and they whet their Spirits and sharpen their Tongues against all of another mould which some do with an undisguised fierceness Other with a visage of more gravity by which they give the deeper wounds What sad effects flow from this Spirit is too visible and I love not to play the Diviner or to presage all the mischief it threatens but certain it is that the great business of Religion lies under an universal neglect while every one looks more abroad on his Neighbor than inwardly on himself and all stâ—dy more the advancement of a Party than the true interest of Religion I deny not but zeal for GOD must appear when we see indignities done to his holy Name in a just indignation at these who so dishonour him but what relation have little small differences about matters which have no tendency for advancing the Image of GOD in our Souls to that since both sides of the debate may be well maintained without the least indignity done to GOD or his holy Gospel What opposition to the Will of GOD or what harm to Souls can flow from so innocent a practice as the fixing some Churchmen over others for observing directing reproving and coercing of the rest that this should occasion such endless brawlings and such hot contentions But supposing the grounds of our divisions as great as any angry Disputer can imagine them then certainly our zeal for them should be tempered according to the Rules and Spirit of the Gospel Is it a Christian temper that our spirits should boil with rage against all of another persuasion so that we cannot think of them without secret commotions of anger and disdain which breaks often out into four looks ridiculous â—earings bitter scoffings and invectives and in attempts at bloud and cruelty How long shall our Nadabs and Abâ—hus burn this wild-fire on the Altar of GOD whose flames should be peaceful and such as descend from Heaven When we see any endangering their Souls by erroneous Opinions or bad practices had we the divine Spirit in us it would set us to our secret mournings for them our hearts would melt in compassion towards them and not burn in rage against them and we would attempt for their recovery and not contrive their 〈◊〉 The â—ne bears on it a clear impress of that nature which is Love in which none can have interest or union but such as dwell and abide in Love but the other bears on it the lively signature of him that was a murderer from the beginning and all that is mischievous or cruel is of that evil one and tends to the subversion of mankind as well as the ruin of true Religion Another great Rule by which the Peace and Order of all human Societies is maintained and advanced is obedience to the Laws and submission to the Authority of these whom GOD hath set over us to govern and defend us to whose Commands if absolute Obedience be not payed ever till they contradict the Laws of GOD there can be neither peace nor order among men as long as every one prefers his own humour or inclination to the Laws of the Society in which he lives Now it cannot be denied to be one of the sins of the age we live in that small regard is had to that authority GOD hath committed to his Vicegerents on earth The evidence whereof is palpable since the bending or slackening of the execution of Laws is made the measure of most mens Obedience and not the conscience of that duty we owe the commands of our Rulers for what is more servile and unbecoming a man not to say a Christian than to yield Obedience when over-awed by force and to leap from it when allured by gentler methods If Generosity were our principle we should be sooner vanquished by the one than cudgelled by the other Or if Conscience acted us the Obligation of the Law would equally bind whether backed with a strict Execution or slackened into more impunity Hence it appears how few there are who judg themselves bound to pay that reverence to the Persons and that Obedience to the Commands of these GOD hath vested with his Authority which the Laws of Nature and Religion do exact And the root of all this disobedience and contempt can be no other but unruly and ungoverned pride which disdains to submit to others and exalts it self above these who are called Gods The humble are tractable and obedient but the self willed are stubborn and rebellious Yet the height of many mens pride rests not in a bare disobedience but designs the subverting of Thrones and the shaking of Kingdoms unless governed by their own measures Among all the Heresies this age hath spawned there is not one more contrary to the whole design of Religion and more destructive of mankind than is that bloudy Opinion of defending Religion by Arms and of forcible resistance upon the colour of preserving Religion The wisdom of that Policy is â—â—â—hly senâ—â—al and devillish favoring of a carnal unmortified and impatient mind that cannot bear the Cross nor trust to the Providence of GOD and yet with how much zeal is this doctrine maintained and propagated as if on it hung both the Law and the Prophets Neither is the zeal used for its defence only meant for the vindicating of what is past but on purpose advanced for re-acting the same Tragedies which some late villanous attempts have too clearly discovered some of these black Arts tho written in white being by a happy providence of GOD by the intercepting of R. Mac his Letters which contained not a few of their rebellious practisings and designs brought to light Indeed the consideration of these evils should call on all to reflect on the sad posture wherein we are and the evident signatures of the Divine displeasure under which we lâ—e from which it appears that GOD hath no pleasure in 〈◊〉 nor will be glorified among us that so we may discern the signs of the times and by all these sad indications may begin to appehend our danger and â—o turn to GOD with our whole hearts every one repenting of the works of his hands and contributing his prayers and endeavours for a more general Reformation It is not by Political Arts nor by the execution of penal Laws that the power of Religion can be recovered from these decays under which it hath so long suffered No no we must consider wherein we have provoked GOD to chastise us in this fashion by letting loose among us a Spirit of uncharitableness giddiness cruelty and sedition And the progress of these and other great evils we ought to charge on our own faultiness who have provoked GOD to plead a Controversie with us in so severe a manner This is the method we ought to follow which if we did we might sooner look for the Divine protection and assistance and then we should experience it to be better to put our confidence in GOD than to put our confidence in
minds from the fâ—llowship of the Saints But on the other hand great caution must be had by all Subjects on what grounds they refuse obedience to the Laws that so they be not found following their own designs and interests under a colour of adhering firmly to their consciences They must deliver themselves from all prepossessions and narrowly examine all things ere they adventure on refusing obedience to the Laws But now consider if an unjust motive or narrative in a Law deliver tender consciences from an obligation to obey it or not Basil. If the Magistrate do couple his motive and narrative with our obedience so that we cannot do the one without a seeming consent to the other then certainly we are not to obey For actions being often signs of the thoughts an action how indifferent soever if declared a sign of concurring in a sinful design makes us guilty in so far as we express our concurrence by a sign enjoyned for that end But if the motive or narrative be simply an account of the Magistrates own thoughts without expressing that obedience is to be understood as a concurrence in such intentions then we are to obey a lawful command tho enacted upon a bad design For we must obey these in Authority ever till they stand in competition with GOD. If then their Laws contradict not GOD's Precepts neither in their natural nor intended siâ—nification they are to be obeyed whatever the grounds were for enacting them which is only the Magistrates deed for which he shall answer to GOD. Poly. This calls me to mind of two Stories not impertinent to this purpose The one is of Iulian the Apostate who to entangle the Christians that never scrupled the bowing to the Emperors Statue as a thing lawful caused to set up his with the Images of some of the Gods about it that such as bowed to it might be understood as likewise bowing to the Images which abused some of the simpler but the more discerning refused to bow at all to those Statues because he intended to expound that innocent bowing to his Statue as an adoration of the Gods about it A Christian likewise being brought to the King of Persia did according to the Law bow before him but when he understood that to be exacted as a divine Honor to the King he refused it Eud. This is clear enough that all actions are as they are understood and accordingly to be performed or surceased from But it seems more difficult to determine what is to be done in case a Magistrate enact wicked Laws Are not both his Subjects bound to refuse obedience and the Heads of the Church and the watchmen of Souls likewise to witness against it And may they not declare openly their dislike of such Laws or practices and proceed against him with the censures of the Church since as to the Censures of the Church we see no reason why they should be dispensed with respect of persons which S. Iames condemns in all Church Judicatories Basil. I shall not need to repeat what hath been so often said that we must obey GOD rather than man if then the Magistrates enjoyn what is directly contrary to the divine Law all are to refuse obedience and watchmen ought to warn their Flocks against such hazards and such as can have admittance to their Princes or who have the charge of their Consciences ought with a great deal of sincere freedom as well as humble duty represent the evil and sinfulness of such Laws but for any Synodical Convention or any Declaration against them no warrant for that doth appear and therefore if the Magistrate shall simply discharge all Synods I cannot see how they can meet without sin But for Parochial meetings of Christians for a solemn acknowledgment of GOD such Assemblings for divine Worship being enjoined both by the Laws of Nature and Nations and particularly commanded in the Gospel no consideration can free Christians from their Obligation thus to assemble for Worship if then the Magistrate should discharge these or any part of them such as Prayer Praisâ—s and reading of Scriptures preaching the Gospel or the use of the Sacraments they are notwithstanding all that to be continued in But for the consultative or directive Government of the Church till a divine Command be produced for Synods or Discipline it cannot lawfully be gone about without or against his authority Crit. For refusing obedience to an unjust command of surceasing visible Worship the instance of Daniel is signal who not only continued his adorations to GOD for all Darius his Law but did it openly and avowedly that so he might own his subjection to GOD. But for reproving Kings we see what caution was to be observed in it since GOD sent Prophets with express Commissions for it in the Old Testament and Samuel notwithstanding this severe message to Saul yet honored him before his people It is true there should be no respect of persons in Christian Judicatories but that is only to be understood of these who are subject to them and how it can agree to the King who is Supream to be a Subject is not easily to be comprehended Since then honor and obedience is by divine precept due to Magistrates nothing that invades that honor or detracts from that obedience can be lawfully attempted against them such as is any Church-censure or excommunication And therefore I cannot see how that practice of Ambrose upon Theodosius or other later instances of some Bishops of Rome can be reconciled to that Render fear to whom fear and honor to whom honor is due Phil. I am sure their practice is far less justifiable who are always preaching about the Laws and times to the people with virulent reflections on King Parliament and Council much more such as not content with flying discourses do by their writings which they hope shall be longer lived study the vilifying the persons and affronting the authority of these GOD hath set over them And how much of this stuff the Press hath vented these thirty years by past such as knew the late times or see their writings can best judge Eud. Now our discourse having dwelt so long upon generals is to descend to particulars That we may examine whether upon the grounds hitherto laid down the late tumults or the present Schisms and divisions can be justified or ought to be censured I know this is a nice point and it is to be tenderly handled lest all that shall be said be imputed to the suggestions of passions and malice Wherefore let me intreat you who are to bear the greater part of that discourse to proceed in it calmly that it may appear your designs are not to lodge infamy on any party or person but simply to lay out things as they are hoping withal that you will not take your informations of what you say from the tatles of persons concerned but will proceed on true and sure grounds And that we may return to this with
matters will never infer a surrender of conscience to him for certainly that must relate to what goeth before of the outward Government and Policy of the Church Besides none will quarrel the phrase of the Kings authority in all things that are Civil yet that will not infer that he can enact the lawfulness of murther and theft So these expressions must carry with them a tacite exception Yea even without that allowance the phrase may be well justified since it only imports that the Kings enacting any thing in these matters makes them legal which differs much from lawful and saith only that such Orders issued forth by the King are de facto Laws which will not conclude they must be obeyed but only that his authority is to be acknowledged either by obedience if the command be just or by suffering if unjust As for the effects this may produce I am sure they cannot prove worse than these which have followed upon the pretences of the Churches absolute authority and intrinsick Sovereign Power And indeed since there is so much corruption among men nothing that falls into the hands of men can scape the mixtures of abuse at long run But I must add that the passions and pride of many Church-men in all Ages have been such that the decision of the plurality of Church-men seems the model of the World that is fullest of danger Isot. Three things yet remain to be discussed The one is if obedience be due to the Laws when they command things contrary to our consciences For sure you cannot pretend in that case to give a preference to humane Laws beyond conscience which is the voice of GOD. The next is when the Magistrate commands things just of themselves but upon unjust motives and narratives whether my obedience doth not homologate his bad designs And finally where the commands of the Magistrate are manifestly unlawful how far should the Church and Church men oppose and contradict them For a bare non-obedience seems not to be all we are bound to in that case When I am satisfied in these things I will quit this purpose Basil. To engage in a particular discussion of what is now moved by you would draw on more discourse than our present leisure will allow of yet I shall attempt the saying of what may satisfie a clear and unprejudged mind And to the first I shall not fall on any longer enquiry into the nature and obligation of conscience than to tell that conscience is a conviction of our rational faculties that such or such things are sutable to the nature and Will of God Now all Religion is bound upon us on this account that there is such evidence offered for its truth which may and ought to satisfie the strictest Examen of Reason And all certainty is resolved in this that our rational faculties are convinced of the truth of the objects that he before us which conviction when applied to divine matters is called Conscience But there may be great mistakes in this Conviction for either the prejudices that lie on our minds from our senses the prepossessions of Education interest or humors the want of a due application of our faculties to their objects or chiefly the dulness and lesion of our Organs the corruption of our minds through sin and lust occasion many errors so that often without good reason oft contrary to it we take up persuasions to which we stifly adhere and count such convictions evidences of the Will of GOD. I acknowledg when a Man lies under a persuasion of the Will of GOD he ought not to go cross to it for this opens a door to Atheism when that is contradicted of which we are convinced But if this persuasion be false it cannot secure a Man from sinning in following of it For it is a Man 's own fault that he is thus imposed upon since if his rational faculties were duly applied and well purified they should prove unerring touchstones of truth If therefore through vanity wilfulness rashness or any other byass of the mind it be carried to wrong measures a Man is to blame himself and thus his errour ought to aggravate and not lessen his guilt If then a Man's conscience dictate to him the contrary of what GOD commands in that case he is in a visible hazard for his error can never tâ—ke away GOD's Authoâ—ity and so his wrong informed conscience doth not secure him from guilt if he be disobedient On the other hand nothing in Scripture can bind a Man to act a-against the convictions of conscience since we are bound to believe the Scriptures only because of the evidence of their authority to our rational faculties If then our belief of the Scriptures rest on that foundation no part of Scripture can bind us to walk contrary to that evidence for then it should destroy that Principle on which our Obligation to believe it self is founded which is the evidence of reason and so in that case a Man sins whatever he do Neither is this to be accountd strange since that erroneous conscience is from man's own fault And that which some alledg to escape this that in such cases a Man ought to forbear from acting will not serve turn to excuse a Man from sin For in these Precepts which exact a positive obedience such a â—orbearance and surceasing from action is a sin Upon these Evidences then it will follow that if the conviction of our conscience run contrary to the Magistrates commands these convictions are either well grounded or ill If the former then the Magistrates command being contrary to the nature and Will of GOD aâ—e not to be obeyed If ill grounded then that mistaken persuasion cannot secure us from sin no more than in the case of conscience contradicting the Law of GOD for the Laws of the Magistrates in things lawful are the Laws of GOD being the application of his general Laws unto particular instances by one cloathed with authority from him Therefore tho I do not say the Laws of the Magistrate can warrant our counteracting an erroneous conscience yet on the contrary a misinformed conscience will not secure us when we disobey the Magistrates lawful commands And thus I think your first Question is clearly answered End You have a great deal of reason to say so your discourse being so closely rational that I cannot see any escape from any paâ—t of it yet I must add that certainly it is a piece of Christian tenderness which obligeth all in Authority to beware of laying gall-traps and snares in the way of tender consciences And the best way to get an undisputed obedience is that their commands be liable to as few exceptions as is possible and that the good of any such Laws be well ballanced with the hazards of them that so the Communion of the Church in all outwards particularly in the Sacraments may be had on as easie terms as is possible whereby nothing be enacted that may frighten away weakâ—r
of quality and much accounted of since they were puffed up with him they were also a scandal to the Gospel with their litigious Law sutes These were great evils and I hope beyond what you can charge on us and yet though the Apostle commands them to be redressed and rectified doth he ever allow of these in Corinth who were pure and holy to forsake the solemn Assemblies till these things were amended Or doth he not highly commend Charity and Unity to them Next consider what Teachers these were who preached CHRIST of envy and strife out of contention and not sincerely that they might add affliction to the Apostles bonds And yet of these S. Paul's verdict is What then notwithstanding every way whether in pretence or in truth CHRIST is preached and I therein do rejoice yea and will rejoice Now if he rejoiced that Christ was preached at any rate what Spirit have they who because they suppose some preach out of Envy or design to add to their affliction do thereupon study to blast their reputation and to withdraw first the Hearts and then the Ears of all from them Certainly this is not the Spirit of CHRIST or of his Apostles And though we see what corruptions had crept into the Churches of Asia yet in the Epistles to them in the Revelation they are still call'd the Churches of GOD in the midst of whom the Son of GOD walked They are indeed commanded to reform any corruptions were among them but such as had not that doctrine and knew not the depths of Satan but had kept their garments clean are not commanded to separate from the rest on the contrary no other burden is laid upon them nor are they charged for not separating from the rest From which premises I may infer that as long as the Communion of Saints may be kept in without our being polluted in some piece of sinful concurrence all are bound to it under the hazard of tearing Christ's Body to pieces And this stands also with the closest Reason for since Unity is that which holds all the body firm whereas division dislocates and weakens it nothing doth more defeat the ends of Religion and overturn the power of Godliness than Scisms and Contentions which give the greatest offence to the little ones and the fullest advantages to the common enemy imaginable If therefore the Worship of GOD among us continue undefiled even in the confession of all if the Sacraments be administred as before if the Persons that officiate be Ministers of the Gospel then certainly such as separate from our publick Meetings do forsake the Assemblies of the Saints and so break the unity of the Spirit and the bond of Peace And what you said of a non-compliance as distinct from separation hath no relation to this purpose where nothing of a compliance is in the case but only a joining with the Saints in solemn Worship And doth the change of the Government of the Church in so small a matter as the fixing a constant President with some additions of power over your Synods in stead of your ambulatory Moderators derive a Contagion into our Worship so that without a Sin it cannot be joined in Indeed if a Concurrence of Worship required an owning of every particular in the Constitution of the Church a man must go to the New Atlantis to seek a Society he shall join with since few of clear unprepossessed minds will find such Societies in the known Regions of the World against all whose Constitutions they have not some just exceptions and the World shall have as many parties as persons if this be not fixed as the rule of Unity that we cleave to it ever till we be driven to do somewhat which with a good Conscience we cannot yield to And even in that case except the corruption be great and deep a bare withdrawing without a direct opposition is all we are bound to You are therefore guilty of a direct separation who forsake the Assemblies of the Saints they continuing in their former purity unchanged and unmixed even in your own Principles Isot. But one thing is not considered by you which is a main point that we had our Church setled according to CHRIST'S appointment and ratified by Law And a change of that being made all our faithful Ministers were turned out by the tyranny of the present Powers who in stead thereof have set up a new form of Government of none of CHRIST'S appointment and to maintain it have thrust in upon the LORD's People a company of weak ignorant scandalous and godless Men called Curates who instead of edifying study to destroy the flock of whom I could say much had I a little of your virulent temper But their own actions have so painted them out to the world that I may well spare my labor of making them better known it being as unnecessary as it is unpleasant Now if the true seekers of GOD do still stick to their old Teachers and seek wholsome food from them in corners and are afraid of your false Teachers according to CHRIST's command of being aware of such men call you this a separation which is rather an adherence to the true Church and the keeping of our Garments clean from the contagion of these men And indeed these who do join with your Curates do profit so little by their Ministry that no wonder others have no heart to it And I have known some whose consciences are so tender in this matter that their having at sometimes joined with these Curates in Worship hath been matter of mourning to them even to their graves And this may serve to clear us of the guilt of Schism in this matter when our withdrawing is only a non-compliance with your corruption Phil. All this saith nothing for justifying your separation As for the turning out of your Ministers if the Laws to which their obedience was required were just which shall be next considered then their prejudices misinformed consciences or peevisâ—mess and not the tyranny of the Rulers must bear the blame of it And for these set in their places if upon so great a desertion of the Church by so many Church-men all their charges could not be of a sudden supplied with men so well qualified or of such gifts and worth as was to be desired it is nothing but what might have been expected upon such an occasion And for your revilings they well become the spirit which appears too visibly in the rest of your actings but we still study to bear these base and cruel reflections with the patience becoming the Ministers of the Gospel and of these who study to learn of him who when he was reviled reviled not again but stood silent at those unjust Tribunals when he was falsly and blasphemously reproached by his enemies and therefore I shall leave answering of these fearful imputations you charge on our Clergy to the great day of reckoning wherein judgment shall return to the righteous and
are by your Friends asserted But I shall dismiss this point with one Sentence of S. Augustin lib. 2. contra Parmen Quisquis ergo vel quod potest arguendo corrigit vel quod corrigere non potest salvo pacis vinculo excludit vel quod salvo pacis vinculo excludere non potest aequitate improbat firmitate supportat hic est pacificus And let me freely tell you that when I consider the temper the untractableness the peevish complainings the railings the high cantings of the Donatists which are set down by him and others I am sometimes made to think I am reading things that are now among our selves and not what passed twelve Ages ago And indeed some late practices make the parallel run more exactly betwixt our modern Zealots and the Circumcellions who were a Sect of the Donatists that was acted by a black and a most desperate spirit For St. Augustin tells us how they fell on these who adhered to the Unity of the Church beating some with Cudgels putting out the Eyes of others and invading the lives of some particularly of Maximinus Bishop of Hagaia whom they left several times for dead And what instances of this nature these few years have produced all the Nation knows How many of the Ministers have been invaded in their Houses their Houses rifled their goods carried away themselves cruelly beaten and wounded and often made to swear to abandon their Churches and that they should not so much as complain of such bad usage to these in Authority their Wives also scaped not the fury of these accursed Zealots but were beaten and wounded some of them being scarce recovered out of their labor in Child-birth Believe me these barbarous outrages have been such that worse could not have been apprehended from Heathens And if after these I should recount the Railings Scoffings and floutings which the Conformable Ministers meet with to their Faces even on streets and publick High-ways not to mention the contempt is poured on them more privately I would be looked on as a forger of extravagant Stories But it is well I am talking to men who know them as well as my self From these things I may well assume that the persecution lies mainly on the Conformists side who for their Obedience to the Laws lie thus open to the fury of their Enemies Isot. Now I dare say you speak against your conscience For do you think any of the LORD's people have accession to so much wickedness which is abhorred by them all and this is well enough known to you though you seem to disguise it For you have often heard our honest Ministers express their horror at such practices do not therefore sin against the generation of the Lord's Children so far as to charge the guilt of some murdering Rogues upon these who would be very glad to see Justice done upon such Villains Phil. You say very fair and I am glad to hear you condemning these Crimes so directly and I am as desirous as any living can be to be furnished with clear evidences of believing as much good as is possible of all mankind But let me tell you plainly that the constant concealing of these murderers whom no search which those in Authority have caused to make could discover tho the Robbers carried with them often a great deal of furniture and other goods which must have been conveyed to some adjacent Houses but could never be found out after so many repeated facts of that nature forceth upon the most charitable a suspicion which I love not to name Next let me tell you that these things are very justifiable from the principles your Friends go upon for if we be by Oath bound to discover all Malignants or evil instruments that they may be brought to condign punishment and if our Conformity be so notorious a wickedness and such a plain breach of Covenant in the punishment whereof the Magistrate is supine and backward then let every one compare the doctrine of the late Pamphlets from p. 282. to p. 408. chiefly 404. and 405. and declare whether by the Rules laid down in them any private persons upon heroical excitations may not execute vengeance on these who are so guilty of gross and notorious backsliding and defection and what may not be expected of this nature from him who hesitates to call the invading of the Bishop with a Pistol an accursed act and will only condemn it as rash precipitant and of evil example and that not simply neither but all circumstances being considered and their exigences duly ballanced Which makes me apprehend his greatest quarrel with that deed was that it misled the designed effect and so was done inadvertently or too publickly or upon some such particular ground which may have occasioned its miscarriage But to deal roundly with you I shall freely acknowledg if the Doctrine of Resistance by private Subjects against these in Authority be lawful I see no ground to condemn such practices For if we may rise in Arms against those in Authority over us and coerce and punish them why not much rather against our fellow Subjects and those to whom we owe no obedience especially when we judg them to have transgressed so signally and to have injured us to a high degree which is the case as most of you state it with the Ministers that are conformable And from this let me take the freedom to tell you that the whole Mystery of Iesuitism doth not discover a principle more destructive of the peace and order of mankind than this doctrine of the lawfulness of private persons executing vengeance on gross offenders where the transgression is judged signal the Magistrate is judged remiss and the actors pretend an heroick excitation This puts a Sword in a mad mans hands and arms the whole multitude and is worse than theirs who will have such deeds warranted by some supreme Ecclâ—â—â—astical Power or at least by a Confessarius and Director of the Conscience Indeed this may justly possess the minds of all that hear it with horror it being a direct contradiction of the Moral Law and an overturning of all the Societies of Mankind and Laws of Nature Eud. I am more charitable than you are for though I must acknowledg what you have alledged to be the native consequence of what is asserted in that Book yet I am inclined to believe he intended not these things should be drawn from it since he in plain terms pag. 402. condemns these outrages I confess his zeal to defend all Naphthali said and to refute every thing the Conformist alledged hath engaged him further than himself could upon second thoughts allow of And as for the instances of Phineâ—as Elijah or other Prophets the argument from them was so fully obviated in our First Conference that I am confident little weight will be laid upon it But now methinks it is more than time we considered the importance of that difference about which all this ado is made
may fairly infer with Sir Iohn Sheen Title 8. of the heads of our Laws drawn up by him That all Iurisdiction stands and consists in the King's Person by reason of his Royal Authority and Crown and is competent to no Subject but flows and proceeds from the King having Supreme Iurisdiction and is given and committed by him to such Subjects as he pleases Eud. I must confess my self pleased with this discussion of these points you have been tossing among you and though I have sate silent yet I have followed the thread of all your discourse with much close attention and was mightily confirmed in my former Perswasion both by the evidence of Reason the authorities of Scripture and these instances of History were adduced But there are many other things yet to be talked of though I confess this be of the greatest Importance and the satisfaction I have received in this makes me long to hear you handle the other matters in debate Phil. I suppose we have forgot little that belonged to this question but for engaging further at this time I have no mind to it it being so long passed Midnight we shall therefore give some truce to our debates and return upon the next appointment Eud. I were unworthy of the kindness you shew me did I importune you too much but I will presume upon your friendship for me to expect your company to Morrow at the same hour you did me the favor to come here to day Isot. I shall not fail to keep your hour tho I be hardly beset in such a croud of Assailants but Truth is on my side and it is great and shall prevail therefore good night to you Basil. I see you are not shaken out of your confidence for all the foils you get yet our next days discourse will perhaps humble you a little more but I refer this to the appointment wherein we hope to meet again and so Adieu Eud. Adieu to you all my good Friends THE SECOND CONFERENCE Eudaimon YOU are again welcome to this place and so much the more that your staying some minutes later than the appointment was making me doubt of your coming and indeed this delay proved more tedious and seemed longer to me than the many hours were bestowed on your yesterdays Conference but methinks Isotimus your looks though never very serene have an unusual Cloud upon them I doubt you have been among the Brotherhood whom your ingenious Relation of what passed here hath offended Their Temper is pretty well known to us all some of them being as the Pestilence that walketh in darkness with the no less zealous but scarcely more ignorant Sisterhood they vent their pedling stuff but of all things in the World shun most to engage with any that can unmask them and discover their follies And their safest way of dealing with such Persons is to laugh at them or solemnly to pity them with a disdainful Brow And that is the best refutation they will bestow on the solidest Reason or if any of them yelp out with an Answer sense or nonsense all is alike the premises are never examined only if the conclusion be positively vouched as clearly proved from Scriptures and Reason the sentence is irreversibly past and you may as soon bow an Oak of an hundred years old as deal with so much supercilious Ignorance Tell plainly have you been in any such Company Isot. What wild extravagant stuff pour you out on better men than your self but I pity your ignorance who know not some of these precious Worthies whose Shooe Latchets you are not worthy to unloose But the truth is you have got me here among you and bait me by turns either to ease your own Galls or to try mine yet it is needless to attempt upon me for as I am not convinced by your Reasons so I will not be behind with you in Reflections and I will â—â—ow and fight both as a Coâ—k of the Game 〈◊〉 Hold hold for these serve to no use bâ—t t◠〈◊〉 pâ—â—vish humâ—rs I will therefore engage you in another subject about the Civil Authority which our yesterdays debate left untouched which is the obedience due to their Commands let us therefore consider how far Subjection obligeth us to obey the Laws of the Civil Powers Isot. Had you not enough of that yesterday Is it not enough that the Magistrate be not resisted but will not that serve turn with you or do you design that we surrender our Consciences to him and obey all his Laws good or bad and follow Leviathan's Doctrine of embracing the Magistrates Faith without enquiry which is bravely asserted by the Author of Ecclesiastical Policy This is indeed to make the King in God'â— stead and to render Cesar the things that are God's which is a visible design either for Pâ—peâ—â— or Atheism Philâ—r Truly Sir you consider little if you â—uâ—ge submission to the Penalties of the Lawâ— to be all the duty we owe Superiors It is true where the Legislators leave it to the Subjects choice either to do a thing enacted or to pay a Fine in that Case Obedience is not simply required so that he who pays the Mâ—lct fulfils his Obligation But wheâ—e a Law is simply made and Obedience enâ—oined and a Penalty fixed on Disobedience in that Case nâ—thing but the sinfulness of the Command can excuse our disobedience neither can it be said that he sins not who is content to submit to the punishment since by the same method of arguing you may prove that such horrid Atheists as say they are content to be damned do not sin against God since they are willing to submit to the threatned punishment The right of exacting our Obedience is therefore to be distinguished from the power of punishing our faults And as we have already considered how far the latter is to be acquiesced in it remains to be examined what is due to the former But here I lay down for a Principle That whatever is determined by the Law of God cannot be reversed nor countermanded by any humane Law For the Powers that are being ordained of God and they being his Ministers do act as his Deputies and the tie which lies on us to obey God being the foundation of our subjection to them it cannot bind us to that which overthrows it self Therefore it is certain God is first to be obeyed and all the Laws of men which contradict his Authority or Commands are null and void of all obligation on our Obedience but I must add it is one of the arts of you know whom to fasten Tenets on men who judge these Tenets worthy of the highest Anathema For if it be maintained that the Magistrate can bind obligations on our Consciences then it will be told in every Conventicle that here a new Tyranny is brought upon Souls which are God's Prerogative though this be nothing more than to say we ought to be subject for Conscience sake If again it be proved that the
determining of the externals of Government or Worship falls within the Magistrate's Sphere then comes in a new Complaint and it is told that here Religion is given up to the Lusts and Pleasure of men though it be an hundred times repeated that command what the King will in prejudice of the Divine Law no Obedience is due If again it be proved that Church Judicatories in what notions soever are subjects as well as others and no less tied to obedience than others upon this come in vehement outcries as if the Throne and Kingdom of Christ were overturned and betrayed with other such like Expressions in their harsh Stile What is become of Mankind and of Religion when Ignorants triumph upon these baâ—ren Pretences as if they were the only Masters of Reason and directors of Conscience You know what my Temper is in most differences but I acknowledge my mind to be fâ—ll of a just disdain of these ignorant and insolent Pedlers which is the more inflamed when I consider the Ruins not only of sound Learning but of true Piety and the common rules of Humanity which follow these simple Contests they make about nothing Basil. To speak freely I cherish Reflections no where therefore I shall not conceal my mislike of these Invectives which though I am forced to confess are just yet I love to hear truth and peace pleaded for with a calm serene Temper and though the intolerable and peevish railings of these Pamphlets do justifie a severe Procedure yet I would have the softer and milder methods of the Gospel used that so we may overcome evil with good To take you therefore off that angry engagement let me invite you to a sober Examen of the Magistrates Authority in things Divine But before this be engaged in let it be first considered whether â—â—ere be any Legislative Power on Earth about things Sacred and next with whom it is lodged Isot. I will so far comply with your desires that for this once without retaliating I quit to Philarcheus the last word of scolding But to come to the purpose you have suggested consider that Christ hath given us a complete Rule wherein are all things that pertain to Life and Godliness It is then an Imputation on his Gospel â—o say any thing needs be added to it and that it contains not a clear direction for all things therefore they accuse his Wisdom or Goodness who pretend to add to his Laws and wherein he hath not burthened our Consciences what tyranny is it to bind a yoak upon us which our Fathers were not able to bear Whereby as our Christian liberty is invaded so innumerable Schisms and Scandals spring from no other thing so much as from these oppressions of Conscience which are so much the more unjust that the imposers acknowledging their indifferency and the refusers scrupling their lawfulness the peace of the Church is sacrificed to what is acknowledged indifferent neither can any bounds be fixed to those impositions for if one particular may be added why not more and more still till the â—oak become heavier than that of Moses was which is made out from experience For the humor of innovating in divine matters having once crept into the Church it never stopp'd till it swelled to that prodigious bulk of Rites under which the Roman Church lies oppressed And besides all these general considerations there is one particular against significant Rites which is that the instituting of them in order to a particular signification of any Grace makes them Sacraments according to the vulgar definition of Sacraments that they are the outward signs of an inward Grace but the instituting of Sacraments is by the confesâ—ion of all a part of Christ's Prerogative since he who confers grace can only institute the signs of it Upon all these accounts I plead the Rule of Scripture to be that which ought to determine about all divine matters and that no binding Laws ought to be made in divine things wherein we are left at liberty by GOD who is the only Master of our Consciences See from pag. 172. to pag. 180. Phil. You have now given me a full Broad-side after which I doubt not but you triumph as if you had shattered me all to pieces but I am afraid you shall find this Volley of chained Ball hath quite missed me and that I be aboard of you ere you be aware No man can with more heartiness acknowledg the compleatness of Scripture than my self and one part of it is that all things which tend to Order Edification and Peace be done and the Scene of the World altering so that what now tends to advance Order Edification and Peace may afterwards occasion disorder destruction and contention the Scripture had not been compleat if in these things there were not an Authority on Earth to make and unmake Laws in things indifferent I acknowledg the adding of new pieces of worship hath so many inconveniences hanging about it that I should not much patronize it but the determining of what may be done either in this or that fashion to any particular Rule is not of that nature Therefore since Worship must be in a certain posture a certain habit in a determinate place and on such times all these being of one kind Laws made about them upon the accounts of order edification or peace do not pretend to prejudg the perfection of Scripture by any additions to what it prescribes since no new thing is introduced Indeed did humane Law-givers pretend that by their Laws these things became of their own nature more acceptable to GOD they should invade GOD's Prerogative but when they are prescribed only upon the account of Decency and Order it is intolerable peevishness to call a thing indifferent of its nature unlawful because commanded For the Christian liberty consists in the exemption of our Consciences from all humane yoak but not of our actions which are still in the power of our Superiors till they enjoin what is sinful and then a greater than they is to be obeyed I acknowledg the simplicity of the Christian Religion is one of its chief Glories nothing being enjoined in it but what is most properly fitted for advancing the Souls of men towards that wherein their blessedness doth consist And therefore I never reflect without wonder on that Censure Ammian Marcellin a Heathen Writer gives of Constantius That he confounded the Christian Religion which was of it self pure and simple with doating superstitions So I freely acknowledg that whosoever introduce new parts of Worship as if they could commend us to GOD do highly encroach on GOD's Authority and man's Liberty But as for the determining of things that may be done in a variety of ways into one particular form such as the prescribing a set form for Worship the ordering the posture in Sacraments the habit in Worship determinate times for commemorating great mercies the time how long a Sinner must declare his penitence ere he be admitted
in your Principles to answer this and see how you will clear this practice of Discipline from Tyranny since to debar men from the Sacraments is a greater dominion over Consciences than the determining about Rituals But to come nearer home there was a certain Society you have heard of ycleped the Kirk which had divers Books of Discipline containing rules for that and a Directory for Worship which had no few rules neither they had also a frame of Government the Supreme Judicatory whereof was composed of three Ministers and one ruling Elder from each Presbytery a ruling Elder beside from each Burrough two being allowed the Metropolis and a Commissioner was sent from each University and in this High Court the King came in with the Privilege of a Burgh for though the Metropolis had two he was allowed to send but one with a single Suffrage to represent him and this Court pretended to an Authority from Christ and their Authority was Sacred with no less certificate than he that despiseth you despiseth me Now how a Power can be committed to delegates without any Commission for it from the Superior will not be easily made out And they will search long ere they find a Divine Warrant for this Court unless they vouch Mary Mitchelsons Testimony for it whose hysterical Distempers were given out for Prophesies And whereas they are so tender of Christian Liberty that no Law must pass about the Rituals of Religion yet their Books of Discipline and Model of Government were not only setled by Law but afterwards sworn to be maintained in the Covenant wherein they swore the Preservation of the Reformed Religion in Scotland in Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government These were the tender Consciences that could not hear of any Law in matters indifferent and yet would have all swear to their Forms many of which they could not but know were indifferent which was a making them necessary at another rate than is done by a Law which the Legislator can repeal when he will and never were any in the world more addicted to their own Forms than they were An instance of this I will give which I dare say will surprise you When some designers for popularity in the Western parts of that Kirk did begin to disuse the Lord's Prayer in Worship and the singing the Conclusion or Doxology after the Psalm and the Minister's kneeling for private Devotion when he entred the Pulpit the General â—ssembly took this in very ill part and in a Letter they wrote to the Presbyteries complained sadly Of a Spirit of Innovation was beginning to get into the Kirk and to throw these laudible practices out of it mentioning the three I named which are commanded to be still practised and such as refused obedience are appointed to be conferr'd with in order to the giving of them satisfaction and if they continu'd untractable the Presbyteries were to proceed against them as they should be answerable to the next general Assembly This Letter I can produce authentically attested But is it not strange that some who were then zealous to condemn these Innovations should now be carried with the herd to be guilty of them I am become hoarse with speaking so long and so I must break off having as I suppose given many great Precedents from History for the using of Rites in divine matters without an express Warrant and for passing Laws upon these and have cleared the one of Superstition and the other of Tyranny Eud. Truly all of you have done your parts so well that even Isotimus himself seems half convinced It is then fully clear that as nothing is to be obtruded on our Belief without clear revelation so no sacred duty can be bound on oâ—r Obedience without a Divine Warrant but in Rituals especially in determining what may be done in a variety of ways to one particular Form there hath been and still must be a Power on Earth which provided it balance all things right and consider well the fitness of these Rites for attaining the designed end doth not invade God's Dominion by making Laws about them Nor will the pretence of Christian Liberty warrant our Disobedience to them It remains to be considered who are vested with this Power and how much of it belongs to the Magistrate and how much to the Church Basil. I now engage in a Theme which may perhaps lay me open to censure as if I were courting the Civil Powers by the asserting of their rights but I am too well known to you to dread your jealously much in this and I am too little known to my self if flattery be my foible I shall therefore with the greatest frankness and ingenuity lay open my sense of this matter with the Reasons that prevail with me in it but I desire first to hear Isotimus his opinion about it Isot. I do not deny the King hath Authority and Jurisdiction in matters Sacred but it must be asserted in a due line of Subordination First to Christ the King of Kings and the only Head of his Church And next to the Rulers and Office-bearers of the Church who are entrusted by Christ as his Ambassadors with the Souls of their Flocks and who must give him an account of their Labors therefore they must have their Rules only from him who empowers them and to whom they are subject They must also have a Power among them to preserve the Christian Society in order to which they must according to the practice of the Apostles when difficulties emerge meet together and consult what may be for the advancement of the Christian Religion and whoso refuseth to hear the Church when she errs not from her Rule he is to be accounted no better than a Heathen and a Publican And since the Church is called one body they ought to associate together in meetings seeing also they have their Power of Christ as Mediator whereas the Civil Powers hold of him as he is God they have a different Tenor distinct Ends and various Rules therefore the Authority of the Church is among the things of God which only belong to him And indeed Christians were very ill provided for by Christ if they must in matters of Religion be subject to the pleasure of secular and carnal Men who will be ready to serve their own Interests at the rate of the Ruin of every thing that is Sacred It is true the Civil Powers may and ought to convocate Synods to consult about matters of Religion to require Church-men to do their duty to add their Sanctions to Church Laws and to join with the sounder part for carrying on a Reformation But all this is cumulative to the Churches intrinsick Power and not privative so that if the Magistrate fall short of his duty they are notwithstanding that to go on as men empowered by Iesus Christ and he who despâ—seth them be his quality what it will despiseth him that sent them See p. 105. to p. 109. and p. 467. to
to their vanity humor or perhaps their secular interests But I hold on my design and add that if the Magistrate encroach on God's Prerogative by contradicting or abrogating divine Laws all he doth that way falls on himself But as for the Churches Directive Power since the exercise of that is not of obligation he may command a surcease in it It is true he may sin in so doing yet cases may be wherein he will do right to discharge all Associations of Judicatories if a Church be in such commotion that these Synods would but add to the flame but certainly he forbidding such Synods they are not to be gone about there being no positive command for them in Scripture and therefore a discharge of them contradicts no Law of God and so cannot be disobeyed without sin and when the Magistrate allows of Synods he is to judg on whether side in case of differences he will pass his Law neither is the decision of these Synods obligatory in prejudice of his authority for there can be but one Supream and two Coordinate Powers are a Chymaera Therefore in case a Synod and the Magistrate contradict one another in matters undetermined by GOD it is certain a Synod sins if it offer to countermand the Civil Authority since all must be subject to the Powers that are of which number the Synod is a part therefore they are subject as well as others And if they be bound to obey the Magistrates commands they cannot have a power to warrant the subjects in their disobedience since they cannot secure themselves from sin by such disobedience And in the case of such countermands it is indisputable the Subjects are to be determined by the Magistrates Laws by which only the Rules of Synods are Laws or bind the consciences formally since without they be authorized by him they cannot be Laws for we cannot serve two Masters nor be subject to two Legislators And thus methinks enough is said for clearing the Title of the Magistrate in exacting our obedience to his Laws in matters of Religion Crit. Indeed the congesting of all the Old Testament offers for proving the Civil Powers their authority in things sacred were a task of time And first of all that the High Priest might not consult the Oracle but when either desired by the King or in a business that concerned the whole Congregation is a great step to prove what the Civil Authority was in those matters Next we find the Kings of Iudah give out many Laws about matters of Religion I shall wave the instances of David and Solomon which are so express that no evasion can serve the turn but to say they acted by immediate Commission and were inspired of GOD. It is indeed true that they had a particular direction from GOD. But it is as clear that they enacted these Laws upon their own Authority as Kings and not on a Prophetical Power But we find Iehoshaphat 2 Chr. 17. v. 7. sending to his Princes to teach in the Cities of Iudah with whom also he sent Priests and Levites and they went about and taught the people There you see secular men appointed by the King to teach the people he also 2. Chr. 19. v. 5. set up in Ierusalem a Court made up of Levites Priests and the chief of the Fathers of Israel for the judgment of the LORD and for the controversies among the people and names two Presidents Amariah the chief Priest to be over them in the matters of the LORD and Zebadiah for all the Kings matters And he that will consider these words either as they lie in themselves or as they relate to the first institution of that Court of seventy by Moses where no mention is made but by one Judicatory or to the Commentary of the whole Writings and Histories of the Iews shall be set beyond dispute that here was but one Court to judg both of sacred and secular matters It is true the Priests had a Court already mentioned but it was no Judicatory and medled only with the Rituals of the Temple The Levites had also as the other Tribes a Court of twenty three for their Tribe which have occasioned the mistakes of some places among the Iewish Writings but this is so clear from their Writings that a very overly knowledg of them will satisfie an impartial Observer And it is yet more certain that from the time of Ezra to the destruction of the Temple there was but one Court that determined of all matters both Sacred and Civil who particularly tried the Priests if free of the blemishes which might cast one from the service and could cognosce on the High Priest and whip him when he failed in his duty Now this commixtion of these matters in one Judicatory if it had been so criminal whence is it that our LORD not only never reproved so great a disorder but when convened before them did not accuse their constitution and answered to the High Priest when adjured by him Likewise when his Apostles were arraigned before them they never declined that Judicatory but pleaded their own innocence without accusing the constitution of the Court though challenged upon a matter of doctrine But they good men thought only of catching Souls into the Net of the Gospel and were utterly unacquainted with these new coined distinctions Neither did they refuse obedience pretending the Court had no Jurisdiction in these matters but because it was better to obey GOD than Man which saith They judged Obedience to that Court due if it had not countermanded GOD. But to return to Iehoshaphat we find him constituting these Courts and choosing the persons and empowering them for their work for he constituted them for Iudgment and for Controversie so that though it were yielded as it will never be proved that two Courts were here instituted yet it cannot be denied but here is a Church Judicatory constituted by a King the persons named by him a President appointed over them and a trust committed to them And very little Logick will serve to draw from this as much as the Acts among us asserting the King's Supremacy yield to him Next We have a clear instance of Hezekiah who 2 Chron. 30. ver 2. with the Counsel of his Princes and of the whole Congregation made a decree for keeping the Passover that year on the second Month whereas the Law of GOD had affixed it to the first Month leaving only an exception Numb 9.10 for the unclean or such as were on a journey to keep it on the second Month. Npon which Hezekiah with the Sanhedrim and people appoints the Passover to be entirely cast over to the second Month for that Year Where a very great point of their Worship for the distinction of days was no small matter to the Iews was determined by the King without asking the advice of the Priests upon it But that you may not think this was peculiar to the King of Israel I shall urge you with
Glasgow But before they went to it a written citation of the Bishops was ordered to be read through all the Churches of Scotland wherein they were chaâ—ged as guilty of all the crimes imaginable which as an Agape after the Lords Supper was first read after a Communion at Edinburgh and upon it orders were sent every where for bringing in the privatest of their escapes And you may judge how consonant this was to that Royal Law of charity which covers a multitude of sins nor was the Kings Authority any whit regarded all this while Was ever greater contempt put on the largest offers of grace and favor And when at Glasgow His Majesty offered by his Commissioner to consent to the limiting of Bishops nothing would satisfie their zeal without condemning the order as unlawful and abjured But when many illegalities of the constitution and procedure of that Assembly were discovered their partiality appeared for being both Judg and Party they justified all their own disorders Upon which His Majesties Commissioner was forced to discharge their further sitting or procedure under pain of Treason but withal published His Majesties Royal intentions to them for satisfying all their legal desires and securing their fears But their stomachs were too great to yield obedience and so they sate still pretending their authority was from CHRIST and condemned Episcopacy excommunicated the Bishops with a great many other illegal and unjustifiable Acts. And when His Majesty came with an Army to do himself right by the Sword GOD had put in his hands they took the start of him and seised on his Castles and on the houses and persons of his good Subjects and went in a great body against him Now in this His Majesty had the Law clearly of his side For Episcopacy stood established by Act of Parliament And if this was a cause of Religion or a defence of it much less such as deserved all that bloud and confusion which it drew on let all the World judg It is true His Majesty was willing to settle things and receive them again into his grace and upon the matter granted all their desires but they were unsatisfiable upon which they again armed But of this I shall not recount the particulars because I hope to see a clear and unbyassed narration of these things ere long Only one Villany I will not conceal at the pacification at Berwick seven Articles of Treaty were signed But the Covenanters got a paper among them which passed for the conditions of the agreement though neither signed by his Majesty nor attested by Secretary or Clerk and this being every where spread his Majesty challenged it as a Forgery and all the English Lords who were of the Treaty having declared upon Oath that no such paper was agreed on it was burnt at London by the hand of the Hangman as a scandalous paper But this was from the Pulpits in Scotland represented as a violation of the Treaty and that the Articles of it were burnt These and such were the Arts the men of that time used to inflame that blessed King 's native Subjects against him But all these were small matters to the following invasion of England An. 1643. For his Majesty did An. 1641. come to Scotland and give them full satisfaction to all even their most unreasonable demands which he consented to pass into Acts of Parliaments But upon his return into England the woful rupture betwixt him and the two Houses following was our Church-party satisfied with the trouble they occasioned him No they were not for they did all they could to cherish and foment the Houses in their insolent Demands chiefly about Religion and were as forward in pressing England's uniformity with Scotland as they were formerly in condemning the design of bringing Scotland to an uniformity with England I shall not engage further in the differences betwixt the King and the two Houses than to shew that His Majesty had the Law clearly of his side since he not only consented to the redress of all grievances for which the least color of Law was alledged but had also yielded to larger concessions for securing the fears of his Subjects than had been granted by all the Kings of England since the Conquest Yet their demands were unsatisfiable without His Majesty had consented to the abolishing of Episcopacy and discharge of the Liturgy which neither his Conscience nor the Laws of England allowed of so that the following War cannot be said to have gone on the principles of defending Religion since His Majesty was invading no part of the established Religion And thus you see that the War in England was for advancing a pretence of Religion And for Scotlands part in it no Sophistry will prove it defensive for His Majesty had setled all matters to their hearts desire and by many frequent and solemn protestations declared his resolutions of observing inviolably that agreement neither did he so much as require their assistance in that just defence of his Authority and the Laws invaded by the two Houses though in the explication of the Covenant An. 1039. it was agreed to and sworn That they should in quiet manner or in Arms defend His Majesties Authority within or without the Kingdom as they should be required by His Majesty or any having his Authority But all the King desired was that Scotland might lie neutral in the quarrel enjoying their happy tranquillity yet this was not enough for your Churches zeal but they remonstrated that Prelacy was the great Mountain stood in the way of Reformation which must be removed and they sent their Commissioners to the King with these desires which His Majesty answered by a Writing yet extant under his own Royal hand shewing That the present settlement of the Church of England was so rooted in the Law that he could not consent to a change till a new form were agreed to and presented to him to which these at Westminster had no mind but he offered all ease to tender Consciences and to call a Synod to judg of these differences to which he was willing to call some Divines from Scotland for bearing their opinions and reasons At that time Petitions came in from several Presbyteries in Scotland to the Conservators of the Peace inciting them to own the Parliaments quarrel upon which many of the Nobility and others signed a Cross Petition which had no other design but the diverting these Lords from interrupting the Peace of Scotland by medling in the English quarrel upon which Thunders were given out against these Petitioners both from the Pulpits and the Remonstrances of the Commission of the General Assembly and they led Processes against all who subscribed it But His Majesty still desired a neutrality from Scotland and tho highly provoked by them yet continued to bear with more than humane patience the affronts were put on his Authority Yet for animating the people of Scotland into the designed War the Leaders of that Party did every where
study to poison the people with damnable jealousies of the King's inclination to Popery of his accession to the Massacre of Ireland and of his designs to subvert by force the late agreement with Scotland if his Armies were blessed with success in England It were an endless work to tell all the ways were used for rooting these wicked jealousies in the peoples hearts neither were all His Majesties protestations able to overcome them yet in end when His Majesty finding what their inclinations were did refuse to admit the Commissioners from Scotland to mediate betwixt himself and the Houses they returned home and immediately upon that contrary to all the Laws of Scotland a great meeting of Counsellors Conservators and Commissioners for the publick burdens ordained a Convention of Estates to be summoned which was never before done without the King's command except in the minority of the Kings neither did they so much as wait for the King's pleasure but only signified their resolution to him and desired His Commands against the day prefixed Here was an invasion of the King's Prerogative which deserved a high Censure yet so far did His Majesty's clemency and love to his native Kingdom lead him that he dispensed with this transgression and allowed their sitting in a Convention provided they meddled not in the business of England nor raised an Army in order to it But notwithstanding this they voted themselves a free Convention and not restricted to the bounds prescribed in the King's Letter which they refused to registrate And after this they leagued with England But having spoke my self out of breath I quit the giving account of what follows to Basilius Basil. I have observed one defect in your Narration for which I will be very favorable to you becaâ—se I â—ntend to be guilty of that â—ame fault my self which is that you have spoken nothing of the National Covenant and I mean to say as little of the Lâ—ague And I am apt to guesâ— that your silence was designed upon the same grounds that mine is for indeed I can satisfie my self with nothing I can say upon the League except I told all I know of the Arts and manner of its contrivance And truly I cannot prevail upon my self at present for the saying of that Therefore I will draw a vail over it and say nothing till I see further reason for a more full discovery and then I am afraid Isotimus shall confess it was not prudently done to hâ—ve extorted it from me But to quit this and puâ—sue the Narration Philarcheus hath devolved on me I shall tell you how Commissioners câ—me from England to treat for an Army from Scotland for their assistance in the War they were then engaged in against the King Upon which all Articles being agreed to and a League â—woâ—n an Army was sent into England which turned the seales that did then hang in an even ballance to the King's ruin And truly my invention cannot reach an argument or color for proving these to have been defensive Arms they being the effect of a combination with the Subjects of England against our common King Bâ—t shall I next tell you what followed after the fatal revolution of things in England upon his Majesties trusting himself to the Scots Army I am sure I should â—ill your minds with horror For though His Majesty offered Concessions justly to be wondered at he having been willing to quit the Militia for divers years and to set up Presbytery for three years and that in the mean while there should be a free Synod in order to a final settlement with other great diminutions of Royal Authority which shew how willing he was at his own câ—st to have redeemed the peace of his Kingdoms only he added that his Conscience could not allow him to take the Covenant nor authorize it by Law nor consent to the abolition of Episcopacy or the Liturgy protesting that how soon he could do these things with a good Conscience he should yield to all the desires of his Subjects in the mean while he intreated for a personal Treaty in order to mutual satisfaction Yet with how much fury did that Party press the setling of the Government without him the diâ—owning his interest and the abandoning of his Person to his Enemies tho at that very time the designs of the Sectarian Party against both Monarâ—hy and His Majesties Person were breaking out and had been made known to them by those who understood them well What followed upon this I wish my silence could bury from the knowledg of all the World But alâ—s it is too well known what infamy these Men brought upon themselves and their Countâ—y which in the Opinion of the World was generally held guilty of that which was the Crime of the prevailing Party whom the Leaders over-awed and influenced But after that when His Majesty was made Prisoner when he was carried up and down by the Army when the Army forced both the Houses and the City of London when the Treaties of Scotland were violated in all their Articles when the Propositions agreed on by both Kingdoms were laid aside and the four Bills set in their place wherein the Covenant was not mentioned when upon His Majesties refusing of these he was made Prisoner and the Vote of Non-addresses passed against him then did the Loyalty of the Scots Nation begin again to revive and what through the sense of duty what through the remorse of their former actings eveâ—y one was forward to real resentments of these unworthy indignities put both on their King and Country but when the Parliament of Scotland had voted the Country to be put in a posture of War for the defence of their Sâ—vereign then where should I end if I told all the seditious Papers Preachings and Discourses of some of the Clergy who contradicted and countermanded the Parliament to a height of unparalelled boldness even after all their desires which they gave in a large Remonstrance were granted But did that satisfie No they then took refuge in their common Sanctuary of jealousies and fears They threatned all who obeyed the commands of the Parliament not only with their Church-censures but with damnation They did every where incite the people to rise in Arms against the Parliaments Forces and at a Communion at Matchlin they did so work upon the Vulgar that they prevailed to get them draw up in a Body promising them great assistance both from GOD and men They kept a correspondence with the Sectarian Army and continued by many Letters to press their speedy march unto Scotland and after the Scots Army marched unto England and was by the wise judgment of GOD defeated then did many of the Ministers with all the vehemence imaginable inflâ—me the people to Rebellion and got them to rise and theâ— marched before their Parishes like Captains They also called for the help of the Sectarian Army to them And thus did they stand to the Covenant in maintaining the
of an oath upon their consciences and not being able to examine thâ—ngs to the bottom were entangled thus and engaged which way the leading Church-men pleaâ—ed and the guilt of this as it was great in those who without due consideration engaged in those oaths so it was most fearful in them who against the clear convictions of conscience were prevailed upon by the thunders of the Church or the threats of the State to swear what they judged sinful I confess their crime was of a high and crying nature who did thus for the love of this present world not only make shipwreck of a good conscience but persisted long in a tract of dissembling with GOD and juggling with men But the wickedness of this comes mainly to their door who tempted them to prevarication by their severities against all refused a concurrence in these courses And the sin of all this was the greater that it was carried on with such pretences as if it had been the cause and work of GOD with fasting prayers tears and shews of devotion For these things the Land mourns and GOD continues his controversie against us To which I must add the great impenitence of those who being once engaged in that course of Rebellion have not yet repented of the works of their hands For even such as own a conviction for it do not express that horror and remorse at their by-past crimes which become penitents But think if by rioting drinking and swearing they declare themselves now of another mind than formerly they were of that they are washed free of that defilement In a word none seem deeply humbled in the presence of GOD for the sinfulness of these practices into which they entered themselves and engaged others And till I see an ingenuous spirit of confessing and repenting for these great evils for all that rebellion that bloud oppreson and vastation which these courses drew on I shall never expect a National pardon for that National guilt For when on the one hand many are still justifying these black Arts and not humbled for them nor owning their penitence as openly as they committed their sins And on the other hand these who confess the faultiness of their courses do it in a spirit of traducing others of railing and reviling perhaps not without Atheistical scoffings at true Religion but not in a spirit of ingenuous horror and sorror for their own accession to these courses it appears we are still hardened either into a judicial blindness of the one hand or of obduration of heart on the other That profanity doth much abound I must with sorrow confess it in the presence of my GOD And I know there are many who roll themselves in the dust daily before GOD and mourn bitterly for it But when I enter in a deeper inquiry what may be the true causes of it those that occur to me are first a judicial stroke from GOD upon us for our by-past abominations and chiefly for our hypocritical mocking of GOD fastning the designs or humors of a Party on him as if they had been his Ordinances interests and truths And therefore because we held the truth of GOD in unrighteousness his wrath hath been revealed against us Next the frequent involving the Land in reiterated Oaths subscriptions and professions of repentance under severe Censures which prevailed with many to swallow them over implicitly and made others yield to them against their Conscience hath so debauched and prostituted the Souls of people that it is no wonder they be now as seared with a hot Iron and incapable of reproofs or convictions Besides is it any wonder that these whose hearts naturally led them to Atheism when they see what juggling was used about some pretences of Religion and how the whole Land was involved in so much bloud about such trifling matters come thereupon to have a jealousie of Preachers and preaching as if all they said was but to maintain and advance their own interests and greatness and thereupon turn Scoffers at all Religion because of the base and irreligious practices of some who yet vouched GOD and CHRIST for all they did And on remark I shall offer on the way that the sin of your Church was legible in your judgment their sin was the animating the people to Rebellion upon colors of Religion and their judgment was not only to be subdued and oppressed by another rebellious Army who were not wanting to pretend highly to the cause of GOD in all their actings but that they brake in pieces among themselves about a decision who might be imployed to serve in the Army which at first disjointed and afterwards destroyed your Church and the schism is still among us which is like to eat up the power of Religion is but the dreg and genuin effect of these courses and so all the prejudice it produceth to Religion and the true interests of Souls is to be charged upon that same score Isot. Really I am much scandalized with this Discourse which if it were heard abroad I know would much offend the hearts of the LORD's people And indeed I think it ought not to be answered no more than Rabshaketh's railings were by Eliakim I wish I could with good Hezekiah spread it out before the LORD and mourn over it and for you who do so blaspheme GOD and his Cause But whatever you may say in the point of Resistance yet you cannot deny but we are all from the highest to the lowest bound in our stations at least to withstand Prelacy against which we did so formally swear in that Oath of GOD which most of you are not only content to break but must needs despise and mock at Phil. GOD is my witness how little pleasure I have in this severe Discourse into which the petulancy of these Writers hath engaged me but examine what I said from Religion and Reason and you will perhaps change your verdict of it For my part I say none of these things in a corner neither do I expect that they shall not fly abroad and if they do I will look for all the severities which the censures and malice of many can amount to But I will chearfully bear that cross and will be content to be yet more vile for declaring freely what I judg to be GOD's Controversie with the Land I live in If for this love to Souls many be my Adversaries I will betake my self to prayer and shall only add this that few who know me suspect my temper guilty either of flattery or bitterness And the searcher of hearts knows that I neither design by this freedom to commend my self to any nor to disgrace others but meerly to propose things as they are If this produce any good effect I have my design if not I have discharged my conscience and leave the issue of it with GOD who can out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ordain strength and perfect praise As for any obligation you may suppose the
ought to be much more determined by the Laws of the Land which in all such matters have a power to bind our consciences to their obedience till we prove the matter of them sinful Now discover where the guilt lyes of fixing one over a Tract of ground who shall have the chief inspection of the Ministery and the greatest Authority in matters of Jurisdiction so that all within that Precinct be governed by him with the concurring votes of the other Presbyters if you say that thereby the Ministers may be restrained of many things which otherwise the good of the Church requires to be done I answer these are either things necessary to be done by divine precept or not if the former then since no power on earth can cancel the Authority of the divine Law such restraints are not to be considered But if the things be not necessary then the Unity and Peace of the Church is certainly preferable to them I acknowledge a Bishop may be tyrannical and become a great burden to his Presbyters but pray may not the same be apprehended from Synods And remember your friends how long it is since they made the same complaints against the Synods and the hazard of an ill Bishop is neither so fixed nor so lasting as that of a bad Synod For a Bishop may die and a good one succeed but when a Synod is corrupt they who are the major part are careful to bring in none but such as are sure to their way whereby they propagate their corruption more infallibly than a Bishop can do And what if the Lay ruling Elders should bend up the same plea against the Ministers who do either assume a Negative over them directly or at least do what is equivalent and carry every thing to the Presbytery Synod or General Assembly where they are sure to carry it against the Lay-Elders they being both more in number and more able with their learning and eloquence to confound the others But should a Lay-Elder plead thus against them We are Office-Bearers instituted by CHRIST for ruling the flock as well as you and yet you take our power from us for whereas in our Church Sessions which are of CHRIST's appointment we are the greater number being generally twelve to one you Ministers have got a device to turn us out of the power for you allow but one of us to come to your Synods and Presbyteries and but one of a whole Presbytery to go to a National Synod whereby you strike the rest of us out of our power and thus you assert a preeminence over us to carry matters as you please Now Isotimus when in your principles you answer this I will undertake on all hazards to satisfie all you can say even in your own principles Next may not one of the Congregational way talk at the same rate and say CHRIST hath given his Office-Bearers full power to preach feed and oversee the flock and yet for all that their power of overseeing is taken from them and put in the hands of a multitude who being generally corrupt themselves and lusting to envy will suffer none to outstrip them but are tyrannical over any they see minding the work of the Gospel more than themselves And must this usurpation be endured and submitted to And let me ask you freely what imaginable device will be fallen upon for securing the Church from the tyranny of Synods unless it be either by the Magistrates power or by selecting some eminent Churchmen who shall have some degrees of power beyond their brethren In a word I deny not but as in Civil Governments there is no form upon which great inconveniences may not follow so the same is unavoidable in Ecclesiastical Government But as you will not deny Monarchy to be the best of Governments for all the hazards of tyranny from it so I must crave leave to have the same impressions of Episcopacy Crit. But suffer me to add a little for checking Isotimus his too positive asserting of parity from the New Testament for except he find a precept for it his Negative Authority will never conclude it and can only prove a parity lawful and that imparity is not necessary I shall acknowledge that without Scripture warrants no new Offices may be instituted but without that in order to Peace Unity Decency and Edification several ranks and dignities in the same Office might well have been introduced whereby some were to be empowered either by the Churches choice or the Kings Authority as Overseers or inspectors of the rest who might be able to restrain them in the exercise of some parts of their functions which are not immediatly commanded by GOD. And you can never prove it unlawful that any should oversee direct and govern Churchmen without you prove the Apostolical function unlawful for what is unlawful and contrary to the rules of the Gospel can upon no occasion and at no time become lawful since then both the Apostles and the Evangelists exercised Authority over Presbyters it cannot be contrary to the Gospel rules that some should do it To pretend that this superiority was for that exigent and to die with that age is a mere allegation without ground from Scripture for if by our LORD's words it shall not be so among you all superiority among Churchmen was forbid how will you clear the Apostles from being the first transgressors of it And further if upon that exigent such superiority was lawful then upon a great exigent of the Church a superiority may be still lawful Besides it is asserted not proved that such an authority as S. Paul left with Timothy and Titus was to die with that age for where the reason of an appointment continues it will follow that the Law should also be coeval with the ground on which it was first enacted if then there be a necessity that Churchmen be kept in order as well as other Christians and if the more exalted their office be they become the more subject to corruption and corruptions among them be both more visible and more dangerous than they are in other persons the same parity of reason that enjoyns a Jurisdiction to be granted to Churchmen over the faithful will likewise determine the fitness of granting some excrescing power to the more venerable and approved of the Clergy over others neither is this a new Office in the House of GOD but an eminent rank of the same Office Isot. You study to present Episcopacy in as harmless a posture as can be yet that it is a distinct Office is apparent by the sole claim of Ordination and Iurisdiction they pretend to and by their consecration to it which shews they account it a second Order besides that they do in all things carry as these who conceit themselves in a Region above the Presbyters Phil. I am not to vindicate neither all the practices nor all the pretensions of some who have asserted this Order no more than you will do the