as the Scriptures give no testimony of it so neither reason nor any thing else can prove his Holiness to be Infallible because he is not and there is no need that either he or any other Bishop should be so because God hath fully and clearly propounded to us in the Scriptures all things necessary to Salvation as I have already Prov'd and for that part of them that is obscure we are certain we may be Saved without the knowledg of it otherwise the Merciful God that loves us and desires our Salvation would have made it plain to us Now to bring this Discourse home to the great Point in hand if Eternal Happiness and Salvation be the kind offer or Proposal of God and this cannot be had but upon certain Terms or Conditions which must be determin'd and reveal'd by him determin'd because that is his Right and none but he hath Authority to do it reveal'd because unless he declare upon what Terms he will save them Mankind can never know them nor consequently obtain the proposed happiness and those Terms or Conditions be fully and intirely plainly and intelligibly deliver'd in the Scriptures then that and none but that is the true Church in which Salvation may certainly be had that adheres or cleaves to the Scriptures and follows them as the great and only Rule of Faith and Manners of all things that is necessary to Salvation This is the only sure Mark of the true Church that may be rely'd upon without this all other Signs are false Fires and deceitful Lights that mislead their unwary followers but he that chuses his Church by its Profession of the Christian Faith and Doctrine contained in the Scriptures is safe and in such a Society where nothing is wanting to Salvation but if he leaves that he may wander up and down the World in vain seeking Rest but finding none All then that will be necessary to make good my Assertion in both the parts of it that there is a certainty of Salvation in the Church of England and at most but a Possibility of it in the Church of Rome is briefly to shew the agreement of ours and the Repugnancy of theirs to the Scriptures That Church which affirms that the Holy Scriptures Comprehend all things necessary to Salvation and that nothing but what is contained in them is to be press'd or requir'd as such and receives them as its sole or intire Rule agrees fully and perfectly with them but our Church affirms those and doth this therefore it adheres or keeps close to the Scriptures Holy Scripture it saith containeth all things necessary Article the 6. to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation Unto a Christian it declares there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledg of Holy Scripture forasmuch as in it is Homily the 1. contained Gods true word setting forth his Glory and also Mans Duty and there is no Truth nor Doctrine necessary for our Justification and Everlasting Salvation but what is or may be drawn out of that Fountain and Well of Truth In Holy Scripture is fully contained what we ought to do and what to eschew what to believe what to Love and what to look for at Gods hands at length This is as full a Declaration of the perfection sufficiency of the Scriptures as can be made and that our Church receives them as the sole or intire Rule of Faith is so Evident that the Church of Rome confesseth it by making it an Accusation or Objection against it though this be to upbraid it with that which is its Glory I mean its strict adherence to the Scriptures and if they did not confess it it might be unanswerably proved by comparing the Doctrine of our Church with those Sacred Writings which whosoever doth will find a most perfect Union or agreement between them that it observes and follows and adheres to them in all things as if the same good Spirit that Inspir'd the Holy Prophets and Apostles to Pen them did in a more than ordinary manner guide and direct our Reformers to the same Faith or Sum of things to be believed the same Rule of Life or Paths of Piety and Holiness the same Object and way of Worship the same Sacraments and all other things which they propound to Mankind either as the Terms and Conditions upon which God will save them or Dr. Potter Answer to Charity mistaken pa. 13. Page 14. as helps and means to inable them to perform those Conditions So that no Church as a Learned and excellent Person speaks doth afford more Plentifully the means of Grace nor more abound with all helps and advantages of Piety than this of ours The word of God is diligently Preach'd amongst us the Sacraments of Christ Reverently Administred Abuses in both are removed the two Extremes of Religion Superstition and Prophaneness are avoided The Ignorant are Instructed the Disorderly admonish'd Comforts are applyed to the Afflicted Terrours to the Impenitent Censures and Punishments to the Obstinate In our Liturgy Policy and Ceremonies in the Government of our Prelates in the Diligence of Inferiour Pastours in the whole Face of our Doctrine and Discipline we have a most near and fair Resemblance of Reverend Antiquity All tending to the gaining of Souls to Christ and to guide them in the way of Peace As great Assurance Assurance then as any Christian hath that the Scriptures are true so full and absolute a certainty is there of Salvation in our Church because it teaches and requires all those things and no other that the Scriptures teach and require as necessary to Salvation and to the Performers of which they promise Eternal Life and Happiness and therefore if the Scriptures say true as all Christians acknowledg they do there can be no doubt or question at all of being saved in the Church of England unless Men will either not believe and Live as it teacheth and Commands them or if they do it will not persevere or continue in so believing and Living to the end of their Lives And therefore that none who are Members of this most Holy and Excellent Church may deprive themselves of so great a good as that Immortal Happiness is by their Evil and Unsuitable Living I shall conclude this Discourse with that admirable Exhortation which their Mother the Church gives them to obey or keep the Commandments of God their Father which is this Wherefore as ye have any Zeal to the Right and Pure Honouring of God as you have any Regard to Homily of Good Works Part. 3. p. 35. your own Souls and to the Life that is to come which is both without Pain and without End apply your selves chiefly above all things to Read and hear Gods word mark diligently therein what his
against it because 't is possible they may and easie to say nay to perswade Credulous People they have Dispensations from him to do such things But Colemans Letters they say speake of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Church and Religion therefore he is not only a Papist but a Zealous one the inference is not certain because though those Letters say so yet they may speak falsly What are Papists so great lovers of Truth as to make any Conscience of telling a Lye Do not the Excluders think them a Faithless and Deceitful Generation and Men that have no truth in them Do they not believe that the Jesuites and others nay Coleman himself that were Executed for the Popish Plot who asserted their Innocence and deny'd themselves to be Guilty of or Privy to any such design at their Death do they not believe I say that these Men Dyed with an Impudent and Notorious Lye in their Mouthes And if they dare do that at their Death to be sure they are not affraid to do it at other times when they apprehend no harm nor danger near them They that are so Prodigal of the Blood of Princes as to think it Lawful nay Meritorious to kill them will make no Conscience of Blaspheming and Slandering them of speaking all Words that may do them Harm and Injury blast and stain their Honour render them Suspected to and Rob them of the Love Esteem and Reverence of their People Was not that glorious Prince King Charles the Martyr as I observed before Reproach'd and Ruin'd by the Odious name of Papist which his Enemy's falsly cast upon him and can any Man think the Jesuits and other Zealots of the Romish Faction were careless or backward to spread so Mischievous a Rumour to publish such a story as would Expose him to the Hatred and Contempt of a great part of his People for knowing him to be so Zealous and Resolved a Protestant that he could never be gain'd to their Church their Malice and Reveng prompted them to call or report him a Papist that they might Inrage and Provoke his Subjects to take Armes against him But there can be no Colour nor Pretence for this the Excluders will say because Colemans Letters were not writ to Protestants but Papists therefore tell a true not feigned Story Supposing them to be writ to Papists why may they not only declare Colemans Opinion of his Royal Highness Or else be an Artifice or Trick of Colemans to get Mony of the French Kings Confessor Declare the Opinion he had of the Duke for Men of that Church are very Credulous otherwise they would not be of it apt to believe any thing they either desire or fancy if a Man shew them the least Kindness chance to speak any thing in Favour of their Church though it be little and inconsiderable and he have no Thought nor Intention ever to be a Proselyte to it they believe presently he is theirs and tell it far and near what a Convert they have gain'd when no such thing is 't is probable will never be done therefore what those Letters speak of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Church may be no more but a vain glorious Brag or confident Fancy of him that pen'd them or else a crafty Trick or Wheedle to get Mony from France or Rome or Both by the Confessors interest in both those Courts to carry on the Plot in England Coleman knowing very well that such a Story as this of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Religion would be a mighty Motive or Inducement to prompt his Holiness and all the Zealots of that Communion to a great and Liberal Contribution the Design they had in hand being so expensive that it would too much exhaust and impoverish the English Catholicks to manage or carry it on at their own Charge Well but if the Duke be not a Papist why doth he not say so Why doth he keep the Nation in Suspence Why doth he not declare himself of the Church of England and publickly profess the most Holy and Excellent Religion Established in it To these Queries divers Answers may be given That he hath declared it for in his Speech to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London he said if my Intelligence deceive me not My Lord I am sure I am the first Man that can demand October the 21. 1679. Property in England and have the greatest Property of any Subject in England and therefore have the greatest Reason to defend it any other Man may have private Interest but I can have none for I know very well that as long as this City and this Nation are well I shall be so and that I can be so no longer And I do assure you My Lord that no one Person in all this Assembly can ever Venture his Life more freely in the Defence of this Nation and City and the Government thereof as it is now by Law Establish'd than I will and have been always Ready to do as I hope is well known If this be not plain enough His Royal Highness hath declared since if my Information be true as I believe it was That he was satisfied this Monarchy had no true Friends but the Church of England And if he be so perswaded of is as he hath the highest reason to be how can he be of any other Church Will a Prince that is next Heir to the English Crown depart from a Church he confesses to be the only true Friend to it and joyn himself to one which by consequence he acknowledges to be no true Friend to it This is too unreasonable to be supposed But these if they be admitted they will say are but private Declarations and not so generally known nor so satisfactory as a publick Declaration would be The first was publick enough being made to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London Would they have him declare it in Parliament He may do so if he pleases but it would be to no purpose to do it in an Excluding Parliament for if he tell them never so seriously that he is no Papist they will not believe him Should he make the most solemn Protestations take all the Oathes and Tests that can be devis'd Vow Swear receive the most Blessed Sacrament upon it call the Pope Antichrist and Heretick give him all the hard words and infamous Appellations he could invent it would be in Vain for the Excluders would not believe him but say he had a Dispensation to say and do all these things And therefore if he be never so desirous to declare it in Parliament Common Prudence will oblige him to stay till the Excluders are shut out of it and Men of better Principles and a more moderate temper are elected in their stead To do it before would be to tell them that which they have no Mind to hear and no Faith to believe and what can it be but lost Labour and a vain Attempt to
by denying the Ring such Supplies as are necessary for his and yours and all our preservation Let it be your care also to cover the Pit which the Excluders have dug I mean to make his Royal Highness reparation for the injurious and unworthy Treatment he hath received from them You have abhorr'd it without doors therefore do it within cast out the Bill as a wicked abominable thing shut the door after it that it may never return any more Be pleased to do that which your great Wisdom and Justice cannot but prompt you to Go to the Duke and let him know your deep resentments of the wrongs that have been offer'd him and beseech him not to think the worse either of you or the Establish'd Religion for them because this hath taught you and all the true Members of the Church of England to abominate the Project of Exclusion as a peice of high and execrable Injustice Shew him the difference between the true and the seeming Protestants that those have so much Religion and fear of God that they dare do injury to no man much less to their Princes and had rather suffer themselves than they should whereas these have more Zeal than Honesty and care not whom they injure and oppress so they can but secure and preserve their own dear selves Treat him with all the honour and respect due to his Royall Birth Vertues omit nothing that may testifie your high esteem and veneration for him use all the fair and prudent means you can to gain his favour and good opinion of you and to convince him of the justness and honesty of your intentions towards him Such methods as these are Christian and Noble and fit to be practis'd towards a Prince and may by the Blessing of God work very much upon his great and generous Soul brave Spirits being sometimes courted to that which they will never be hector'd into and if he be a Papist be instrumental to his Conversion which will not only be grateful or pleasing to God his Angels and Saints in Heaven but fill this our English Earth with Joy revive our languishing Happiness restore our Nation to its ancient Glory put a blessed period to all our Distractions and Confusions then we shall live in Peace and Unity amongst our selves and unless we be the most ungrateful People in the World in true Piety Obedience to our God who hath done so great things for us then it will be well with us and happy shall we be Forreigners will call these Kingdoms as they did of old The Fortunate Islands All which the great and Gracious Governour of the World God Almighty in whose hands the Hearts of Princes are Grant for the Merits of our dear Redeemor Amen FINIS Some Books Printed for and sold by W. Freeman by Temple-Bar in Fleet-street THE Penitent Pardon'd or a Discourse of the Nature of Sin and Efficacy of Repentance under the Parable of the Prodigal Son By Dr. Goodman Daily Exercise for a Christian By a Person of Exemplary Piety for his own use price 1. s. Holy Devotions with Directions to Pray also a brief Exposition upon the Lords Prayer the Creed Ten Commandments Seven Penitential Psalms and the Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving together with a Litany By the Right Reverend Father in God Lancelot Andrews late Bishop of Winchester the 7th Edition Means to Preserve Peace in Marriage by the Author of Rules of Civility in Twelves Price 1. s. The Manners of the Israelites in Three Parts First of the Patriarcks Second of the Israelites after their coming out of Egypt to the Captivity of Babylon Third of the Jews after their Return to the Preaching of the Gospel The President of Presidents or one general President for Common Assurances by Deeds Wherein there is an Extract of all the General Learning and Forms of Presidents now extant Out of which you may be fitted for most purposes and cases and be able to find the faults of any Conveiances and so Judg of your Right and Title to your Lands and Goods here being upon the matter the Effect and Quintessence of all Books of this kind Of singular use and Profit to all Men. By W. Sheppard Esq The Third Edition Corrected in Octavo The Clerks Manual or an Exact Collection of the most approved Forms of Declarations Pleas general Issues Judgments Demurrers and most kind of Writs now used in the Court of Kings-Bench with necessary Instructions to all Clerks Attorneys Sollicitors c. In the use of the same The Second Edition Octavo The Practick Part of the Law shewing the Office of an Attorney and a Guid for Solicitors in Octavo An Infallible way to Contentment in the midst of Publick or Personal Calamities Together with the Christians Courage and Encouragement against Evil Tidings and the Fear of Death In Twelves The Court of the Gentiles Part Fourth of Reformed Philosophy Book Third of Divine Predetermination wherein the nature of Divine Predetermination is fully Explained and Demonstrated both in the General as also more Particularly as to the Substract matter or Entitative Act of Sin By Theophylus Gale in Quarto Starrons Novels viz. The fruitless Precaution the Hypocrites the Innocent Adultery the Judg in his own Cause the Rival Brothers the Invisible Mistriss the Chastisement of Avarice the Unexpected Choice Rendred into English with some Additions in Octavo ☞ Xenophons Histroy of the Affairs of Greece in Seven Books Being a Continuation of the Peloponnesian War from the time where Thucydides ends to the Battel at Mantinea To which is Prefixed an Abstract of Thucydides and an Account of the Land and Naval Forces of the Ancient Greeks Translated from the Greek by John Newman This will be Published in few days in Octavo