and Peace in the Church Our Church hath wisely distinguished between what is necessary absolutely and what only in some circumstances is necessary to Salvation Those things saith the Homily a 2d Part of the Homily of Scriptures that be plain to understand and necessary for Salvation every mans duty is to learn them and as for dark mysteries to be contented to be ignorant in them till such time as it shall please God to open those things unto them b Hom. 1. If it shall require to teach any truth or to do any thing requisite for our Salvation All those things saith St Chrysostom we may learn plentifully of the Scripture And in the 19. Article of the Church The Preaching of the pure word of God and the Administration of the Sacraments are made indispensable notes of the visible Church namely in all things that of necessity are requisite to the same and the 8th Article declares The three Creeds ought throughly to be believed and received for that they may be proved by most certain warrant of Holy Scripture where our Church gives the reason of her Faith and sheweth her earnestness in contending for it But the Moderation of our Church contains her self within the bounds of what is before made necessary The principal and essential points of the Doctrine of Salvation such as are fit to make up the unity of the Faith and constitute a Church are no other among us than what Christ and his Apostles at first made necessary which also the ancient Church received as necessary unto Baptism and for distinction of Heresy which fundamental Maxims of Christian Science are frequently and plainly repeated in Scripture and by our Church were first of all insisted on at the reformation of our Church as we see in the Institution of a Christian Man 1537. in the first Injunctions of our Kings and our Form of Catechism Whereas the Catechisms and Systems which have been set up in opposition to the Catechism and Articles of the Church of England have abounded with many doubtful and unnecessary definitions yet so insisted upon by some as if the Hinges of the Gate of Heaven turn'd upon those Propositions whereby many have agreed with Pope Pius the Fourth who by his Bull set out the Apostles Creed in a larger Edition of about as many more Articles without belief of which is declared no Salvation c Extra quam Nemo salvus esse potest Bulla Pii quarti super formâ Juramenti professionis fidei sub finem Concilii Trid. Unto such a strange Circumference is the body of their unnecessary belief extended whereas the Religion of our Church tends to the Center Which distinction of things necessary from what was not so King James according to the sense of our Church declares of great use to lay a foundation for the publick peace of the Church d Vt de necessariis conveniat omnis opera insumatur in non-necessariis libertati Christianae locus Rex Jacobus ad Card. Perr and of particular mens minds and the furtherance of true Faith and Piety § 2. Those Articles which are delivered by our Church for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and establishing consent touching true Religion 1. They are few especially those of positive Doctrine and the other negative positions were necessary to assert our liberty from the abuses and encroachments of the Romanists in their contrary affirmatives few if we consider either the time or the occasion of their being framed it being just about the meeting at Trent made it necessary for our Church to declare her sense of many Doctrines for the better satisfaction and directions of her Sons and to testify her equal conditions of Communion Especially also if we consider the cruel number of Articles which either the Westminster Divines or the Trent Councellors have imposed on their followers e Bishop â—ramball fol. p. 1018. Indeed the Romanists do call our Religion a negative Religion because in all the Controversies between us and them we maintain the negative that is we go as far as we dare or can with warrant from holy Scriptures and the Primitive Church and leave them in their excesses or those inventions which they themselves have added but in the mean while they forget that we maintain all those Articles and truths which are contained in any of the ancient Creeds of the Church which I hope are more than negative The Church of England saith Archbishop Laud f Archbishop Laud against Fisher 5. 14. comes far short of the Church of Romes severity whos 's Anathema's are not for 39. Articles but for very many more above one hundred in matter of Doctrine and that in many points as far remote from the foundation though to the far greater rack of Mens Consciences they must be all Fundamental if that Church have determined them Whereas the Church of England never declared that every one of her Articles are fundamentals in the Faith For it is one thing to say no one of them is superstitious or erroneous and quite another to say every one of them is fundamental Besides the Church of England prescribes only to her own Children and by those Articles provides but for her peaceable consent in those Doctrines of truth but the Church of Rome severely imposeth on all the World her Doctrine and that under pain of damnation § 3. These Articles of Religion are generally exhibited as Articles of Peace and consent not as Articles of Faith and Communion and as such they are propounded to all the Communicants in our Church g Schisin guarded p. 150. Bishop Lanies Sermons p. 48. in general For the avoiding Diversities of Opinions as the Title of the Articles is Not such a consent as Curcellaeus h Curcellaeus Religionis Christianae Institut C. 15. means where he supposeth some in the dregs of the Age of the Reformation obtrude their Confessions and Catechisms as a secondary rule if not of truth yet of consent such as ought to be urged only to an infallible truth 't is likely he might know many who did so But the consent designed to be established by our Articles is such a consent as may keep the Peace of our Church undisturbed according to the sense of the fifth Canon Where the Prohibition is directed against such as should speak against the 39. Articles as superstitious and erroneous such as may not with a good Conscience be subscribed to Whosoever shall hereafter affirm i Quicunque in posterum affirmabit c. Ecclesiae Anglic. Canon 5. not as the Council of Trent k Si quis contrà senserit Anathema sit Concil Trid. de peccato Originis directs its Anathema against those that shall so much as think diversly Wherefore our Church no where delivers our Articles as necessary to be believed neither by vertue of their own necessity or her own Command as several with Bishop Bramhall have noted For which reason subscription unto them is
of the Holy Scripture our Church rather doth take for granted than prove too laboriously or uncertainly § 9. All immoderate extravagancies concerning interpretation of Holy Scripture avoided by our Church § 1. WHereas Moderation hath its name and being from the equal measures observed by it the first instance of the Moderation of our Church is most properly to be taken from the right rule and measure in Religion which this Church of ours constantly receives and holds close to by which she is safely preserved from all undue extremes having to her self the same rule and measure of her Moderation which the universal Church of Christ in all Ages hath had such a rule as is beyond all exception and is of undeniable Authority namely the Holy Scriptures which are the same right and just measure by which she measures out to others and desires to be measured by her self in whatever she receives and delivers out as matter of Faith and required practice in the necessary parts of Religion and the worship of God Whereas next to the extreme of them who have no Religion nor no Rule the vanity and extravagance of those is very notorious who set up themselves to be their own Rule which is done in the pretences of infallibility on one hand and enthusiasm on the other between that Rock and this Gulf the Moderation of our Church doth safely conduct its own judgment and practice and all that follow her In the Sixth Article of Religion see how our Church doth own the perfection of Holy Scripture as a Rule Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation and the reason why the Church of England doth require her self to be acknowledged of her own a Canon 3. 1603. as a true and Apostolical Church is because she teacheth and maintains the Doctrine of the Apostles and in the fourth Canon the Church censures all Impugners of the worship of God and whosoever shall affirm her Form containeth any thing in it repugnant to the Scriptures In the 36. Canon Article 2. All who are to subscribe are willingly and ex animo to affirm That the Book of Common-Prayer and of ordering Bishops Priests and Deacons containeth in it nothing contrary to the word of God and Article 3. That he acknowledgeth all and every of the 39. Articles to be agreeable to the word of God In the 19th Article of Religion The visible Church of Christ is defined a Congregation of faithful men in the which the pure word of God is Preached and the Sacraments be duly administred according to Christs Ordinance And in the ordering of Bishops and Priests it is asked Be you perswaded that the Holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all Doctrine required of necessity for eternal Salvation through Faith in Jesu Christ And are you determined with the said Scriptures to instruct the people committed to your Charge and to teach nothing as required of necessity to eternal Salvation but that you shall be perswaded may be concluded and proved by the Scriptures The Answer is I am so perswaded and have so determined by Gods grace In the 20th Article of Religion it is declared It is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing contrary to Gods word written neither to expound one place that it be repugnant to another From all which passages and many more which might be repeated out of the Monuments of our Church it is evident that as our Church is formed in her whole Constitution with an uniform respect to this Rule and hath framed her Articles Liturgy Homilies and Orders thereby so it doth require her self to be acknowledged in those but in subordination to this Rule and measure as before and superiour to it self which doth manifest the exceptions of many of the Separation to be very unreasonable who seem to give such deference to the Holy Scriptures and at the same time renounce Communion with the Church of England which doth so religiously hold to the Sacred Scriptures of which our Church in union with the whole Church of God is a sure Keeper a faithful Witness a zealous Defender and a most sober Interpreter § 2. The Moderation of the Church of England further appears in avoiding the extremes of those who take away from the true perfection of Scripture and of others who seem officiously to add thereunto Of the first sort of those who detract from the true perfection of Scripture are they who frame an additional Canon of their own as the Church of Rome doth who declares that the Apocryphal Writings and Traditions of men are nothing inferiour nor less Canonical than the Sovereign dictates of God as well for the Confirmation of doctrinal points pertaining to Faith as for ordering of Life and Manners and that both the one and the other ought to be embraced with the same affection of Piety and received with the like religious Reverence b Concil Trid. Sess 4. Decr. 1. not making any difference between them Thus as it is in the second part of the Homily of good works Christ reproved the Laws and Traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees because they were set up so high as though they had been equal with Gods Laws and above them They worship Me in vain that teach for Doctrines the Commandments of men For you leave the Commandments of God to keep your own Traditions Yet He meant not thereby to overthrow Mens Commandments for He Himself was obedient to the Princes and their Laws made for good order On the other extreme They of the Separation among us are busy to attribute to the Holy Scriptures such a perfection as God never intended them namely particularly to determine of all actions of Mankind and every matter of order and decency in Religion Between these two see by how even a thred our Church divides the controversy first asserting the real perfection of Scriptures as a Rule to be as much as need to be to be as great a perfection as God hath given it in order to its end namely to guide our belief and practice in things needful to Salvation Article 20. Besides the same namely Gods word written ought not the Church to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation and in the same Article It is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing contrary to Gods word written Yet the Article begins thus The Church hath power to Decree Rites and Ceremonies and hath Authority in controversies of Faith Wherein according to an accurate Moderation the Church doth behave itself in attributing to the Holy Scriptures their just and full perfection On the other hand our Church doth thankfully accept of that Christian Liberty which God hath left her and indeed which he hath given all particular Christians according to their
our Church reformed Scintilla Altaris That to avoid excess of Dedications wherein others are too burthensome she sometimes uniteth two of the Apostles at once in one Festivity as S. Simon and Jude S. Philip and James § 8. The more immoderate is their reproach who brand our reformed Church for being guilty of Popery only because the memory of the just among us is blessed f Coâ—â—mus Martyres cultu dilectionis non servitutis S. Aug. c. Faus l. 22. Notwithstanding those very exceptors are really like the Romanists Canonizing and Sainting one another for being of some particular humour and faction in this for one that they will not keep a Festival or remember an Apostle with honour Indeed in the Church of Rome they have Canonized the worst of men and let any one tell the difference when many of those others Saint each other and affect no other Title but of your Holiness And here let any equal and intelligent Christians judge whether those who hold Communion with the Church of God notwithstanding sundry infirmities and failings ought not and may not more properly according to the stile of Scripture to be called Saints than those who separate from the outward Communion of Gods Church although they usurp the name peculiarly to themselves And here we cannot but observe the Modesty of those in Communion with the Church of England which is true Christian Moderation They never were so forward to rush suddenly as it were into the Holy of Holies in calling themselves and one another absolute Saints but rather while they are in their way and Pilgrimage chuse to be honoured with more modest titles even as Pythagoras in all Ages hath been commended for his Moderation in laying aside the great name of Wife and chose rather to be called a Lover of Wisdom § 9. The same Moderation which our Church useth toward Saints she observeth likewise with respect to the Holy Angels Yea indeed great is the modesty and sober wisdom of our Church in that it is no where excessively curious nor positive in determining of the nature actions knowledge number Orders or special Guardianship of Angels Our Church doth not deny that there is a distinct Order of Angels but no where takes upon her to show how those Orders are disposed But avoiding the extreme of those who are stupidly insensible of the conduct of Holy Angels the Church of England doth glorify God for their Creation for their admirable order and Ministry and affection to us we pray to God we may imitate their readiness and chearfulness in praising and serving him and ministring daily for the good of others yet our Church hath always held the Angels to be in the number of those who worship and not of those who are worshipped and for us to worship those who are themselves worshippers would be such a voluntary humility as is sinful namely to address our selves to such substitutes as God no where hath appointed to receive his peculiar honour g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. c. Cels l. 8. Neque Invocationibus Angelicis sed 〈◊〉 purè manifestè Orationes dirigens ad Dominum qui omnia sâ—it Iren. l. 2. c. 57. which the Synod of Laodicea A. D. 364. calls Idolatry § 10. The like Moderation doth our Church excellently well observe in the honour she gives to the Ever Blessed Virgin Mary so highly favoured of God as to be the Mother of our Lord whom our Church celebrates and always humbly calls her Blessed And as it is in the Institution of a Christian man set forth by the Convocation 1537. We may worthily say she is the most blessed of all other Women h Maria Mater Domini principatum inter Mulieres tenuit S. Aug. Scrm. 136. Hanc ego Christi Matrem veneror sed non illi Divae modò sed Deae nomen tribuens R. Jac. Apol. pro Jur. Honor Reginae judicium diligit Virgo Regia falso non eget honore de B. V. Mariâ S. Bernard Ep. 174. and we no where doubt but she is highly graced in Heaven as she received a most special priviledge upon Earth But our Church doth no where believe that she had an immaculate conception which the Romanists celebrate with an Holy-day on purpose Neither doth our Church believe she was ever raised from the dead and assumed into Heaven which they solemnize with another Festival Neither did Erasmus i Erasm Ecclesiastes l. 2. without cause admire how it came to pass they salute the Mother of Christ with more Religion than they invoke Christ himself or the Holy Spirit calling her the Fountain of all Grace and sundry expressions they use of the like affiance in the authority and merit of the Blessed Virgin to succour help and save Sinners as may be seen in the Rosary and Psalter and specially Litanies to the Virgin Mary k V. Consult Cassandr Art 20. p. 140. Jube Filio c. Cùm vix aliud in toto choro sit alienius à scripturis sanctis quod cum Evangelio Christi atque doctrinâ Apostolicâ perditiùs pugnet Wicelius de abusu Eccl. p. 392. In their form of auricular Confession they are taught thus to begin l Manuale Confessionum Cap. 10. p. 128. I Confess to the Omnipotent God to the Blessed Mary always Virgin c. and when they enter into their Monasteries they vow themselves to God and the Blessed Virgin and in all things they are so superdevout m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Virgin that an Oath by her is accounted most sacred and any of the Festivals may be sooner expunged than that of her Assumption into Heaven and although they prohibite the Bible yet they freely suffer sundry Books of Devotion to the Virgin Mary in the Mother tongue § 11. Our Church hath taken great care that a special honour be had to the Lords Day and that neither the Lords Day nor any other Festival be abused to Luxury or impiety n Haeccine solemnes dies decent quae alios non decent Tertull. Ita Festa moderanda ut neque nimia neque tam flagitiosè profanentur Bucer Censur c. 26. It appears from the Offices in our Liturgy the Rubricks Canons Homilies and Statutes of the Land and Injunctions of our Kings since the Reformation that there hath been a first and special care taken for the Holy Celebration of Sunday or Lords Day wherein we are equal to any Church among the Reformed o Vi. D. Crackenthorp Defens Eccl. Aug. c. 54. The other Festivals being over-ruled that in a Concurrence of Offices they may not disturb its Solemnity the very religious observation of which is earnestly also perswaded in our Homilies and especially in the 13. Canon with which agree the Injunctions of K. Edw. 6. and Q. Eliz. requiring p Coimus in coetum ut Deum quasi manu factâ precationibus ambiamus orantes coimus ad Divinarum literarum commemorationem
Her Moderation in what is asserted of the number of Sacraments § 3. In that her Orders for the Administration of the Sacraments are most suitable to the ends of their appointments § 4. In that our Church doth not make the benefit of the Sacraments to depend upon unrequired conditions In reference to Holy Baptism § 1. Our Church doth make nothing of the essence of Baptism but the use of the invariable Form § 2. The Moderation of our Church toward Infants unbaptized Her sound and charitable judgment of such as die after Baptism § 3. In some necessary cautions referring to the administration of Baptism § 4. Referring also to the susceptors § 5. In what is required of them who administer that Sacrament In reference to the Holy Supper of our Lord § 1. The same is with us celebrated in both kinds § 2. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation is rejected by our Church not running to the other extreme of denying a real presence of Christ in the Sacrament § 3. The Moderation of our Church in complying with the necessity of the Age but not with the Church of Rome and others who require their people to communicate not so much as thrice a year § 4. Participation of the Holy Supper required after Confirmation but not after the rigid Examinations of some or the auricular Confessions of others Neither is it made a private banquet § 5. In our Church there is not to be a Communication of the Eucharist without Communicants The Moderation of the Church in other Rubricks referring to the Holy Communion § 1. OUR Church according to that Moderation in which she excels raiseth no needless strife or controversy about words or names a Saepe a. Eccl. Angl. professa est de verbo nullam litem se moturam modo pristina sides sit restituta Rex Jac. ad C. Perr particularly relating to the Holy Sacraments The name of Sacraments saith the Homily b Homily of Com. Pr. and Sacram. may in general acception be attributed to any thing whereby a holy thing is signified thus as Chilingworth c Chilingw Pref. §. 24. noteth we use the names of Priest and Altar and yet believe neither the corporal presence nor any proper propitiatory Sacrifice Yea so exceeding moderate and prudent was the Church that in the 7. Canon 1640. it abundantly cautions lest those words be used otherwise than in a metaphorical and improper attribution d In Liturgiâ Anglicanâ habemus quidem Sacrificii nomen offerendi verbum etiam hostiae mentionem sed nihil magis adversatur Missatico sacrificio quà m tota haec oratio Rivet Gro. discuss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 220. Notwithstanding all these just and careful explications why should our Church for the use of those words be traduced as relishing of Popery any more than for favouring the Sabbatarian Doctrine because in the 70. Canon in English the word Sabboth Day is used for the Lords day and dies dominicus it is in the Latin Canons in the Homily also of the time and place of Prayer 't is called Sabboth day that is the Sunday the Holy day of rest and in King Henr. 8. Act of abrogation of certain days it is said since the Sabboth day was ordained for mans rest and in Qu. Eliz. Injunctions the same word is as in the rest used in a general accommodation to the improper use of the vulgar which clauses mentioned are known to have been before this word among some others hath been set apart as one of the Shiboleths of a party Whereas rather the Moderation of the Church should be taken notice of which insists not so much on the nicety of the word as on the integrity of its sense § 2. Our Church receives none as proper Sacraments generally necessary to salvation but such as are so Which said expression contains a great deal of Moderation notwithstanding it hath been much cavill'd at by some of rigid principles for our Church doth no where assert the receiving so much as the true Sacraments to be always to every one particularly and absolutely necessary to Salvation Our Church saith Bishop Branthal e To M. Militier receives not the Septenary number of Sacraments being never so much as mentioned in any Scripture or Council or Creed or Father or ancient Author first devised by Peter Lombard 1439. First Decreed by Eugenius the 4th 1528. First confirmed in the Provincial Council of Senes 1547. and after in the Council of Trent The word Sacrament is taken largely and then washing the Disciples feet is called a Sacrament then the sprinkling of ashes on a Christians head is called a Sacrament then there are God knows how many Sacraments more than 7. Or else it is taken for a visible sign instituted by Christ to convey and confirm invisible grace to all such partakers thereof as do not set a bar against themselves according to the analogy between the sign or the thing signified and in this sense the proper and the certain Sacraments of the Christian Church common to all or in the words of the Church generally necessary to Salvation are but two Baptism and the Supper of the Lord more than these S. Ambrose writes not of in his Book de Sacramentis because he did not know them And here it may not be improper to add those memorable words of S. Austin f S. Aug. Ep. ad Januar 118. which were recited in the Articles of Religion 1552. published by King Edw. 6. and are cited also in our Homily of Sacraments Our Lord Jesus Christ hath knit together a Company of new people that is Christians with Sacraments most few in number most easy to be kept most excellent in signification as are Baptism and the Lords Supper beside which two Sacraments of the New Testament our Church appointeth no other way of solemn engagement to Christianity § 3. The Holy Sacraments among us are administred in such order prescribed as is suitable to the end of their appointment Our Church most strictly holding to what is of Divine Institution and adding nothing which is humane to the Sacraments themselves nevertheless the Prayers and Blessings and Exhortations and what is enjoin'd promote the true design of the administration In which the Moderation of our Church holds a just mean between those who deny the Church any use of its Christian Liberty and between the intolerable excesses of the Church of Rome yet so very moderate is our Church in this particular that the Lutheran Churches cannot compare themselves with her for Moderation for they retain Exorcism and other Ceremonies in use with their Sacraments beside their peculiar doctrines and usages referring to the Holy Supper § 4. Our Church doth not make the efficacy of the Sacraments to depend upon the bare administration whether the mind be well prepared or no I dare not say that most Romanists generally mean so by the Opus Operatum in the Council of Trent g Concil
voluerit ut Scripturis primae deinde primorum soeculorum Episcopis Martâ—ribus Scriptoribus Ecclesiastiâ—is secundae deferrentur Dissert cont Blondel c. 14. § 13. Basis establish the Doctrine of the three Creeds †V. Hist of Reform l. 3. p. 218. Twisden Hist Vind. c. 9. and that the Romish Doctrine of Purgatory Pardons worshipping and adoration of Relics Invocation of Saints c. is not warranted by Scripture Artic. 22. and then proceed to settle such other things as are of positive right with so just a Moderation as is hardly elsewhere to be found changing nothing for the general but where the practice of their own Ancestors did justify their doings without at all extending themselves to any thing where they had not Antiquity their Warrant * Quod si me conjectura non fallit totius reformationis pars integerrima est in Angliâ ubi cum studio veritatis viget studium antiquitatis If Casaub Ep ad Salmas Anglicanam intelligo omnium reformatorum reformatissimam Forbes Consid Modâ—st Pref. Can we chuse saith Bishop Hall but observe the blessing of Monarchical Reformation amongst us beyond that popular and tumultuous reformation amongst our Neighbours Our's a Counsel their 's an Vproar Our's beginning from the Head their 's from the Feet Ours proceeding in due Order theirs with Confusion Ours countenancing and encouraging the converted Governors of the Church theirs extremely over-awed with averse Power or totally over-born with foul Sacrilege in a word Ours yeelding what the true and happy condition of a Church required their 's hand-over-head taking what they could get for the present †Of Episcopacy §. 5. p. 21. § 2. The manner of our Reformation was such as might reasonably both justify our Church and leave the Church of Rome most inexcusable in the judgment of the whole Catholic Church of Christ our Church condemning those she left no more than needs must And as Dr. More saith courting the Adverse Party to all lawful accommodations if by any means she may gain some Attempering her self to the occasion of the time * Homily for Rogation W. 3. part as our Church's Phrase is in her Homily †V. Cromwell's Letter to the Bishop of Landaff directing him how to proceed in the Reformation Collect. of Records Hist of Ref. l. 3. p. 183. From whence was manifest our Church's freedom from Prejudice and Passion and the humour of Innovation or the Spirit of Contradiction our Church not dividing but upon necessity and then using all lawful and good means to procure such an agreement only as might consist with the good Consciences of her People Wherefore that the Breach might seem no greater than indeed it is and that all probable pretences of Offence as they call it might be taken away was omitted that Suffrage in the Litany From the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestible Enormities good Lord deliver us Which Moderations in our Church and in other Reformed Churches the like * V. D. Durell's view of Ref. Ch. p. 180. have left the Romanists the more inexcusable in their dissent especially since as Camden and others relate in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth for about ten years for at least eighteen years saith the Lord Cook few of the Popish Recusants absented themselves from our Churches till Pope Pius the 5th by his Interdictory Bull would have all Communion with us renounced For as long as Schismaticks are not hardned into obstinacy there is a prudential Latitude allowed by the Church delaying her Censures as long as possibly she can without wronging her Government as was de facto practised in England till the tenth year of Queen Elizabeth †Schism guarded p. 396. And admit that P. Paul 4. in his private Letters to Q. Elizabeth did offer to confirm our Liturgy if she would acknowledg his Primacy and the Reformation derived from him and that the same Proposal was confirmed by his Successor Pius 4. tho it had caused sundry ignorant and peevish complaints it ought to be no imputation to us since our Reformation blessed be God is so good and justifiable Insomuch that the Presbyterian Brethren acknowledged * Grand Debate p. 3. Our first Reformers in great wisdom did at that time so compose the Liturgie as to win upon the Papists What was reformed and composed in such great wisdom then is the same still The Inference therefore which may be made is what Bishop Davenant resolved The Papists are bound to be present at the English Divine Service because nothing occurs therein that can be by themselves reproved And if Papists much more Protestants And we rather suppose it the great Glory and excellent Commendation of our Reformation that it is at once so compleat and also so moderate considering how difficult a thing it is especially in matter of Reforming to pare off the Excess and not to cut to the quick to stay at the right point and not over-do because of the lyableness in such cases in declining one extreame to fall into another †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Basil which usually is the fault of the unwise and the inconsiderate For as the Matters in Religion in which our utmost Zeal is required are unquestionably evident to every Christian Man's notice so the cases in which Moderation is to be exercised are almost infinite and often very intricate Wherefore the use of this Vertue is so universal that as the truest Fortitude is governed by Temperance so where there is most Moderation there is the truest Zeal and which is a better effect than usually is of suddain Calentures by Moderation the Mind is best prepared to find out and determine those Proportions and Measures which are to be observed for the right conduct of our selves and others in our moral and religious Concerns Such Operations suppose also a peculiar power and ability of the understanding and a most excellent prudence Wherefore the wise King said A Man of Vnderstanding is of an excellent Spirit Prov. 17. 27. where the Hebrew phrase is observed to signify also a cool Spirit or temper that being the most excellent disposition to Wisdom Thus in the Life of Pomponius Atticus it was said of him His Moderation gave him great security in troublesome Times procured him Friends kept him considerate and circumspect in all he did that he never over-shot himself with folly passion and precipitancy in Words and Action The like Vertue hath bin the great happiness of our Church of England especially conspicuous in her first Reformation and thus according to an excellent Moderation our Church doth express it self And for this ought we greatly to praise God for that such superstitious and idolatrous Manners as were utterly nought and defaced God's Glory are utterly abolished as they most justly deserved and yet those things that either God was honoured with or his People edified by are decently reteined and in our Church comely practised *