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
upon it is an Imposture enough discover'd and unmask'd Speak out is there any thing Sinful or Unlawful in the Liturgie Or that is not agreeable to Gods Word Prove but that and then you do something for the Church holds in her Articles of Religion That it is not Lawful for her to ordain any thing that is contrary or besides the Word of God Besides have not your requests been gratified in many things in altering several passages in the Liturgie as in the Offices of Marriage Churching of Women and Burials what is it you would then have all or none Cannot you be pleased without it be wholly cast aside Will no Concessions else serve your turn O that you would make some weighty exceptions and not use such a frivolous and vain Cavilling against it not worth the Answering or that you would shew the World one of your own that were better before you take away this that would be reasonable and worthy your undertaking And since some of you have allowed of a Liturgie and for peace sake of many inconvenient Circumstances in Gods Worship Baxt. Disp p. 487. Safe way p. 198. and acknowledg also that the Governors of the Church have a decisive power in things undetermined in Scripture why should you not yield to accept of this equitable Proposition to accept of and Conform to this Form of Prayer and these Rites of the Church till better be Instituted or Ordained As to the Cross in Baptism a Moral Hiroglyphick only of our Saviours Death and Crucifixion Godfathers and Godmothers Confirmation Kneeling at the Sacrament Bowing at the Name of Jesus Standing up at Reading the Creed and other things of the like Nature are these things worthy to cause an Eternal Separation betwixt you Are they of so great moment as to make so wide and long a breach in a Nation Are they of worth and value to make you run into Contempt and Rebellion Let us know your Minds if any of these should be yeilded to your tender Consciences and disused to please you would you then Conform in all the rest Would not your Answer be as formerly to Queen Elizabeth That you would not leave a Hoof behind All the Ceremonies of the Church must be laid aside you would have a naked Religion without Cloaths which is not seemly Ceremonies are but the Garments and decencies of Religion not part of it but somewhat that it cannot well be seen without they are like our Cloaths that may be altered that may be cut to the mode and size of the Times without altering the form of our Body There have been Laws made for prohibiting the use of some Garments and that have injoyned the wearing of others though before it was at the choice of the People to wear or not wear them after such Laws made they were no longer indifferent It is even so of our Ceremonies they are indifferent things of themselves but being injoyned by Authority they are now no longer so Obedience is no indifferent thing that is absolutely injoyned by the Word of God 't is obedience to Ecclesiastical Laws that is required This obedience is either justly due to these Laws or it is not If it is why then do you disobey If you say it is not 1 Pet. 2.13 you contradict the Scriptures Submit to every Ordinance of Man whether it be unto the King as Supream or unto Governors c. Rom. 13.1 Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers However it is the safest way to obey should they Command things doubtful let the blame lie upon them you will be excused God requires not impossibilities But certainly God has given to the Governors of the Church a Power of making Laws and Canons Let all things be done decently and according to order 1 Cor. 14.40 And according to this Rule of the Apostle the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England are as few decent comly and fitting as in any Church of the Christian World and all Exceptions against them that I ever could yet see empty and of no substance Manton on Jude Some of you have told us there are but two Lawful Causes of Separation from the Church Persecution and a general corruption of Doctrine for both these Causes and no other have we Separated from the Church of Rome and if you can prove these two marks of Separation to be inherent to the Church of England you will have sufficient to ground your Separation as Lawful and have some plea for what you do but till then I beseech you set your face towards the Temple of Obedience and be refractory no longer and since these things which make this Breach between you are not of any great Moment are but Ceremonies and the outward Garments and Garnatures of Religion leave off that obstinacy and submit your selves to the Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake The great Cry that you have made against these Rites and Ceremonies of the English Church hath been that they were Popery and of Popish extraction borrowed from the Church of Rome but all this while you tell us not what Popery is neither can you disown or dissent from all that is held or practised by the Church of Rome Certainly our Forefathers to whom we owe these things our Reformation from the Romish Church and the Purity of our Religion would not have laid down their Lives and have been Martyr'd by the Church of Rome if it had then been thought either by themselves or by the others that what they had done as to the Reforming the Ceremonies of the Church or towards the maintaining the Doctrines they Held or that the Orders and Discipline they had Constituted had been Popery or rather not opposite in some measure thereto As by Dissenting she shewed the Church of Rome that she had no dependency upon her and that she so far disowned her as she had disowned God by laying aside all those gross Corruptions for which our Church Separated from her so on the other side by retaining some of her harmless and innocent Ceremonies they shew'd her they did not do any thing by the Spirit of Opposition only whereby they might take offence without having a just ground and cause for it But Bishop Sanderson in his Preface to his Sermons tells you what in Truth Popery is Sand. Pref. Sect. 15. That it is those Doctrines which are contrary to the Word of God or but superadded thereunto as necessary Points of Faith to be of all Christians Believed under pain of Damnation and all those Superstitions used in the Worship of God which either are Vnlawful as being contrary to the Word of God or being not contrary and therefore Arbitrary or Indifferent are made Essentials and imposed as necessary parts of Worship From all which the Church of England hath been sufficiently Vindicated and Cleared and you cannot but know in your own Consciences that she disowns the shaddow of all those things and you
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
Ceremonies in Ours Would you be rather Content with the Bloody Court of the Inquisition than with that of the Bishops Think yet of the Blood they have Spilt in this Kingdom in the time of their Raign let the horror thereof a little move you and let the fear of the like possess you with some thoughts of preventing it by your Unanimity and closing with your Brethren Think a little of their Persecutions and Slaughters of the Waldenses and Albigenses in France of the Hussites in Bohemia of the Protestants in Germany Hungary and the Low-Countries of the cruel Massacre in Paris the horrid Destruction and Cruelties of late years in Piedmont the Bonfires of Martyrs in the days of Queen Mary the Gunpowder Plot and our late Wars begun and fomented by them and their Agents abroad and at home They are still the same Sedulous promoters of their own Cause they are no Changelings Are your Eyes still shut Have you not seen your dear City consumed to Ashes by their Fire Balls And do not you now behold new Plots and Contrivances by the same Persons to ruine the Church the State and the Kingdom Have we not seen a Minister of Justice Murthered by their Hands Are not we daily threatned with farther Mischief And if not prevented by the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence and by the Care of our Prince and his Faithful Counsellors are we not still in danger What gives them this Advantage against us but your Separation What makes their hopes Flourish but your Division At last therefore harken I beseech you to the Call of your Brethren who still invite you to Unity and Conformity that the Children of Israel and the Children of Judah may come together and seek their Lord their God Jer. 50.4 5. That they may joyn themselves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten That you may become as one People and that your Breaches may be made up Amen If you are not Men of a perverse Nature if you have not Hearts of Adamant that cannot be pierced if you will not Consider the Good of the Kingdom nor your own Danger yet if you have any Souls or any spark of Generosity or good Nature in your Breasts methinks the Kindness Mercy and Indulgence of the King shown towards you should draw you to a Compliance Hearts that neither Tortures nor Racks could overcome Souls irresistible to Force not to be Conquered by Power have yet melted before the Fire of Love have been overcome with Kindness have acknowledged and submitted to Generosity Flints are easily broken on beds of Down Adamants are made soft by the blood of Goats And is there no way to penetrate your rocky Hearts Will not Indulgence move you Nor Kindness draw you Nor Mercy allure you Nor Favor cause you Nor Good-Will invite you to Conform Will neither fair means nor foul work upon you Could you ever have hop'd for or expected the great Favor and Indulgence that hath been shown you by your Prince one that is justly styl'd the Merciful after all those Evils that you had brought upon this Nation by your Separation from and Opposition to the Church Has he not moderated the Laws made against you Has he not hindred all Force to be used towards you Has he not suffered you to injoy your darling private Meetings in Contempt of the Church and in the Face of the whole Nation Are you Molested and Disturbed Would you have granted the same Toleration had you had the Power in your Hand We Know and Remember the time that you would not and we yet are in doubt of your good will in that Case had you the Reins in your Hands You say you acknowledg it you own the Mercy and great Favor and Indulgence therefore you Pray for the King and wish Life to his Majesty for your own Ends but still Disobey him and his Laws by your stubborn resisting all the kind Invitations given you to Unity and Conformity Let at last the great Mercy that is shown you be a Motive to bring you to this desired and happy Unity Let Love draw you resist no longer meet with kindness and submission the Benevolence and tender Heartedness of so Gracious a Prince towards you Return like the lost Prodigal Son to the Father of your Country and into the Bosom of your Mother that the fatted Calf may be killed and that there may be a general rejoycing and Jubilee throughout the Land Then shall we say Sing O ye Heavens Isa 44.23 for the Lord hath done it shout ye lower parts of the Earth break forth into Singing ye Mountains O Forrest and every Tree therein for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel Though I have already mentioned your Duty to the Magistrate that you ought to submit to and obey your Prince and your Governors that your just Obedience to Authority is Required and Commanded by Scripture and against which you can have no lawful Defence I cannot but again remind you of this necessary Duty how will you Answer this before God After what manner can you evade such positive Commands The Infidelity of Princes could not excuse this Law How then can you Answer your Contempt of the Laws and Commands not only of a Christian but a Protestant Prince One that Commands nothing but Lawful things It is not enough that you think otherwise of them and that you pretend scruples of Conscience there is no such exception in the Rule laid down by the Apostle 1 Sam. 15.22 23 Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers Submit to every Ordinance of Man Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord To obey is better than Sacrifice and to harken than the fat of Rams Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft and Stubbornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry Certainly obedience to your Prince and to his Lawful Commands would be more acceptable than all your long Prayers and frequent Preaching which is become your Idol and which you set up in the room of the Crosses you have pull'd down Speak out and tell us whether an Act for Uniformity and Conformity made by the three States of the Land be a Legal Act or no if it be why do you not obey Why do you trouble the Waters with your needless Scruples of little weight and value and about trifles only as you Call them Is not the Word truly dispensed in the Publick Churches Are not the Sacraments rightly Administred Are not their Prayers free from Scandal or Irreverence Are not their Doctrines clear of Error or Falsity Why then do you deny to Hear Receive and Communicate together But in spite as I may say both of the Commands of God and Man Separate your selves and run into Disobedience I verily believe those of the Church of England would never run into that Contempt of the King and his Laws I am perswaded that