scope being seene let vs take also a short viewe of the handling of his matter Setting downe discipline first in two points as if he woulde begin at the two maine heades thereof he maketh the gathering of a Church one and the guiding of it the other as though you might vnderstande howe the light of the fire can be before there be fire the vse of an instrument before the instrument be fourmed and the action of a liuing thing before the same liuing thing be engendered But in these disputes of discipline the man must bee remembred that wee speake not of discipline at randon but strictly of the discipline of a church Which therfore hauing continuall relation to a Church as haue the actions of a man to a man can no more be presupposed to be the discipline of a church before the same church be then can the actiōs of any man be ascribed vnto him or reported of him before the man himselfe that should do them be begotten But if he will needes haue the gathering of a Church to bee a part of the discipline what part will he referre it vnto For hereby we shall find him as farre at oddes with himselfe as hee is with the trueth His diuision of the kingdome of Christ which hee taketh to differ nothing from the discipline as I haue declared you haue heard before What part thereof is the gathering of a Church to bee referred vnto Perhaps hee will answere the last part namely separation But alas poore man hee forgot that his owne definitions haue quite debarred him all such escape For separation sayth he of the wilfull or grieuous offender is a duetifulnesse of the Church in withholding from them the Christian Communion and felowship by pronouncing and shewing the christian Communion to be broken by their grieuous wickednesse and that with mourning fasting and prayer for them and denouncing Gods iudgements against them And this he calleth not separation from the prophane world but separation from the Church The same hee sayth of the other two partes trying out wickednesse and rebuke they be duties of the church sayth he therefore the Church is presupposed first to be say I and so he in this dissenting both from truth and from himselfe sheweth that nothing but the spirit of lies doeth lead him And why doeth hee say The Church must bee gathered of the worthie and not rather of beleeuers according to the vsuall speach of the Scriptures Forsooth he knewe that if hee granted the Church to bee gathered of beleeuers there needed no more to bee saide to his confutation He was so wise therefore for himselfe as to choose rather a worde more impertinent and lesse perspicuous both to reserue a vauntage of cauilling and to darken the light vnto his reader In the tenth of Matthew whence he fetcheth his phrase Christ giueth no commaundement to the twelue to gather Churches as lthough for that ende they shoulde enquire who was woorthie but onely that they should carie thorow the cities of Iudea the sound of the cōming of Messiah for the wakening of the people preparing their minds to receiue their saluation now comming so neare towardes them and there inquiring out of the worthy is not enioyned them for gathering of congregatious in townes and cities but for their direction touching the places where they should looke for intertainment whilest they taried in any towne or citie And therefore sayeth our Sauiour In whatsoeuer citie or towne ye shal come inquire who is worthie in it and then hee saith not gather all such together to bee a Church but there abide ye till ye go thence as appointing them in euery towne where they come to take vp their lodging in the house of him whom they heard most specially to be spoken of for an honest and religious life The rest of his quotations here are from his purpose they concerne not gathering of Churches but partly the behauiour in Churches and partly euery seuerall Christians discerning of contemners And Malachie among the rest is fowly forced when as because he sayeth The Lorde reiected their offerings because they offered the scrobled and the lame and thesicke and the blinde Browne sayth It figureth the reiecting of our Sacraments when dogs and swine do cōmunicate therein when papists Atheists drunkards Maygamsters blasphemers raylers fighters and such like are presented as sweete bread at the table of the Lord. Where he should compare the blind and lame sacrifices with the defect and defilement that may bee in the Sacraments and seruices of the Church hee to serue his owne turne compareth them with the vnworthie receyuers and disordered members of a Church which was very clenly cogging Besides that it is vntrue that euerie vnworthy receiuer by and by is a dog or a swine for the description Christ giueth of them by their properties is such as rightly agreeth with those only who with open malice and wilfull stubbornesse tread vnderfoot blaspheme godlinesse and ragingly persecute the professors of the same Such found Paule and Barnabas of the Iewes at Antioch But such therefore is not euery vnwoorthie Communicant or that doth deserue excommunication His heaping vp of Papists Atheists with the rest sheweth that his pen was in running and he must needs fill vp the nūber Finally it is false that they were no sacrifices because the Lorde reproueth the bringing of such by the people and the accepting of them by the Priest For they keeping them to the kind of cattel that God had ordeyned for his sacrifices as sheepe oxen c. it ceased not to be a sacrifice although a faultie one when they offered the lame and the blind of those because the fault was in the qualitie and not in the substance Whereas if they should haue killed a dogge or an hogge or an asse then it had beene vtterly no sacrifice His corrupt opinion in vrging the retayning of euery trespasse of our brothers till wee see him repent I haue discouered before Nowe when hee sayeth This libertie and power euery Christian must holde or else hee is the seruant of men and not of Christ And therehence argueth from the more to the lesse If a particular Christian cannot want it how shall the whole Church be without it and yet be named the Church of Christ It is manifest that hee maketh the reproouing of offending brethren to be of the essence of a Christian and so reasoneth from the deniall of the more probable to the deniall of the lesse probable But his reasoning is sophisticall and the consequence popish heresie His reason is sophistical in that he maketh it lesse probable for a church to faile in matters of discipline than for a christian in his own particular of monishing his brother when as contrariwise it is more probable because to the discipline of a Church is required a consent and consent is neuer free from the clogges crossings of cōtradictorie
laboured not in those dayes in the businesse of the sacrifices it seemeth verie probable in that hee was not able being about nintie yeeres olde for the bodily labour thereof to offer the sacrifices and in which regarde the Priestes had leaue to cease at fiftie yeeres of their age Hee sate I graunt in the Temple sawe the seruices of the Lorde perfourmed and blessed likewise the people but that he offered the sacrifices and especially without his sonnes by no lawfull vse of the text it can be profered 16 Hitherto your leader hath added his poore furniture to helpe you to prooue that particular members may depart from the bodie of the Congregation for default of separating the vnworthie Now he coÌ„meth to bring your proofes in proportion that he might make you still beleeue hee doeth not seduce you Wherein though I coulde willinglye forbeare him in respect that his copie hath deceyued him yet I suppose it may be good for him that his insolent behauiour haue some repressing The six places of Scripture which you quote I sayde doe concerne our priuate conuersation and behauiour towardes inordinate brethren and haue not a syllable touching our dealings in publike Church meetings and exercises Here he thinking me to lie wide open runneth violently vpon me with the place of the Corinths to dispatch mee at a blowe but therein dooing the euill spirite of malice and reuenge that set him on blinded his iudgement that hee could not see howe sure a warde I had till hee ranne his owne hande vpon the poynt thereof For I said not as hee telleth you that none of those places haue anie thing concerning publique Church meetings and exercises but my speeche was that they had not anye thing touching our dealinges in publique Church meetings and exercises Wherein if your iudgement bee so weake that as yet you perceyue no difference call to minde the question which is whether particular members of a Church may depart or withdrawe themselues from that bodie if they knowe any vnworthie ones at the Lordes table You point mee to Scriptures to prooue they ought I aunswere that those Scriptures giue vs rules concerning our priuate conuersation and touch not our dealinges in the Church Nowe I would aske you whetherto you referre this worde our If you referre it to the whole bodie of the Church then you chaunge the question and flee your ground but if it be suffered to haue the naturall relation to particular members then may you see that your leader hath not a little abused you If out of the last verse of the chapter for it was quoted thus 1. Cor. 5.9.10.11.12 13. he shall yet striue to saue himselfe in this maner because this place requireth the church to excommunicate the incestuous which must be done by voyces and consent of the particular members therefore it speaketh of particular members dealing in the church Marke the end and you shal see his gaine The question is whether particular meÌ„bers may depart froÌ„ the church as before or no. This place you say inferreth some dealing of particular meÌ„bers in the Church I graÌ„t it what shal you get by that You wil say this that I theÌ„ haue vniustly denied this place to haue any thing concerning particular meÌ„bers dealing in the Church If I haue denied any thing that might hinder you to find the truth theÌ„ haue I delt vniustly But we see that by your gaine For if by this obtained your cause be neuer the better he hath fed you then with woordes and made you neuer the fatter Thus you must applie it to the question if you will endeuour to make gaine of it If this place warrant particular members to haue dealing in the Church then it warranteth them to separate themselues in the case aforesayde and so doe you not see yron and flaxe knitte together of a knotte Is some dealing all dealings Will your leader neuer vnlearne so grosse a fallation You see nowe if I let you haue this it doeth you no good and for my part I will none of it it can pleasure mee nothing If you aske why then I made my negation so generall I aunswere first that in denying those places to concerne particular members in the Church I did it not to interuert or hinder the truth as nowe appeareth Secondly it is the lawfull libertie of any man in reasoning to vse chaunge of wordes so that our sense be kept which shall easily bee especially both sides hauing sounde hearts to seeke the trueth If the question stil be made the line to measure them by and therefore whereas I saide those Scriptures touch not our dealings in the Church what man of honest minde or that had anye sparke of trueth left in him considering the question woulde not haue vnderstoode by that worde dealings our tarying or departing from the Lordes Table at the sight of the vnworthie Salomon sayeth The wisedome of the wise is to vnderstande his way but the foolishnesse of fooles is vnto deceite 17 The rest of the places you quoted to proue your purpose are not according to the copie you gaue him but these 2. Thes 3.14 2. Tim. 3.1.2.3.4.5 Ro. 16.17.18 Ephes 5.7.8 1. Thes 5.21.22 and all these I saye with that to the Corinthians spoken off before the question beeing rightly considered and taken make nothing for you For in as much as any of them concerne our behauior in publike so much do they appoint the dueties of particular meÌ„bers towards others ioyntly but nothing of their owne departing or tarying separately Againe whatsoeuer any of them say of separating to bee practised of particular members there can they not bee vnderstood of Church meetings but of priuate conuersatioÌ„ But to iumble these things together without discerning and as it were to liue in that grosse sophistication of taking all respects for some is as it seemeth your leaders ioy 18 But hee chargeth mee by so vnderstanding those places with such seditious doctrine as may bring in rebellion against Magistrates put downe acquaintances of men familiarly in marriage loose al bonds of obedience in children and seruantes and cut off all entercourse of marchandize and bargaining with professors These will proue but such lâ—wde soundings as an empty barrell euer yeeldeth Paul aduertiseth Timothie that in the last dayes should come perillous times wherein men should bee louers of themselues couetous vainglorious proud c. hauing a forme of godlines but denying the face of it and that therefore he should auoyde such Iohn sayth to the elect Lady If any man come vnto you and bring not this doctrine receiue him not to house neither bid him Godspeede By which Scriptures you see particular persons by name warranted to auoyde priuate conuersation with inordinate professours This place also to the Corinthes though it be written to al the Church yet is it concerning particular mens practise in their separate and priuate places and behauiour And though your leader
of stopping that violent streame of seducing wherein daily such numbers of the yonger and weaker sorte of Christians are caryed out of our assemblies principally because the zeale of such being greater then their knowledge becommeth an apt pray and bootie for the instruments of deceit to practise vpon And this agreeth with the exhortation of the Church when she sayeth Take vs the foxes the litle foxes corrupting the vines whilest our vines bring foorth the first grape the other benefite is that hereby those impure mouthes shall be dashed that hertofore in their malitious defence of corruptions haue made no conscience to clothe all those that haue duetifully vrged the proceeding of our church vnto perfection in one liuerie with these schismaticall spirites that so they might purchase vnto them both from magistrate and common people equall hatred and auoydance This booke shal by the grace of God testifie vnto all that make any conscience to discerne truth from lyes that there is as much difference betwixt those whō they in their bitternesse woulde thus match together as is betweene that childe that in tender affection reprooueth and laboureth the refourming of his mother whome hee seeth by her vndiscreete behauiour to become a reproche among women and him that vnder pretence of the hate of her vncomely behauiour shoulde plucke out her bowels and forsake her In this my trauaile I haue cared as much as I could to husbande the time vnto the reader and therfore haue both cut off many idle discourses which the aduersarie woulde haue drawne mee into and also haue so sounded the matters that I haue delt with by al the writings printed or otherwise that are probably vouched theirs as that I hope the godly spirit shall find me no trifler but such a serious and sincere disputer as the weight of the cause hath required I was I graunt in comparison of others as a woman of too weake a constitution to conceiue and bring forth any such child but the Lord hath had his way purpose herein And as I protest before the Lord his holy angels with much feare and trembling I haue from the beginning applied my selfe vnto this worke so yet in the doing thereof through the mercifulnesse of my God I haue bin assisted with much cōfort and great assurance euen in some things that seemed at the first so in wrapped by Satan with so many intricate folds knittings as could hardly or neuer by me for I shame not to acknowledge my weaknesse herein bee brought to any cleare triall and expedite dissolution Of mine aduersaries I rather knowe the nature then the number Although as it hath beene obserued sundrie among them from time to time haue laboured to be leaders and so vpon the spurre of emulation haue gallopped as hard as they could yet without all question there is none among them that can iustly take the garland from Rob. Browne His writings doe foreiudge the cause agaynst all his competitors And albeit newe maisters are risen among them that nowe in a fresh hote moode condemne his coldnesse and colourable dealing and that worthily yet they must euen Barow and Greenwood with the rest acknowledge him the shop of their store and the steele of their strength for arguments obiections and shiftes to colour and if it were possible to vphold their crasie cause withall Let them not disdaine therefore that he should beare the name as the father of that familie and brood which of late yeares in a quarell for the Discipline haue made that rende in the assemblies of Englande But some will obiect that these that I name agree not among themselues and therefore cannot be accounted of one familie I am not ignorant that they are at oddes betweene themselues but yet so as that neither partie will ioyne member-like with our Churches in the woorde and Sacraments In doctrine I knowe they differ but diuersitie of practise was cause thereof Barow and Greenewood nakedly discouered their profession and are prisoners Browne cunningly counterfeiteth conformitie dissembleth with his owne soule for libertie They fullie beleeuing the Church of England to be no Church of God but vtterly to be auoyded in al things as his writings haue taught them made conscience to separate themselues at all poynts accordingly He though hee haue contriued that cup whereby he hath thus transformed them as into beasts yet himselfe taking better delite in humane shapes liketh not to enter with them into their lot Hence cōmeth that grudge quarrell and heartburning among them They expostulate with him as a coward and one that shrinketh in the wetting He againe nippeth them for their egernesse in running before their olde maister and thereby obscuring his light as though the truth forsooth had first bin reuealed by them It seemeth they would not heare a sermon to gaine their libertie But it is manifest that he to redeeme trouble hath learned to apply himselfe to all times places and persons Nowe in this their iarre manie strange paradoxes and grosse absurdities haue passed betweene them arguing both sides to haue trusted in their strength and therefore to haue beene destitute of the spirit of truth to guide their pennes Barow and Greenwood denie that our preachers doe preach the woorde and that they doe or can beget fayth They say The wicked haue no woorde of God no graces of GOD no spirituall or sanctifyed graces that they doe no good that they may not teach testifie preach or counsaile anie woorde of GOD anie religion or dutie of religion That they haue no kinde of promise nor blessing and that there is no Communion to bee had with them in spirituall graces They denie fayth to come necessarily by the woorde of GOD and say It may bee begotten without anie promise of the woorde Beeing demaunded what faith doeth beleeue They aunswere God without anie consideration of his woorde and promise Likewise beeing asked howe they came by their fayth it seemeth they aunswered as it pleased God namely by his spirite but not acknowledging the outwarde meanes Some of them graunt our preachers beget fayth or beleefe of the woorde but not the fayth of Christ Hee prooueth it not the fayth of Christ because it hath not good woorkes And that also he prooueth full wisely forsooth because they haue euill woorkes Which hee specifieth to be Idolatrie Rebellion and Bondage They say our ministers bring a newe Gospell That the lawe in their mouthes and the sacrifices or presumptuous ministerie of Korah Dathan and Abiram are alike And they make no better account of our Parish meetings than of the meetings at the groaues and hill altars O wofull men and drunken with the wine of their owne headie conceites Browne againe for feare all these reproches shoulde light vppon him because hee commeth into our Churches minseth the matter euerie where with these ill stampt distinctions Of the better and woorser sort of our preachers wherein hee leaues his meaning doubtfull still
and of ioyning with vs in the common graces both worldly and spirituall but not as in one bodie and couenant of the Church O mocker Let the Lorde iudge thy hypocrisie for no man can sounde it Concerning the disputation of both parties in this matter if I bee asked my iudgement this must I say Browne hath sufficiently ouerthrowne the maine assertions of his young maisters as hee calleth them in proouing our preachers to haue a calling because they bring the woorde that they preach the woorde because they beget fayth For examples in him and themselues they haue done it ergo c. And that The knowledge of reformation and discouerie of Church corruptions came first to them by their preaching ergo c. And as they number vp all the euils they can finde in the doctrine and practise of our preachers to prooue they can doe no good nor beget faith hee contrariwise by a full floud of their true doctrine and good fruits whereof he maketh a copious catalogue woorthily quencheth the furious flame of their slaunderous tongues Also by the sitting of the Scribes and Pharisees in Moses chaire and the commaundement of hearing them he verie sufficiently proueth that wicked men may preach Gods worde and being in such office charge and calling ought to be heard The cauils they make against these things are such as shew them wilfully to stoppe their eares least the sounde of truth shoulde smite their hearts In these pointes I testifie that Browne hath well confuted their furie But if one for Barow and Greenwood shoulde say these wordes vnto Browne Though they haue well deserued to bee thus quited and conuinced for their follie yet not at your handes I knowe not what he might well replie for I am sure if they had beene so well aduised as to haue pressed him through all their controuersie with his owne bookes writings they must needes haue made him as mute as anie fish And I doubt not but the Reader shall bee fully perswaded hereof before he come at the ende of this booke For as for Browne the masterworkeman of all their mad building notwithstanding that in this place vpon this present occasion there want not further matter to decipher him who maketh his religion alwayes proportionable to his owne humour and necessitie and so hath euer vsed to propound his owne last to make all his disciples shooes by yet will I referre the reader to the gathering of the proofe of these thinges out of other places in this booke specially amongst the rest where I lay open his honest and well meaning subscription Onely I will produce a testimonie or two of master Harrisons who in his life time was bewitched by Browne to his euident vndoing partly by fleeing with him into the lowe Countreys and partly by stretching his purse so wide to the printing of his booke In a certaine letter he writeth to one of London thus concerning the diuision that fell among Browne and them beyond the seas In deede the Lorde hath made a breache amongest vs for our sinnes haue made vs vnwoorthie to beare his great and woorthie cause M. B. hath cast vs off and that with the open manifesting of so many and so notable treacheries as I abhorre to tell and if I should declare them you could not beleeue me VVhich because this sheete and many moe woulde not suffice to rehearse I will meddle with no particular thing to declare it Onely this I testifie vnto you I am well able to proue that Caine dealt not so ill with his brother Abel as he hath dealt with me Againe towards the ende of that letter hee writeth thus Also I would admonish you to take heede howe you aduenture your selfe to be a meane to spread abroade any of that parties bookes except it were more tending to the glorie of God then it is For in the first booke there is manifolde heresie and the other vpon the 23. of Matthewe is a patterne of all lewde frantike disorder whose haue eyes to see it And I do not doubt but that the Lord will yet driue him on to worse and worse seeing he hath so notably fallen from him Giue not your selfe ouer to be abused the Lorde open your eyes and giue you grace to take profite by my writing euen as I do giue it with a well meaning minde to doe you good Also in his treatise vpon the 122. Psalme hee imputeth to Browne a leaning to Antichristian pride and bitternesse Mee thinke these testimonies from such a man as I haue named should set such a brand of shame vpon his forehed as that euerie man should abhorre the sight of him whilest he continueth so to be like himself And here perhaps the most of his sect will answere that they doe indeed acknowledge such thinges in him and therefore doe also worthily shunne him for a slidebacke O but why doe they not withall forsake the whole course which God hath so cursed yea vpon the which he hath set from the beginning so leageable a print of horrible successe not onely in the outward things thereof which were indeede of it selfe too weake an argument but also in the inwarde ruines and downefall of iudgement to the dayly corrupting of sound doctrine euen from worse to worse as I haue shewed Which beeing a proper and infallible note that God signeth the wayes of the wicked withall to be discerned argueth all outward misprosperings which accompanie it to carie likwise the same stampe of Gods displeasure vpon them O that you would bee wise therfore in time and learne vnderstanding ere it be too late Salomon sayth The mouth of the righteous is a well spring of life but violence couereth the mouth of the wicked And Peter sayth If any man suffer as a Christian let him not bee ashamed but let him glorifie God in this behalfe But withall he chargeth vs to looke to it that none of vs suffer as a murtherer or as a thiefe or an euill dooer or as a busie bodie in other mens matters If God haue made it a happie condition to be persecuted for righteousnesse sake then foloweth it contrarily to be a cursed and desperate condition to suffer imprisonment losse of goods or life for disordered wayes such as the worde of God cannot warrant If any thinke that by applying this to the Brownists I shall begge the question to him I hope shall the reading of this booke giue proofe ynough to free me from all suspect of such vniust presumption The Lord for his great mercy grant that all of vs in the Church of England from the highest vnto the lowest to whom the hearing of this controuersie shal come may not onely be directed in iudgement to the attaining of the truth herein but withall likewise deepely pricked at the hearts as the rather put in minde by the scourge of this schisme to search out our sinnes and humbly powre out our soules for them before the throne of
comparison seemeth to haue craued at his handes at the least some one example out of the Scriptures shewing vs when or where the spirite of God disauoweth any Church for the cause of some notorious wicked ones among them If I therefore in exemplifying against him shall bring a cloud of witnesses all of them testifiyng as with one mouth the flat contrary I hope I shall enclose the trueth of this cause more strongly then that any wylie or vndermining foxes shall bee able to enter in hereafter to violate the same And to beginne with the Churches of which wee haue the life and liuely voyce of our Sauiour Christ to testifie and after that to enquire of the Apostles it may not bee denied me but that in the Church of Ierusalem the Lorde did dwell and that there were offered the Sacrifices and performed the rites of his holy worshippe which he accepted at the handes of his seruantes in the dayes of our Sauiour his comming in the flesh Nowe in the outward body of this Church were corrupt Scribes superstitious Pharises and epicurish Sadduces this last sort denied the resurrection and the two former also corrupted many thinges in the doctrine and sur-charged the Iewish Church with importable burdens of traditions being indeed the ordinary teachers of the people but so yet the pestilent and notorious corrupters of true religion these are in your leaders comparison to be resembled by the poyson on the other side there were though of smaller nūber that in the middest of the same congregations paid their vowes vnto the Lord in the simplicitie of their heart being in the meane time openly mingled in one outward Church with such vnrighteous ones Of this sort we may reckon diuers by name as Symeon Zacharias Marie Anna Elizabeth c. Here therefore we should conclude by your leaders rule that those being the sweete water and not reseruing their worshipping of God religious seruices to separate meetings but performing them in the congregations of notorious wicked teachers very falsely instructed people were now also impoysoned become one wicked crewe together with the rest But I trust you will confesse that the scriptures are contrary so consequently therfore that your leader doth seduce you Again to be as briefe likewise as I may in the rest Our sauiour in his own words deliuered vnto Iohn that the Church at Thyatira had so that wicked Iezabel amongest them as that they were guilty of permitting her to teach seduce the seruantes of God making thē to cōmit fornication to eate meats sacrificed vnto idoles The Church at Pergamus was charged to haue amongst thē those that mainteined the doctrine of Baalam of the Nicolaitans Nowe by your leaders rule these had also so impoysoned the rest that not one amongst thē could be said to hold fast the faith nor keep the name of Christ nor serue him purely so as to be exempted frō the punishmēt that should light vpō the rest in the day that the Lord should visite but the word of the Lord saith directly to the contrary therefore your leader is found a blasphemous seducer in his cōparisō And that wee may touch likewise the Apostles testimonies When Iude acknowledgeth spots in the Church feastes are not those spots the wicked ones which he there inueigheth against If then he had approued your leaders doctrine hee would not haue written them preseruatiue instructions to keepe out their contagion for such mingling had nowe by his rule impoysoned all but it laye vpon his fidelitie to haue told them that whensoeuer it should come to passe that they so mingled they shoulde count themselues no longer Churches of God but infected and wicked companies euen all the sort of them The same doe I say of the Church wherein Diotrephes was But those Apostles writings are farre contrary hereunto Therefore your leaders comparison is abhominable I omit to speake of the Churches which Saint Iames not condemneth but expostulateth with concerning proud dispisers of the poore vnbrideled pratlers lippe Christians enuious men contentious prouokers vncleane liuers c. which were among them As also the Thessalonians who had their inordinate walkers busy bodies and such as laboured not duely in their callings Yea herein their blame being much the greater that they permitted such amongst them hauing bene admonished of that matter once before And nowe I come to the Colossian Galathian and Corinthian Churches these had in the middest of them such as seduced mightily and preuailed dangerously yea some in the fundamental points of religion and articles of our faith The Corinthians touching practise had such as stirred vp strifes emulations anger contentions commotions and tumults such as maried with infidels such as with open speaches depraued Pauls writings the sounder sort being guilty of harkening vnto and tollerating such as thus in their vanity and iniquity wrought his disgrace and in his the truths yea shall I say further not as delighting to blaze the sinnes and corruptions of these Churches but iustly indeuouring to extinguish this Church-firebrand which Satan in the throng of all our heapes of woes hath hurled amongst vs. Besides that I haue deliuered in the 11. Section it is certaine the Corinthian Church was outwardly mixt with such as by carnal eloquēce prophaned the temple of God vsed indifferent thinges with manifest offence to the weake esteemed fornication amongst indifferent thinges and committed no obscure kinde of idolatry in eating at the tables of Idoles meates sacrificed to the deuill Nowe then if these Churches by al this mixing were not become impoisoned and wicked crewes but remayned still of reuerend account among the Churches of God for the righteous sake which were not heerein impeached by the wicked then is your leaders comparison framed to the great fall of truth and himselfe prooued to be a pernitious schismatike by it But the Apostle cleereth the first in many places of those his Epistles so as I hope no man will aske me particular proofes thereof therefore the latter must necessarily be graunted of all sides And then by the way let me obserue thys one thing If a few holding the true worship of God in synceritie mixed with many bearing an outward profession with them but otherwise of verie offensiue life yea some notoriously wicked and not separated from amongst them haue beene notwithstanding rightly accounted Churches of God for faithfull men comfortably to ioyne vnto and no man exhorted to withdraw from their assemblyes then is there vtterly no cause for you and the rest to disclaime the Churches of England as you do and to separate your selues from vs for those impurities that are amongst vs therefore the fyrst being true by most of the examples aforesayd it remayneth by the latter that you labour to the Lord for mercy and so returne Lastly in my first answere touching the similitude of leauen I
iudgements which a particular Christian being lesse subiect vnto it is therefore lesse likelie equall or probable that hee should faile And for more proofe experience teacheth this euerie where For in Churches where the discipline of Christ is either not wholy or not soundly established you shal alwayes find some particular members diligent and sound in their duties this way And I referre to the reader the consideration of many particular members of the English assemblies in this behalfe I said there was popish heresie in the consequence and the reader shall testifie no lesse when he considereth that if the reproouing offending brethren bee of the essence of a Christian and no man can denie the doing thereof to be a worke it foloweth that works are of the essence of a Christian and consequently of a church as I haue iustly charged him other where Behold stil whitherto his incōsiderate course doth carie him If his disciples abhorre this and graunt that a particular man ceaseth not to be a Christian for his default in this dutie euen so must he grant by the same necessitie that a Church ceaseth not to be a Church for her defaults in discipline It is true that such a christian is a weake christiā according to the proportion of his wants and errours and such a Church is a diseased Church and that according to the measure of her imperfections but yet still a Christian and yet still a Church for the essentiall causes aforesaid He sayth Euery particular christian is a king and Priest vnto God This is true But to what ende are we kings sayth he forsooth to holde the scepter of Gods worde to iudge the offenders and for nothing else No. For so it is in his wise definitions also Well if this be all when his disciples and he haue best learned to be this kinde of kings as they haue too well learned this lesson alredie what can they be found but those hypocrits which spy motes in other mens eyes but marke not the beames in their owne and by that name shalbe commanded of the iust iudge with shame at length to looke into themselues which before were wholy occupied in the beholding others But whosoeuer will not wilfully close their eyes if they shall suffer themselues to be remembred that the most immediate neere and principall end except Gods glory which is the principall end of al ends of christians being kings vnto God is to mortifie our own affections and euill lusts and to subdue sinne in our selues they will leaue with worthie detestation so loose a teacher and be skilfull to espie this grosse sophisme which almost euerie where he committeth vnder colour of some part of a thing denying the same thing wholy And thus it fareth with him almost in euerie sentence of the page we haue in hande If a particular Christian doe not vpholde his libertie and power in iudging and rebuking particular offenders he is vtterly without the Kingdome and Priesthoode of Christ In like maner sayth he if the Church doe not openlie rebuke and excommunicate it hath no interest in the Priesthood and Kingdome of Christ and so is none of his Church Againe If it cannot excommunicate it hath not the Keyes of the kingdome of heauen to binde and loose reteyne or remitte sinnes and to shut the gates of heauen against anie Which is as much to say as a Christian must shewe the effectes of Christes Kingdome in all thinges or else in none And a Church if it hath it not in all respectes it hath it in no respect And thus belike because Browne is not yet so madde as that hee will suffer no clothes vpon him wee shoulde not beleeue diuerse of his great friendes who say he is madde or out of his wittes whereby they seeke to excuse his dealings The Church hath as I sayde before the woorde of God which because it openeth comfort in Christ to the penitent and shutteth it vp from the obstinate is therefore called the Keyes of the kingdome of heauen as also the power of God vnto saluation to euery one that beleeueth called also in another place the sauour of life to life in those that are saued and the sauour of death vnto death in those that perish These Keyes are diuersly administred or dispensed as generally particularly openly priuately by the seuerall members or by a ioynt number of the Church and so either simplie or else ioyned with some personall restraint as suspension or excommunication Nowe where the Keyes are not all manner of wayes thus dispensed doeth it followe that there they are not dispensed at all Hee needeth not tell vs that the Church hath libertie and right by the woorde to vse them all and so stande harping vpon this ill tuned string that it hath power to iudge those that are within when as this in the meane time which shoulde haue gained his cause lieth vnprooued namely if the Church vse not all her right shee vseth none and if shee exercise not her power of iudging euerie way then doeth shee not exercise it any way This I say beeing prooued had put life into his cause which nowe remayning vnprooued maketh his impudent conclusion wherein he boasted to haue prooued this ridiculous That which hee calleth a fonde answere of M. Cartwright was because it was fondly vnderstood of him The point is explained by me before The rest of his 37. page being chiefly of the Corinthians discipline and abuses in the Sacrament I haue made breathlesse in my discourse of Communicating Thou hast heard beloued what this great maister can say to prooue discipline of the essence of a Church Let vs nowe heare him returning to the rest of his obiections and cauils at M. Cartwright his letter touching this point M. Cartwright hauing truly said that Church assemblies are builded by faith onely vpon Christ the foundation the which faith so being whatsoeuer sayeth hee is wanting of that which is commaunded or remayning of that which is forbidden is not able to put that assemblie from the right and title of so being the Church of Christ For that fayth can admit no such thing as giueth an vtter ouerthrowe and turning vpside downe of the trueth Hereunto hee addeth By this title of the faithfull the Apostle in his Epistles noteth out the Churches of God beeing all one with him to say To the faithfull or to the Saintes as to the Churches of such a place VVhat soeuer wanteth vnto this or is more than ynough it wanteth or aboundeth to the disgrace and vncomelinesse or to the hazarde of the continuance and not to the present ouerthrowe of the Church And although besides fayth in the sonne of God there may be manie thinges necessarie for euerie assemblie yet bee they necessarie to the comely and stable beeing and not simplie to the being of the Church This sounde and sober doctrine of prudent distinguishing discerning things differing in their proper kindes
of discipline which is common to our Churches are grossely deceiued in the matter of the Supper are notwithstanding holden in the rowle of the Churches of God In this respect also certaine assemblies of our profession which hauing the vse of the discipline permitted vnto them and not suffered to haue the vse of the Sacrament of the Lordes supper are not therefore when the Lordes Churches are mustered and their names written and enrouled vp cast out as vnfit to be in any account of the Lordes hoste Browne saith the Dutch Churches erre in transubstantiation but he iudgeth it not an heresie If he can vnderstande any difference betweene transubstantiation and consubstantiation he may acknowledge to the correction of his rashnesse howe well he was ouerseene when he wrote it Then in that he accounteth it an error not an heresie he declareth what a crooked rule his affection is to iudge by calling al things that he esteemeth amisse in my writings heresie though he knowe not whether I will defende them or no when they are shewed me and yet pleadeth for popish transubstantiation that it should not be condemned for an heresie As for the Lutherish consubstantiation there can not but grosse absurdities followe thereof euen to the ouerthrow of Christs humanitie and that it is stoutly mainteined by furious and brawling writings and followed in the persons that withstand them by prison banishment Browne if he were not a very emptie vessell of all good learning and reading woulde neuer haue made doubt of it That there are some Churches of our profession which hauing discipline are withheld from the vse of the lordes Supper it maketh nothing against him but against vs as he imagineth but in deede it is such a wounde to his cause as he can neuer cure For if a Church maye be without the vse of one of the Sacramentes and yet be a Church howe much more may it be a Church if it want the discipline in question Touching M. C. comparison of the bodye of man most proper to set out the state of the Church and a thing often vsed in the Scriptures to such purpose Browne being not able to escape the euidence of the trueth that appeared in it passeth it ouer with a deepe silence in his answere and onely in the margent of M. C. epistle setteth downe this worde A fopperie for a full confutation wherein me thinkes the Reader may well allowe his wit though not his honestie M. C. his last illustration of the former reasons is thus set downe Was not Hierusalem after the returne from Babylon the Citie of the great King vntill such time as Nehemias came and builded vp the walles of the Citie To say therefore it is none of the Church of God because it hath not receiued this discipline me thinkes it is all one with this as if a man woulde say It is no Citie because it hath no wall or that it is no vineyarde because it hath neither hedge nor ditch It is not I graunt so sightly a Citie or vineyarde nor yet so safe against the inuasion of their seuerall enemies which lye in wayte for them but yet are they truely both Cities and vineyardes Agaynst this Browne trifleth beyonde all measure And first as if M. C. had sayde that the walles of Hierusalem by precise testimonie out of the Scripture signified Discipline whereas hee draweth the similitude but indifferentlye as from anye Citye though Hierusalem bee named as a famous instance in steade of all others in lyke case and that hee doeth touching the vse of a wall which is most apt to set foorth the effecte and fruite of the Discipline because as the one is the defence of a citie whereby it is continued so the other preserueth a Church in health and stable standing And it is most sottish that vpon some places of Scripture and the chiefe of them touching onely the Catholique Church and so quite from the question of a particular by which the Church may be said to be builded in the walles of a city to reason as though it may not therefore in any wise be compared also with the Citizens Burgesses of a Citie which are compassed with discipline as with walles seeing Saint Paul doeth tearme them citizens of the Saintes So is it more then childish that he citeth the Psalmes for the praising of the citie by the walles and gates thereof sith euery Grammar boy coulde haue tolde him it to be a trope of Synecdoche a part for the whole Againe such is his follie in citing Nehemiah where he knoweth not that the maner of speach is to debase the being of a thing as though it were not vpon want of some chiefe ornament or speciall point of commoditie that belongeth vnto it as also that the building of part of the citie is called the building of the citie The praises of Ierusalem therefore taken from the walles and gates thereof is as I haue said a speach wherein the lesse is taken to note the greater is more effectuall then if he named the whole or the greater parts thereof For seeing the Lord loueth the wal so much or the gates more then other cities how much more the whole citie and although he thinke it is no Church til the walles be builded yet the reader shal obserue that the people of God sacrificed as in the temple which was the place only appointed for the sacrifice when only the foundation of the temple was laide and found therein that mercie comfort from the Lord for the which they solemnly praised his holy Name And accordingly is it meet for Christians in a careful endeuour of further building to be thankful euen for the foundations though Browne can find no matter of thanks vnlesse we had all whereas if he stil withdraw til he find such a church yea as that hath the walles of discipline made vp in all the parts that he respecteth as his best writings intend he shall neuer ioyne with any Church if he could liue whilest the world endureth But to proceede to the rest of his cauils there needeth no great remembrance to bring forth what a citie may be without a wall and vineyard without a hedge And if he had conceiued of the being definition of a city any whit more scholerlike than a waterbearer he would with the learned all that be skilful in the state of things haue defined it by the lawes and policie and not by the walles thereof For if it should happen to be dismantilled it ceaseth not therefore to be a citie When as therefore a number of men may meete together to associate themselues by certaine lawes and agreements amongst themselues without hauing a wall it is euident that a citie may bee without a wall Likewise let al indifferent men iudge whether a space of ground set and furnished with plants or hearbs hath the substance of a garden orchard or vineyard
tidings ceasse except the parchment hold and his message misseth except a waxemarke giueth it Is this Ierusalem where such Bishops raigne or should we call it the throne of the Lord is it not rather the seate of iniquitie to which as the Prophet saith the wicked do approch c. And a little after Now therefore yee Preachers because yee subscribe that the Lords gouernment is wanting and yet set vp other Lords or suffer them in his place and because you cannot neither will you preach but by their good leaue and licence therefore you cannot preach my word VVhat do you at Paules Crosse or what should my messengers do there do not there the Bishops as also in your parishes tread downe the Lords Sanctuarie and are not the people as they ouer whome the Lord did neuer beare rule yet you say the Bishops gouernment is tollerable and take the teeth of those VVolfes for a discipline to the Sheepe Againe within few lines This is now the throne of the Bishops which in the dioces parishes and cathedrall Churches is lift vp against Christ From it doth come foorth their lawes and iniunctions by which all men euen small and great rich and poore free and bonde are made to receiue a marke in their hand or in their forehead For all are made thralles and slaues to their pollicie to build the Church and to worshippe God after their deuisings c. Nowe yet more apertly if it were possible to shewe how he depraueth their very authoritie I must trouble the reader with mo of his places In his declaration telling of his owne authorizing by the Bishops among other like he hath these words that he thought it lawful first to be tried of the Bishops then also to suffer their power though it were vnlawful if in any thing it did not hinder the truth but to be authorized by them to be sworne to subscribe to be ordained and receiue their licensing he vtterly misliked and kept himselfe cleare in those matters howbeit the Bishops seales were gotten him by his brother which he both refused before the officers and being written for him would not pay for thē and also being afterward paid for by his brother he lost one and burnt another in the fire and another being sent him to Cambridge he kept it by him til in his trouble it was deliuered to a Iustice of peace and so frō him as is supposed to the B. of Norwich Yet least his dealing in this manner should encourage others to deale in worse manner he openly preached against the calling and authorizing of preachers by Bishops and spake it often also openly in Cambridge that he taught among them not as caring for or leaning vpon the Bi. authority but only to satisfie his duty and cōscience Also in the same discourse he hath these words This he that is himself iudged not only to be against the wickednes of the Bi. but also against their whole power and authority for if the authority of the Church and of the forwardest brethren or elders therein be aboue the Bi. how should it not follow but that the Bi. may be cōmanded accused charged by the Church yea also discharged and separated as is their desert but now because of their popish power and canon lawes they haue lift vp their authority more high then the Church cā take accompts of them and not only by force do thrust out and trouble whom they list but also raigne as Lords Dukes in their dioces their authority must needes be vsurped And a little space after he saith thus of them that They rule by three sorts of lawes as by the ciuill the canon the common lawe which are three kingdoms vnto thē or as the Popes triple crowne and by pretēding the fourth law which is the word of God they ouerrule too too much Agreeably with this he saith in another place Behold cā they be Ierusalē which is called the throne of the lord whē there the Bi. sit as in the throane of Antichrist What throne hath Christ but by his gouernment which they say is wanting and what is the throne of Antichrist but that Lordship in their dioces with such sway of popish officers with such romish traditiōs A little after VVhat shal we answere they say they call no preachers to preach but God the Church the Queene and people agree to receiue them so their parishes are churches and those great assemblies are the flocke of Christ for they are faire cages though the birds are vncleane knowe you not an honest woman for she doth loue fornicators so may you knowe the true Church for she loueth such Prelates O church of price O the famous church of England Tell ye the church that is tell ye the Bi. of the dioces the church can giue him authority to authorize both the church it selfe and the Gospell as if God should intreate such a Prelate to be good vnto him c. And by and by after Yet is this church of England the piller and ground of truth for the Bi. ouerride it they are the truth and it is the ground it is the beast and they are the riders it stoupeth as an asse for thē to get vp the whip of their spiritual courts and the spurres of their lawes and the bridle of their power do make it to carie thē VVe giue say the Bi. then we take say the Preachers hold take you authority but on this condition that you preach no longer then we list Marke you this say the preachers for we haue no authority but by the bishops and if they giue it vs why may they not take it away so the theefetaker doth please the theefegiuer and the yong wolfe wanteth whē the old wolfe is angry Lastly thus he writeth in another place of his declaration Now wheras they mingle ciuill and church offices it was answered by the word of God that such mingling was flat Antichristianitie for Christ himselfe refused to be a ciuill Iudge and diuider of lands and forbad his Apostles to meddle in such manner Againe it is written No man that goeth on warfare entangleth himself with the affaires of this life for if once ecclesiasticall persons as they call them get ciuill offices they become that second beast which is Antichrist for they get the image of the first beast which is the power and authority of wicked Magistrates that confirme their authority so they giue a spirit to the image that it should speake that is their church lawes and orders hauing got ciuill power both to deceiue men by shew of Religion and to force them with threates and penalties Now would I knowe of the reader what it is that Browne by these places hath spared vnto any Bishop in England or left vndepraued in their authority Furthermore for the vnlawfulnes of medling with or complaining to their courts officers behold how vehemēt he is as in all his dealings Also
Lawe Hereupon hee addeth To all these poyntes that they are true I do subscribe with mine hande and name this 7. of October Anno Dom. 1585. Here I obserue that he testifieth it to be orderly done to come to our owne parish Churches which is more then his writings can well beare howsoeuer he thinke to shift it Also in that he sayth he refuseth not to communicate in the Sacraments perhaps he stoppeth the crye of his conscience which telleth him he communicateth not in the Sacraments with our congregation by this foolish and deceitfull perswasion namely that he satisfieth his promise by communicating in the Sacraments though but in his owne conuenticles But his argument of fact that he giueth to bring credite withall vnto the same assertion as in these wordes For I haue one childe thas is already baptized according to order and Lawe c. this I say stoppeth vp that starting hole against him And then it woulde bee shewed in what congregation of ours hee hath communicated in the Sacraments since the day of his running ouer sea Nay if his behauiour bee truely obserued when hee commeth into our congregations I doe not thinke it can bee proued that hee hath since that day so much as ioyned with them in their prayers To this last place of the matter of Brownes subscription I haue reserued one thing which is good for al to know and some to prouide for and that is this Answering to my Admonition for that point of his subscription which I had obiected against him as a proofe of a vile conscience he graunteth that he had subscribed but he denieth that he had so subscribed as that he should be prooued against himselfe thereby in anie thing Thereupon he setteth me downe though vntruly as you haue heard certaine fourmes of the pointes whereunto hee did subscribe and there withall telleth mee what handsome interpretations of his owne wordes he can make whereby giuing one hand to the satisfying of the authoritie that then dealt with him with the other hee stroketh the eyes of his foolish followers that they might sleepe still in the opinion of his good meaning As though the dealings of Rob. Browne had not otherwise bene vile ynough except he had by this means shewed that he hath not one haire of an honest man about him Read beloued and then testifie The first article of his subscription he reporteth thus The bishops ciuill authoritie Browne did acknowledge lawfull in his subscription and their magistracie to bee obeyed Well how doe you thinke he maketh this agree with his bookes euen thus hee telles you that hee doeth by those wordes neither iustifie those for brethren which doe persecute nor allow an idle and Lordly ministerie in the Church as a part of the brotherhoode How the reader can conceyue this that he denieth vpon his subscription I knowe not but thus much I am sure this his explication certifieth that the BB. being by the Queene and her lawes allowed the titles of Lordes are accounted of Browne not to bee members of the Church And by this answere it appeareth he coggeth this imagination into his disciples that hee allowed the BB. ciuill authoritie but therewithall denied them their ecclesiasticall ministerie Howbeit in plaine wordes he subscribed to their authoritie To couer himselfe in the 2. article hee is faine to hide the trueth as I haue before discouered For the third though he vse the same craft yet in that hee cannot but confesse that hee subscribed that his childe was baptized according to order of lawe to salue his credite with his companions in this hee saith But yet it was done without his consent and contrary to an order he had taken and appointed for it was baptised in England he being beyonde the sea If it were contrarie to his purpose howe coulde it argue his not refusing to communicate in the Sacrament On the other side if hee tell his disciples true of his meaning herein that hee had taken other order for his childs baptizing but that his being beyond sea crossed his purpose how agreeth that with his neglecting of the same order taking for his later childes baptizing which euen at the time of his subscription he alledged by way of coniecture as if God had giuen his wife safe deliuerance to be baptized also according to lawe He was nowe in Englande when hee might haue taken better order if the first were such an errour But because he had no such colourable excuse for this he tooke a shorter way though no lesse shamefull in stepping ouer that part of the article as though there had beene no such thing Also for his alleaging his seruants comming to Church according to lawe whereby he perswaded vnto the BB. his owne conformitie that way he excuseth this to his companions to be for that he was not to force his seruants agaynst their conscience and custome being newly come to him Adding this beside that he neuer came to the same Church with them the parson beeing a common drunkard and infamous by sundrie faults Againe confessing he promised the BB. on the one side that he would come to Church according to order of lawe On the other side hee perswadeth his disciples that hee might well ynough doe so for that there was no lawe to force him to take such a parson for his lawfull minister neither to ioyne with him in the prayers and Sacraments Thus hath hee first manifestly mocked authoritie so as that place of Iude which hee had wrongfully writhen towardes mee returneth nowe againe with full force vppon his owne heade And secondly hee apparantly sheweth that hee continueth his olde course of seducing the seelie sheepe euen as heretofore In summe if all that is here sayde touching his subscription bee melted together as in one lumpe where shall wee find a more perfect image of a pestilent schismaticke and one more voide of all conscience than is this Browne though Rome it selfe be raked through to find him Howe well doe these notes which were long agoe obserued to be the verie properties of all heretikes agree with this mans maners namely to shrinke from their doctrines as ashamed when they are pressed with them and neuerthelesse still vnderhande to glorie in teaching such things Againe as an other testifieth It is not ynough to bee heretikes vnlesse they bee also hypocrites These are they that come in sheepes clothing Sheepe they are in shew foxes for craft but wolues in act and crueltie Neither is it in price with them to followe vertue but to colour vices as with a certaine painting of vertue To the 108. 14 No part of Church Discipline can bee wanting but the Church doeth straight way goe to ruine thereby Againe there may be a true Church of GOD without the Presbiterie These two axiomes will not well agree as the Admonition supposeth Browne sent me glewe which he sayde was strong ynough to holde them together I haue tryed it and it will