answer our ends or refund for those Breaches we have made of Charity in prosecuting them for their dissent we did magno conatu nibil agere The distance was as great and Schism as inveterate as ever 'T is true the Scourges which we made of no small Cords drove some of them into the Temple or publick Assemblies but could never drive out the Spirit of Inconformity when the Curb was in their Mouths they bit the Bridle and kick'd at those who held the Whip over them but never became more flexible to the Reign The French King hath Dragoon'd several of his Protestant Subjects into an outward compliance with the Popish Religion but is so insecure of the reality of the effect that he thinks himself obliged to keep a strict band over them and watchful Eye upon them (c) Lib. de republ 4 to p. 75 7 â— Bodin observes That tho' Princes exercised great Cruelties towards their Subjects yet till the days of Antiochus there was no Tyrannizing over the Minds and Consciences of Men. Nunquam tamen bominum mentibus ante regem Antiochum imperandum sibi fas esse putaverunt Nay so favourable was he himself in the Case of Religion whatever he was afterwards that in the Siege of Jerusalem he granted Eight days Truce to the Jews to Celebrate the Feast of the Passeover Theodorick thought it impracticable to put a force upon the will of Man in the Matters of Religion and therefore wrote to the Senate to leave it at liberty and for a good reason too viz. Because none could be compelled to believe against his will pag. 758. Religionem inquit imperare non possumus quia nemo cogitur ut credat invitus (d) Cujus rei cum multa sunt argunenta tum vero nullum ad hanc rem iccommodatius quam de Theodosio majore qui ineunte imperio provincias Arrianorum plenas reperit c. Voluit imperator Arrianos quos tamen capitaliter oderat ullis suppliciis coerceri sed utrisque Arrianis in â—uam Catholicis sua templa concessit in singulis oppidis duos utriusque religionis pontifices permissit Ac tam etsi Caâ—â—â—licorum Pontisicum rogationibus edicta quad am adversus Arrianos promulgari jussisit facis tamen irrita esse passus est ut ipsius ad Ambrosium literae demonstrant Lib. 4 de repub Theodosius Major tho' an utter Enemy to the Arrians yet allowed them the free exercise of their Religion permitting them to have their publick Temples and Ministers to officiate in every City And tho' by the earnest sollicitations of some Churchmen he was prevailed upon to publish some Edicts against them yet he easily permitted them to be superseded for in his Letter to St. Ambrose he commanded him to deliver the principal Church to the Arrians for saith he All are at my dispose Trade inquit Arrianis basilicam mei namque sunt omnia juris But suppose he had been exceedingly mad upon his Subjects and had vexed them out of their Religion or at least the profession of it yet he could not vex them out of their understanding also for tho force be a powerful Argument yet it hath always been too weak to beget Faith or any true Sons of the Church Which in all her accounts hath but a small reckoning to make of any considerable perquisite gained by the strictest exercise of her Discipline and authority over the Consciences of scrupulous but good Men. Nay the very Civil Interests of States and Princes have shrunk and shrivelled yea dried up from the very Roots which have been planted in those hot and scorching Climates I mean where Persecution for Religion and Conscience sake hath prevailed How Bloody a War did the cruel and despiteful dealing with the Hugonots upon these accounts produce in France until the very Spirit of the Nation failed in the midst of it So Zealous was the Duke d'Alva to maintain the Romish Faith in the Netherlands that he cruelly opprest the people and mightily convinc'd them by the pressing Arguments of Fire and Faggot Yea where-ever Scripture and Reason proved scant the Inquisition was urged as the strongest perswasive they had for their Religion which caused those Flames that not only made the Daughter of Sion to fit in Ashes but fired their Religion and Prince too out of the Countrey I am not willing to Sacrifice to this Net for the Commotions and Troubles in Scotland The Civil Wars of England in the days of King Charles which not only overthrew the Government of the Church but rased the very Foundation of our Politick Constitution Yet after a long and Bloody War which for the space of Seven Years had turn'd our Land into an Aceldama broaching that Bloody Issue which the best Physicians of the State knew not how to Cure till it had wasted the very Vitals of our Land After a Twelve Years Inter-regnum when Men did that which was right in their own Eyes it pleased God to restore our Judges as at the first and Councellors as in the beginning The wild Asses to be sure which had so long snuft up the Wind kick'd up the Heel injoying a free and unbounded shock a liberty to feed where and what they pleased thought nothing more grievous than a confinement The untamed Heifers having been so long unaccustomed to the Yoke knew not how to submit to it or suffer it to pass over their fair Necks especially those who as they had been instrumental in restoring the King so desired an indulgence only upon terms easie to be granted and some small Abatements of Conformity Instead of which the burthen was made heavier and bound with Ropâ—s that were never before occupied I mean new Laws and stricter Ties to oblige them to obedience which could not but be entertained with a regret not only proportionable to their late and long possessed freedom but to the many specious Promises they had obtained and great hopes they had thence conceived of some kind and favourable Dispensations in some controverted and scrupled Parts or Ceremonies of Religion But notwithstanding all they were more narrowly watched more nicely observed and more strictly punished than ever before All Tears of Complaint were but like Waters spilt upon the ground the returns which were made being often rough and unkind By the life of Pharaoh ye are no true men but to spy out our Liberty are ye come and to betray the Church our Fathers made your Yoke heavy but we will add to it But may we not apply the words of the Psalmist in this case This their way was their folly but their posterity hath not approved their saying Psalm 49.13 Such have been the Wisdom and Compassion of our Superiours as to speak kindly and deal gently with our Dissenting Brethren who in two succeeding Parliaments have setled and recognized their Liberties or indemnified them from the penalties of those Laws to which they stood obnoxious raising up a Gourd which have
being reviled we bless 1 Cor. 4.13 being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we intreat But how wonderful must the retaliating Providence of God be that no small number of those who have bantred and bespattred us for our pretence of Conscience are now driven to the same Plea for their dissent from our present Constitution and Government This is the Lord 's doing and 't is marvellous in our eyes Which justifies the Truth and Reason of our Argument which a late Reverend (a) Dr. Taylor Bishop urged in the like case It is saith he such a doctrine that if there be variety in Human Affairs if the event of things be not setled in a durable consistence but is changeable every one of us all may have need of it Behold this day are these words fulfilled in our Ears Those whose Nest seemed to be built upon a Rock yea placed among the Stars too high to be reached too strong like Mount Sion ever to be removed have lived to see their honour levelled with the dust How are they fallen from heaven how are they cast down to the ground that did weaken the nations Nor is the wisdom and love of God less conspicuous in that part of our Revolution which gave so happy a reverse of Fortune to our Dissenting and not long since Afflicted Brethren turning all their sorrow into joy and mourning into a good day In which the conduct and method of Divine Providence is very admirable by breaking off the Yoke with those * Vnaeademque manus vulnus opâ—â—â— tulit hands which imposed it The Act of Liberty or Indemnity from the penalty of the Laws for Uniformity c. being passed by the same Authority viz. King and Parliament by Persons whose addictions and practices as to the same Form of worship no way differed from theirs who so strictly obliged us to one general and uniform but scrupled Scheme of Religion Yet have been so kind and considerate of those who are weak in the Faith as not to tye them to matters of doubtful Disputation but have given a yieldance and pardon'd them in those things whereof their Consciences were afraid Should they who had been so long trampled under foot have got into the Saddle wither would they have rode How would they have triumphed over those that oppressed them Root and Branch Branch and Rush ere this might have been the word and nothing to have given satisfaction but an utter extirpation or excision of those that troubled them But the Judge of all the Earth took a better course of doing right than to put the injured Parties into a capacity of revenging the wrongs they had suffered Such was the wisdom of him who is a Physician of the greatest value and knew best how to work the Cure not by shedding the Patients Blood but by alteration allaying the Acrimony of the Humours changing the disposition and temper of our Superiours into a more kind and compassionate regard of an harassed and afflicted people These wisely considering that force was no proper Topick for perswasive Arguments that their raking Medicines did but torment the Patient and inrage the Distemper contrived a more gentle method and have learnt suaviter curare I mean to care the hurt of the Daughter of our People more softly and substantially binding up the broken-hearted and proclaiming liberty to the Captive Compulsion is a Quiver which affords many a sharp Arrow but such as seldom hits the mark Arguments which prove very little of the Question whilst they too plainly demonstrate the Zeal and Passion of the Disputant These worthy Patriots standing upon the Shoulders of their Predecâ—ssors learnt better and saw further into the nature of Religion That 't is a Plant which never thrives in an hot Bed A thing which must be profest (a) Si princeps subditos opinionâ—m varietate multitudine â—ectarum distractos in suam soil Religionem pertrabere volet vim amovere opportet nam quo graviora supplicia irrogabis to minus proficies câ—m ea sit in hominibus vis ac natura ut ad aliquid assentiendum sponte duci velit coginolit freely and without force Religio sponte non vi debet suscipi saith Tertullian For indeed how can the (b) La volonte est nec pour suivre â— entendement comme son guide son flambeau Chorr de Sagess 'T is the nature of the Will to follow the Understanding as its guide and direction 'T is a Light to its Feet and Lanthorn to its Paths 'T is a thing no way pleasing to God to put a force upon the Consciences of Men. Services or Sacrifices which are offered by constraint and not of a willing mind are never acceptable to God seldom if ever serviceable to Men. Emanuel King of Portugal was condemned by the 4th Council of Tollet for taking the Children of the Jews by force from their Parents and Baptizing them will embrace any thing as good which the understanding does not represent as Truths And for a Man to assent to what he knows not is to invert the order of Nature and to act contrary to the Rules of his Constitution which is as hard to do as for Water to ascend high than the Fountain or original from whence it flows If a Person doubts of the Truth of a Proposition constraint or threatning can never clear the scruples or resolve the doubts he labours under And tho' he may be frighted into a compliance yet his assent is the effâ—ct of Force not Faith Such a Proselyte is a direct Hypocrite who like a broken bow is ready upon all occasions to start aside and will stand bent no longer than the Cord holds which strains it or the force lasts which is upon it So that it seems no way conducive to the Interest of Ecclesiastical Polities to use Engines to screw Members into their Communion who will prove no better than false Brethren that will be apt to undermine their Liberties and turn Renegades so soon as they have opportunity to desert the Tents of the Church Carnal Weapons are an improper Artillery for a Spiritual Warfare fiery Darts belong to the wicked one and like the Author of them are false yea inconclusive Arguments of the truth and no way sufficient to decide any questionable part of it Had the Jacobine and Franciscan Friers been burnt who proffered themselves to the Stake to prove pro and con The Protestants of France pleaded with their Ring for Indulgence because it was not the Will of God that the Consciences of Men should be forced Parce cause demande des hommes une Sacrifice voluntaire qu'il neveut pas qu'on force les consciences Dr. Burn. Collect. Letters P. 218. that Savanarola was an Heretick their fiery Zeal might have argued much heat but would have afforded no light to their Cause Besides the Victory we gain'd over our Dissenting Brethren in causing some of them to conform could never
legibus ferendis iisque quae administrationis sunt publicae statuendis Comitia indicia sunt That is when the King hath new Laws to enact and Matters of publick concern to be treated on he may that is the King name the Persons whom he shall judge most fit to sit in Parliament But when they are convened the King hath no need of their Consent according to these State Divines to levy Taxes or raise Subsidies seeing the King hath a sufficient Right and Power in himself to dispose of the Subjects Goods as he shall judge fit so Weems affirms Omnia saith he quae in regno sunt fatemur regis esse id est qua paternus regni dominus adeoque quae postulat ipsius qua rex est aut publica regni conditio posse regem de singulorum bonis disponere p. 19. Bishop Montague also was of the same Mind as we observe Orig. p. 320. O. lg p. 320. Omni lege divinâ naturali vel Politicâ licitè semper reges Principes suis subditis tributa imposuerunt licite Coegerunt tum ad Patriae reipublicae defensionem tum ad ipsorum bonestam familiae prâ—curationem hanc doctrinam accurate tuetur Ecclesia Anglicana c. But that the King could levy Money of the Subjects without the consent of Lord's and Commons and Authority of the same is not the Judgment of the present Church of England Although though this hath been the cry of some former high Church-men who to tickle the King's Ear and fawn themselves into Preferment have preacht up the same Doctrine upon the strickest Penalties Thus Dr. Manwarring out of the Pulpit for the Edification of the Court I suppose more than the People L'Estrang's Annals p. 84. did declare That the King without common consent in Parliament could by his Command so far bind the Subject in Conscience to pay Taxes and Loans that they cannot refuse payment of them without peril of eternal Damnation And that the Authority of Parliament was not necessary to raise Aids and Subsidies But how mischievous such extravagant Insinuations and Councels proved both to Church and State the ensuing Miseries were too evident and undeniable Arguments Nor did the Authors and contrivers of them succeed any thing better than others who fell under the dint of them Malum enim Consilium consultori pessimum For whilst they thought to oblige and espouse the Sovereign Power to their Interest viz. To press and push on those Innovations in Religion which they had advised his Majesty were orderly and decent in the Church and to urge the establisht Conformity very offensive to tender Consciences with the utmost Rigor nay in two several Reigns they Councelled and procured Edicts to legitimate the Violation of the Sabbath-day by Sports and Pastimes several of them fell under the Dint and Censures of the Civil Power feeling the Effects and unhappy Influence of those Convulsions they had occasioned in the Bodies Ecclesiastick and Politick by regrating too far upon the Humors I mean the Liberties of the Subject both as Christians and Men. Have we not reason then to plead for an allay and temper of such Matters as are apt to occasion so dangerous a Ferment both in Church and State But I can't conclude here seeing by these wild and extravagant Notions concerning Royal Power I have been led aside and my Pen dipt in this Argument especially considering those vile and virulent Reflections made upon our late Revolution counting all no better than Rebels and Traytors who willingly offered themselves to rescue our Liberties and Religion from Popery and Arbitrary Government Nay the most that can be allowed our King by such as pretend upon second thoughts to be proselyted to his Service is that he must be acknowledged so rather of fact than right But if what hath been already said be not sufficient to vouch the Endeavours of the People in preserving the Fundamental Constitutions of the Commonwealth their Lives and Religion when they are in eminent and apparent hazard I shall fetch an Argument from a Royal Topick which I think may serve much to vindicate our late Transactions Had Queen Elizabeth King James King Charles judged the Defence which the Protestants made in France Flanders Germany c. of their Lives Religion and Liberties against the Kings of France Spain and Emperor an unjustifiable Rebellion they would never have assisted them with Men and Money Arms and Ammunition for their redress and rescue from those who by their Sovereign but ill managed Power had so far rent and ravisht them out of their Hands By which Assistances and Supports they though Princes themselves did not only approve their Undertakings in particular but allow and vindicate the like Practices in parallel Cases in general But if the Doctrine of Non-Resistance be true in the Sence it hath been preacht Neither Peers nor People Lords nor Commons must wag an Hand move a Foot but stand still and see the Salvation of God Let the Pillars of the Church be rifled the Foundations of Civil and Ecclesiastical Polity raced and destroy'd the original Contract of Government dissolved nothing is to be done but to depend upon Providence expecting a Miracle to be wrought for our deliverance Every act of our own in order to that end being adjudged Rebellion Were the Knife at our Throat according to the Rules of Passive-Obedience we must not put it by if an Angel from Heaven appears not to our rescue But never did Men make worse use of a Doctrine they had so stifly maintained when it came to their own turn to practice it They proved indeed Passive in their Obedience to the Commands of the late King few or none of them being very active to obey him in the time of his distress or to make use of the Doctrine of Non-Resistance but with respect to the Design of the P. of O. so that if we may be guided by what they did and not what they said we have enough to justifie not only our present Constitution but late Revolution also But I think we have much better Authority than this to alledge * Quarto ait idem Barclaius amitti regnum si rex verè hostili animo in totius populi exitium feratur quo concedo saith Grotius Lib. 2. Cass 4to do jure belli poc Hear what Barclay saith to which Grotius assents Scharphius Symph Prophet Apâ—â—â— tells us Vel is de quo agitur talis est qui Monarchiam â—â—idem Supremam habet sed certis Conditionibus limitatam in quas jurârit Est penes status ordines aut primores regni tyrannidem grassantem coercere sunt enim subditorum officia duplicia alia ordinaria pro ratione loci temporis vocationis in republ Alia extra-ordinaria secundum circumstantias varias quae nullâ certá lege possunt definiri Hâc exceptâ quod saluti reipub semper studendum sit Quaest 45. Cicero saith it
the Communion of the Church and make Conformity easie to those that are or shall come into it with a limited and meet Indulgence to those without it which thing he much laboured to effect in concurrence with that worthy and honourable Person Sir Orlando Bridgman Lord-keeper of the Great Seal Which he put into the Form of a Bill to be presented to the Parliament containing a Comprehension of the moderate Dissenters and a limited Indulgence towards such as could not be brought within the compass of it The one is done we 'd hope the other shall not be left undone sharper Medicines may rake the Patient seldom cure the Distemper The Ancient Fathers thought nothing more against Religion than to force it Violence is no good Argument to beget Faith and is therefore fit for nothing but to breed Form without and Atheism within saith Mr. Chilling He that bunts his Brother with a Net as the Prophet speaks may catch him but ne're convince him Obj. What Reason is there to gratifie factious Men that would divide and destroy our Church Res None at all but the greatest imaginable to have a regard to such as are of peaceable Principles and tender Consciences and 't is very difficult for any one who cannot search the Heart to convict them of the contrary which Charity will not admit without Proof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charity is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things 1 Cor. 13.5 7. Of the Reformation of Manners BUT this is not the only Scene our Reformers have to act in whilst the * Oportet sacerdotes Ministros qui altari sacrificiis deserviunt integros atque immaculatos esse Cypr. Epist Manners of the Clergy call for a strict Inspection being by far the greatest Nuisance in the Church 'T is true our earnest wish is that the Grievances of Conformity might be redrest that many whose desire it is to worship God in Spirit and in Truth may with greater chearfulness Labour in his Vineyard Nor can we with less importunity plead that the grand Mischief of Debauchery especially in the Clergy may be provided against We may clamber high to pluck off some withered Branches but if a Root of Bitterness yet remains our Church will be accounted but a degenerate Plant. There 's Nitre enough in our Discipline were it duly executed to cleanse our Garments and to take out the Spots in our Feasts The Church stands in need of sweeping and its Floor of a through purging 14 Levit. 39 41. but the Walls most eminently want scraping too to free it from that fretting Leprosie which as it hath been the blemish so it will if not effectually cured prove the bane of it To prevent which I believe a strict Reformation of the Universities might do much for the Sin of those young Men is great And had we no better Argument than that of supplanting the Design and Project of our Romish Enemies who thought upon this Anvile to hammer out our Ruine it were strong enough to recommend the Prescription were Salt cast into those Fountains they would send forth more wholesome Streams and such as would make glad the City of our God giving less trouble to our Governours to correct the Errors of the first Concoction for 't is hard to take out a Fust which a Vessel hath contracted from so early a Taint If these Grafts get a Surfeit in the Nursery they seldom thrive when they are planted out into the Church or bring forth any Fruit unto Holiness These Societies have been very circumspect as to the Mint and Communion of Religion minute and nice in the Form of their Devotion the Men of Athens being in all things very Ceremonious whilst their Discipline hath been too lax and loose in punishing Debauchery or promoting the Practice of Sobriety and Power of Religion But will that Coin be current from the exactness of the Stamp which is made of embased Mettal and reprobate Silver How far this Infection hath spread and from this though not only quarter crept into the Church especially the Leaders of it our daily Experience is an Argument which supersedes all other Proofs to the Scandal of our Communion the maintaining of our Schism opening the Mouths wide of those which gape for advantage against us And though too many of the Dissenters have been unjustly clamorous and turned their Backs upon us where they might have communicated with us yet I am confident but Immoralities have been the great drag to which we may Sacrifice for our Schism for had we separated the Precious from the Vile our Mouth would have been as the Lord's Mouth to them nor would so many have separated from us had we divided from them Who to attone their Extravagancies stickled high for Conformity and zealously stifled against all that dissented fulfilling the Words of the Prophet 7 Mich. 2 3. viz. They bunt every Man his Brother with a Net that they may do Evil with both Hands earnestly It is time then for Judgment to begin at the House of God as St. Peter saith for then where shall the Wicked and Vngodly appear Which Words struck so deeply that excellent Man * Qua non sicut caeteras partes epistolae in transcursu pervolavi sed lectionis impetu aliquantulum remorato concussam horrore quodam quasi repentè suborto mentem in his meam harare coegi atque in se altius verba illa tenaciusque defigere c. Eccl. Pont. Spec. Nicholas Clemangis by his occasional reading them that he forthwith took the hint and wrote his Book De Corrupto Ecclesiae statu May they so far affect our Superiors that they effectually set upon its Reformation For let may Right-hand forget its Cunning if I wish not Prosperity to the Church of England My Heart's Desire and Prayer to God for it is that it may be saved from those unreasonable Men on the one hand whose Designs and Principles are destructive to Order and Decency As also from those on the other who clamour high for the Form whilst they deny the Practice and Power of Godliness who can defile the Altar think they commute by an Adoration of the Gold of it May Learning and Religion flourish in the Clergy Holiness in the Laity and Reformation from that Formality Atheism and Debauchery wherein it is so dangerously and deeply sunk May those Rites be laid aside which are in themselves disputable and doubtful offensive to the Weak indifferent to the Strong so mischievous and pernicious to the Church as to be the Hole of the Pit from whence its Ruine and Destruction were formerly digged How bitterly from this Quarter it hath been assailed in the most august and National Assemblies of England a Cloud of Instances might be induced to prove Sir Edward (a) Collection of Speeches Dering in the first long Parliament made use of this Argument against it His Words
were these The Character of a Cathedral Corporation is still the same it was viz. A School for Compliments in Religion but a Scourge upon the Life and Practice of it They have been the Asylum of Superstition but Scalae gemoniae for true Piety c. This was a very smart Reflection upon those Societies but I hope our Superiors will so far take this into their Consideration as to render these Orders of Men such as they may become more servicâ—able to the Church less scandalous and offensive to those who seek occasion to cast Reproach upon them for the future and that the Glory of our Church may not shine forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with outward Pomp and Ostentation Multa Ostentatione but in a modest decent but especially devout Celebration of Divine Worship But this is too reachy and nice an Argument to insist much upon lest in the Prosecution of it I incur the Censure of being an Enemy to those regular Foundations Though I am perswaded there can be no surer way to ascertain their Funds than a Reformation of their pompous Service into a more Simple and Evangelical Form of Religion As also by subliming them to higher purposes and improving them to a far better account than they ever yet turned to in the Church It being hard to take off the ancient Grudge against them whilst so deep Revenues run waste whose Streams might refresh the City of God nor can I rationally fall under the Displeasure of any other of the Brethren seeing the design of this Plea is only to smooth the ways of Conformity and to make those Paths streight that the Church's Yoak may become more easie and burthen-light And can truly protest in the Words of a great Person Bellar recog as to the whole of this Discourse viz. Scripsi deo teste quod verum esse existimavi non gratiam hominum vel propriam utilitatem sed dei gloriam ecclesiae commodum respiciens That is I call God to witness that what I have wrote I account to be truth not respecting the Favour of Man or mine own Advantage but the Glory of God and Benefit of the Church But if after all I must receive Evil for Good I shall not think any new thing hath befallen me nor will my Case differ from that courteous Man's who helping his lame Dog over the Stile was for his kindness bit by the Fingers But from what Quarter can we expect the Reformation of a wicked and sinful World This no more than Promotion comes from the East nor from the West nor from the South it is God that pulls down one with his proud and high Looks and sets up or exalts the humble and meek 'T is he that puts a Bridle into the Mouth an Hook into the Nostrils of the greatest Leviathans and bores their Jaws through with a Thorne Nay he can change the most ungovernable Tempers and unruly Dispositions of Men. He it is that maketh the Lion to lie down with the Lamb eat Straw like the Ox He can say to the most proud and rampant Waves of Wickedness hitherto shall ye go and no further But why then doth not Righteousness cover the Land as the Waters cover the Sea Righteous art thou Oh Lord saith the Prophet yet let me argue with thee concerning thy Judgments Why doth the way of the Wicked prosper Were it not more for God's Honour to have Religion flourish over the Face of the whole Earth and prophaneness to have no place to flee to or fix the Sole of its Foot upon This indeed is a thing too deep for us a Phaenomenon we scarce know how to solve Were it not better that the false and lying Tongue were destroy'd and Perjury pluckt up by the Roots by which Justice and Truth have been perverted guiltless Persons murthered and innocent Blood spilt like Water upon the Ground Is it not strange to observe in the Reformation of Religion there should be so great a Sally out of Darkness into marvellous Light upon the first dwaning of that day and that notwithstanding the Prayers and Tears of such as have oppressed tender Consciences the utmost Endeavours of many wise and learned Fathers of the Church it could not for more than this hundred Years be carried on one step further towards Perfection This hath been the Lord's doing we know and 't is marvellous in our Eyes His Ways are unsearchable and his Paths are past finding out Not that we design to prescribe Methods to the Providence of God or Rules and Measures to his Wisdom in the Government of the Church yet we may pray that all things may be disposed so as they may best conduce to his own Glory the Purity Peace and Union of that Communion That having recovered its Light when it was so nigh a total and perpetual Eclipse it may shine forth with greater Glory and display brighter Beams of Light and Love than ever We may pray that God would bless his Majesty with perfect Victory and Success that he may set his Foot upon the Necks of his Enemies abroad as well as at home And that when he is settled with Peace round about he may then think of God's House how he may heal the Breaches and repair the Decays which Sin and Schism have made in the midst of it That he would please to renew the Powers and Faculties to such reverend Fathers of the Church if expired as are best qualified to sew up the rent in the Spouses Vail and so promote the Peace and Glory of our Church That he would please so far to interpose his Authority as in a legal way to procure such Ease and Liberty in the scrupled part of Conformity that the weary within the Church may be at rest As also so wide a Door to those who are without that if they will not enter it may be truly said that their exclusion is of themselves Obj. But why do we make so great a noise about little things Do we not know that small Alterations in Matters of Religion make great Distractions and occasion high Convulsions in the Church We pretend to desire and aim at the Peace and Welfare of our Jerusalem Why do we not then endeavour to promote it by a quiet Submission to its Orders and Decrees Res 1st They are indeed little things comparative to the Power and Authority of the Church to redress the Grievances of those who are weary and heavy laden 2dly Admit they be small yet 't is a very great Flame those little Sparks have kindled in the Breasts and Minds of many Pious and Conscientious Men A Mote is but a little thing 't is true but if got into the Eye of Conscience it causeth Rivers of Tears to run down by reason of it nor can the Apple of it ever cease As to our Duty of preventing Disturbance and preserving Peace and Union in the Church May our Indulgence be measured by our constant Endeavours to avoid the