imaginable and indeed ought to be always accompanied with the advice and concurrence of the worthiest persons among the inferior Clergy But till you secure my fears of the greater part in all Societies becoming corrupt I shall not say by the major part of them but by the better part Isot. I see you run a high strain and far different from what was the discourse of this Countrey a year ago of an accommodation was inâ—ended wherein large offers seemed to be made but I now see by your ingenuous freedom that though for a while you who were called a great friend to that design were willing to yield up some parts of the Episcopal Grandeur yet you retain the â—oot of that Lordly ambition still in your heart and so though for some particular ends either to deceive or divide the LORDS people you were willing to make an appearance of yielding yet it was with a resolution of returning with the first opportunity to the old practices and designs of the Prelats of enhansing the Ecclesiastical Power to themselves and a few of their associats And this lets me see what reason all honest people have to bless GOD that these arts and devices took not for an Ethiopian cannot change his skin Phil. I confess to you freely I was a little satisfied with these condescentions as any of you and though they gave up the Rights of the Church to a peevish and preverse party whom gentleness will never gain and therefore am no less satisfied than you are that they did not take and so much the more that their refusing to accept of so large offers gave a new and clear character to the World of their temper and that it is a faction and the servile courting of a party which they design and not a strict adherence to the rules of conscience otherwise they had been more tractable Eud. Let me crave pardon to curb your humor a little which seems too near a kin to Isotimus his temper though under a different character For my part I had then the same sense of Episcopacy which I have just now owned But whâ—n I considered the ruines of Religion which our divisions occasioned among us and when I read the large offers S. Augustin made on the like occasion to the Donatists I judged all possible attempts even with the largest condescentions for an accommodation a worthy and pious design well becoming the gravity and moderation of a Bishop to offer and the nobleness of these in authority to second with their warmest endeavors for if it was blessed with success the effect was great even the setling of a broken and divided corner of the Church if it took not as it fully exonered the Church of the evils of the Schism so it rendered the enemies of Peace and Unity the more unexcusable Only I must say this upon my knowledg that whatever designs men of various sentiments fastened upon that attempt it was managed with as much ingenuity and sincerity as mortals could carry along with them in any purpose I know it is expected and desired that a full account of all the steps of that affair be made publick which a friend of ours drew up all along with the progress of it But at present my concern in one whom a late Pamphlet as full of falshoods in matters of fact as of weakness in point of reason hath mirepresented the case of Accommodation Page 31 shall prevail with me to give an account of a particular pasâ—ed in a Conference which a Bishop and two Presbyters had with about thirty of the Nonconformists at Pasley on the 14th of December in the year 1670. When the Bishop had in a long Discourse recommended Unity and Peace to them on the terms were offered he withal said much to the advantage of Episcopacy as he stated it from the rules and practices of the ancient Church offering to turn their Proâ—elyte immediately if they should give him either clear Scripture good reason or warrant from the most Primitive Antiquity against such Episcopacy And with other things he desired to know whether they would have joined in Communion with the Church at the time of the Council of Nice to carry them no higher or not for if they refused that he added he would have less heartiness to desire communion with them since of these he might say Let my soul be with theirs But to that a general answer was made by one who said He hoped they were not looked upon as either so weak or so wilful as to determine in so great a matter but upon good grounds which were the same that the asserters of Presbyterian Government had built on which they judged to be conform both to Scripture and Primitive Antiquity But for Scripture neither he nor any of the meeting offered to bring a Title only he alledged some differences betwixt the anciâ—nt Presidents as he called them and our Bishops But this was more fully enlarged by one who is believed to be among the most learned of the Party whose words with the answer given them I shall read to you as I take both from a Journal was drawn of that affair by one whose exactness and fidelity in it can be attested by some worthy spectators who read what he wrote after the Meeting was ended and Judged it not only faithful but often verbal And that he was so careful to evite the appearances of partiality that he seemed rather studious to be more copious in proposing what was said by these who differed from his opinion whereas he contracted much of what was said by these he favored The account follows Mr. said That he offered to make appear the difference was betwixt the present Episcopacy and what was in the ancient Church in â—ive particulars The first was that they had nâ— Archbishops in the Primitive Church It is true they had Metropolitans but in a Council oâ— Caâ—thage it was decreed that no Bishop should be â—allâ—d â—ummus Sacerdos or Princeps Sacerdoâ—um sed primae sedis Episcopus 2. The Bishops in the ancient Church were Parochial and not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in every Village 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for even in Bethany we find there was a Bishop 3. Two Bishops might be in one Church such was not to mention Alexander and Narcissus at Jerusalem Augustin who with Valerius was ordained Bishop of Hippo. 4. Bishops were elected by their Presbyters so Jerome tells us that in Alexandria the Presbyters choosed one of their number to be Bishop and finally the Bishops were countable to and censurable by their Presbyters for either this must have been otherwise they could not have been censured at all For though we meet with some Provincial Synods in Church History as that of Carthage in Cyprians time for the rebaptizing of hereticks and that at Antioch against Samoâ—atenus yet these instances were rare and recurred seldom therefore there must have been a power in Presbyters to have censured their
the Hebrews having their right from GOD were to be changed when the most High who ruleth in the Kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of mâ—n interposed his authority and command One word more and I have done When the Law of the Judge is set down Deut. 17.12 all who do presumptuously and hearkened not unto the Judge are sentenced to death That evil might be put away from Israel whereby the people might hear and fear and do no more presumptuously This shews that absolute Submission was due to the Judges under the pain of death whereby all private mens judging of their Sentence is struck out It is true the other Laws that prefer the Commands of GOD to the Laws of men do necessarily suppose the exception of unlawful Commands but since no Law warrants the resisting their Sentence it will clearly follow that absolute Submission was due to these Judges Basil. Truly these things as they seem to be well made out from Scripture so they stand with Reason since no order can be expected among men unless there be an uncontrollable Tribunal on Earth Our Consciences are indeed only within GOD'S Jurisdiction but if there be not a Supreme Power to cognosce and determine about our Actions there must follow endless Confusions when any number of People can be got to mutiny against Laws therefore there must be a Supreme Court But the Laws and settled Practices of Kingdoms must determine in whose Person this lies whether in a single Person the Nobility or the Major part of the People Yet I desire to hear what decisions the New Testament offers in this Question Crit. Truly that will be soon dispatched consider then how our LORD Matth. 5. forbids us to resist evil where it is true he enumerates only small Injuries so I shall not deny but that place will amount no farther than that we ought to bear small Injuries rather than revenge or oppose them but you must yield to the doctrine of Submission if afterwards you consider how our LORD tells us Matth. 11.20 To learn of him for he was meek and that he condemns the thundering fervor of his Disciples who called for fire from Heaven shewing the nature of the New Dispensation to be quite different from the Old in that particularly that the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them And chiefly that when he was to give the greatest instance wherein we should imitate him he refused the defence of the Sword and commanded S. Peter to put up his sword Matth. 26.52 Isot. If you urge this too much then must I answer that by the same Consequence you may prove we must cast our selves on dangers and not flee from them since we find CHRIST going up to Ierusalem though he knew what was abiding him there neither did he fly which yet himself allowed Besides you may as well urge against all Prayer to GOD for deliverance his not praying for Angels to assist him But the clear account of this is given by himself that the Scriptures were to be fulfilled which fore-told his death See pag. 24. and Answer to the Letter about Ius populâ— Crit. I must confess my self amazed at this Answer when I find S. Peter saving expresly 1 Pet. 2.21 That CHRIST suffered leaving us an example that we might follow his steps and applying this to the very Case of suffering wrongfully and that notwithstanding of that you should study to pervert the Scripture so grosly besides consider that CHRIST was to fulfil all righteousness if then the Laws of Nature exact our defence in case of unjust Persecution for Religion he was bound to that Law as well as we For he came not to destroy but to fulfil the Law both by his Example and Precepts If then you charge the Doctrine of Absolute Submission as brutish and stupid see you do not run into blasphemy by charging that â—â—oly One foolishly for whatever he knew of the secret Will of GOD he was to follow his revealed Will in his Actions whereby he might be a perfect Pattern to all his followers for GOD'S revealed Will was his Rule as well as ours But I dwell too long on things that are clear As for your â—nstances they will serve you in no stead For his coming to Ierusalem was a duty all the Males being bound to appear three times a year before the Lord at Ierusalem at the three Festivals the Passover being the first of them Deut. 16. And this being a duty our LORD was to perform it what ever hazard might follow So we find S. Paul on a less obligation going to Ierusalem notwithstanding the bonds were fore-told to abide him there And as for your other pretended Consequence against Prayer from his not praying for legions of Angels it bewrays great Inadvertency for you find our LORD a few minutes before praying in the Garden Matth. 26.42 over and over again that if it were possible that cup might pass from him And there is our warrant from his Practice to pray for a deliverance from Troubles or Persecutions if it may stand with the holy will of GOD But for a miraculous deliverance by the ministry of Angels that our Lord would not pray for lest thereby the Prophesies should not be accomplished and by this our praying for a miraculous Deliverance is indeed from his example condemned but still we are to pray that if it be possible and according to the Will of GOD any bitter cup is put in our hands may pass from us Next let me desiâ—e you to consider the reason given S. Peter for putting up his Sword Matth. 26.52 For they that take the sword shall pâ—â—â—sh by the sword Isot. You â—iâ—apply this place palpably it not being designed as a threatning against S. Peter but for the encouragement of his Disciples and being indeed a Prophesie that the Iews who now come against him with Swords and Staves should perish by the sword of the Romans who should be the avengers of CHRIST'S death See page 25. Crit. You are beholden to Grotius for this Exposition who is the first of the latter Writers that hath given that sense to these words tho he voucheth for his opinion some elder Writers and he designing to prove that a private Person may resist another private Assaillant by force being a little pinch'd with this place which seems to condemn simply the use of the Sword escapes oâ—t of it by the answer you have adduced But though this were the genuine scope of these words still remember that our LORD rejects the use of the Sword for his defence and if his fore-telling the Destruction of the Iews was of force to bind up S. Peter's hands why should not also that general promise Rev. 13.10 He that killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword also secure our Fears and sheath our Swords and the rather that it is there subjoâ—ned Here is the
unity and peace but to assert a divine original for them methinks is a hard task and truly to assert the divine Authority of the major part which must be done according to the principles of Presbytery is a thing fuller of Tyranny over Consciences than any thing can be feared from Episcopacy since the greater part of mankind being evil which holds true of no sort of people more than of Church-men what mischief may be expected if the plurality must decide all matters And to speak plainly I look on a potion of Physick as the best cure for him who can think a National Synod according to the model of Glasgow is the Kingdom of Christ on Earth or that Court to which he hath committed his Authority for he seems beyond the power or conviction of Reason Crit. The Scripture clearly holds forth an authority among Church-men but visibly restricted to their Commission which truly is not properly a power residing among them for they only declare what the Rule of the Gospel is wherein if they keep close to it they are only Publishers of the Laws of CHRIST and if they err from it they are not to be regarded It is true the administration of Sacraments is appropriated to them yet he that will argue this to have proceeded more from the general rules of Order the constant practice of the Church and the fitness of the thing which is truly sutable to the dictates of Nature and the Laws of Nations than from an express positive Command needs much Logick to make good his attempt It is true the ordaining of Successors in their Office belongs undoubtedly to them and in trying them Rules are expresly given out in Scripture to which they ought to adhere and follow them but as for other things they are either decisions of opinions or rules for practice In the former their authority is purely to declare and in that they act but as Men and we find whole Schools of them have been abused and in the other they only give advices and directions but have no Jurisdiction It is true much noise is made about the Council of Ierusalem p. 106 as if that were a warrant for Synods to meet together But first it is clear no command is there given so at most that will prove Synods to be lawful but that gives them no authority except you produce a clear Command for them and obedience to them Next what strange wresting of Scripture is it from that place to prove the subordination of Church Judicatories for if that Council was not an OEcumenical Council nor a Provincial one which must be yielded since we see nothing like a Convocation then either Paul and Barnabas were sent from Antioch as from one sister Church to ask advice of another and if so it proves nothing for the authority of Synods since advices are not Laws or Antioch sent to Ierusalem as to a Superior Church by its constitution which cannot be imagined for what authority could the Church of Ierusalem pretend over Antioch And indeed had that been true some vestige of it had remained in History which is so far to the contrary that the Church of Ierusalem was subordinate to the Church of Cesarea which was Metropolitan in Palestine was subject to Antioch the third Patriarchal Sea It will therefore remain that this was only a reference to the other Apostles who besides their extraordinary endowments and inspiration were acknowledged by all to be men of great eminency and authority and therefore the authority of Paul and Barnabas not being at that time so universally acknowledged they were sent to Ierusalem where S. Iames was resident and S. Peter occasionally present Now the Authority of the Decree must be drawn from their infallible spirit otherwise it will prove too much that one Church may give out decrees to another But will the Apostles mutual consulting or conferring together prove the National constitution and authority of Synods or Assemblies Poly. All that hath been said illustrates clearly the practice of the Iews among whom as the High-Priest was possessed with a Prophetical Spirit which sometimes fell on him by illapses as apears from what is said of Caiaphas and sometimes from the shining of the Stones in the Pectoral called the Urim and Thummim so the Priests and Levites being the chief Trustees and Depositaries of the Law Their lips were to preserve knowledg and the Law was to be sought at their mouth yet they had no Legislative Authority they had indeed a Court among themselves called the Parhedrim made up of the heads of the Orders and of the Families but that Court did not pretend to Jurisdiction but only to explain things that concerned the Temple-worship nay the High-Priest was so restricted to the King and Sanbedrim that he might not consult the Oracle without he had been ordered to do it by them neither do we ever hear of any Laws given out all the Old Testament over in the name of the Priests And in the New Testament the Power it seems was to be managed by the body of the faithful as well as by Church-men It is true the Apostles were clothed with an extraordinary power of binding and loosing of sins but no proofs are brought to justifie the pretences to Jurisdiction that are found among their Successors For in the Epistle to Corinth the Rules there laid down are addressed to all the Saints that were called to be faithful so also is the Epistle to the Thessalonians where he tells them to note such as walked disorderly and have no fellowship with them which are shrewd grounds to believe that at first all things were managed Parochially where the faithful were also admitted to determine about what occurred but for Synods we find not the least vestige of them before the end of the second Century that Synods were gathered about the Controversie concerning the day of Easter and the following Associations of Churches shew clearly that they took their model from the division of the Roman Empire and so according as the Provinces were divided the Churches in them did associate to the Metropolitans and became subordinate to them and these were subordinate to the Patriarchs by which means it was that the Bishops of Rome had the precedency not from any imaginary derivation from St. Peter for had they gone on such Rules Ierusalem where our Lord himself was had undoubtedly carried it of all the World but Rome being the Imperial City it was the See of the greatest Authority And no sooner did Bizantium creep into the dignity of being the Imperial City but the Bishop of Constantinople was made second Patriarch and in all things equal to the Bishop of Rome the precedency only excepted Much might be here said for proving that these Synods did not pretend to a divine Original though afterwards they claimed a high Authority yet their appointments were never called Laws but only Canons and Rules which could not pretend to a Jurisdiction Basil.
But that I may not seem to rob the Church of all her Power I acknowledg that by the Laws of Nature it follows that these who unite in the service of GOD must be warranted to associate in Meetings to agree on generals Rules and to use means for preserving purity and order among themselves and that all Inferiours ought to subject themselves to their Rules But as for that brave distinction of the Churches Authority being derived from CHRIST as Mediator whereas the Regal Authority is from him as GOD well doth it become its inventors and much good may it do them For me I think that CHRIST's asserting that all power in heaven and in earth was given unto him and his being called The KING of Kings and LORD of Lords make it as clear as the Sun that the whole OEconomy of this World is committed to him as Mediator and as they who died before him were saved by him who was slam â—â—om the foundation of the world so all humane authority was given by vertue of the second Covenant by which mankind was preserved from infallible ruin which otherwise it had incurred by Adams fall But leaving any further enquiry after such a foolish nicety I go now to examine what the Magistrates Power is in matters of Religion And first I lay down for a Maxim That the externals of Worship or Government are not of such importance as are the Rules of Iustice and Peace wherein formally the Image of GOD consists For CHRIST came to bring us to GOD and the great end of his Gospel is the assimilation of us to GOD of which justice righteousness mercy and peace make a great part Now what sacredness shall be in the outwards of Worship and Government that these must not be medled with by his hands and what unhallowedness is in the other that they may fall within his Jurisdiction my weakness cannot reach As for instance when the Magistrate allows ten per cent of inâ—â—rest it is just to exact it and when he bringâ— iâ— down to six per cent it is oppression to demand ten per cent so that he can determine some matteâ—s to be just or unjust by his Laws now why he shall not have such a power about outward matters of Worship or of the Government of the Church judg you since the one both in it self and as it tends to commend us to God is much more important than the other It is true he cannot meddle with the holy things himself for the Scripture rule is express that men be separated for the work of the Ministery And without that separation he invades the Altar of GOD that taketh that honor upon him without he be called to it But as for giving Laws in the externals of Religion I see not why he may not do it as well as in matters Civil It is true if he contradict the divine Law by his commands GOD is to be obeyed rather than man But this holds in things Civil as well as Sacred For if he command murder or theft he is undoubtedly to be disobeyed as well as when he commands amiss in matters of Religion In a word all Subjects are bound to obey him in every lawful command Except therefore you prove that Church-men constituted in a Synod are not Subjects they are bound to obedience as well as others Neither doth this Authority of the Magistrate any way prejudge the power Christ hath committed to his Church For a Father hath power over his Children and that by a divine Precept tho the Supreme Authority have power over him and them both so the Churches authority is no way inconsistent with the Kings Supremacy As for their Declarative Power it is not at all subject to him only the exercise of it to this or that person may be suspended For since the Magistrate can banish his Subjects he may well silence them Yet I acknowledg if he do this out of a design to drive the Gospel out of his Dominions they ought to continue in their duty notwithstanding such prohibition for GOD must be obeyed rather than man And this was the case of the Primitive Bishops who rather than give over the feeding their Flocks laid themselves open to Martyrdom But this will not hold for warranting turbulent persons who notwithstanding the Magistrates continuing all encouragements for the publick Worship of GOD chuse rather than concur in it tho not one of an hundred of them hath the confidence to call that unlawful to gather separated Congregations whereby the flocks are scattered Phil. Nay since you are on that Subject let me freely lay open the mischief of it It is a direct breach of the Laws of the Gospel that requires our solemn assembling together which must ever bind all Christians till there be somewhat in the very constitutions of these Assemblies that renders our meeting in them unlawful which few pretend in our case Next the Magistrates commanding these publick Assemblies is certainly a clear and superadded obligation which must bind all under sin till they can prove these our Meetings for Worship unlawful And as these separated Conventicles are of their own nature evil so their effects are yet worse and such as indeed all the ignorance and profanity in the Land is to be charged on them for as they dissolve the union of the Church which must needs draw mischief after it so the vulgar are taught to despise their Ministers and the publick Worship and thus get loose from the yoak And their dependence on these separated Meetings being but precarious as they break away from the order of the Church so they are not tied to their own order and thus betwixt hands the vulgar lose all sense of Piety and of the Worship of GOD. Next in these separated Meetings nothing is to be had but a long preachment so that the knowledg and manners of the people not being look'd after and they taught to revolt from the setled Discipline and to disdain to be câ—techised by their Pastoâ—s ignorance and profanity must be the sure effect of these divided Meetings And in fine the disuse of the LORD's Supper is a guilt of a high nature for the vulgar are taught to loath the Sacrament from their Ministers hands as much as the Mass and preaching is all they get in their Meetings so that what in all Ages of the Church hath been looked on as the great cherishing of Devotion and true Piety and the chief preserver of Peace among Câ—â—â—tiâ—ns is wearing out of practice with our new modelled Christians These are the visible effects of separating practices But I shall not play the uncharitable Diviner to guess at the secret mischief such courses may be guilty of Basil. Truly what you have laid out is so well known to us all that I am confident Isotimus himself must with much sorrow acknowledg what wicked Arts these are that some use to dislocate the Body of Christ and to sacrifice the interests of Religion
to their vanity humor or perhaps their secular interests But I hold on my design and add that if the Magistrate encroach on God's Prerogative by contradicting or abrogating divine Laws all he doth that way falls on himself But as for the Churches Directive Power since the exercise of that is not of obligation he may command a surcease in it It is true he may sin in so doing yet cases may be wherein he will do right to discharge all Associations of Judicatories if a Church be in such commotion that these Synods would but add to the flame but certainly he forbidding such Synods they are not to be gone about there being no positive command for them in Scripture and therefore a discharge of them contradicts no Law of God and so cannot be disobeyed without sin and when the Magistrate allows of Synods he is to judg on whether side in case of differences he will pass his Law neither is the decision of these Synods obligatory in prejudice of his authority for there can be but one Supream and two Coordinate Powers are a Chymaera Therefore in case a Synod and the Magistrate contradict one another in matters undetermined by GOD it is certain a Synod sins if it offer to countermand the Civil Authority since all must be subject to the Powers that are of which number the Synod is a part therefore they are subject as well as others And if they be bound to obey the Magistrates commands they cannot have a power to warrant the subjects in their disobedience since they cannot secure themselves from sin by such disobedience And in the case of such countermands it is indisputable the Subjects are to be determined by the Magistrates Laws by which only the Rules of Synods are Laws or bind the consciences formally since without they be authorized by him they cannot be Laws for we cannot serve two Masters nor be subject to two Legislators And thus methinks enough is said for clearing the Title of the Magistrate in exacting our obedience to his Laws in matters of Religion Crit. Indeed the congesting of all the Old Testament offers for proving the Civil Powers their authority in things sacred were a task of time And first of all that the High Priest might not consult the Oracle but when either desired by the King or in a business that concerned the whole Congregation is a great step to prove what the Civil Authority was in those matters Next we find the Kings of Iudah give out many Laws about matters of Religion I shall wave the instances of David and Solomon which are so express that no evasion can serve the turn but to say they acted by immediate Commission and were inspired of GOD. It is indeed true that they had a particular direction from GOD. But it is as clear that they enacted these Laws upon their own Authority as Kings and not on a Prophetical Power But we find Iehoshaphat 2 Chr. 17. v. 7. sending to his Princes to teach in the Cities of Iudah with whom also he sent Priests and Levites and they went about and taught the people There you see secular men appointed by the King to teach the people he also 2. Chr. 19. v. 5. set up in Ierusalem a Court made up of Levites Priests and the chief of the Fathers of Israel for the judgment of the LORD and for the controversies among the people and names two Presidents Amariah the chief Priest to be over them in the matters of the LORD and Zebadiah for all the Kings matters And he that will consider these words either as they lie in themselves or as they relate to the first institution of that Court of seventy by Moses where no mention is made but by one Judicatory or to the Commentary of the whole Writings and Histories of the Iews shall be set beyond dispute that here was but one Court to judg both of sacred and secular matters It is true the Priests had a Court already mentioned but it was no Judicatory and medled only with the Rituals of the Temple The Levites had also as the other Tribes a Court of twenty three for their Tribe which have occasioned the mistakes of some places among the Iewish Writings but this is so clear from their Writings that a very overly knowledg of them will satisfie an impartial Observer And it is yet more certain that from the time of Ezra to the destruction of the Temple there was but one Court that determined of all matters both Sacred and Civil who particularly tried the Priests if free of the blemishes which might cast one from the service and could cognosce on the High Priest and whip him when he failed in his duty Now this commixtion of these matters in one Judicatory if it had been so criminal whence is it that our LORD not only never reproved so great a disorder but when convened before them did not accuse their constitution and answered to the High Priest when adjured by him Likewise when his Apostles were arraigned before them they never declined that Judicatory but pleaded their own innocence without accusing the constitution of the Court though challenged upon a matter of doctrine But they good men thought only of catching Souls into the Net of the Gospel and were utterly unacquainted with these new coined distinctions Neither did they refuse obedience pretending the Court had no Jurisdiction in these matters but because it was better to obey GOD than Man which saith They judged Obedience to that Court due if it had not countermanded GOD. But to return to Iehoshaphat we find him constituting these Courts and choosing the persons and empowering them for their work for he constituted them for Iudgment and for Controversie so that though it were yielded as it will never be proved that two Courts were here instituted yet it cannot be denied but here is a Church Judicatory constituted by a King the persons named by him a President appointed over them and a trust committed to them And very little Logick will serve to draw from this as much as the Acts among us asserting the King's Supremacy yield to him Next We have a clear instance of Hezekiah who 2 Chron. 30. ver 2. with the Counsel of his Princes and of the whole Congregation made a decree for keeping the Passover that year on the second Month whereas the Law of GOD had affixed it to the first Month leaving only an exception Numb 9.10 for the unclean or such as were on a journey to keep it on the second Month. Npon which Hezekiah with the Sanhedrim and people appoints the Passover to be entirely cast over to the second Month for that Year Where a very great point of their Worship for the distinction of days was no small matter to the Iews was determined by the King without asking the advice of the Priests upon it But that you may not think this was peculiar to the King of Israel I shall urge you with
Privileges of Parliament and preserving the King's Person and Authority And when His Majesty was murdered what attempts made they for the preservation of His Person or for the resenting it after it was done This was the Loyalty of that Party and this is what all Princes may expect from you unless they be absolutely at your Devotion Let these things declare whether these Wars went upon the grounds of a pure defence But if next to this I should reckon up the instances of Cruelty that appeared in your Judicatories for several years I should have too large a Theme to run through in a short Discourse What cruel Acts were made against all who would not sign the Covenant They were declared Enemies to GOD the King and the Country Their persons were appointed to be seized on and their goods confisâ—ated And in the November of the year 1643. when some of the most eminent of the Nobility refused to sign the Covenant Commissions were given to Soldiers to bring them in Prisoners warranting them to kill them if they made resistance And praâ— whether had this more of the cruelty of Antichrist or of the meekness of IESUS Or shall I next tell you of the bloody Tribunals were at S Andrews and other plâ—ces after Philips-haughs And of the câ—uelty againâ—t those Priâ—oners of War who bore Arms at the King's command and in defence of his authority What bloudy Stories could I here tell if I had not a greater horror at the relating them thaâ— many of these high Pretenders had at the aâ—ting of them And should I here recount the procedure of the Kiâ—k Iudicatories against all who were thought disaffected I would be look'd on as one telling Romances they being bâ—yond credit What Processes of Ministers are yet upon Record which have no better foundation than their not preaching to the times their speaking with or praying before My Lord Montrose their not railing at the Engagement and the like And what cruelty was practised in the years 1649. and 1650 None of us are so young but we may remember of it A single death of one of the greatest of the Kingdom could not satisfie the bloudâ—thirsty malice of that Party unless made formidable and disgraceful with all the shameful pageantry could be devised Pray do you think these thâ—ngs are forgotten Or shall I go about to narrate and prove them more particularly I confess it is a strange thing to see men who are so obnoxious notwithstanding that so exalted in their own conceits and withal remember that the things I have hinted at were not the particular actings of single and private persons but the publick and owned proceedings of the Courts and Judâ—catories These are the grounds which persuade me that with whatsoever fair colours somâ— mâ—y vaâ—niâ—h thâ—sâ— things yet the â—pirit that then acted in that Party was not the Spirit of GOD. Isot. Truly you have given in a high charge against the proceedings of the late times which as I ought not to believe upon your assertion so I cannot well answer those being matters of fact and done most of them before I was capable of observing things And therefore when I see men of great experience I shall ask after the truth of what you have told me But whatever might be the design of some Politicians at that time or to whatever bad sense some words of the League may be stretched yet you cannot deny but they are capable of a good sense and in that I own them and so cleave to that Oath of GOD which was intended for a solemn Covenanting with GOD and the people meant nothing else by it but a giving themselves to Christ to whose truths and Ordinances they resolved to adhere at all hazards and against all opposition and in particular to oppose every thing might bear down the power and progress of Religion which was the constant effect of Prelacy therefore we are all bound to oppose it upon all hazards And indeed when I remember of the beauty of holiness was then every where and consider the licencious profanity and â—coffing at Religion which now abounds this is stronger with me than all arguments to persuade me that these were the men of GOD who had his Glory before their eyes in all they did or designed whereas now I see every one seeking their own things and none the things of IESUS CHRIST And all these plagues and evils which these Kingdoms do either groan under or may apprehend ought to be imputed to GODS avenging wrath for a broken Covenant which though taken by all from the highest to the lowest is now condemned reviled abjured and shamefully broken These things should afflict our souls and set us to our mournings if haply GOD may turn from the fierceness of his anger Phil. As for these Articles that relate to the combination for engaging by arms in prejudice of the Kings Authority or may seem to bind us to the reacting these Tragedies they being founded on the lawfulness of Subjects resisting their Sovereigns if the unlawfulness of that was already evinced then any obligation can be in that compact for that effect must be of it self null and void and therefore as from the beginning it was sinful to engage in these wars so it will be yet more unlawful if after all the evils we have seen and the judgments we have smarted under any would lick up that vomit or pretend to bind a tye on the Subjects Consciences to rise in arms against their Lawful Sovereâ—gn And let me tell you freely I cannot be so blind or stupid as not to apprehend that GODS wrath hath appeared very visibly against us now for a tract of thirty years and more neiâ—her doth his anger seem to be turned away but his hand is stretched out still But that which I look on as the greater matter of his controversie with us is that the Rulers of our Church and State did engage the ignorant multitude under the colors of Religion to despise the LORDS anointed and his Authority and by Arms to shake off his yoak and afterwards abandon his Person disown his interest refuse to engage for his rescue and in the end look on tamely and see him murdered Do you think it a small crime that nothing could satisfie the Leaders in that time without they got the poor people entangled into things which they knew the vulgar did not and could not understand or judge of and must implicitly rely upon the Glosses of their Teachers For whatever the General Assembly declared was a duty following upon the Covenant which was an easie thing for the leading men to carry as they pleased then all the Ministers must either have preached and published that to their people with all their zeal otherwise they were sure to be turned out The people being thus provoked from the Pulpits they were indeed to be pitied who being engaged in an oath many of them no doubt in singleness of heart having the fear
ought to be much more determined by the Laws of the Land which in all such matters have a power to bind our consciences to their obedience till we prove the matter of them sinful Now discover where the guilt lyes of fixing one over a Tract of ground who shall have the chief inspection of the Ministery and the greatest Authority in matters of Jurisdiction so that all within that Precinct be governed by him with the concurring votes of the other Presbyters if you say that thereby the Ministers may be restrained of many things which otherwise the good of the Church requires to be done I answer these are either things necessary to be done by divine precept or not if the former then since no power on earth can cancel the Authority of the divine Law such restraints are not to be considered But if the things be not necessary then the Unity and Peace of the Church is certainly preferable to them I acknowledge a Bishop may be tyrannical and become a great burden to his Presbyters but pray may not the same be apprehended from Synods And remember your friends how long it is since they made the same complaints against the Synods and the hazard of an ill Bishop is neither so fixed nor so lasting as that of a bad Synod For a Bishop may die and a good one succeed but when a Synod is corrupt they who are the major part are careful to bring in none but such as are sure to their way whereby they propagate their corruption more infallibly than a Bishop can do And what if the Lay ruling Elders should bend up the same plea against the Ministers who do either assume a Negative over them directly or at least do what is equivalent and carry every thing to the Presbytery Synod or General Assembly where they are sure to carry it against the Lay-Elders they being both more in number and more able with their learning and eloquence to confound the others But should a Lay-Elder plead thus against them We are Office-Bearers instituted by CHRIST for ruling the flock as well as you and yet you take our power from us for whereas in our Church Sessions which are of CHRIST's appointment we are the greater number being generally twelve to one you Ministers have got a device to turn us out of the power for you allow but one of us to come to your Synods and Presbyteries and but one of a whole Presbytery to go to a National Synod whereby you strike the rest of us out of our power and thus you assert a preeminence over us to carry matters as you please Now Isotimus when in your principles you answer this I will undertake on all hazards to satisfie all you can say even in your own principles Next may not one of the Congregational way talk at the same rate and say CHRIST hath given his Office-Bearers full power to preach feed and oversee the flock and yet for all that their power of overseeing is taken from them and put in the hands of a multitude who being generally corrupt themselves and lusting to envy will suffer none to outstrip them but are tyrannical over any they see minding the work of the Gospel more than themselves And must this usurpation be endured and submitted to And let me ask you freely what imaginable device will be fallen upon for securing the Church from the tyranny of Synods unless it be either by the Magistrates power or by selecting some eminent Churchmen who shall have some degrees of power beyond their brethren In a word I deny not but as in Civil Governments there is no form upon which great inconveniences may not follow so the same is unavoidable in Ecclesiastical Government But as you will not deny Monarchy to be the best of Governments for all the hazards of tyranny from it so I must crave leave to have the same impressions of Episcopacy Crit. But suffer me to add a little for checking Isotimus his too positive asserting of parity from the New Testament for except he find a precept for it his Negative Authority will never conclude it and can only prove a parity lawful and that imparity is not necessary I shall acknowledge that without Scripture warrants no new Offices may be instituted but without that in order to Peace Unity Decency and Edification several ranks and dignities in the same Office might well have been introduced whereby some were to be empowered either by the Churches choice or the Kings Authority as Overseers or inspectors of the rest who might be able to restrain them in the exercise of some parts of their functions which are not immediatly commanded by GOD. And you can never prove it unlawful that any should oversee direct and govern Churchmen without you prove the Apostolical function unlawful for what is unlawful and contrary to the rules of the Gospel can upon no occasion and at no time become lawful since then both the Apostles and the Evangelists exercised Authority over Presbyters it cannot be contrary to the Gospel rules that some should do it To pretend that this superiority was for that exigent and to die with that age is a mere allegation without ground from Scripture for if by our LORD's words it shall not be so among you all superiority among Churchmen was forbid how will you clear the Apostles from being the first transgressors of it And further if upon that exigent such superiority was lawful then upon a great exigent of the Church a superiority may be still lawful Besides it is asserted not proved that such an authority as S. Paul left with Timothy and Titus was to die with that age for where the reason of an appointment continues it will follow that the Law should also be coeval with the ground on which it was first enacted if then there be a necessity that Churchmen be kept in order as well as other Christians and if the more exalted their office be they become the more subject to corruption and corruptions among them be both more visible and more dangerous than they are in other persons the same parity of reason that enjoyns a Jurisdiction to be granted to Churchmen over the faithful will likewise determine the fitness of granting some excrescing power to the more venerable and approved of the Clergy over others neither is this a new Office in the House of GOD but an eminent rank of the same Office Isot. You study to present Episcopacy in as harmless a posture as can be yet that it is a distinct Office is apparent by the sole claim of Ordination and Iurisdiction they pretend to and by their consecration to it which shews they account it a second Order besides that they do in all things carry as these who conceit themselves in a Region above the Presbyters Phil. I am not to vindicate neither all the practices nor all the pretensions of some who have asserted this Order no more than you will do the
whatever by Treaty one State yields over to another that Promise Donation and Oath is indeed the ground on which the Kings right may be supposed to have been first founded But now his Title to our Obedience proceeds upon the rules of Justice of giving him what is his by an immemorial Possession passed all prescription so many ages ago that the first vestiges of it cannot be traced from Records or certain Histories and not of fidelity of observing the promises of our Ancestors to him though I do not deny a pious Veneration to be due to the Promises and Oaths of Parents when they contain in them adjurations on their Childern And thus the Gibeonites having a right to their lives confirmed to them by the Compact of the Princes of Israel they and their Posterity had a good title in Justice to their lives which was basely invaded by Saul and had this aggravation that the compact made with them was confirmed by oath for which their posterity should have had a just veneration But though that Oath did at first found their title to their Lives and their Exemption from the forfeiture all the Amorites lay under yet afterwards their title was preserved upon the rules of Iustice and the Laws of Nature which forbid the invading the lives of our Neighbors when by no Injury they forfeit them Thus your confounding the titles of Inheritance and prescâ—iption with the grounds upon which they first accresced hath engaged you into all this mistaking But from all this you see how ill founded that reasoning of the Answerer of the Dialogues is for proving the posterity of these who took the Covenant tied by their fathers oath which yet at first view promised as fair colors of reason as any part of his Book had he not intermixed it with shameful insultings and railings at the Conformist which I suppose do now appear as ill grounded as they are cruel and base But I am not so much in love with that stile as to recriminate nor shall I tell you of his errors that way of which I am in good earnest ashamed upon his account For it is a strange thing if a man cannot answer a discourse without he fall a fleering and railing To conclude this whole purpose I am mistaken if much doubting will remain with an ingenuous and unprejudged Reader if either we or our posterity lye under any obligation from the Covenants to contradict or counteract the Laws of the Land supposing the matter of them lawful which being a large Subject will require a discourse apart But I will next examine some practices among us and chiefly that of Schism and separation from the publick worship of GOD to which both the unity of the Spirit which we ought to preserve in the bond of peace and the lawful commands of these in authority do so bind us that I will be glad to hear what can be alledged for it Isot. A great difference is to be made betwixt separation and non-compliance the one is a withdrawing from what was once owned to be the Church the other is a with-holding our concurrence from what we judg brought in upon the Church against both Reason and Religion and any thing you can draw from CHRIST's practice or precept in acknowledging the High Priests or commanding the people to observe what the Pharisees taught them is not applicable to this purpose For first these were Civil Magistrates as well as Ecclesiasticks and Doctors of the Civil and Judicial Law which is different from the Case of Churchmen with us Further the Iewish Church was still in possession of the privileges given them from GOD and so till CHRIST erected his Church they were the Church of GOD and therefore to be acknowledged and joined with in Worship But how vastly differs our Case from this See from p. 189. to p. 204. Phil. You have given a short account of the large reasonings of the late Book on this head only he is so browilled in it that there are whole pages in his Discourse which I confess my weakness cannot reach But to clear the way for your satisfaction in this matter which I look upon as that of greatest concernment next to the Doctrine of Non-resistance of any thing is debated among us since it dissolves the unity of the Church and opens a patent door to all disorder Ignorance and Profanity I shall consider what the unity of the Church is and in what manner we are bound to maintain and preserve it All Christians are commanded to love one another and to live in peace together and in order to this they must also unite and concur in joint Prayers Adorations and other acts of Worship to express the harmony of their love in Divine matters Sacraments were also instituted for uniting the body together being solemn and federal stipulations made with God in the hands of some who are his Ambassadors and Representatives upon Earth by whose mouths the Worship is chiefly offered up to God and who must be solemnly called and separated for their Imployment Now these Assemblings of the Saints are not to be forsaken till there be such a Corruption in the Constitution of them or in some part of the Worship that we cannot escape the guilt of that without we sepaâ—ate our selves from these unclean things Wherefore the warning is given Come out of Babylon that we be not partakers of her sins and so receive not of her plagues But though there be very great and visible corruptions in a Church yet as long as our joining in Worship in the solemn Assemblies doth not necessarily involve us into a Consent or Concurrence with these we ought never to withdraw nor rent the unity of the body whereof CHRIST is the head Consider how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity And our Saviour sheweth of what importance he judged it to his Church since so great a part of his last and most ravishing Prayer is That they might be one And this he five times repeats comparing the unity he prayed for to the undivided Unity was betwixt him and his Father How shall these words rise up in Judgment against those who have broken these bonds of perfection upon slight grounds With the same earnestness do we find the Apostles pressing the Unity of the Body and Charity among all the members of it which is no where more amply done than in the Epistles to the Corinthians whom the Apostle calls the Churches of GOD and yet there were among them false Teachers who studied to prey upon them and to strike out the Apostles authority Some among them denied the resurrection there were Contentions and Disorders among them in their meetings such confusions were from the strange Tongues some spake that had one unacquainted with them come in upon them he had judged them mad some were drunk when they did receive the LORD's Supper they had an incestuous Person in their Society and it seems he was
of quality and much accounted of since they were puffed up with him they were also a scandal to the Gospel with their litigious Law sutes These were great evils and I hope beyond what you can charge on us and yet though the Apostle commands them to be redressed and rectified doth he ever allow of these in Corinth who were pure and holy to forsake the solemn Assemblies till these things were amended Or doth he not highly commend Charity and Unity to them Next consider what Teachers these were who preached CHRIST of envy and strife out of contention and not sincerely that they might add affliction to the Apostles bonds And yet of these S. Paul's verdict is What then notwithstanding every way whether in pretence or in truth CHRIST is preached and I therein do rejoice yea and will rejoice Now if he rejoiced that Christ was preached at any rate what Spirit have they who because they suppose some preach out of Envy or design to add to their affliction do thereupon study to blast their reputation and to withdraw first the Hearts and then the Ears of all from them Certainly this is not the Spirit of CHRIST or of his Apostles And though we see what corruptions had crept into the Churches of Asia yet in the Epistles to them in the Revelation they are still call'd the Churches of GOD in the midst of whom the Son of GOD walked They are indeed commanded to reform any corruptions were among them but such as had not that doctrine and knew not the depths of Satan but had kept their garments clean are not commanded to separate from the rest on the contrary no other burden is laid upon them nor are they charged for not separating from the rest From which premises I may infer that as long as the Communion of Saints may be kept in without our being polluted in some piece of sinful concurrence all are bound to it under the hazard of tearing Christ's Body to pieces And this stands also with the closest Reason for since Unity is that which holds all the body firm whereas division dislocates and weakens it nothing doth more defeat the ends of Religion and overturn the power of Godliness than Scisms and Contentions which give the greatest offence to the little ones and the fullest advantages to the common enemy imaginable If therefore the Worship of GOD among us continue undefiled even in the confession of all if the Sacraments be administred as before if the Persons that officiate be Ministers of the Gospel then certainly such as separate from our publick Meetings do forsake the Assemblies of the Saints and so break the unity of the Spirit and the bond of Peace And what you said of a non-compliance as distinct from separation hath no relation to this purpose where nothing of a compliance is in the case but only a joining with the Saints in solemn Worship And doth the change of the Government of the Church in so small a matter as the fixing a constant President with some additions of power over your Synods in stead of your ambulatory Moderators derive a Contagion into our Worship so that without a Sin it cannot be joined in Indeed if a Concurrence of Worship required an owning of every particular in the Constitution of the Church a man must go to the New Atlantis to seek a Society he shall join with since few of clear unprepossessed minds will find such Societies in the known Regions of the World against all whose Constitutions they have not some just exceptions and the World shall have as many parties as persons if this be not fixed as the rule of Unity that we cleave to it ever till we be driven to do somewhat which with a good Conscience we cannot yield to And even in that case except the corruption be great and deep a bare withdrawing without a direct opposition is all we are bound to You are therefore guilty of a direct separation who forsake the Assemblies of the Saints they continuing in their former purity unchanged and unmixed even in your own Principles Isot. But one thing is not considered by you which is a main point that we had our Church setled according to CHRIST'S appointment and ratified by Law And a change of that being made all our faithful Ministers were turned out by the tyranny of the present Powers who in stead thereof have set up a new form of Government of none of CHRIST'S appointment and to maintain it have thrust in upon the LORD's People a company of weak ignorant scandalous and godless Men called Curates who instead of edifying study to destroy the flock of whom I could say much had I a little of your virulent temper But their own actions have so painted them out to the world that I may well spare my labor of making them better known it being as unnecessary as it is unpleasant Now if the true seekers of GOD do still stick to their old Teachers and seek wholsome food from them in corners and are afraid of your false Teachers according to CHRIST's command of being aware of such men call you this a separation which is rather an adherence to the true Church and the keeping of our Garments clean from the contagion of these men And indeed these who do join with your Curates do profit so little by their Ministry that no wonder others have no heart to it And I have known some whose consciences are so tender in this matter that their having at sometimes joined with these Curates in Worship hath been matter of mourning to them even to their graves And this may serve to clear us of the guilt of Schism in this matter when our withdrawing is only a non-compliance with your corruption Phil. All this saith nothing for justifying your separation As for the turning out of your Ministers if the Laws to which their obedience was required were just which shall be next considered then their prejudices misinformed consciences or peevisâ—mess and not the tyranny of the Rulers must bear the blame of it And for these set in their places if upon so great a desertion of the Church by so many Church-men all their charges could not be of a sudden supplied with men so well qualified or of such gifts and worth as was to be desired it is nothing but what might have been expected upon such an occasion And for your revilings they well become the spirit which appears too visibly in the rest of your actings but we still study to bear these base and cruel reflections with the patience becoming the Ministers of the Gospel and of these who study to learn of him who when he was reviled reviled not again but stood silent at those unjust Tribunals when he was falsly and blasphemously reproached by his enemies and therefore I shall leave answering of these fearful imputations you charge on our Clergy to the great day of reckoning wherein judgment shall return to the righteous and