better evidence that the Church of England is a true Church than they have of such a continued Succession that they can as soon demonstrate such an unbroken Line as that their Ministry and Sacraments are true and that they have no better proof that Dissenters are Schismaticks than they have of this nor any better defence of all the Severities they have used against them than this and if it should happen that in almost 1700 years there has been the least breach made upon this Line all that they have said and done against Dissenters becomes due to themselves Would any man in the World that was not hired to betray the Churches Cause have put it to such an Issue I am sure no wise man would venture his Estate upon it And yet this man has chosen to fix his Church and Faith and Salvation upon no better a Foot than this For in how many cases may this Line be broken and all that Apostolick Power conveyed there be spilt and lost if there should happen a vacancy in any of those things he calls Apostolical Churches and Sees for some years and the succeeding As the Northumbrian Bishops by the Abbot of Hy. Incumbent be a person ordained by an Abbot who was no Bishop as is allowed in the Roman Church through which this Authority must be conveyed to us does not this make an Intercision in the Line of Episcopal Ordination be so indispensable it must do so I desire to know of this man or any other that encourage him to write little Books whether this Line of Succession may be continued in a Schismatical Church and the Apostolical Power conveyed thereby if by Schism Men and Societies are cut off from the Universal Church as this Man frequently affirms in his Book then such Schismatical Churches are no Churches nor parts of the Universal Church and so cannot be the Subjects of this Apostolical power and if this power cannot be derived through a Schismatical Church then he must grant either that the Church of England has not this power or that the Papal Churches through which this Line and Power runs are not Schismatical and if they be not his own Church must be so for separating from them for he allows Separation utterly unlawful unless from a Schismatical Church But after all though by this continued Line of Apostolical Episcopal Succession he would Exclude all the Reformed Churches beyond Sea that have not those Governours he will allow to be Scripture Bishops Supposing this same Line he makes such a splutter about were certain or necessary which it is not yet till this Man has proved the English Prelacy to be nearer a-kin to the Scripture Episcopacy than the Pastoral Office which is the Episcopacy we contend for we stand as fair for any advantage this Notion may afford as his Party does for we reverence and maintain Ministerial Ordination and so are in the Line still if such a Line there be which yet we are no way concerned to prove because we look upon Ordination to be no more but a publick Approbation of Ministerial Abilities by competent Judges and we doubt not but the Ministers that have such Qualifications themselves are the most competent Judges thereof in others but if there should happen a case wherein such Persons could not be had As if a company of Christians should be cast upon a remote Island or if all the Pastors in a Countrey should be put to Death or all turn Hereticks we doubt not but it would be lawful for a Man of the best Qualifications being chosen by the rest and approved and set apart by the most competent Judges amongst them to Administer in Holy Ordinances to them and that he would be a true Minister of Jesus Christ sufficiently Authorized to the Work and a Lay-person no longer but if we assent to the Whimsey of a constant Succession as if power were conveyed like Water in a Conduit after a Physical manner by contact passing through the Finger ends of the Prelate into the Noddle of the Person Ordained then can no necessity make the practice aforesaid warrantable and so the Substance must fail and perish for want of the Ceremony which is contrary to Reason and the Notions Men have of the Goodness of God This conceit of an entire Apostolical Line was forg'd upon the same Anvil with that of an uninterrupted Succession of English Monarchs from the Eldest Son of Noah whereby a Patriarchal Right descends inseparable from the Person Sacred and Irresistible which has tortured the Ears of all Men of Sence and Sobriety in these late Times The Leud and Extravagant Caresses that have happen'd between Ambitious Princes and Aspiring Church-men have produc'd such Twins as these that lately threatned the Kingdom with a dismal Fate No less pretences than those of Patriarchal and Apostolical Powers were sufficient for the Usurping an Absolute Empire over the Civil and Religious Rights of Men but as we have seen the One deserted exposed to just contempt and renounced by the very Authors thereof not in words only but in actions famous and publick throughout the World so we doubt not they will to deal with the other it being of the same extract and calculated to serve the very same interest and design His fourth page is taken up with proving that to love as Christians in Scripture Sence is to love as Members of Christ and obliges us to preserve the Body from Rents and Schisms which we never deny but wonder at some Men who notwithstanding all their talk for Peace and Unity have so little real Love for it as to Excommunicate and Damn all those that cannot comply with those Ceremonies which themselves acknowledge have no Moral goodness in them and therefore can be but idle incumbrances upon the Worship of God which as one says of Friendship and Heraldry is noblest when plainest bravest when alone Certainly such unreasonable Stiffness cannot have much in it of that love which is the Characteristick of Christs Disciples but these Gentlemen think to excuse their aversation to us by saying we are not Christians we are out of the Catholick Church this is to make one gross act of Uncharitableness to excuse for another but we thank God they are not to be our final Judges For our further Conviction we are told The Communion of Saints is one External visible Communion of the Christian Church which is so far from explaining the thing that it makes it much darker We hold Communion in Essentials with every Church of Christ upon Earth and in Integrals with all sound Churches and we know few Churches that hold Communion in all accidentals nor was such a Communion ever pretended to be necessary This word Communion not rightly understood nor the sence of it carefully distinguisht has strangely misled some Men and is at the bottom of all those clamours that have fill'd the Ears of our Rulers and the whole Nation against us and this Man seems as little
and Hatred imaginable and made the Song of the Drunkard some thousands of Families as can be made to appear crush'd and almost ruin'd Houses rifled Prisons fill'd and many forced to leave their Native Countrey and all this acted against them by the very Men they had let into the Nation contrary to the minds of a more wary and politick Party who have not failed frequently to upbraid them with it over these things we are willing to draw a Curtain did not this Man and such as he force us to speak the naked truth in our own defence It is necessary indeed that these Men should render us odious as can be imagined for all the World must own either we are the worst of Men or they that have treated us so barbarously must be so themselves But blessed be God we have a King upon the Throne that understands and loves the true Interest of England too well to regard such calumnies as these which indeed our former Princes knew to be false though to serve a wretched Interest they would sometimes seem to believe them I now return with T.W. to Mr. H's Book he would fain have Mr. H. to make this Conclusion if having one Minister in admiration above another be Schism how much more am I a Schismatick who am no Minister but keep up a Communion separate from the Church of God That is to say if Mr. H. in compliment to this Man will own his Ordination to be invalid and his Congregation no part of the Church of God then T. W. will prove him a Schismatick but what if Mr. H. will not grant this why then the Man must prove it and that 's more than he can do I am sure he has not yet done any thing like it Mr. H. and the Citizen are both agreed in this That is Schism which breaks or slackens the Bond by which the Members are knit together but they are not agreed what this Bond is Mr. Henry says 't is true Love and Charity the Unity of the Spirit and Bond of Peace not an Act of Uniformity obliging to Communion in the same Modes and Ceremonies T. W. does not think fit to say that an Act of Uniformity is the Bond but says the breach of Communion breaks the Bond by which the Members are knit together which according to his own sence is but to say the breach of Communion breaks Communion for he makes Communion and the Bond the same this is to be attributed to his Ignorance in the meaning of this term Communion which I have before taken notice of if he mean for us to meet and Worship God in places different from theirs and without the Ceremonies they use does necessarily destroy Love and Charity we must tell him it is only with such Men as himself that are captivated to a Party for all Men of Sence and Sobriety can retain Christian Love and Charity for all that agree with them in Essentials and Integrals of Religion notwithstanding lesser differences Mr. H. says if the Bond of Unity betwixt the Members of Christ be Love and Charity then it is not an Act of Uniformity in point of Communion in the same Modes and Ceremonies this T.W. says is a manifest contradiction but I am perswaded no Man alive besides himself can find it out I hope Communion in the same Modes and Ceremonies is not the only or the Essential Communion of Saints by this every Church would Damn all the rest for their different Modes of Worship the Bond by which the Members are united must be something common to all Christians which the Ceremonies cannot be therefore our not joining with them in these cannot necessarily break that Bond so long as we retain that which is Common and Essential to Christianity that is Faith and Charity the breach of the former is Heresie and of the latter Schism Mr. H's Definition of Schism is this Schism is an uncharitable Distance Division or Alienation of Affiction amongst those who are called Christians and agree in the Fundamentals of Religion occasioned by their different apprehensions about little things T.W. says he has condemned him out of his own Mouth In good time How does that appear why breach of Christian Communion is certainly the breach of Christian Charity the old blunder Sir we hold Communion with you in all that 's necessary either to the being or welfare of a Church and by your unnecessary Trifles you break with us and not we with you if any breach there be From the Definition of Schism Mr. H. infers There may be Separation of Communion where there is no Schism for thus we all agree there may be difference of apprehension and yet no Schism provided it do not eat out Christian Love but be managed amicably as betwixt the Arminians and the Calvinists in the Church of England and adds if this difference in Opinion be about Modes of Worship there must be distinct Communion Here T. W. exclaims against him for illogical reasoning in bringing an instance to justifie Separate Communion from Schism where there was no Separate Communion at all But a little consideration would have spoil'd this Triumph Mr. H's arguing is this If there may be different apprehensions about Doctrinal matters without breach of Charity why may there not be different apprehensions about matters of Worship and terms of Conformity without breach of Charity and consequently without Schism If I may love and honour a Man that is not of my mind nor expresses himself after my manner about the Divine Decrees the Operations of Grace and the Consistency thereof with the freedom of Mans Will c. why may I not likewise love and honour that Man that differs from me about a stinted Form the Cross in Baptism Bowing at the Altar and Name of Jesus are these things of greater importance than the former Oh but says he you break Communion about these things for you will not join with us in them What must I join with things I judge unlawful Is there that fatal necessity laid upon me that I must either be a Hypocrite or a Schismatick And has God made it necessary to Salvation to know that all these things are lawful if you will not suffer me to Communicate with you except I join with you in those things we must Worship God in another place with those that will not so impose upon us and yet we will love as Christians still here 's no breach of Charity on our side and if so no Schism for if the formal nature of Schism be breach of Charity as Mr. H. has proved and this Man cannot deny without giving the Lie to Scripture as he has done then Separate Communion may be without Schism and the reason of the Consequence is because Separate Communion may be without breach of Charity T. W. says it cannot for it is naturally and infallibly the cause of the hottest and fiercest Contentions and highest breach of Charity That is to say T. W.
to serve a Party or Interest but to promote Catholick Love and Concord amongst Christians this is the professed end and natural tendency of his Hypothesis which has so favourable an Aspect upon all sorts of Christians that every honest Man must necessarily wish it were true and be glad to see it well made out for he 's no Christian that can take pleasure in thinking all Parties besides his own are out of the Catholick Church and Road to Salvation or that can be sorry to find that the Catholick Church comprehends a great many more than he formerly thought it did It has been an unhappy Error and which too many on both sides have entertained That either the whole party of Dissenters must be Schismaticks or the whole Body of Conformists must be so This mistake has animated even sober Men to charge each other with Schism in their own defence thinking they had no way to clear themselves but by accusing the other and I am perswaded this is one way by which some Men keep up prejudices in the minds of many worthy moderate Gentlemen against our Congregations as if coming to hear amongst us must necessarily argue the Parochial Congregations Schismatical and on the other hand some strait-laced Dissenters think if they should at any time occasionally hear in a publick Congregation they presently thereby condemn their own which are great mistakes as plainly appears by Mr. H's Arguing for Schism is a personal fault and cannot be charged upon a whole Party unless every Person therein discover that Uncharitable Alienation of Affection from others which the Scripture calls Schism Indeed it will be very difficult to acquit those Persons from the guilt of Schism that were the promoters of those Impositions from whence our Divisions proceed for since they themselves acknowledge the questioned terms of Communion to be unnecessary the insisting so obstinately upon them cannot in reason be thought to proceed from any other Spring but that of Uncharitableness and the more pernicious they Judge our Dissenting to be the more Uncharitable they that would rather we should turn Schismaticks and be Damned than a few Ceremonies should be laid aside which they will own might be omitted without hazarding the loss of one Soul But as for the Passive Conformists whose part has been only to comply with these Impositions and have not justified or abetted either the making of them or the violent prosecution of Penal Laws upon them and several such we know there are these are no way chargeable with Schismatical Practices on the other hand those fierce Dissenters cannot be cleared from Schism that uncharitably condemn all Conformists in the lump and look upon none of their Congregations as true Churches if any to excuse them say this censure of theirs may proceed from a mistake we answer 't is such a mistake as is occasioned by their animosity and prejudice which will not give them leave to Weigh the thing impartially and therefore is Schismatical for want of Charity is at the bottom and distorts their Judgments to pass so severe a sentence By this it appears that Mr. H's Book was writ with a Catholick Spirit and Desgn because it favours neither side but censures or justifies Persons of both sides according to their Charitable or Uncharitable Tempers and Actions III. That T. W's Hypothesis and Notions of Schism are very Erroneous and confus'd I confess 't is pretty difficult to gather his meaning in this case and I have reason to think he does not himself understand it he looks upon Schism to be the reverse to Unity which rightly understood is very true but then he gives us so many and variant descriptions of this Unity some too large and others too narrow that no Man knows where to have him He never distinguishes of Unity in Essentials Integrals and Accidentals betwixt Internal and External Unity betwixt the Unity of the Universal Church of a National Church of a Diocesan Church and of a Particular Church but having got hold of a Word like a Man in a delirium runs away with it till he has lost himself and his Readers too I have with all possible seriousness often considered upon what Foot these Men will fix their charge of Schism they so confidently advance against us and by what I can gather from their Writings it must be upon some of these 1. Our withdrawing our selves from the Government of the Bishops without paying Suit and Service to their Ecclesiastical Courts but till it be proved from Scripture that they have the pretended Jurisdiction over us this cannot be Schism In Commission'd Offices Extent of Power changes the Species and if it do not so we may have one Bishop in a Nation nay one over all the World 2. Our want of true Ministers with Episcopal Ordination but this likewise depends upon the proof of the former if Pastors of single Congregations be Bishops in Scripture sence then is our Ordination valid and regular too I mention not the pretended Line of an uninterrupted Succession because that has been sufficiently discussed before and indeed the sober part of Conformists look upon it as an idle Whimsey and will by no means so far destroy the certainty of their own Ordination and Ministry as to put it upon that Issue 3. Our Omission of the appointed Rites and Ceremonies but till it be proved that these are requisite to Church-Unity or that the Convocation that appointed them had any power over us Jure Divino to require our Submission we cannot be guilty of Schism by the Omission of them the Canons of our English Convocations pretend to no power till Confirmed by Act of Parliament and 't is not the breach of a Civil Law that makes us formally Schismaticks for then could there have been no such thing as Schism in the Primitive Churches where the Civil Authority was wanting not to mention that the Civil Power has left us now to our Liberty 4. Our Transgression of Parish-Bounds but this cannot be formally Schism for such Districts are but prudential things and are Dispensed with by themselves in many cases as by going to hear in other Parishes which is frequently done in all parts of England without any such censure also by setting up Chappels within Parochial Precincts whereby Congregations are gathered out of many Parishes and this if not allowed is very generally practised and connived at for my part I think in ordinary cases it is most regular and convenient that there should be such Bounds fixt and observed but this being but prudential will not bind in extraordinary cases as for instance where the Parishes are so vastly great that not a Tenth part of the Parishioners can have room in the Parish Church Where the Minister is notoriously and intolerably scandalous or ignorant for though in doubtful cases it is fit this should be left to the decision of the Ministry yet there may happen some cases so plain and evident as to decide themselves
is referr'd not to the Judgment of T. W. or of an Interessed Party but of all the unbyass'd part of Mankind upon a fair hearing which yet we could never obtain Mr. H's design was to create a good agreement betwixt Parties that had been so long and learnedly contending and in this I know of no professed Adversary he has but T. W. and whether his design be not more honest than this mans and his management more rational will be speedily tried Our sincere Lover before he finishes his Preface makes his honours to three sorts of Readers the Church-man the Dissenter and the Sceptick and he does it with as good a grace as can be expected from a man in his circumstances As for the true Member of his Church he 's assur'd of him that he has been taught the Candour to cover the faults of a weak Brother be the performance never so vicious Zeal for the Church will consecrate and make it pass with applause amongst such as himself and if they be but pleased he 's satisfied for to humour them was all he design'd Now to the Dissenter if he be one that has not sacrificed his name to the factious so as to divest himself of all Christian temper humility and consideration But what a strange supposition is this Is there ever a Dissenter in the World that is not devoted to Faction and stript of Humility They have formerly condemned us in the lump 't is well our Friends have learned to distinguish Well if there should chance to be such a creature he is desired to consider his desperate condition how humble considerate of a Christian temper and yet in a desperate condition this is as great a Riddle as the former In good earnest if a man may be in a desperate condition with all these Virtues I would desire T. W. to consider what the condition of that man is that appears to have none of all these The Dissenter however bids me thank him for his weak endeavours to snatch him as a firebrand out of the fire but I am also to tell him his weak service comes too late for it has pleased God to move the King and Parliament to do it who have already by their gracious Indulgence pluckt a great many Brands out of the fire of these mens rage and fury in which they and their Interest were almost consumed a blessing which we doubt not all the Angels congratulate to us excepting those whose business it is to accuse the Brethren and to raise storms and tempests in the World His last Address is to the Sceptick and if the Sceptick be obstinate and perverse an obstinate Sceptick is almost as great a Riddle as a humble Dissenter It has been the way of some men to represent all men as Sceptical and Atheists that have had larger Souls themselves and would not joyn with them in unchurching the greatest part of the World for the sake of a Mitre and a few Ceremonies and yet many of these Scepticks have as true a veneration for the Clergy and Church as T. W. himself for it can hardly be imagin'd that man can have any real value For an Office whose life does openly confront the great Ends thereof And now he takes leave of his Reader and turns him to Mr. H. himself and upon the first salutation blames him for not chusing the true Standard whereby to discover Schism Mr. H. chose no other but the Sacred Scriptures which being the great Law for the Government of Men must certainly be the truest Touch-stone of Sin and Duty and if the Schism this man would charge us with be not so according to the Standard of Scripture we shall not much dread the guilt or danger of it This is a hopeful beginning of Controversie to decline the sufficiency and propriety of Scripture as the Standard of good or evil But will this man assign a better yes the ninth Article of the Apostle's Creed I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints But by what Standard must we discover the true notion of these words Who must tell us what the Unity of the Church is and what the Communion of Saints Must not Scripture be our Rule And must you not then come to Mr. H's Standard at last a happy Omen when the first Paragraph contains a plain affront both to Scripture and common sense But let us see how he goes on He offers to our consideration the Origination and first Existence of the Catholick Church which was before the day of Pentecost but how long before that day he does not tell us If a man pretends to acquaint me with the Origination of the World and tells me it was before the Babylonish Captivity I shall count him a ridiculous trifler but I suppose he means it was immediately before or a little while before the day of Pentecost and here indeed is a discovery worthy of its Author But had God no Church then amongst the Jews must they be excommunicated too for what cause pray Not for want of Ceremonies or a Pontiff I hope The man told us in his Preface the Angels in Heaven were the most glorious Members of the Church How must we lay these things together Were the Angels originated at the day of Pentecost had they their first Existence then or did the Members of the Body exist before the Body let the Citizen or any of his Cabbala solve these Riddles and I 'le promise him he shall be my great Apollo That the Apostles and Disciples were the Church we do not question nor the power Christ gave his Apostles to Preach the Gospel to all the World and he well observes that Christ's commission and charge That in every Nation they that believe might be baptized and so made Members of the Church How well they have observed their Commission who refuse to admit of Church-Members upon their profession of Faith unless they will also comply with some significant Rites of their own that are alien to the Scripture Rules some men may do well to consider and whether to deny Gospel-priviledges to those that in the Judgment of Charity are Believers be not to assume a greater power than that which this man calls the Universal Power given to the Apostles whereby they become guilty of the worst sort of Tyranny because the Liberties hereby invaded are of all others the most sacred and invaluable It is plain from this mans confession that to be a Disciple or Believer would make a man a Member of the Church in Apostolical times and we cannot but assent to that excellent saying of the now Bishop of Worcester It is pity that which would make a man a Disciple of Christ then should not be sufficient to make him a Member of the Church now but we have no reason to doubt the contrary and if such a person should be clave errante shut out of the Communion of a particular Church God would still look upon him as his
own for the pride and perverseness of men shall not make the Faith of Christ of none effect That prevalency of the Gospel which he speaks of in Primitive times we believe and adore that divine Energy that appeared therein making its way through so formidable an opposition as it every where met with and next to the Power of God which is to be accounted the principal cause we cannot but ascribe this wonderful success to the sanctity of the Preachers and the spirituality and simplicity of their Doctrine and Worship for we find it has made but a slow progress in the World since men upon pretence of adoring it have encumbred it with needless Ceremonies and committed the management thereof to men who many of them had little to recommend them to the service besides a vehement Zeal for these Religious Impertinencies But though the Apostles did propagate the Gospel far and wide yet that they did actually Preach it to all Nations is a thing we never heard of before T. W. told us so and we must have better evidence before we believe it Whether the seven Churches in Asia had seven Bishops presiding over them neither more nor less is a thing that no way affects the present Controversie nor can any thing be concluded from thence in favour of our English Prelacy till the Power of those Bishops the extent of their Diocesses the quality of their Under-Officers the Modes of their Worship and Terms of Communion be proved the same with ours or liable to the same exceptions We have no prejudice against Episcopacy name or thing provided it be reduced to the Primitive Standard He must not think to run us down with a bare word We find mention made of Presbyters in Scripture he would think it irrational from hence to assert Scotch Presbytery to be Jure Divino the name will signifie little in the debate till the true bounds and limits of the Office so named be stated and adjusted I will not take upon me to contradict those Learned men that think the Angels there mentioned were Bishops but to say it is plain by the word Angel they were so is a wonderful Argument indeed as if Bishop and Angel were convertible terms And so the two young men that came to rescue Lot out from the Sodomites were Bishops and the glorious Messengers that brought to Mary and Elizabeth the joyful tydings of our Saviour's approaching Birth were Bishops it 's plain they were so by the name Angel the Scriptures give them and if this hold good there will be a great many more Bishops in Heaven than Chrysostom expected to find there He tells us though there was a multiplication or plurality of Churches in those times by the encrease of Believers yet no variation I am glad to hear that the encrease of Believers will make it necessary to multiply Churches and why does it so but because the encrease of Church-members may be so great as makes them uncapable of ordinarily meeting together to worship God therefore a Church in the primitive sense must consist of no more than could ordinarily so meet and that every Church had its Bishop is evident for without the governing part it cannot be a distinct Political Society but if the model of our Episcopal Churches be right which are made up of some hundreds of Congregations and Millions of Persons that cannot be known to the Bishop or one to another if this I say be allowable I see not how the encrease of Believers can be a sufficient cause for the multiplying of Churches But what does he mean in saying in these multiplied Churches there was no variation was there no variety at all in any circumstance of worship That 's gratis dictum and the contrary may be proved even in the Apostles times Whence was that scuffle betwixt the believing Jews and Gentiles about Jewish Ceremonies Acts 15. What need was there of that Apostolical Synod and of all those precepts against imposing upon or condemning one another upon the account of different Sentiments If he means there was no variation from the Scripture Rules tho we are afraid that will scarce hold yet we wish it had been so still We have a Notion of Church Unity laid down p. 2. in which we freely concur with him i. e. That all Churches are one as united into one Body whereof Christ is Head having the same Baptism the same Faith and the same Eucharist that is the same for substance for it that they all agreed in the Primitive times in the same Circumstances such a Unity we hold and doubt not but in our Congregations this Unity may be found They are made up of visible Christians such as in the Judgment of Charity are united to Christ by Faith we have the same Baptism with the Apostolical Churches for Substance and come as near in circumstances as we can to the Rule leaving out the innovations of latter and more corrupt times we hold the same Doctrines of Faith and the same Eucharist and after the Apostolical Mode as far as by their Writings appears and thus far we are the same with them in the External Worship and Service of God and the same with all other true Churches as far as they are the same with the Apostolical and differ from them no farther than upon a serious Enquiry we find they differ from these We expect T. W. should stand to this Description of Church Unity he has here given us and if he does we can easily make it appear he has ruin'd his whole Book and Cause for if this be the true proper Unity of Churches then there may be true Church Unity without the uniting of many particular Churches Ministers and People into one Diocesan Church under the Jurisdiction of a Prelate and his Officers then there may be true Church Unity without a necessary observation of the same Parochial Precincts I do not speak against the conveniency of such a thing but only observe that it is not de Essentiâ Unitatis according to this Mans definition and there may be true Church Unity without an absolute Uniformity in the same Modes and Circumstances of Worship and consequently a Man may plead to the Jurisdiction of a Diocesan Prelate may step over Parish Bounds and may worship God without the Ceremonies used in England and yet be free from the guilt of Schism for if none of these things be Essential to the Churches Unity they may be omitted and that preserved entire notwithstanding Touching the continuance of the Church of God upon Earth we have no Controversie with him we believe it will be till Christs second coming but whereas he affirms that the power wherewith our Saviour vested the Apostles was not to cease or expire with them we think a Man of Sence would have distinguish'd betwixt the extraordinary power which was properly Apostolical and that ordinary Pastoral power which was eminently comprehended in the other as to the former we do not
to understand it as any one that ever pretended to write upon the Subject In the fifth page we have an aggregate description of the Communion of Saints which we shall particularly examine and apply to the present case the Communion of Saints consists of these things 1. A firm Belief of all the Articles of Faith contained in the Apostolical Nicene and Athanasian Creed and why not in Scripture these Creeds are but of Humane Composition and some things in them want Explanation however so far we are within Communion though hereby the Greek and other Eastern Churches are shut out which the Citizen of Chester has no Commission to do 2. To partake all of the same Table he cannot mean the same individual Table but the same Eucharist in specie so far we are with him still But whether this will not exclude the Papists who by denying the Cup to the Laity have taken away in part the matter of the Eucharist I shall leave to his second thoughts who I believe will not be over-forward in Unchurching them for fear of breaking the Line by which his own Church hangs 3. To join all in the same holy Prayers and Supplications and in giving Thanks he cannot mean that in these Duties we must necessarily use the very same words without the least adding substracting or changing for then he Excommunicates all the World but those of his own perswasion and a great many of them too 4. To be subject and obedient to our Spiritual Rulers and Governours who have derived their Authority from the Apostles by a due Succession in all things pertaining to a Godly Life Decency and Order We are very desirous to give due Honour and Obedience to our Spiritual Governours who derive their Authority from Christ which is more proper than to speak of deriving it from the Apostles for Christ is the only Fountain of Authority and the Streams are derived rather from the Fountain than the Cistern It is observable the Mans Expression is sunk from an uninterrupted Succession to a due Succession to observe the Apostolical precepts in Government and Worship may make it up a due Succession but there 's more required to an uninterrupted one than so Now before he can say we want this Qualification for Communion he must prove that Diocesan Prelates are made our Rulers by a Divine Command A single Person taking upon him to govern some thousands of Congregations by such Rules and Officers as our English Prelacy uses and this by the Nomination of the Civil Magistrate without the Consent of the People or of the Ministers within the Diocess is a Creature we neither find in Scripture nor in Primitive Times and therefore can be no Spiritual Governour of ours by Divine Right let him prove this and he does something but till this be done his whole Book is as insignificant as waste Paper When this Man or any one for him has made it to appear that the Authority of a Diocesan Prelate Dean Lay-Chancellor c. over all in the Diocess is as certain and Sacred as that of Moses and Aaron we will not dare to dispute it for fear of Corah's doom but till this be evinced I hope he will not take it amiss if we be not frighten'd out of our Wits by such misapplyed Passages which we have often heard urged to back the Doctrines of Non-resistance and all those Principles of Slavery some Men have been endeavouring to instil into our Minds but as we see they have no great regard for such alligations themselves when adhering to them would be chargeable and dangerous so we believe they cannot heartily blame us if we despise them too In the last Paragraph of the fifth page we have the Communion of Saints described over again being willing I suppose to make up in the Number what is wanting in Weight and here we are told all those particular Churches who agree with the Primitive Catholick Church in all the Articles of Faith and in the External Visible Worship and Service of God are true Members of the Universal Church and in the Communion of Saints In what Bounds he will fix the Primitive Church we know not certain it is a Century or two made a very considerable change in the features of their Government and Worship but if we must take our measures by those Courches that are truely Primitive we fear not to put our selves to the Tryal That our Congregations have this agreement in Faith none will deny and he has not proved that we differ from them in the Essential or Integral parts of Gods Worship or in any considerable circumstance and that this Divine Worship and Service is Visible and External this Gentleman is but too sensible and 't is a very great Eye-sore to such as he that it is so much more Visible than formerly it has been If we will take his confident and repeated assertions for demonstration we may believe that the Church of England has from the first planting of the Gospel here retained the Apostolical power of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by an uninterrupted Succession of Arch-Bishops and Bishops in a right Line from the Apostles days to this present time but how uncertain this is and how inconsistent with other parts of his Book I suppose has been sufficiently manifested I shall therefore take no farther notice of it especially because that till the true Bounds of Episcopal Power be fixt by Scripture Rules it is as impertinent as uncertain After he has thus delivered himself of his crude and confused apprehensions he tells Mr. H. he has done it as cleanly as he could and that may be true enough for ought I know but 't is no fault of Mr. H's he could do it no better his Capacity and Employment indeed may be some excuse for his blunders but will by no means lessen the fault of his officious and confident impertinency in medling with things he so little understands We are no way concerned in the Citation of the Fathers brought in against us till he has proved that Episcopacy then was the same thing it is now and that the terms of Communion we scruple were ever imposed by them Ignatius charges the Bishop in his time to take a personal cognizance of every Member of his Church not excepting the very Servants It was the Custom then in every Congregation to receive the Sacrament every Lords day and they never received it nisi ex Antistitis manu but from the Hand of the Bishop What could such Bishops be more than Pastors of single Congregations but I shall forbear dipping into this Argument which has been so copiously managed by Blondel Baxter Owen Clarkson and others It is observable in the passage cited out of Irenaeus the Presbyters are said to have their Succession from the Apostles it seems they were the Apostles Successors as well as Bishops surely then they must have the same power if the Bishops claim the power they have as the Apostles Successors
then must all the Successors of the Apostles have the same power the Rule is known à quatenus ad omne It is plain by this that Apostolical Succession in the sence of those times was not any such fine Aerial Thread as this Man speaks of but Conformity to the Apostles model in Government and Worship and those that best observe that are in the truest sence the Apostles Successors whether the Line has been broke by intervening Hereticks and Schismaticks or no. We all grant that for Persons wilfully to withdraw themselves from such particular Churches as are framed according to Scripture Rules and impose no new or needless terms is to act Schismatically because such wilful Separation when no cause is given cannot be without breach of Charity with our Fellow Christians which is the Scripture Notion of Schism and this Mr. Henry himself grants and calls it Separation for Separation's sake which T.W. might have taken notice of had he designed fair dealing But this is not at all proved to be our case We earnestly desire Episcopacy may be reduced to its proper Sphere that every particular Church may have its Bishop and Presbyters and so power within it self to admonish suspend and reject scandalous Persons we desire the Rules of the Gospel may be carefully lookt into and a Model of Government and Worship taken from thence such as may be likely to answer the great Ends of Church Societies that nothing may be imposed but what is either expresly commanded or has a natural and proper tendency to promote that which is so then would the Worship of God appear like it self rational grave and majestical becoming reasonable Creatures to offer and a Being of perfect Simplicity and Spirituality to receive nor would we as we are accused under pretence of Spirituality reject the natural decorum of an Action in Divine Worship but only lay aside those Formalities that are over and above natural decency which in civil converse are counted foppish and daily grow out of repute betwixt Man and Man and are no where so improper as in the Service of God It is certainly a very odd Custom these Men have taken up against us if they find in any of the Fathers the word Bishop they presently transfer it a Diocesan Prelate if they read of Breaking off from the Communion of the Bishop it must be immediately applyed to the practice of Dissenters in England When alas till the Extent of Power way of coming into Office and Charge terms of Admission c. be proved to be tantamount to what they now are bare words will conclude nothing at all And yet without so much as offering to prove any thing of this T.W. will needs perswade Mr. H. to confess himself a Schismatick and so out of the Catholick Church and possibility of Salvation Though we need not concern our selves to soften or extenuate the fault of Schism no such thing being proved against us yet it may not be amiss to take notice how this eager Man over-shoots himself in these matters he first makes all those Churches Schismatical that do not agree with the Primitive Catholick Church in Faith Worship and Government without adjusting the measures of such Agreement as if every little difference made a Schism which would bear hard upon all the Churches at this day in the World And when he has done this he cuts off all these Schismatical Societies from being parts of the Catholick Church or under a possibility of Salvation It must needs follow from hence that Popish Churches to say nothing of others must be Schismatical for they vary notoriously from the Primitive in Faith Government and Worship as I suppose this Man will grant all those Churches therefore since this Variation were no parts of the Catholick Church that is no Churches at all and by consequence according to him their Bishops must be but Lay-Impostors their Ordinations null and void the Line of Communication broken the Apostolical Power lost and all England in a state of Damnation and all this is the Effect of over-great earnestness to prove the Dissenters Schismaticks We have with a great deal of Patience examined T. W's Notions of the Church of Communion and Unity and whether there be any thing observable in them besides Ignorance Confusion and Contradiction is left to the Judgment of the Reader That which remains is to view the Remarks he has made upon Mr. H's Book The Instance of Eldad and Medad was never designed to run of all four but thus far 't is to the purpose as it proves that God has not limited his People in Religious Actions so nicely to the publick places as some would pretend and that even good Men are apt too severely to censure such actions when managed out of the usual Method before they fully understand the reason of the thing and that meek and humble Men like Moses who are more concerned for the Substance than Circumstances of Religion would not deny the Church the advantage of those Gifts which God has bestowed upon Men even though the exercise of them might seem to derogate from their own Grandeur those general Inferences naturally follow from the place and the application of them is not improper as this Man fancies whatever the Office of this Man was to be yet doubtless this Act of prophecying was of a Sacred rather than a Civil nature and though under that Oeconomy the Priests were principally engaged in the Ceremonial part of Worship yet in the Moral part the Prophets often bore a share which was discovering the mind of God to the People and pressing them to Obedience and it is to this rather than the Priestly Office that a Gospel Minister succeeds If these Men demand we should give as signal proof of our Authority to the Bishops as Eldad and Medad could to Moses I hope we may expect that the Bishops should give as signal proof of their Authority as Moses could do but if extraordinary Commission need not be pretended in the one case we suppose there 's as little need of it in the other and we are ready to give satisfaction to all the World of the ordinary Warrant which consists in suitable Qualifications enquired into and approved by such as the Scripture calls Bishops Upon Mr. H's bare mentioning of the Worshippers of the Diana of their own opinion T. W. charges him with saucy Language but Mr. H. needs not come to this Man to learn how to speak the reflection Mr. H. made was general that there are such cannot be denied and let it fall where 't is due but why must this of Necessity be spoke of the Bishops such an invidious innuendo in the last Reign might have cost a Man dear of which Mr. Baxter is a memorable Instance But T.W. will answer for the Bishops and they are certainly very happy in such an Advocate that if the Punctilio's of Opinion do not cause a separate Communion they will not censure that for
preserve the Unity and Charity pleaded for and now let all Mankind judge whether Mr. H's Comment does any way abate the force of the Apostles Exhortation to Unity or rather whether it does not greatly promote the same by censuring and exposing those Practices that are destructive thereof Nay this very man in the next Paragraph page 12. confesses that the Apostle aimed not at all different Opinions in meer Notions and Speculations which is the very same assertion he has treated so scurrilously in Mr. H. he says the Apostle meant only those different Opinions that break Communion but how come different Opinions to have that effect but by being made Conditions of Communion and must not the fault then lye upon those that make them so For had that been forborn the Communion might have been preserved entire still as has been before shewed He derides Mr. H. for not knowing that a perfect Conjunction in the Catholick Church and Communion of Saints is required of all those that are to come to a World of Everlasting Perfection And all the sober part of Mankind will deride him for so confus'd and gross an Assertion for if that be true then must none be saved who are imperfect in Faith or in their partaking of the Lords Supper or imperfect in Prayers and in obedience to Ecclesiastical Rulers in all things pertaining to a godly Life page 5. parag 3. for these things make up the Communion of Saints as he himself tells us and then 't is time for T. W. to look about him for I fear the last would exclude him though he could pretend Perfection in all the rest He acknowledges the Corinthians were accused of that which Mr. H. calls Schism for admiring one Minister above another But why of that which Mr. H. calls Schism does not the Apostle himself call it so as positively as Mr. H. but it was not convenient to own that because he had told us that diversity of Communion was the formalis Ratio of Schism and if so the Corinthians could not be charged with it either therefore the Apostle falsly accused the Corinthians or this mans Notion of Schism is false and here we hold the point and have brought it to a fair Issue if this man has a mind to quarrel with St. Paul he may take his course but he may do well to consider he engages himself against the Spirit of God and who ever contended with his Maker and prospered He accuses Mr. H. of scandalizing St. Paul in saying he preferred Soul Salvation before his own Credit but I am assured St. Paul would not take this for a Scandal for he was ever willing to sacrifice his Name and Reputation to the blessed Interest of Christ and the Gospel I wish this man were chargeable with no grosser Scandals than these It is very unfairly insinuated That Mr. H. thinks it as great a Crime to silence him as it would have been to have silenc'd the Apostles He is far from making any such Comparison but it will be found criminal enough to silence the least of Christs faithful Ministers for what is done to them he takes as done to himself and for him to say Mr. H. is no Minister is purely precarious and shall be granted the first hour that he has proved it and he cannot reasonably expect we should acknowledge it before Mr. H. in his little Book has this Expression It appears That narrow-spiritedness which confines Religion and the Church to one way and party whatever it is to the condemning of others that differ from us in little things is the bane of the Christian-Church a Sentence to which all those will subscribe who either understand or wish well to the common Interest of Christianity what fault then will T. W find with it He tells us Religion is the Bond of Unity that is to say where there is no true practical Religion there can be no real Church Unity Is not this the meaning If it be it will turn abundance of our fierce Contenders for the Ceremonies out of doors He asks Did you ever know a Religion without Bounds and Rules for all of that Religion to be confined to even to a Punctilio Sir we know no Religion but what 's contained in the Word of God nor any necessary Bounds and Rules but what are there laid down and we find none there obliging to exact Uniformity in your Ceremonies nay on the contrary we find Rules laid down for mutual forbearance in such things and for denying our selves in what we might lawfully do when the doing of it would offend tender Consciences and if we must suspend our own Act and Freedom for fear of such Offence it can never be lawful for us to force our Practice upon others and whoever do so observe not the Rules nor confine themselves within the Bounds Religion has fixed but are convicted by the Word of God of schismaticating Practices how eager soever they may be to fasten the brand upon others If this mans way of living had not made him more conversant with L'Estrange's Observators than with the Sacred Scriptures he would never talk at such an odd rate concerning the Rules and Bounds of Religion as he does He enquires whether They of our Conventicling Communion have not Rules of their own making by which they are distinguished and confined To give him a plain Answer We utterly disclaim making any Terms of Communion but what Christ has made we desire no more but a credible Profession of Faith and Holiness in order to admission to the most solemn Ordinances we require no Oaths Subscriptions Declarations of assent and consent to Canons and Homilies and Liturgies of humane Composure and if there be any thing that distinguishes from other Parties it is the Gospel Simplicity of our Worship and the absence of those little Toys others value themselves so much upon and as protesting for Scripture Sufficiency in Matters of Doctrine distinguishes Protestants from Papists so in Matters of Government and Worship it distinguishes us from you and thus by leaving the Bounds of Church Communion as wide and large as Christ has left them we escape the reproach and guilt of that Narrow-spiritedness which would retrench the same and yet after all are far from thinking all true Religion and Christianity and Salvation confined to those of our Perswasion Now comes our Citizen to cast in our Teeth all the Irregularities and Distractions of the Civil Wars the old thread-bare Cant which has been a rare pretence for all those Brutal Excesses that have been acted upon us for these many years wherein has been the most horrid Misrepresentation of matters of Fact that were ever advanced in the same Age wherein the things were done The true causes of that War are so well known to all the World and have of late met with so publick and Authentick a vindication that they need not my Apology All our Historians even those that are most devoted to the Court
Interest acknowledge there were the greatest Encroachments imaginable made upon the Liberties of the Subject from the very first appearance of that unhappy Prince in the Government the Foundation whereof was laid in his Fathers Reign For when King James the first Ascended Englands Throne the Prelatick Party dreading lest the Puritans would have too great a share of his Favours upon the account of his Education and the Influence the Scottish Nobility and Ministry might have upon him bent all their Studies to create in him a prejudice against them and finding no Bait was so like to take with him as the extending of his Authority and enlarging the Prerogative which had perhaps been too much limited by his Antient Subjects they flattered the Ambition and Vices of that Prince and thereby made him entirely their own and this was indeed the true Origine of all the misfortunes of Succeeding times for when once the Fence is broke and the Land-mark removed 't is hard to fix it again but the loosned Hind will wander endlesly Buoy'd up with expectations of an Absolute Power his Son begins a Fatal Reign during which there was not one Parliament from his very first year to his Exit that did not seriously remonstrate the Grievances of the Nation and humbly Petition they might be redress'd The Levying of Tunnage and Poundage without Act of Parliament the Illegal Imprisonment of Peers Extravagant Dispositions of Crown Lands were the Early Complaints of his Reign Granting Commissions to require Money under the Title of a Loan Imprisoning Persons of Quality that refused to pay that which they had no pretence of Law to demand and denying them the Priviledge of Habeas Corpus when they moved for it Menacing of Parliament telling them if they would not grant him sufficient Sums of Money for his Occasion he would take some other course openly in Parliament threatning those Gentlemen that opposed these Violences calling them Vipers and sending at one clap seven worthy Gentlemen to the Tower whereof Denzen Holles and the Great Selden were two and this for no other Crime but in a Parliamentary way opposing the Kings Arbitrary proceedings The suspicious actions of the Marquess of Hamilton in raising Forces discovered to my Lord Rhees Maccay to be designed for England in the Seventh year of this Reign the whole Story which had a very ill Aspect all those can tell who have any Acquaintance with the History of those Times The breaking to pieces that brave and pious design of buying up Impropriations for the maintenance of a preaching Ministry and consiscating to the Kings use vast Sums of Money given by well-disposed Persons for that purpose the greatest piece of Sacriledge that was ever heard of The Declaration for Sports on the Lords day and Suspending and Depriving of Ministers for not reading it the Hectoring such Judges and Justices of the Peace as made Orders of Court against Rioting and Revelling on that Sacred Day The Exacting of a new invented Tax call'd Ship Money in the Twelfth year of his Reign and proceeded to give Judgment against the Defaulters The Extravagant and Tyrannical proceeding of the Star-Chamber the Suspending of Bishop Williams ab Officio Beneficio by the mischievous malice of Archbishop Laud of Blessed Memory And to fill up the measure the imposing the English Liturgy upon Scotland added to the many Violations of the Constitution of that Kingdom these are the known occasions of that unhappy Breach betwixt that King and his Parliament which I have taken a more particular notice of not to vindicate our selves for the challenge has been often made to Name four Persons in that whole Parliament that were not in full and compleat Communion with the Church of England as by Law Established when the War begun but to vindicate the Nation for it was a general and common case and those Men have been very disingenuous and unjust to their Countrey who have put such false and dismal Colours upon a War to which the Nation was forced in defence of those Priviledges which they had derived from their Ancestors by a Title as Sacred and Inviolable as the greatest Monarch has unto his Crown 't is true indeed the Bishops were many of them great Sufferers their Honour and Interest obliged them to stand by the King and his Courtiers and to vindicate those Extravagancies where of they were the principal Causes and Instruments and that was the reason of the Parliaments readiness to lay that Order wholly aside that had for the support of their own Grandeur abetted and consecrated the violation of the Laws and Liberties of England I am no way obliged to defend all the Irregularities and Distractions that happened upon that War when once the Sword is drawn and Men are flush'd with Blood and Victory it 's impossible they should be kept within due Bounds and not be too severe upon those who had acted the first part upon that Tragical Scene every Body knows the Complexion of that War was at length greatly changed and it was pursued far beyond the first design but the blame of all belongs to those that were the first Aggressors and made it necessary by force to withstand that Torrent of Arbitrariness that bore down all Legal Fences before it And yet 't is notoriously false that all the Episcopal Clergy were then Silenced and Sequestred there were many of them conniv'd at and preach'd all along those Times indeed there were many of them as they are now notoriously Debauch'd and lamentably ignorant and it will be hard to perswade us that the removing of such is any great Curse to the Nation there was an allowance given for the maintaining of those that lost their Places for refusing to submit to the Powers that then were during that time it cannot be proved that the Presbyterians ever varied from the true Interest of the Nation but always endeavoured to maintain the Balance betwixt an unlimited Monarchy on the one hand and Popular fury and confusion on the other and thousands of them lost their lives upon that Score and at length by their Address and Interest under God the Nation was prepared to receive the Banished Prince the solemn Promises fair Words and great Assurances that were made them by the Church and Court Party upon the Treaty of Restoration are very well known and the speedy and bare-fac'd violation of all is not to be parallel'd in Story in little more than two years time two thousand of these Ministers were turn'd out of their Office and Livings when Scandal or Insufficiency were never so much as pretended only because they would not declare their Assent and Consent to three Books of Humane Composure and all and every thing therein contained and made uncapable of teaching Schools and a while after Banished five Miles from the places of their former Ministry and from Corporations that there might be no possibility of escaping to Starve and ever since treated with the greatest Scorn
finds he must necessarily hate and revile us and after the fiercest manner contend with us because we pray without a stinted Form and he prays with one because we take no more notice of the Altar than of the Pulpit whilst he bows towards it because our Ministers preach in Cloaks and his in a Surplice And if it be so natural and necessary for him to run out into the highest breaches of Charity against us upon this account we cannot help it but heartily pity him but if he 'll search to the bottom he may find that his unruly passions and rampant pride are the natural and infallible causes of such Contentions and these distinct Modes of Worship are but the occasions or perhaps but the pretences thereof We know very well there are a great many of the Conformists that we love and honour and can live very peaceably and quietly with them and have very intimate converse together and they have the like respect for us notwithstanding those different practices which he calls Separate Communion they earnestly desire the Ceremonies in Debate might be laid aside because the Papists have not only spit upon them as the Bishop of Salisbury speaks but have made them Tools of Discord and Mischief and if all the Members of the late Convocation had been like some few we should have hop'd the Bone of Contention would have been removed and I know not what such Men as T. W. would then have done for a Cloak to cover their Malice but though that Assembly fail'd the expectation of the King and Countrey yet we are not without hopes it will come to that at last however in the mean time we are very desirous to be peaceable and glad we can be so and if these men are resolved they 'l have no Charity for any but their own Party let them wipe off the guilt of Schism as well as they can We now come to his citations out of Calvin that we ought not to separate from a Church upon the account of many blemishes and we say so too but if those blemishes and corruptions be made Terms of Communion and we must testifie our approbation of them it will greatly alter the case we know there are blemishes in the purest Societies but when we must be obliged to admire and praise these Deformities we shall desire to be excused and that 's our Case The Three Letters of Le Moyne L' Angle and Claude have been already reflected upon by some of the Answerers of Dr. Stillingfleet it appears by many passages therein that they have been very much misinformed concerning our Practice and the Grounds thereof as if we thought none in Communion with the Church of England could be saved that we are the only Men in the Nation that are predestinated to Salvation and such like things for which we are greatly obliged to those that have thus represented us but those that would be further satisfied in the disingenuity of some Men towards us and what Arts they have used to procure the Suffrage of Forreign Divines against us may read the three last pages of Mr. Rules Rational Account to which I could add something my self were it not an invidious piece of work When Mr. H. used these words Whether they be Episcopal Presbyterian Independant or by what Name or Title soever they be self-dignified or distinguished T. W. charges him with Malice against the Clergy as if he meant them only whence so gross a mistake should happen I know not unless it be from the same cause that makes every thing look yellow to some that have been afflicted with predominancy of Choller it 's plain Mr. H's design was to censure the vanity of assuming to our selves the Title of a Party or valuing our selves upon it which certainly has done much mischief But this must needs reflect upon the Archbishops and Bishops which he says are Orders Instituted by the Apostles in the Church of God and from them continued to this present Age without Interruption and for this he refers us to 1 Cor. 12.28 And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers helps Out of some little cunning design no doubt Governments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though he puts it helps in Government but where 's the Archbishop and Diocesan Bishop he says God has set them up but we cannot tell where all that he says concerning Mr. H's despising and speaking evil of Dignities proceeds from nothing but the Spleen We reverence the Bishops as they are vested by our Laws with a Civil Power circa Sacra and as many of them are Men of great Learning and Worth but cannot allow them to be our Governours by a Divine appointment till we see it better prov'd Sir That Act of Parliament by which we enjoy our present Liberty and which is your intolerable grievance does not carry the Title of Indulgence as you affirm it has in it the very words permitted and allowed which you ought not to have been ignorant of and had you taken as much delight in conversing with this Act as those by which we have been so unkindly oppressed you would not have needed to have been told this It 's true this Act does not Authorize our Churches nor Annex the Benefices to them but as we need not the former for we derive our Authority higher so we are not at all discontented for want of the latter you tell us it is given us for the hardness of our Hearts we might here very well retort and say it was rather given for the hardness of your Hearts who turn'd the Edge of Laws made chiefly against Papists to destroy your Fellow Protestants which was declared by one of the best of English Parliaments to be greatly serviceable to the Popish Interest and the ready way to bring ruin upon Protestants and a Bill brought in for the Uniting of us how that Parliament was represented by such Men as these and what thanks they had for running those great hazards for their Countreys preservation is sufficiently known The Story he brings of Barrow Penry and Burchet signifies nothing but the Malice of the Relator the two former who were Brownists flew so high as with this Man to unchurch and condemn all besides their own Party which is indeed a very ill Principle and none ever more guilty of it than T. W. Burchet was Hang'd for Killing his Keeper would it not be thought a very ill thing for us to charge upon the whole Episcopal Party the Odium and Guilt of all the Rogues and Felons that have died at Tyburn in their Communion We challenge this Man or any of his Abettors to shew any one Principle of ours that has the least Aspect towards Treason or any practices of that kind we have been guilty of though under the greatest provocations We vindicate not the Extravagancies of the Brownists nor will the sober Men of his own Party vindicate the severe handling of
Udal Barrow c. as Dr. Fuller himself testifies That Great Princess had something of the â—â—re in her and there wanted not Prelaâ—â—ck Breath to blow the Spark into a flame Mr. Baxter's Censure of a Universal Toleration which he would twit us with agrees with the sence of every wise and good Man in England but surely there 's a great deal of difference betwixt tolerating all how Erroneous soever their Tenets may be and giving ease to such as only differ from you in Ceremonies which your selves confess might well be spared if this Man knows no Medium betwixt tolerating the grossest Heresies and Blasphemous Opinions and tying all Men up to the very same Punctilio with our selves he shall never be a Privy Councillor He falls very foul on Mr. H. for saying the Unthinking Mobile are so well taught as to know no other Churches but the publick places of Worship are easily induc'd to believe we leave the Church This he says is highly reproachful as if the Pastors of the Church seduc'd the people to believe that which is false Mr. H. does not charge them with having seduced them to believe what is false but they are indeed very many of them justly chargeable with not having sufficiently taught them what is true for our most common Experience assures us that there is amongst you a Debauched Ignorant Rabble that Rant and Swear against our Hearers upon this very account and never offer at any other reason but that they leave the Church for you to deny that there are such a Crew is to trample upon our Sences and perswade us we can neither hear nor see How many of the Privy Council Judges and Magistrates believe us to be Schismaticks we know not but we do not think any of them grounds the charge meerly upon our leaving the Churches which was all Mr. H. spoke of here when you have proved that the presence of God is as much confined to your Churches as it was to Jerusalem your instance may be worth something but when our Saviour tells us that Distinction was to be immediately laid aside 't was very impertinent to urge it now I do not know whether Mr. Dodwel may have hired you to cry his Books but he knows very well where to find his Answer though you do not Mr. Baxter has saved us that Labour in more Treatises than one He complains we rob their Parish Churches I suppose these men look upon all within the parochial Precincts to be their own Goods and Chattels but this cannot be pretended to be by Divine right and therefore the Transgression thereof cannot be the true Nature of Schism whilst men have Preachers thrust upon them without their Election or Consent which is perfectly contrary to Primitive Custom no wonder if they leave them and go to others they are better satisfied in Mr. H. very candidly endeavours to extenuate the difference betwixt Protestants who all believe the same Christian Faith and joyn in the same abhorrence of Papal Delusions to which the man replies by this a man may be an Arrian a Socinian or Atheist and yet free from Schism what do these believe the same Christian Faith with us I could almost blush for this mans gross disingenuity He 's now become such a perfect Humourist he cannot forbear Quarreling with us for not reading the Prayers made for the Wednesday Fast and asks us what account we can give to God and the Government for such Omission Sir You may know if you please that the Kings command to read those Prayers does not extend to us we are not mentioned nor designed therein and where there 's no Law there 's no Transgression We have reason to think the Government does not in the least question but that we are as hearty in our Prayers on this occasion as T. W. who was somewhat with the latest in testifying his Allegiance thereunto 'T is a gross Calumny that we impute our Prayers to the immediate Dictates of the Spirit of God much less the Levities and Impertinencies of them we do believe there is a gift of Prayer that is to be attained by the use of ordinary means and nevertheless is from God who is the Fountain of every good and perfect Gift and this is fully and excellently vindicated by that truly Pious and Worthy Bishop Dr. Wilkins The words you put in the Margin as charged upon Mr. H. are very false as many Persons of as untainted Reputation as your self can testifie You might have spared your Commendation of the Liturgy we grant there are many good Petitions therein but we know no reason to limit our selves unto it as if a man without the Gift of Miracles could not speak Sence in a Prayer but by a prescribed form of words but it were Presumption to attempt it when Miracles are ceased as our great Adversaries to conceited Prayers pretend which by the way is little less than Lampoon upon the common sence of English men I have now waited upon the Citizen through all those Passages of his Book which even he himself can think material and upon the whole I make little question but every sober unprejudiced Reader will joyn with me in these Reflections I. That Mr. M. H. has given us the true Scriptural Notion of Schism that is An uncharitable Alienation of Affection amongst professed Christians occasioned by their different Apprehensions about little things This was the very thing which St. Paul reproves as Schism in the Corinthians and no doubt he knew very well what he said and was acted by too good a Spirit to become a false Accuser of the Brethren To this T. W. has given no manner of Answer but instead of that peremptorily asserts that the formal Nature of Schism is diversity of Communion which both contradicts Scripture and leaves the matter still in Confusion and Darkness for since where-ever there is a diversity there must be two parties diverse this definition may make both or either of them Schismatical but does not determine which till all the Circumstances of the case be considered which makes it evident that the form of Schism lyes not in the distinction of Communion it self but in the true Causes of it which upon due search will be found to be one of these two either Uncharitableness or Unwilling mistake to lay so dreadful a charge as this of Schism is accounted upon an involuntary mistake seems very hard and not agreeable with the Nature of the Gospel that makes so large allowances for this kind of weakness and has commanded us all to do so It must therefore necessarily fall upon the former which having more of the perverseness of the Will in it and being much more contrary to the Nature of Christianity and to the Unity of the Spirit appears by all marks to be the real Criminal after which the Hue and Cry was sent II. That the design of Mr. H's Books appears to be honest and peaceable it is no way calculated
Likewise where approved Pastors are violently and injuriously thrust out and others imposed contrary to our consent by those that had no power so to do Also where we cannot partake of all Ordinances without complying with sinful Terms this will not only warrant but necessitate our joining elsewhere In all these cases we are not bound by the prudential order of Parish Bounds and before they can prove us culpable they must demonstrate that none of these cases are ours and yet after all if they should do so since this is but a matter of Order and not of Essential Unity they could but convict us of an Irregularity not that Damning Schism these Men speak of But we cannot but admire to hear some Learned Men descend so much below themselves as they do when they say our Meetings are Schismatical for we have no true Ministers and why so Why Because we have only Presbyterian Ordination And when we urge that this Unchurches the Reformed Churches beyond Sea they answer No though Presbyterian Ordination may be valid amongst them yet it is not so with us because our Ministers are Ordained in a Schism thus the Invalidity of our Ordination must prove the Schism and in requital of its Kindness the Schism must prove our Ordination invalid and so we are got into the Circle and by treading such rounds contract that giddiness which makes us fall foul upon one another My last Reflection is That as T. W's Hypothesis is false and confused so the Temper Management and Design of his Book appears to be equally vicious this is too evident in not reciting whole passages but leaving out what was necessary to compleat the ARgument his notorious perverting the plain sence of Mr. H's words invidious insinuations scurrilous reflections and downright falshoods which you find taken notice of in this Reply And as I am assured a great many sober Church-Men have observed and resented such unfair dealing in his Book so I believe none of them will blame me if I have treated him a little more roughly than a Man of his consistency can well bear If our Brethren of that Perswasion will either suffer us to live easily amongst them or take such Methods for our Conviction as are proper to work upon Rational Creatures we will thank them and shall endeavour not to be behind hand with them in Civilities but if they be resolved to turn loose upon us Men of Brutal Lusts and Lives that will venture to fly at any thing and if we must be Hated Anathematized and when the time comes Persecuted because we are not Converted by such Men and Books as these there is no remedy we leave our Cause with a Righteous God and all the sober part of Mankind We come now to the Conclusion wherein T. W. with all Meekness and Christian Charity i. e. with all he has would perswade Mr. H. he is in a desperate Condition has no Title to the Promises nor any place in the Catholick Church It is lamentable to think what depraved Apprehensions these Men have of God and Religion and Heaven that would exclude all from thence that differ from them in a Thread or a Shoe-latchet The great Design of our Redeemer was to rescue Men from the Slavery of Sensual and Sinful Affections and bring them into a state of Obedience and Conformity to God to teach them to deny Ungodliness and Fleshly Lusts and to Live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this evil World Tit. 2.12 13. and those that do so may comfortably look for the Blessed Hope and Glorious Appearance of our Lord and Saviour They have a Right to all Church Priviledges here and to Heaven after all but we have a sort of Men amongst us that threaten all with Damnation that are not of their length in every thing as if when they can torment us no longer upon Earth the Eternal God would quit his own fixed Rules of Rewarding and Punishing Men according to their real Holiness or Iniquity and become the Executioner of those unjust and furious Sentences they have here denounced against us but we thank God Christ has the Keys of Hell and of Death and will not open and shut at their command And though an immoderate Zeal for a few Ceremonies serves some Men at present for a Sanctuary whither they retreat when pursued by an accusing Conscience yet a little time will convince us all that without Holiness no Man shall see God and since that time is at hand 't is fit in these lesser things we should let our Moderation be known unto all Men. FINIS