202 hath these Words Such was the condition of Protestants in many Foreign Parts that being forced by utmost necessity they allowed Presbyters to ordain they heartily wish'd that they might be ordained by Bishops but when they could not obtain that of the Bishops without wicked conditions c. nor could the prohibition of Popish Bishops hinder their Ordination from being valid since in those Countries the Presbyters and Pastors had the chief power over the Christian i. e. Reformed Churches This they did not out of any contempt of the antient Canons but out of absolute necessity as appears from the Apology of the Protestants for the Consession at Ausburg Art 14. We have often testified that we earnestly desire to retain the ancient Ecclesiastical Politie and degrees in the Church but the Bishops i. e. Popish compel our Priests to renounce their Doctrine c. Wherefore in some Places this Politie is destroyed which we heartity desired to keep this we declare before God and the World that it should not be imputed to us that we have no Bishops When at the Synod of Dort an English Bishop had set forth the usefulness of being governed by Bishops for repressing Heresy and Schism c. the President of the Synod made answer Nos non samus adeo felices i. e. We are not so happy Peter Moulin in his Preface to his Fathers Answer to Perron tells us that the want of Bishops in the French Church was the necessity of their condition that they desire the same Government we have in England if they might be so happy When they moved Cardinal Richlieu to allow them Bishops he flatly denied it them They could never get of the Civil Power a toleration of Bishops their Politick Statesmen would never give way to it nothing hath been more eagerly opposed by the Pope and his Creatures than that the Protestants should have Bishops The Apology for Protestants written by a French Divine p. 60. This may suffice to satisfy the Scruples of those that take offence at Episcopal Government we have cleared the Point of Episcopacy p. 62. The Ordination of Priests ought to be without all dispute the Bishops work p. 63. The Superiority of Bishops to Pastors has continued from the very time of the Apostles or their Disciples as is already made appear And therefore in England the Papists have always laboured the Destruction of our Bishops as zealously and heartily as the Presbyterians themselves That virulent Papist Sanders in his Book de Schism Angl. p. 167 confesseth that nothing would more gratify the Church of Rome than the pulling down of Bishops Deans and Prebendaries in England And Parsons in his Book of the Reformation of England see Moral Pract. of the Jes p. 313 proposeth this as the necessary Method to bring England to the Romish Religion And Cardinal Barbarini was so sensible of this that he said he could be contented that there were none of their Priests in England so there were no Bishops Dr. Stillingfleet Pref. to the Unreason of Separation p. 9. The Papists returned their Thanks to the Rump Parliament for having delivered them from the Tyranny of the Bishops Christian Moderator p. 32. And that the Papists had a chief Hand in pulling down our Bishops in England is confessed by Albius in his Exegesis p. 145. If Papists may not be believed in this matter I hope Mr. Baxter may and he declares in his Grotian Religion p. 95. That the Papists had a Hand in casting out our Bishops I shall end this undoubted Truth with the words of Two Eminent Persons of the Church of England Sir Henry Yelverton in his Preface p. 9. It 's now sufficiently known what wonder the casting out of Bishops was to the Reformed Churches abroad and what publick Triumph to the Roman Conclave Bishop Sanderson in his first Preface to his Sermons It 's well known what rejoycing the Vote against Bishops brought to the Romish Party how in Rome itself they sang their Io Paeans upon the Tidings of it and said Triumphantly now is the day ours now is the fatal blow given to the Protestant Religion in England Upon which account we have great reason to believe that the Romanists have used their utmost endeavours to hinder the Reformed of France from having Bishops as they heartily desired 3. Let us see what opinion the Eminent Divines of the Foreign Reformed Churches have of our English Bishops 1st Calvin in his Book de neces ref If they will give us such an Hierarchy in which the Bishops do not refuse to be subject to Christ have him for their only head i. e. in opposition to the Pope and be united to the truth of the Gospel then if there be any that do not reverence such Bishops and submit to them I confess there is no Anathema which they do not deserve and in his Epistle to the Duke of Somerset c. he commends our English Bishops as such 2d Bucer de Regno Christi We see by the perpetual Observation of the Church from the Apostles time that it pleased the Holy Ghost to have one Person set over the Presbyters to have the care of the Church and govern it and therefore he is called a Bishop And again in his Works p. 565. These Orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons have ever been in the Church by the appointment of the Holy Ghost And again in resp protest apud Goldast Tom. 2. which Bucer was the Author of How much mischief the Reformed Churches have suffered for want of Bishops no one can easily find Words to express Forbs p. 132. 3d. Beza in Ep. p. 18. Speaking of Bishops Priests and Deacons adds the Holy Ghost appointed those Orders Contra Sarav ad 518. Art 3. If England continue to keep her Bishops and Arch-Bishops let her enjoy that singular Blessing of God which I wish they may always have And again If there be any that reject all sort of Episcopacy God forbid that any but Mad Men should joyn with them 4th Spanheim in Epist ad dub Evang. Vol. 3. At Geneva they have a great esteem for the English Bishops and daily pray for their Prosperity 5th Le Moyne from Leyden published by Dr. Stillingfleet p. 405. As for the