Forms of Prayer For in your Letter of June 28th you acknowledge Forms to be in themselves lawful and to some needful and complain of your being mis-represented by some as Enemies to all Forms Disputation of Liturgy Proposition 10. Your Oracle Mr. Baxter frequently asserts the lawfulness of them and withal declares That the disuse of Forms is apt to breed a giddiness in Religion and to make Men Hypocrites who delude themselves with Conceits that they delight in God when it is but in these Novelties and varieties of Expression that they are delighted and therefore adviseth Forms to fix Christians and make them sound Reason Discourse And another Brother of yours acknowledges That their Labours are profitable who have drawn the matter of Prayer into Forms Now these Concessions one would think were a fair step to a Reconciliation and might lay a good Foundation for Peace and Unity For this Principle if well observ'd and follow'd would bring all to the Church and help them to join in the same Forms of Publick Worship from which nothing but their unlawfulness can justifie a Separation St. Paul wills us To do what in us lies to live peaceably with all Men Rom. 12.18 and more especially with the Church whereof we are Members And elsewhere requires us To use our utmost Endeavours To keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Ephes 4.2 Now does it not lie in us to do what we lawfully may Should we not go as far as we can for the sake of Peace and Unity Especially when we are commanded to do so by lawful Authority And what a mighty influence would this Amicable and Christian Temper have to promote Unity and prevent Divisions For if we lawfully may and ought as this Principle teaches to agree in offering up the same Prayer which will have the greater force from the benefit of Concord and Unanimity why should we break into Parties and put up different and contrary Petitions which must lose all their Efficacy from the mischief of Division 'T is evident Sir that you can and do upon occasion join in the Publick Prayers of the Church Which shews you are satisfied both in the lawfulness and use of them Now what should hinder you from doing that always for the sake of Peace which you can do sometimes to serve some other Turn Was ever Peace and Unity valued at so low a rate among Christians as to refuse to do what they lawfully may to preserve it As for what you object of renouncing the Covenant as a hinderance That is long since out of doors and cannot now with any shew or colour of Reason be pretended Only you find it in Mr. Baxter and being something to say you cannot forbear to use it tho' the Author and the Covenant too are both laid asleep in their Graves As for Re-ordination which you mention as another hinderance Neither can that affect you being if I am not mis-inform'd ordain'd by a Bishop And as for Assent and Consent to all that is Established which you talk so often and so much of tho' it be in its self very reasonable and no more than is required in all Established Churches and Societies yet if you cannot presently come to it you are to acquiesce and wait for farther Satisfaction which if you bring but a willing and humble Mind you may soon have In the mean time you are to continue as a private Member of the Church without disturbing the Peace of it either by separating from it your self or drawing the People from it by Objections wherein they are no way concern'd This Sir is unquestionably your Duty if you will keep a good Conscience and shew that Modesty that becomes you without giving Offence to that Church whereof you were Baptiz'd a Member and Ordain'd a Minister But the Misery is tho' you are driven by the evidence of Truth to own the lawfulness of Forms yet there is nothing which you more universally decry and disuse in the Practice even when enjoyn'd by that Power which in all lawful Things you are bound to obey This is a gross inconsistence and plainly shews that you have no mind to do what you safely may to promote Peace Is not this to act quite contrary to the Apostles Advice Nevertheless whereunto we have already attained let us walk by the same Rule let us mind the same Things Phil. 3.16 Where he wills us to go hand in hand together as far as we can and not to differ or break off from the use or practice of those Things wherein we are agreed If we have attain'd to the Knowlege and Belief of the lawfulness of Forms we are here required to join together in the use of them when the Peace of the Church and the Authority of Superiours make it necessary Certainly Sir he that will not do what he may to preserve Unity is an Enemy to Peace and hath another Game to play that is better promoted by Divisions And he that will not obey Magistrates in lawful and indifferent Things shakes off the Yoke and will obey only what he pleases But there is not say you a clearer Proof against Impositions than the following Words If any be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you not Man by his Laws enforce it upon you But how is this to be revealed unto you I hope you do not expect an immediate Revelation or voice from Heaven to satisfie you in this Matter or think that you are safe enough in your Error till you have such a Revelation to convince you Is it not sufficient that God hath in his Word revealed this unto you by appointing Forms of Prayer and Praises both in the Old and New Testament And what clearer Revelation will you have of this Divine Truth Yea is not this Ordinance of God Established by the Ordinance of Man too which we are commanded to submit unto for the Lord's sake If you believe not Moses and the Prophets as our Saviour speaks in another Case neither will ye believe tho' One rose from the Dead Luke 16.31 If so plain a Revelation of this Truth will not convince you neither will you be convinc'd tho' it were revealed to you from Heaven But you tell me If all lawful Things may be enjoyn'd by Superiours in the Worship of God then Spittle and Cream in Baptism Crossing at the Eucharist and abundance more of such Popish Trumpery may be enjoined by them which you endeavour to prove lawful Are you sure Sir that 't is lawful to clog the Institutions of Christ with such needless burdensome and insignificant Things Indeed Decency and Order and Edification require a few Ceremonies and such as are expressive of Reverence and help to promote the inward Piety and Devotion of the Mind but does not the same Decency and Edification forbid too many and such as are vain and unserviceable to those Ends 'T is certain that the Worship of God cannot be perform'd without
pick and chuse out of publick Orders and Establishments to obey what they please and refuse the rest Is not this to let loose the Reins and suffer every one to do only what is right in his own Eyes Is it not strange that any should own or vent such wild Principles of Confusion 2dly Secondly The other hard Term you complain of in the Injunction of the Liturgy is your being commanded to use That and no other And where 's the Hardship of this Would you have the Liturgy enjoin'd and the use of another thing set up by its side How can this consist with any Order or indeed with common Sense Or would you have the Liturgy enjoin'd and the use of it left free This would be to enjoin and not enjoin it at the same time and can any Establishment stand upon such a precarious and inconsistent Bottom If a Liturgy containing all the daily and constant Matter of Prayer and Praises together with all the standing Offices of Religion be enjoin'd and no other it thereby becomes necessary to be used and excludes the use of any other And if it be so full as to comprehend all that is needful to those ends what need is there of any other Unless you think it necessary to ask the same things every Day in new and varied Expressions Which can't with any colour of Reason be affirmed Besides the Liturgy of the Church is not so strictly enjoin'd as never to permit the use of any other For in your private and secret Devotion you are at liberty to use your free or compos'd Prayers And in publick too upon any new Occasion or Emergency other Prayers appointed by Authority are and ought to be used But for the ordinary and standing Offices of publick Worship as there is no Occasion so there is no need of any other Lastly for the further clearing of this Matter let us see the Grounds and Reasons of this Injunction And if that make it necessary for all Persons and Occasions you will easily see the weakness both of your Complaints and Objections against it Now the great Reason of enjoining publick Forms is as sundry Acts of Parliament declare the Uniformity of publick Worship whereby alone one regular and uniform way of serving God may be preserv'd among all the Members of a National Church And this makes it necessary for all Persons Places and Countries who according to the Apostle's Direction desire With one mind and one mouth to glorifie their great Creator But I find you with another Brother of yours often styling this That pitiful thing call'd Vniformity that never enter'd into the Mind of God or his Son to command It seems you can agree well enough in a Form of Railing tho' not of Devotion But is Uniformity such a Pitiful thing which alone can help us to speak the same things and to agree in our Petitions which our Saviour hath made necessary to the Success of our Prayers Is that to be so undervalued that wise and knowing Men have so highly prized in all Ages And will you call that a Pitiful thing which puts such a Form and Comliness into Religious Worship as to render it more prevalent with God and more pleasing in the Eyes of Men Hath not the Wisdom and Piety of our Governors thought fit to establish an Uniformity ever since the Reformation And have they employed all this Time and Care and Prudence about a Pitiful thing Is not this a vile Reflection on our Superiors in Church and State Can there be an Instance of greater Pride and vain Conceit that some have of themselves In a word does not this plainly shew that Arrogance and Obstinacy are the great Vertues and Perfections of our Dissenting Brethren But an Vnity say you in the Matter of Prayer is sufficient without any such Vniformity in Words and Syllables But Sir sad Experience which is the best Argument hath taught us That when the Unity of Forms was by a prevailing Faction laid aside the Unity of the Matter of Prayer soon went with it For Men fell a praying one against another And when the Pales of the Church were taken away the grossest Blasphemies in point of Doctrine as well as the greatest Divisions in point of Worship immediately broke in upon us The Enemy taking Opportunity to sow those Tares that can't be rooted out to this Day This hath been acknowledged and lamented by some sober Presbyterians themselves particularly by Dr. Tuckâ—ey in his Sermon on 2 Tim. I. 13. and Mr. Edwards in his Gangraena To which I refer you Thus I have shewn you how far we agree about the enjoining Forms of Prayer And have endeavoured to carry you further by making you sensible of your Mistake where you differ But to take off the Force of all this I find you questioning the Authority that commands these Things which must be examin'd in my next I am SIR Yours M. H. August 14th 1697. LETTER V. SIR I Have been comprizing the Difference between us about the Injunction of Forms by shewing the reasonableness of enjoyning them on all Persons and Occasions for Publick Worship And likewise how fit it is that all the Members of a National Church for the sake of Peace Order and Uniformity should join in the use of them and no other But because you have some Exception against the Authority that thus imposes them I must endeavour to remove or adjust that Matter For in yours of June 28th you would have me tell you Whom we mean by Superiors And who or what those Rulers are that Christ hath vested with such a vast Authority as to command an Invariable Form and the rather you say because we are divided in this point among our selves One part of the Disputers for the Church of England making the King the External Civil Governour but the Bishops the Internal Governours of the Church as a Church c. Sir I know none of the Regular Sons of the Church of England divided in this Point And I hope to shew from the Concessions of the most eminent Presbyterians that the Difference between them and us in this Matter is not so great as is imagined To this end let us see what Power is lodg'd in the Civil Magistrate about Sacred and Spiritual Things And what is peculiar to those Spiritual Officers and Ministers which Christ hath appointed in his Church and by that means you will see plainly who are those Rulers and Superiors that may command in these Things 1. First There is a Power in the Church that is purely Spiritual Such is That of Preaching the Word Administring the Holy Sacraments the Power of Absolution Ordination Confirmation Excommunication and the like This is the Power of the Keys committed by Christ to the Apostles and in them to their Successors the Bishops and Pastors of the Church And this Commission is peculiarly directed and confin'd to them No Civil Magistrate having Authority of doing any of these Things For when
Vzziah the King would venture upon the Execution of the Priest's Office we read that it was said to him It pertaineth not to thee Uzziah to burn Incense unto the Lord but to the Priests of the Sons of Aaron who are Consecrated to burn Incense 1 Chron. 26.18 Herein I suppose we are all agreed and I know of none but Erastus that affirmed the contrary who I think hath few or no Followers 2. Secondly There is an External Political Power of Protecting Ordering and Well-governing the Church and this is the Power of the Sword which is committed to the Civil Magistrate only who is therefore said to be The Minister of God to us for Good and an Avenger to execute Wrath upon him that doeth Evil. Rom. 13.4 And as King Vzziah was blam'd for medling with the Power of the Keys so was Peter check'd for drawing the Sword and commanded to put it up as a Weapon that appertain'd not to him Matt. 26.52 These are two distinct Powers the one appointed to work upon the Inward the other upon the Outward Man and both ordain'd by Christ for the edifying and well-ordering of his Church As for the Ministers Power In Spiritualibus or the due Exercise of the Sacred Function there is no Dispute But the Magistrate's Power Circa Spiritualia i. e. Whether it extends to Ecclesiastical Persons and Causes is the Knot to be untied For the clearing whereof I must shew wherein the Civil Magistrate's Power in Church-matters doth mainly consist that we way see how we agree about it 1. And First The Prince or Civil Magistrate hath a Power of protecting and defending the Church and every Member of it in the profession and practice of true Religion For this end chiefly was the Sword put into his Hand which he is therefore requir'd Not to bear in vain Rom. 13.3 4. but to draw it forth to the Terror of Evil doers and the defence of them that do well 1 Pet. 2.14 'T is the Magistrate's Province and Duty to maintain the Church in its Rights and to preserve it in that fulness of Power and Privileges which Christ hath Communicated to it Hence Kings are stil'd Nursing Fathers and Queens Nursing Mothers to the Church Isai 49.23 And we are bid to pray for them that under their power and protection We way lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty 1 Tim. 1 2. v. This is granted on all Hands 2. Secondly The Prince hath a Power of regulating and well-ordering Matters appertaining to the Church 2 Chron. 29.5 24. As keeping Ecclesiastical Persons to their respective Offices and Duties preserving the Places of Publick Worship from Sacriledge and Profanation Establishing a Regular and Uniform way of Divine Service to be observed in them 2 Chron. 31.4 providing and securing a convenient Maintenace to such as serve at the Altar He may reform the Church when it is corrupted in its Doctrine Worship or Discipline 1 Tim. 5.17 These things we find practis'd and commended in all the good Kings both of Israel and Judah Who took care to remove the Impediments and encourage the exercise of true Religion Again Princes may and ought as Vice-roys of Christ's Kingdom to preserve the Peace and Unity of the Church by suppressing Schism and purging it from Idolatry and Superstition To this end they may guard it with good Laws and may likewise convene the Ecclesiastical Governors to meet in Synods and Convocations to consult and agree upon such Canons as the Necessities of the Church shall require And because the Power of the Church is wholly Spiritual and some bold Obstinate Persons may despise and slight the Censures of the Church which may thereby be render'd ineffectual therefore 3dly Thirdly The Prince may and ought to ratifie and enforce such wholesome Laws by Temporal Sanctions and Penalties thereby correcting such Disorderly Members and punishing the Breach and Contempt of Ecclesiastical Canons and Constitutions This we find was the practice of Christian Kings and Emperors ever since they became Christian For when the Church was either corrupted by Error or infested by Schism they interposed their Power to put a Check to such Disorders and partly by their own imperial Edicts and partly by the Canons of Councils call'd by their Authority and enforc'd by Civil Coercions put a stop to the spread and increase of them And this is no more than what is necessary for the peace and good Government of the Church For tho' the Spiritual Rod of Excommunication hath indeed Terror enough in it to be dreaded of All that have any sense or care of their Souls yet because too many are so harden'd in their Schism and Errors as not to feel the smart of it The Secular Prince may and ought to second the Spiritual with the Temporal Rod to awe such Offenders with Corporal Corrections as are fearless and insensible of the Censures of the Church In a word because All things in the Church of Christ are required to be done Decently and in Order therefore Kings and Princes who are the Guardians and 1 Cor. 14. Protectors of the Church are to take care of the Decency and Solemnity of the publick Worship perform'd in it To effect which they have not only a Directive and Mandatory Power to make Laws and give Rules about it but likewise a Coactive and Compulsory Power to make them observ'd Without which they can never attain their End All this is granted by the most Eminent Presbyterians in their Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici Jus Div. c. 9. And the same is acknowledg'd likewise by Mr. Baxter Plea for Peace p. 30 99. both in his Plea for Peace and Treatise of Episcopacy Now these Concessions are abundantly enough for our purpose Epise p. 144 192 193. For if Publick Forms of Prayer have the Authority of Ecclesiastical Governours in Convocation and be likewise ratifyed and enforc'd by the Sanctions of the Civil Power there can be no just exception against the Authority that enjoyns them And you may be satisfied from hence who those Superiors and Rulers are that may command an invariable Form which was the thing you question'd and I hope is now to your Satisfaction answer'd So that if there be no unlawfulness in Forms of Prayer which you have already granted you may easily see a strong Obligation lying upon you to use those that are commanded and no other which was the thing to be proved But you ask What if the King should command one Translation Version or Form of Prayers and the Bishops another whom must we obey Sir This in our Case is a meer Cavil because all Authority both Civil and Ecclesiastical agree in the prescribed Forms And we hope they will never Clash or interfere in that or any other thing for the publick good of Church or State But if it should so happen which God forbid You must know That tho' Christ erected a standing Form of Spiritual Government
Degrees of Authority and Jurisdiction For else they were advanced to nothing when they were elected or promoted to it 't is absurd to say they succeeded only to what they had before And what would the Apostolical Office over other Church-Officers signifie if they had no Power to oversee and govern them But that the Apostles both had and exercis'd a Power over them the Holy Scripture and Primitive Antiquity may abundantly satisfie you For we find St. James the Apostle and first Bishop of Jerusalem not only presiding in the great Council held there but likewise by his own Authority deciding the Matters debated in it about the Gentil Converts speaking in that commanding Style It seemeth goood to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon them no greater Burdens than these necessary things c. after which we find Timothy Ordain'd Bishop of Ephesus 1 Tim. 1.3 and exercising Episcopal Jurisdiction over that Church 1 Tim. 3.1 which extended over all the proconsular Asia Ch. 9.11.5.22 in which he commanded that the Laity be diligently instructed the Clergy provided with a competent Maintenance admitting none to be Deacons but upon due Examination and Ordaining none to be Elders or Presbyters till they had well-perform'd the Office of a Deacon receiving Accusations against them and putting guilty Persons to an open Shame all which are Acts of Power and Jurisdiction Again We find Titus left in Crete to set in Order the things that were wanting and to Ordain Elders in every City Tit. 1.5 By which it appears That he had an Episcopal Power confer'd upon him to do that in Crete which the Presbyters that were there before had not and this Power extended not only to the setting in order what was wanting and the ordaining of Elders but likewise to the rebuking of obstinate Offenders with all Authority Tit. 2.15 first admonishing them and if they persisted in their Obstinacy punishing them with the Censures of the Church Chap. 3.10 and rejecting them from the Communion of it which are all Acts of Power and Jurisdiction But this Power say some was only Temporary and to last no longer than the Days of the Apostles who were the first Planters of these Churches Why so Was there not the same Use and Necessity of these things in the following Times as there was in the Days of the Apostles Is there not a constant need of ordaining Elders and exercising Discipline and Censures in the succeeding Ages of the Church as well as the first Again where hath Christ limited this Power and made it Temporary Yea hath he not plainly made it perpetual by promising to be with them to the End of the World Which could not be with them in their own Persons who died in a little Time after but with them in their Successors who follow'd them in their Office to whom the same Promise of Assistance and Encouragement is given to the End of the World Beside Does not Ecclesiastical History give us a particular Account who succeeded them in their several Churches A Catalogue of whom you may find in Eusebius and many other Writers So that nothing in Antiquity is more plain than that the Apostles had a Power over others for the well-ordering and governing the Church and that this Power was deriv'd down to their Successors the Bishops who have exercis'd the same in the several Ages of the Church ever since Which Form of Government being first Instituted by Christ and seconded by the Practice of his Apostles and succeeded to in the primitive Churches by our Saviour's express Approbation is abundantly enough to make it an Order distinct from and superior to Presbyters Jure Divino and consequently there is little Reason why you should think it a Grievance to assent and consent to that which the Christian Church hath in all Ages assented and consented to But here you fly to Scotland and would know what I think of that and other Countries that have cast off the Government of the Church by Bishops Sir Though I have no Inclination to meddle with the Affairs of any other Church yet since the Importunity of your Argument requires an Answer I must tell you That as particular Persons and Bodies of Men may be guilty of Schism by breaking off from the Communion and Discipline of a National Church so a whole Nation or Country may be justly charg'd with it in breaking off from the Communion and Discipline of the Catholick Church of which that is a Member And this is the unhappy Case of your beloved Scotland which by casting off the Ancient Apostolical and Primitive Discipline and Government of the Church by Bishops and likewise by laying aside a Liturgy or Forms of Prayer for publick Worship both which having been received in the Christian Church ever since its first Establishment is thereby become Schismatical For by so doing it hath cut it self off from the One Body of the Catholick Church and is become no longer a sound Part of it but a Sect and Excrescence of it But you will say what then will you condemn all the Inhabitants of that Country as living in the Grievous and Damning Sin of Schism No Sir There were some who voluntarily and violently acted to the laying aside the Liturgy and Episcopacy in that Church and thereby wilfully brake the Communion Worship and Discipline of the Christian Church and these are truly and properly guilty of the hainous Sin of Schism which if not repented of and amended in Time will prove as fatal to them heareafter as 't is to the Church here But beside these There are many Thousands in that distracted Kingdom who abhorr'd and endeavour'd to prevent that wide and miserable Breach in the Catholick Church But being over-power'd were forc'd to see and bewail that miserable Rent made in it and can only wish and pray for the Peace and Repairs of Jerusalem Now these are no ways to be charg'd with the Guilt of this Schism for here the Succession being altogether involuntary 't is to be reckon'd their Unhappiness but not their Fault And the like may be said of the Inhabitants of some other Countries who being by the Misfortune of Times and Place depriv'd of that way of Worship and Discipline that should unite them to the Catholick Church may not be charg'd with that Schism which they could neither foresee nor prevent but being by unavoidable Necessity brought under it God Almighty will have Mercy upon them and make up that in the Ever-blessed Society of Saints hereafter which they want of the Communion of Saints here But do you not see say you in the Letter of June 28th how those whose Turn it is to be the Establish'd Church in that Kingdom may turn their own Artillery upon you and talk to your disaffected Brethren in the same strain as you do to us and tell them That all the Distractions and Divisions of that Church are to be put upon the score of their
Disobedience May'nt they be Characteriz'd for stubborn unquiet Schismaticks as we now are No Sir 't is one thing to stick to the truly Ancient Primitive and Apostolical Discipline and way of Worship and another to set up and promote new upstart Ways and Models in both the one is to endeavour to keep the Unity of the Church and the other to break it Now in the Kingdom of Scotland that prevailing Party that laid aside the ancient Discipline and Worship of the Catholick Church to set up those new-fangl'd Models are truly branded for Schismaticks for breaking into different Factions and Communions whereby they divide the Body of Christ and may be justly said to create Distractions and Divisions in the Church whereas they who adher'd to the ancient Doctrin and Discipline of the Catholick Church and would willingly have preserv'd both these can no ways be charg'd with the Schisms and Divisions of that Church for these differ as much from the other as the Keepers of the Peace do from the Breakers of it And you know 't is unreasonable to charge the same Disorders and Disobedience upon those that endeavour to keep the Peace as upon those who make it their Business to break it so that the Artillery you speak of still points to you and cannot be turn'd upon those against whom you level it But it may be your Case say you in another Century if any thing happen to be requir'd which you think unlawful to fall under the like Difficulties of the Government Sir That there is nothing unlawful requir'd in the present Government I suppose you are pretty well satisfied and therefore your Schism in these Circumstances is both unreasonable and inexcusable And 't is to be hoped That the Members of the Church of England will in no Century either voluntarily and causelesly cut off selves or be violently cut off by any others from the Worship and Discipline of the Catholick Church But if it should so happen which God forbid our Duty will be not to applaud but lament the Schism to enjoy as much as we may of the Communion of the Church and to pray and wait for a better Union and fuller Enjoyment of it But there is one Objection more urg'd by your Party against the Authority of Bishops viz. If the Bishops Power be Jure Divino how come they to execute it by Lay-Chancellors Sir Beside the Spiritual Power committed to Bishops as Successors to the Apostles Church-Censurers Ordination c. which are executed by themselves in Person there are other things Circa Spiritualia which are by Law committed to their Care and Inspection as the Cognizance of Wills and Testaments many Cases about Matrimony Alimony and Divorce about Tithes Dilapidations Defamation c. which Things containing many intricate Cases and requiring more time than the Bishop can well spare from the weightier Duties of his Office he is impower'd to commission one Learned in the Canon and Civil Laws to hear and determine such Matters so that as Moses did appoint inferior Officers and Judges to determine small Matters whilst the weightier things were brought to him So the Bishop by the Allowance of the Church is permitted to have these Officers under him to take off part of his Burden in ordinary Matters and to dispatch some of his Business when he is otherwise employ'd or hinder'd But you publish say you such Excommunications as are decreed by Lay-Chancellors according to the Canon And why not For though the Lay-Chancellors by the Authority of the Bishop may decree the Sentence for not hearkning to the Church yet being an Ecclesiastical Censure 't is never executed by him but either by the Bishop in Person or some other Spiritual Person that hath full Authority to do it and when this Censure is thus regularly decreed and pronounc'd why may we not publish it that others may know and avoid them and according to our Saviour's Order look upon them as a heathen Man and a Publican Thus I have consider'd your main Objections concerning the Order of Bishops What you farther offer concerning Bishop Hall shall be consider'd in my next I am SIR Yours M. H. LETTER XXI To J. M. SIR IN your Letter concerning Bishop Hall after a few flings and reflections upon the Order of Bishops which I endeavour'd to rectifie and remove in my last You tell me That you are far better pleas'd with some Bishops than we think you are and particularly instance in Arch-Bishop Vsher and Bishop Hall wishing there were many Hundreds more of them in England Now these Reverend Persons are much beholding to you that you have not so great an Aversness to them as to some others But what is the Reason of this great Kindness to those Excellent Men Why some By-End to be sure for 't is not out of any Respect to their Order which you will not allow to be distinct from nor Superior to Presbyters No nor yet for their Learning and great Abilities in deciding Controversies in Religion for you are not like you say to refer to their final Decision any Matters in Debate between us in their present Constitution Whence then should this Honourable Esteem of yours for these Great Men proceed Why this you will tell me in the next Words 't was for their Exemplary Piety discover'd by their painfulness in Preaching and likewise for their great Temper and Moderation in Ecclesiastical Matters As for their Exemplary Piety that was chiefly seen in their Pious Lives and Zealous adhereing to the Establish'd Worship of the Church of England and likewise by sticking as close and as long as they could to the Primitive Discipline and Government of that Church But you pass by these Eminent and Exemplary Instances of their Piety because they do not serve your purpose and instead of them take notice of their painfulness in Preaching and their great Moderation Now though painfulness in Preaching be indeed a very good Commendation in all that are call'd to it yet I think a Vigilant care and diligence in ruling well the Church of God and setting in order things that are wanting in it is a more necessary and commendable Qualification of a Bishop and indeed if you will rightly consider the multitude weight and difficulty of the Business that appertains to their Office you will find it enough to employ the Time and Thoughts of the ablest Overseer Besides The Bishops having generally spent their Younger Years in painful Preaching and being seldom advanc'd to that Office till they come to their Elder Years may by reason of the decay of Strength and Voice and other Infirmities that attend that Age be excus'd from that painfulness and may more usefully employ the Time and Experience of those Years in well-governing the Church over which they are appointed Overseers But if any beside their other Work have strength and leisure enough for this Exercise they may and ought to make use of it and you know some Time is by our Reverend
in his Church yet he never gave any Authority to Ecclesiastical Persons to controul the commanding Power of Princes in lawful and indifferent Matters But left all such things intirely to their Disposal and Determination And we never read That the Apostles or Primitive Christians ever claim'd such a Power or suffer'd for disobeying in such Things There is but one Limitation assign'd of our Obedience and that is To obey God rather than Man If the Commands of God and the Prince clash and contradict each other there the Prince hath no Right to be obey'd because his Will is counter-manded by a Superiour Authority And therefore we find Christ and his Apostles who were very tender of giving the least Offence to Secular Powers in lawful and indifferent Things would yet yield no Obedience in things forbidden by the Express Will of God This is evident in Matters between God and the King And 't is no less so in the Case between the King and his Subjects where if the Spiritual Power of the one clash with the Temporal Power of the other 't is manifest which must yield the Inferiour Power being to give place to the Higher Powers For St. Peter stiles Kings and Emperors Supream in their Dominions And a Supream you know can have no Superiour Power upon Earth to controul or over-rule him But tho' the King say some be Supream in Temporal Affairs yet there may be and is a Superiour Power to him in Church-matters This is the Power that is claim'd and usurp'd by the Pope over Christian Kings and Emperors And there are others who are great Enemies to the Pope that put in their Claim to the same Power in these Matters and would fain take it out of his Hands to put it into their own But St. Peter from whom the first claim as his Successors expresly asserts Kings to be Supream in their Dominions without Limitation or Exception of Spiritual Matters And what Authority have any to except where the Spirit of God makes no Exception And our Saviour Christ from whom the latter claim hath no where limited or circumscrib'd the Sovereign Power of Princes in these Things So that Kings had need look well to the Rights of their Crown to preserve them from the unjust Pretensions and Encroachments of both Besides what mad work must two Co-ordinate Supremacies make in the same Kingdom For since Sacred and Civil Matters are many times so closesly twisted and inter-woven together that they can hardly be separated or distinguish'd what sharp and unavoidable Contests must frequently arise about them And if these two Rival-Supreams differ about the extent and limits of their Power what shall the Subject do who cannot possibly obey or please both For since no Man can serve two Masters the serving of the One will be the despising of the Other which may draw on him the Displeasure of both And can it be conceived that the Great Sovereign of the World who hath styl'd himself A God of Order and not of Confusion should lay such a Stumbling-block in our way and leave so weighty a Matter upon which the Peace and Welfare of Kingdoms depend to such great Uncertainties Again if these two Rival-powers fall at variance who shall reconcile them or what shall decide this great Controversie Why nothing upon Earth is able to do it but the Sword with which the Spiritual Power hath nothing to do for that hath no other Weapons but the Censures of the Church and can only strike with the Thunder of Excommunication and if these be dis-regarded as they too often are it hath nothing left to preserve or maintain a Supremacy So that if the Sword be the only Weapon to defend it he who is of right intrusted with that is thereby design'd and constituted Supream But those Scriptures you say that require Obedience and Subjection to the Higher Powers respect Church-governours 300 Years before the Christian Magistrate appeared in the World Sir If you consult Expositors or the History of those Times you will find those Scriptures to respect the Roman Governors who then sway'd the Imperial Sceptre To whom our Saviour would have all due Submission and Obedience paid For he commanded To render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar 's He acknowledg'd Pilate's Power to be given him from above And the Apostles and Primitive Christians demean'd themselves towards them accordingly Indeed for the first 300 Years after Christ when the Roman Power not only persecuted but sought to root out Christianity the Church was govern'd by its own Laws and by its own Legislative Power provided the best it could for its own Safety and Edification but when the Roman Emperors embrac'd Christianity to the great Joy of the Christian World they took the Church into their Care and Protection which by that means got out of that heavy Storm of Persecution under which it had long labour'd and began to flourish in Peace and Prosperity For Constantine and other Christian Emperors built Churches for publick Worship and provided for the decent Celebration of it They conven'd General Councils and often presided in them ratifying their Canons with their Imperial Edicts and enforcing them with Temporal Sanctions and Penalties By which means the Church is derived down in that happy and flourishing State in which it now continues Thus Sir you see who those Rulers and Superiors are that may enjoin an Invariable Form And I hope I have in some measure satisfy'd your Demands and remov'd your Exceptions against the Authority that enjoins them But when you have nothing to say against the Authority of Superiors you are wont to complain of the Injustice and Severity of their Laws and to cry out of Persecution when you suffer for the Breach of them how justly this is done must be examin'd in the next I am SIR Yours to serve you M. H. August 10th 1697. LETTER VI. SIR I Shew'd in my Last what that Authority is that lawfully may and hath enjoin'd Forms of Prayer together with the Equity and Obligation of those Laws that require them My next Task must be to inquire into the Reasonableness and Justice of those Penalties that are annext to the Violation of them And this must be the rather done because I find you talking much of Goals and Imprisonments and other Hardships which you have endur'd upon the account of them You complain most bitterly and frequently of Persecution as if you lived under Nero or Dioclesian and felt all the Tortures that were inflicted on the Primitive Christians and that for the same or as good a Cause too All which is done merely to derive an Odium upon the Laws and Lawgivers and to procure the greater Pity and Liberty for your selves And here I must observe a double Artifice which I find you making use of the one to evade the Duty the other the Penalty of these Laws To effect the First you are wont to call the Injunctions of Superiors not by the Style of
Laws or Statutes which are Terms that denote and challenge Obedience but by the odious Name of Impositions that is apt to beget a Dislike and Abhorrence of them For though Men are willing to be rul'd and directed yet they hate to be impos'd upon and therefore to weaken the Power of the Magistrate he shall not be term'd a Lawgiver but an Imposer and his Ordinances not Laws but Impositions that by giving them a bad Name you may the better set them aside at pleasure But if that will not do you have another Artifice to escape the Punishments of them and that is by fixing on them the hateful Name of Persecution a Term apt to denote more of Cruelty in the Inflictors than of Guilt in the Sufferers Now to detect the Fallacy and Falshood of these Arts 't will be necessary to consider the Punishments you thus complain of together with the Reason and Authority upon which they are grounded that you may the better discern between just Punishments and unjust Persecution And this I shall do as Matters stand before these Penalties were suspended that all Men may see the Injustice of such Clamours What then are the Punishments annex'd to the Laws that do establish Conformity to the Church Why These are both Ecclesiastical and Civil Of the First sort are the Ecclesiastical Censures of Admonition Suspension Deprivation and Excommunication which are inflicted by the Authority of the Church for the Correction and Amendment of Offenders This is the Power of the Keys committed to the Church by Christ himself whereby he hath given Authority to the Bishops and Pastors of Admitting into and Excluding out of the Church and thereby of opening and shutting the Kingdom of Heaven Which Power or Commission is granted by our Saviour in these Words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a Publican Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Matt. xviii 17 18. Now these Punishments being ordain'd and appointed by Christ himself cannot be styl'd Persecution or made any just matter of Complaint when duly inflicted on Offenders But These things say some have been ill manag'd especially Excommunication that great Punishment being made too cheap and common for many have been Excommunicated for Trifles and turn'd out of the Church for what no Man would be turn'd out of Doors But Sir Is Obstinacy and wilful Disobedience to the Church to be reckoned a Trifle And yet this is still the chief if not the only Cause of Excommunication He that hearkens to the Church and submits to the Authority of it is not to be put out of it but he that will not is by our Saviour's Rule to be accounted no better than a heathen man and a Publican Neither doth the Smallness of the thing extenuate but rather aggravate the Fault for the less the Matter of the Command is the greater is the Disobedience he that will disobey in a small thing will sooner do it in a greater And the Reverence of Authority is so tender a Matter and of so great Moment that it must not be despis'd in either For he that heareth you saith Christ heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me Luke x. 16. You know God Almighty punished the whole Race of Mankind for our first Parents tasting the for bidden Fruit which one would think was a small Fault for so great a Punishment and yet considering the Ingratitude the Stubborness and Disobedience involved in it 't was a crying Enormity and justly deserved that Vengeance that was inflicted I shall leave you to apply it and proceed 2dly To the Civil Punishments annexed to the Violation of these Laws and these are so easie and gentle that none have any need to cry out of Persecution or to brand the Magistrate for a Tyrant or Persecutor in inflicting of them For is not Twelve-pence a Sunday a moderate Fine for absenting from the publick Assemblies And nothing but Mens own Wilfulness and Obstinacy can draw upon them the higher Fines or the Penalty of Imprisonment which were thought necessary to awaken and reform some stubborn Offenders Our Laws have no Capital or Sanguinary Punishments in Matters of Religion nor do they allow any to be put to Death or to be cruelly tormented for them but only by moderate Penalties compell them to hear Instruction and to hinder them from propagating their Errors and Divisions to the Disturbance of the Peace of the Church and State And yet you make as loud Outcries and Complaints of Persecution for these things as if with some of the Ancient Martyrs you were to be broke upon the Wheel and with St. Lawrence to be roasted upon the Gridiron But let us see the Difference between Legal Punishments and Persecution these must be carefully distinguished for else the Thief and Murderer and all other Offenders may cry out of Persecution for suffering the just Punishments of their Crimes In Persecution then Two things are to be considered viz. the Cause and the Measure of their Sufferings For to suffer without a Cause and to be punished for the Breach of a Law which neither hath nor can be prov'd is a sort of Persecution and such likewise is that where the Punishment exceeds the Design of the Law or the Demerit of the Crime But the proper Notion of Persecution is to suffer for a good Cause that is for Righteousness sake To be brought before Magistrates and hal'd away to Prisons and Death it self for the Name of Christ and adhereing to his Truth This was the Case of the Apostles and Primitive Christians who were therefore said to be persecuted In this Case our Saviour's Direction was Either to fly where it might be or patiently and chearfully to suffer where it could not so that my mentioning your Removal into Scotland was no worse Advice than Christ gave to his own Apostles that is If they were persecuted in one place to flee to another and if England were such a hot Furnace of Persecution as you represent it 't was no bad Counsel to move into the more Northern and cooler Regions of Scotland where the Temper of the Air and the Religion of the Climate may be the more agreeable with the due Temper of Dissenters But this by the by 'T is the Cause then and not the Suffering that makes the Martyr In like manner 't is not the undergoing of Punishment but the suffering for Christ and for Righteousness sake that makes the Persecution For what glory is it saith St. Peter if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently But if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God 1 Pet. ii 20. Now the Sufferings you complain of are neither for Christ nor for Righteousness sake for you may be as Righteous and serve Christ as
read of any such indissoluble Relation Who hath ty'd this Gordian Knot between Pastor and People so fast that no Power upon Earth is able to unty it Or where has God so firmly join'd them together that no Man may put them asunder The nearest and closest Relation that we know of is that between Husband and Wife and yet that admits of a Divorce and may be dissolved in case of Adultery and is this Covenant and Relation between Minister and People the only sacred and inviolable Bond that cannot be broken Are they so inseparably link'd together that nothing can part them May a Minister Preach Heresie Schism Blasphemy or Sedition and yet must not be Silenc'd or remov'd from his Beloved or rather Seduc'd People Certainly this is a new Covenant of a very late invention and like the Scottish Covenant set up against all Lawful Authority which it manifestly tends to subvert and destroy But 't is time to consider what you have further to say concerning the Pharisees which shall be done in my next I am SIR Yours M. H. Sept. 16th 1697. LETTER XVII To J. M. SIR IN your Reply to my Letter concerning the Pharisees to let pass some trifling Observations about the Order of the Letters about Holy Mr. Baxter and about Pluralins and Non-residents which are nothing to our purpose Your main Objection is that I left the Account of the Pharisees imperfect and therefore you have thought fit to add some further Stroaks to compleat the Character And though you will not you say make any Application yet half an Eye may see against whom they are levelled First Then for the Name you are unwilling to have it deriv'd from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to Separate lest you should be found too like them for your Separation But you would have it come from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to Expound and Interpret because they were great Expositors of the Law Lightfoot Vol. 2. p. 122. c. but that it comes not thence is evident because as Dr. Lightfoot observes there were Women Pharisees who were no more allow'd to Teach and Expound the Law under the Old Testament than they are to Preach or Expound the Gospel under the New but if you derive it from the former Sense of the Word there are Women Pharisees still who are the chief Instruments and Supports of the Separation and though they are but we ker Vessels in the Church are yet the main Props and Pillars of the Conventicle Secondly You own the Pharisees to be a Sect but withal add That it was the most prevalent one for the Pharisees say you were the Rulers of the Church and the chief Members of the Sanhedrim This is levell'd against the Church as if it were only a prevailing Sect or Faction But Sir Is it not your great Ambition to be uppermost and your great Uneasiness that 't is otherwise May we not see a greedy thirst and affectation of Power in some Men who use all their Arts and spare no Pains to arrive to it And is not what they Malign and Envy in their Betters the Object of their own Hopes and Expectations Thirdly You own it to be not only a Sect but the strict Sect of the Pharisees for they pretended say you to greater strictness than others And is not this the Artifice by which you seduce the unwary Vulgar affecting a grave starch'd Sequestration from the Civil Society of other Men as if they were only Men of the Earth and not fit for the Conversation of such Heavenly Persons Yea though our Saviour shew'd himself marvellously sociable and conversable with all Mankind yet you Quote two places from St. Paul to countenance your morose Distance The one is to Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness Ephes 5.11 which forbids only a Fellowship with the Vices not with the Persons of Men the other is Not to eat with Whoremongers and Adulterers 1 Cor. 5.11 which is only a Caution against a too great and unnecessary Intimacy and Familiarity with such Persons which all wise Men do advise against But you go on 4thly To describe the Pharisees that they endeavour'd to stretch others to their Size That they separated from all others but none must separate from them This is another Arrow shot at the Church not considering how it glances back and wounds your own selves for did not some Men not long since labour hard to stretch others to their new fangled Doctrin and Discipline And though they not only separated from but destroy'd the Establish'd Church yet none were to separate from them as appear'd by their bitter Invectives against Separation of which you shall have a larger Account when you think fit to call it in Question Moreover 5thly The Pharisees say you distinguish'd themselves from others by their Garments and such too as signified a special Purity This is a Fling at the Surplice for its being us'd as a distinguishing Garb But Sir are not Judges and Magistrates in the Execution of their Office distinguish'd from others by their Robes and Habits And are the sacred Offices of Religion the only things that must be stripp'd naked and divested of all decent Solemnity The Pharisees Fault was to place Holiness and Purity in them and yours is to fasten Unholiness and Impurity upon them But you go on 6thly The Pharisees were a proud domineering Generation ever gaping for Preferments and aspiring after the highest Places and Titles to be called Rabbi and Lord it over the Faith and Consciences of their Brethren This is a fling at the Bishops for being call'd Lords you had them before by the Lawn-Sleeves and here you fall foul upon their Titles that with the Pharisees they are not only for enlarging their Philacteries but with them too they must be call'd Rabbi and Lord it over God's Heritage But Sir Is all Superiority in Place or Office to be stil'd domineering Is it impossible for any to be above others without trampling upon all beneath them Does not all Government require a Subordination And what Order can be kept if all Men stand upon the same Level Must Pride think you necessarily lurk under a Distinction of Habits and Titles Nay do not some with Diogenes trample upon the Pride of others with far greater Pride of their own This is too notorious to be deny'd yea does not your judging and censuring your Superiors imply an imaginary Superiority over them and set you in your own vain Conceit above them as if they poor Souls were all out of the way and you want nothing but Place and Power to set them all right What think you is not this insufferable Pride and Insolence And yet you add That you should be sorry if the Non conformists should do so Sir That they have done so and far worse things too many have to their Sorrow found who have groan'd under the Weight of their insulting Power and felt the little
Bishops very frequently and profitably employ'd this way Your next Commendation of those Reverend Fathers is their Temper and Moderation in Ecclesiastical Matters Now this if rightly understood is an Excellent Vertue and a very useful and necessary Qualification of all Governors both in Church and State But how frequently this is mistaken and mis-apply'd I shew'd you in a former Letter on that Subject and I fear we shall find something of it in the present Case as may be easily gather'd from what you relate of these great Men concerning the Discipline and Prayers of the Church For the better clearing whereof you must Note That 't was the misfortune of those two great Prelates to live in very bad Times when the Liturgy and Episcopacy of both which they were strong Asserters were laid aside and thereby both the ancient Worship and Discipline of the Church turn'd out of Doors now those two Pious and Learned Bishops not only lamented the miserable Rents and Ruins made in the Church by this means but endeavour'd to repair and keep up as much of it as in that broken State of things they could And this was the occasion of that Model of Primitive Episcopacy drawn up by Arch-bishop Vsher of which you make so frequent mention and the same was the occasion of that Moderator mention'd by Bishop Hall to supply the place of the Bishop the design of both which was to preserve so much of the Power and Jurisdiction belonging to the Primitive Order of Bishops as those unhappy Times would admit of and like Men in a Storm when they could not save all to save as much as they might Now this Sir proceeded not from any such coldness and indifferency towards the Order as you vainly imagine and miscal Moderation but from an earnest and affectionate Zeal to preserve and continue it As for what you alledge from Bishop Hall's complaining of your Faults of Consistorial Officers that was design'd not to remove but reform their Courts to take away all just Exceptions against them that the People might be the better reconcil'd to the Order and yield the more ready Obedience to the Authority and Jurisdiction annex'd to it for if you would have Courts of Justice laid aside for the Abuses of some Under-officers in them you might soon reform away all Civil as well as Ecclesiastical Courts Thus having shew'd you the Judgment of those two Reverend Prelates concerning the Government of the Church You would have me next consider Bishop Hall's Sentiments as to Prayer and here you grant that as he us'd so he vindicated the Liturgy but you never met with a Word say you to justifie the imposing it and no other in plublick Prayer Sir Hath not the Liturgy been impos'd ever since the Reformation and no other for publick Worship And was it not the design of that Bishop in his Vindication of it to perswade all People to use and joyn in it as so impos'd Is not the faithful and constant reading of the Prayers one main Article of enquiry in all Episcopal Visitations And did this Pious Bishop think you neglect so weighty a Part and Duty of his Office No Sir he very diligently and devoutly us'd the Liturgy himself and strictly kept his Clergy to it till the Iniquity of the Times put an unwelcome stop to both from whence he betook himself to conceiv'd Forms of Prayer to supply the want of the other the only expedient to fly to in those perilous Times That this was his Practice you may gather from his own Words for he tells us that he us'd the same liberty in Prayer that he did in Preaching so that as his Sermons were Compos'd so were his Prayers too That the former were so the Elegance and Exactness of them may easily satisfie you and that he took as much care in speaking to God in Prayer as he did to the People in Preaching you may learn from the Reverence he still bore to the Divine Majesty which kept him to Solomon's Advice of not being rash with his Mouth or hasty to utter any thing before God So that for your Extemporary Effusions or pouring out present and sudden Conceptions we never find it us'd or commended by him And is it wise or fit think you to alledge the Salvo's and Expedients of bad Times for Precedents in good ones and to make Cases of Necessity Rules of Duty and Practice when that Necessity ceases 'T was the Grief of those Pious and Learned Prelates to see those woful Breaches made in the Government and Service of the Church which they labour'd to their uttermost to prevent and heal and had they liv'd to see Episcopacy restor'd to its full Power and the Liturgy to its ancient Use and Practice they would no doubt have Blessed God for that happy Day and with good Old Simeon sung their Nunc Dimittis and would then willingly depart in Peace when their Eyes had seen the Church setled again in Peace upon the Ancient and Primitive Foundation But the good Bishop Hall say you was no Flatterer of the Times No Sir the Hardships and Sufferings he underwent by them plainly shew him to be no favourer or flatterer of those Times His steady Zeal to the King and the Church kept him from all base Compliances with the Enemies of both But You bring a very awkard Argument to prove his Integrity This is omitted in the Print taken from some passionate Speeches that past between him and another Prelate that was after his Metropolitan which is rather a Blemish than Ornament to his Reputation and shews what a worthy commender you are of Good Men to single out the worst Passages of their Lives to preserve their Memory and to make use of their Failings to adorn their Character But you would fain know how it comes to pass That conceiv'd Prayer should be so pious and useful a thing in Private and yet so pernicious and dangerous a Device when us'd in Publick Sir The Reason hereof is obvious for conceiv'd Prayer in the retirements of Closet where they are shut up from the Eyes and Ears of others can have no Vanity or Worldly design in it but being transacted only between God and the Soul is generally an Argument and Instance of great Sincerity and here the broken Sighs and Language of a Contrite Heart prove oftentimes the most prevailing Oratory Whereas the pouring out many and new Words in publick may be and often is accompanied with Ostentation and other Secular Ends. You know the Pharisees made such long Prayers for a pretence to be heard and seen of Men the better to carry on their Rapine and Oppressions and too many use them still for a Shew of greater Sanctity and a Cloak to hide their viler Practices You cannot be ignorant that this way of Praying hath been and still is a great Instrument and Occasion of Division and is made the principal Device of all Teachers to draw Disciples after them But how