in all these places where the Gospel of Jesus Christ was Received all having the same Faith the same Sacraments and the same Form of Government so as they seemed but one Body and in a perfect Unity one with another that every thing might be done with Decency and in Order Socrates and Euschius have given us whole Catalogues of Bishops successively to their Times and we find them nominated in many Histories and Writings of Old and from their beginning deduced down to our Times This is the Regiment you would have pull'd down this is one Form you oppose a Government of Divine Institution by that of the Holy Ghost conferred on the Apostles and by them on others and so successively in the Church in all Ages and thorow all times by Ordination and Laying on of Hands so that there can hardly be manifested a more plain and evident Truth I am not Ignorant that you admit of the Name of Bishops and of Presbyters but would make them of equal Authority you would indeed be all Bishops or Popes rather Subjection and Obedience are things that have seem'd very scandalous to you But there is nothing more plain than that Bishops had not only the preheminency of Order but of Rule also And as there were in the Jewish Church the High Priest the Inferior Priest and the Levites who were not only different in Order and Superiority but there was a distinction so that the one might do what the other might not do the Levites might not Intrench on the Office of the Priests and the Priests could not enter into the Sanctum Sanctorum So in the Church of Christ the Bishops the Presbyters and the Deacons were distinct in Order and Office the Deacons were subservient to the Presbyters and they to the Bishop to whom the Power of Rule and Ordination was only given and the Presbyters again received theirs of Administring the Sacraments Dispensing the Word c. from them being by them Ordained thereto The Bishops are the Fathers the other the Children they Command not as Lords and Arbitrarily these obey not as Slaves but as Sons they Rule and these obey according to the Word of God and according to that Primitive Institution which made that excellent Harmony all things being done for the Glory of God I know the many long and tedious Cavils and Disputes which some of the most Subtle of you have entred into about this thing and what dust you have raised about this Jurisdiction But it has been all laid and none that have Eyes but can see clearly into the matter that Christ gave Power to his Apostles to Rule and Govern his Church and that the same Power was by them Conferred to others Mar. 16.15 Matt. 10.24 Matt. 28.19 20. and so shall continue to the end of the World according to Christs Commission But if you cannot find in Scripture that you ought to submit to Bishops as your Fathers I hope you will believe Mr. Calvin and for his sake have at least a better Opinion of them who says Calvin Epist ad Card. Sandolet Nullo non anathemate dignos Arbitror qui se Episcopis libentissime non submittunt I think them worthy of a Curse who do not willingly submit themselves to Bishops Open then your Eyes at last and look not so asquint on this Form of Government and more particularly as it is here Establish'd in the Church of England which certainly is the most like and comes nearest to the Primitive Institution of the Apostles and the next Ages of any Church in the World both for the Purity of its Doctrine and the Order of its Government its Ceremonies being both Few and Decent and its Power regulated by Just Laws And as one says Vindication of the Conforming Clergy p. 50. The Church of England is a body of so firm a Constitution and so excellently Temper'd and so well Shap'd and of so clear a Strength and Vigor in all its Limbs that no outward Force is able to Injure it nothing but some inward Corruption and decay in the Vital parts that can possibly bring it to the Ground Indeed you had trip'd up its Heels and lay'd it along but it was but a Foil you see how soon it arose again and in that little Interspace or Interregnum as I may term it what horrid Confusions were amongst us With all your Arts you could not hinder others from invading your Province Instead of Surplices you beheld Scarlet Cloaks Wigs and Swords as Ornaments to those who Preached in your Pulpits nay the very Women invading the Chair and challenging a Liberty though expresly contrary to the Rule of the Apostle You saw what ill Steers-men you were and how the Ship of the Common-wealth thrived under your Government in what danger of Drowning or of being Split upon the Rocks or Perishing in the Quicksands Methinks this little Tryal might Convince you of the Weakness and Imbecillity of the one and the Firmness and excellent Temper of the other Government by which this Land has so long Flourished and which is so fitted not only to Monarchy making that Maxim good as we by Experience saw no Bishop no King but also to the Temper and Constitution of the People of England that there can be no better Government ever thought on which shall be here so well Approved and Received It is not only my Opinion but of many more the most Eminent and Learned of the Nation and those not of small Repute and who have been Able to give sufficient Proof to maintain their good Opinion of the Excellency of our present Form of Church Government and among the rest the Learned Mr. Hooker has these Words Pref. Sect. 1. which he sets down as his full Perswasion Surely the present Form of Church Government which the Laws of this Land have Established is such as no Law of God nor Reason of Man hath hitherto been alledged of force sufficient to prove they do ill who to the uttermost of their power withstand the alteration thereof And contrarywise The other which instead of it we are required to accept is only by Error and Misconceit named the Ordinanee of Jesus Christ no one proof as yet brought forth whereby it may clearly appear to be so in very deed And these two Assertions he hath so fully and unanswerably Maintained in his excellent Book of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity that methinks you should lay your Finger on your Mouths and no longer speak against this Form of Church Government nor remain at this Distance and in this state of Separation till you have found out better Arguments for to Justifie your so doing than those you have yet made known to the World However low and mean Opinion you have of this Form of Church Government as it is now Establish'd in England 't is otherwise respected abroad By others 't is look'd upon with Envy and Admiration The beauty of the Church of England is not so
Schism Heresie and Rebellion were let in to disturb the Peace the Quiet and the Unity of the Church Thus I say it was effected by the means of Satan that Evil one who still makes it his great business where ever he finds Unity and Peace to spoil and deface them and to raise up Strife and Separation Since Separation and Division among Brethren proceeds from the Cunning and Malice of Satan why should it continue any longer in our Israel Why should not every Man put to his helping hand to build up the Walls of Unity Are we not Brethren Have we not one Father God One Head Jesus Christ Is he not our Common Shepherd Have we not one Faith Salvation by Christ Do not we Believe him come in the Flesh Do not we Confess his Name Are we not all Christians And indeed are we not also of one Mother the Church Why then this Separation This Division This drawing several Ways Why cannot or why do not you Unite as you ought to do If there be any obstacles and stumbling blocks of offence that lie in the way set to your Hands and endeavor to remove them I suppose they are not so many nor so great but they may be easily enough removed if you go about it willingly and sincerely if you are not byassed or perverted by your own Passions and your own contradictory and perverse Wills if you are not Stubborn and Dogmatical and not too stiff in your own Opinions in small matters you must yeild somewhat in Love one to another that the Work may be done and the Breaches made up and that the Walls of a perfect Uniformity may at last be built for the security and welfare both of Church and State And that this may be Effected and that our happy Unity may be lasting and perpetual that the Stones may be made smooth and polished fit for the building that they may lye fast equal and close all ruggedness and gratings must be done away for whilst they remain they will not be fit for the building and there will be but little hopes of Conformity and entireness You must then lay aside that bitterness of Spirit which some of you call Zeal wherewith you upbraid those of the contrary Party and to the multitude cunningly insinuate an Opinion of Holiness and Integrity of your Selves and of loosness and neglect of your Adversaries always on the least occasions lashing them with sharp and severe reproofs ripping up the faults of Bishops and the Clergy of the Prelatical Party You must leave these common Aspersions which abound among many throwing all Faults and Errors on the Ecclesiastical Government and to it impute all Faults all Corruptions endeavoring thereby to win to your selves the Opinion of Wisdom you must also leave to intrude upon the People and your Hearers your own Form of Church Government as the only remedy to avoid all Evils as the only true Way to walk in and as if Salvation were hard to be purchased any where else and giving it so many glorious Titles and Encomiums and so possessing the minds of Men with an overweaning of the one and a bitter and malicious Scorn and Detestation of the other Leave also to interpret the whole scope of Scripture as if framed to maintain your own Form of Government presenting your Followers with false Glosses whereby they read only as you would have them and pervert Scripture to maintain the false Ideas of their sickly Imaginations and thus every Sect makes the Scripture to speak in favour of their Way and false Opinions to maintain their Schism and Separation calling all Samaria and Babylon that are not of themselves and their own Congregations Sion and Jerusalem You must also leave off those Names of Separation and Distinguishment calling your selves the Godly the Brethren the Good People Gods Children the Sanctified and others the Ungodly Reprobates Worldlings Time-servers Men-pleasers Moralists and Latitudinarians Arminians and the like You must also lay aside that eager endeavor of making Proselytes especially of the weaker Vessels who are apt to be easily led and perswaded by godly and Religious pretences though thereby they do great damage to their Husbands and Families making the Separation within their private Walls as wide as that which you have caused in the Nation You must also cease to cry out and exclaim against Magistrates and Rulers Kings and Governors as Severe Cruel and Tyrannical upon the least restraint of your Liberties as if you were thereby become Martyrs for the Cause of Christ and branding those that perhaps not with out occasion given thereto put some moderate restraint upon you with the Titles of Blood-suckers and Blood-thirsty Men Persecutors and Tormentors drawing all the Scriptures that any way favour the Innocency of such as have Suffered for the Truth by wicked Tyrants to your own selves and apply them still to your Case as if you were the Persons pointed out by the Finger of the Holy Ghost and for whom they were chiefly intended Also you must not speak contemptibly of Bishops as you too frequently do giving them scurrilous Names as Limbs of Antichrist Locusts of the bottomless pit domineering Lords Usurpers Spiritual Tyrants Lordly Bishops c. and calling the Ministers of the Gospel in contempt Priests nay Baal's Priests Time-servers Hirelings State Divines dumb Dogs vain Bablers with such like Language those whom the Scriptures Dignifie and Honour with the Titles of Christs Embassadors Gods Stewards Pastors of Christs flock Stars Angels Gods receive too often from you contrary Denominations being scandalized at the Title of Lord given to Bishops which is an Honorary Name annexed to their Temporalties by the Kings of England you call them in Disdain Lordlings Proud Imperious Arrogant and the like You must also leave to Whisper in private against the Governors and against the Secular Power as if tending to and infected with Popery and of complaining to your Disciples that you are fain to fly to Corners and to Private Meetings like the Primitive Christians whilst Papists Drunkards and Swearers are not medled with or disturbed that you are more roughly handled than those who go to Mass that your Godly Meetings are disturbed whilst Taverns Ale-houses and Play-houses are never look'd into and where they commit Enormities without Check or Controle that you are the true Church and that the Word and Sacraments are by you dispensed in Purity and according to the Primitive Institution that the publick Places of Gods Worship are defiled with Common Prayers Singing Anthems Read-Sermons and Set-Prayers Organs and such like as you call them Superstitious rags of Popery You must also utterly lay aside all your Reverend thoughts of your great Idol the Covenant the Moloch of Presbytery the Scottish Dagon a very Monster of Rebellion this must be never thought of more but laid aside and drowned in the Sea of Oblivion You must also leave off your continual Scoffing at the publick Prayers of the Church which you have
as to what belongs to our Salvation yet it is no ways derogatory from its fullness and sufficiency to say that we cannot make use of this Rule without the Light of our Reason and also that in Civil things we may with a Christian Liberty do many things that we find not in Scripture by the meer use of Reason alone and that very Lawfully and without Sin so those things be not contradictory to the Word of God If then our Governors have a Power given them that they may Ordain and Constitute divers Ceremonies in the Church though not mentioned and found in Scripture then ought Inferiors to submit to such Laws and Rules and are in Duty bound to observe them when they are injoyned by a Lawful Authority Do but consider with your selves that whilst you so strictly Demand Scripture to be shown for the use of Ceremonies and other things made use of in the Church of England may not others with the like Liberty bid you to show what Example or Command you have in Scripture for your Lay Presbyters your Classes your stone Churches your Tythes your Infant Sprinklings your Singing Psalms your Weekly Sabbath all these things you know have been Objected against you to which you led the Way and opened the Gap by such your unreasonable Demands If Man hath not a Liberty given him to make use of his Reason in Ordering the Affairs of the Church or in altering many things and adding others as may be Convenient to the temper and constitution of Times but must have a Precedent or Command for it expresly in Scripture how did David err when he thought to build a Temple at Jerusalem 2 Sam. 1.2 3 1 King 8.5 2 Chron. 7.6 7.30.23 Which the Prophet approved of Or Solomon for keeping a Feast of seven days for the Dedication of the Altar Or Hezekiah for continuing the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days longer than the time appointed by the Law Or Mordecai for making an Ordinance for the Yearly observation of the Feast of Purim Esth 9.27 The building of Synagogues wearing of Sackcloth and Ashes in sign of Humiliation their Fasts more then were Commanded immediately by God Zach. 8.19 were all of Humane Institution and without doubt Lawful Times alter and what at one Time may be thought Fitting and Harmless at another would be accounted Scandalous and Unfitting as that Osculum Charitatis used in the Times of the Apostles and approved of by them Rom. 16.16 2 Cor. 13.12 would now give Cause of offence and those Agapae or Love Feasts used by the Primitive Christians at first Innocent enough but soon grew to be worthy of Reproof by the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. There is Milk for Babes and Meat for stronger Men. There is a difference between the Church in its Infancy and after the growth of so many Years It has been Corrupted and grown four on its Lees and it hath been again Purged and Refined therefore there must of necessity have been several Laws Rules Canons and Institutions framed for its several Dispensations most agreeable to the temper of the Ages and the Times in which they were made And the Orders of the Times of the Apostles themselves are not in all things now to be urged as of absolute necessity I cannot but wonder since that these Ceremonies and Rites of the Church are by you accounted of but as Mint and Cummin nay by some Condemned as Toys Trifles and Follies that you should stand so stifly against them but those of the Church of England thinking not so meanly of them have therefore the more Reason to stand for their Continuance They say there ought to be a bowing of the Knee as well as of the Heart That by outward Actions the Mind is stirred up with greater fervency to Attention and Devotion That Solemnities have been in all Ages both in Religious and Divine matters as well as Civil That these things are necessary and of use as Garments to the Body That without them Religion would appear Naked and Uncomly That they are also Edifying and Significant That they move the Heart and the Affections and that they are of great use and force That they have been Instituted not without great Care and Deliberation by Holy Pious and Learned Men That they have been long Confirmed in the Minds of Men That to alter or abolish them would be Dangerous and Scandalous That they are Harmless and Innocent of themselves That they give not the Offence but that it is taken Unjustly against them That under the Use of them the Land hath long flourished with Peace and Prosperity till our late distracted Times That since God hath again Restored them almost Miraculously when they were thought to be Dead and for ever Extinguished These things Considered and that they appear not such Trifles to them as you account them they have more Reason not to Depart from them and you less to Insist upon their Abolishment But alas 't is not only Ceremony that you would take way but the Root and Branch as you are wont to say of Episcopacy the Bishops it seems are also Popery they must not stand but is not Self all the while at the Bottom Is it not that you may Reign in their stead with your Lay Elders And what is this Episcopacy so much Cry'd out against by you and others of your Dissenting stamp I 'll tell you in the Learned Mr. Chillingworth's Words Episcopacy in the Essentiality of it is an appointment of one Man of eminent Sanctity and Sufficiency to have a Care of all the Churches within a certain Precinct or Diocess furnished with Authority not Absolute or Arbitrary but Regulated by Laws to the intent that all the Churches under him may be provided of Good and Able Pastors or Presbyters This is the Government you are so scandaliz'd at and which you would take away being the Institution of Christ himself who made his Apostles Bishops or Overseers of his Church for Matthias was chosen to an Episcopal Office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And St. Act. 1. Cyp. l. 3. Ep. 9 Cyprian calls all the Apostles by the same Name Episcopos And although they had a large Commission from Christ Go Baptize all Nations and seem Indefinite yet we find some of them Bishops by Restraint as St. James at Jerusalem St. Paul took to himself the Care of the Gentiles and St. Peter of the Jews St. John took Charge of Asia the Less where were afterwards seven Churches governed by so many Bishops termed by St. John Angels Rev. 2. And the Apostles themselves appointed others as Titus and Timothy at first Agents only in their stead and afterwards with Apostolical power of their own And if there be any Credit to be given to History and to Antiquity it self we find that Linus was made Bishop of Rome by the Apostles Iren. l. 3. c. 3 Polycarpus of Smyrna Evodius of Antioch and Titus of Creet Erecting Churches