your selves by them your Non-Conformity will be less dangerous to your Souls more excusable before God and less hurtful to the Nation I. Abstain from all disrespectful words slanderous reports base aspersions and railing accusations and unworthy imputations of our Government Worship and Orders of the Church Suffer not your suspicions of sin to break out into an open injustice and filthy language If your judgments be infected defile not your tongues with the same pollution Let a Christian moderation bridle in that liberty which men commonly give themselves of speaking any thing against that which they cannot phancy and let not your mistakes appear farther than your own Souls This restraint is most just reasonable and agreeing with the passages of Gods Blessed Word for it is but just that you should abstain from abusing that Church and Government which secures your Lives and Estates from which your Forefathers and many of you have received the advantage of being Christians It was a great ingratitude in one of the Sons of Noah to reveal and sport himself with the sight of his Fathers Nakedness It is as great an ingratitude in the English Subjects and deserves as severe a Curse to blaze abroad and delight to publish in every Company the suspected nakedness of their Mother the Church of Eagland from whose Breasts they have sucked many benefits It is very remarkable that when the Children of Israel were going into the Land of Canaan to live amongst the Heathens God gave them this Commandment for the preservation of the publick Peace of his People which would have been broken if they had by their unhandsom Language stirred up the Heathens jealousie for the Honour of their Gods Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor curse the Rulers of they People Exod. xxii 28. They differed in essential matters of Religion yet God would not suffer his People to rail against those false Divinities lest that might disquiet and disturb the publick tranquillity And for that very cause when the Jews were in Captivity in Babylon Jeremiah sent them a Letter by Gods Command To seek the peace of the City whither they were carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace Jerem. xxix 7. The Jews were Gods People the Babylonians were Idolaters yet God would not suffer them to defame or speak any thing which might hinder the peace of that Kingdom Likewise it was observed by the Town-Clerk of Ephesus in his harangue to the People in their uproar That the Christians were neither Robbers of Churches nor yet Blasphemers of the Goddess Diana Acts xix 37. And the Heathens could commend the Christians for their moderation and discretion in this respect And is it just Justin Martyr that you my Brethren should be continually reviling and blaspheming that Worship and Religion whereof the establishment renders ye quiet in the possession of your Estates That Religion and Worship against which you have nothing but Suspicions and not such Allegations as the Jews had against the Babylonish and as the Christians had against the Heathenish Religion Our Peace I confess is not disturbed in that manner as theirs had been had they treated the Heathens as many of you do us for you have to deal with those Christians that look upon you as Brethren and can suffer affronts and disgraces with patience but our moderation excuses not the violent and uncharitable expressions and blasphemies too much in use amongst the indiscreetest of our dissenting Brethren Whatever therefore be your thoughts and suspicions of us let your words be modest and let them favour of that Christian Charity which we should entertain for one another II. Seek not to propagate your displeasures against our Church and Worship nor to gain Proselytes to your Sects You have but suspicions of sin to lay to our Charge no real Accusations no open Idolatry nor plain Superstition to fasten upon our Church and Worship though this suspicion as you pretend is sufficient to excuse your Non-Conformity it may not have the same effect upon others that which is but a suspicion in you shall assuredly be an Article of Faith in a Disciple for Error like the Snow-balls increaseth the farther it goes Education and Custom will cause your Children to abominate what you look upon to be tolerable if you bring them up in an aversion for it It is observed concerning hereticks and mistakes in Religion that their Disciples were far more the Children of Hell than their Masters Matt. xxxiii 15. and more violent and more extravagant in their deviations from the Truth It is therefore very dangerous to draw into the same groundless suspicions unexperienced Souls who are apt to improve mistakes to the disturbance of the publick and their own damnation If therefore you will not be in love with your prejudices take heed how you bring up your Children in such persuasions as may hasten their ruin and the Nations calamities And if you cannot prevail upon your selves to forsake your opinions be not so fond of your distemper to communicate it to others but encourage them in the performance of their duties III. Give not credit too unadvisedly to the ill reports that concern the Church and its Government for there is nothing that increaseth so much the displeasure against it as that wicked policy of our Adversaries They misrepresent us to the people and deal with us as the Jesuits in Spain do with the Protestants condemned to the fire they cloath them with Paper Coats and Caps all covered over with shapes of Devils and strange chimera's to render them more frightful to the vulgar sort thus do our subtil enemies cover us over with the figures of Devils Idolatry Superstition and Crimes which when well examined will appear to be only the effects of their malice rather than expressions of our deservings IV. Search with diligence into the differences between us take the assistance of Gods Holy Word inquire into our Practices and Belief and by Prayer endeavour to understand the Truth that you may learn to practise it We dare appeal to the Judgments of the most moderate of you we are no such Idolaters as some would have There is nothing of Superstition enjoyned in our Church will be tried by Gods Word and the sound interpretation of the Holy Fathers Read over Mr. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Policy commended by our Royal Martyr Read his Opinion of our Church Worship and Government in his incomparable Book His judgment is worthy to be looked upon I have ever esteemed saith he the Church of England the best Profession of Religion In a Letter to the Prince of Wales because it comes nearest to Gods Word for Doctrine and to the Primitive Examples for Government Read Bishop Bancroft Downham Hall Bilson and Dr. Taylor against Presbytery in Vindication of the Church of England Read our later Disputations about the matters in question between us c. V. Draw as near
chastise us for such unreasonable dissensions in such matters as we may easily comply with one another I know your common Objection against us is that in regard such Observances Customs and Ceremonies that breed a difference between us are but trivial in themselves they should not be imposed upon you with that strictness In Answer to this I intreat thee my Brother to consider three things first that a Conformity to one way one rule and manner in this Church is absolutely necessary for how unbeseeming a thing it is that one Congregation should practise one thing another act in another manner one Minister wear green another yellow another black another gray another white If in one place were all singing in another all preaching in another all praying How ridiculous would our Church appear to all the foreign Nations if these things were allowed by Authority It is therefore most certain that one way and one worshipping our God is absolutely needful and becoming the wisdom of our Nation Secondly consider that the way and method established by the Governours in Church and State is not to be referred to the humor of every fancy or of every dissatisfied and private person and that it is very reasonable in such cases as all acknowledge indifferent in themselves when one way is to be chosen and others rejected to take that which the publick Authority approves of and agrees with their Judgment and Piety whom God hath established over us and whose office it is to appoint such things for us to observe and obey Thirdly consider that trivial and indifferent things when stamped by the Authority of the Nation cease to be so and become necessary to be observed That which is indifferent in it self and but a trifle is a greater invitation to you to practise it and renders your stifness more inexcusable but in regard it is commanded by Authority I am bound to obey The indifferency ceaseth and I should think it a crime and a breach of Gods Law Of Obeying the Magistrate for Conscience sake If in things indifferent I preferred mine own partial humor to the Commands of my Prince and Governors And wonder not if they require so strictly thine obedience and mine to these orders because in this licentious Age men of corrupt designs take any liberty to dispute against Authority and contemn its injunctions under the pretence of Religion and Conscience And because this way and method seems to them the wisest whom God hath appointed over us to prescribe it in the worshiping of God and most agreeable with Gods Glory and the Nations Honor Credit and Advantage Therefore there can be no Superstition in them to require our exact obedience to all the Rules which they judge to be just and best befitting our Piety and in us to yield it in things indifferent in themselves as some foolishly imagin In all other matters which give you a distast I know none but may be comprehended under this notion and be looked upon as trivial and indifferent in themselves The designed compendiousness of this Seasonable Advice suffers me not to examin them all nor to weigh all the objections that you are wont to make in justification of your Non-Conformity But for those that relate to our Prayers and publick Liturgy I refer you my Christian Brethren to a small treatise now in the Press called the Christians Devotions and Directory in these dangerous times wherein I have laboured to clear and blow away all those mists that hide the truth from your discovery and to give you satisfying reasons for our practice and for your benefit with directions how you shall be able to prevail upon your averseness and bring your selves to receive a real and an inward comfort from our way of worshipping Unto the perusal of that Treatise I refer all those that would receive better satisfaction in matters disputed amongst us Conformity according to the Laws of the Land is plainly required from every person To set up therefore Meeting Places in opposition to Authority and the Established Service of God is an apparent breach of these Laws To haunt and frequent them under a pretence of receiving many Soul-comforts from the Learned and Godly Sermons and Exercises of Piety in those prohibited Assemblies is not warrantable in the Minister nor his Auditory according to the Laws of the Nation To withdraw from the Service of God under Episcopacy and to leave off the Assembling with our Neighbours in our ordinary Churches To forbear from Prayers the Sermons of our Common Teachers and the receiving of the Lords Supper and the other Acts of Non-Conformity are likewise breaches of these Laws of men established by the Lawful Authority of the Nation by the King and Parliament and are so well known to be so that I shall not offer to prove it The greatest Question is Whether these proceedings of the Non-Conformists be against Gods known Laws I doubt not but they will all acknowledge that the false Accusations the wicked Surmises the slanderous Reports and the pretended Crimes of Superstition Idolatry and their other uncharitable Censures of us and our Worship by which we are discredited Gods Holy Name abused and the sincerity and integrity of our Christian Governours and practices misrepresented are contrary to Gods Law Thou shalt not hear false witness against thy Neighbour It is a great injustice for them in hopes of advancing the interest of their Sects Exod. xx Psal xxxiv 13. 140. 11. Psal x. 18. to misconstrue our actions to fasten upon us Crimes to endeavour to discredit us and our Profession for besides the wrong done to us their brethren they blind the eyes and lead into error and mistakes many poor ignorant and well meaning Souls whereby true Religion is slighted and Faction and Schism kept up to the destruction of many persons and the dishonour of our Reformation and Church But their other practices though never so well coloured in the eyes of men with pious pretences are contrary to Gods Laws as well as mans Decrees That this may better appear to you consider these following and undeniable Truths gathered out of Holy Scripture I. That it is the duty of every Christian to seek as well as to pray for the Peace of Gods Church Psalm cxxii 6. To endeavor to be at peace with all that profess Christianity in Truth 1 Thess v. 13. That peace is a precious Jewel which we ought carefully to seek and to preserve 1 Pet. iii. 11. That we should abstain from all those practices that disturb our Brethrens Peace Mark v. 50. That we should follow after the things that make for Peace Rom. xiv 19. That it is the property of heavenly wisdom to be peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie James iii. 17. And many other passages call us to mind in all our actions the peace and publick quiet of the Church and People where we live Now that
from the attempts of all Enemies and dangers That this may cause a variety in Kingdoms and Nations agreeable to the Government in the State to the nature and inclinations of the people and several other circumstances which are to be weighed in this Case That a Government established in a Nation by the publick Authority if not contrary to Gods Word and Will ought not to be resisted by Christian Subjects That every individual Believer must not presume to censure and murmur against the appointed Order in Church or State or meddle with the Princes Office and Power That the Government in the Church belongs to the Sovereign Prince under God as well as in the State and that it is a dangerous presumption for every private person to venture to contradict the Laws which such Lawful Princes think convenient in their wisdom to settle in a Church in these and such like truths I suppose most of our Non-Conforming Brethren will agree with us But nevertheless the Presbyterian will be governed by his Presbytery and Lay-Elders in a subordination to Assemblies and Synods The Independent will acknowledge no Orders in the Church but what are appointed in his Congregation and both refuse Obedience to Episcopal Authority though suitable to the former Rules and Maxims Episcopacy recommends to us in Gods Church a Monarchical Authority Presbytery would have an Aristocratical mixed with Democracy the Independent pleads for a Democratical To what purpose is this adoe about Government it concerns not our Salvation in case we behave our selves justly righteously and soberly in this present world in case we can but lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty As this is the chief duty of every individual Christian it should be our endeavour and purpose in all our actions The Presbyterian forsook Episcopacy and thought to mend his condition under that Government he gave an Example to the Independent to forsake Presbytery with hopes of living with more ease in a new Government never heard of in the Primitive Church unless it be amongst Hereticks and Enemies of Gods Truth for the establishing of this strange Order in this Church they lay down most dangerous Doctrines contrary to Gods Word and all Reason for instance That every Christian upon the account of being so a real Christian a good man Separation no Schism in opposition to an excellent Sermon of that Worthy Divine Mr. Sharp and a Believer may be no member of Christs visible Church and is not bound to joyn in external Communion with it where it may be had That a suspicion or a bare persuasion of sin in the publick practices commanded by Authority is sufficient to free both Minister and People from their Obedience and License them to Act contrary to the same That Christians are not subject to Ecclesiastical Laws unless they be contained in the Holy Scripture That men may be Christians without any subjection to Authority or dependency upon Christs Church And such like Doctrines directly contrary to Christs great design in mans Redemption which S. Paul tells us was Union Ephesians ii 16. That he might reconcile all unto God in one Body by the Cross I would have these my Brethren know that as man was created in respect to a Society he is also redeemed with the same relation for we cannot think that this good Saviour hath freed him from sin and the Devils power to live by himself for ever as a wild Anchoret in the Desart and Mountains he hath enlightned his followers with that spirit and given them those principles that tend to Union and Communion Therefore St. Paul saith in 1 Cor. xiv 33. That God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints What means the Apostle by Peace is it that every individual Christian should be scattered upon the face of the Earth and upon the least suspicion or ill grounded prejudice abominate all correspondency in the Publick Worship of God that he should look upon his brethren redeemed by the same bloud governed by the same spirit and animated with the same hopes with a supercilious countenance and fly from them as from a Wolf or a Devil Yet these are the consequences of some of the Independent principles But I suppose it no difficult matter to reclaim most of them from such pernicious opinions which have proved as destructive to their private Congregations as they have to the Church of England for they tend to encourage disorder and to license men to cast off all respects to all Governours and Government of what sort soever But methinks if we had that honour for our Nation as becomes us and as other people have for theirs we should not be more fond of the new modes in Government and Gods Worship recommended to us by our Neighbours and imposed upon us by a Scotch Frolick than of the antient and wise method and Government established amongst us by our Forefathers Why must the new fangles and fashions of strangers affect us more than the discreet constructions of our own Christian Rulers Though the people of our Nation alter often their habits methinks in so serious a business as Religion Government and Gods Worship we should not be so changeable as we are in our apparel I know the rigid Independents are accused for denying the appointed maintenance to Ministers Tythes the encouragement of Learning and Gods Service they are accused for not allowing any set forms of Prayer not so much as the Lords Prayer for not admitting any to the Ordinances but such as are of their own fraternity for denying the Magistrates Power over the Godly See Mr. Baily's Dissuasive from the Errors of the times for allowing the killing of all opposers But these wicked Doctrines I suppose are not maintained by the most moderate Independents who differ from us chiefly in the Government of the Church in all other things it is likely that they may be brought to comply with us though at present they give themselves the liberty to abuse and carp at many other innocent circumstances of the Religion and Worship of the Church of England I find my self engaged in this place to give a Reply to a grand Objection against this Advice and call to Conformity which seems to be allowed by St. Paul in his Fourteenth Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans and which is commonly pleaded as an excuse by our Non Conforming Brethren That they extreamly suspect our practices and worship to be sinful and therefore they are not bound to act against a doubting Conscience by joyning with us in that which they conceive to be unlawful Agreeable to S. Paul's words in another occasion and case He that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth not of faith for whatsoever is not of faith is sin This passage is but a weak Plea for Non-Conformity in England for the Romans case and ours differ in these particulars Their Controversies were concerning
thy Conscience it will never be able to oblige him to allow of that which is evil in it self to justifie the guilty and condemn the innocent Take heed I beseech thee that what thou sayest is Conscience be not invincible prejudice and hatred or humor and groundless fancy or it may be something worse that strong spirit of delusion unto which God delivers such as will not be lovers of the Truth For the better discovery of the mistakes of thy Conscience in this particular I beseech you my Christian Brethren to examin what mischiefs such division about Religion have caused already in Foreign Nations and in this the Histories of former Ages are full of sad accidents murthers and wars destructions and calamities of Countries caused by the disputes about Religion The Kingdom of the Jews flourished and grew invincible under the Government of David and his Posterity so that all the Nations round about paid them Tribute They might have still continued in that happy condition and been able to set bounds to the spreading Empire of Babylon had not Jeroboam under a pretence of Religion divided the Kingdom and Nation of Israel and to save the People the trouble and expence of going up to Jerusalem set up the Golden Calves in Dan and Bethel But how many evils did this division in Religion and Government cause in that Land They were subject to the affronts of every petty King and contemptible Nation and at last were overthrown by their Neighbours and themselves carried away into Captivity with their Wives and Children After the Jews return from Babylon they grew numerous and strong in the Romans time and were able through their numbers and the resolation and courage which the principle of Religion put into them to command the East part of the World But what and how much woe and misery did their Factions and Sects draw upon them what sad Destructions not to be paralel'd in any other Nation It was openly confessed by Titus and their Roman Conquerors that as their divisions between their Princes gave Pompey footing in their Countrey their divisions had brought them to utter ruin and unheard of miseries for by this means they became instrumental in their own overthrow and did more mischief to themselves than all the Armies of their Enemies So that by Division in Religion this People of Israel who were assisted by Gods Power and Protection and favoured above all other Nations brought themselves to be the scum of the World and lost their Land being dispersed into all parts and Kingdoms The fall of the Roman Empire was brought to pass by division for that let in the Huns the Longobards the Goths Vandals and Visigoths and all the Northern People into its fruitful borders The Grecian Empire might have stood upon its legs to this very day had it not been for their senseless divisions in Church and State The Sects and Heresies of Arrius Eunomius Novatus Samosatenus and other busy-bodies let in the Turk and his Mahomet and in the days of the Emperor Heraclius when men were so divided and had so disputed all Religion and Truth out of doors that the simpler and more ignorant sort knew not which to chuse these wicked divisions gave an occasion to that Arabian Impostor to set up a Religion of his own which he recommended to them with the inviting and pleasing Charms of pleasure and profit Read but over the divisions and disputes about Religion in the Cities of Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and in many other places of the East Countries and examin how many thousands have been destroyed how many cruelties acted how many calamities brought upon the Inhabitants through their endless discords in Religion and you will have cause to wonder at their madness to strive for that which forbids them to strive and to fight for a Religion which disallows all variance You will have cause to wonder at their inhumanities and extravagancies they torment themselves for nothing and shed their own blood contrary to Reason and that Religion for which they did so unadvisedly contend What is become of the Grecian Empire now where are the flourishing Churches of Christ of Asia and Africa In what condition are the Christians of those parts of the World under how much misery and under what cruel Tyranny do they groan The contemptible remains of all those Antient Professors of our Religion are oppressed with the Turkish and Moorish Bondage They have lost all their honour and glory their wealth their priviledges their Countrey and all their present happiness in this life their Estates and their Children are at their Conquerors pleasure And though there are some yet professing Christianity in those parts of the World they differ in all respects so much from what their Forefathers were in former Ages that they are able to draw tears from the most insensible Souls when compared with them as the building of the second Temple did from the Jews returned from Babylon when they saw how differing it was from the Glory and Magnificence of the first Structure And all this hath proceeded from this Wicked and Venemous Root Division in Religion Look into the latter Ages of the World and see into what confusion these divisions about Religion have cast Kingdoms and Cities The Cities of Florence of Naples and Millain in Italy have often been watered with the Blood of their Noblest Inhabitants which the divisions about Religion caused to be shed The grand disputes about the Guelfs and Gibbelins troubled all Europe and murthered more men than the cruelest Wars In Germany what inhumanities have been committed In the Low-Countries how many Rivers of Christian Blood have been spilt under the pretence of Religion The Spanish Massacres the Duke D' Alva's Butcheries are sufficiently known to all the World In Africa amongst the Moors and Arabians the disputes about their Prophets Impieties and their False Religion hath caused one of their own Writers to say Hali Ben-Hamet a MS. That there is nothing exasperares more the minds of men one against another than the differing perswasions in Religion Another of their Authors complains in this manner O how furiously men are set against one another for such matters as concern not the Prophets honour nor the essential part of our Religion for in the late revolution of the Empire of Morocco Religion was pretended to deceive the People In France the Factions of the Albi and Nigri and the furious transports of the Papists against the Reformed Professors have often exhausted the Blood and Treasure of that Kingdom In Switzerland how many troubles arose from small divisions in Religion In the Vnited Provinces in our late days the refined Notions of Arminius and the extravagancies of the Anabaptists had almost cast them into a Civil War In France the hot disputes between Amyraldus and Du Moulin had cantoned those poor Churches in the midst of their Enemies if moderate and wise men had not imposed a silence and obliged them to
Non-Conformity hath been the sad occasion of much disturbance in this Nation of Tumults and War and that it continues to dissociate our minds and interests one from another to the general unquietness of this poor Church is that which none can well deny II. That all unnecessary and avoidable actions and proceedings whereby strife debates envy hatred malice and variance are entertained amongst men are contrary to Gods Laws and the Blessed Rules of the Gospel That teacheth to be like minded one towards another chiefly in matters of Religion Rom. xv 5. To consult in all our Actions Love Mercy and Charity one towards another John xiii 34. Which teaches us to suppress all distasts and to study to advance the universal unity of the Christians amongst whom we live 1 John iii. 1. and to abstain from all actions whereby differences are maintained 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6. III. That we are to comply with all Rules Rites and Ceremonies established in the Church if they be not directly against Gods Glory or the Salvation of Mens Souls or if they be not expresly forbidden in Gods Holy Word or contrary to it This is confirmed to us by Christs own Example who conformed to the harmless and indifferent Injunctions of Men to avoid all singularity for in the Celebrating of the Paschal Lamb he eat it not standing as Moses commanded but lying down upon a Couch Matth. xxvi 20. Mark xiv 18. He caused a Hymn to be sung which was a Jewish Ordinance Christ also conformed himself to the Synagogue-Worship established amongst the Jews by an Human Authority which our Blessed and peaceable Saviour was so far from disapproving that he expresly tells his Disciples that they who had made that Ordinance sit in Moses Seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do Matth. xxiii 2 3. And in many other particulars of as high an importance as those which cause you my Non-Conforming Brethren to separate from us this Divine Saviour teacheth you by his good Example to avoid singularity to observe the Rules and Orders appointed in the place where you live and not for such matters as endanger not in themselves your Salvation to cause that disturbance that will infallibly indanger the Churches Peace and Unity and beget in your Souls those passions vices and distempers which are not agreeable with our Christian Religion and present interest or our future hopes of Salvation IV. That all disobedience to the Magistrate in things not contrary to Gods Word and Will is unlawful and forbidden by S. Paul Rom. xiii 1 2. Let every Soul be subject unto the higher powers For there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation A passive obedience is not sufficient where an active is required and may and ought to be yielded And though you do not actually resist at present the Civil Magistrate all Non-Conformity is a kind of resistance take heed therefore that by this opposition you render not your selves liable to the Curse and so deserving the Damnation that is so severely threatned In the third Chapter to Titus verse the first he desires him to put his people in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates and to be ready to every good work And to the Hebrews St. Paul speaketh more pertinently to our purpose Obey them that have rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you And St. Peter 1 Epist Chap. ii vers 13. calls upon you to submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man without the exception or distinction of Civil or Ecclesiastical matters and that for the Lords sake whether to the King as Supream or unto Governors for so is the Will of God Are these Commands of any force or Authority with you my Brethren Are you not thereby required to Conform to the Laws Rules and Constitutions of Gods Church amongst us enjoyned by Authority are not these Ordinances of Men which you ought to submit to Therefore none of you can refuse an obedience to them without violating Gods Laws and breaking the Sacred Rules of the Gospel I could instance many other Examples Precepts Commands and Entreaties out of Gods Holy-Word directed to you to wish require and desire you to be at Unity and Conformity with us your Brethren especially in the Publick Worship of God and to set aside all prejudice and partiality whereby you are hindered from seeing and embracing the Truth What is it therefore that keeps us at such a distance Is it your Consciences How can your Consciences oppose Gods Word and Will Is it Conscience that obliges you to be irregular in your practices and reject us as Prophane and Idolatrous who labor in all respects to be conformable to the Holy Precepts of the Gospel Is that Conscience in a word that teacheth you to be disobedient to the Laws of God and Man And to breed a disturbance in a Church and Kingdom for such frivolous and idle matters to the encouraging of our Enemies against us to conspire the ruin of our King and Countrey For Gods sake as well as for your own sakes and for Religions sake and the happiness of your Posterity deceive not your selves and think not to deceive God and man with this childish and empty excuse Let me tell you what I conceive to be the true causes of your obstinate Non-Conformity to the Church of England for the reasons commonly alledged of Conscience of Popery Superstition and the unjustifiableness of our Government and Liturgy by Gods Word are but meer pretences and empty excuses to cozen the weaker sort and to colour these following causes of our unreasonable Non-Conformity in the Eyes of the World CHAP. IV. The true causes why most part of our dissenting Brethren will not joyn with us in the Worship of our God enquired into In what particulars our differences chiefly consist and their grand Objection Answered IT is the usual custom of all malecontents to pretend one thing and to intend another and to veil over the foulest Actions with the most glorious covering in imitation of the grand Impostor who appears to us commonly in the garb of an Angel of Light Thus Korah and his rebellious Confederates who separated themselves from Moses and his Congregation pretended the Peoples Holiness and Priviledge and the Rulers Tyranny for their dividing from them Thus Absalom's Ambition was veiled over with a desire of doing justice more carefully to Gods People and freeing them from a tedious Attendance at David's Court. Thus Jeroboam the wicked Son of Nebat pretended the ease of the People for his Idolatrous Worship Thus the Quakers Fifth-Monarchy Anabaptists and many of the worser sort of Separatists whose Souls and Understandings God hath given over to
a strong spirit of delusion to believe Lies and to work Abominations have their excuses for their own follies and errors and to justifie their leaving of us But these I judge for the most part to be in so desperate a case that without a Miracle of Grace it is not possible to snatch them out of the claws of that commanding Spirit that governs them This advice is designed for the perusal of a more moderate sort and of more reasonable Souls more tractable and sociable who embrace the same Faith with us and expect the same Salvation by the same means the Merits of Christ and good Works These also have their pleas and excuses to hide that which is not justifiable by Gods Word and right Reason Their not Conforming with us in the service of God and Duties of Religion But whatever be their pretence these are the true causes of their obstinacy and our unhappiness The first and chiefest are Prejudice and Partiality proceeding from Education a long custom in and an acquaintance with that irregular way which they are so fond of These are wont strangely to prepossess mens minds and blind their judgments against the most apparent discoveries of Truth The late Usurpation and Anarchy in the Church let in another Government and other Orders unto which many that are accustomed cannot so readily prevail upon themselves to embrace what they fancy to be contrary chiefly in so delicate a business as Religion in which their sincerity makes them constant and faithful to the meanest circumstance But I would entreat you my Brethren to rectifie your mistakes by a diligent enquiry for we desire you not to forsake your Religion but to profess the same according to that most excellent manner that the Wisest and most Religious Governours of our Kingdom have thought fitting to prescribe to us Search into our Belief and Practices and see that we agree as well as you with the Holy Records of Gods Word we have the same Faith the same Sacraments the same God and Saviour the same initiation and we are designed for the same End and Glory what a pitty it is that we should be divided in the way Besides all the occasions of your prejudices proceed from mistakes and misapprehensions of us Therefore for the prevention of this evil take not things too much upon trust but give your selves the satisfaction to examin our way and the reasons we give for that which you object against us converse with us in our Devotions and think not that you shall be defiled to pray with us to the same God If your tender Consciences will suffer you to hearken to reason and to associate your selves with us in our Public Worship I am persuaded that all prejudice and partiality will soon vanish at the clear Sun-shine of the Gospel preached and sincerely taught amongst us You ought therefore to be jealous of that which seems to be your Conscience which is for the most part nothing but Humor strengthned by a long continuance And if your Conscience hath been wrought upon to act against truth good manners the glory of God and interest of Christian Religion you must labor by Prayer and the assistance of others of your more enlightned Brethren to find out the mistakes of your deceived Conscience For I cannot conceive but that many of the well meaning people amongst you are governed by their Consciences and frighted with secret remorses from the justest actions agreeable to Gods will and word For when an inveterate prejudice hath possessed the Souls of men it blinds their judgments it hardens their hearts it strengthens their resolutions and causeth Conscience it self to sooth them up in their Error So that they are not easily reconciled to the most apparent Truths An Example we have in the Pharisees of old whose obstinacy in opposing Christ and his Gospel is most remarkable as therefore this plea is not allowed by Gods word in such cases I would advise every good Christian to have some other reason ready for his Actions than bare and naked Conscience which is so apt to deceive our selves and others in this corrupt Age. II. Others of the simpler and more hypocritical sort are kept in their Non-Conformity by an inclination to singularity and a desire to gain the reputation of being more precise and more religious than their other Neighbours as if that were the only way to seem religious to men to cast off all respects to the Religion of the Countrey as if they had no other means to purchase this esteem but by their contempt of the ordinary Acts of Devotion and of the Society in Gods worship of the common people This folly is entertained by too many of those who have more regard to the outward garb than to the inward reality and are more afraid of defiling themselves with other mens sins than their own These pretend the wickedness of the times the viciousness of such as assist at Prayers and publick Acts of Piety and it may be the Ministers weakness in manners and abilities as just causes of their separation from us however they think thereby to answer their end to oblige others to look upon them as more Holy and Angelical than those whom they despise whiles their hearts are full of hatred malice envy pride vanity and many times you may perceive in them the Devil of Hypocrisie that hath a worldly interest to manage by this fond conceit of preciseness with which the poor Soul endeavors to deceive it self and others for that intent as the boasting Pharisee of the Gospel To cure this kind of Lunaticism in Religion I would advise the distempered to seek but into their own Souls and understand themselves better and it may be they would find there more cause to lament at their own corruption than to exclaim against the viciousness of others I would advise them to take heed of being more severe against their sinful Brethren than God and to consider that by partaking with the vilest of men in Holy Duties thou art not partakers of their negligence prophaness and other Crimes unless thou followest their vicious Examples That thy Piety and Humility will be so much the more acceptable to thy God and pleasing to men in a publick Congregation the more it excels the rest of the Assistants That other mens unworthiness should be so far from scaring thee from performing thine obligations to God and his Church that it should animate thee the more with an inclination to promote Gods glory and keep up his worship in the eyes of the world with that due respect and reverence which other men neglect in their constant attendance upon this Holy Ordinance And that it is a most ridiculous persuasion to fancy thy self able to obtain the esteem of Holyness by the omission of the duties of Religion and by a scornful neglect of the incouragements of Holyness and Piety III. Another cause of many of our Brethrens refusing a Conformity with us in our
worshipping of God is a too zealous affection for a Party or for the Name of a Party unto which they have devoted themselves This factious humor proceeds out of some displeasure conceived against us our persons or our way or out of a propensity for that Party which they embrace in opposition to us And many times they are so fond and blind that they give not themselves the trouble to examin the differences between us but resolutely embrace Presbytery or Independency and addict themselves to these empty names for no other cause nor reason but because they have an inclination for the Sect or only for the Name of the Sect. I dare appeal to the judgment and inquiry of the more reasonable persons amongst them whether this be not the cause of the separation of many from us I am persuaded that most of them know no real difference between us and them but only in the outward form and garb they understand not what Presbytery and Independency are and yet they are in appearance such rigid Presbyterians and Independents in their outward behaviour that by no means will they be persuaded to comply with us in the least punctilio These are commonly the greatest Enemies of Unity who are thus led on by blindness and ignorance They are the most unreconcileable slanderers of our Worship and Government upbraiding us with the Ministers viciousness the Peoples formality and other trivial matters which discover more hatred than reason in their carriage to us To this kind of Non-Conforming Brethren whom St. Paul checks for their carnality I recommend that Christian moderation which the same Apostle wishes to the Corinthians and his other Disciples and to remember that their furious Devotion for their several parties agrees not with that Devotion which they should have for Peace for Religion for their Christ and his Interest That their espousing of a Factior divorces them from this good Saviour and renders their Souls unfit for a Communion with him here or hereafter And that they shew themselves to be the greatest Enemies of Truth and Concord when they thus engage themselves desperately in the encouraging of a Party without understanding the depth and designs of it No doubt but if these men had but as sincere an inclination for Truth and the Publick Peace they would be as averse to their Sects as they are now forward to promote the interest of them IV. Another sort are preingaged by a worldly interest and kept from a compliance with us for fear of crossing or losing that advantage which they reap from a Non-Conformity or from their Acquaintance with the Non-Conformists Too many I understand are kept from hearkening to their Reason and Knowledge of the Lawfulness of our Worship and their Duty to God and Man by that bewitching thing Seeming Interest But such men value more their present profit than their future hopes and prefer the vanities of the Earth to the unspeakable advantages of Heaven which they might reasonably expect from an obedience to Gods Laws Their condition I reckon to be very desperate for however they may look upon this Sin with contempt or think their refusal of joyning with us deserves less blame because they side with our Brethren of the same Religion yet in regard that they stand in opposition to us and division is thereby encouraged in Christs Church This their sin of Non-Conformity is so much the more hainous because they know their Duty and refuse to practise it for fear of parting with an advantage which they might probably lose did they forsake their Faction and Party I would intreat these men to weigh the words of our Saviour directed to such Idolaters of worldly interest He that denies me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven And to remember that Christ is seemingly denied when we refuse Communion with such whom we know to be real Christians and a compliance with that Lawful Worship which is agreeable with his Word and Will V. Another hinderance to the Non-Conformity of some of the more Learned and Wiser sort are those who either think themselves so or desire to be so esteemed is Shame The shame and reproach of the world which they justly deserve for complying too much with the irregularities of former times causeth them to continue constant in their Errors for fear of confessing their guiltiness by a change though for the better I conceive that their judgments were then over-ruled by the Authority and Currant of the times and perswaded to condemn that Government and Worship which Rebellion was resolved to pull down being insensibly drawn in to side with that Enemy of our Laws and Liberties Now therefore that this same Government and Worship is by Gods good providence reestablished they are ashamed to confess their former weakness to discover any unsetledness in their minds they choose for this purpose rather to persist in their mistakes than to acknowledge them by a recantation Such men consider not that obstinacy in Errors is a great aggravation of a Crime and that to confirm now wilfully and resolutely in opposition to Law and the dictates of their Conscience what the necessity of the times forced them to subscribe to is a most hainous sin near related to that of the Holy Ghost However our Saviour Christ highly condemns such men in the Gospel according to S. John Ch. xii vers 43. For loving more the praise of men than the praise of God For having a greater regard to the approbation of their former disciples than to be approved of by God for their ready compliance with their duty and his Divine Laws Truth is to be always acknowledged by all the Disciples of Truth and may be denied in little matters as well as in great but in matters of Religion of the publick Peace of the Service of God and the Unity of Christs Church every Truth is of a great importance to stand stifly in the denyal of it to refuse a compliance with it to oppose it obstinately and continue in that opposition till death is a wickedness that I judge to be unpardonable before God as it is inexcusable before men Such persons to save their credit care not how they damn their Souls and for fear of the reproach of men run themselves into the danger of forfeiting their God and happiness together with their interest in his Church by a wilful separation I intreat these my Brethren to take heed how they deny or oppose that which they know to be Just or True for the God of Truth is a revenger of all opposition to it A small liberty that men give themselves in an error or a vice hardens them in it and draws them insensibly into greater and more hainous and the longer men continue in them the less able they are to repent and amend VI. Some of the wiser sort were first persuaded to oppose the Church of Englaad and to refuse Conformity to its late establishment because