upon themselves a power of making and propagating others like themselves where they meet with officious Clients such as were willing to be made currant by their stamp it hath pleased our Legitimate Governours after a Jubilee of an happy restauration to prevent schism and confusion among Ministers that they may not claim from several Originals and so maintain divers interests and like Jacob and Esau struggle in the womb of the Church and endanger the rending of her bowels as those lay-Corinthians did whereas some cry'd up Paul some Apollos It hath pleased the wisdom of the foresaid Authority to command that all professing to take upon them the work of the ministry should pass under the hands of the Reverend Bishops according to the custom of this and the primitive Catholick Church that all might pronounce the same Shibboleth Who would think that any should be so refractory as to not comply with this peaceable and laudable design Epist ad Evagrium Saint Jerom did much advance the office of Presbyters yet when he comes to the business of Ordination he leaves that solely to the Bishop 1 Tim. 4.14 And so I understand Saint Paul though he mentions the laying on of the hands of the Presbyters as concurring with him in that work yet to shew that he was the principal and they but assitants he expounds his meaning afterwards 2 Tim. 1.8 by the laying on of his own hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that place noting the chief causation as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the other signifies only a concurranceâ— Thus he appropriates this work also to Titus Bishop of Crete to Ordain Elders in every City Titus 1.5 I will not dispute what may be done in case of necessity when Bishops cannot be had I am not an absolute stranger to the judgment of Learned men when things are brought to this exigent nor am I ignorant that Edesius and Frumentius Preaching to the Indians are commended though they had no Ordination at all But I adore the goodness of God that did not suffer us to be plunged into that gulf in the worst of times he left us a seed of that apostolical Race some whereof Ordained many hundreds maugre all the thunderbolts of their malicious adversaries And I look upon them as shielded by a supernatural power in doing of this their duty when men wereso wrathfully displeased at them Therefore to such as say they could be ordained by none but Presbiters in those times and so plead necessity I must answer it was not absolute but contracted And whether such voluntary and forward revolting from the establish'd rule and method of Ordination climing up into the Lords sheep-fold some other way I say whether this irregular sending forth of Ministers hath not been a great occasion that so many sheep have been peel'd and scratch'd with the briars and brambles of wasting erros I leave to the sad thoughts of others Sure I am this hath been the subject of my pensive meditations when I saw so much hemlock and such daring luxuriant tares growing in the furrows of the Church God usually leaves those men to themselves blasts their enterprises and lets Satan loose upon them that leaves his good old paths to walk in wayes of their own invention Cheminitius judged Origen to have fallen into so many errors because he Preach't without ordination Cyprian notes the same of Donatus qui à seipso ordinatus Uport Gol. 23. And Bishop Durant sayes 'T is no wonder that those men preach what is false who never had any legitimate power at all Jer. 23.32 But I am most confirm'd by that of the Prophet Behold I am against them that Prophesie false dreams and cause my people to erre by their lies yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the Lord. It troubled Bilueh to the day of his death that he madea Collation in a place where there was no Minister before he himself was in Orders So tender was that good man of violating that Order which was in the Church Now whâ—â—â—â—â— you put on yâ—â—r Trâ—â—â—â—al Buskins and cry out if you should be reordain'd this were all one with renouncing your former ordination and proclaiming all your ministerial Acts perform'd by vertue thereof void I profess I neither see any coherence nor any sound inference at all in this logick neither is there any such declaration in the Act of Parliament but rather a great deal of tenderness and compassion for men in your condition a meeting only to set us all in a right posture that we might all be as an Army with Banners marching all one way that is with our faces towards Zinn under the conduct of the same Commanders Had those in Authority reduc't you into the state of lay-men concluded your ordination void and then applied this salvo to what you acted heretofore Fieri non debuit factum valet you might perhaps have complained the more yet they would not have wanted presidents and examples of councels to that purpose But they touch you with a soft hand only injoyning you to take Episcopal ordination as it were ad corroberandum titulum to make your former ordination Canonical Legal and Authentick This is evident from that proviso in the act it self That it shall not extend to those Ministers of the forraign reformed Churches allowed or to be allowed by the Kings Majesty his Heirs and Successors Therefore it follows in my logick that the compilers of this act did not account ordination by Presbyters to be absolutely void In his unBishoping Tâ—nothâ— and Titus However Master Prin is pleased to condemn Bishop Hall for reordaining Master Bury ordain'd before beyond the Seas which is matter of fact either without the compass of my remembrance or short of my observation Yet to shew our charity to the reformed Churches the letter of the Law is now express to the contrary Doth not this proceed from a spirit of condescention and moderation Yet in your anger you will say-all things are screw'd up to the utmost extremity without the least abatements whatever But though the Law thus bares with forreigners and is civil to strangers must you that are of the same Family claim the same priviledge and plead exemption from the discipline of your Mother For shame unlace your selves come in and renew your commission Those Officers that fought under the Earl of Essex received a new commission under the Lord Fairfax Were not many Kings in the old Testament anointed I Chron. 29.22 and inaugurated again and again As Solomon and David 1 Sam. 16.2 Were not the Apostles sent forth by Christ Yet they were separated and had hands imposed on them 2 Sam 2.4 by men and that not only once but Paul had hands laid on him first by Ananias Act. 9. and then by the Prophets Bishop Bilson P. 93. Acts 13. and Barhabas had hands imposed on him
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judae p. 6. Neither do the Bishops challenge any preheminence above you or us in Preaching ‑ the Gospel or administration of the Sacraments but only as to Acts of Jurisdiction and Ordination And what order would be in the Church without these As for the Hystory of the Church that there was such a distinction if my Books be Authentick even in the purest times I am abundantly confirm'd And it hath been the subject of my admiration that those amongst you who have more then ordinary familiarity with antiquity should yet boggle at this concession If you would permit me to be your remembrancer I would lay before you these few Testimonies Ignatius ad Magnes p. 55. Tertul. de Baptismo p. 280. Cle. Alexand. Stroma 6. p. 667. Cyrillus p. 209. Austin de Civit. dei lib. 22. cap. 8. Jerom ad Evagrium Heliodorum vindicated from the exceptions of Blondel and Salmasius by that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dr Hammond Calvin Beza with other modern writers of great credit who are commonly look'd upon as adversaries to Episcopacy yet speak most softly and favourably of the English Bishops But could you submit to the Bishops as your Superiours yet you will by no means admit of their Titles of Lords This is say some of you ' taking Gods name in vain in perverting the genuine sense of Scripture to Lord it over the Lords Heritage This is expresly contrary to Gods command telling his Apostles that it should not be so amongst them Yet methinks if we can agree in the main concerning a gradation sub supra in the Church we should not differ about a word Especially since the Authority and divine right of Scripture is not herein pretended but only the indulgence of Princes He that makes others Knights and Earls hath the same power sure to make these Lords But see your own unhappiness again whilst you fling at the Mitre you hit the Crown and pierce the purple Robe As much as in you lies you abridg the Kings prerogative in conferring Titles of Honour upon whom he pleases unless your suffrages be first procur'd The fountain of Honour must be dryed up rather then empty it self into any Rivulets but where you shall direct them How came that very same spirit of contradiction into you which was in those male-contents of Scotland If the King there either went an Hunting or kept a Feastival day without their approbation presently the Pulpits must ring with Anathema's against him If those that are eminent in the studies of the Laws or men of heroical and valiant atchievments in war be dignified with the chaplet of Honor they will permit them to wear those Crowns which they have purchased by their own merits But if those that excel in the study of divine learning by their Princes favour be accordingly advanc't what squint eyes are cast upon them then you grudg with Judas at this expence of princely bounty and are as far from congratulating their preferment as you are from equalling their endowments Rex Anius Rex idem hominum phabiq Sacerdos The very Heathens thought their Priests capable of being Kings so that both offices met in the same person And Solomon accounted it no disparagement that he was á½ Ecclesiastes The Preacher in Jerusalem How many great Princes are there in the World at this day who are Bishops by their callings Yet you are more violent against the innocent Rochets of reformed Bishops then at the Caps of Romish Cardinals though of a sanguine complexion Were they all Presâ—er-John's they would not be so much exposed to your anger French History in the life of Charlemaign When a Stracen King came to the Court of France wâ—â—n an intent to turn Christian he was so much scandaliz'd at the poor and ragged condition of the Kings Chaplains that he went away as very an Heathen as he came The best Christian Emperours thought it a most compendious way to make Religion to flourish by gracing and crediting Bishops Constantine set them at his own Table and wherever he went Euseb p. 127. they were his companions Theodosius and Valentinian shew'd the same respect to those that were most eminent in the Church Cracanthorp's defence of Constantine p. 44. c. No man more welcom to-them then the Bishop of Millane Nay to gain the more respect among the people many controversies 'twixt men and men were devolv'd to their decision Theodor l. 4. p. 5. And it was lawful even to appeal from the Emperour to the Bishop May not this be the reason Zâ—zam l. 1. c. 9. that the Scriptures adorn them with such transcendent Names Aust Epist 147. Embassadours of Christ Stewards of the mysteries of God Rulers of Gods Family Stars Angels Gods yet we are so infatuated with ignorance or distorted with malice that we can neither see the advantages which accrews to the Church by their advancement nor perceive how this tends to our own benefit and renown Is it not for our good that they sit in Parliament That they are vigilant and provident there as our Representatives both to prevent what may be prejudicial to us and also to interpose and move in our behalf Is it not for our honour that they are thus exalted who were taken out of our selves May not this shield off some of that contempt which the people are apt to cast upon us and if we be injur'd and oppress'd is it not for a consolation that we have such heads of our Tribes such Fathers of our Family into whose bosome we may empty our complaints who will be as ready to releive as to hear us And if our grievances are above the sphere of their own activity yet they can appeal to higher authorities when such little ones as we are can scarce be admitted For all this you cannot digest their Titles of Lords Mat. 20.25 26. This favours say you too much of a temporary Kingdom upon earth which our Saviour does upon all occasions renounce Luke 22.25 This is to bear rule like the Princes of the Gentiles Thus you run away with this Text like Lapwings with shells upon your heads as if 't were not possible to overtake you And you think your selves so deeply intrench't in the authority of this Scripture as if it were impossible to beat you out of this fortress yet le ts spend some second thoughts upon it and search it with a narrower eye 'T is true our Saviour prohibits all affectation of honour among his Apostles he would not have them strive after greatness but to be serviceable to the meanest that they may win all sorts of persons by their humility Dominatio interdicitur judicitur ministratio They must not hunt after dominion but like the Angels they must be ministring Spirits Yet that there should be no prerogative and preheminence one above another this is not forbidden at all in that place Indeed Christ would not have his Apostles to have
on their backs or must they be our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lustration or expiation for those curses which are due unto us all Can they make and impose Laws Were the Liturgy Canons and other decrees established by their Authority alone Do not we own the King Supream upon earth Have not the Laws the superscription and stamp of his Royal Assent Are they not the product not as your Covenant of a part but the whole Parliament King Lords and Commons And yet by a wilful kind of Sophistry you are still casting all the Odium as you intend it upon the Bishops who are but the Trustees Heb 3.2 to see the execution of those Laws Therefore as Moses was faithfull to him that appointed him in all things concerning the Lord's House so these Aarons must be men of fidelity in discharging that trust which is reposed in them by the supream Authority of this Kingdome concerning the affairs of the Church according to the pattern which they have received in the Mount I mean from the Legislative power of the Land Indeed should they coyn Articles of Faith like that Romish Dictator and impose them upon the Church then there were just cause of complaint But whilst like Ahasuerus they only inquire what they may do according to law to those that break the Commands of the King take heed lest whilst you level your darts at them you hit the Throne But why do you impute the Plague unto the Bishops Esth 1.55 Doth this savour of a Christian spirit I had thought that in general calamities every man should have laid his hands upon his own heart and suspect himself to be that Achan that troubles the Camp that Jonah which occaons the storm and say with the Apostles though innocent Master is it I And not like Solomons Harlot wipe our mouths or with guilty Ahab lay the fault of troubling Israel on good Elijah Will you still be the worser sort of Conformists resembling the murmuring Israelites if any thing went amiss with them If they wanted water or meat for their lusts then Moses was in all the fault in bringing them from the flesh-pots of Egypt Will you needs conformyour selves to those idolaters that Jer 44.18 looked upon them that reclaim'd them from offering incense to the Queen of Heaven to be the cause of the Sword and Famine or those Heathens that sent the Christians to the Lyons if Nilus did not swell high enough to make their fields fruitful or if their Legions miscarried in the Field So unhappy are our Fathers if their teeth must be set on edge as oft as the people eat sour Grapes This will make their backs crack though made of steel if every mans burthen must be laid on their shoulders they are objects of pity rather then envy if our faults must be whipt on them and they must be piacular oblations for us Good Sirs learn more candour morality justice and charity hereafter and see that ye speak every man the truth to his neighbour Some of you have so blackened these reverend Fathers and put them into such a strange and monstruous dress by calling them the Members of the great Whore of the Beast of Babylon Idolaters Haters of God and Godliness the verymystery of iniquity and those principalities and powers which Christ came to cast down or as this Scribe does more then insinuate page 53. Esteeming Ceremonies above Souls That I dare boldly aver that some of the seduced Herd who are ignorant of their Integrity eare of the Churches bounty publick spirits Piety and Loyalty do scarce believe them to be men or if so yet that they are some terrible Cannibals that came out of some strange Land I was not long since desir'd to Preach to a Congregation that had been instructed by one of your selves A Gentleman told a Country-man there after Sermon that his Son was an hopeful youth and might in time be a Bishop The man startled presently with fear or indignation I know not whether saying God-forbid that ever my Child should be a Bishop Sure this man thought his Child should be transformed into some strange shape have been converted into an Egyptian Mammaluke or paid as a tribute-Child to the Grand Signiâ—r and so have been brought up in the Mahumetan Religion and made a Janizary to that Emperour Thus the spies to the intent they might disgrace the Land of Canaan said The Land did eat up the Inhabitants thereof Numb 13.33 And in our remembrance even at the beginning of these late times some malicious Poers told the World that the Royalists eat up Children and train'd their Horses under ground c. Can such weapons prosper as are sharpned at the Forges of the Philistines Can such Champions hope for success that go dewn into Egypt for help Cutting and lancing with lyes as with sharp Razors Is there no way to undermine the sacred order of Bishops but by digging as low as Hell in slandering the footsteps and traducing the Persons and Government of those servants of the Lord of whom this treacherous World is not worthy Gal. 5.20 If this be your zeal it never came down from Heaven Calvin Episâ— 3. but it is a meer work of the flesh it is such a zeal quo nunquam arsit Elias which never inflamed the hearts of Gods faithful servants There were just such zealots indeed in Jerusalem a little before its Conquest by the Romans And I wish you may not shew your selves to be their off-spring and so become as ominous to us in ringing the knell of our Native Country CHAP. IV. Subordination of Presbyters to Bishops and the Honorary Title of Lords given to the Bishops are no just impediments to Conformity YOu are not a little troubled that you must truckle under Bishops Nor will you own any such distinction betwixt you and them Whence this ariseth as to the sublimity of your spirits I have touched upon before I desire still to be serviceable unto you by removing and dispelling such clouds which interpose their gross bodies betwixt you and us It is not my business to dispute this Polemical Article at large which my betters have done so fully that there is nothing to be gleaned after them What can he do that comes after the King Their Arguments stand like a firm Mountain against the popping squibs of all Arrius's Disciples Only let me reason with you in a word or too according to my own observation and reading Was not Aaron above the Priests Levites Nethenims Were there not Archiflamines amongst the Romans by the very light of nature Were not the Disciples think ye inferiour to the Apostles Were not the Ministers in Ephesus and Creet subordinate to Timothy and Titus What think you of the superintendants in the Lutheran Churches of the leading Presbyters in Geneva and here at home Did they go so equally hand in hand with their Brethren without advanceing one step before them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
any violent or compulsive jurisdiction over their Brethren in exercising the power of the Sword He would have them to leave that to temporal Princes Therefore 't is said it shall not be so among you that is as it is with civil Magistrates Princes of the Gentiles punishing offenders with corporal stripes And accordingly our Bishops meddle not with criminal matters but as I am inform'd they go forth of the Parliament house when sentence of death is pronounced against Malefactours You might as well conclude that no men should be called Masters Fathers Lords because the Scripture sayes Be not called Masters Call no man Farher upon Earth There is but one Lord Jesus Christ But this word Lord is taken in a latitude of interpretation It carries with it respect and superiority Rebecca did so respect and reverence Abrahams servant that she sayes drink my Lord. Sarah called Abraham Lord. 1 King 18 Elias a Prophet is so called my Lord Elias so is Elizeus too 2 King 2. There is honour nay double honour due to those that wait at the Altar therefore methinks we may signifie that honour in our expressions Ambrosius de dig Sacer. c 3. If we must honour them with our hearts why not with our lips since Nihil sublimius Episcopis No calling is more sublime then that of the Bishops Bishop Bilson of the perpetual Government of the Church p. 63. I conclude this return with the very words of that excellent Bishop of Winchester God is my witness I smooth no mans pride I seek no mans favour I read as sincerely as my simple learning will suffer me I see no reason why it should trouble any godly mind to hear a Bishop called by that name with which Saint Peter willeth every woman to honour her Husband CHAP. V. An Answer to that popular clamour Godly meetings are disturb'd and Papists favour'd IT is no small rub in your way to hinder your advance towards us and does not a little open your mouthes against your Governours that you cannot be quiet in your private meetings but you are ferreted and disturb'd by the secular power so that Papists and drunkards are not so narrowly observed in their extravagancies as you are in the true worship of God Ad populum Phaleras This Topick does you much service whereby you perswade the credulous multitude that you suffer a great deal of wrong this is oppression and persecution in grain What must godly sober conscionable Ministers be more severely dealt withal then those that sing Dirges and say Mass Then those that flock to those seminaries of misdemeanours Alehouses and Taverns Far be it from me from being patron or advocate for either of these better my tongue should cleave to the roof of my mouth Yet comparatively and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compose your countenances untill I come to a full period I mean in point of obedience to Government and so in respect of publick peace and tranquility I wish it may not be truly said that these very persons against whom you so bitterly declaim and sharpen all your invectives overwhelming them with showrs of stones from your slings as if none were sinners but they were not less dangerous to the welfare of the Kingdom then those reputed Godly men who with a sullen kind of sobriety like him in the Hystorian go about to destroy the common wealth Sober men did I call them Then who are those pernicious drunkards of whom the Prophet speaks who are drunk but not with wine Drunk with malice and revenge and drench'd in such furious passions that like Etna they belch forth nothing but flames There are some unclean spirits that walk in dry places Matth. 12.43 Now if spiritual sins are worser then carnal as partaking more of the will and the whole soul certainly this drunkenness which throws fire-brands into the roof of Government and longs to wallow in the ashes of a Kingdom is worse then his that rowles in his own vomit This degrades us below bruit beasts and that equals us to the very devils This hath more scandal before men but that hath more guilt in the sight of God Such as these may in time be brought to repentance but those are commonly hardned in their impiety that as Christ told the Preists and Elders that Publicans and Harlots should go into the Kingdom of Heaven before them so 't is easier to teach these prophane wretches their duty to 〈◊〉 their Prince and convince them of their exorbitant carriage then it is to turn those about whose webs are finer spun and their fardels wrapt up in Eliah's Mantle I hope you will not call this pleading for Baal and arguing for debauchery no more then Saint James pleaded for Devils when he sayes they beleive and tremble or our Saviour for Heathenism when he prefers the condition of Tyre and Sâ—don before that of Chorazin and Bethsaida A Serpent is a Serpent still though in some respect that is in looking to his head he is the emblem of wisdom But as the Moralities of Pagans and honest dealings of Turks do but aggravate the vices and cheatings of Christians and will rise up in judgment against them So that loyalty which is in profane persons doth the more condemn that disobedience which is in men professing Religion Are not you ashamed to violate the commands of Authority when Swearers and Drunkards are zealous for them and herein it is to wit in what is good that they deserve both favour and incouragement I pray study Metaphysiks better and do not confound and jumble together the notions of those things which ought to be distinguished abstracted and sever'd one from another These men are câ—untenanc'd 't is true as obedient subjects but not as Drunkards For so the Laws of the Land are severe against them if they were well executed 'T is an arrand fallacy to conclude absolutely and comprehensively when the premises are only to be understood of things in some particular respects and considerations Although I wish from my heart there were no need of such logical acceptations but that such as were loyal heretofore and do still keep their integrity did not blast their own vertue and give their enemies occasion by the looseness of their lives to traduce the goodness of their cause Now as to your darling private meetings whereby you contront the publick establish'd worship of God and would make men believe that God is served only in your corners That as Eliah once spake unadvisedly and with too much ostentation you are left alone that you are as a garden of Cucumbers that our Temples are profan'd with superstition Sirs be not angry if the supream Magistrate have a jealous eye upon your Assemblies as having paid dear already for the like method and procecdings Is there no cause for him to fear lest you should hatch such Harpy's as may in time devour him And what necessity I pray of this schism I can call it no better if
an Asses head as that we espouse any Popish Tenents my Answer to those that examine me in this point is this Am I not a Minister of the Church of England And is not this enough to evade or blow away such a calumny Is it less than a contradiction to call those Bishops and Ministers of the Church Popish who have subscribed unto and do allow of the Articles Liturgy and Canons of this Church Wise men will as soon believe you if you should affirm that those who approve all things in the Alcoran are Christians or that England reaches as far as Italy What considerable point almost betwixt them and us is not in some of these declar'd against So that this web which you weave with so much earnestness will only catch dotterels and fools such as have either shak'd hands with their reason or else are enthrall'd and captivated under the tyranny of their partiality and lock'd down to the Gallies of their own passions If this be not enough to disabuse your credulity and to vindicate my self from any compliance with the Court of Rome I profess moreover that with the Beraeans I have search'd the Scriptures Neither am I an utter stranger to the Fathers and Historians of the primitive times yet I can neither find either their opinions or your singularities wherein they or you differ from the Church of England in any of those Canonical and Authentick Records Why should you grudge at the Papists peace protection so long as they are peaceable and either actively obey the Laws of the Land or else are ready passively to submit to the penalties charged upon them for their neglect if you find them thus dispos'd As great an aversion and antipathy as ye have against them 't is worth your labour herein to make them your own exemplars Sure you are not so bloody in your Tenents as to maintain that all who differ from us in Religion meerly upon the account of Religion must presently incur capital punishments Saint Bernard upon those words of Solomon Take the Foxes observes Ser. inf 〈◊〉 Gant 2 1◠that he commands them not to be rooted up and killed but only to be taken that is by convicing them of their errours Cu◠convincitur falsitas capta est vulpes quae demolitur vineam You cannot be so ignorant of the usages in other States and Kingdoms except where the inquisition prevailes how those that dissent from the Religion which is publickly authoris'd are not only permitted but secur'd so long as they do not affront the Civil or Ecclesiastical Laws of those dominions And it would be but an unseasonable president and excitement of cruelty towards our Brethren abroad if we should begin in the same cup at home I wish with Saint Paul that all men were as my self yet since there must be Heresies and our judgments are as different as our faces since breeding and education do so much sway and influence mens Religion I have a latitude of charity for those that dissent from me if they be not seducing impostors or turbulent incendiaries CHAP. VI. Reordination is no sufficient ground for Non conformity ANother Sconce or Bulwark of yours wherein ye have intrench't your selves and stand out against us inviting you out of the sence of the greatness of the Harvest to bear a part with us in the heat and burthen of the day in the work of the Ministry saying unto you as the men of Gibeon said to Joshua slack not your hands Josh 10.6 but come up to us quickly and help us Some of you have answered no for we must be ordained by Bishops otherwise by the Law we have no commission and as for our parts we are resolved not to undervalue that ordination which we have receiv'd already from our Brother Presbyters The Bishops hands are not more Authentick than theirs Besides should we admit of another ordination what is this but to confess our former void and then what shall become of those children which we have Baptised and other minsterial acts which we have performed by vertue of that ordination this is objected but by some of you and those juniors who came up in the time of the second Temple and did not behold the glory of the first And herein your condition is the more to be pittied as being deceived and betrayed into such a labyrinth as this by those that had seen more years and so should have been more fatherly I wish the complaint of Cyprian may not hold in this case Parentes Parricidae Fathers are murderers poyson their children and give them sour Grapes to set their teeth on edge I cannot but apply to them the case of the young Prophet that man of God who was led out of his way by an old Prophet so that he brake the commandement of the Lord and at last was slain by a Lyon 1 King 13.24 Sirs look about you Will you stand in the Market place all the day idle out of a complement to some ring leaders of a party who thought to have retrench'd the footsteps of ancient discipline and pull'd up the Land-marks of Catholick order in the Church that all persons acting in the ministry might derive from them and commence from the Epoche of their jurisdiction Just as Jeroboam made new Priests after he had made an innovation in the political Government The old Wells must be stopt up and new found Cisterns must be set abroach If one should ask these recusants whether they had not at first an inward call from God I 'le warrant you they would make it as evident to Master Nye if he were again in his chair both as to the time and manner of such a call as ever it is apparent that young Samuel the Prophets and Apostles were called by a signal voice from Heaven Yet this call from God must be suspended or utterly neglected if it be not warranted and confirm'd by such men as they phansie and approve as if they were the servants of men and came on their errand rather than the Embassidours of Christ and Nuncio'◠of Heaven What is Ordination but an impouring such men to the work of the Ministry as by their quallifications make it appear they are set apart and appointed by God to the same office As Kings when Inaugurated and persons when Married are declar'd unto the World that they are to be looked upon in such a royal capacity and Matrimonial relation Therefore 't is no contradiction in Saint Paul that he was not an Apostle of men nor by men Gal. 1.1 but by Jesus Christ Acts. 13. Yet we read that he was ordered instituted and set apart by men to the work of the ministry because his inward call was derived immediately from God but the manifestation and declaration of this was from men Now since the loosing the golden reins of Government in head strong times some that were but meer Presbyters themselves by a too precipitate boldness took
words in the confession There is no health in us with the Letany as if it were a role of curses with kneeling at that short prayer at the end of the commandements Lord have mercy vpon us and incline our hearts to keep thy Law Alass Conscientis minus scrupulosa noscitur ex vitis these are poor vulgar cavils your scruples run higher concerning assent and consent And here you are very critical learned and curious in finding out gins to intangle and perplex your own consciences as if you had found out a spititual Microscope to discern what is invisible to our duller eyes Not only your wills say you must Consent to the use of it as good but your understanding is ingaged in the truth of the Liturgy And indeed I had thought these two acts had been so twisted together in rational men that ordinarily one doth suppose and infer the other When I consent with my will to use the prayers of the Church this ariseth from the conviction of my reason that I may and ought to do so And the act of my will would be brutish and irregular like that of Medea who was hurried only with the Ocstrum of her wilful passions if it were not steer'd by the dictate of my understanding this is to do it in judgment therefore you-do but put a fallacy upon your selves a bene conjunctis c. And whereas you say some of you that you could read our prayers if you might be abated your Assent n = * The Church in her best ages hath secur'd her vitals with an hedge of subscription In Austins time such as were admitted to the ministry were to renounce the errors of the Manichees Arrians Novatians and Pelagians to declare whether they allowed of first and second marriages the eating of flesh repentance after lapses Whether original concupiscence were a sin or whether such as were out of the Church might inherit eternal life in the Synode of Nice not only the Bishops but Constantine himself subscribed to the decrees of that Synode with his own hands So in Luthers time when the Church was pestered with Anabaptists Servetus Canipanus Stuckfoldius and other Furies it defended it self by prescribing bounds to those that were in the ministry which they should not pass See Melancton Tomo tertio Declarationum selectavum Cap de calumnijs Osiandri p. 699 700. And why should not the Church of England after these and other laudable examples fortifie and preserve the Capitol of her peace against turbulent invaders and pernicious incendiaries by limiting mens exorbitant excursions in joyning their consent to her wholsome discipline saying hitherto shall ye go and no further and Consent 't is all one to me as if if you should say you would use them in hypocrisie But if after all this strife what if these words Assent and Consent are but exegitical where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same thing is expressed in several terms as it is very usual in Scripture and import no more than that you shall constantly and unseignedly use this form in publick excluding all others Not as if our Assent to these definitions were in the same manner internal as that is which we give unto decrees as infallible but such as we give to those which are not contrary to the fundamentals of faith out of submission for peace sake Stilling fl desenee of the Arch-Bishop 82. l 509. as one well expresses it whose reading and judgment out-strips his years Whereas some of you have told me you would conform were you not injoyned to do do what is absolutely sinful These are but swelling words of vanity For I must tell you again prove what you say and you shall have more companions If any thing in the Common-prayer were contrary to any part of Gods word we have authority from our subscription to disclaim it It is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to the word of God or besides the same They are the very words of our twentieth Article of Religion so far is she from imposing any thing that is sinful so unlike is our Church to the Church of Rome if Cardinal Peroon hit her meaning right when he told King James pressing him that the cup in the Sacrament was according to Christs institution That t is lawful for the Church to dispense with Christs institutions or if this single Cardinal be no competent Interpreter of that Churches sense yet the counsel of Constance cannot be denied affirming that although Christ hath appointed the Sacrament to be received under both kinds yet Hoc non obstante we decree that the lay-people shall only receive under the species of bread I only add this that by the illustration of contraries ingrateful men might be brought to see their own happiness who breath in the air of the English Church I bless God for his mercy and conclude with those words of remarkable D. Downham Though envy cannot say but our Church holds all substantial points of Divinity and uses the ordinary means of salvation as other Churches testifie yet so wanton in Religion are men through spiritual pride that they care not for the sound food of their souls unless they may have their own sauce 10. Besides your giving Assent and Consent you stumble again very unluckily at the very threshold of the Liturgy The very Calendar you say is intollerable For therein is injoyned the observation of festival dayes by the institution of man I will not dispute with you about the change of the Sabbath day from the seventh to the first day of the week I had rather grant that to be by Apostolical and divine Authority than raise any dust about it Yet this hinders not but that it is in the power of the Church to set apart other dayes especially I am confirmed herein because I find dayes of thanksgiving and fasting set apart in the Scriptures by comission from men and I have seen the like practised by your selves I find the feast of Pu rim so lemnly observed in the Old Joh. 10.22 and the feast of the dedication owned by Christ himself in the New Testament Those Agapae or Love feasts the Apostle speaks of were taxed by him not simply as feasts but as abused by the Corinthians 'T is easie to mention the Homilies and Orations which the Ancients made upon the Nativity of Christ and other festivals That is a false plea against Saints dayes as if they were equalliz'd to the Lords own day For look what difference there is between the Lady and her Maid Christ and his servants the same we acknowledge twixt the Sabbath and other festivals We Honour the Saints and if we should not I find by experience we should give the Papists just offence yet we do not adore them We desire to imitate those vertues and graces that were in the Saints We rejoyce at their conquest over the World their triumph in Heaven because they keep an
Idle too 1 Tim. 5.13 But is it such an unpardonable fault in our prayers that many of them are short What think you of ejaculations are not they prayers and commonly the most fervent There is most of a spiritual Impetus exerted in them as those that have but a short race to run their strength serves them to run the faster And is it not belonging to their very nature to be short What think you of all the prayers mention'd in Scripture were not Moses Hezekiah David Daniel nay Christ himself as able as any of us to lengthen out their prayers yet where have they left us any pattern upon Record of prolix protracted and volumnious prayers except you will say the Book of the Psalms are so But then why do you sit at the reading of them Is that a seemly posture for prayer and praises we read that Paul and Silas pray'd at midnight Saint Paul preach'd until midnight Acts 20.7 but I find none praying so long together That prayer of our Saviours Jo. 1.7 is the longest I can think on at present Yet though I read no long prayers in Scripture I read of them but with a sharp spit on black brand before them in three of the Evangelists Wo unto you Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites for you devour Widdows houses and for pretence make long prayers Or as some read it Simulantes orationem longam Not praying long but fainting and counterfeting the doing so That under the pretence of a long grace they might eat the greater dinner in swallowing Widows houses at a bitt Widows houses did I say I wish that some under this pretence had not thought to have taken the houses of God into possession had not the gobbets been too hard of digestion had not the great Paterfamilias and Land-Lord of these houses granted Davids imprecation against such sacrilegious cormorants O my God! make them like unto a wheele that is making them so giddy that they let go their hold If we came with a good stomack I mean with such a Christian appetite and disposition of soul as we ought to do when we joyn together in prayer the shortness would not offend us but rather prevent that tediousness which is too incident to our flesh and blood in our devotions and a means to make them new fresh and vigorous at every period As after Moses had been praying in the Mount Exol 12.7 his hands began to be heavy had not Aaron and Hur held them up It is not so easie as some account it to wind up the soul to an heavenly pitch and to keep it at that bent for any duration of time Sure I am the best of Gods people have complain'd of coolings slacknings and distractions in this case and after their prayers could even have cast stones at themselves and beat upon their own breasts when they have reflected upon their languishing devotions Therefore the shortness of our prayers and the peoples responses are so many helps to our infirmities as so much Cork or as so many bladders to keep us from sinking into the Gulph or dead sea of a lither and dull kind of oscitancy Then we have time time pause and take breath with Sampson to check our selves or with the Cocks to clap our wings that so with the greater alacrity and activity of spirit we may fall on again Bishop Gauden thought it most heavenly musick when he preach'd at the Temple to hear the unanimous Answers of that honorable Assembly every one bearing a part in the publick prayers this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Apostles language to inflame one the other with fire from heaven When prayers are continued into an extraordinary length it falls out many times as when Saint Paul was long a preaching some like Eutychus will fall into a deep sleep until they be taken up for dead Act. 2.9 As for our being just the same with other Churches abroad in every punctilio it can neither be expected by them nor performed by us We allow them their Christian liberty without censuring them for that Wherein they differ from us in circumstantials and those that have been even pillars amongst them have been a◠their Dabimusque vicissim They have not not only commended but have wished for the same discipline and manner of worship among themselves were it consistent with the condition of their affairs Were I in some forraign Church said the learned Bishop of Worcester I heard it from his own mouth where it were the custom to kneel at the Creed Dr. Prideaux I would conform to that Church shall not we condescend to the practises of our own Church which are both lawful and warranted by the best authority of the Nation That our prayers are lawful appears by some of your own concessions For you say you should not be against them were they joyned in one whereas Magis and Minus vary not the species of any thing so neither doth the length or shortness of it A short line is a line as well as a long ones only the length of things many times doth but dwindle them into weakness as plate the more 't is beaten out the thinner it is and rarifaction in nature swells the same matter into a greater bulk but withall impairs its strength There is more worth in a Diamond than in a whole Mountain of rubbish-stone The less the eye is the sharper the fight And in the little compacted heart of a Lyon there is most of boldness and courage Nature is maxima in minimis it shews most of its skill in things of smallest quantity or as Saint Austin Deus non parvus in parvis Gods wisdom and power are not small in the smallest things Major in exiguo Regnabiteor pore virtus The Greek proverb also is often too true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And may not the Publicans short prayer Lord bemerciful to me a sinner be more massie and effectual than the bablings of the long winded Pharises This objection is more unreasonable yet for as 't is said of the Scriptures There are depths for the Elephant to swim and fords for the Lambs to wade Some things so mysterious that they may puzzle the most subtile and angelical Doctors some things so plain that a novice may run and read them Milk for babes and stronger meat for men of riper years So in our Liturgy There are some prayers more concise in consideration of our infirmities which are apt to tire in running a longer race of devotions and there are others more large as that for the Catholick Church c. to exercise their more Eagle-like wings who are able to soar higher or fetch a wider compass without resting or pausing by the way I read indeed of Nazianzene and Basil that they fasted so long until they became so many skeletons And Saint Bernard did pray so much night and day donec genua sustinere Corpus non possent until he was not able to go until his
Peter did so vehemently press obedience to thes Emperors As if subjects had as great a latitude as the Pope himself in ordine ad spiritualia I not this the same which Job inveighs against to contend for God 30. Others were so modest p. 258. The Devil of Rebellion doth commonly turn him self to an Angel of reformation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 297. as to say they fought not against the King but such bloody ruffianly Cavaleers as were commissionated by him As if the same God who commanded obedience to the King had not also commanded submission to those that are sent by him 40. Others told us quite contrary for like those false witnesses which came in against Christ they did not agree among themselves 't is true they fought against the Kings person Job 13.8 but it was by his own commission that is By vertue of his own Authority then residing in some Members of Parliament Good God! what pretences were invented what Jesuitical tricks and distinctions were now set on foot to palliate and gloss over a most rotten and devilish design Yet all too little too cover that cloven foot which appeared to men of piety peace and heavenly wisdom at the very first But afterwards this cloud of the bigness of a mans hand waxed bigger and bigger untill it darkned our English heavens and dissolv'd into a showr of Royal blood O hear and fear and do no moae so wickedly Let former experience disâ—ipline you into an abhorrency of war against the King and restrain you from all those methods and Premises which may infer the like catastrophe Who can blame the King if desiring to live long and to see good dayes former transactions considered to make a decree that it shall be declared to be unlawful to take up arms against himself or those that are commissionated by him upon any pretences whatsoever And since the lines of our peace and happiness as to Church and State do meet and concenter in him as our Common Father is it unreasonable for Subjects to swear they will not endeavour the alteration of Government in the Church and State Who would think that any Natives of a Land professing themselves the followers of Christ who in the dayes of his humiliation was obedient to Caesar that he wrought a miracle to give him his due and expecting protection from a lawful Prince should once demur whether they should make this declaration or take this Oath Qui deliberant desciverunt such as doubt of this have even shak'd off the yoke of subjection Mistake me not I am no virulent Tertullus to draw up an indictment against you I accuse you not But as Christ told the Jews there was one that accused them even Moses so there is one that accuseth you by upbraiding you bestowing on you some Caeca verbera and putting you sometimes into a cold sweat I mean your own Conscience I must tell you too before we part that if upon this account you court your own sufferings I would have you to consider whether ye suffer as Christians for righteousness sake And for well doing or whether you are buffeted for your faults Shall I commend you for this I commend you not If you expect a coronet or garland due to confessors if I might plat the wreaths they should be of Nettels and Hemlock I should as soon set the crown of martyrdom upon the head of Thomas a Becket or Sir Thomas More as adorn their foreheads who refused to put in caution for their fidelity and due subjection to their Prince If such persons would be accounted loyalists let them be so But then let me have leave to derive their pedigree or assign the reason of their denomination and that is because they are of their Father Ignatius Loyala It is a wonder to me that we should be adeo Histricasi to use Saint Jeroms words so prickley sharp and full of invectives against the Jesuits for maintaining the lawfulness of murdering protestant Princes and yet the same men should refuse to declare and swear That 't is unlawful to take up Arms against the King upon any pretence whatsoever I wish these recusants would consider what difference there is betwixt taking up Arms against the King if the success fall on their side and un Kinging I had almost said un manning of him I confess I have set my eyes as steddy as I could and I have strengthned them too with the spectacles of several Histories and I can discern but very little Not as if all that ingag'd in the last War had this design farre be it from me to be so uncharitable For as some followed Absolom against David in the simplicity of their hearts 2. Sam 15.11 so many through the prematurity of age and judgment perswasions of relations and the inchantments of fair pretences did purchase their own repentance p. 303. and they that are sensible of their former errors will no doubt be most faithful and loyal afterwards said the Father of our present Solomon I cannot but admire at Master Baxter who acquainting us with his activity in the late War tells us at last that 't is not his intent to determine which party was in the right Book of Rest p. 258. As if he had been fluctuating all that while twixt wind and water or at least did not then remember the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let every one be fully satisfied in his own mind Rom. 145 sure he was not ignorant of that maxime Suppose the case had been so doubtful as he makes it yet in doubtful cases praesumitur pro Rege lege and which is all one subdit tenentur in favorem legis judicrre Bee Bishop Bramhals vindication of the Church of England p. 112. Better obey than disobey doubtingly because as my Author quotes it out of Saint Austin Reum facit principem iniquitas imperandi Innocentem subditum ordo serviendi Had I been near this Gentlemen when he was in this libration of suspence I would have put the fifth commandment together with two or three choice texts out of Saint Paul and Saint Peters Epistles into the other scale and then questionless he would have been the better able to determine which party was in the right And since I have named Master Baxter if I durst I would Cum tanti viri venia be his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Jerom speaks in an Epistle of his and further his active industry in a double performance 10. To revâ—ew his political doctrines especially those that are gathered together by an eminent hand And if after a second scanning or weighing them in the ballance of the Sanctuary he finds them too light That he would deal with them as I presume he hath done with several of his Theological Aphorismes even abandon and dis inherit them What a glorious work would this be conducing to the benefit and edification of the Church un-deceiving and disintangling many
she lost her life Therefore Jephtas vow is understood by Vatablus and Drusius to be conditional that is if that which first met him out of the dore of his house were fit to be sacrificed For had a dog met him it was not to be sacrificed according to the Law They read the words also disjunctively whatsoever cometh out of the doors of my house shall either be consecrated to the Lord or else it shall be sacrificed to him Si molari possit if it be capable of falling a sacrifice unto the Lord. What is this now to the Scottish League and Covenant either as to the entering into it at first or being obliged by it and this will better appear by the illegality of it which is the Minor prop. But the Solemn League the Scottish-English-Covenant was and is an unlawful Oath I am loth to call it the National Covenant I hope that is but an abusive speech which reflects too much disgrace upon the whole Nation Omnes omnitan Charitantes pâ—ta Comâ—â—ur 〈◊〉 for suppose this denomination be taken from the greater I am well assur'd it is not from the better part of the Nation pudet baec approbria and as it was not Catholick in respect of persons so much less in the contents of it There have been so many invincible reasons given against this Covenant by my dear Mother the Vniversity of Oxon and also by many of my Fathers and Brethren that I am almost rapt up into an extasie of wonder that any should appear in such a profligated and baffled cause unless they had dexterity enough to ward off those blows which will inevitably fall upon them He that goes about to dispute against this Covenant hath so many advantages at hand that he may be puzled ex copia what to say first but cannot be destitute of arguments to plead against it 'T is not my business to play the disputant but to beseech you to climb over this Rock into the Pulpit Yet that I may prevail the better with your wils I shall spend a word or two upon your understandings by shewing the unlawfulness of this Covenant in matter and form in respect of the efficient and final cause Though there 's no need of all these terms for if the matter be not justifiable neither can the end We must not do evil that good may come on 't And if the efficient cause be not right and legitimate in a promissory oath it is defective in that which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very formality of such oath which is the Authority imposing it Now that this was the case of the Covenant he that runs may read it if he can but read the capital letters of the Kings Proclamation prohibiting all his subjects to enter into such a combination If those that took it were Subjects to our Prince as was acknowledged in the preface to the Covenant it self yet how they did discharge that relation or how they did shew their subjection in this particular it is as casie to determine as I am loth to express Here is too large a field to expátiate mâ—â—t would argue too much resemblance to that poor insect the impotent and angry flye to insist long on this gauled place I wish my Brethren were as much ashamed of their own precipitancy herein as I am to urge them with it and to charge upon them those consequences which might follow naturally upon the commission of such a miscarriage sure then they would be perswaded to cast forth this Hagar and dis-inherit this Ishmael I pray read over the thirtieth Chapter of Numbers and you may find that persons who are not sui juris as Wives and Children who were under the power of Hus bands and Fathers and why not subjects who are under the power of Princes might not make vowes and Covenants unless they were ritified by their Superiours How can Subjects plâ—ad an exemption from this Law We read of putting down idolatrous Priests destroying the Groves Nigh places Altars the brazen Serpent yet these things were done by the Kings command never as I remember in a way of contradiction 2. Kings 23.5 or defiance to their Authority as appears in the reigns of Josiah and Hezekiah When any thing was amiss in the Church in the primitive times 2 Chron 30. the Christians petitioned the Emperours to reform it they did not invitis regibus attempt that work therefore the Kings in Scripture are every where blamed and not the people in that the High places were not taken away The forwardness of the people herein is but an unwarrantable and preposterous zeal Though the thing it self be good that is to reform abuses in the Church as it is good in it self to offer sacrifice yet not in people that are under subjection as it was not in Soul to offer Sacrifice without a calling Sam 3 1â— It is the Kings peculiar office to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristostle the cheif disposer in matters of Religion He is the Common Bishop of the Church as Constantine is stiled by Eusebius Private persons must defend religion Non occidendo Lactan Institu 5. 〈◊〉 c. 20. sed Moriendo not by killing others but dying themselves It is altogether unlawful sayes Bishop Davenant for the people Renuente Magistratu Ecclesiae Reformationem Moliâ—i Determ 12. to go about to reform the Church without the consent of the supreme Magistrate This is a right so properly belonging to the King that Darius Cyâ—us the King of Nineve were invested with it Jure gentium though they were Heathen Princes Dr Ward p. 105. 〈◊〉 sayes another professor of divinity out of the same chair I read indeed that the people entred into Covenant Ezra 10.3 but it was to put away their strange wives which was according to Law in the same verse What is this to our pupose except you could produce unquestionable evidence of Scripture proof That the Government of the Church by Bishops which you have Covenanted against is as unlawful as the having of strange wives A little reading in Casuists and Schoolmen will easily confirm this truth that such oathes and Covenants which are made against the consent of our Superiours are not obligatory Si Res jurata sit illicita superiore vetante obligatio tollitur Irritationem quoque Lessius de Justitia Jure 429.430.431.551 tollitur quando materia juramenti promissorij subest alterius potestati Haec igitur conditio ex natura rei vel juris dispositione includitur promissioni vel juramento promissioni opposito nisi superior cui materia subest contradicat Quicquid in nostra potestate non sit Ibid. p. 542 sub votum non cadit nec quod malum est Nemo potest se firmiter obligare per promissionem ad id quod est in potestate alterius Aquinas 22. Q. 88. Art 80. sed solum ad id quod est omnino in sua potestate
Quicunque autem est subjectus alicui quantum ad id in quod est subjectus non est suae potestatis facere quod vult sed dependet ex potestate alterius ideo non potest se per votum firmiter obligare in his in quibus â—aâ—teri subjicitur sine consensu sui superioris Ad vnumquemque Ibid. Q. 88. Art 90. pertinet irritare juramentum quod a sibi subditis factum est circa ea quae ejus potestati subduntur Gregory de Valentia affirms the same In multis casibus constat juramentum promissorium non obligare Disp 6. Q. 7 de Juramento scilicet de Re illicita Nam ex eo quod juramentum praestatur homini superiores aut domini Reipromissae possunt irritare juramentum Non tenetur quis per media inutilia vel minus grata deo procurare divinum honorem ad implendo juramentum p. 5â—5 Our own Master Perkins doth but translate the sense of the Schoolmen into English An oath sayes he bindeth not if it be made concerning things which are not in our power as to swear to give away another mans goods And was not this our case did not you swear to take away the Rights of the Bishops nay the Rights of the King whose prerogative and jurisdiction it is to reform the Church and that after many of you had subscribed to the rights of the Episcopal government both when ye took degrees in the University and orders from the Bishops and had also taken the oathes of Allegiance and Supremacy Can a subsequent oath or Covenant so far bind us as to make void the former Juramentum factum contra prius votum Suarez l. 2. d Jâ—ra p. 62. juramentum aut promissum modo sit in re licita non obligat Doctor Cracanthorpe was no ordinary divine in his time yet he confirms this truth The Emperour sayes he swears at his Coronation to keep safe the Honours and Rights of his Kingdome Defence of Constantine c. l. p. 170. afterwarde he alienates them and takes an oath that he will not revoke them But since this latter oath was contrary to his imperial Oath at his Coronation it binds not being unlawful and so cannot be vinculum iniquitatis But notwithstanding such an oath he may revoke his grant Suppose a married man or woman after marriage should vow continency this is more than was in his or her power therefore such a promise is not to be fulfill'd Hoc enim quisa recta firma devotione solus promittit Fulâ—ewi p. 620. 623. quod sui tantum juris esse cognoverit Temerariese vovisse cognoscat debitum conjugi casta sinceritate Redhibet Doth not this rule hold as true betwixt Subjects who are bound by oathes unto their Princes as betwixt an Huband and the Wife of his Covenant Therefore why should not you return unto your first love I mean in making good these former promises and ingagements which you have made unto the Crown and unto those that are commissionated by the supreme authority Do you think that adventitious and contradictory vows of a later date for the making of which you never had any sufficient authority to warrant you will supplant and evacuate your former oathes There was a lawful power prohibiting you to enter into such a combination at first and there hath been since in declaring the Nullity of such a Covenant 〈◊〉 22. 〈◊〉 Will you still look upon your selves like that Ram which the Angel shew'd to Abraham as caught in a thicket by the horns whereas your setters are rather imaginary than real And herein you resemble some melancholy men who have separated themselves from common society fancying themselves to be Lepers Others have been afraid to speak lest they should low like beasts and to ease nature by letting go their water lest they should drown the whole Town wherein they dwelt Burtans Dâ—â—l incholies which conceit was cured by this stratagâ—m one cry'd fire fire Hereupon the melancholy person le ts go his water that he might extinguish the fire anâ— was healed Do not you hear the like out-cry in our dwellings by reason of our growing and wasting divisions at home and abroad Sirs let go the Covenant out of your clutches and all will be well and joyn your endeavours with us in helping to put out this common conflagration rectifie vour erroneous conceits cleer up your blood-shotten eyes look upon the Covenant thorow the true optick glass of loyalty and religion and I dare say you will not account your selves bound by it to endeavour the alteration of government in the Church Antoninus in vita sua l. 410. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you were once freed from the perturbations of your own heads the terrible bug-beares in your way would disappear and vanish If this physick will not work I shall give you the Casuists conclusion as another pill to chew upon Caput Melancholicum est diaboli balneum Boldmin p. 577. Were there any obligation in the Covenant we who never bound our souls with it maugre all the anathema's and terors of those that impos'd it have more cause then your selves to complain of the severity of the Parliament in injoyning us to declare that not only there is no obligation on our selves but also making us your compurgatours we must declare That no other person is obliged by that oath call'd the Solemn League and Covenant But instead of complaining and murmuring we gratefully acknowledge the wisdom of our Governours and their tenderness towards you for fearing lest you should hinder our happy settlement upon the Kings return hanging off from a complyance with our peace upon pretence of the Covenant They call'd in those that were free to relieve those that thought themselves bound those that stood upon firm ground to lend an hand to those that floated upon the waters that so by the interposition of our judgment and charitable assistance your supposed Gives and Fetters might like untimely figs fall from you and you might look upon your selves as free from any tye arising from the Covenant that so we might all concenter upon a legally establish'd foundation of peace and tranquillity O when will it once be that we shall see the long expected fruit of this labour of love When will ye know the things that belong to your own ours the Churches and the Kingdoms happiness If the ship sink we shall lye together in the bottome of the Sea that could not agree upon the deck Le ts therefore commit our selves to our experienc'd Pilots so we may arrive to the Haven where we would be Secondly The Covenant is unlawful in respect of the matter As for those things in it which concern a personal reformation of life and manners in walking more closely with and religiously before God in avoiding profaneness and scandal that so we might walk worthy of Gods mercies and deeline his judgments I have
not a thought in my heart much less a word in my tongue against the material part of it I wish we were all such Covenanteers and that our Covenants in this respect were written in Marble and Adamant like Gods Covenant of Grace everlasting or that which he hath made with Day and Night Jer. 33.25 As Job made a Covenant with his eyes so 't were well if we could make a Covenant with our hearts and wayes Had this been all that had been aimed at good men would not have been so scandalized at the Covenant My hand would have trembled my pen would have fallen from betwixt my fingers ere I had written any word to have impleaded it May Holiness to the Lord be written not only on our Horse Bridles the Phylacteries of our Garments but upon the door posts of our hearts and the frontispeice of all our actions yet were this the design of the Covenant as good as it is yet I utterly abhor the manner of its birth or introduction into the world which was altogether tumultuary and irregular The reformed Religion professed among us which is the very ornament of our Church and Nation and the joy of our souls would loose much of its glorious lustre and verdure with me hadit been usher'd in with Axes and Hammers clashing of Armour and roaring of Canons Had it been establish'd by rebellion and not by the decrees and laws of reforming Princes who call'd our Fathers out of Babylon and led them out of spiritual Egypt Kings blessed be God who put such a thing as this into their hearts were the nursing Fathers of our Reformation But alass amendment of life was least of all intended in the Covenant The limitation or impairing of the Regal and the total abolition of the Episcopal power were the very white in the But. This was the letter and all the pretences of reformation but as so much wanton embellishment flourishing round about it This was the pill to be swallowed all the rest but as sugar to wrap it up which presently dissolv'd and left nothing behind but the naked pill which was as so much ferment in the stomack and occasioned a strange Timpany in the body politick This was the practise of Nestorius he inveigh'd bitterly against all other Heresies who would have thought but he had been orthodox Vincent lirinem c. 16 23. to make way for his own And he made the greater havock of Christs flock because those that were torn a pieces by this wolf still deem'd him to be a sheep Just so this Covenant hangs out the white flag of Religion seems to promote nothing but piety and purity to batter down nothing but profaneness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cle. Alex. stro 3. p. 440. and in the mean while it levels all its force against those Mountains which stand about our Jerusalem Those Adversaries do the most mischeif which make the most shew of friendship and kindness 10. The matter of an oath ought to be plain and obvious to our understanding without obscurity and intricacy I must know what I swear otherwise I take Gods name in vain in swearing without judgment Now in this oath there are many words of ambiguous signification As Common enemies best reformed Churches without telling which they are Malignants Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of Scotland priviledges of Parliament which in those dayes were like the Popes Traditions Arbitrary and Inexhaustible 20. There are plaine contradictions in this oath For those that have taken the oathes of Allegiance and Supremacy and have therein sworn to defend the King and his Rights Absolutely yet here they must mince the matter and vow to defend the King himself with a limitation In the defence of Religion So that if he do not what they would have him do in matters of Religion they have an evasion at hand by vertue of their Covenant they may defeat him if not dethrone him So he must be a precarious not a glorious King reigning at the placitum of his Subjects nay in their former oathes they swore to defend all the Kings Rights whereof his jurisdiction in matters Ecclesiastical is not accounted the least yet here they vow to reform Religion themselves and as it were snatch that Jewel out of their Soveraigns Crown And as by this Covenant they violate their former oathes of Allegiance and Supremacy so they would have the King too like themselves in violating his oath at his Coronation when he swears to maintain Bishops and their Rights In this very Covenant they swear to maintain the liberties of Subjects yet as if Bishops were not Subjects they swear to root them up root and branch 30. There are gross absurdities in the Covenant The Parliament is plac'd beforethe King The Church of Scotland before the Church of England There is swearing to maintain the priviledges of Parliament absolutely but the King and his Rights with a limitation As if a Parliament were infallible not so the King whereas to speak properly the Parliament is no Parliament at all without the King no more than the trunk of a mans body is a compleat body without his head 40. The fourth Article of the Covenant is even unnatural binding Children to betray their Parents to death by bringing them to publick tryals If they are or have been Malignants 50. What desperate Hypocrisie and prevarication is there in the third Article the world must bear witness with the Covenanteers Consciences of their loyalty that they have no thoughts or intentions to diminish the Kings just power and greatness Just like Herod that told the wise men they should bring him word where Christ was and he would come and worship him In plain English that is he would come and murder him praetendit cultum intendit cultrum or as Absalom makes a flourish that he would pay his vows in Haebron but the truth was he had a purpose to raise war against the King his Father 2. Sam. 15.7.8 So the same men that robb'd the King of his legislative power of the Militia and turn'd their swords against his very bosome would have the world bear witness to their loyalty that they have no thought or intention to diminish the Kings just power and greatness They would fain have the World as guilty in violating the Ninth as they themselves have been in breaking the fifth Commandment 60. But suppose the other Articles of the Covenant were free from all exceptions and might pass for currant without any allowance yet all the united skill of the Covenanteers in England and Scotland were the very quintessence of all their parts strain'd into the pericranium of one Covenanting Achilles can never justifie the matter of the second Article concerning the exstirpation of prelacy for had the houses of Parliament been full and compleat when they passed this ordinance Yet what Authority had they to pull up and retrench the very fundamentals of Government which was so firmly rivited by
the Laws of the Land confirm'd by Magna Charta and so many Acts of Parliament Can a subordinate or lesser power supersede or make voyd the decrees of that power which is greater Isa 66.8 even the supreme power of the Nation Who hath heard such a thing Who hath seen such things It hath even pitied me to hear what fig-leav'd salvo's some have found for their Consciences in this case As I told you of one that said Parliament men were no Subjects so others have told me that they did not Covenant against Episcopacy but against the Hierarchy What an irrational subtersuge is this What is the Hierarchy but an holy Government and must this be rooted up read the very next words of the Covenant and you will see what is understood by praelacy that is the Government by arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops Yet the very same men that told me they did not Covenant against Episcopacy have refus'd to take the late Oath why because they will not swear Not to endeavour to alter the Government of the Church Have not these men Renbens curse upon them in being as Instable as water Jam. 1.8 or are not they of the number of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Double minded men who are unstable in all their wayes What will not men say that have espoused a desperate cause Others say they have Covenanted against Bishops 't is true But only in their places and callings Yet which of you can challenge it as a proper duty of your places and callings Mutare quadrata rotundis to turn the Government of Church and state topsey turvey I joyn these together because I want spectacles to discern what difference there is betwixt usurping upon the Kings power and subverting the Government of the Church in spite of his Authority Wo be to the Kings Majesty if you should lift up your hands again and fall a swearing What security hath the King but your vows may reach him as well as the Bishops for if you account your selves in your places and callings when ye kick off the Mitre it is but going a step farther and it may be your Tether may stretch so farre that you may hazzard the shaking of the Crown If this beto act within the proper sphere of your callings and places Then Phaeton was in his proper place when he was tampering with his Fathers Charriot And the waters were in their proper place when they overflowed the earth Should I carry my self thus in my place and calling Act. 1.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I should much fear lest I should be going to Judas his proper place not as the text is sensed by the learned Doctor Hammond but according to the fullest current of Interpreters Some say they took the Covenant freely and voluntarily and how can they recal and recant such an act I am sorry to answer what the matter in hand compels me viz. The more free and voluntary this Act was the more sinful it was and calls the lowder for repentance Others say how can the people beleive what we preach if we should break the Covenant This quere borders upon the true reason in my apprehension why you will not declare against the Covenant lest your credits and reputations should be impeached As some of the more ingenuous Papists will acknowledge some things to be amiss in the Church of Rome Mal. 3.9 yet should they be amended the Hereticks say they would take advantage to open their mouths against the Popes infallibility or which is more pertinent to my present discourse as it was with Herod after he had sworn rashly concering John the Baptist yet for his oathes sake and them that sat with him at meat Mark that lest they perhaps should report him not to be Master of his word right or wrong he commands the head of John the Baptist to be given to the daughter of Herodias CHAP. XVI A Coronis or seasonable Conclusion BEare with me a little my Brethren in suffering a word of exhortation from the meanest of those that wait at the Altar Tractemus fabriliafabri let us preach the word in season and out of season Divinity is our Sparta the Province which we must study to adorn As for politicks Government affairs of State these are out of our Diocess and beyond our last Le ts study to be quiet to fear God and honour the King and all those that are commissionated by him in Church and State Let us beat down sin strenuously reform our selves Families Parishes faithfully pray for the reformation of what is amiss in the whole Nation constantly In two words le ts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preach well and live well Bishop Andrews his motto so we shall not be at leasure to spend our selves in notional and whiffling disputes Then shall our light break forth as the morning and our health shall spring forth speedily But if instead of performing our ministerial duties conscionably and humbly we shall be so pragmatical Eccontrical and magisterial Isa 58.8 as to mâ—del with things above us by lying in lurking places watching and laying ambuscadoes for the downfall of those for whom we ought to pray If we think thus to run away with the pillars of the Ecclesiastical fabrick upon our shoulders we shall like Sampson be buried in the rubbish and then what other Epitaph shall we deserve but Here lyes the posterity of Dathan which perished in the gainsaying of Core or what is said of Stigandus Inquinat infer num spiritus ossa solum It looks like a studied peice of malice if we should dry up our breasts Goodwinus de praesulibus in annum 105. when poor souls lye starving and gasping for want of spiritual food If we shall either throw away our Aaronical Bells or which is all one pull out their clappers rather then we will awake and rouze up those that snort upon the very brink of hell Is there any so angry with his own Nation as Hypocrates was with the Persians who refused to give them physick Eutychius parte primâ— and to heal their maladies when they sent for him But my brethren I hope better things of you and things accompanying peace and salvation May these things happen to the enemies of our Church and Nation But let Religion and loyalty be within our walls Heb. 6.9 peace and plenty within our pallaces Therefore what Jotham said to the men of Sechem in Mount Gerizim Hearken unto me Judg 9.7 that God may hearken unto you Gold is the best of Mettals and 't is also most ductile If you are men of generous dispositions and of a golden nature you will be pliable to his advise that aims at nothing but yours and the Churches happiness Ser in Gancâ—â—â— I hope you are none of those of whom Saint Bernard speaks Nec suasionibus flectuntur quia subversi which words may be rendred by that sad sentance given out against those refractory Son of Eli they hearkned