stood in the Church of England at the time of the making this Homily and therefore he has put down the Proem of an Act of Parliament of the fifth and sixth years of Edward the 6th concerning Holy-days by which he would have the Lord's day to stand on no other ground but the Authority of the Church not as enjoyned by Christ or ordained by any of his Apostles Which Statute whosoever shall be pleased to peruse may easily see that this Proem he mentions relates only to Holy days and not to Sundays as you may observe from this passage viz. which holy Works as they may be called God's Service so the times especially appointed for the same are called Holy-days not for the matter or nature either of the time or day c. which title of Holy-days was never applied to Sundays either in a vulgar or legal acceptation And tho the Doctor fancied this Act was in force at the time when this Homily was made and therefore must by no means contradict so sacred an Authority as that of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled in Parliament because this Act tho repealed by Queen Mary he would have to be revived again the first year of Queen Elizabeth and so to stand in force at the time of making this Homily whereas whoever consults our Statute-Book will find that this Statute of King Edward the 6th was not revived nor in force till the first of King James when the Repeal of this Statute was again repealed tho certainly the reviving of that or any other Statute does not make their Proems which are often very carelesly drawn to be in every clause either good Law or Gospel But tho the Doctor in other things abhors the Temporal Powers having any thing to do in matters of Religion yet if it make for his Opinion then the Authority of a Parliament shall be as good as that of a Convocation But I have dwelt too long upon this Head which I could not well contract if I spoke any thing at all to justifie the Lord Primat's Judgment in this so material a Doctrine The next Point that the Doctor lays to the Lord Primat's charge as not according to the Church of England is a passage in a Letter to Dr. Bernard and by him published in the Book intituled The Judgment of the late Primat of Ireland c. viz. That he ever declared his Opinion to be that Episcopus Presbyter gradu tantum differunt non ordine and consequently that in places where Bishops cannot be had the Ordination by Presbyters standeth valid And however saith he I must needs think that the Churches in France who living under a Popish Power and cannot do what they would are more excusable in that defect than those of the Low-Countries that live under a Free-State yet for the testifying my communion with these Churches which I do love and honour as true members of the Church Universal I do profess that with like affection I should receive the blessed Sacrament at the hands of the Dutch Ministers if I were in Holland as I should do at the hands of the French Ministers if I were at Charenton Which Opinion as I cannot deny to have been my Lord Primat's since I find the same written almost verbatim with his own hand dated Nov. 26. 1655 in a private Note-Book not many months before his death with the addition of this clause at the beginning viz. Yet on the other side holding as I do That a Bishop hath Superiority in degree above Presbyters you may easily judg that the Ordination made by such Presbyters as have severed themselves from their Bishops cannot possibly by me be excused from being schismatical And concluding with another clause viz. for the agreement or disagreement in radical and fundamental Doctrines not the consonancy or dissonancy in the particular points of Ecclesiastical Government is with me and I hope with every man that mindeth Peace the rule of adhering to or receding from the Communion of any Church And that the Lord Primate was always of this Opinion I find by another Note of his own hand written in another Book many years before this in these words viz. The intrinsecal power of Ordaining proceedeth not from Jurisdiction but only from Order But a Presbyter hath the same Order in specie with a Bishop Ergo A Presbyter hath equally an intrinsecal power to give Orders and is equal to him in the power of Order the Bishop having no higher degree in respect of intension or extention of the character of Order tho he hath an higher degree i. e. a more eminent place in respect of Authority and Jurisdiction in Spiritual Regiment Again The Papists teach that the confirmation of the Baptized is proper to a Bishop as proceeding from the Episcopal Character as well as Ordination and yet in some cases may be communicated to a Presbyter and much more therefore in regard of the over-ruling Commands of invincible necessity although the right of Baptising was given by Christ's own Commission to the Apostles and their Successors and yet in case of Necessity allowed to Lay-men even so Ordination might be devolved to Presbyters in case of Necessity These passages perhaps may seem to some Men inconsistent with what the Lord Primate hath written in some of his printed Treatises and particularly that of the Original of Episcopacy wherein he proves from Rev. 2. 1. that the Stars there described in our blessed Saviour's right hand to be the Angels of the seven Churches 2. That these Angels were the several Bishops of those Churches and not the whole Colledg of Presbyters as Mr. Brightman would have it 3. Nor has he proved Archbishops less ancient each of these seven Churches being at that time a Metropolis which had several Bishops under it and 4 that these Bishops and Archbishops were ordained by the Apostles as constant permanent Officers in the Church and so in some sort Jure Divino that is in St. Hierom's sence were ordained by the Apostles for the better conferring of Orders and for preventing of Schisms which would otherwise arise among Presbyters if they had been all left equal and independent to each other And that this may very well consist with their being in some cases of Necessity not absolutely necessary in some Churches is proved by the Learned Mr. Mason in his defence of the Ordination of Ministers beyond the Seas where there are no Bishops in which he proves at large against the Papists that make this Objection from their own Schoolmen and Canonists and that tho a Bishop receives a Sacred Office Eminency in Degree and a larger Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction than a Presbyter yet that all these do not confer an absolute distinct Order and yet that Bishops are still Jure Divino that is by the Ordinance of God since they were ordained by the Apostles and whereunto they were directed by God's Holy Spirit and in that sence are the Ordinance of
Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day And St. Paul tells us Ephes. 2. 8. For by Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God So Phil. 1. 29. And that likewise it is the greatness of God's Power that raises Man's heart unto this Faith Ephes. 1. 19. So then Faith being the work of God in Man's heart which he bestows on whom he pleases all the question now is Whether Christ has obtained Reconciliation and Remission of Sins from his Father for those whom God foresaw would or could not obtain this saving Faith and if not consequently not for the Reprobate as the Lord Primat hath laid down they being only Reprobate for want of this Faith Nor will this be contradictory to my Lord Prim at 's other Proposition against such who contract the Riches of Christ's Satisfaction into too narrow a room as if none had any kind of interest therein but such as were elected before the foundation of the World Since this is to be understood of the Supralapsarian Opinion which makes Reprobation to be antecedant to the Fall of Adam and not only at a Praeterition but a Predamnation for actual Sins Whereas the Lord Primat held that Mankind considered in massa corrupta after the Fall of Adam was the only Object of God's Election or Reprobation so that it is in this sence that he is to be understood when he says that our Saviour hath obtainedat the hands of his Father forgiveness of Sins not for the Reprobate but Elect only Nor does he say that this proceeds from any deficiency in our Saviour's Death and Satisfaction which is sufficient to save the whole World if they would lay hold of it and apply it to themselves but the reason why all Men were not thereby saved was because they do not accept Salvation when offered to them Which is the Lord Primat's express words in a Sermon upon John 1. 12. concerning our Redemption by Christ. So that those passages in our Liturgy and Catechism before cited by the Doctor of Christ's being a sufficient Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World and in the Catechism of his redeeming all Mankind must certainly be understood in this restrictive sence viz. to as many of the World of Mankind as God foresaw would lay hold of this Satisfaction by Faith and good Works or else all Men must have a like share therein whether they contribute any thing to it by Faith or Repentance or not And now I shall leave it to the indifferent Reader to judg whether the Lord Primat or the Doctor are most to be blamed for breaking their Subscription to the 39 Articles as the Doctor would have him guilty of in this Point because the Church of England in its second Article says expresly that Christ suffered was crucified dead and buried to reconcile his Father to us and to be a Sacrifice not only for Original Guilt but also for the Actual Sins of Men. In which says he as well the Sacrifice as the effect and fruit thereof which is the Reconciliation of Mankind to God the Father is delivered in general terms without any restriction put upon them neither the Sacrifice nor the Reconciliation being restrained to this or that Man some certain quidams of their own whom they pass commonly by the name of God's Elect. The Sacrifice being made for the Sins of Men of Men indefinitly without limitation is not to be confined to some few Men only Yet after the Doctor has said all he can it seems still to me and I suppose to any unprejudiced Reader that these Christ suffered c. to reconcile his Father to us and to be a Sacrifice c. for the actual Sins of Men to be not general but limited Propositions since by reconciling his Father to us can be understood no further than to us that are not Reprobates every Man supposing himself not to be of that number and in this sence the Lord Primat himself makes use of the words we and us in his Body of Divinity when he speaks of Justification and Reconciliation by Faith tho he there supposes that all Men are not actually justified nor reconciled to God by Christ's Sufferings And as for the last clause it is no more general than the former for tho the word Men be used in that place indefinitly yet it is not therefore a general Proposition it being still to be understood of those Men who truly believe for otherwise it had been very easie and natural for the Framers of this Article to have added this small word all and if they had the question would have been much as it was before Christ's Death being a Sacrifice that did not actually take away the Sins of the whole World for then none could be damned tho vertually it hath power to do it if it were rightly applied the Sacrifice having such virtue in it self that if all the World would take it and apply it it were able to expiate the Sins of the whole World as the Lord Primat in the above cited Sermon very plainly and truly expresses himself on this Doctrine The fourth Point which the Doctor accuses the Lord Primat not to hold according to the Church of England is that of the true and real Presence of Christ's most precious Body and Blood in the Sacrament Which Doctrine of a real Presence he first proves from the words of the distribution retained in the first Liturgy of King Edward the sixth and formerly prescribed to be used in the ancient Missals viz. The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy Body and Soul unto Life everlasting The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ c. It is proved secondly by that passage in the publick Catechism in which the party catechised is taught to say that the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received of the Faithful in the Lord's Supper Now if a question should be made what the Church means by verily and indeed in the former passage it must be answered that she means that Christ is truly and really present in that blessed Sacrament as before was said the words being rendred thus in the Latin Translation viz. Corpus Sanguis Domini quae verè realiter exhibentur c. verily and indeed as the English hath it the same with verè and realiter that is to say truly and really as it is in the Latin He likewise cites Bp. Bilson Bp Morton and Bp. Andrews all of them to maintain a true and real Prefence of Christ in the Sacrament and likewise Mr. Alex. Noel in his Latin Catechism makes the party catechized answer to this effect That the Body and Blood of Christ given in the Lord's Supper and eaten and drank by them tho it be only in an heavenly and spiritual manner yet are they both given and taken truly and really or
there be any other places or other Mansions by which the Soul that believeth in God passing and coming unto that River which maketh glad the City of God may receive within it the lot of the Inheritance promised unto the Fathers For touching the determinate state of the faithful Souls departed this life the ancient Doctors as we have shewed were not so throughly resolved The Lord Primat having thus shewn in what sence many of the ancient Fathers did understand this word Hades which we translate Hell proceeds to shew that divers of them expound Christ's Descent into Hell or Hades according to the common Law of Nature which extends it self indifferently unto all that die For as Christ's Soul was in all points made like unto ours Sin only excepted while it was joined with his Body here in the Land of the Living so when he had humbled himself unto the Death it became him in all things to be made like unto his Brethren even in the state of dissolution And so indeed the Soul of Jesus had experience of both for it was in the place of human Souls and being out of the Flesh did live and subsist It was a reasonable Soul therefore and of the same substance with the flesh of Men proceeding from Mary Saith Eustathius the Patriarch of Antioch in his Exposition of that Text of the Psalm Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the place of humane Souls which in the Hebrew is the world of Spirits and by the disposing of Christ's Soul there after the manner of other Souls concludes it to be of the same nature with other Mens Souls So St. Hilary in his Exposition of the 138th Psalm This is the Law of humane Necessity saith he that the Bodies being buried the Souls should go to Hell Which descent the Lord did not refuse for the accomplishment of a true man And a little after he repeats it that desupernis ad inferos mortis lege descendit He descended from the supernal to the infernal parts by the Law of Death And upon Psal. 53. more fully To fulfil the Nature of Man he subjected himself to Death that is to a departure as it were of the Soul and Body and pierced into the infernal seats which was a thing that seemed to be due unto Man I shall not trouble you with more Quotations of this kind out of several of the ancient Greek and Latin Fathers which he makes use of in this Treatise most of them agreeing in this That Christ died and was buried and that his Soul went to that place or receptacle where the Souls of good Men do remain after Death which whether it is no more in effect but differing in terms than to say he died and was buried and rose not till the third day which the Doctor makes to be the absurdity of this Opinion I leave to the Judgment of the impartial Reader as I likewise do whether the Lord Primat deserves so severe a Censure after his shewing so great Learning as he has done concerning the various Interpretations of this word Hades or Hell both out of sacred and prophane Writers that it only serves to amaze the Ignorant and confound the Learned Or that he meant nothing less in all these Collections than to assert the Doctrine of the Church of England in this particular Or whether Christ's Local Descent into Hell can be found in the Book of Articles which he had subscribed to or in the Book of Common-Prayer which he was bound to conform to And if it be not so expressed in any of these I leave it to you to judge how far Dr. H. is to be believed in his Accusation against the Lord Primat in other matters But I doubt I have dwelt too long upon this less important Article which it seems was not thought so fundamental a one but as the Lord Primat very well observes Ruffinus in his Exposition of the Creed takes notice that in the Creed or Symbol of the Church of Rome there is not added He descended into Hell and presently adds yet the force or meaning of the word seems to be the same in that he is said to have been buried So that it seems old Ruffinus is one of those who is guilty of this Impertinency as the Doctor calls it of making Christ's descent into Hell to signifie the same with his lying in the Grave or being buried tho the same Author takes notice that the Church of Aquileia had this Article inserted in her Creed but the Church of Rome had not which sure with Men of the Doctor 's way should be a Rule to other Churches And further Card. Bellarmin noteth as the Lord Primat confesses that St. Augustin in his Book De Fide Symbolo and in his four Books de Symbolo ad Catechumenos maketh no mention of this Article when he doth expound the whole Creed five several times Which is very strange if the Creed received by the African Church had this Article in it Ruffinus further takes notice that it is not found in the Symbol of the Churches of the East by which he means the Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creeds the latter of which is nothing else but an Explanation or more ample Enlargement of Creed Apostolical Tho this indeed be not at this day read in the Greek or other Eastern Churches or so much as known or received in that of the Copties and Abyssines But the Doctor having shown his Malice against the Lord Primat's Memory and Opinions in those Points which I hope I have sufficiently answered cannot give off so but in the next Section accuses him for inserting the nine Articles of Lambeth into those of the Church of Ireland being inconsistent with the Doctrine of the Church of England But before I answer this Accusation I shall first premise that as I do not defend or approve that Bishops or others tho never so learned Divines should take upon them to make new Articles or define and determine doubtful Questions and Controversies in Religion without being authorized by the King and Convocation so to do Yet thus much I may charitably say of those good Bishops and other Divines of the Church of England who framed and agreed upon these Articles that what they did in this matter was sincerely and as they then believed according to the Doctrine of the Church of England as either expresly contained in or else to be drawn by consequence from that Article of the Church concerning Predestination And certainly this makes stronger against the Doctor for if with him the Judgment of Bp. Bilson Bp. Andrews and Mr. Noel in their Writings be a sufficient Authority to declare the sence of the Church of England in those Questions of Christ's true and real Presence in the Sacrament and his Local Descent into Hell why should not the Judgment and Determination of the two Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York with divers other Bishops and
England and elsewhere Containing likewise divers choice matters relating to the great Controversies of those times concerning the keeping of Easter as also divers things relating to the Ecclesiastical Discipline and Jurisdiction of the Church of that Kingdom very worthy the taking notice of And I suppose about this time if not before he contracted a more intimate acquaintance with the Reverend Dr. Laud Lord Bishop of London who had for some time managed the most considerable Affairs both in Church and State And I find by divers of his Letters to the Lord Primate as well whilst he was Bishop of London as after he was advanced to the See of Canterbury that there was scarce any thing of moment concluded on or any considerable Preferment bestowed by his Majesty in the Church of Ireland without his advice and approbation which you may see by some Letters in this ensuing Collection which we have selected from divers others of lesser moment as fittest for publick view but the L. Primate always made use of his interest with the said Arch-Bishop and other great men at Court not for his own private advantage but for the common good of the Church by opposing and hindering divers Grants and Patents to some great men and Courtiers who had under-hand obtained the same and particularly he caused a Patent made to a Person of Quality of the Scotch Nation in Ireland of several Tythes to be called in and vacuated his Majesty being deceived in his Grant who would not have done any thing prejudicial to the Church had he been rightly informed of the nature of the thing and the Lord Primate was so much concerned for a competent maintenance for the Clergy in that Kingdom that he had some years before this obtained a Grant of a Patent from his Majesty to be passed in his own name though for the use of the Church of such impropriations belonging to the Crown as were then Leased out as soon as they should fall which though it did not succeed being too much neglected by those who were concerned more immediately yet it sufficiently shews my Lord's pious intentions in this matter About this time there was a Letter sent over from his late Anno 1634 Majesty to the Lord Viscount Wentworth then Lord Deputy and the Council of Ireland for determining the precedency of the Arch-Bishop of Armagh and Arch-Bishop of Dublin in respect of their Sees the latter making some pretence unto it therefore in regard of a Parliament intended by his Majesty shortly to meet it was thought fit for order's sake that controversie should be decided before their meeting In order to which he was commanded by the Lord Deputy to reduce into writing what he knew upon that subject But he not desiring to engage in so invidious an argument and which so nearly concerned himself and which he did not desire to have stirred did what he could to decline it but being still further urged and commanded to do it he did at last though unwillingly write a short and learned discourse full of excellent remarks wherein he proved the Antiquity and Primacy of his See to have preceded that of Dublin divers Ages which discourse being sent over into England the precedency was determined by his Majesty on his side as afterwards by another Letter from his Majesty and Council here he had also without his seeking the precedency given him of the Lord Chancellor which he being above such trifles were not at all able to elate him At the opening of the following Parliament he preached before the Lord Deputy Lords and Commons at St. Patrick's Dublin his Text was Genes 49. 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet till Shiloh come and to him shall the gathering of the People be And in the Convocation which was now Assembled the Lord Primate at the instrance of the Lord Deputy and Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury thought fit to propose That to express the agreement of the Church of Ireland with that of England both in Doctrine and Discipline the Thirty Nine Articles should be received by the Church of Ireland which Proposal was thereupon consented to by both Houses of Convocation and the said Articles were declared to be the Confession of Faith of the Church of Ireland but without abrogating or excluding the former Articles made 1615 either by that Convocation or Parliament as two several Writers of those times viz. a Church and Civil Historian have without ground reported them to be And though the latter was at last brought to confess his Error of their being Repealed by Autority of Parliament yet he still insisted That the reception of the Articles of the Church of England though it be not an express yet is a tacite annulling of the former instancing in the Old Covenant which St. Paul proves to be abrogated by the giving of a New which were a good Argument if the Articles of the Church of England were as inconsistent with those of Ireland as those two Covenants are with each other but if they differ no more than the Nicene does from the Apostles Creed which though it contains more yet does not Annul the former then without doubt the receiving of the Articles of the Church of England was no abrogation of those of Ireland But since it is not my design to write Controversies I shall not enter farther into this Argument but shall leave the Reader to consider whether the instances brought by the Historian to prove the Articles of these two Churches to be inconsistent are convincing or not and shall say no more on this ungrateful subject but that it is highly improbable that the Lord Primate should be so outwitted by the Lord Deputy or his Chaplains as the Historian makes him to have been in this affair but that he very well understood the Articles of both Churches and did then know that they were so far from being inconsistent or contradictory to each other that he thought the Irish Articles did only contain the Doctrine of the Church of England more fully or else he would never have been so easily perswaded to an Act which would amount to a Repeal of those Articles which as hath been already said he himself made and drew up And for a farther proof that this was the sense not only of himself but of most of the rest of the Bishops at that time they always at all Ordinations took the subscription of the Party Ordained to both Articles the Articles of England not being received instead but with those of Ireland as Dr. Bernard hath informed us which course was continued by the Lord Primate and most part of the Bishops till the confusion of that Church by the Irish Rebellion And if at this day the subscription to the Thirty Nine Articles be now only required of the Clergy of that Kingdom I suppose it is purely out of prudential considerations that any divine or other person of that
some of the most considerable Episcopal Clergy in and about London desired my Lord Primate that he would use his Interest with Cromwell since they heard he pretended a great respect for him that as he granted Liberty of Conscience to almost all sorts of Religions so the Episcopal Divines might have the same freedom of serving God in their private Congregations since they were not permitted the publick Churches according to the Liturgy of the Church of England and that neither the Ministers nor those that frequented that Service might be any more hindered or disturbed by his Souldiers So according to their desires he went and used his utmost endeavours with Cromwell for the taking off this restraint which was at last promised though with some difficulty that they should not be molested provided they medled not with any matters relating to his Government But when the Lord Primate went to him a second time to get this promise Ratified and put into Writing he found him under his Chyrurgeons hands who was dressing a great Boyl which he had on his Breast so Cromwell prayed the Lord Primate to sit down a little and that when he was dressed he would speak with him whilst this was a doing Cromwell said to my Lord Primate If this Core pointing to the Boyl were once out I should quickly be well to whom the good Bishop replyed I doubt the Core lies deeper there is a Core at the heart that must be taken out or else it will not be well Ah! replyed he seeming unconcerned so there is indeed and sighed But when the Lord Primate began to speak to him concerning the business he came about he answered him to this effect That he had since better considered it having advised with his Council about it and that they thought it not safe for him to grant liberty of Conscience to those sort of men who are restless and implacable Enemies to him and his Government and so he took his leave of him though with good words and outward civility The Lord Primate seeing it was in vain to urge it any farther said little more to him but returned to his Lodgings very much troubled and concerned that his endeavours had met with no better success when he was in his Chamber he said to some of his Relations and my self that came to see him This false man hath broken his word with me and refuses to perform what he promised well he will have little cause to glory in his wickedness for he will not continue long the King will return though I shall not live to see it you may The Government both in Church and State is in confusion the Papists are advancing their Projects and making such advantages as will hardly be prevented Not long after this viz. about the midle of February following he went from London to Rygate taking his last leave of his Friends and Relations who never had the happiness to see him again As soon as he came thither he set himself to finish his Chronologia Sacra which took up most of that little time he after lived he was now very Aged and though both his Body and mind were healthy and vigorous for a man of his years yet his Eye-sight was extremely decayed by his constant studying so that he could scarce see to write but at a Window and that in the Sun-shine which he constantly followed in clear days from one Window to another so that had he lived he intended to have made use of an Ammanuensis He had now frequent thoughts of his dissolution and as he was wont every year to Note in his Almanack over against the day of his Birth the year of his Age so I find this year 1655. this Note written with his own hand Now Aged 75 years My Days are full and presently after in Capital Letters RESIGNATION From which we may gather that he now thought the days of his Pilgrimage to be fulfilled and that he now wholly resigned up himself to God's Will and Pleasure Not long before his death going to Rygate I preached a Sermon there where this good Bishop was present after Church he was pleased to confer with me in private as 't was usual with him so to do and he spake to this effect I thank you for your Sermon I am going out of this World and I now desire according to you Text To seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God and to be with him in Heaven of which said he we ought not to doubt if we can evidence to our selves our Conversion True Faith and Charity and live in the Exercise of those Christian Graces and Vertues with perseverance mortifying daily our inbred Corruptions renouncing all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts and he that is arrived at this habitual frame and holy course of life is the blessed and happy man and may rejoyce in hope of a glorious Eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven to receive that Inheritance given by God to those that are sanctified So that all his discourse was of Heavenly things as if his better part had been there already freed from the Body and all Terrene affections and he seemed as if he were seriously considering his Spiritual State and making ready for his departure which he now shortly expected But since it had been usual with him to insist on things of this Nature when we were together and that he was at this time in health I did not believe that his Change was so near as he presaged yet he himself had other thoughts and it proved he was not mistaken for on the 20th of March the day he fell sick after he had been most part of it as long as he had light at his Study he went from thence to visit a Gentlewoman then sick in the House giving her most excellent preparatives for death together with other holy advice for almost an hour and that in such a Heavenly manner as if like Moses upon Mount Pisgah he had then a prospect of the Celestial Canaan that Night after Supper he first complained of his hip judging it to be a touch of the Sciatica which he had many years agone next Morning early he complained of a great pain in his side a Physician being sent for prescribed what he thought convenient in that case but it could not thereby be removed but rather encreased more and more upon him which he bore with great patience for 13 or 14 hours but his strength and spirits decaying he wholly applied himself to prayer and therein had the assistance of the Countesse's Chaplain upon some abatement of the torture he advised those about him to provide for death in the time of health that then they might have nothing else to do but to dye Then taking his leave of the Countess of Peterborough by whom he had been so long and kindly entertained and giving her many thanks for all her kindness to him with excellent Spiritual Counsel as
a return for all her favours Then he desired to be left to his own private Devotions After which the last words he was heard to utter about One of the Clock in the Afternoon praying for forgiveness of Sins were these viz. O Lord forgive me especially my sins of Omission So presently after this in sure hopes of a glorious Immortality he fell asleep to the great grief and affliction of the said Countess who could never sufficiently lament her own and the Churches great loss by his too sudden departure out of this life Thus dyed this humble and holy man praying for his sins of Omission who was never known to omit his duty or scarce to have let any time slip wherein he was not imployed in some good action or other and if such a man thought he had so much to beg pardon for what an account must those have to make who scarce bestow any of their time as they ought to do He had been when he died 55 years a Minister and almost all that time a constant Preacher near 14 years a Professor of Divinity in the Univesity of Dublin and several years Vice-Chancellor of the same he sat Bishop of Meath near 4 years and one and thirty years Arch-Bishop of Armagh being from St. Patrick the 100 Bishop of that See As soon as his Relations received the sad news of his death they gave orders for his interment at Rygate where he dyed the Honourable Countess with whom he had lived and dyed intending to have him buried in her own Vault in order to which his Relations being then not near it was thought fit to preserve the Corps by such means as are proper in that case so a Chyrurgeon being sent for the Body was opened and a great deal of Coagulated blood found setled in his left side which shewed that the Physician had mistook his disease not expecting a Pleurisie in a man of above 75 years of Age. But now whilst they were preparing speedily to bury him some or other put it into Oliver Cromwell's head how much it would be for the Lord Primate's as well as his own honour to have him solemnly buried which he approving of and thinking it a good way to make himself Popular because he well knew what great reputation the deceased had among all Ranks and Degrees of men Whereupon he presently caused an Order to be drawn and sent to the Lord Primate's Son-in-law and Daughter straitly forbidding them to bury his Body any where else than at Westminster Abby for that his Highness as he then called himself intended a Publick Funeral for him This Command his Relations durst not disobey as the Times then were though it was much against their Wills perceiving well enough the Usurper's design that as it was intended so it would make more for his own honour than that of the deceased Primate and withal perceiving what accordingly happened that he would never defray half the expence of such a solemn Funeral which therefore would cause the greatest part of the charge to fall upon them though they were least able to bear it and yet he would reap all the glory of it I should not have said so much on this subject had it not been to shew the World the intriguing subtilty of this Usurper even in this small Affair and that for the expence of about 200 l. out of the Deodands in his Amoner's hands which was nothing at all to him he was able to put those he accounted his Enemies to treble that charge However since it could not be avoided the Corps was kept unburied till the 17th of April following when it was removed from Rygate towards London being met and attended by the Coaches of most of the Persons of Quality then in Town the Clergy in and about London waiting on the Hearse from Somerset House to the Abby Church where the Crowd was so great that there was forced to be a Guard to prevent the rudeness of the people The Body being brought into the Quire Dr. Nicholas Bernard then Preacher of Grays-Inn preached his Sermon his discourse was on 1 Sam. 25. 1. And Samuel died and all Israel were gathered together and lamented him and buried him Of which I shall say nothing more since it is in print and is but for the most part an account of his life which we now give you more at large The Sermon ended the Corps was conveyed to the Grave in St. Erasmus Chappel and there buried by the said Dr. according to the Liturgy of the Church of England his Grave being next to Sir James Fullerton's once his School-Master there waiting a glorious Resurrection with those that dye in the faith of our Lord Jesus Many Tears were shed at his Obsequies the City and Country being full of the singular Piety Learning and Worth of the deceased Primate which though it fall not to every man's Lot to equal yet it is his duty to follow so good an example as far as he is able Quamvis non passibus aequis In the next place I shall give you a faithful account without flattery of his personal Qualifications Opinions and Learning As for his outward form he was indifferent tall and well shaped and went always upright to the last his Hair naturally Brown when young his Complexion Sanguine his Countenance expressed Gravity and good Nature his Carriage free a presence that commanded both Respect and Reverence and though many Pictures have been made of him the Air of his face was so hard to hit that I never saw but one that was like him He was of a strong and healthy Constitution so that he said That for the most part of his life he very rarely felt any pain in his head or stomach in his youth he had been troubled with the Sciatica and some years after that with a long Quartan Ague besides the fit of the Strangury and Bleeding above mentioned but he never had the Gout or Stone A little sleep served his turn and even in his last years though he went to Bed pretty late yet in the Summer he would rise by five and in the Winter by six of the Clock in the Morning his Appetite was always suited to his dyet he would feed heartily on plain wholsom Meat without Sauce and better pleased with a few Dishes than with great Varieties nor did he love to tast of what he was not used to Eat He liked not tedious Meals it was a weariness to him to sit long at Table but what ever he Eat or Drank was never offensive to his Stomach or Brain for he never exceeded at the greatest Feast and I have heard some Physicians impute the easieness of his Digestion to something very particular in the frame of his Body for when the Chyrurgeon had opened him he found a thick Membrane lined with Far which as I suppose was but a continuation of the Omentum which extended it self quite over his Stomach and was fastened above to
Learning for the first I shall say in general That he always adhered to and maintained the fundamental Catholick Truths observing that Golden Rule concerning Traditions Quod ubique quod ab omnibus quod semper Creditum est c. and never approved of any Religion under what pretence soever obtruded or introduced contrary to the Scriptures and Primitive Truths received and professed in the Church of Christ in all Ages and upon this account could never comply with nor approve of the new Doctrines and Worship obtruded and practised in the Church of Rome as now it is but always protested against their Innovations and humane Inventions as doth most evidently appear in his Writings bearing Testimony against their Corruptions False and Erroneous principles And as for the great Scholars and Leading Men of the Romish Church the Lord Primate usually said That it is no Marvel if they had a veil cast over their Eyes as St. Paul said of the Jews in the reading of the Scriptures for besides the several judgments of God upon them that have blinded their own Eyes their Minds are so prepossessed and Corrupted with false Principles Prejudices and Worldly interest that it is no wonder if they cannot perceive the most manifest and plainest Truths But as this good Mans judgment was sound and not byassed by prejudice or passion or worldly interest so did he heartily approve of the Religion professed and established in the Church of England as most Congruous to the Holy Scriptures and Primitive Christianity and in which if a Man keep the Faith and Lives according to its precepts persevering he need not doubt of his Salvation And in this Faith and Communion of the Church of England he lived Holily and died happily And this Holy Primate being fully perswaded in his own Mind laboured instantly to reduce Popish Recusants and Sectaries from their Errors and vain Conceits to inform them aright and to perswade them for their Souls good to comply with and embrace the Religion and Communion of the Church of England and this he aimed to bring about by his Writing Preaching and Conference upon all occasions and was successful in that enterprise But now for his Opinion in some nice points of Religion that do not touch the foundation of Faith he would not be rigorously Dogmatical in his own Opinions as to impose on others Learned and Pious Men of a different Apprehension in the more obscure points with whom nevertheless thô not altogether of his judgment he had a friendly Conversation and mutual Affection and Respect seeing they agreed in the points necessary Would to God That the Learned and Pious Men in these Days were of the like temper It will be needless here to mention any more particulars of his judgment in several points seeing there are so many instances of this kind in the Collection to which I refer the Reader Yet before I leave this matter I think fit to mind you of some Treatises published by Doctor Bernard after the Primates Death Intituled The judgment of the late Lord Primate on several Subjects 1. Of Spiritual Babylon on Rev. 18. 4. 2. Of Laying on of Hands Heb. 6. 2. and the ancient form of Words in Ordination 3. Of a set form of Prayer in the Church Each being the judgment of the late Bishop of Armagh which being not set down in my Lord Primates own Words nor written by him in the Method and Order they are there put into cannot be reckoned being much enlarged by the Dr. as himself confesseth therefore cannot so well vouch them as if I had been certain that all he writes were purely the Lord Primate 's since the Papers out of which the Doctor says he Collected them were never restored to my Custody thô borrowed under that Trust that they should be so and therefore I desire that those into whose hands those Manuscripts are now fallen since the Drs. decease would restore them either to my self or the Lord Primates Relations And tho perhaps some of those Letters published by Dr. Bernard might have been as well omitted or at least some private reflections of them left out concerning a Person easily provoked to bitterness and ill words being provoked by the publishing those Letters writ an invective Book on purpose to answer to what was contained therein and not contented with this has likewise bestowed great part of that Book to tax my Lord Primates Opinions and Actions as differing from the Church of England only to lessen the Esteem and Veneration which he deservedly had with all those who loved the King and Church of England as also to maintain those old Stories broached before concerning the repeal of the Irish Articles and the Death of the Earl of Strafford to which last particulars I need say no more than what I have already spoken in the Lord Primate's Vindication and as to the former relating to my Lord's Opinions and Actions a near Relation of the Lord Primate's has I hope vindicated him sufficiently in an Appendix at the end of this Account so that I shall concern my self no farther therewith I have now no more to do than to give you a short account of his Opinions in some of the most difficult parts of Learning with some Observations which either my self or others that convers'd with him can remember we have received from him by way of discourse though not the Twentieth part of what might have been retrieved in this kind had this task been undertaken many years agone whilst these things were fresh in our memories and whilst many more of his learned friends were alive who must needs have received divers learned remarks from his excellent conversation As for the Lord Primate's Opinions in Critical Learning it is very well known as well by his Discourse as Writings that he still defended the certainty and purity of the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament before the Translation of the Septuagint since he doubted whether this we have were the true Translation of the LXX or not as you may see in his Epistle to Valesius and his Answer thereunto which controversie as it is a subject above my capacity to give a Judgment on having exercised as it still does both the Wits and Pens of the greatest Scholars in this present Age So I heartily wish That it may never tend to the disadvantage not only of our own but indeed of the whole Christian Religion with Prophane and Sceptical men for whilst one Party decry the Hebrew Text as obscure and corrupted by the Jews and the other side shew the failings and mistakes of the Greek Translation sufficient to prove that it was not performed by men Divinely Inspired it gives the Weak and more Prophane sort of Readers occasion to doubt of the Divine Authority of these Sacred Records though notwithstanding all the differences that have hitherto been shown between the Hebrew Original and Greek Translation do not God be thanked prove of greater moment than
that perswasion and therefore it was thought to be enough to condemn Transubstantiation and to say that Christ was present after a spiritual manner and received by Faith And to say more as it was judged superfluous so it might occasion division Upon this these words were by common consent left out and in the next Convocation the Articles were subscribed without them This shews that the Doctrine of the Church then subscribed by the whole Convocation was at that time contrary to the belief of a Real and Corporal Presence in the Sacrament only it was not thought necessary or expedient to publish it Tho from this silence which flowed not from their Opinion but the Wisdom of that Time in leaving a liberty for different Speculations as to the manner of the Presence Some have since inferred that the chief Pastors of this Church did then disapprove of the Definition made in King Edward 's time and that they were for a Real Presence And that our Protestant Bishops that were martyr'd in Queen Mary's days were against this expression of a Real Presence of Christ as a Natural Body appears by those Questions which they disputed on solemnly at Oxford before their Martyrdom The first Question Whether the Natural Body of Christ was Really in the Sacrament The second Whether no other substance did remain but the Body and Blood of Christ Both which they held in the Negative So that since this expression of a Real Presence of Christ's Body was not maintained by our first Protestant Reformers nor used by the Church of England in her Articles I do not see of what use it can be now tho perhaps only meant in a spiritual sence by most that make use of it For the real presence of a Body and yet unbodily I suppose those that speak thus understand as little as I do unless that some Men love to come as near the Papists as may be in their expressions tho without any hopes now of ever making them approach the nearer to us and in the mean time giving matter of offence and scandal to divers ignorant and weak Christians of our own Religion The fifth Point that the Doctor taxes the Lord Primat with as held by him contrary to the Church of England is That she teaches that the Priest hath power to forgive Sins as may be easily proved by three several Arguments not very easie to be answered The first is from those solemn words used in the Ordination of the Priest or Presbyter that is to say Receive the Holy Ghost Whose Sins ye forgive they are forgiven and whose Sins ye retain they are retained Which were a gross prophanation of the words of our Lord and Saviour and a meer mockery of the Priest if no such power were given unto him as is there affirmed The second Argument is taken from one of the Exhortations before the Communion where we find the people are exhorted by the Priest that if they cannot quiet their Consciences they should come unto him or some other discreet Minister of God's Word and open their grief that they may receive such ghostly advice and comfort as their Consciences may be relieved and that by the Ministry of God's Word they may receive Comfort and the benefit of Absolution to the quieting of their Consciences and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness The third and most material Proof is the Form prescribed for the Visitation of the Sick In which it is required that after the sick Person hath made a Confession of his Faith and professed himself to be in Charity with all Men he shall then make a special Confession if he feel his Conscience troubled with any weighty matter And then it follows that after such Confession the Minister shall absolve him in this manner viz. Our Lord Jesus Christ who hath left power to his Church to absolve all Sinners that truly repent and believe in him of his great Mercy forgive thee thine Offences And by his Authority committed to me I absolve thee from all thy Sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Amen Of the first of these three places deduced all of them from the best Monuments and Records of the Church of England the Lord Primat takes notice in his Answer to the Jesuit's Challenge p. 109. where he treateth purposely of the Priests power to forgive Sins but gives us such a Gloss upon it as utterly subverts as well the Doctrine of this Church in that particular as her purpose in it And of the second he takes notice p. 81. where he speaks purposely of Confession but gives us such a Gloss upon that also as he did upon the other But of the third which is more positive and material than the other two he is not pleased to take any notice at all as if no such Doctrine were either taught by the Church of England or no such Power had been ever exercised by the Ministers of it For in the canvassing of this Point he declares sometimes that the Priest doth forgive Sins only declarative by the way of declaration only when on the consideration of the true Faith and sincere Repentance of the Party penitent he doth declare unto him in the Name of God that his Sins are pardoned and sometimes that the Priest forgives Sins only optativè by the way of Prayers and Intercession when on the like consideration he makes his prayers unto God that the Sins of the Penitent may be pardoned Neither of which comes up unto the Doctrine of the Church of England which holdeth that the Priest forgiveth Sins authoritativè by virtue of a Power committed to him by our Lord and Saviour That the Supream power of forgiving Sins is in God alone against whose Divine Majesty all Sins of what sort soever may be truly said to be committed was never question'd by any who pretended to the Christian Faith The Power which is given to the Priest is but a delegated power such as is exercised by Judges under Soveraign Princes where they are not tied unto the Verdict of Twelve Men as with us in England who by the Power committed to them in their several Circuits and Divisions do actually absolve the party which is brought before them if on good proof they find him innocent of the Crimes he stands accused for and so discharge him of his Irons And such a power as this I say is both given to and exercised by the Priest or Presbyters in the Church of England For if they did forgive Sins only declarativè that form of Absolution which follows the general Confession in the beginning of the Common-prayer-Book would have been sufficient where the Absolution is put in the third person Or if he did forgive Sins only optativè in the way of prayers and intercession there could not be a better way of Absolution than that which is prescribed to be used by the Priest or Bishop after the general Confession made by such as
learned Divines after a serious debate and mature deliberation as well declare what was the Doctrine of the Church of England in those Questions of Predestination Justifying Faith Saving Grace and Perseverance But it seems with the Doctor no Bishops Opinions shall be Orthodox if they agree not with his own But to come to the Charge it self The main Reason why the Doctor will needs have the Lord Primat to be the cause of the inserting these Articles of Lambeth into those of Ireland agreed on in Convocation 1615 is because the Lord Primat being then no Bishop but only Professor of Divinity in the University there and a Member of Convocation was ordered by the Convocation to draw up those Articles and put them into Latin as if Dr. Usher could have then such a great influence upon it as to be able to govern the Church at his pleasure or that the Scribe of any Synod or Council should make it pass what Acts or Articles he pleases or that one private Divine should be able to manage the whole Church of Ireland as the Doctor would needs have him do in this Affair Whereas the Doctor having been an ancient Member of Convocation could not but know that all Articles after they are debated are proposed by way of Question by the President and Prolocutor of either House and are afterwards ordered to be drawn into form and put in Latin by some Persons whom they appoint for that purpose and tho perhaps they might not be themselves in all points of the same Opinion with those Articles they are so ordered to draw up and that Dr. Usher did not hold all those Articles of Ireland in the same sence as they are there laid down appears from what the Doctor himself tells us in this Pamphlet for p. 116 he saith That it was his viz. the Lord Primat's doing that a different explication of the Article of Christ's descent into Hell from that allowed of by this Church and almost all the other Heterodoxies of the Sect of Calvin were inserted and incorporated into the Articles of Ireland And p. 129 he finds fault with the 30th Article of that Church because it is said of Christ that for our sakes he endured most grievous Torments immediatly in his Soul and most painful Sufferings in his Body The enduring of which grievous Torments in his Soul as Calvin not without some touch of Blasphemy did first devise so did he lay it down for the true sence and meaning of the Article of Christ's descending into Hell In which expression as the Articles of Ireland have taken up the words of Calvin so it may be rationally conceived that they take them with the same meaning and construction also But the Doctor owns that this was not the Lord Primat's sence of this Article for p. 113 aforegoing he says thus Yet he viz. the Lord Primat neither follows the Opinion of Calvin himself nor of the generality of those of the Calvinian Party who herein differ from their Master but goes a new way of a later discovery in which altho he had few Leaders he hath found many Followers But as I shall not take upon me to enter into a dispute with the Doctor or his Followers in defence of these Irish Articles and to prove they are not contradictory to those of England it not being my business yet I cannot forbear to observe that it is highly improbable that all the Bishops and Clergy of Ireland should incorporate the nine Articles of Lambeth containing all the Calvinian Rigours as the Doctor calls them in the points of Predestination Grace Free-will c. if they had thought they were inconsistent with those of the Church of England and had not been satisfied that it was the Doctrine then held and maintained in those Points by the major part of the Bishops and Clergy of our Church as also believed by the King himself who confirmed them and certainly would never else have sent one Bishop and three of the most Learned Divines within his Dominions to the Synod of Dort to maintain against the Remonstrants or Arminians the very same Opinions contained in these Irish Articles But if all those must be counted by the Doctor for Rigorous Calvinists that maintain these Articles and consequently Heterodox to the Church of England I desire to know how he can excuse the major part of our Bishops in Queen Elizabeth and King James's Reign and a considerable part of them during the Reigns of the two last Kings of blessed Memory some of whom are still living from this Heterodoxy And if all Men must be guilty of Calvinism who hold these Opinions concerning Predestination Grace and Free-will then the most part of the Lutherans who differ very little from Calvin in these points must be Calvinists too Nor are these Points held only by Protestants but many also of the Church of Rome hold the same as witness the Jansenists and also the Order of the Dominicans who come very near to Calvin in the Doctrines of Predestination c. and are as much opposed by the Jesuits as the Arminians are by the Anti-remonstrants in Holland But perhaps the Doctor may make St. Augustin a Calvinist too since he is much of the same Opinion with the Lord Primat in most of these Points against the Pelagians Having now I hope vindicated the Lord Primat from these unjust Accusations of his differing from the Church of England in matters of Doctrine I now come to answer his Aspersions upon the Lord Primat in lesser matters and that you may see how unjustly he seeks out a Quarrel against him he makes it a crime in him because those who were aspersed with the names of Puritans made their Addresses to him by Letters or Visits and because he was carress'd and feasted by them where-ever he came as the Doctor will have it as if the Lord Primat had no other Perfections but his asserting those Calvinian Tenents Then he goes on to tax the Lord Primat with Inconformity to the Rules and Orders of the Church of England in several particulars but with how great want of Charity and with how many malicious Inferences and Reflections without any just grounds I leave to the impartial Reader who will give himself the trouble to peruse that Pamphlet many of those passages being cull'd here and there out of Dr. Bernard's Treatise entitled The late Lord Primat's Judgment c. without ever considering what went before or what followed after and without taking notice that several things enjoined in the Canons of the Church of England had no force or obligation in that of Ireland where those Canons were not yet subscribed to or received and consequently such Ceremonies as were by them enjoined being in themselves indifferent as the Church declares it had been singularity in him to have observed them there and much worse to have imposed them upon others for it is truly said of him by Dr. Bernard That he did not affect some
or more to one day of the seven than to any other let us next see by what Authority the day was changed and how it came to be translated from the seventh to the first Concerning which it follows thus in the said Homily viz. This Example and Commandment of God the godly Christian People began to follow immediately after the Ascension of our Lord Christ and began to chuse them a standing Day of the week to come together in yet not the seventh Day which the Jews kept but the Lord's Day the Day of the Lord's Resurrection the Day after the seventh Day which is the first Day of the week c. sithence which time God's People hath always in all Ages without any gainsaying used to come together on the Sunday to celebrate and honour God's blessed Name and carefully to keep that Day in holy rest and quietness So far the Homily And by this Homily it appears plainly that the keeping of the Lord's day is not grounded on any Commandment of Christ nor any Precept of the Apostles but that it was chosen as a standing day of the week to come together in by the Godly Christian People immediately after Christ's Ascension and hath so continued ever since But the Doctor has been very careful in his Quotations not only to take whatsoever in this Homily he thinks makes for his purpose but has also been so wary as to leave out whatsoever he thinks is against him and therefore the Reader is to take notice that the place first cited by the Doctor immediately precedes that before quoted by the Lord Primate being connected to it by this passage which the Doctor omits And therefore by this Commandment we ought to have a time as one day in the week wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawful and needful works So likewise doth he omit that which immediately follows the words quoted by my Lord Primate viz. So that God doth not only command the observation of this Holy Day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same And after the obedience of natural Children not only to the Commands but also to the Example of their Parents is urged it follows thus as an Argument for its observation So if we will be the Children of our heavenly Father we must be careful to keep the Christian Sabbath Day which is the Sunday not only for that it is God's express Commandment but also to declare our selves to be loving Children in following the Example of our gracious Lord and Father After which it follows again in the next Paragraph which is also concealed by the Doctor tho it connects the words aforegoing and the passage he next makes use of together Thus it may plainly appear that God's Will and Commandment was to have a solemn time and standing-day in the week wherein the People should come together and have in remembrance his wonderful Benefits and to render him thanks for them as appertaineth to loving and obedient People From all which put together I shall leave it to the ingenuous Reader to judge who hath most perverted the sence of this Homily the Lord Primate or the Doctor and whether or no these Conclusions following do not clearly follow from the passages above-cited first that by the fourth Commandment it is God's perpetual Will to have one solemn and standing Day in the week for People to meet together to worship and serve him Secondly That this day tho it be not the seventh day from the Creation yet is still the Christian Sabbath or day of Rest being still the seventh day and still observed not only because of our Saviour Christ's Resurrection on this day but also that we keep the Christian Sabbath which is the Sunday as well for that it is God's express Commandment as also to shew our selves dutiful Children in following the Example of our gracious Lord and Father who rested on the seventh day Thirdly That on this Christian Sabbath or Sunday we ought to rest from our lawful and needful works and common and daily business and also give our selves wholly to Heavenly Exercises of God's true Religion and Service And therefore this being the express words and sence of this Homily that we may not make it contradict it self the passages which the Doctor relies so much upon must have this reasonable construction viz. That the Maker thereof tho he supposed that we Christians were not obliged to the precise keeping of the seventh day after the manner of the Jews Yet notwithstanding whatsoever is found in this Commandment appertaining to the Law of Nature c. as most just and needful for the setting forth of God's Glory ought to be retained and kept of all Christian People Which words must be understood in a clean contrary sence to the Doctor 's viz. that the meaning of the Author was and which our Church confirms that by the Law of Nature the seventh day or one day in seven is to be kept holy or otherwise to what purpose serve these words before recited viz. thus it may plainly appear that God's Will and Commandment was to have one solemn and standing Day in the week wherein People should come together c. that is now under the Gospel as before under the Law And what follows which the Doctor thinks makes for him viz. This Example and Commandment of God the Godly Christian People began to follow immediatly after the Ascension of our Lord Christ and began to chuse them a standing day of the week to come together in yet not the seventh day which the Jews kept but the Lord's Day the Day of the Lord's Resurrection the day after the seventh day which is the first day of the week c. does rather make against him that is by Gods Example as well as Command they were obliged after Christs Ascension to chuse them one standing day of the week to meet together in And if so that must be one day in seven by an immutable moral institution or else the Church might if they had so pleased have celebrated the Lord's Resurrection not as the Homily says on one standing day of the week but only at Easter and the Law of Nature according to the Doctor not tying us to observe one day in seven if this Commandment of keeping the Sabbath or seventh day oblige none but the Jews then the primitive Church might if they had pleased have quite left off setting aside any particular day of the week for God's Service and have thought it sufficient to have kept one day suppose in a month or two for Men to meet together for the Service and Worship of God which whether those of the Doctor 's Party would be pleased with I shall not dispute but sure I am that the Church of England maintains no such Doctrine But the Doctor because he thinks the Homily not enough of his side undertakes to shew us upon what grounds the Lord's day