the Communion of the Church and make Conformity easie to those that are or shall come into it with a limited and meet Indulgence to those without it which thing he much laboured to effect in concurrence with that worthy and honourable Person Sir Orlando Bridgman Lord-keeper of the Great Seal Which he put into the Form of a Bill to be presented to the Parliament containing a Comprehension of the moderate Dissenters and a limited Indulgence towards such as could not be brought within the compass of it The one is done we 'd hope the other shall not be left undone sharper Medicines may rake the Patient seldom cure the Distemper The Ancient Fathers thought nothing more against Religion than to force it Violence is no good Argument to beget Faith and is therefore fit for nothing but to breed Form without and Atheism within saith Mr. Chilling He that bunts his Brother with a Net as the Prophet speaks may catch him but ne're convince him Obj. What Reason is there to gratifie factious Men that would divide and destroy our Church Res None at all but the greatest imaginable to have a regard to such as are of peaceable Principles and tender Consciences and 't is very difficult for any one who cannot search the Heart to convict them of the contrary which Charity will not admit without Proof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charity is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things 1 Cor. 13.5 7. Of the Reformation of Manners BUT this is not the only Scene our Reformers have to act in whilst the * Oportet sacerdotes Ministros qui altari sacrificiis deserviunt integros atque immaculatos esse Cypr. Epist Manners of the Clergy call for a strict Inspection being by far the greatest Nuisance in the Church 'T is true our earnest wish is that the Grievances of Conformity might be redrest that many whose desire it is to worship God in Spirit and in Truth may with greater chearfulness Labour in his Vineyard Nor can we with less importunity plead that the grand Mischief of Debauchery especially in the Clergy may be provided against We may clamber high to pluck off some withered Branches but if a Root of Bitterness yet remains our Church will be accounted but a degenerate Plant. There 's Nitre enough in our Discipline were it duly executed to cleanse our Garments and to take out the Spots in our Feasts The Church stands in need of sweeping and its Floor of a through purging 14 Levit. 39 41. but the Walls most eminently want scraping too to free it from that fretting Leprosie which as it hath been the blemish so it will if not effectually cured prove the bane of it To prevent which I believe a strict Reformation of the Universities might do much for the Sin of those young Men is great And had we no better Argument than that of supplanting the Design and Project of our Romish Enemies who thought upon this Anvile to hammer out our Ruine it were strong enough to recommend the Prescription were Salt cast into those Fountains they would send forth more wholesome Streams and such as would make glad the City of our God giving less trouble to our Governours to correct the Errors of the first Concoction for 't is hard to take out a Fust which a Vessel hath contracted from so early a Taint If these Grafts get a Surfeit in the Nursery they seldom thrive when they are planted out into the Church or bring forth any Fruit unto Holiness These Societies have been very circumspect as to the Mint and Communion of Religion minute and nice in the Form of their Devotion the Men of Athens being in all things very Ceremonious whilst their Discipline hath been too lax and loose in punishing Debauchery or promoting the Practice of Sobriety and Power of Religion But will that Coin be current from the exactness of the Stamp which is made of embased Mettal and reprobate Silver How far this Infection hath spread and from this though not only quarter crept into the Church especially the Leaders of it our daily Experience is an Argument which supersedes all other Proofs to the Scandal of our Communion the maintaining of our Schism opening the Mouths wide of those which gape for advantage against us And though too many of the Dissenters have been unjustly clamorous and turned their Backs upon us where they might have communicated with us yet I am confident but Immoralities have been the great drag to which we may Sacrifice for our Schism for had we separated the Precious from the Vile our Mouth would have been as the Lord's Mouth to them nor would so many have separated from us had we divided from them Who to attone their Extravagancies stickled high for Conformity and zealously stifled against all that dissented fulfilling the Words of the Prophet 7 Mich. 2 3. viz. They bunt every Man his Brother with a Net that they may do Evil with both Hands earnestly It is time then for Judgment to begin at the House of God as St. Peter saith for then where shall the Wicked and Vngodly appear Which Words struck so deeply that excellent Man * Qua non sicut caeteras partes epistolae in transcursu pervolavi sed lectionis impetu aliquantulum remorato concussam horrore quodam quasi repentè suborto mentem in his meam harare coegi atque in se altius verba illa tenaciusque defigere c. Eccl. Pont. Spec. Nicholas Clemangis by his occasional reading them that he forthwith took the hint and wrote his Book De Corrupto Ecclesiae statu May they so far affect our Superiors that they effectually set upon its Reformation For let may Right-hand forget its Cunning if I wish not Prosperity to the Church of England My Heart's Desire and Prayer to God for it is that it may be saved from those unreasonable Men on the one hand whose Designs and Principles are destructive to Order and Decency As also from those on the other who clamour high for the Form whilst they deny the Practice and Power of Godliness who can defile the Altar think they commute by an Adoration of the Gold of it May Learning and Religion flourish in the Clergy Holiness in the Laity and Reformation from that Formality Atheism and Debauchery wherein it is so dangerously and deeply sunk May those Rites be laid aside which are in themselves disputable and doubtful offensive to the Weak indifferent to the Strong so mischievous and pernicious to the Church as to be the Hole of the Pit from whence its Ruine and Destruction were formerly digged How bitterly from this Quarter it hath been assailed in the most august and National Assemblies of England a Cloud of Instances might be induced to prove Sir Edward (a) Collection of Speeches Dering in the first long Parliament made use of this Argument against it His Words
were these The Character of a Cathedral Corporation is still the same it was viz. A School for Compliments in Religion but a Scourge upon the Life and Practice of it They have been the Asylum of Superstition but Scalae gemoniae for true Piety c. This was a very smart Reflection upon those Societies but I hope our Superiors will so far take this into their Consideration as to render these Orders of Men such as they may become more servicâ—able to the Church less scandalous and offensive to those who seek occasion to cast Reproach upon them for the future and that the Glory of our Church may not shine forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with outward Pomp and Ostentation Multa Ostentatione but in a modest decent but especially devout Celebration of Divine Worship But this is too reachy and nice an Argument to insist much upon lest in the Prosecution of it I incur the Censure of being an Enemy to those regular Foundations Though I am perswaded there can be no surer way to ascertain their Funds than a Reformation of their pompous Service into a more Simple and Evangelical Form of Religion As also by subliming them to higher purposes and improving them to a far better account than they ever yet turned to in the Church It being hard to take off the ancient Grudge against them whilst so deep Revenues run waste whose Streams might refresh the City of God nor can I rationally fall under the Displeasure of any other of the Brethren seeing the design of this Plea is only to smooth the ways of Conformity and to make those Paths streight that the Church's Yoak may become more easie and burthen-light And can truly protest in the Words of a great Person Bellar recog as to the whole of this Discourse viz. Scripsi deo teste quod verum esse existimavi non gratiam hominum vel propriam utilitatem sed dei gloriam ecclesiae commodum respiciens That is I call God to witness that what I have wrote I account to be truth not respecting the Favour of Man or mine own Advantage but the Glory of God and Benefit of the Church But if after all I must receive Evil for Good I shall not think any new thing hath befallen me nor will my Case differ from that courteous Man's who helping his lame Dog over the Stile was for his kindness bit by the Fingers But from what Quarter can we expect the Reformation of a wicked and sinful World This no more than Promotion comes from the East nor from the West nor from the South it is God that pulls down one with his proud and high Looks and sets up or exalts the humble and meek 'T is he that puts a Bridle into the Mouth an Hook into the Nostrils of the greatest Leviathans and bores their Jaws through with a Thorne Nay he can change the most ungovernable Tempers and unruly Dispositions of Men. He it is that maketh the Lion to lie down with the Lamb eat Straw like the Ox He can say to the most proud and rampant Waves of Wickedness hitherto shall ye go and no further But why then doth not Righteousness cover the Land as the Waters cover the Sea Righteous art thou Oh Lord saith the Prophet yet let me argue with thee concerning thy Judgments Why doth the way of the Wicked prosper Were it not more for God's Honour to have Religion flourish over the Face of the whole Earth and prophaneness to have no place to flee to or fix the Sole of its Foot upon This indeed is a thing too deep for us a Phaenomenon we scarce know how to solve Were it not better that the false and lying Tongue were destroy'd and Perjury pluckt up by the Roots by which Justice and Truth have been perverted guiltless Persons murthered and innocent Blood spilt like Water upon the Ground Is it not strange to observe in the Reformation of Religion there should be so great a Sally out of Darkness into marvellous Light upon the first dwaning of that day and that notwithstanding the Prayers and Tears of such as have oppressed tender Consciences the utmost Endeavours of many wise and learned Fathers of the Church it could not for more than this hundred Years be carried on one step further towards Perfection This hath been the Lord's doing we know and 't is marvellous in our Eyes His Ways are unsearchable and his Paths are past finding out Not that we design to prescribe Methods to the Providence of God or Rules and Measures to his Wisdom in the Government of the Church yet we may pray that all things may be disposed so as they may best conduce to his own Glory the Purity Peace and Union of that Communion That having recovered its Light when it was so nigh a total and perpetual Eclipse it may shine forth with greater Glory and display brighter Beams of Light and Love than ever We may pray that God would bless his Majesty with perfect Victory and Success that he may set his Foot upon the Necks of his Enemies abroad as well as at home And that when he is settled with Peace round about he may then think of God's House how he may heal the Breaches and repair the Decays which Sin and Schism have made in the midst of it That he would please to renew the Powers and Faculties to such reverend Fathers of the Church if expired as are best qualified to sew up the rent in the Spouses Vail and so promote the Peace and Glory of our Church That he would please so far to interpose his Authority as in a legal way to procure such Ease and Liberty in the scrupled part of Conformity that the weary within the Church may be at rest As also so wide a Door to those who are without that if they will not enter it may be truly said that their exclusion is of themselves Obj. But why do we make so great a noise about little things Do we not know that small Alterations in Matters of Religion make great Distractions and occasion high Convulsions in the Church We pretend to desire and aim at the Peace and Welfare of our Jerusalem Why do we not then endeavour to promote it by a quiet Submission to its Orders and Decrees Res 1st They are indeed little things comparative to the Power and Authority of the Church to redress the Grievances of those who are weary and heavy laden 2dly Admit they be small yet 't is a very great Flame those little Sparks have kindled in the Breasts and Minds of many Pious and Conscientious Men A Mote is but a little thing 't is true but if got into the Eye of Conscience it causeth Rivers of Tears to run down by reason of it nor can the Apple of it ever cease As to our Duty of preventing Disturbance and preserving Peace and Union in the Church May our Indulgence be measured by our constant Endeavours to avoid the
in England falsly pretenced and that it was most justly abrogated by the King Fas est ab hoste doceri that all other Bishops were in their Function equal to him and in their Provinces in many things above him More of this may be seen and the Supremacy of Rome learnedly and rationally disproved in a Letter writ to Cardinal Pool by Cuthert Tonstal Bishop of Duresme and John Stoksly Bishop of London Acts and Monuments Vol. 2. pag. 289. Edit 1684. Which Doctrine was so generally owned that it was subscribed by one and twenty Bishops eight Arch-Deacons seventeen Doctors of Divinity and of both Laws Obj. That was a forc'd put only to comply with the Genius of an Head-strong Prince and Humour of the time Res It hath been formerly promised that the Priests Lips should preserve Knowledge but now it seems they served for another purpose viz. to preserve their Bishopricks but the Scriptures they cited the Reasons they urged the Judgment and Sense of the Fathers they alledged are still the same in all Ages and Reigns whatever the Persons be that used them And why may we not as well believe these Men to speak truth when they did it to please their Prince and save their Livings as when they recanted it to recover them especially when we consider the Reason of their Arguments more than the design of them What they said and not why they spake it for though Men Camelion like may turn colour yet the Truth is of a better Stain than to fade at any time or upon any account The like Instance we have in the Case of the Pope's Supremacy above a general Council Aeneas Sylvius was once zealous to assert the Superiority to be in the latter and wrote the History of the Council of Basil in which he frequently proves the same But being promoted to the Papacy and changing his Name to Pius 2dus he changed his Opinion also recanting his former Positions and caused his (a) Retractationumque bullam edid it quam ad rectorem Scholam Coloniensem misit invulguri jussit toto orbe terrarum inquit Gasper Card. indisput adversus Protest Bull of Retractations to be published to the whole World Thus when the Gale of Preferment blew stiff this Weathercock soon turned head So zealous was he once for the Peace and Unity of the Church that he wrote to (b) See Acts and Monuments vol. 1. p. 807. Edit 1684. Gasper Schilck Chancelor of the Emperor that Princes might send their Orators and make Conventions whether the Pope approve of them or not But when he was Pope himself he quarrelled with Diotherus Arch-bishop of Mentz and Prince Elector because he would call the Electors together without his License Good God! if Truth be as shifting as these who highly pretend to it we may be at a greater loss than Pilate to know what it is or where to find it But whither have we run after these Dive-doppers who have the Confidence to expose and ridicule the Church which they pretended once to adore and that till Luther's days 't was a Duck under water But thank God we have lived to see them dived too and hope we shall never live to see them lift their Heads above water with the former Insult and Insolence like Spaniels to hunt and bark at that Duck which was once the only Phoenix with them and Bird of Paradice But I shall concern my self no further with them only give me leave to tell these Philosophers that 't is a known Experiment that if you cut a Leg or Limb from a Duck it in a little time corrupts into a Toad Mutato nomine de vobis fabula narratur You were once Limbs and Members of that Body under the Shadow of whose Wings you shrewded and sheltred your selves till by turning Apostates and Renegado's your decrying the Faith which once you profest you sufficiently evidenced what Poison of Asps was under your Lips and made it easie to guess from whence you were fallen and into what you were transformed Time was when the Church of England was all their cry a Dove whose Voice was sweet and Countenance was comely ready to pick and joll at every one who admired not her gay Feathers and guilded Plumes Then her Wings were covered with â—ilver and her Feathers with yellow Gold But so soon as her Wings were clipt and Feathers grew sick and was hunted like a Partridge in the Wilderness this glorious Bird was accounted no better than an Owl in the Desart at which they hist and hooted Now they renounce its Orders despise its Sacraments turn up their Noses at its Worship whilst those who were traduced by them for false Brethren and spurious Sons of the Church when all these things were in vogue with them did in the time of its peril and distress preach up and defend its Doctrine were frequent in the Administration of its Sacraments kept close to its Communion and stedfast to its Interest We hope therefore it being by the good Providence of God come again into its Kingdom and restored to all its Powers and Authority that they shall be remembred and not forgotten as Joseph was by the chief Buttler after his Restoration 40 Gen. 23. That their Yoak may be made more easie and burthen-light Nay they have not been only faithful to the Church but are true to the State too Time was when they were represented at Court as no Friends to Caesar and that it was not for the King's profit to suffer them But now their Crime is they are of excessive Loyalty and too fond of their Prince But can we love him too well who seeing the Nation sinking or in a violent Storm labouring for Life cast himself into those mighty Waters resolving either to sink with it or save it which he effectually did Who when the Breach was made in our Bank and the See of Rome I mean Popery breaking in a man upon us like Moses stood in the Gap stopt the Torrent drained the Church and hath made it once again terra firma Time was when Judgment ran down as Waters but they were very bitter and and Righteousness as a mighty Stream but like an overflowing Scourge bore down Justice and common Right before it for Judgment was turned into Gall and the Fruit of Righteousness into Wormwood which occasioned many bitter Cries and Complaints among us But now our Sion is redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness Now we have no Youths from Doway or St. Omers to confront the Truth or support a Lye No awing of Judges packing of Juries or forcing of Verdicts We have found a Prince that seeks Judgment and relieves the oppressed and can we then be too fond can we love him too well Who by the Councel and Consent of Parliament hath eased our Protestant Brethren without the Church yea hath framed a Project to remove the Grievances of those which are within too having granted
Deo Ecclesiae Conscientiae Ergo OR A PLEA For Abatement in Matters of CONFORMITY To several Injunctions and Orders of the Church of England To which are added some Considerations of the Hypothesis of a King de Jure and de facto proving that King WILLIAM is King of England c. as well of Right as Fact and not by a bare Actual Possession of the Throne By IRÆNEVS Junior a Conforming Member of the Church of England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 15.20 Scripsi deo teste quod verum esse existimavi non gratiam hominum vel utilitatem propriam sed Dei gloriam Ecclesiae commodum respiciens Bell. Recog LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1693. THE CONTENTS OF the Surplice and Habits Page 11 Of the Cross in Baptism Page 13 Of Kneeling at the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Page 15 Of the Liturgy or Church-service Page 18 Of the Lords Prayer and Doxology Page 26 Of Christ's descent into Hell Page 28 Of the Athanasian Creed Page 31 Of Regeneration by the Spirit Page 34 Of the Office of Burial of the Dead Page 36 Of the Collects for the King c. Page 39 Of Confirmation by the Bishop Page 40 Of Ecclesiastical Discipline Page 42 By whom the Seeds of Arbitrary Government have been sown Page 62 Of the Reformation of Manners Page 80 Advice to Dissenters Page 92 These Papers having for sometime been laid aside their publication being perhaps in a more proper-season accidentally prevented are yet at last come to light and born though out of due time By reason of which some few passages may occurr more pertinent to the time of their conception than of their birth which the Reader is desired to observe and allow for as also with his Pen to correct the following ERRATA IN the Preface page 6. in the last line for facis read facile p. 7. l. 41. r. shack p. 11. l. 10. add malum before the last est p. 9 l. 20. r. far 37. r. Governours p. 10. l. 33. for led r. misled p. 11. l. 29. r. Lictors l. 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 16. l. 39. r. your tranquillity P. 1. l. 23. before evil add a greater p. 4. l. 33. r. suddenly p. 5. l. 27. before gain blot out the p. 6. l. 24. r. very p. 11. l. 18. r. nusance l. 24. r. string p. 12. l. 13. r. nusances p. 14. l. 34. blot out Cer and add it in the beginning of line 36. p. 16. last line r transubstantiation p. 17. l. 1. r. Hooker l. 10. r. Protest p. 20. margin r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 21. l. 2. r. organs l. 27. add was after up p. 23. r. scta in the margin p. 26. l. 19. r. Wire 24. r. offices p. 28. l. 22. r. tertium p. 31. marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 32. add 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 32. l. 8. r. convinced l. 32. r. Wire p. 33. l. 7. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 30. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 38. l. 26. r. paradise p. 40. l. 33. r. that p. 42. marg r. ecclesiae p. 46. l. 24. r. valorous p. 47. l. 38. r. Tiping p. 49. l. 1. r. Nusance l. 31. r. balance l. 40. r. Counsel p. 53. l. 14. r. lopping l. 25. r. another p. 59. l. 7. r. Wire p. 67. l. 6. r. sense p. 68. the Citation out of Aene Sylv must be read at the bottom of the 67. page after 1684 p. 69. l. 26. after digression adâ— inâ—â— p. 71. marg r. asserit p. 79. l. 27. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 80. l. 3. r. Nusancâ— l. 31. r. Cummin p. 81. at the end of the 28. l. add And p. 90. l. 4. r. Paradise p. 88. last l. r. Pretensed p. 93. l. 31. r. Opining p. 9â— l. 22. r. loth p. 95. l. 24. r. Anicetus l. 27. blot out it p. 96. l. 6. r. Counsel Some few other Escapes there are but not so material as to take any other notice of them THE PREFACE AS Truth is a most pleasing Object and grateful to the Understanding of Man so he must have a vitiated and depraved Palate who cannot taste and see how good the Churches peace is nor relish those means and measures which are conducive to so great and eminent an end For the attainment of which we may be encouraged to believe the ensuing Plea to be no unfit expedient upon the consideration of those Powers and Faculties which since the Late Revolution His present Majesty whom God preserve hath granted to so many Wise and Worthy Members of our Church to revise its Liturgy to inspect our Ecclesiastical Polity and to report such Alterations and Amendments as they should judge necessary for the Healing of our Breaches and uniting of Dissenting Protestants A project becoming the forecast of so Wise and Great a Prince who had so much good-will towards Men as to design Settlement and Peace of Earth But we have winkt too hard to see the things which concern them yea many there be of that intemperate Zeal and fiery Indignation wherewith they would devour their Adversaries as to tell us That tho our pretences be faced with Conscience yet they are lined with Schism and Sedition as true and yet deceivers these say they are such who set up for Peace whilst they mediate and forecast War in their Hearts talking of Union whilst they themselves break the Bond of Peace dissolve the Unity of the Spirit and deface the Uniformity of the Church Could these Men have procured Fire from Heaven the World by this time had been in a Flame Nor could our Doom have been any thing better than that to which the angry Disciples would have sentenced the Samaritanes yea executed upon them had not our Saviour restrained their Zeal and rebuked their Passion As to our secret Reservations or Hypocrisie we only desire our liberty till they can disprove our sincerity and to condemn us before is an hard Censure The advice St. Paul gives I think is worth the taking 1 Cor. 4.5 Judge nothing before the time till the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God As for the usual Raillery wherewith those who were weary and heavy laden have been treated we refer to him who will judge the false and slanderous Tongue That Ignorance and Malice are the Spirits by which our Wheels are acted is the frequent charge of Uncharitable and Conceited men who take their Tongues to be their own using both them and others with them at their pleasure But what are we better than our Father who met with no less despite nor ought we to make any worse returns than they We are fools for Christ saith St. Paul but ye are wise in Christ we are weak but ye are strong ye are honourable but we are despised
Bar and Ballance in which he must weigh and at which he must examine his Actions the last Dictate of the Understanding is the most extreme and natural Guide of the Will be the Dictate true or false Vniuscujusque Christiani saith Polanus est spiritus ille ad privatam doctrinae probationem dijudicationem in conscientiâ ipsius And to follow that is the best and safest way tho sometimes I may be led by it We have not to do with an hard Master who will punish us because we act not by higher Principles of Wisdom and Knowledge than he hath given us Bishop Davenant saith That all our Divines affirm that every Christian who hath any regard of his Soul ought to reduce the Decrees of Faith to the Rule of Faith viz. the Scripture and so far to admit them as they understand they agree with that (b) Atque tatious admittere qâ—atenus ad tandem scil normam fidei conveâ—ire intâ—liguntur Dave de jud norm fidei Rule He doth not say so far as they agree but so far as they apprehend or understand them to agree So that we owe obedience to them who have the rule over us yet not exclusive of much less contrary to the light of our own Reason and Discretion Let us hear B. Taylor 's opinion in our case Every Man saith he is bound to follow his Guide unless where he believes his Guide to mislead him yet when he sees Reason against his Guide it 's best to follow his Reason against his Guide for tho in this he may fall into an Error yet he will escape sin he may do violence to the Truth but never to his Conscience and an honest Error is better than a violent luxation to his Understanding Aquinas saith That Will is bad which disagreeth with Reason be that Reason true or false And the Reason which he hath given is because that which is good hath the form of evil and that which is evil hath the form of good Volunt as discordans à ratione sive rectâ sive errante est mala Id enim quod bonum est potest accipere rationem mali 2. q. 19. ar 5. id quod est potest accipere rationem boni What Hobs saith is truth though it may be received with prejudice as coming out of his Mouth That a Man may offend in doing good Homo potest â—inlare legemactu legi consentaneo vir so homo putet si facere contrarium legi Dâ— cive P. 58. if at the same time he apprehends it as evil on the contrary he may be accepted or at least pardoned in doing a bad thing if he apprehends it to be good and innocent And why may I not put the Opinion of the Philosopher into this Scale who I think had well weighed it himself Incontinens est qui non sequitur rationem rectam per accidens autem qui non sequitur rationem falsam Mr. Chillingworth saith If the Church commands things and judge them fit to be done yet every Man is to judge for himself with the Judgment of discretion Otherwise we may do with our Reason and discursive Faculties as the Priest did with the Sword of Goliah wind them up and lay them by as useless things For a Dog is as capable of a Law as a Man if there be no choice in his obedience nor discourse in his choice nor reason to satisfie his discourse And 't is as unreasonable as 't is unnatural that Sempronius should force Caius to be of his Opinion because Sempronius is Consul this Year and commands the Lectors Lib. of Propâ— as if he that can kill a Man cannot but be infallible if he be not why should he do violence to my Conscience because he can do violence to my Person But what need we any further Witnesses tho a Cloud of them might be produced to clear this Truth Let the Authority of the Apostle serve for all who injoins us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to try all things and to hold fast that which is right 1 Thes 5.21 But if the Doctrine of Blind obedience were true it would supersede all this trouble we need not weary our selves with searching the Scriptures and digging for Knowledge and Understanding We might live at a great deal more ease if God required of us only to do this and live that is to obey the commands of our Superiors without any examination how they are agreeable to his own then the Magistrates Lips should preserve Knowledge give Laws and the people must seek them at their Mouths Then we should have nothing to do but to give an unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing which is injoined were the Laws of Conformity ten times more than they are And like Pills might be swallowed without tasting whether they be sweet or bitter But till these things can be proved or our scruples satisfied we hope our Superiors will not be offended though our ensuing Plea be urged and Address continued We know well that we are bound to be obedient to our Governors not only for wrath but Conscience sake And that we owe a Duty to our Civil as well as Natural Parents That we must pay an observance to their Commands lest we receive to our selves Damnation But must we pay this Respect and Duty to our Civil Parents or Princes where-ever our Lot falls or we happen to be Born either Turky Italy Jerusalem or Geneva If this were true we might safely be Jew or Turk Papist or Protestant we might cast Lots for our Religion or change it with our Clime Et Coelum ac animum mutet qui transmare currit I know none so wild as to pretend to assert this for then the Laws of God must give place to the Customs or Constitutions of every Place or Countrey in which we live But if otherwise then I may try the Spirits and examine their Commands that I may see whether they agree or not with that Law which is Superior to all humane Sanctions and an absolute Rule of Truth To do which I know no better expedients than reading reasoning advising conferring with Persons of great Wisdom and Understanding and especially praying to be led by that Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth But to give a blind obedience to every Command of the Magistrate is a Doctrine fitted more for Brutes than Rational Creatures for we may as easily believe that every thing he touches is Gold as that every thing which is required by him is just and ought to be believed as Truth This is I confess somewhat contrary to the advice which (k) Acts. and Monum 1st Vol. p. 613. Edit 1684. Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury gave to William Thorp That he ought not to suppose a Prelate would command an unlawful thing But if it were unlawful yet he obeying him should not answer for it before God But this good Man durst not rely upon the Bishops
at least in this our day see the things that concern the Peace and Welfare of our Church and State 'T is not possible for any who is a true living Member or either Body to be so past feeling as to find no regret or simpathy when he sees either of them reel and stagger to and fro like a drunken Man What Member of the Bâ—dy can be in health when the whole Head is sick and Heart faint But thanks be to God we have made one step in order to a Cure that we can see the Rock of Offence from whence these Distempers are hewen and the Hole of the Pit from whence they are digged We can tell what those Bryars and Thorns are and who hath planted them which have not only rent our Garments but rolled them in Blood too And that for no other cause than that they were not all of a colâ—ur But is there no Balm in our Gilead Is there no Physician of that value there that can bind up our Wounds and mollifie them with Ointment 22 Rev. 2. Undoubtedly we have viz. a Prince who hath made Propositions like to the Leaves of the Tree of Life which are for the healing of the Nations Who that he might compleat our deliverance having saved us from the Hand of our Enemies that we might serve God without fear is designing to reconcile us to our selves that having abolisht the Enmity 2 Eph. 15. even the Law of Commandments contained in Ecclesiastical Ordinances we might have Peace We have Bishops now not like those Egyptian Task-masters that when the People cryed to them for ease were sent back with a Reproach viz. Te are idle ye are idle away to your Burthens But such as are kind and compassionate Fathers and Pastors of the Flock who considering its weakness will not over drive it Yea like the wisdom from above they are gentle and easie to be intreated to lose every Burthen and to let the oppressed go free Binding up the broken-hearted knocking off those Shackles which have so long gauled the Consciences Declaration from Breda Declaration concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs Another in the 1 Year 1672. c. and hold Captive the Souls of Men. For which purposes how often have Promises been made Tempers found Projects offered and proposed which by the prevailing Interest of Men highly addicted to the Form of our Worship have been stifled and supprest And who are always in so high a stickle and stifle to disappoint and cassate all the fairest Purposes and Propositions whenever they are made in order to a firm Settlement and lasting Peace Nor will consent to part with one Hair though the whole Head be sick c. and though we should admit it to be true that nothing hath been injoined in the Worship of God but what might be lawfully submitted to yet it hath been a very unruly Truth and which we have found so hard to manage that like a restiffe Jade it hath cast the Riders and dangerously struck them when they were out of the Saddle It was a Reverend Bishop's Opinion in this case That better is a quiet Error Bishop Hall's Peace-maker than an unruly Truth And Erasmus was so great a Lover of Peace that he could not fancy a troublesome and tumultuous Truth Mihi saith he adeo invisa est discordia ut veritas etiam displiceat seditiosa Which may admit a more favourable Construction when it respects only the Outworks of Religion Our Controversies saith Dr. Potter are none of them in the Substance of Faith but only in disputable opinions not clearly defined in Scripture Charity mistaken p 185. Why then should such things be made Terms of Communion and mere Circumstances of Divine Worship which may or may not be observed and yet the Ordinances of God duly administred For instance in the case of Private Baptism the Child may be I think I may say according to the Rubrick ought to be baptized without Sponsors and not to be signed with the sign of the Cross and yet the Child is declared by the Rubrick to be sufficiently baptized without either and requires none to make any doubt of it And therefore King James's Project which he sent to Cardinal Perroon might highly conduce to an accommodation were we but so happy as to apply it viz. That we should sever (a) Istam distinctionem serenissimus Rex tanti putat esse momenti adminuendas Controversiâ—is que hodie Ecclesiam dei tantopere Exercent necessary from unnecessary things That as to the first which he saith are not many we should agree and leave the rest to liberty In non necessariis libertati Christianae detur locus This he thought was the shortest (b) Nullam breviorem ad incundam concordiam viam fore c. cut to Peace as may be seen more at large in the Epistle wrote by Causabon to the Cardinal at the King's Command upon this Subject Yet so great and mistaken too hath the Zeal of Men been concerning the Rites of Religion that we have herd that whole Churches have bandied at and censured one and other for things of no great moment such were the Saturday-Fast and Celebration of Easter Erasmus in his Epistle before Irenaeus his works commends that Father for his earnest Desire and Love of Peace and for blaming the Bishop of Rome for his (c) Non de catholico dogmate sid de ritu vel ritus potius tempore Not for any Catholick Doctrine but for Ceremony c. So Petavius cutting off many Churches from his Communion because they did not agree with the Western Church in the Celebration of Easter and Observation of Fasts Ecclesiasticae Concordiae tam fuit studiosus ut cum Victor Romanus Pontifex multas Ecclesias amputasset à Communione quod in Celebratione diei Paschalis in Observatione jejuniorum morem obtinerent à Romanâ consuetudine diversum Magna libertate Victorem reprehenderit Now that things of this nature are the Scene in which our present Disputes lie there 's no Man ignorant To moderate which his Majesty hath interposed his Wisdom and Authority But though he hath charmed wisely yet our Adders have too much Sting and too little Ear to listen to those things which concern the Peace and Welfare of our Church From whence have sprung our great Zeal and Stickle in Parliamentary Elections to pick up Men of those tenacious Principles that would sooner part with an Article out of their Creed Eras Epiâ— od â—ernbard Trid. Episâ— than the least Rite or Ceremony out of the Rubrick The Answer which the Arch-bishop with the rest of the Bishops presented to the late King was That it was no want of Tenderness to Dissenters that they could not comply with the Declaration for Liberty but that they only waited till it should be considered in Parliament and Convocation The first hath very kindly and with Justice to former Promises granted them their Liberty To the
Nation satisfied in the Belief of the Truth all future Claims and Pretences to the Crown annulled and quasht which their own Interest if no other Argument might have prevailed with the Court to have condescended to And when this be answered I 'll believe as the then Rampant Roman Faction would have me believe But things of so great concern being every where questioned and disputed one would have thought that if the P. of O. had askt a greater thing then to have a Parliament freely called to have sit upon and considered these weighty Affairs it would not have been denied by the late King as a thing unreasonable who at last condescending Writs were issued some Members chosen (a) Vbi judicia deficiunt ibi incipit bellum Grot. de jure Bell. pac Lib. 2. Cap. 1. But all of a suddain those which were not yet issued were supprest those sent abroad superseded and the Parliament in its birth annulled and stifled the Broad-Seal of England he vilely cast away into the Thames and at last betaking himself to (b) Si rex aut alius quis imperium abdicavit ant ma ifeste habet pro derelicto in â—um post id tempus omnia licent que in privatum Idâ—m Lib. 1. Cap. 4. flight turned his Back upon the Nation leaving it without any Provision for its Government to shift as well as it could for it self Obj. But is it not very unjust to drive him away by force and then charge his flight as a Crime upon him when he durst stay no longer Res This is the common Objection which those who are back Friends to their Country Men who are satisfied neither full nor fasting frequently make use of to banter and if it could be bafle those who assert the Legality of our present Setlement But ' â—will be no hard matter to evade the dint of it for as to his Fear it was but rational there being none that was not more stupid than a Stoick but in so great a Convulsion of State must exceedingly fear and tremble as to the Force pretended to be up on him we utterly deny it for when the Posture of Affairs had made it necessary for the P. of O. to come to London and the King himself had invited him to St. James's it could not be thought safe for the King to continue at Whitehall lest any justle betwixt the Guards might occasion Bloodshed and hazard his Person wherefore he was desired to withdraw to Ham-house or any other place he should choose But finding the Fire he had kindled had made the Nation too hot for him he deserted and fled into France But he that hath raised a Storm cut off the chief * The Parliament Anchor which should secure the Vessel hath as little reason to alledge his hazard in defence of his sliting the Vessel and abdicating his trust to the Mercy of the Sea as to blame the Ship 's Crue for electing a new Pilot in the absence of the former to manage it in it's danger and steer it into the Harbour In this great and eminent Conjuncture and Emergency the States of the Realm assemble to consult Methods and concert Measures for the publick Safety which High-Court beyond which we have no appeal did upon mature deliberation great Debate and weighty Arguments declare resolve and decree (a) For this reason the Crown was setled upon the Prince and Princess of Orange The Words mentioned in the Instrument of Setlement are these viz. And whereas the late King James II. having abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby vacant c. Act. 1st William and Mary That the King 's leaving of the Realm in such a manner was an Abdication of the Kingdom whereby the Throne was vacated and consequently the Government was dissolved Which Resolution and Judgment was by this present Parliament confirm'd ratified and recognized in these Words viz. We do recognize and acknowledge your Majesties were are and of right ought to be by the Laws of this Realm our Sovereign liege Lord and Lady King and Queen of England c. By Virtue of which repeated Judgment and Decree he is King not only de facto but de jure according to the Laws of our own Country which Judgment is either according to Truth or mistaken if the first by all Mens Opinions it ought to be obey'd but if mistaken yet we are bound to observe it and I think may do it with a good Conscience because we are no Judges of Law especially in so intricate and difficult a Case Suppose an Estate be decreed in Chancery to A. when perhaps according to right it belongs to B. as afterwards may appear by a Reverse of that Judgment given in Parliament upon an Appeal made thither yet A. may lawfully hold the Possession of the Estate against B. till the Decree be reversed for though the Decree was not made according to Law yet according to Law it binds till it be corrected by another Judge or annulled by a Superior Court Now this Judgment of Parliament concerning the Abdication of the Realm and Vacancy of the Throne though we should suppose it mistaken yet that Court being Judge of the Law we are bound by the Judgment they give because they and not we are Judges of such Matters Now the Author of the Case of Allegiance doth grant Pag. 54. That what Prince we must obey and to what particular Person we must pay our Allegiance the Law of God doth not tell us but this we learn from the Laws of the Land Now the Law of our Land saith we must pay our Allegiance to King William So that according to this Rule he is King of right as well as of fact Now his Question is whether if a King de jure be dispossessed of his Throne and a King de facto be possessed of it without a legal Right to which of these two the Subjects are bound to pay their Allegiance But I take this not to be our present case for according to the Judgment and Decree of the highest Court of Judicature the late King (a) Obj. But King James was King de jure Res So was Charles II. but both their Rights are extinct one being naturally the other dead in Law as is decreed by the highest Court in England And he that sits upon the Throne declared by the same to have as good right to the Crown he wears as his Predecessor before he gave up the Ghost I mean his Kingdom to provide for it self is not the King de jure for this Act of Abdication is declared by our Law not to be a bare Dispossession of the Throne but a total Extinguishment of his Right And that if he should be ever restored to these Kingdoms again he must receive a new Investiture or else he cannot be King And whereas he seems to suppose our King William only to be King de facto and without legal right possessed of the Throne
one and maintain the other We have with Patience submitted not for Wrath but Conscience sake to the Commands of our Superiors We have bowed the Neck to an uneasie Yoak earnestly supplicating the Divine Majesty to send a Moses to deliver us from those Burthens which we have received so many Solemn and Royal Promises should never oppress nor grieve us whilst we behaved our selves peaceably under the Civil Government and Constitutions of the Land But here I thought to have made a stand and have eased both the Reader and my self of any further trouble and fatigue in the Prosecution and Pursuit of this unpleasing Argument were I not prest with the Reason of another most just Plea for a Relaxation and Abatement in the Matters aforesaid which I had thought to have omitted lest it should appear too invidious as to others and too opiniative of our selves I mean our Fidelity to the Interest and Constancy in the Communion of the Church in the late Times of Defection and Apostacy when both by Threatnings and Flatteries we were so strongly tempted to make a Breach in it When the Declaration for Indulgence was commanded to be publisht by us in our Churches we did not we durst not submit though we thereby forfeited the Favour and eminently incurred the Displeasure of a Potent Monarch bigotted to the Romish Religion in whose Hands we were and to be used by him at his Pleasure We could have very much rejoiced in a due Enlargement but we rather kept within our Inclosure than brake the Hedges and lay the Fences waste to obtain it I mean a general Violation of the Canons and Rubricks of the Church the enacted Laws and Statutes of the Common-wealth Relying in the mean time upon the Goodness and Providence of God wholly submitting our selves to his Will hoping that he would so far move the Hearts of our Rulers in due time and in a regular way to hear our Complaints and redress our Grievances And that which puts weight into this Ballance is that too many of those who clamoured high and made (a) Who were fierce Despisers of those that were good heady high minded Traytors having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power of it 2 Tim. 3.3.5 a great noise for Conformity to the Rituals of the Church baiting and bantring any whom they supposed guilty of the least defect and omission of their Duty in that respect accounting themselves the white Boys and only Sons of the Church yet were the first that turn'd colour and became Red-letter'd Men divers of which both of the Clergy and Laity I could name but I spare them and are at this day living and looking for a day to retrieve their lost Cause They still retaining those Spots and Crimson Tincture they received from the Scarlet whore which they resolve no Nirre either of Scripture or Reason shall ever take out Whilst such as they accounted and traduced as Betrayers of our Church stuck close maintain'd their Posts and in the day of Tryal proved faithful and true to its Interest We continued constant in the Exercise of our Ministry fortifying our People committed to our Care using the best Arguments we could joined with our own Examples to continue in the Communion of our Church and to stand fast in the open and zealous Professions and Defence of the Faith once delivered to the Saints comforting and to the best of our skill building them up in it notwithstanding the Threats and Menaces we met with from the profest and rampant Enemies of our Church and Religion But lest this should look like boasting I shall say no more but leave the Argument to be considered by our Superiors according to the Merits of it As for those who in the Day of Temptation went out from us because they were not of us we heartily pitty and pray for them and for their reduction to the Communion from whence they departed that they would be zealous and repent considering from whence they are fallen and return For which Reason we should be willing to use all the Weapons of our Spiritual Warfare And they are so happy as to fall into an Age and Hands which design no other we being sufficiently convinc'd that a Club may sooner dash a Man's Brains out than beat Understanding into his Head Only first give me leave to enquire who were the best Sons of the Church of England and deserve most at her hands Whether those who when time was were great Sticklers for Conformity in the strictest manner to all and every of its Rites Great Amorists and much in love with our Church and Religion whilst it lookt plump and fair to the Eye But when the Hand of the Lord had toucht it and was become black by reason of Affliction shrunk and shrievell'd upon the account of its Sorrow forsook their first Love Then their Language was What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved What 's the Church of England more than that of Rome Whether I say were these better Sons of the Church than those who though perhaps not so exactly satisfied with all and every thing that 's injoined yet brake not the Communion of it But buckling on the Helmet and being girt about with Truth were steddy and valiant in her most dangerous Conflict The other are fit to be Members of that Church whereof outward Prosperity is the Mark and Character who so long as ours was triumphant it had no greater pretended Votaries and Zealots than themselves But these Dive-dopping Plant-Animals dropping from the Tree upon which they grew and falling into the Waters of Tiber or Sea of Rome presently set up for Solon-geese mightily gagling for their espoused Religion Who having learnt the Romish Cant from their new Dictators we are ridiculed and lampooned by them in every Tavern and Coffee-house the bottom of whose Dishes and Glasses they better understood than the Reason of their Change and new-fashioned Religion Then they had the Face and Brow to tell us that the Church they once so much clamored for was till an Age or two past a Duck under water By whom the first and trite question we were usually interrogated upon was Where was your Religion before Luther To which we have answered a thousand times and can truly say again that the Platform of it is contained in the Holy Scriptures which is the only Rule of Faith and tried Foundation upon which our Religion is built 'T was instituted by Christ practiced in the Primitive Church though Tares grew up in the Field I mean Corruptions in the Bosom of it and what could not be amended or endured were necessary to be avoided For we can find whatever these Antiquaries may boast of no Foundation for Purgatory Prayers for the Dead or in a Tongue the People understand not no Warrant to direct them to Saints as the Object no Exemption of the Blessed Virgin from original Sin or Communion celebrated by halfs or in one kind c. in all
Powers and Commissions to many wise and worthy Members of it to review our Liturgy to inspect our Ecclesiastical Polity to remove the Stumbling-blocks and to take away the Rocks of offence to the uniting both in the same Communion and common Interest which 't is highly probable it might in time effect and may he never give over till he hath perfected the Work and cut it short in Righteousness How then can we but love him yea and most earnestly pray for him that God would bless him at home and abroad by Sea and Land in Peace and War that his Head may be covered in the Day of Battel that no Weapon form'd against him may prosper that he may put an Hook into the Nostrils and Bridle into the Mouth of that great Oppressor who would lay House to House Field to Field till there be no room left upon the Earth That he may return home with triumph when he shall have restored Liberty and procured Right to be done to the distressed Princes and States of Europe as he hath already done for the People of England to which all honest Men and true English Men will say Amen ADVICE TO THE DISSENTERS BUT before I lay my Pen down may I assume the liberty a little to argue and expostulate with you our Dissenting Brethren and Friends I bear you record you have a Zeal of God which I wish may never want the just Measures of Sincerity Truth and Knowledge But when I observe in you a total Separation and universal Departure from our Communion and yet not only to allow our Communion but further it in others yea in Matters of greatest scruple in some urgent cases practice it your selves it is a thing too hard for me I have known some who have suffered themselves to be deprived both of their Offices and Benefices by the Bartholomew Act yet have sent their Children to our Universities where the strictest Conformity is used and injoin'd the Members of those Societies yea have afterwards put them into the Priest's Office which for Conscience sake they could not submit to execute themselves Many have been elected into places of Magistracy and other Imployments and how stanch soever they have been before and after Yet to avoid the Dint and Penalty of the Law have given a yieldance to the Commands and Authority of the Church submitting to those Rites which at other times they scruple yea renounce But why do you condemn your selves in the things you can upon occasion admit Can you dispense with your Consciences to serve a turn Doth not this justifie the Practice of our Romish Adversaries who can license themselves to take Oaths to hold a Conformity with the Church or dissemble a Compliance to cheat their Rulers and avoid the Dint and Penalty of the Law If you can conform and hold Communion with the Church in Praying Heating and Receiving the Holy Sacrament c. for the Preservation of your selves Why not then for the Preservation of Peace and Unity in the Church I need not tell you how mischievous a thing Schism is or how deep a Stain and guilt it leaves behind it upon the Conscience Is it not a positive and plain Command to be subject to the higher Powers to submit to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake Vir bonus est quis Qui consulta patrum qui leges juraque servat Obj. So we do and will where we can do it with a good Conscience But would you have us offend God and rouse the sleeping Lion in our own Breasts which will tear us in pieces when there 's none can deliver us Res By no means but is it a Sin to do it at one time and none at another Does the Case alter with your Convenience and change with the Persons Is it lawful for the Children to obey where it is a Sin for the Parents to comply Brethren I beseech you judge righteous Judgment Why should you open the Mouths of your Adversaries and justifie their Reproaches viz. That your dissent is nothing but Faction and Humor a Spirit of Disobedience and Contradiction but nothing of Conscience whatever may be pretended as is by you sufficiently proved when you come to the pinch I do not speak this to reflect upon you but as my beloved Friends to warn you if God be God then follow him if Baal be God follow him The Case of Conscience and Matter before us will not turn colour with the Circumstances of your Condition Your Streights and Extremities do not make that lawful which your Liberty and Freedom make sinful I do not take the Case in hand to alter with our State or like a Dove's Neck to change colour according to its Site and Position The various Reflexion of Light may cause different Colours but Truth never varies its hue 't is ubique eadem and is it not an inexcusable thing to commit a deliberate sinful act meerly to secure our Stake and to preserve our worldly Interest We may hereby perhaps avoid Punishment from Men but how shall we escape God's righteous Judgments Obj. Would you then that we should never upon any occasion conform nor hold Communion with the Church Res I would never have you sin to avoid suffering and to act against the Judgment and Dictates though but of an opening Conscience is no less But perhaps I have driven this Nail too far and may become your Enemy for pressing this unpleasing Truth But if I have spoken ill bear witness against me and convince me of it let the Righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness If well Why should you be offended Ought you not to be consistant to your selves and Principles But I find some to have put a more favourable Gloss and Sense upon your occasional Conformity viz. that you do it not in opposition to your Judgments nor Dictates of your Consciences thereby to indemnifie your selves from the Penalty of the Law but that you could hold a more frequent perhaps constant Communion with the Church in her Holy Offices had you not an eminent Addiction to one sort and Aversness to aâ—â—ther sort or party of Men which seems to have as great an antipathy 〈◊〉 each other as Naturalists tells us there is in the Blood of a Bat and Swallow which will not mix tho' they be put into the same Vessel together were the inveterate Spleen and Animosities upon all accounts vented against Persons allaid I am confident there would be such Abatements on the one side and Compliances on the other that the Protestant Communion and Interest would be all of a piece and Schism no longer find a room to fix the Sole of her Foot upon But for this we must earnestly direct our Prayers to him who hath the hearts of all Men in his Hand and that turns them like the Rivers of Water to him that makes Men to be of one mind in an House It was the Observation of the Protestant Reconciler that it was