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
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
a great Example before us in the Prince of Denmark And lastly For the Church of Scotland not to mention the several Synods and Acts of Parliament by which Bishops set forms of Prayer c. have been established amongst them and the same Rites as are in the Church of England Not to mention the great number amongst them that at this time are vigorous Asserters of Episcopacy Let King James the First speak for all in his Speech delivered in the Star-Chamber An. Dom. 1616. I say in my Conscience that the Church of England of any Church that ever I read or knew of present or past is most pure and nearest the Primitive and Apostolick Church in Doctrine and Discipline and is sureliest founded upon the Word of God of any Church in Christendom And having thus far seen the great Esteem the Reformed Churches abroad have for the Church of England as by Law established let us next fee what Opinion they have of the Presbyterians and other Dissenters amongst us I will begin with Calvin who in his Book De Necess Ref. Eccl. saith If any be found that do not reverence such an Hierarchy i. e. such as we have in England and subject themselves to the same with the lowest Obedience I confess there is no Anathema whereof he is not worthy And again In a well-setled Church diversities of Customs is not to be suffered Next for Beza in his Epistle to the English Puritans from Geneva A. D. 1567. of his Epistles p. 97. I tremble to think that any should perform their Ministerial Duty against the Will of her Majesty and the Bishops And in another Epistle to Archbishop Grindon A. D. 1566. speaking of the same Persons It s in vain for them to pretend weakness in a Kingdom where the Gospel hath been preach'd so many years and been confirmed with the Blood of so many Martyrs Gualterus in his Epistle Dedicatory of his Homilies upon the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians calls those morose and ignorant who for things indifferent trouble the peace of the Church of England and separate from her Communion Who whilst they endeavour to reduce the Church of England to that model and form which they have fancied disturb her peace which we heartily rejoyce to see restored among you To which I will add his Words in his Letter to the Bishop of Ely A. D. 1572. I would never have sent my Son into England the only Son by my Wife Zuinglia whose memory is dear to me except I had throughly perswaded my self of our consent and agreement Casaubon in his Ephemeris A. D. 1610 Nov. 1st in Moulin's Def. p. 7. hath this Prayer Thou O Lord Jesus preserve the Church of England and give a sound mind to the Nonconformists who deride the Rites and Ceremonies of it The Learned Bochart in his Epistle to Durel Those who refuse to communicate with the Church of England because of her Ceremonies are Schismaticks find your Liturgy very good and well ordered Capellus in Thes Salm. de Liturgia Of late there arose in England a froward scrupulous and overnice not to say Superstitious Generation of Men who not only blame but Cashire and Abolish the Liturgy used hitherto in their Church for causes very trivial and almost of no moment at all the Lord grant that they may come to a better mind Mr. Claude in his Letter published by Dr. Stilling fleet The Dissenters holding their Assemblies apart separating from the publick Assemblies c. is real Schism odious to God and Man of which the Authors and Patrons cannot avoid rendring an account before the Tribunal of God Mr. Le Moyne in his Letter A. D. 1660 published by Durell If ever any made their ungratefulness notorious they are the English opposers of Episcopacy What good have these troublers of Israel that are so contrary to Bishops done for well nigh Twenty Years that they have ruled Have not all things grown worse Heresy grown bold Did ever Satan work more mischief than since the time that these Men became Masters for a re-union of all the foreign Reformed Churches the King of England must preserve the Bishops And in his Letter published by Dr. Stillingfleet Whence is it that some English Men have so ill an opinion of the Church of England and divide rashly from her as they do Is not this to divide from all the Ancient Churches from all the Protestant Churches which have always had a very great respect for the purity of that of England I look upon these Men as Disturbers of the State and Church and who are doubtlesly animated by a Spirit of Sedition Societies composed of such Persons would be extreamly dangerous and could not be suffered without opening the Gate to disorder and advancing towards ones own ruine to cantonize themselves and make a Schism to have the liberty to vent such vanities is very ill conduct Mr. Goyon in his Letter published by Durell Those are in a Dream and dote who have an Opinion that the Conscience is wounded by living under the English Liturgy and they wrong us very much when they quote us to foment a Schism extreamly scandalous And thus I have given the judgements of the most eminent Men of the Reformed Religion of France Holland and Geneva and shewed what opinion they have of the Church of England as by Law established and what opinion they have of the Dissenters from it and whoever seriously considers these things will find no reason for us to alter our establishment in order to an union and complyance with the foreign Reformed Churches It s hard to meet with any one considerable Protestant Writer that speaks ill of the Church of England besides the Dissenters that live amongst us and some few that have been prejudiced by them And should we compare the Eulogies and Praises that these Foreign Divines give the Church of England with the opprobrious Language it generally receives from our own own Dissenters we must conclude that they and the Foreign Divines are not of the same judgment I will mention only the Divines of the Savoy Conference p. 3. where we have their Synodical Judgment in these words We take the Common-Prayer to be a Defective Disorderly and inconvenient mode of Worship it would be a Sin to use it c. How different is their Language from that of the Foreign Divines But lest it be objected that these are only general Expressions I have mentioned and that notwithstanding all this the Foreign Churches would be glad to have these Alterations made which have been proposed I will next consider most of the things that have been insisted on to be changed and see whether the Foreign Reformed Churches will be better pleased with them as they now are or as those that delight in change would have them And because the Kalendar is the first thing insisted on to be altered we will begin with that and first the Reading of Apocryphal Chapters in the Church and especially
Lutheran Churches the professors of Lâ—yden in their Synopsis pur Theol. p. 616. declare that though there is not an absolute necessity of witnesses in Baptism yet the very nature of the thing and the custom of all the Primitive Church shew it to be profit able and is probably deduced from the practise of the Jews Is 8. 2. Upon which place Junius in his Comment is very express hinc ritus noster adhibendi testes in Baptismo i. e. hence came our custom of using Godfathers in Baptism For the use of Godfathers in the Church of the Muscovites see Joh Faber de relig Muscov For the use of them in the Ethiopian Churches see Ludolfus And now let even our adversaries be judges whether the laying aside the use of Godfathers or which amounts to the same thing leaving it as a matter indifferent to the Parents discretion and choice whether he will have any or not be not a very unlikely method for us to make use of in this Kingdom in order to procure the peace and union of all the Reformed Churches who no doubt would be highly displeas'd and offended with us should we do it Kneeling at the Sacrament hath been often objected against by the Dissenters and the Letter to the Convocation p. 12. would have us be so indulgent as to give them the Sacrameut in their own way and not debar them of it for the sake of a posture to do otherwise will be a Sin The other Letter p. 8. would have it wholly indifferent to kneel stand or sit in the Lords Supper p. 9. The Person that scruples kneeling may have it delivered him in another posture in his Pew c. And yet if all this was done we should not satisfy the Presbyterians who declared at the Savoy p. 61. That Kneeling at the Lords Table is disorderly And in the Directory p. 34. The Communion Table is order'd to be so placed that the Communicants may orderly sit about it Now let us go to the Foreign Protestant Churches and advise with them in this matter let us go into Denmark Norway Sweden Germany and advise with them and all others strictly called Protestants and they all receive the Sacrament Kneeling The confession of the Faith of the Bohemian Churches Art 13. Le the ministers distribute the Sacrameut to the Communicants upon their Knees And as to their practice it is to be seen in Comenius ratio Disciplinae c. Let Hospinian speak for Zurick and the Swisse Hist Sacr l. 5. c. 8. The Sacrament ought to be received devoutly with bending Knees At Geneva and in the French Churches they refuse to administer the Sacrament to any one that sits and now they are so many of them in England they all receive kneeling which is agreeable to the Apology for the Reformed Churches written by Monsseur Dallee chap. 12. p. 56. Thanks be to God we are not so ill taught as to scruple the receiving the Sacrament on our Knees Our Brethren of England never receive it otherwise and when we communicate with them we readily conform to their order Also Apology for Protestants written by a French Protestant p. 88. We must undoubtedly conclude it of great necessity that the Communion should be received Kneeling as in the Church of England and in Germany And our Reformers have still been of this opinion and he quotes Beza Calvin Bucer and Peter Martyr for it And the Genevians in their Annotations upon the Harmony of Confessions are well contented that every Church should use their Liberty in these points following viz. Kneeling at the Communion Organs and Ember-days c. See Bancrofts Survey p. 358. 359. The first Person that introduced sitting at the Sacrament in England was John a Lasco an Arrian and he was the chief Person that disturb'd the Churches of Poland with this slovenly not to say Impious opinion as appears from Wengersicus's History of the Sclavonick Churches p. 129. till at last in a great Synod at Petricoviaâ—i A. D. 1578. It was agreed That because sitting at the Lord's Table is a Rite different from all the Reformed Churches in Europe and they amongst us were the first Authors of it who rafhly changing every thing in the Church fell away from us to Arrianism therefore let us leave this custom to them who irreverently treat Christ and his Mysteries I say let us leave this custom as neither agreeing to Decency nor Religion and to many honest Persons extreamly Scandalous And again in another Synod at Wlodislavia Anno Dom. 1583. Sitting at the Lord's Table is forbidden in all the Churches of Poland Lithuania c. As not being used by those of the Reformed Religion and being peculiar to the Arrians And that we have reason to have the same fear in England appears from the many Arrians and Socinians amongst us and more fully by the open Declarations of the Scotch Presbyterians against Kneeling at the Sacrament They would not at the Communion signify their inferiority to Christ nor abase themselves but think themselves equals Assembly at Perth p. 38. It 's true that the custom of Kneeling hath been abused in the Church of Rome to an Idolatrous Adoration of the Sacrament and so hath sitting and standing also The Priest that saith Mass receiveth the Sacrament standing and yet adores it At Rome the Popes Deacon receives standing and the Pope himself receives it sitting Card. Bona de rebus Liturg. p. 490. And Espencaeus deâ— Adorat Euch. l. 2. c. 16. declares that the Sacrament may be adored sitting standing lying or kneeling The care that was taken in the Churches of Poland was that there should be an Authentick Declaration that no adoration of the Elements was intended by those that received kneeling Harm confess p. 237. So the Church of England took care in the second Edition of the Liturgy in the Reign of Edward the Sixth to insert a Rubrick declaring That no Adoration of the Elements or Sacrament was intended by kneeling and though when the Doctrine of our Church against Transubstantiation and Adoraration was sufficiently known it was left out in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth King James the First and King Charles the First yet upon the particular Request of the Presbyterians at the Savoy p. 94. it was again inserted with a design to give them satisfaction and yet they are after all as forward to object adoration to us as if there had been no such Declaration made From all which it 's evident that sitting is a posture very ossensive and scandalous to many other Protestant Churches as well as ours that kneeling is most generally used and therefore leaving all postures indifferent as is now proposed by some of our own Divines and was formerly desired by the Presbyterians at the Savoy p. 56. is a likely way to increase the Disciples of T. F. and the opposers of the Athanasian Creed but is never likely to work an union amongst the Protestant Churches Letter relating to the Convocation p. 12. This
to the beginning of the Reformation and they generally all of them used the Cross in Baptism for 1500 years and its strange that all the Christian Churches for so many years should be guilty of so dangerous an evil as the sign of the Cross in Baptism nor do I know of any one Church in the World that condemned or so much as shewed their dislike of it for 1500 years And for the present age it 's still retain'd in all the Churches of the Roman Communion in all the Greek Churches Rycant p. 168. in the Churches of the Jacobites Brerewoods Enq. p. 153. in the Churches of AEgypt Pagitt's Chistianogr p. 104. in the Abissine or AEthiopian Churches Ludolfi Hist AEthiop l. 3. c. 6. in the Churches of the Muscovites Joh. Faber de relig Muscov in the Protestant Churches of the Ausburg confession the Sign of the Cross is generally used in Baptism and for the other Reformed Churches not one hath declared themselves offended with us for using it but several eminent amongst them have declared for it Bucer declared it an ancient and innocent Rite and that it might be decently and profitably used The Learned Casaubon in his answer to Baronius Exerc. 13. Sect. 33. commends our holy and prudent Bishops who have retain'd this use of the Cross amongst us Peter Martyr declared it lawful to profess our selves Christians by the Sign of the Cross Beza himself speaks favourably of it in his book adversus Baldvinum And Goulartius of Geneva declares it to be a ceremony indifferent Apology for Protestants by a French Divine p. 87. Touching the Sign of the Cross which the Church of England retains to understand it as they do as a visible mark that the Infant Baptiz'd is enroll'd as Christs Souldier should not be ashamed to confess the Faith of Christ Crucifyed and fight under his Banner I see no ground at all of exception against this Ceremony And William Durel in his Sermon on 1 Cor. 11. 16. had amongst other things given the Reformed of France an account of our using the Sign of the Cross he by several Letters from De L' Angle Bochart Daille and other eminent Divines of the French Church received its due praise and approbation And now Gods Providence hath settled so many thousands of them amongst us they readily and willingly make use of it and approve it Secondly For Godfathers I find â—hem not only required in all the Eastern and Western Churches but more particularly Zuinglus in his Book de Bapt. is much for the use of them and saith that the clamours raised against them were only by the Anabaptists Calvin in the form of Baptism composed for Geneva and which is still used there requires Godfathers at Baptism and they promise for the Childs Christian Education as in the Church of England And in an Epistle to Farell he hath these words We require of the Godfathers that they promise to see the Children when grown up instructed in the Faith they are Baptized in If there be no Godfathers it 's certain the Baptism is prophaned Beza in his Epistles frequently declares for the use and necessity of them and particularly in Ep. 24. reckons them among the Constitutions of the Church that bind the Conscience And Epist 8. to the Bishop of London That Infants be Baptized in the publick Congregation with a set form of Prayer that there be Godfathers to engage fortheir Christian Education c. these are plain and honest Rites such as give no occasion to Superstition and who is there that dare condemn them In the Laws of the Church of Geneva Sect. 38. The name of the Infant and Godfather must be Registred by the Minister This was heretofore enjojned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Diocess and I have seen some Registers in that Diocess whereby it appears that injunction was observed for some time Sect. 39. None are to be Godfathers but the faithful and those of our Confession Sect. 40. they that are suspended from the Lords Supper must not be Godfathers In the Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France chap. 11. Sect. 7. Tho we have no express commandment of the Lord for Godfathers and Godmothers in Baptism yet because the custom is ancient and introduced for a good end those that will not follow so good an example but present their Infants themseves should be earnestly exhorted not to be contentious but to behave themselves according to this ancient custom which is good and profitable Sect. 12th The Minister shall diligently admonish the Godfathers and Godmothers to consider the promises they have made at the celebration of Baptism c. and to this agreeth the Synod of St. Foy A. D. 1578. at Samues 1596. at Montpellier 1598. which last saith that Godfathers are obliged not only to instruct the Children in Piety but also in case of necessity to provide for their maintenance Sect. 18th the names of the Godfathers and Godmothers of the Infant shall be registred Which last thing of Registring them as it 's generally practis'd by the reformed Churches abroad so is very agreeable to the practice of the Primitive Church and particularly taken notice of by Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite To all which I beg leave to add the observation of Monsieur Larroque an eminent Minister of the French reformed Church in his Book entituled Conformite de la Discipline Ecclesiastique des Protestants de France avec celle des anciens Chietiens A. D. 1678 and p. 208. he thus writes L'usage des parriens c. i. e. the use of Godfathers and Godmothers to present Children in Baptism is very ancient Tertullian makes mention of them in his book of Baptism chap. 18. St. Austin in his 23d Epistle the pretended Denies the Areopagite who tells us that they are of Apostolick Institution Gregory the 1st in his book of the Sacraments Caesarius of Arles in his 12th Homily the SixthCanon of the Council of Mets. A. D. 888. and indeed the subject of that whole Book is to justify their Discipline from the antiquity of it and agreement with the primitive Church I therfore mention this because Arguments of this nature are so very much slighted by our own Dissenters This author in the Title page of his book prefixeth this sentence from the Laws of Theodosius Statuimus observari quod prisca Apostolica Disciplina Canones veteres eloquuntur i. e. we command that those things be observed which the Apostolick Church and old Canons declare for and appoint Which I think is more fully explain'd by St. Austin Epist 118. ad Casulan In iis rebus de quibus nihil statuit scriptura mos populi Dei instituta majorum pro lege Dei tenenda sunt i. e. in such things as the Scripture hath not determined the custom of the Christian Church and the constitutions of our Ancestors should be observed as the Law of God To return Godfathers are also used in the Dutch Rohemian and all the
the North of Tay thre never was above Three or Four Meeting-Houses and these too very little frequented At Perth where a Presbyterian Minister hath got the Church not One in Ten go to hear him not one of the Magistrates The like at Cowpar in Fife at st Andrews Sterling Burnt-Island c. Even in Edenbrough the Presbyterian Ministers are not so much frequented as the Regular Clergy Whatever Friends the Presbyterians there had a Year or Two agoe they arethis day diminished by a Third the People have enough of their Cant and are weary of their Sermons 2. Those Reformed Churches that are not governed by Bishops earnestly desire them To this purpose the Scottish Forbs in his Irenicum Printed A. D. 1629 p. 202 hath these Words Such was the condition of Protestants in many Foreign Parts that being forced by utmost necessity they allowed Presbyters to ordain they heartily wish'd that they might be ordained by Bishops but when they could not obtain that of the Bishops without wicked conditions c. nor could the prohibition of Popish Bishops hinder their Ordination from being valid since in those Countries the Presbyters and Pastors had the chief power over the Christian i. e. Reformed Churches This they did not out of any contempt of the antient Canons but out of absolute necessity as appears from the Apology of the Protestants for the Consession at Ausburg Art 14. We have often testified that we earnestly desire to retain the ancient Ecclesiastical Politie and degrees in the Church but the Bishops i. e. Popish compel our Priests to renounce their Doctrine c. Wherefore in some Places this Politie is destroyed which we heartity desired to keep this we declare before God and the World that it should not be imputed to us that we have no Bishops When at the Synod of Dort an English Bishop had set forth the usefulness of being governed by Bishops for repressing Heresy and Schism c. the President of the Synod made answer Nos non samus adeo felices i. e. We are not so happy Peter Moulin in his Preface to his Fathers Answer to Perron tells us that the want of Bishops in the French Church was the necessity of their condition that they desire the same Government we have in England if they might be so happy When they moved Cardinal Richlieu to allow them Bishops he flatly denied it them They could never get of the Civil Power a toleration of Bishops their Politick Statesmen would never give way to it nothing hath been more eagerly opposed by the Pope and his Creatures than that the Protestants should have Bishops The Apology for Protestants written by a French Divine p. 60. This may suffice to satisfy the Scruples of those that take offence at Episcopal Government we have cleared the Point of Episcopacy p. 62. The Ordination of Priests ought to be without all dispute the Bishops work p. 63. The Superiority of Bishops to Pastors has continued from the very time of the Apostles or their Disciples as is already made appear And therefore in England the Papists have always laboured the Destruction of our Bishops as zealously and heartily as the Presbyterians themselves That virulent Papist Sanders in his Book de Schism Angl. p. 167 confesseth that nothing would more gratify the Church of Rome than the pulling down of Bishops Deans and Prebendaries in England And Parsons in his Book of the Reformation of England see Moral Pract. of the Jes p. 313 proposeth this as the necessary Method to bring England to the Romish Religion And Cardinal Barbarini was so sensible of this that he said he could be contented that there were none of their Priests in England so there were no Bishops Dr. Stillingfleet Pref. to the Unreason of Separation p. 9. The Papists returned their Thanks to the Rump Parliament for having delivered them from the Tyranny of the Bishops Christian Moderator p. 32. And that the Papists had a chief Hand in pulling down our Bishops in England is confessed by Albius in his Exegesis p. 145. If Papists may not be believed in this matter I hope Mr. Baxter may and he declares in his Grotian Religion p. 95. That the Papists had a Hand in casting out our Bishops I shall end this undoubted Truth with the words of Two Eminent Persons of the Church of England Sir Henry Yelverton in his Preface p. 9. It 's now sufficiently known what wonder the casting out of Bishops was to the Reformed Churches abroad and what publick Triumph to the Roman Conclave Bishop Sanderson in his first Preface to his Sermons It 's well known what rejoycing the Vote against Bishops brought to the Romish Party how in Rome itself they sang their Io Paeans upon the Tidings of it and said Triumphantly now is the day ours now is the fatal blow given to the Protestant Religion in England Upon which account we have great reason to believe that the Romanists have used their utmost endeavours to hinder the Reformed of France from having Bishops as they heartily desired 3. Let us see what opinion the Eminent Divines of the Foreign Reformed Churches have of our English Bishops 1st Calvin in his Book de neces ref If they will give us such an Hierarchy in which the Bishops do not refuse to be subject to Christ have him for their only head i. e. in opposition to the Pope and be united to the truth of the Gospel then if there be any that do not reverence such Bishops and submit to them I confess there is no Anathema which they do not deserve and in his Epistle to the Duke of Somerset c. he commends our English Bishops as such 2d Bucer de Regno Christi We see by the perpetual Observation of the Church from the Apostles time that it pleased the Holy Ghost to have one Person set over the Presbyters to have the care of the Church and govern it and therefore he is called a Bishop And again in his Works p. 565. These Orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons have ever been in the Church by the appointment of the Holy Ghost And again in resp protest apud Goldast Tom. 2. which Bucer was the Author of How much mischief the Reformed Churches have suffered for want of Bishops no one can easily find Words to express Forbs p. 132. 3d. Beza in Ep. p. 18. Speaking of Bishops Priests and Deacons adds the Holy Ghost appointed those Orders Contra Sarav ad 518. Art 3. If England continue to keep her Bishops and Arch-Bishops let her enjoy that singular Blessing of God which I wish they may always have And again If there be any that reject all sort of Episcopacy God forbid that any but Mad Men should joyn with them 4th Spanheim in Epist ad dub Evang. Vol. 3. At Geneva they have a great esteem for the English Bishops and daily pray for their Prosperity 5th Le Moyne from Leyden published by Dr. Stillingfleet p. 405. As for the
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
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