adjured upon Oath St. Paul oftentimes called God to witness for the Confirmation of what he saith seeing David and several others have used it in the Old Testament and God himself who cannot give us a bad Example used it for the Confirmation of his Promises it is a clear and evident sign that it is lawful and that we are to explain these words of St. Matthew I say unto you swear not at all as also these others of St. James above all things my Brethren swear not they ought to be interpreted not generally but in a limited sence as only forbidding swearing in common Conversation and in our ordinary Commerce and Affairs as it appears by the words immediately following viz. Let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil From whence it follows though Swearing or Oaths ought to be avoided in our Conversations because they are then so many sins yet there is a time and there are occasions as when the matter is doubtful and of concern and no Evidence can be had to clear and decide it when they are not only lawful but also very necessary And therefore when at certain times and upon certain occasions the Church of England commands to sware or take an Oath and believes it lawful she doth neitherbelieve nor practise any thing forbidden in the holy Scripture Object It is written in the 20th Chapter of Exod. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter thy man-Servant nor thy maid-Servant nor thy Cattel nor thy Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it The Church of England doth not keep this divine Commandment but observes the first day of the week instead of the seventh therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Before I give an Answer to this Objection I will give leave to my Adversary to say all that he can to establish his Opinion When I read saith he these words in the 20th Chapter of Exodus or when I see them written in great Letters in our Churches or hear them pronounced aloud at the Communion Table the first day of the week which we call Sunday I think that the words of Isaiah Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not may be well here adapted And may not this be justly attributed unto us since the Jews excepted with a small number of Christians scattered in the North we neither practise what we read nor what we hear And that this may appear clearly it is necessary to consider without any prejudice that the aforesaid words contain a day determined by God which we are bound to keep holy and whereon we ought to rest But it is the seventh day which God kept holy and whereon he rested therefore it is that and no other which we ought to keep holy and whereon we are bound to rest That it is the day upon which God rested which we are bound to keep holy appears evidently by these words In it thou shalt not do any work For what mean these words but thou shalt not do any work in the day whereon God rested This is the most natural Explication that a man can give to them But God foreseeing he should be forgot by his Creatures gives us warning saying Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day And that that day is the seventh which we call Saturday appears again evidently First by these words But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Secondly by the next In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day Thirdly because we read in Genesis God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it Therefore it is that day which is to be kept holy for it is an Axiome received in Divinity viz. that men neither can nor ought to change what was established and determined by God as for Example Water in Baptism and Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper cannot be changed by men because they have been established and determined by Jesus Christ who is received as God among Christians Is it not written Cursed is he that addeth any thing to the Law or diminisheth from it doth not St. Paul forbid not to think of men above that which is written and doth not Christ himself say in St. Matthew In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men That the seventh day is our Saturday is again manifested First because since Moses the Jews who did always and do still keep the seventh day do keep our Saturday for their Sabbath Secondly Because as Sabbath among the Hebrews is the seventh day Sabbato among the Italians Sabbado among the Spaniards Samedy among the French so is Saturday among the English men Thirdly Because the Evangelists saying in our Translation that Jesus Christ was risen the first day of the week which according to the Language of the Scriptures is the next day after the Sabbath it follows evidently our Saturday preceding the first day of the week and the Sabbath being the seventh day that the seventh day is our Sabbath But it is in vain to bring such Proofs unto them who acknowledg to have changed the Saturday or seventh to the first day of the week Therefore since our Saturday is the seventh day of the week and God rested on it blessed sanctified it and commanded us to keep it holy is it not just in Obedience to God to keep it so Some will answer saith my Adversary that that change was made First That we might have no Communication with the Jews Secondly Because Jesus Christ arose upon the first day of the week Thirdly Because we read that the Apostles met on that day To the first Objection my Adversary replyeth that we ought to have Communication with the Jews in all things which are good Otherwise the Jews believing in one God we should not believe so and they believing in the Old Testament it should not be the Object of our Faith To the Second he saith that a Question may be made whether he rose on the first day of the week none of the Evangelists in the Original saying in express words the first day of the week but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But though this be true is it a sufficient Reason to change the day which God himself hath prescribed unto us blessed sanctified and commanded We may remember the day of his Resurrection and keep it holy but we ought not because he rose
Adam and Eve when they were first created because in that state they saw no strangers in their Family These words were especially related to the ancient Israelites who had lived in Aegypt like strangers to the end they might learn when they should possess the Land of Promise to deal with all the World otherwise than the Aegyptians had dealt with them And therefore the aforementioned cannot be understood ex Jure naturali as belonging to the Moral Law it being alike and the same among all Nations Fourth Answer The next words For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and allthat in them is and rested the seventh day do not infer in themselves an indispensable necessity for no body doubts but that God could create this great World with all its perfections in a less time yea in a moment if he had pleased and consequently that he could appoint another day than the seventh to be kept holy as for Example the third if on that day he had finished the Creation of the World But being finish'd in six days the Question is whether the seventh be of an indispensable necessity Wherefore I Answer Fifthly That the day assigned by God for his Worship was Symbolical Mystical and Ceremonial and consequently ought to be abolished and so was not of an indispensable Necessity and therefore did not belong to the Moral Law That the institution of the Sabbath day was such may be seen clearly because Adam the first of all men was able by the strength of his natural Reason in the state of Innocency to comprehend what belonged to the Natural and Moral Law but by the strength of his Reason he could never understand why the seventh day ought to be kept holy rather than another Therefore the Reason of it was the good Will of God which Adam could never understand of himself wanting a special Revelation or positive Commandment wherein the Reason of it might be manifested unto him And it signifies nothing to say that it is written we are bound to keep holy the seventh day for ever because by the word for ever is meant only a long space of time assigned by God as it appears in these Texts Exod. 21. 6. Exod. 32. 13. Levit. 24. 8 9. Numb 18. 19. Numb 25. 13. Wherein though the word for ever be used yet we say it belongs to the Ceremonial Law and consequently ought to be abolished under the Gospel where the body of these things whereof they were but a shadow is made manifest And that the Institution of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic could be abolished appears by the words of the Prophet Ezekiel I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifie them An by the other words of St. Paul to the Colossians Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. Now seeing the Plural Number contains all Singulars Sabbaths being taken in the Plural Number it followeth that that contained in the Decalogue and which is here in Dispute is also included therein Otherwise St. Paul would not have failed to make an exception The Sabbath saith Christ was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath Now he that is the Lord of any thing can dispose of it as it seems good unto him therefore the Son of man being Lord also of the Sabbath he may dispose of it as he pleaseth and therefore might abolish it and consequently it doth not belong to the Natural or Moral Law which cannot be changed even by God himself And it signifies nothing to say that Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles have kept and sanctified the seventh day for they did keep it as they did some other Commandments of the Ceremonial Law which were all abolished in their convenient time to the end that they might not offend the Jews among whom they were born and to whom especially they were to preach the holy Gospel but might convert them to Christian Religion and call them that were predestinated and might by all means save some and so propagate the more the Kingdom of God Which doth not consist in meat and drink or in distinction of sabbaths but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost From whence it follows that the Sanctification of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic did not belong to the Moral Law and consequently might be abolished I say the Sanctification of the seventh day ut sic for in reference of that which is Moral I mean the true Piety and Worship due unto God it could not be abolished and no man in the World in whatsoever dignity yea nor God himself can dispense with Now the Worship due unto God may be considered in two respects inwardly or out wardly Considered in the first sence it respects our Confidence in God our Obedience to his Commandments our Invocation Praises and Thanksgivings Considered in the latter it respects places where are publick Meetings wherein the Word of God is preached and his Sacraments are administred In reference to the outward Worship due unto God it is necessary to avoid Confusion from whence proceed great evils to establish some Order and to appoint certain days and hours to meet together that we might praise and worship our Lord call upon his holy Name and give thanks for all his unmeasurable mercies Now the Church to which Christ gave his Authority and Power and whose Ordinances he will have us to keep as it appears by these words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a Publican had good and sufficient Reasons to change the seventh into the first day of the week First Because being Typical and Mystical and not belonging to the Moral Law as I have made it appear it might be abolished as all the other Precepts of the Ceremonial Law were For Christ blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross Secondly The Sanctification of the seventh day being ordained unto us to the end we might remember the day and benefit of our Creation as it appears by the words of the 11th verse For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. The Church which we ought to obey in all things not contrary to the holy Scripture finding that the day of our Redemption was very considerable yea much more excellent than that of our Creation as it appears by the words of Jesus Christ concerning Judas Good were it for that man if he had never been born And finding that in the first day of the week Jesus Christ
ordained by St. Paul when he saith Salute one another with an holy kiss Is not the Ceremony of putting off the Hat commanded to every man when he prayeth unto God When a man prayeth saith Paul he ought not to cover his head Was not the Ceremony of the Imposition of hands on young Children used by Christ himself As in these words They brought unto him little Children that he should put his hands on them and pray and the Disciples rebuked them but Jesus said Suffer little Children and forbid them not to come unto me for such is the Kingdom of Heaven and he laid his hands on them Was not the Ceremony of washing the feet used by Jesus Christ He poured water into a Bason and began to wash the Disciples feet and to wipe them with the Towel wherewith he was girded and saith if then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one anothers feet for I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you Is not the Ceremony of anointing them that are sick ordained by St. James When he saith Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with oyl in the name of the Lord. I will not here mention several other Ceremonies used among the first Christians as to mingle Water with Wine to signifie that the blood of Christ had a cleansing virtue in it which Mystery was represented by the Water which flowed with the Blood from our Saviours side As to give Milk with Honey to drink unto baptized Persons to signifie that they were like new born babes who ought to desire the sweet and sincere Milk of the Word And as to stand up in all their Devotions from Easter to Whitsuntide to signifie that Christ was risen from the dead because though the Instances here mentioned may be sufficient to perswade us to follow their Example in the use of Ceremonies those that I have brought out of the holy Scripture ought wholly to convince us It is then certain that there are lawful Ceremonies which have no other end than the Glory of God the Salvation of our Souls and are not contrary to the Word of God And that the Ceremonies commanded and practised in the Church of England are such I will make it appear But First We must be certain though the Church have no Power to establish points of Faith belonging to God only as it is the consent of all Divines yet she hath power to set up Ceremonies which are necessary either to the decent administration or reception of Sacraments or to make us remember the holiness and purity which we ought to have when we are gathered together to sing Psalms unto God to call upon his holy Name to beg his Mercies and give him thanks for all his Favours or to inflame our hearts and lift up our minds towards heavenly things I say that the Church hath now this Power since there is but one Catholick Church and that the same now as was in the Apostles time and since in the Apostles time there were Ceremonies as I have made it appear already and may clearly be inferred from these words of St. Paul let all things be done decently and in order For what is it meant thereby but that the Word of God should be preached his praises sung his holy Name worshipped and called upon thanksgivings returned unto him and his Sacraments administred and received with the Ceremonies established by the Church Which is evidently inferred from these words Decently and in order Therefore since there were Ceremonies in the Church then it is lawful now to have them but had there been none in the Apostles time it doth not follow that they are forbidden at this God left Authority enough to his Church to set any provided as I have said before they conduce to his Glory the Edification of Souls and are not contrary to the holy Scripture But the Ceremonies used in the Church of England are such therefore they are lawful To shew it in particular Doth not the Ceremony of the sign of the Cross used immediately after Infants Baptism conduce to the Edification of our Souls Being to put us in mind that we are not to be ashamed to confess the Faith of Christ crucified but manfully to fight under his Banner against sin the World and the Devil and to continue Christ's faithful Souldiers and Servants unto our lives end And doth not this conduce to the Glory of God Seeing we take from thence an occasion to praise and give him thanks for his great love manifested unto us in sending his only Son into the World to die upon the Cross for the redemption of Mankind And can an y body make appear that this is contrary to the Word of God No certainly he which endeavours it will undoubtedly fail in his undertaking Is the Custom of God-Fathers and God-Mothers in Baptism contrary to the Word of God In what Chapter or Verse is that to be found I have read the Scripture over and I do not remember to have read that it is forbidden But on the contrary I find this Custom very good yea very necessary because our spiritual Generation which is by Baptism is in some manner like unto our carnal wherefore it is said 1 Pet. 2. Laying aside all malice and all guile as new born babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word And as in carnal Generation a Child newly born wants a Nurse and a Master to breed him up so in the spiritual Generation of Baptism some body is required who taking the place of a Nurse and Master brings up the Child and instructs him in the Faith of Christian Religion wherefore because the Ministers cannot do it being imployed towards the common care of the Souls committed to their Charge and the Childs Parents may die before he be grown to Age and understand what belongs to the Christian Faith the Church requires God-Fathers and God-Mothers that they might receive in their Charge the Child baptized and promise to see him brought up to and understand as much as is in their Power the Christian Religion Is the Custom and Ceremony of standing up in reading Hymns Psalms the Gospel and the Creed and of kneeling down in making our Prayers unto God forbidden in the holy Scripture On the contrary have we not an Example of Jesus Christ who prayed upon his knees saying Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done And when we are standing up in the reading of Psalms and Hymns it is to shew that we ought to lift up our mind towards Heaven and by our standing at the Creed and Gospel we give to understand that we are ready to defend them to the utmost of our Power against all opposition whatsoever And doth not this conduce to the Edification of our Souls and to
there is no other Church wherein we can be saved but the holy Catholick Which is confirmed by the Fathers Whosoever saith Chrysostome divides the unity of the Church the mystical Body of our Lord he shall not incur a less punishment than those have done who pierced mangled and tore his Body Sola Catholica Ecclesia est quae verum cultum retinet Hic est Eons veritatis hoc est domicilium fidei quo si quis non intraverit vel à quo si quis exierit à spe vitae ac salutis aeternae alienus est He shall not have God for his Father saith Austin That would not have the Church for his Mother So the fourth Council of Carthage declares that out of the Catholick Church there is no Salvation And Fulgentius speaks thus Sicut in Hiericho quisquis extra illam domum fuit nullum potuit adipisci vitae subsidium sic extra Ecclesiam Catholicam nullus accipiet indulgentiam peccatorum Extra hanc Ecclesiam nec Christianum nomen aliquem juvat nec baptismus salvat nec mundum Deo sacrificium offertur nec peccatorum remissi accipitur nec aeternae vitae foelicitas invenitur As in Hierieho whosoever was out of that House could not obtain the benefit of Life so out of the Catholick Church none shall receive the pardon of sins Out of this Church neither the Title of Christian secures any one neither doth Baptism confer Salvation neither doth any man offer a Sacrifice agreeable unto God nor receives the Remission of his sins nor finds the happiness of Eternal Life And in another place he saith Firmissimè tene nullatenus dubites quemlibet Haereticum sive Schismaticum in nomine Patris filii Spiritus sancti baptizatum st Ecclesiae Catholicae nonfuerit aggregatus quantasque eleemosinas fecerit etsi pro Christi nomine etiam sanguinem fuderit nullatenus posse salvari Omni enim homini qui Ecclesiae Catholicae non tenet unitatem neque baptismus neque Eleemosina quaelibet copiosa neque mors pro nomine Christi suscepta proficere poterit ad salutem quandiu in eo Haeretica vel Schismatica pravitas perseverat quae ducit ad mortem Hold this most firmly and doubt not of it in any wise that every Heretick and Schismatick whatsoever baptized in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost if he be not reunited to the Catholick Church let him bestow never so many Alms yea though he should shed his blood for the Name of Christ he cannot obtain Salvation For neither Baptism nor Alms how great soever nor death suffered for the Name of Christ shall profit unto Salvation to any man that holds not the Vnity of the Catholick Church If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Therefore since those who separate themselves from the holy Catholick Church are Schismaticks and out of hope of Salvation as I have made it appear evidently the Church of England being the holy Catholick let now the Reader draw the Conclusion I know what I said just now concerning those who are out of the Catholick Church will be granted to be true but the Reader will object again the Question is to know which is the holy Catholick Church for if we will believe some Fathers it seems that the most part yea none of those that you blame in this Treatise are out of it For Fulgentius in the place aforementioned saith that There is one only Church which is this wherein the Trinity is believed one God of one Nature and Substance wherein nothing is attributed to the Son more than to the Holy Ghost wherein one and the same honour and worship is rendred to the Trinity who is true God This is the only true Church which believing and publishing one Essence in Trinity dares not esteem one Person above th' other Vna est Ecclesia in qua Trinitas unus Deus unius naturae atque substantiae creditur in qua nec Filio nec Spiritui sancto contumelia minorationis ingeritur in qua unus atque idem Cultus honor unus uni Trinitati quae Deus verus est exhibetur Haec est una vera Ecclesia quae sic credit praedicat unam Trinitatis Essentiam ut in tribus unam quamlibet non audeat praeferre alteri personam Athanasius is of that Opinion Whosoever saith he will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith and the Catholick Faith is this that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Vnity And Lactantius saith Sola Catholica Ecclesia est quae verum cultum retinet This is the only Catholick Church which keeps the true Worship And three or four times after he speaks thus Quia singuli quique Coetus Haereticorum se potissimum Christianos suam esse Ecclesiam Catholicam putant sciendum est illam esse veram in qua est Confessio poenitentia quae peccata vulnera quibus subjecta est imbecillitas carnis salubriter curat That is Because every Congregation of Hereticks think to be especially Christians and their Church the Catholick they must know that that Church is the true wherein is Confession and Repentance that cures the sins and wounds which the weakness of the Flesh is subject to Therefore according to Fulgentius and Athanasius the Arians only are out of the Catholick Church and according to Lactantius we are not able to determine any Person out of it Every one pretending to keep the true Worship and granting Confession and Repentance to be necessary Christ himself in his answer to the young man who asked him What good thing shall I do that I may have Eternal Life Did not bid him to believe in the Trinity nor in the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father nor in the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son nor in the Incarnation of the Son of God nor in his Resurrection nor did tell him that he was to be baptized or to keep the Sabbath c. but If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments and the young man having asked him which were they Jesus specified them unto him saying Thou shalt do no Murther thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false Witness honour thy Father and thy Mother and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self If then according to Christs words he that keeps these Commandments here described is saved we must conceive him to be in the Catholick Church or what some Father 's said that out of the Catholick Church there is no Salvation is false And as in what Sect soever every one pretends to keep the true Worship and by God's Assistance to perform his Commandments even so every one pretends to be saved and consequently to be in the holy Catholick
Church I answer That they are deceived for when the Fathers said that the Catholick Church did confist in such and such a thing as for Example in the belief of the Trinity they did not intend to exclude the belief of the other points of Faith nor the practise of the Commandments enjoyned us in the holy Scripture And Jesus Christ who saith to the young man that if he will enter into Life he must keep the Commandments here mentioned pronounces Wo unto the Authors of Heresies as unto all Scribes Pharisees and Hypocrites will have us to eat his Body and to drink his Blood Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ye have no Life in you bids us to be baptized Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Besides practice he desires belief He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Wherefore it is not enough to say I thought I was a Member of the Catholick Church because I thought it did consist in believing and practising such and such things only our ignorance is not sufficient to excuse us before God we are bound to inquire after Truth and the true Worship of God A wilful and affected ignorance is a double Crime and we must not believe because we think we do well and are Members of the Catholick Church that this is sufficient to excuse us this is a mistake otherwise the Jews should not have been guilty when they crucified Jesus Christ because they did it ignorantly and thought they acted according to their Law For had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory We could not say that Paul was guilty when breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord he went unto the High-Priest desiring Letters from him to Damascus to the Synagogues that if he found any Christians whether they were men or women he might bring them bound to Hierusalem Nor when he made havock of the Church entring into every House and haling men and women committing them to Prison Nor when he was consenting unto the death of Stephen and kept the Cloaths of the Witnesses who stoned him though Austin speaks thus of him Vt enim esset in omnium lapidantium manibus ipse omnium vestimenta servabat magis saeviens omnes adjuvando quà m suis manibus lapidando For he thought he did well transported by a Zeal which he had for his Law Neither could we now blame the Papists when they act so horrid and cruel Tragedies against those that they call Hereticks for as I suppose they think they do a Sacrifice well-pleasing unto God If any ignorance can excuse a man it is that which is called Invincible as that of young Children and mad People Therefore when we live in a Kingdom wherein Religion there practised is not contrary to the holy Scripture we are bound to conform unto it I know that We had rather obey God than men but it is when their Commandments are contrary to the Commandments of God otherwise we are obliged to obey the Princes and Magistrates which we are subject to put them in mind to obey Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates Tit. 3. 1. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves Heb. 13. 17. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of men for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2. 13. Let every Soul be subject unto the higher Powers for there is no Power but of God The Powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation Rom. 13. 1 2. Wherefore the holy Powers enjoyning usto conform to the Church of England which as I have made it appear teaches or practises nothing contrary to the holy Scripture we are obliged to obey them Neither do I see how those that are convinced of what I have here written and still refuse to obey can excuse themselves from being Schismaticks and from being out of hope of Salvation He shall not have God for his Father who will not have the Church for his Mother Whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation O Ecclesia Romana aut quaecumque sis alia quid insultas quid exsufflas quid etiam ad tempus multa usurpas adversus Ecclesiam Anglicanam Licet haec doleat non te magna metuit sponsa Christi sancta Catholica Ecclesia cum enim respexerit ille sponsus ejicieris tu ut ancilla cum filiis tuis quoniam non erunt haeredes filii ancillae cum filiis liberae O Church of Rome or whatsoever other Church thou art Why dost thou boast Why art thou puffed up Why also dost thou usurp upon the Church of England Though she be sorrowful yet the great spouse of Christ the holy Catholick Church doth not fear thee for when the Bridegroom looks upon her then thou shalt be cast out as the Bond-woman with thy Children because the Children of the Bond-woman shall not be heirs with the Sons of the Free woman Although I have made appear that the Church of England is the holy Catholick Church and that all those who knowing her to be such and still refuse to conform are Schismaticks out of hope of Salvation and shall not be heirs with the Sons of the free-woman but cast out as the bond-woman with her Children yet I am not of that Opinion that they ought to be persecuted this Doctrine of Persecution being contrary to the Law of Nature and to the Doctrine of our Saviour Jesus Christ As ye would that all men should do unto you so do you unto them We would not be persecuted for our Religion therefore we must not persecute others But the Reader will object we have a Law and by our Law they ought to be persecuted I Answer if that were a sufficient Reason to warrant Persecution we could not blame the Jews when they killed the Prophets and stoned them and crucified Jesus Christ who is Heir and Lord over all and God blessed for ever For they said We have a Law and by our Law he ought to die And we could not blame Queen Mary who by a Law in her days caused so many to suffer Martyrdome nor now the Papists who formerly and at this very time in France Spain and Italy establish Cruelty and Oppression by Law If any men be Plotters or contrive any evil against the King or Government or breed Sedition and Disturbance in the Kingdom they must suffer according to the Law but if they be found without Plots or evil Contrivances but erring only concerning Religion