in Baptism the Minister may be permitted to Baptize without it or if kneeling at the Sacrament the Person scrupling may have it delivered him in another Posture and so for God-fathers p. 15. Let a Rubrick be inserted before the Athanasian Creed signifying that the Creed may be read or may be let alone or with an alias this or the Nicene p. 21. Let the Litany be left to the discretion of the Minister to read or omit let it be left to his discretion one day to read one part and another day another that it be permitted in the Afternoon to leave out the first Lesson or the like p. 22. That it be left to liberty and discretion to use the Prayers without the Lessons and the Litany alone on Wednesdays and Fridays so Preface to the Directory complain'd that they were urged to read all the Prayers And after this manner we must have nothing six'd and settled but all our Rites and Prayers left indifferent which is so far from promoting Union and Peace that its the most likely way in the World to divide us perpetuate and establish Schism and make us an casie Prey to our Enemies Even the Author of naked Truth p. 23. saith That a Liberty left to add or detract Ceremonies or Prayers according to the various Opinions and Humours of Men will certainly cause great Faction and Division Again the length of our Liturgy is complain'd of Letter to the Convoc p. 18. It 's proposed that the Sunday Service be shortned p. 19. It s a tedious and prolix Service which tho it agreed with the complaints of the Presbyterians A. D. 1603. Who then desired the longsomness of the Service to be abridged yet doth so little suit with our later long-winded Presbyterians that at the Savoy 1660. p. 9. They complain of the Brevity of the Common-Prayer-Book and therefore desire to have leave to pray more copiously and p. 55. They complain'd of too many Prayers not too much so that should we in complyance with this Projector have shortned our Prayers we should have displeas'd not sweetned the Presbyterians to a Complyance If we look upon the most eminent Protestant Princes that we have had they were all for strict Conformity Queen Elizabeth would have the Discipline of the Church of England of all Men duly observ'd without alteration of the least Ceremony Life of Arch-Bishop Whitgift p. 29. And King James the First in his Proclamation the first Year of his Reign We admonish all Men that they shall not exâ—ect nor attempt any further alteration in the Common-Prayer We are not ignorant of the Inconveniences that arise in Government by admitting Innovations in things once settled by mature Delibaration and how necessary it is to use Constancy Such is the unquietness of some Dispositions affecting every Year new Forms Our frequent alterations of our Religious Rites hath been justly laugh'd at by Foreigners Erasmus for this very Thing derided the English in his time and Cardan in Tetrab c. 3. Tex 12. saith That the English are still changing their Rites and Manners of Religious Worship sometimes to the better and very often to the worse Not to mention what St. Austin Epist 118. adjan observ'd Ipsa mutatio consuetudines etiam quae adjuvat utilitate novitate perturbat i. e. The very change of a Custom tho to the better breeds a disturbance by its novelty Malum politicum bene positum non est movendum In sine give me leave to repeat what the Ingenious Lord Faulkland long since told us viz. That all Mutations are dangerous even where what is introduced by that Mutation is such as would have been very profitable upon a primary Foundation and it is none of the least Dangers of Change that all the Perils and Inconveniences that it brings cannot be foreseen and therefore such as make Title to Wisdom will not undergo great Dangers but for great Necessities such as cannot I presume be here pretended Upon all which Accounts its evident that the Convocations complying to make the Alterations proposed is the most probable way to displease most of the Foreign Protestants that are now in League with us and make us no longer esteem'd as we hitherto have been the very Center of Union I will add but one Reason why we should not make these Alterations for the sake of our own Dissenters and that is because they are resolved they wâ—â— have no Union with us but whensoever we are making Proposals to unite with them they run farther off and be sure make fresh Complaints of these very Changes and steps towards them For the Alterations made in 1660. Mr. Baxter likes things worse than before and hath declared frequently in Print That many of our old Episcoparian Divines had they been now alive would have been Nonconformists and that the new Impositions make the Ministerial Conformity harder than formerly Def. of Cure of Divis p. 55. The Presbyterians at the Savoy after p. 35. complain of the paucity of Concessions tho lately said to be 600 And again In one of your Concessions in which we suppose you intend to accommodate with us you rather widen than heal the Breach When about ten Years since some of our Church had a project of Comprehension the Presbyterians were farther off than before and under the Name of a Plea for Peace put out bitter Reflections upon the Church of England Dr. Stillingfleet unreas of Separat Pref. p. 36. In Scotland the Presbyterians administred the Solemn League and Covenant to the People and made them Swear never to hear the Orthodox Ministry more and gave them the Sacrament thereupon Ravil Rediv. p. 29. The like is said to have been lately done at Northampton and some other Places And how have they behaved themselves in this juncture we may take it from one of the great Promoters of Alterations in his Letter for the Bill of Union p. 4. I do own that in some of the Dissenters there is more then an appearance of Aversion to this Bill of Vnion or else Books levelled against Liturgy and Episcopacy would not come out as they do in this p juncture fresh from the Press In a Word There are two Things that have formerly made the Government very averse from favouring Dissenters 1. Their Disloyalty 2. Their readiness upon all Occasions to joyn with the Popish Interest against the Church of England as they famously did in the Year 1588. at the time of the Spanish Invasion and again 1688. in the late Reign of King James II. as appears from their numerous Addresses their Complyances with the Dispensing Power their Promises to take off the Test and Penal Laws their new Ordinations and their great neglect both in Pulpit and Press to defend the Articles of the Protestant Religion against the many Writings of the Papists two Tracts only amongst the numerous Dissenters having upon the severest computation been found publish't by them during the whole Reign of that King we had great reason to hope that these Failings had been both mended especially at a time that Popery was discouraged and the Government had been so kind to the Protestant Dissenters and yet behold quite contrary to all sober Mens Expectations tho there are but two Things required of all that are Hearers in Conventicles in order to a full Toleration 1. An Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to the King and Queen 2. Making and subscribing a Declaration against Popery and so giving satisfaction to the Government in these two particulars yet they are still either so steddy to their old Principles of Disloyalty or so far managed by Popish Agents and withal so peevishly perverse and froward in opposing every thing that is commanded them by the Laws that to this day so far as I can learn there is not one in an Hundred of them that hath done either FINIS
Episcopal Government of England what is there in it that is dangerous or may alarm Mens Consciences and if this be capable to deprive us of Heaven who is there that entred there for the space of 1500 Years for all that time all the Churches in the World had no other Government c. 6th When the Presbyterians had in their Solemn League and Covenant condemned Episcopacy the Ministers at Charenton and of the other Reformed Churches in France the Professors Ministers and Consistory of Geneva and other Reformed Churches in those Part were so scandalized as that they feared it would bring an indelible Scandal upon the Reformed Churches c. King Charles's Large Declaration p. 75. 4. When any of the Eminent Men of other Reformed Churches censured the Church of England it was upon our being falsly represented to them What Calvin wrote against our Liturgy was only upon the sight of the first Edition of Edward the 6th's Common-Prayer Book and a Malicious Account he had received from some at Franck fort Beza in his Letter to Archbishop Whitgift March 8. 1921. Declared that in his Writings touching Church Government he ever opposed the Romish Hierarchy but never intended to impugne the Eccesiastical Polity of the Church of England nor to exact of them to frame themselves after the pattern of our Presbyterial Disciplene he wisheth that the holy College of our Bishops may for ever continue and maintain their Right and Title in the Churches Government c. And if Beza at any time wrote otherwise he was abused by slanderous reports which caused him to do it saith Bishop Bancroft in his Survey p. 141. And his Guess we have confirmed by a Letter from Gualter to the Bishop of Ely A. D. 1572. and Printed by Archbishop Whitgift We admonished your Adversaries not to move any Contention in the Church for matters of so small importance and we thought the matter had been Buryed when contrary to all Mens expectations there came Two English Men from Geneva and bring from Master Beza whose Ears they had before filled with forged Accusations Letters full of Complaints and desire that we would help the afflicted State of England and advised me to make a Journey to you to which was joyned the Report of these two who reported the same things to us that they had done at Geneva and set down in Writing many Superstitions which they said were now defended in England but afterwards Letters from D. A. a singular honest Man delivered you all from blame Since that time we have had nothing to do with those lying busy-bodies for not long after it plainly appeared that they went about and were the chief Authors of Disturbances in the Palatinate Churches and brought much trouble and disquiet to them Wherefore I beseech you that you would not have any ill opinion of Gualter who bears a singular affection to the English and is perswaded of our exact consent and agreement c. In our late Civil Wars Milton and Georgius Hornius under the Counterfeit Name of Honorius Reggius a Professour at Leyden and some others were hired to give a false and abusive account of the Church of England to the Foreign Churches and the very Assembly of Divines at Westminster wrote a Letter which was sent to the Belgick French Helvetian and other Reformed Churches to assure them that the King made it his business to root out the Protestant Religion and used all means possible to reduce the whole Nation to Popery Bibl. Regia p. 64. And of this we have as much reason to complain now as ever it being notoriously known that not long since a Gentleman of considerable quality made a Journey on purpose into France to represent the Bishops and Clergy of the Church of England as Popishly affected it being the lot of this Church to be misrepresented by Men of Designs and Malice for both Papists and Fanaticks as may best serve the turns of its Enemies in different Seasons 5. Let us see what opinion the Universal Church hath of such as in opposition to Bishops are ordained by Presbyters the 31st of those that are called Apostles Canons If any Presbyter despise his Bishop and set up separate Meetings let him be Deposed and the People Excommunicated The 5th Canon of the Council at Antioch decreed that if any Presbyter despising his Bishop separate himself from the Church and make Meetings of his own after the First and Second Admonition he ought to be condemned and not allowed to Preach and if he still go on to disturb the Church he ought to be punished by the Secular Power as a Seditious Person This Canon is received into the Code of the Canons of the Universal Church and was confirmed in the 4th general Council at Chalcedon Act 4. Athanasius in his 2d Apology tells us that Coluthus a Presbyter passing by the Bishop of Alexandria ordained several Persons all his Ordinations were declared void and all that he had ordained were reduced to the order of Laicks And I want an instance of any one Reformed Church in the World where Bishops are established that Ordination by Presbyters in opposition to them is allowed as valid and I think the Church of Rome is the only Church in the World that being governed by Bishops allows of Presbyterian Ordination not regularly and of course but by an extraordinary faculty from the Popes inexhaustible Power Of which see Willet in Synopsi Papis controv 16. q 2. Theol. Rhem. in 1 Tim. 4. 14. Forbesii Iren. p. 176 177 178 179. where he largely proves it from the Canonists Schoolmen c. I am sure the Papists have often objected it to us that we have no Priests because we have no Bishops Bancroft's Survey p. 166 and have taken a great deal of Pains to set about the Nags-Head Fiction and destroy the order of our Bishops which shews how glad they would be to have them all destroyed Lastly such Eminent Divines of the Foreign Churches that have come into England and had only Ordination by Presbyters and received Preferment here have readily and willingly received Episcopal Ordination and now it hath pleased God to send over so many French Ministers into our Kingdom I do not find but that they readily and chearfully comply with our present Establishment in this particular also From all which it 's evident that the Presbyterians will not comply with Hypothetical Reordination that in most of the Protestant Churches they are not ordained but by Bishops or Superintendants that where they have neither they heartily wish for them and desire them and account Ordination by Presbyters in opposition to Bishops to be Schismatical and not allowed in any Protestant Church in the World and by consequence our doing it in England cannot be a likely way to promote the Peace and Vnion of the Protestant Churches A set Form of Prayer was seriously opposed by the Presbyterians at the Savoy who p. 23. tells us that serious Godliness is like to
THE JUDGMENT OF THE Foreign Reformed Churches CONCERNING THE RITES and OFFICES OF THE Church of England SHEWING There is no necessity of Alterations In a Letter to a Member of the House of Commons Arch-Bishop Bramhill's Works p. 494. All Protestants both Lutherans and Calvinists did give unto the English Church the Right Hand of Fellowship Casaubon's Prayer A. D. 1610. Thou O Lord Jesus preserve the Church of England and give a sound mind to the Nonconformists who deride its Rites and Ceremonies LONDON Printed for Robert Jenkinson A. D. 1690. To the Honoured A. A. A MEMBER Of the Honourable HOUSE of COMMONS SIR WHEN we parted at the Election you desired me to give you the Judgment of the Foreign Protestants about the Church of England and particularly as to the Rites and Offices of which the Author of the Letter to the Convocation tells us p. 23. That if the Convocation do not alter them most certainly the Parliament will The very talk of Change you know breeds a Ferment in the Nation and be sure the discontented will make their advantage of it but if the Nation finds the Parliament as steddy as the Convocation the Heats will soon be over and the Kingdom return to her Settlement and Peace Nolumus leges Angliae mutare was an Answer first in Parliament and that in opposition to some Ecclesiasticks who would have introduced several Foreign Rites and Customs into the room of received and approved Constitutions quae huc usque usitatae sunt ac approbatae Optatus Milev l. 3. p. 75. tells us of his time That there had been a Report spread by some that came from the Emperor that Alterations should be made in the Liturgy which startled the People but when they saw their Solemn Customs and wonted Rites observed and that nothing was changed added or diminish'd in their Divine Service they were quieted again Those Governments have been observed to continue longest that have been most steddy in their Laws and the Jews who were immediately governed by God had their very Rites and Ceremonies unaltered for almost 2000 Years their great Law-giver foreseeing that every considerable Alteration in an establish'd Religion or even its Rites and Modes would put the State into Convulsions and indanger a Revolution As to our present Conjuncture it was a great oversight in those that carryed on the Design of a Comprehension to begin with a Toleration and its unreasonable to think that the Dissenters will unite with Vs so long as their Separation is allowed Nothing that you can do will promote their Vnion with Vs but that which makes it their Interest and that can be only done by Rewards and Punishments and therefore the taking off the Sanctions of the Laws and making the Separation easie was beginning at the wrong end and a certain way to make a Comprehension ineffectual But since the Vnion proposed is not confined to our Nation but extended to all the Protestants in the World that are now united in their Interests I have here according to your Desires given you a true account of the great esteem and veneration they all have for the Church of England and particularly for those very Rites and Customs that are now disputed and what Offence and Scandal our Dissenters give them so that by an impartial Consideration of their Opinions you and all the Nation may be satisfied that making of Alterations in the Instances proposed will be so far from promoting a closer Vnion with the Foreign Protestants who have always esteemed Vs as the very Center of Union that its the most certain way to hinder it For what concerns the late Convocation I shall refer you to an excellent Paper Entituled Remarks from the Country upon the Two Letters relating to the Convocation and Alterations in the Liturgy SIR I am Your most Humble Servant N. S. THE CONTENTS 1. THE Dissenters from the Church of England constantly appeal to the Foreign Protestant Churches as Persons of their Opinions p. 2. 2. Some Inconsiderate or Designing Persons of the Church of England have joyned with them in this Appeal and Complaint p. 3 4 5. 3. This Opinion Confuted in general p. 6 7. 4. The Opinions of Beza Spanheim Diodate Casaubon Bochart Dumoulin c. concerning the Church of England Established p. 8 9 10 11 12. 5. The Opinion that the Foreign Reformed Divines have of our Dissenters particularly the Opinion of Calvin Beza Gualter Casaubon Bochart Capellus c. p. 12 13 14. 6. These General Opinions applyed to the Matters proposed to be Altered by the Authors of the Letters to the Convocation and in behalf of the Bill of Vnion and the Opinion of the Foreign Protestants is shewed as to Reading the Apocryphal Books in the Church p. 14 15 16 17 19 20 21. 7. As to the Rules for finding Easter p 22 23 24 25. 8. As to the Names of some old Saints and Bishops in the Kalendar p. 25 26. 9. As to the Reading the old Version of the Psalms p. 26. 27 28 29 30 31. 10. As to the retaining the Athanasian Creed p. 32 33. 11. As to the Cross in Baptism p. 34. 12. As to Godfathers in Baptism p. 35 36. 13. As to Kneeling at the Sacrament p. 37 38. 14. As to Excommunication for Contempt p. 41. 15. As to Ordination by Bishops only p. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52. 16. As to Set Forms of Prayers p. 53 54. 17. As to Established Rites and Ceremonies c. p. 55 56 57. 18. One Word to the Dissenters p. 58. 59. ERRATA PAge 6. l. 24. Humphred read Humphrys p. 17. l. 27. Populare read Populari p. 20. l. 2. Polyglot Latin read Polyglot Bible p. 22. l. 35. Venral read Vernal p. 26. l. 18. Evispine read Crispine p. 31. l. 24. perpagato read propagato p. 43. l. 34. pretented read pretensed THE JUDGMENT OF THE Foreign Reformed Churches CONCERNING THE RITES and OFFICES OF THE Church of England THERE have been Three Reasons much urged of late for making Alterations in the Rites and Offices of the Church of England at this Juncture the 1st relates to our selves the 2d to Dissenters and the 3d to Foreign Churches To the 1st it hath been answered that we do not need Alterations to the 2d that they do not desire them and the 3d is the Subject of this Discourse And though the Learned Books of Durel Comber Falkner and others might have rendered such a design needless yet so long as the Adversaries of our Peace and Establishment go on to amuse the Nation with old Fictions and Stories we must not cease to repeat old truths and plain matter of fact to confute them not doubting but that as truth is great so it will prevail It hath been the constant practice of the Preshyterian Party to boast of their Harmony and Agreement with the Foreign Reformed Churches in those things wherein they differ from us and frequently insinuate to their Followers that the
Protestants abroad were much offended with the Rites and Offices of the Church of England Thus their great Founder T. C. in his Preface to the Admonition Out of the Realm they have all the best Reformed Churches in Christendom against them i. e. The Presbyterians against the Church of England In his Admonition he frequently appeals to the best Reformed Churches and particularly p. 286. Our Ordination by Bishops is strange from the use of all well reformed Churches in the World In the Solemn League and Covenant they all Swore To endeavour the Reformation of Religion according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches Ordinance of Parliament for taking away the Common-Prayer Jan. 3d 1644. Resolving to Reform Religion according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches Preface to the Directory The Liturgy of the Church of England hath proved an Offence to the Reformed Churches abroad That we may answer the expectation of other reformed Churches The Presbyterians assembled at the Savoy in the Year 1660 declare That in the Liturgy are things that have given offence to Learned and Judicious Drvines of other Reformed Churches In their Petition for Peace p. 9. And if you should reject which God forbid the moderate Proposals which now and formerly we have made we offer to your consideration what judgment all the Protestant Churches are likely to pass on your Proceedings And again p. 10 How strange must it needs seem to the Reformed Churhes to the whole Christian World c. p. 13. The Pastors of the most Reformed Churches take this Conformity to be Sin And after this manner they declare all the World on their side and that the Foreign Churches admire at the stiffness of the Church of England by which contrivance though never so false they raise the heats and clamours of the ignorant and unthinking part of the Nation against the Church of England And still they go on to clamour against us without any proof though they have been so often urged to it and I here challenge them all to produce any one Authentick Act of any National Reformed Church in the World which hath at the least Reflected upon or Censured the Established Church of England And yet all this however vile and base is no more than we might justly have expected from the Professed Enemies of our Peace and Establishment but that which raised the admiration and astonishment of all Sober Men was to see the Professed Sons of the Church of England Men of Rank and Dignity embark'd in the same bottom of mistake and error and pursuing the same hideous outcries against us a mistake they could not run into but for want of good Books or good Company which would have informed them better and too much consining their Studies and their Conversations to that ill sort of Men. So that now our Church may justly take up the complaint of David Psalm 55. 12 14 15. It is not an open Enemy that hath done me this dishonour for then I could have born it but it was even thou my Companion my Guide and mine own Familiar Friend We took sweet Counsel together and walked in the House of God as Friends Of this sort is the Discourse concerning the Ecclesiastical Commission p. 24. The Eyes of all the World be open upon us all the Reformed Churches are in expectation of something to be done which makes for Vnion and Peace And a Letter to a Member of Parliament in favour of the Bill for a Protestant Union p. 5 For them that have not Episcopal Orders there will be such a provision made as will satisfie all the Ministers of the Foreign Protestant Churches Again p. 6. And for French and German and other Foreign Christians of the Reformed Religion I am well assured by Letters sent from Holland Geneva Switzerland and other Places not to speak of the Churches of the Lutheran Communion which write the same that they esteem the Conditions proposed in this Bill which hath been communicated to them as Terms fit for uniting of Protestants Where by the way I cannot but admire at the speed and diligence of this Persons Correspondence the King had not accepted of the Government till February after this the Convention is declared a Parliament and then after some more necessary things for setling the Government a project is set on work for a Bill of Union and yet he had sent a Copy of the Contents of it to Germany Holland Geneva Switzerland c. and received their several Approbations of it in March for that Paper is Licensed April 1st And yet it 's more strange that even the Churches of the Lutheran Communion should approve the conditions of that Bill of Union It was not long before that an excellent Author of undoubted credit gave us an authentick account of a Letter from several Ministers in Germany That the greatest part of the Protestants of Europe have been extreamly scandalized at our Dissenters That the Dissenters ought by no means to have separated themselves for the form of Ecclesiastical Government nor for Ceremonies That the Bishops have justified themselves from the reproach of being Popishly affected and of Persecuting the Dissenters they have made it appear that they were only Calumnies invented by their Enemies to render them odious to Protestants How much better would it be for the Dissenters to re-unite themselves to the Bishops with whom they differ only in some Points of Discipline And now quite contrary all the Reformed Churches expect that we should comply and unite with the Dissenters But without crossing the Seas we may make a fair guess at the incredibility of all this Foreign Account by the very next Pretence which gives as strange an Account of our selves at Home I am not singular in this for amongst all those who have appeared in the Churches cause as well against Dissenters as Papists I do not know one single Person that is not a well-wisher to this Bill and I believe they will all tell you so The direct contrary being manifestly true not only in several of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners who were call'd together to consult of that matter but also in the far greater part of the whole Convocation And if that Author be mistaken in the Age he lives in we have great hopes to think he is as much mistaken in the Ages past for so it follows Arch-Bishop Usher Bishop Sanderson Dr. Hammond and a long Order of other most Worthy Men of the last Age whose Memory is most precious in our Church had they been now alive would with all Zeal have promoted this Bill of Vnion Which very Paragraph is the reverse of one of Mr. Baxters in his Answer to Dr. Stillingfleet I am past doubt that Richard Hooker Bishop Bilson Bishop Usher and such others were they now alive would be Nonconformists yea I can prove it c. and if so they would not be for the Bill of Union which hath been generally opposed by the Nonconformists
The Preface to the Directory runs in the same Style We have no intention to disparage our first Reformers of whom we are perswaded that were they now alive they would joyn with us in this Work And thus its evident that these Sons of Comprehension joyn with the Dissenters to cry it up that all the World is on their side and clamour against all that oppose them as the Thessalonians did against the Apostles Act. 17. 6. These Men would turn the World up-side down whenas their despising of us and magnifying of the Foreign Churches is like that which OEcolampadius tells us in his Epistles p. 177. Aliis OEcolampadius aliis Zuinglius sordebat atqui nos amici sumus fuimus semper nemo gratificatur nobis qui propter nos dissidium seminat i. e. Some despise OEcolampadius and some Zuinglius but we are and always were Friends nor doth any one please us that sowes Discord upon our Accounts Let us therefore take a short view of the judgment of the Foreign Divines and see what Opinion they have of this stiff vile sinful Church of England As the Reformation in general consists of Lutherans and Calvinists so I find that agreement betwixt them in the most material Things as that Calvin himself subscribed the Lutheran Confession of Ausburgh and a whole Synod of his Disciples at Charenton in France in the Year 1631. declared That there was no Idolatry nor Superstition in the Lutheran Churches and therefore the Members of their Churches might be received into Communion with them without renouncing their Opinions or their Practices so that tho Papists and indiscreet Fanaticks have endeavour'd to set these two great parts of the Reformation as far asunder as possible yet the more sober Protestants have thought them very reconcilable and always endeavour'd it Now the Church of England hath been Establish'd in a middle way betwixt both extreams and laid aside those things which on either hand gave the greatest Offence by which means our Establish'd Church hath been look'd upon by moderate Men as the very Center of Union and Harmony of all the Protestant Churches in the World For this very reason when Calvin offer'd his Assistance to Arch-Bishop Cranmer he was refused by him The Famous Dr. Humfrede who was one of those Learned Men that fled abroad in Queen Maries Reign in his Prax. Cur. Rom. p. 70. tells us Nos non sumus Calviniani nec Reformationem nostram Calvinismum dicimus We are not Calvinists in England nor do we call our Reformation Calvinism and yet this was the Religion establish'd by Queen Elizabeth when that great Man wrote and Sir Edwin Sandys who had made a diligent survey of all the Religions in Europe saith expresly p. 214. That no Luther no Calvin was the Square of our Faith Now for our Church thus happily establish'd to alter to either extream is so far from promoting the Union of the Reformed Churches that its the most likely way to hinder it If we look upon the Lutheran Churches they have either Bishops as Denmark Norway and Swedland or else Superintendants which is another Name for Bishops who have power of Ordination and Jurisdiction as our Bishops in England They have all set Liturgies and Forms of Prayer they observe Holy-days and set-Fasts have Organs Hymns and Anthems they wear Surplices use the Cross in Baptism receive the Communion kneeling and make use of all those Rites which have been objected against the Church of England so that to alter these must needs give Offence to all those Churches and set us at a greater distance from them And as these Alterations proposed can never tend to an Union among Protestants so they must needs look ill at this time when not only all these Churches are united to us in one common Alliance for the defence of our Religion but also the very next Branch of our Royal Family is so nearly related to them As for such as propose our Union with the reformed Churches of France Geneva and Holland let them consider that the first of these is not and so we have now less reason than formerly the second is only a particular City for the Swiss are generally Lutherans and it s a very unreasonable Project of Union to have three Kingdoms alter their Religion for conformity with one City when at the same time they set themselves at a greater Variance with so many Kingdoms of the Reformed Religion As for Holland it s well known that they allow of all sorts of Religions and its impossible that any setled Uniformity amongst our selves can ever bring us to an Union to such a mixture and variety The Christian Religion was first planted among them by an English Bishop and our Reformation was fix'd and setled here before theirs began But because the Dissenters boast that the Reformed Churches of France and Holland and Geneva were always on their side and joyn'd with them in their abhorrence of the Church of England I will next consider what Opinion the Learned Men even of those Churches have had of ours First for Geneva And for his Learning and Eminency I will begin with the Famous 1. Beza Who in his Letter to Arch-Bishop Whitgift hath these Words The English Church is the Harbour of all the Godly and the Preserver of all other Reformed Churches 2. Spanheim Professor there in his Epistle to Arch-Bishop Vsher and others I often call to mind those Fortunate Isles of yours That Beauteous Face of your Church That Reverence in the Publick Worship of God The Church of Geneva hath a great affection to the British Churches whose Bishops we admire for whose Prosperity we daily Pray that your Church may continue to praise God as it doth that the Bishops may continue in their Authority and your Church in Peace c. and this was Written A. D. 1638. Then for his Successor 3. John Diodate Professor at Geneva in his Answer to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster when they had desired his Opinion about their Proceedings England in the time of its Episcopacy was the very Eye and Excellency of all Churches Christs own choice and peculiar What a sad Spectacle is it to see that Church trodden under Feet An horrid thing that you have done and never before heard of amongst the Reformed Churches We are struck with Horrour at the change of the glorious Face of that Church may God restore your Churches to that high Estate and pitch of Holiness and Glory in which they have hitherto excell'd and out-shin'd all the Churches upon the Earth And this is the esteem Geneva had for the Episcopal Church of England and certainly we ought not to alter the best Church in the World to comply with that which by their Confession is not so good In the next place let us see the French Divines I will begin 1. with Casaubon in his Epistle to King James the I. The Church of England comes nearer the form of the flourishing Christian
Church of old than any other it hath taken a middle way betwixt those Churches which are amiss either through excess or defect If my Judgment doth not deceive me the most sound part of the whole Reformation is in England 2. The learned Bochart in his Epistle to Bishop Morley There are none of the reformed of France if they happen to be in England but willingly joyn with the Church of England as by Law establish'd and as soon as they can get a competent knowledge of the English Tongue are present at her Offices and receive the Holy Communion there which I have often my self done at London and at Oxford This is not only my Opinion but of all the Pastors of the Reformed Religion in France 3. Peter du Moulin in the Preface to his Fathers Answer to Perron The Church of England hath more of the Primitive and Apostolick Church-Government than any other Church in the rest of the world The French Protestants have the same good Opinion of it and desire to enjoy the same Government if they might be so happy 4. Monsieur Claude in his Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet The Church of France hath always looked upon and considered the Church of England not only as a Sister but an elder Sister for which we have a respect and veneration and daily pray 5. Monsiur Le Moyne in a Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet All the Protestants of France Geneva Switzerland Germany and Holland look upon the Church of England as a very Orthodox Church All the Protestant Churches have always had a very great respect for the Purity of the Church of England And in another Letter to Dr. Brevint published by Dr. Durell I praise God for our Reformation in France but I fear not to say that if we had kept Bishops and as many Ceremonies as would serve to fix the Attention of the People without Superstition we should have seen for certain far greater progress of the Reformation To which I cannot but add what Monsieur Ronee a French Embassador in England when he saw our Solemn Services and Rites told King James the First That if the Reformed Church of France had kept the same Order among them which we have he was assured that there would have been many thousands of Protestants more than now there are And this Observation is so undoubtedly true that it long since forc'd this Expression from one of our bitter Enemies Sanders de Schism Angl. p. 283. Queen Elizabeth in her Reformation kept many of the Rites and Manners of the ancient Church which very much conduced to the Firmness and Establishment of her Heresio for had things been left to the capriciousness of some of the new Clergy that talk'd much of the Gospel-Liberty it had all long since vanish'd into Smoke but by her Polity was strengthned and supported 6. Monsieur De L' Angle in his Letter publish'd by Dr. Stillingfleet p. 421. I am sure with what an exceeding Joy the Protestant Churches of France would enter into Communion with you i. e. the Church of England And in his Letter to Durel published by him p. 70 71. I rejoyced very much at the establishment of the Anglico-Gallicane Church i. e. the French Church with the English Common-Prayer and Rites that this may make known to the World the Communion that is betwixt us and that the Reformed Churches of France have not that aversion against the Discipline of the Church of England which some Men report they have I am certain my Collegues are of the same mind with me And again p. 143. My Heart did leap for joy when I heard that your Liturgy and ancient Discipline was restored i. e. in the year 1660. To these Testimonies I will add the Observation of Durâ—â— a French-man also p. 92. When the French Church in London was establish'd with the English Liturgy and Rites tho Providence brought over many Ministers from beyond the Seas some from Geneva some from France some from Germany some from Poland some from Lithuania some from Piemont and almost from all the Reformed Churches we have seen none of them that made any difficulty to assist at Divine Service and conform all of them received the Sacrament kneeling c. And I cannot but wonder with what Face the Men of this Age press us to make Alterations for the sake of other Reformed Churches when we see those of the Reformed Religion of France who are all Calvinists and who out of Zeal to God's Glory readily sacrificed all their Secular Interest to their Religion and come over to this Kingdom have universally joyn'd with the Church of England in her Liturgy and Rites received the Lords Supper on their Knees had their Children Baptized with Godfathers and signed with the Sign of the Cross c. and all this at a time when the Laws of this Kingdom gave them Liberty to joyn with what Communion they pleased Which was such an unanswerable Argument to our Dissenters God having as it were brought a Nation from another Kingdom to convince them that it was generally observed throughout all the Kingdom that the Dissenters were very cold in their Charity towards them If we look into the Churches of Holland 't is true all sorts of Religions are allowed but it 's evident that the great and Leading Men there have ever had a great Esteem for the Church of England witness the great Respect and Honour they had for the English Bishops in the Synod of Dort when they neither had nor desired any Representatives from our Presbyterians Witness the two Famous Vossius's Father and Son who always spoke with all Respect and Honour of the Church of England and so far approved of our Cathedral Service as that the Father was Prebendary of Canterbury the Son Prebendary of Windsor Witness the Famous Grotius who always admired the Church of England above all the Churches in the World and upon his Death-bed recommended it to his Wife and such others of his Family that were then about him obliging them to adhere firmly to it which was readily obeyed by them Bishop Bramhall ' s Vind. of Grotius cap. 2. Witness the two Junius's and many others but I shall only add the present Famous Living Instance his present Majesty King William who was born and always bred in that Church and yet from his first coming into England hath readily and constantly joyned with the Church of England used her Liturgy with great Devotion and Honour and observ'd all its Rites and Ceremonies as Kneeling Standing c. in their proper places and upon all occasions hath declared himself zealously and heartily in her Praise and Commendations and promised his Protection of it and all this at such times when the contrary Interest wasmost prevalent and he was daily beset with those that were no Friends to the present Establishment All which is an undeniable Argument how readily those of Holland would joyn with us As to the Northern Churches we have
ordained by Presbyters as is evident from that very Place in the Life of Bishop Bramhall from whence this Author quotes a Passage and what he did for Peace Sake was only this That in some of their Certificates of their being ordained by him he declared That this New Ordination did not destroy their former Orders if they had any c. And it s abundantly evidently that that Bishop did re-ordain many of them To the last of these three ways I return no Answer because he himself doth not tell us what it was that was proposed in the Bill of Union The second was the principal Method insisted on and that is Hypothetical Re-ordination in which the Office of Ordination was to be omitted and the Person kneeling before a Bishop the Bishop was to say If thou art not already Ordained I Ordain thee or else in these Words I pray God that thou be ordained c. And this is justified by the Instance of Hypothetical Baptism To all which I reply 1. That the Presbyterians the Persons we are to satisfy have already declared against Hypothetical Ordination so the Presbyterians at the Savoy in their Petition for Peace p. 2. We earnestly beseech you that Re-ordination whether Absolute or Hypothetical be not made necessary for the future Exercise of our Ministry now to grant them what they have already declared against is no probable way to the Union pretented 2. Hypothetical Baptism is of Two sorts 1 st When 't is not known that the Child hath had any pretended Baptism with Water in the name of the Trinity and then the case is not the same as this Of such hypothetical Rebaptization the 5th Council of Carthage c. 3. is to be understood where they commend the Words of Leo Iteratum dici non potest quod nescitur ess factum i. e. That cannot be said to be repeated which was never known to be done The 2d is when all that hath been done is exactly known but the authority of the Persons Baptizing or Authenticalness of what is done is called in question and in this case the Presbyterians do not allow of Hypothetical Baptism witness the Synops pur Theol. p. 617 Neque Baptismus conditionalis probandus est qui a Pontificiis observari solet i. e. neither do we approve of Hypothetical Baptism which is used by the Papists for they to gain respect to their own Church endeavour to perswade such other Christians as are admitted into their Church to be hypothetically Rebaptized of which we have one famous instance in the Church of the Abyssines reported by Ludolfus in Hist Aethiop l. 3. c. 6. Patres Societatis Habessinos omnes promiscue rebaptizaverunt sub conditione tamen si videlicet prior Baptismus non rite fuisset peractus quae res magnam illis invidiam conflavit i. e. The Jesuites rebaptized all the Habessines with this condition namely if their former Baptism was not rightly performed which thing occasioned great troubles against them Which troubles he reports cap. 13. The Habessines hated them for nothing more than their repeating of their Baptism as if before that they had been Heathens and Publicans And is it not evident that Hypothetical Re-ordination will produce the same troubles here when by this very Act our Church plainly supposeth that they were not ordained before But to make all this matter plain I will first set down the opinion of the English Presbyterians then the opinion of the Foreign Reformed Churches 1. For our English Presbyterians T. C. the Ringleader of that Party having been ordained by a Bishop is said to have renounced his orders and taken new orders from Presbyters in Scotland The Presbyterians reordained Mr. John Cuningham formerly ordained Priest by the Bishop of Galloway Ravil rediv. p. 29. A whole Synod of the Puritans at Coventry A. D. 1588 June 10 condemned Ordination by Bishops as unlawful and farther declared the very calling of Bishops unlawful Bancroft's Engl. Scotizing p. 86. T. C. in his Admonition p. 127 desires the Bishops to be laid aside from ordaining Ministers and to bring in the true Election by the Congregation And in his Prayer before his Sermon at Banbury printed in the Life of Archbishop Whitgift p. 47. O Lord give us grace and power all as one Man to set our selves against the Bishops Apologetical Narrative It s a sin to take Episcopal Orders or to own the Authority of Bishops And to mention no more in the Solemn League and Covenant the Presbyterians of both Nations swore to the Extirpation of Prelacy i. e. the government of the Church by Bishops And accordingly in Scotland the Presbyterians have generally persecuted all those that had Episcopal Ordination 2. For the Foreign Reformed Churches observe 1sit That the Churches of Denmark and Norway are governed by Two Archbishops and Fourteen Bishops The Churches of Swedeland are governed by One Archbishop and Six Bishops the Churches of Hungary and Transylvania are governed by Bishops the Reformed Churches of Bohemia have a succession of Bishops as we in England Pass we next to the Reformed Churches of Germany which are in effect governed by Bishops whom they call Superintendants Their Office is described in the Harmony of Confess p. 227. to visit Parochial Ministers to preside in Synods to examine and ordain Persons fit for the Ministry c. To which agreeth Carpzovins Jurisp Eccl. l. 1. Comenius in Annot. ad rat disc fratr Bohem. where he observes that St. Hierom calls a Bishop Superintendant in Armenia the Bishop is called Martabet which signifieth Superintendant saith Rycaut Hist of Arm. Churches p. 392. And Zanchy saith that the Protestants have Bishops and Archbishops but that instead of good Greek Names they call them by bad Latine ones Superintendants and general Superintendants And when in the Book of Policy A. D. 1581. for the Kingdom of Scotland the Office of Superintendants is described it is in these Words Imprimis The Superintendant of Orkney his Diocess shall be the Isles of Orkney c. The Superintendant of Rosse his Diocess shall be Rosse c. The Superintendant of Edenbrough his Diocess shall be c. The Superintendant of Glascow his Diocess c. In all Ten Superintendants for that Kingdom Then follows the Function and Power of the Superintendant He shall plant and erect Churches order and appoint Ministers Visit c. See the Proceedings at Perth p. 14 15. And in all such Churches where they have Superintendants there is no Ordination allowed but by them An Account of the Persecuted in Scotland p. 58. There is not a falser Proposition in the World than that the Inclinations of the generality of the People in Scotland are against Episcopacy and let us have a Poll for it when they will and you shall quickly see the Demonstration Of the Vulgus the Commonalty not a Third Man throughout the whole Kingdom is a Presbyterian And of Persons of better Quality and Education not a Thirteenth In all the Country on