do this good office and that because God would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth This was that which our Lord said to Peter When thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren and if those who are not thoroughly confirmed in the Truth are to be farther instructed there is the same reason for endeavouring to recover those that are quite out of the way Therefore if any of our Friends and Acquaintance or others whom at any time we have a good opportunity of instructing remain under those errours that we have forsaken and have discerned good cause to forsake we must remember that though it was chiefly by the grace and disposal of God that we came to a right understanding yet it was also by humane means by conversing with others or by reading their Books And therefore we should take our selves to be fit Instruments under God for the reducing of them by desiring them earnestly either to hear what we have learned from others or to read those Books by which we have been convinced And we should be the more earnestly engaged in this charity because those whom we may prevail withal will thereby be engaged to help others also and by this means our diligence and charity will be blessed with the good success of propagating the knowledge of Truth so far that we shall not be able to see to the end of it If therefore thou art convinced that thy former Perswasions were erroneous and thy Practices grounded upon them unjustifiable be not ashamed to confess thy mistake but shew thy self glad that thou art now better informed and go to thy Friend and tell him that thou art fully perswaded thy was has been wrong all this while and shew him these Arguments that have set thee right that he as well as thy self may rejoyce in the discovery of the Truth and have the same reason to bless God that thou hast Now when we are thus resolved let us by no means forget in what manner we are to apply our selves to our mistaken Brother for his information i. e. in meekness of wisdom in the spirit of meekness without railing and bitterness though we should meet with unhandsome opposition remembring that we our selves not long since were under the same mistakes and had the like fondness for those erroneous Opinions which we would now rescue our Brother from If he does not take information and receive instruction as fast as we did we must not presently grow into passion for some mens prejudices are greater and stronger than others and all men have not the same capacity of understanding and quickness of apprehension and therefore more time is to be allowed and more patience is to be used for the recovery of one man than may be needful in the case of another And because nothing puts a slow or a prejudiced man more backward than rough and bitter discourse therefore more meekness and gentleness and patience is requisite in dealing with him than if we had to do with one of better wit or less prejudice When we would bring a man to the Truth we must avoid all things that will be sure to drive him at a farther distance from it as clamour fierceness and railing will certainly do For this carriage does but harden the obstinate and confound the simple 3. When we are convinced of the Truth as we must not be ashamed so neither must we be afraid to own it but constantly adhere to it by professing it and practising according to it whatever we lose or suffer for so doing For otherwise we are convinced to no other purpose than the increasing of our guilt for he that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes If therefore thou hast hitherto been a Papist but art now convinced of the impious Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome or a Dissenter but art now satisfied that there is no just ground for separation from the Church of England be not afraid of the Reproaches and Accusations of those whose errours thou hast left no not though your dependance be in a great measure upon them or your expectations of worldly advantage from them be never so great Consider that thy salvation lies at stake and that the question is whether Gods love is not to be preferred before their favour and that you are now to shew that you do not love the praise of men more than the praise of God Tell them that you will be still glad of their friendship but that you cannot purchase it at so dear a rate as to sin against God for it either by renouncing that which you are throughly convinced is Gods Truth or by going contrary to a Conscience well informed of your duty Let them know that you have been at a great deal of pains to discover the truth in these matters and more than they have been at that you value that knowledge of your duty to which the Grace and Providence of God hath led you at a more just rate than to sacrifice it to every worldly interest and that the industry you have used to inform your self aright would turn to a very evil account if after all you should play the Hypocrite When we have the Truth our loins must be girt about with it we must love it heartily profess it sincerely and contend for it earnestly and practise it honestly When we have bought the Truth by diligent and impartial enquiry we we must not sell it for the gain of worldly Wealth or Honour or any other secular advantage no not for the safety of our lives The sum of all is this Prove all things hold fast that which is good FINIS A Catalogue of several Tracts written by some Divines in and about the City of London for the satisfaction of the Protestant Dissenters 1. A Perswasive to Communion with the Church of England 2. A Resolution of some Cases of Conscience which respect Church-Communion 3. A Letter to Anonymus in answer to his three Letters to Dr. Sherlock about Church-Communion 4. The Case of Lay-Communion 5. The Case of mixt Communion Whether it be Lawful to Separate from a Church upon the account of promiscuous Congregations and mixt Communions 6. The Case of Indifferent things used in the Worship of God proposed and Stated 7. A Vindication of it 8. A Discourse of Conscience 9. A Discourse about a Scrupulous Conscience 10. Some Considerations about the Case of Scandal or giving Offence to Weak Brethren 11. Certain Cases of Conscience resolved concerning the Lawfulness of joyning with Forms of Prayer in Publick Worship In two Parts 12. An Answer to the Dissenters Objections against the Common Prayers and some other parts of Divine Service prescribed in the Liturgy of the Church of England 13. The Resolution of this Case of Conscience Whether the Church of Englands Symbolizing so far as it doth with the Church of Rome makes it unlawful to hold Communion with the Church of England 14. A Defence of it 15. The Case of Infant-Baptism in Five Questions 16. The Case of the Cross in Baptism 17. A Perswasive to frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper 18. The Case of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament stated and resolved In two Parts 29. A Discourse about Edification 20. A Discourse of Profiting by Sermons and of going to hear where men think they can profit most 21. An Argument to Union taken from the true Interest of those Dissenters in England who profess and call themselves Protestants 22. A serious Exhortation with some important Advices relating to the late Cases about Conformity recommended to the present Dissenters from the Church of England Against Popery these 1. A Discourse about the charge of Novelty upon the Reformed Church of England made by the Papists asking of us the Question Where was our Religion before Luther 2. Discourse about Tradition shewing what is meant by it and what Tradition is to be received and what Tradition is to be rejected 3. The difference of the Case between the Separation of Protestants from the Church of Rome and the Separation of Dissenters from the Church of England 4. The Protestant Resolution of Faith 5. A Discourse concerning a Guide in matters of Faith 6. A Discourse concerning Invocation of Saints 7. A Discourse concerning the Unity of the Catholick Church maintained in the Church of England 8. A Discourse of Auricular Confession 9. A Discourse against Transubstantiation A Catalogue of some Books printed for T. BASSET SPeed's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of foreign parts Hooker's Ecclesiastical Politie Guillim's Heraldry Bishop Sanderson's Sermons Mezaray's History of France Dr. Howell's History of the World In 2 Vol. Dr. Littleton's Dictionary Compleat Clerk Dr. Sherlock's Sermon on the Discovery of the Plot. Medicina Curiosa Miege's French Dictionary Willis's London Tract of Physick Bishop Wilkin's Sermons Principle and duty of Natural Religion Bishop Land's Devotions ☞ All the Works newly printed of Doctor JOHN LIGHTFOOT in two Volumes in folio Illustrated with Maps and several Tables to the Whole with some things never before printed Phil. 2. 12. 1 Cor. 12. 24. 1 Cor 4. 7. Rom. 12. 2. Discourse about Tradition shewing c. Abridgment of Christian Doctrine printed at Doway
wrong way while they never use that liberty of examining the grounds of their Perswasion to which the Church so vehemently perswades them by her Ministers If it be urged that when a man sets himself with honesty and diligence to examine the Case of Communion with the Chnrch and doth all that he can to inform himself aright in this matter but cannot be satisfied that he may lawfully conform and this through mere weakness of understanding it is not reasonable that he should suffer any thing for that It may be said on the other side that there are many more who fail of understanding their duty in this kind for want of examination and inquiry and through the prevalency of Prejudice and passion than there are of those who continue erroneously perswaded through mere weakness of understanding But as for those who in perfect weakness remain unconvinced if I may suppose any such I wish the Laws could distinguish them from the rest and that they could be known by some visible characters that they might be exempted from undergoing any penalties But since this cannot be it must be endured that a few or none in comparison come to have hard measure by means of that which is necessary for the common and publick good § 4. Having premised thus much concerning this subject I shall proceed in this method following I. To consider in what cases we are to enquire most of all into the Truth II. To shew how or by what Rules or Tests we are to try and examine Opinions in Religion III. How we ought to be disposed and qualified that our Inquiries may be profitable and successful IV. To lay down some Motives whereby to perswade men to such Inquiry and examination V. To consider what becomes us and is our duty after the discovery and knowledge of the Truth I. I shall consider in what cases we ought to be most careful in making inquiries after the Truth lest we be imposed upon or mistaken All inquiries about Religion are either concerning the truth of Religion in the general or supposing the existence and providence of God which is the true Religion whether the Pagan or the Jewish or the Mahometan or the Christian or the truth of the Christian Religion being granted what Communion of men professing Christianity is to be chosen for instance whether the Church of Rome or the Church of England or the Communion of the Dissenters who separate from this Church But now all things are not alike needful to be proved or are equally proper matters of inqniry For 1. Every man is not bound to know all the false ways of Religion that are in the World and therefore not to try and examine every one of them It is sufficient for most men that they well consider the Faith and Profession to which they have been educated that if it be the Truth they may be well-grounded in it if it be false that they may upon good reason depart from it 2. Things that are self-evident need not to be examined for no Argument can make them plainer to us than they are already We may without any hesitation assent to such Principles as these That God cannot lie That men ought to observe fidelity and justice to one another and the like If there were not some Principles that needed no proving it were impossible to prove any thing and the more plain any thing is in it self the less need there is to examine it If I am told that white is black I shall not go about to disprove it because the thing is evidently false of it self and I can use no Argument that can make the matter plainer than it was at first In like manner if any man pretends that there is no difference between Vice and Virtue but in name and that all things are equally lawful this shall not put me to the trouble of examining the thing because 't is contrary to the common sense of mankind And for this reason any man is to be excused that dismisses the Doctrine of Transubstantiation without taking much pains about it because upon a very little consideration there appears so many gross contradictions and inconsistencies in it that I can have no greater reason to believe any thing is true than I have to believe that is false 3. Some things are hardly worth the examining and it signifies little or nothing to understand the right side of the Question If the Doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary were true yet it were not worth a quarter of the pains they have taken about it in the Church of Rome It is by no means true that an infallible living Judge is necessary upon Earth and that for the deciding of all Controversies in Religion since all such Controversies are not necessary to be decided some of them being of so little concern to us that it is no great matter if they remain Controversies to the Worlds end But we ought to use our Reason as well as we can to find out the truth in all those cases wherein it will be dangerous to be deceived and therefore in these four First When any man or company of men would gain us over to their way by lofty and extraordinary Pretences Secondly When Doctrines are propounded to us with considerable Authority which seem to encourage licentiousness and to render all care of living well needless Thirdly When we are tempted to separate from the Communion of the establish'd Church where we live or if we are in a state of Separation from it Fourthly When Opinions in Religion are propounded to us by those that would get us to yield up our Judgments wholly unto them and do what they can to keep us from examining them A prudent man would examine in all these cases First When men make extraordinary Pretences The reasonableness of which I have already shewn with reference to that Pretence of the Church of Rome to Infallibility And the like is to be said of those that pretend to work Miracles or that talk of immediate Revelations of knowing the Truth by Inspiration and of more than ordinary Illuminations For it is not onely a childish thing to be frighted with big words from looking what is under them but a very dangerous sort of cowardize to be afraid of calling those things into question which are set off with such highflown Pretences For from hence it has come to pass that Superstition and Idolatry Enthusiasms and Impostures have prevailed so much in the World It is somewhat strange that we should believe men the more for that very reason upon which we should believe them less that is for magnifying themselves And yet if this had not been common Mahomet had not imposed upon so great a part of the World nor the Church of Rome upon so great a part of Christendom nor our Enthusiasts upon so many People in England as they have I would not be backward to give that man a hearing that
led to a Practice where there is danger of such a complicated sin 3. I am to consider that differences in Religion and Worship do dangerously affect the Peace of Kingdoms and all other Societies especially where the interests of Church and State are so mixed and interwoven together as they are in England They that agree in Religion are the most likely to be at peace and to agree together in other things But it seldom happens that they maintain hearty correspondence in any thing who are of opposite Communions in the service of God When the Unity of the Church is broken there is a foundation laid of those uncharitable censures and animosities which for the most part end in violence and bloudshed very often to the dissolation of Kingdoms and Nations It were easie to put this out of question by several instances of the sad experience which Christendom hath had of it But the late and sad Example hereof at home is enough to make all others needless for our conviction The Rebellion here was supported by nothing more than by difference about Religion This was the principal cause that brought together so many People against the King and that inslamed them with anger and resolution to venture all till they had secured the King and enslaved the Kingdom I need not say for sure every body must be sensible of that how diversity of Religions weaken the Government and render a People unable to do well for themselves to oppose foreign Enemies and to use the most likely opportunities for the common safety and prosperity Therefore in love to our Country and for the sake of Peace at home and of success in all just Enterprizes abroad we should be very backward to violate the present Constitution of the Church and to unsettle the state of Religion and never separate from the establish'd Communion till we find our selves forced to it by Reasons so plain and weighty that there is no avoiding of it if we would keep our selves honest men and good Christians 4. The setting of a bad example to others should in this case be most considered For if where a necessary Reformation in things of Religion is made by just Authority or a lawful separation made by private persons from a Communion polluted with unlawful conditions it is yet very hard to keep the Example from being abused by others in reforming or separating without any such cause and will still be of worse consequence to set an example of wanton and unjustifiable separation for this is so plain a contempt of Authority Order and Unity that others will be afraid to subdivide into more Parties as Self-conceit Ambition or Revenge or the like evil dispositions shall prompt them 5. If separation should not be made but with very great caution for fear of incurring the guilt of Schism by a causeless and unlawful departure from the Assemblies of the Church and setting up other Assemblies in opposition to them This in the judgment of the ancient Christians was no less than for a man to cut himself off from the Catholick Church of Christ and if the body of Christ be but one as the Scripture plainly tells us he that divides himself from any particular Church that is a Member of this Body divides himself from the whole Body And therefore Schismaticks were not accounted by the Ancients to be within the Church although they retained the profession of the Common Faith And surely a man would well advise with himself about an action whereby he may be in danger of putting himself into that condition The Vnity of Christians in one Body and Communion was instituted by our Lord for very great and weighty reasons and particularly for the securing of Brotherly kindness amongst his Disciples who being Members of the Body of Christ should therefore love and care for one another more than other men are wont to do and for the retaining of Professors within the Rules of a true Christian life from which if they should break away by any scandalous practice they were to be punished for it by the shame of being turned out of the Communion of the Church and by the loss of the great advantages thereof But it is evident that they who are guilty of dividing the Communion of Christians and setting up one Communion in opposition to another without necessary cause do what in them lies to render this provision for the maintenance of Charity and purity of Manners amongst Believers altogether ineffectual And we see by experience that hatred and ill will and looseness of life gains ground more by the Schisms that are amongst Christians than by any thing else and no wonder since men that are of different and opposite Communions do not use to love one another and vicious persons do not value the Communion of a true Church nor care if for their ill manners they be turned out of it when they can take Sanctuary in a pretended Church of another Communion that makes as loud a claim to all the Priviledges of a Chruch-Society as that Church can do from which they have divided themselves Which things being considered we are not to wonder that in St. Cyprian's time Schism was accounted no less but rather a greater fault than to sacrifice to Idols for the avoiding of persecution For though Idolatry simply considered be in it self worse yet Schism in its consequences is more pernicious He that is the Head of a Schism does more mischief to the Church than if he turned a Pagan or a Mahometan The conclusion from hence is this That it concerns every man that separates himself from an established Church it concerns him I say as much as his Soul is worth to look to it that the cause of his separation be just and necessary and such as will throw the guilt of Schism upon that Church from which he separates But alas how few are they that examine the reasons upon which they have broken away from the Church of England How many that when they are pressed in good earnest can say no more for themselves than that they have better preaching and more spiritual praying elsewhere than in our Parish-Churches How will they abuse our Prayers and call them Porridge and such other vile names who never in all their lives so much as read them and are not ashamed to own that they have not They call the Bishops Antichristian and the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Idolatrous or Superstitious who yet never well considered what Antichrist means what is Idolatry or Superstition who have little or nothing to say if they be asked what evil is in Bishops in Liturgies and in the Rites of our Worship How many others are there who read the Books written to defend the separation but will not vouchsafe so much as to look upon any one that is published in behalf of the Communion of our Church God of his mercy give a better Spirit to such people and Repentance to those that
A PERSWASIVE TO AN Ingenuous Tryal OF OPINIONS IN RELIGION LONDON Printed for Tho. Basset at the George near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1685. A PERSWASIVE TO AN Ingenuous TRYAL OF Opinions in Religion § 1. THE great reason why they are few in comparison who come to a right understanding and a well-grounded Perswasion in matters of Religion is because they are not many who make a due inquiry into them Were this done more generally there would not be so much ignorance and errour in the world nor so great a variety of Opinions and Sects as there is and for the most part hath been in the world And there are three sorts of men who fail of knowing the truth for want of due endeavours to find it out Some there are who want ability or opportunity to inquire others who wanting neither do utterly neglect it and will not apply their minds to it at all a third sort make but a very imperfect search after truth And so all ignorance or mistake in things of moment that concern the salvation of men or the peace of the Church may be attributed either to want of power and means to inquire after truth or to unwillingness and perfect negligence where it may be sought and attained to or to laziness inactivity and partiality in seeking it To the first sort we are not onely to reckon Ideots who want a competent measure of Reason and Understanding wherewith to judge but those also that having the same common natural gifts of the mind with others are yet by reason of their outward circumstances kept almost invincibly ignorant having very little or no occasion given them to inquire into things that they might know them better And thousands who sit in Pagan or Mahumetan or Popish darkness are thus detained in gross errours and remediless ignorance as the case at present stands with them But blessed be God this is not our case who live in such a time and place as put no man under circumstances of incurable ignorance As for the second sort of men who have plentiful means and fair opportunities of being better informed but utterly neglect to use them they are either such who remain under the power of those false Principles which were instilled into them in their Education or who blindly follow erring Guides whose persons they have in admiration resolving never to trouble themselves with a free and impartial use of their own reason concerning those Doctrines which they have in their own opinion wisely and safely taken upon trust It happens likewise very often that men are led away by lofty conceits of their own judgment and the extravagant opinion they have of themselves will not suffer them to attempt such an ingenuous examination of things as implies a possibility of their being deceived But I believe they are more who take up Opinions and engage in Parties for worldly ends and carnal interests and these of all others are farthest from inquiring conviction because it is a great uneasiness to a mans mind to find himself mistaken in those opinions which are for his profit or pleasure in this world And mostly the power of custom strengthens all these causes of obstinacy in neglecting to inquire Men are not willing to quit the Perswasions they have for a long time entertained but had rather keep where they are without troubling themselves to begin all anew and to inquire whether they have not been all along deceived And where most of these obstructions meet together as they often do in the same person if he be not succoured mightily by the grace of God his mind is barred up for ever against the knowledge of the truth A third sort miss of the truth not that they make no inquiry but because they do this very imperfectly and superficially and that either through sloth and laziness being not willing to take that pains and care which is requisite for the discovery of truth or through partiality whence it comes to pass that they examine and 〈◊〉 onely or chiesly what is offered in favour of their own side and make it the great end of their search not to follow what shall appear to be true upon inquiry but to be confirmed in their present Perswasion And because diligence and honesty are very necessary dispositions in order to the right understanding of a great many things in Religion no wonder that they who inquire without these advantages are rather hardned in Errour than convinced of the Truth Now these being the common causes of ignorance and errour amongst us at this day and since they all center in want of due inquiry I shall set my self to excite all sorts of people who are not made incapable by natural weakness of understanding to prove and examine things which concern their own Souls and the peace of Christians with that diligence and ingenuity which becomes reasonable creatures And though I know 't is a hard task that I am undertaking by reason of the prejudices and corrupt interests of men which I must encounter yet I am sure no advice can be more rational than this that we would be perswaded to use our Reason which if we do not we lay up the common Talent of our natures in a Napkin For God hath endued us with Faculties whereby we can discern between Truth and Errour and moreover with a natural desire to know the truth so that the use of these Faculties is inexcusably neglected and this desire is foully corrupted and debased if we are easily imposed upon in things of great moment God in our creation hath enabled and inclined us to seek the knowledge of Truth and to inquire into the grounds of our Belief and Practice And therefore to neglect this is to abuse the first Gifts of God and to sin against Nature And it should be every mans care to find out that truth which concerns Religion and another life 〈◊〉 this is every mans greatest interest we should 〈◊〉 most diligence there where to be deceived is of most dangerous consequence But because there are some plausible Pretences against a due and impartial enquiry in matters of Religion I shall prepare my way by endeavouring to remove those Prejudices that lie against it and in order hereunto I shall consider these three Questions 1. Whether it be dangerous to private men to leave them to use their own judgment and to be led by it in matters of Faith and Religion 2. Whether a general liberty of examining and judging in those things doth mischief in the Church and be the cause of Schisms and Heresies 3. Whether if every one have a just Right to examine for himself this be not a good reason for Toleration or the universal liberty of practising according to a mans Conscience or Perswasion after examination § 2. 1. Whether it be dangerous to private men to allow them the use of their own judgment in matters of Religion Now to leave men wholly to themselves
in this business without directing them to use the best helps they can to find out the truth is very dangerous indeed and no wise man will contend for this liberty of judgment in behalf of Christian people or of any sort of men whatsoever for this were not so much to advise them to judge for themselves as to conclude for themselves before they had taken any pains to judge For I do not see how men can be said to judge who refuse the means without which they can make no tryal Now the assistance of men of greater knowledge and ability than themselves have is one very necessary means by which private and unlearned persons are to examine and judge in matters of Religion And God hath not onely given us ability to find out some truths by our selves but also to weigh and consider what others offer to us And therefore he hath appointed Governours and Guides of Souls that are to feed the Flock and to instruct Christian people in the way to Heaven And one part of their work is to enable them to give an answer to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is in them I Pet. 3. 15. which I conceive they cannot do without informing and helping them to judge for themselves So that liberty of examining in order to private judgment does by no means exclude advising with and hearkening to men of greater skill and ability than our selves especially to the publick Guides of Souls but rather makes it necessary so to do this being one means of Gods appointment by which we are to inform our selves And I grant that without very good and clear reason we are not to depart from their Doctrine but in all doubtful cases to presume in favour of it But that it should be dangerous to private persons to weigh and consider as well as they can what their Guides teach them to believe or to do this is that which I can by no means understand unless it were a dangerous thing to follow our Guides like men that have Reason and not like beasts that have none It is at any time as safe to follow a Guide with our eyes open as to suffer our selves to be blindfolded and then to follow him by a string God hath referred us to Guides Heb. 13. 17. but yet he hath trusted us to our selves too and we are to try the spirits whether they be of God otherwise we may follow Guides that want Guides themselves And if the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch To say that inquiries after truth with the best endeavours and means that we have in our power is the way to be mistaken is to reproach our own Reason and God the Author of it since as it seems the more we exercise and improve our Reason the more likely we are to be in the wrong and to deceive and abuse our selves At the great day of Accounts Seducers shall answer for those whom they have deceived And therefore the Guides of the Church are strongly obliged that they do not through wilfulness or negligence mislead us But if they mislead us in things that touch our eternal state I do not sind that all the blame will lie upon them but rather that we also shall answer for it our selves Otherwise why should our Saviour say Why of your selves do ye not judge that which is right Luke 12. 57. and St. John Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits c. 1 Joh. 4. 1. and St. Paul Prove all things hold fast that which is good 1 Thess 5. 21. and Let no man deceive you 2 Thess 2. 3. Again if it be dangerous to permit men to judge for themselves in that sense wherein I contend for it then these are not wholsom but very dangerous Exhortations And yet if a Church which pretends to be an Infallible Guide in Religion could make it out clearly and plainly that she is so I should without much examination of her particular Doctrines receive them as the Oracles of God But then I must have stronger Arguments to assure me that she is infallible than those which at present make me certain that she is actually deceived For to submit to a pretended infallible Authority without knowing why I do so is to put it into the power of others for ought I know to lead me into the most damnable errours and to call Virtue Vice and Vice Virtue Therefore they must be very convincing Reasons upon which I am to believe that of my Guide which being once admitted I must take his bare word afterward for all things else I think none of the Roman Communion will deny this And then it will follow that for my own safety I am to use my own Reason and Judgment as severely as I can before I admit this fundamental Article of their Faith And this will amount to what I say that it is so far from being dangerous for men to use their own Judgment in matters of Religion that it is very dangerous for them not to do so since otherwise they are likely to follow men of the greatest confidence as they for the most part are who have the least reason for it Besides if I am led into errour by the Authority of a Church that does not pretend to Infallibility I may hope to recover the knowledge of the truth especially if it be a matter of great consequence more than if she pretended and I believed her infallible For such a Church will not so readily deny me the means of examining her Doctrine and so I may be able to discover the errour my self If not I have this comfort at least that my Guides being not engaged to contend that they are infallible are themselves in the way of detecting their own mistake and will more easily come off from it But they that pretend to Infallibility are stak'd down to their Opinions and though their Cause be never so bad they are engaged to serve it And therefore this Pretence is so far from discharging me of the pains of using my own Judgment and Reason in matters of Religion that I make the most foolish venture in the world if I do not use my Reason as strictly as I can in examining that very Pretence before I admit it And though a Churches claim to Infallibility were in it self never so just and well-grounded it is to me but a Pretence till I understand the grounds of it Nor can any man blame me if before I am convinced of the Infallibility of that Church I take those particular Doctrines into consideration which are to be believed upon this account that I may this way also judge of the reasonableness of that Pretence for 't is not for nothing that men would be thought infallible If I find the Doctrine they would put off with such authority to be indeed divine and heavenly rational and scriptural tending to the reformation and salvation of Mankind this will incline me to
yield more easily to the antecedent Arguments of the Infallibility of that Church But if the Doctrine for which she vouches this Authority does upon the most impartial tryal that I can make appear to be worldly unscriptural or contrary to common sence then I am bound to examine the grounds of her Pretence more severely than in the former case And there is no question but such Doctrines may be taught by men pretending to Inspiration or Infallibility which will justifie a man in rejecting that Pretence out of hand and troubling himself no more about it If a Physician of never so great name should tell me that he would infallibly cure my Disease and then prescribe a dose of Arsenick I think Reason would advise rather to question his Infallibility because he goes thus madly to work than to take his Poyson because he promises an Infallible Cure Now if I am not to do violence to my own understanding in things that concern my bodily health much less should I do the same in things that regard my everlasting state And they are a strange sort of men who will allow people the liberty of using their Reason as well as they can for the security of their worldly interests but will have them be led in the great affairs of Religion and Eternity as if they had no reason at all For to judge aright and to know the truth in matters of Religion which is our highest concernment was the principal end for which we have Reason and are Creatures of judgment and choice And they may as well say that 't is dangerous for a man to walk abroad with his eyes open as that 't is dangerous for him to take upon himself to judge as well as he can whether he be in the right way to Heaven or not § 2. If we consider what has been already said it will not be difficult to answer the second Question 2. Whether a liberty of examining and judging in matters of Religion doth mischief in the Church and be the cause of Heresies and Schisms To which I answer that To affirm this is in effect to say that it had been much better in order to the peace of the Church and the prevailing of Truth that men had been nearer to stocks and stones than endued with natural Abilities of judging and natural propensions to use those Abilities which I think would be to reflect upon the Wisdom of our Maker For certainly it had been better for men to have wanted the faculties of judging and proving if it be so dangerous a thing to the Church to make use of them Nor is it much for the credit of the Church that it should be against her interest for men to examine her Doctrine and use their Reason about it as well as they can To speak to the thing It is not the liberty of examination and judgment in order to the knowledge of the Truth that causeth Heresies and Schisms but the not making a right use of this liberty i. e. mens entring upon this work with Pride and the prevalency of Lust and Passion and worldly interest their want of care and diligence and of proving things sufficiently their taking up Opinions without reasonable examination and then seeking for Pretences to colour their obstinacy The Lusts and Vices of men are against the peace of the Church and the interest of Truth but not the use of that Reason which is the divine part of our Natures and which God hath given us to restrain and govern our inferiour Faculties 'T is true indeed that if few or none troubled themselves at all to judge in matters of Religion there would be no Heresies But 't is true too that if they had no reason to judge of these things at all there would have been no Heresies and 't is as true that if there had been no Religion at all it were impossible that there should be Heresies in Religion But will any men say that Reason or Religion is therefore the cause of Heresies And yet there is as much reason to say this as to conclude that the use of our own understandings in the things of God is the cause of Heresies These things are too gross to need a Confutation And yet this Pretence against the liberty of proving what is propounded to us in Religion is intended chiefly against private and ordinary persons but not against the publick Guides and Officers of the Church whereas in truth if there be any thing in it it holds more strongly against these than against the other And that because the most pernicious Heresies that ever came into the Church were brought in by men of Learning and Authority in the Church And if this Pretence be good they of all men should be forbidden to inquire into matters of Religion because if they fall into any dangerous mistake their Authority is likely to give reputation to it and to make it go down more easily with the common People than if it had been started by one of themselves So that we must not lay the Heresies that have been in the Church to the liberty we have been contending for unless we will be content to exclude all from the duty of proving what they have been taught to 〈◊〉 And no man can think this reasonable unless he 〈◊〉 all Religions to be equally true that is every one to be alike false And he that believes this needs not care what Heresie he is of § 3. 3. But if every man hath a just liberty and right to examine for himself is not this a good reason for Toleration or for the universal liberty of practising according to a mans Conscience or Perswasion For to what purpose is liberty of enquiry if after all I must be concluded by the Authority of my Superiours or else suffer under those Laws by which they provide for Uniformity in Religion To this I answer That every mans right and duty to judge for himself in matters of Religion is no good reason for Toleration unless it were also apparent that every man used that Right as he ought to do i. e. with industry deliberation and impartiality If all men were sincere and would examine without prejudice without that byass to one side which is made by lust and passion and worldly interest if they all intended to know the truth that they might do their duty then doubtless it were very fit that all should enjoy an undisturbed liberty of practice according to their Judgment for then no man would err in things plain and necessary to his own salvation and the peace of Church and State For our Lord hath assured us that if any man will do the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God But so long as there is that Hypocrisie in the World whereof men are conscious to themselves so long as all those Vices also reign which insensibly corrupt the Judgment and make men disloyal to the Truth
have misled them Fourthly We should not easily believe those men in matters of Religion who would keep us from examining their Doctrines by fair ways of tryal and would affright us into an implicit Faith by pronouncing damnation against all that are not of their own way If men use violence or subtlety to hinder us from judging for ourselves there is great reason to suspect that they are conscious to themselves of a bad Cause which will not bear the tryal I need not say how this reaches the Roman Church which forbids the Laity to read the Scriptures unless some one Lay-man has that special favour granted him of leave so to do from his Ordinary who commonly is wise enough not to give this license but where he is sure the party is fast enough to the Cause of that Church Those of the separate Congregations best know what Arts are used to keep the people that go that way from informing themselves by reading our Books or discoursing with our Ministers about the matters in controversie between them and us But we are not ignorant of all of them some of their Leaders teach them to pity our ignorance and want of illumination Alas poor wretches that we are we know not the things of the Spirit of God! we are strangers to the life and power of Godliness Thus they use to represent us They take all the good names and promises of the Scripture to themselves and leave the threatnings of God and the punishments inflicted upon his enemies to us Now this is but a cunning and indirect way to keep the People from hearkning to any thing we can say to 'em and to teach them how to conclude against us without thinking it to any purpose to examine what is offered on both sides They that have a good Cause need not use those disingenuous Arts they will not fright men from considering what their adversaries say by denouncing damnation against them nor forbid them to read their Books but rather encourage them to do so that they may see the difference between Truth and Errour between Reason and Sophistry with their own eyes This is the effect of a well-grounded confidence in the Truth and there is this signe of a good Cause apparently discernable in the Application of the Clergy of this Church both to their friends and enemies They desire both the one and the other to consider impartially what is said for us and against us And whatever Guides of a Party do otherwise they give just cause to those that follow them to examine their Doctrines so much the more by how much they are unwilling to have them examined It is a bad signe when men are loath to have their Opinions seen in the day but love darkness rather than light Thus I have shewn in what cases we are most concerned to examine the Doctrines of those that undertake to inftruct and guide us § 5. II. Because the duty of proving all things supposes certain Rules and Tests by which Doctrines are to be examined and tryed I proceed to shew what they are Now it is very certain that the Rules by which we are to try Doctrines for our own satisfaction about them are no other than those want of Argument by which a wise man would prove the truth of his Perswasion to others for their satisfaction And therefore it is plain that those Rules must be common to me and to other men whom I would also guide so into the knowledge of that Truth to which I have attained And they are these three 1. Reason which is a common Rule to all men 2. Scripture which is a common Rule to all Christians 3. Antiquity or the uniform Judgment and Practice of the Church in the first Ages of Christianity which is a common Rule to those who are verst in the Histories of the Primitive Church and in the Writings of the Fathers The two former Rules are the principal and most necessary and we are safe if our Perswasions in Religion will bear the Test of Reason and Scripture and withal those Rules are near at hand for every mans use amongst us But the last Rule is also of good use to those that can use it for their own confirmation in the truth and stopping the mouths of gain-sayers But more particularly 1. By Reason I do not understand that Faculty by which we are men and can compare one thing with another and argue and conclude c. for this is that Natural Power by which we use any kind of Rule whereby to judge of the truth or falshood of Opinions in Religion but I understand by it those common Truths which are natural to the minds of men and to which we give a ready assent without any need of having them proved by any thing else For by these fundamental Truths we are to prove all things else and if there were none such we could prove nothing And they are such as these That nothing can make it self That the same thing cannot be and not be at the same time That common sence is to be trusted That God is a being absolutely perfect That the Good is to be chosen and the Evil to be refused and that Contradictions cannot be true and the like Now whatever is by true consequence deduced from such Principles is thereby proved to be true and whatsoever is repugnant to them or can be disproved by them is false They are the forementioned Propositions with others as self-evident as they which make up that which we call the Light of Nature or of Reason And I mention this Rule in the first place because it must be presupposed to all other ways and means of enquiring after Truth and without which nothing could be done in it insomuch that the belief of that Truth which is not to be deduced from mere natural Reason but depends upon a divine Testimony is at last resolved into a rational Act and relies upon this natural Principle that God cannot lye Wherefore they that cry down Reason as if it were at no hand to be trusted in matters of Religion and call it carnal blind and foolish Reason and such-like vile names if they are in good earnest they are incapable of searching after Truth themselves and of receiving any satisfaction from others While they are in this humour I may as well take a Beast to dispute with as go about to convince them And if all men were thus senseless it were impossible that men should be serviceable to instruct one another in the things of God But to abandon the use of Reason in matters of Religion and to scorn a man when he speaks consistently and argues clearly from common Principles of Truth is such a wretched sort of unmanliness that I cannot but think it is for the most part taken up in designe by those men that have brought Nonsence and Contradictions and absurd Opinions into Religion which no man can admit without doing violence to his own
Scripture that belongeth to a Discourse be agreeable to the designe and scope of that Discourse to which it belongeth This Rule as it is necessary for all to observe so it is especially to be urged upon men that are apt to interpret places that are not of themselves plain by those Opinions that they are already possessed with a belief of but for which they have little ground besides the mere sound of some Texts which at first hearing seem to be of their side but which if they were compared with the designe of the holy Writer in that Chapter or Book would be found to mean quite another thing All that I shall say besides of this Rule is that the difficulty of many places that are not of themselves plain will be removed by observing it For instance by this way we shall easily be satisfied that that forementioned place of St. Paul Who maketh thee to differ from another was chiefly meant of those extraordinary gifts which were distributed amongst believers in the first Ages of the Church and therefore though in a qualified sence this is true of all saving Graces it is very consistent with all those Scriptures that suppose the difference between the righteous and the wicked to depend upon something which is in the power of the righteous If we mangle coherent Discourses and take a shred or a phrase of Scripture by it self without regard to the main scope of the place and this to prove what what we would have we do not try our Opinions by Scripture but we interpret Scripture by our own Opinions Thus I have shewn what Cautions are to be observed in judging by Scripture I doubt not but all will acknowledge them to be very reasonable and equal and if all men had observed them who have a just veneration for the Scriptures the Word of God had been better understood and less wrested unsound Divinity had not easily passed for Scriptural Truth and all occasion of those unjust Reproaches had been taken away which the Church of Rome throws upon us for allowing to all Christians the free use of Gods Holy Book And thus much for the Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The third I mentioned was Antiquity and Catholick Tradition Now if this Rule as I said at first be of excellent use then they are in the best way to find out what is the true Christian Religion by it who stick to the Holy Scriptures though they are not capable of using it otherwise For if that be true which was most anciently taught and believed in the Church and which was received all along in the best Ages of the Church then he that can prove his Faith by Scripture has the Argument of Antiquity and Catholick Tradition unquestionably on his side because the Scriptures are the most ancient Records of our Religion and they have been delivered down to us as such from the beginning through all Ages to our present times But we acknowledge also the testimony of Antiquity of something of a later date that is of the antient Fathers of the Church to be of very good use for the clearing of some places in Scripture for shewing what Order and Discipline was left in the Church by the Apostles for confirming us in points of Faith grounded upon the Scriptures but which have been disputed and opposed by Hereticks and likewise for confuting those gross errours in Belief or Practice which of later days have been brought in amongst Christians especially those of the Church of Rome But how things are to be examined by this Rule I shall not here direct because this is the subject of an excellent Discourse already published And thus much concerning Rules whereby to try Opinions in Religion § 7. III. The Dispositions wherewith we are to search for the Truth by these means are also of necessary consideration for whatever other advantages we have if we be greatly defective in these we shall very often lose our labour and fall into mistakes of dangerous consequence To qualifie a man for receiving Truth when propounded with sufficient evidence or to find it out by his own search there must be these three things 1. A prepared mind 2. Competent Diligence 3. Prayer to God for his blessing upon that Diligence 1. A prepared mind which our Saviour calls a good and honest heart Now this consists in Humility Ingenuity and Sincerity Humility is necessary because overweening and self-concit makes a man apt to despise what those of a different Perswasion can say for themselves before their Arguments are considered and in general to neglect that help which may be had by the advice and reasoning of others So likewise vain-glory fixeth a man in an errour he hath once defended and while he is unwilling to acknowledge a mistake he strains all his Wit to delude himself into a stronger belief of it and of his ability to defend it In Controversies he is desirous of victory and would fain be thought some-body and therefore he studies more to expose an adversary than to inform himself And if he be yet to chuse his side of a Question he takes the wrong one if it be more fashionable than the right Therefore says our Saviour Whosoever doth not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child i. e. with a meek and pliable spirit shall not enter therein Again says he My sheep hear my voice intimating that they would be easily convinced who were of tractable and humble minds And therefore he adds concerning the Pharisees that they rejected him because they were not of his Sheep i. e. because of their haughty and inflexible dispositions Prejudice is apt to bar the mind against conviction as well as Pride and therefore to Humility we must adde Ingenuity and Sincerity by which a man is qualified to distinguish between the suggestions of Prejudice on the one side and the force of good Reasons on the other Ingenuity is opposed to those Prejudices that are either unavoidably contracted or taken up through weakness of understanding Of the former sort are the Prejudices of Education or conversing altogether with our own Party Men are generally prepossess'd with great favour to those Opinions in which they have been all along trained up and which have been instilled into them by all that they have conversed with And therefore we cannot be meet Inquirers after Truth if we want the ingenuity of suspecting our selves on this side and trying those Perswasions in which we have been bred up with the greater impartiality and severity Some men are prejudiced by an unaccountable inclination toward an Opinion or an antipathy against it and these ought the more carefully to distinguish between the warmth of their imaginations on the one side and the force of Arguments on the other and not to take a passionate fondness for a conclusion or an aversion from it to be a Reason one way or other It is very incident to weak minds to prejudg in favour of
In searching for Truth we must implore his help who is the God of Truth whose Word is the Word of Truth and whose Spirit is the Guide into Truth that he would free our minds from all prejudices and corrupt affections and from every thing which obstructs a right understanding If we lack wisdom we must ask it of God who giveth his holy Spirit to them that ask him And now I dare appeal to all that read these Papers if it had not been to the unspeakable advantage of Gods Church and the Souls of men if all that profess Christianity had inquired into the Controversies of Religion so far as they are concerned in them with these Dispositions that I have recommended And therefore I do the more earnestly desire them to lay their hands upon their breasts and in good earnest to ask themselves if they have in this manner sought the knowledge of the Truth with a mind thus prepared with impartiality and diligence and constant Prayer for Gods blessing and direction § 8. IV. My next business is to offer some Considerations to perswade our people to an honest and impartial tryal of Opinions in Religion This indeed cannot be done by all with equal advantage because of the difference of mens abilities but something is to be done by all and every one is to do what he can and God expects no more If we chuse a way of Religion at random or without honest care to know the Truth we are in great danger of falling into delusion because there are false Religions and damnable Errours in the World Saith St. John Try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world There was danger of running into grievous errour in the best and purest Age of the Church if Christians were not careful to examine things And surely the danger is greater in this corrupt Age and this extremely-divided State of Christendom It often happens also I doubt for the most part that Seducers are more diligent and wise to propagate Errour than good men are to gain Proselytes to the Truth The former are evermore too hard for the latter in confidence peremptoriness threatning of damnation magnificent and lofty pretences and where the case calls for it in artificial addresses and insinuations And this makes our danger the greater if we are not resolved to try before we trust Nay if we were secure from Impostors yet because no man is infallible we should not surrender up our Belief wholly to the Authority of any man but judge of his Doctrine as well as we can Because there cannot be a stronger ground for our assent to any thing than that God has said it we are to be very careful how we receive an Opinion for which Texts of Scripture are multiplied one upon another i. e. we must see whether they do indeed prove the thing in question for otherwise we may by the pretence of so great Authority be the more fastned in some dangerous errour We are exposed to manifest hazard if we are apt to admire a man for bringing much Scripture to serve his purpose but not to think it needful to see whether those passages of Holy Writ be pertinently applied or not To this I must adde that the errours we may fall into for want of enquiry and examination may for ought we know be of dangerous consequence to our own Souls Some there are that wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction and if we are in their way they may wrest them to ours too We may inconsiderately take up Principles that will by degrees debauch our Consciences and reconcile us to wicked practices and in many instances eat out the sense of good and evil sin and duty On the other hand by considering things as impartially and judiciously as we can we shall not onely be secure from running into great errours but the Doctrines of true Religion will become more plain to us and we shall have a more clear and distinct apprehension of them which will reward our endeavours with great pleasure and satisfaction For next to the delight of a good Conscience gained by doing what we know to be our duty there is no pleasure more pure and agreeable to the best part of our nature than that which arises from an improved knowledge in the things of God And having well weighed and considered the grounds of our Perswasion we shall adhere more stedfastly to that truth which we have learn'd and not be easily unsetled by the Sophistry or the Confidence of ill men being prepared to shew that there is no sound Reason in the former and no just Cause for the latter And when Seducers perceive that we have inquired too far into things to be born down with peremptoriness or to be deluded with colours they will be discouraged from attempting to draw us into their Net Moreover it will be no little satisfaction to us when we are going out of the world that we have all along taken due pains to inform our selves in things of the greatest concernment to us viz. those which regard our everlasting salvation and that the errours into which we may have fallen were not to be imputed to want of honest diligence in inquiring after the Truth but onely to humane infirmity In the mean time we cannot have the conscience of sincerity upon good grounds if we do not with diligence apply our selves to know all our duty and consequently all that divine Truth which is the Rule of it or which leads to the performance of it One character of that good and honest heart which our Saviour compares to the good Ground is to understand the Word And the reason why the Pharisees did not understand was because they were not of God but of their Father the Devil whose lusts they did One reason why God in his wisdom permits Impostures and Errours to go up and down in the World is because this serves to make a more evident difference between those that are sincere and honest and those that are not so For in these circumstances good men will take the more pains to distinguish between Truth and Errour while the insincere either take up that Profession which serves best for their worldly ends or take occasion by the differences that are in the World about Religion to throw off all pretence to Religion it self There must be herefies among you saith St. Paul that they which are approved may be made manifest To which we may adde that by honest endeavours to be rightly informed in matters of Religion we do in some measure qualifie our selves for the happiness of another life and shew that we are disposed heavenwards and desirous of that infinitely-better state of things where Darkness and Errour shall be done away For one great part of the Reward promised in a better life is that we shall know divine things more perfectly there than we can do in this World But this can be
pretends to great things in teaching Religion but then I should be something forward to give him a tryal too for otherwise I might encourage a very impudent Hypocrite to be more impudent still and to play upon my easiness till I had swallowed all the foolish and damnable Opinions which he would have me believe for his own advantage Secondly When we meet with Doctrines that seem to strike at the foundations of Morality and good living we are to examine them too before we yield our assent though they be recommended by men of name and authority For the end of divine truth is a good and holy life and therefore I should suspect that to be false Doctrine which in my judgment either takes away the necessity of Piety and Virtue or discourages men from endeavouring to attain them For instance I find this Doctrine maintained by some men of great note That God hath from all eternity absolutely chosen some men to salvation and reprobated the rest without respect to any personal qualifications Now if this be true I cannot see for my life how the obtaining of eternal happiness and the avoiding of damnation depends upon any care of mine or upon any thing that I can do since every mans state is absolutely over-ruled by predestination and an irreversible decree so that let me do what I please all that I can do for another world will be but lost labour and might as well be spared But if I am sensible of this it is but reasonable that I should not rely upon the credit of the Author or of the Preacher for so perilous a Doctrine but because it is pretended to be grounded upon the ninth Chapter to the Romans I should go to the Apostle my self and carefully inquire into his meaning in that place by the best Rules of interpretation that I can learn And whoever goes thus impartially to work will find that the Apostle in that place was discoursing of another Question and indeed upon a subject that has nothing to do with this Question of absolute Election or Reprobation of the persons of men and that though the words sound that way to a man that is already prepossess'd yet the meaning of them is nothing to the purpose Suspicion of Doctrines when it is grounded upon so good a reason as we are now speaking of should cause inquiry and then that inquiry will discover on which side the truth lies He that would be a Libertine and live as he lists may be pleased when he meets with any pretended Doctrine of Religion that will excuse a wicked life or discourage Virtue and holiness and therefore it is likely that he will rest satisfied and examine no farther But an honest mind will not let a man deceive himself in this manner but if it does not cause him to reject such Opinions as soon as ever he has well satisfied himself of their consequences it will at least keep him from admitting them till he has tried them every way that he can Thirdly We ought also to be very well satisfied and that upon much consideration of the matter before we separate from the Communion of the Church where we live For whatever some men may think of it this is a business of so weighty a nature and consequence that it is not to be resolved upon or continued in till we are sure we are in the right and that upon most plain and evident reasons And if there be any case in which a Christian ought not to go rashly to work this is one And therefore it is greatly to be lamented that so many amongst us pretending to the power of Godliness should make so light a matter as they plainly do of running into separate Congregations it being very notorious when one discourses the point with them that they never enquired why the Church-Assemblies were to be forsaken and what it is in the establish'd Forms of Worship or in the Terms of our Communion that makes it needful for an honest and wise Christian to depart from it And this is an Argument that they take it to be a matter of very little consequence for otherwise they would have applied themselves with more diligence to weigh it in all the particulars that belong to it And therefore I shall offer some Reasons in behalf of such inconsiderate People to convince them how bold and dangerous a thing it is to separate from this Church of England unless they were fully satisfied upon mature examination that there are just and necessary causes for separation such namely as will make them sinners against God if they do not separate 1. If without just cause I separate from this Church I do wilfully reject the great blessings and advantages of Communion with it and must be answerable to God for slighting that merciful providence of his through which I happened to be born and bred in a place where I might enjoy the benefits of Church-Communion without venturing at any disorderly and sinful practice for them Surely it is no small blessing if my lot has been cast where so great a blessing did as it were lie in wait for me where the true Christian Doctrine and way of Worship was recommended to me by publick Authority and establish'd by Law and Custom and defended to my hand by clear and strong Arguments If this be our Case in the Church of England then my separation from her I say it again makes me guilty of a stupid and ungrateful contempt of Gods exceeding mercies in disposing my condition in this World so to my advantage that I was born baptized and bred in a place where the Truth invited me and was ready to receive me before I made one step towards a search after her Indeed to be baptized within the Communion of a particular Church and to have been born and to live under that Authority which requires me to keep close to it is of it self no sufficient reason why we should continue to be of it but it is a mighty reason why we should examine things carefully before we leave it or take up a resolution never to return to it if we have left it already because if there be no just reason for separation we shall have the more to answer to God For it is a great fault to neglect searching after the Truth in matters of this concern even when it lies a great way off from a man but it is much more inexcusable to reject it when it lies at our doors 2. I had need be very careful and impartial in this case since if the reasons upon which I separate be not really weighty and substantial I am at once guilty of throwing off that subordination and subjection to the Pastors and Guides of the Church which the Christian Profession requires and of contemning the lawful commands of my Superiours in the State contrary to the Rule of the Gospel which obliges me to submit to their Ordinances I should not easily be