the Church of England for a Constancy but hold the separate Congregations to be Lawful Churches and think themselves obliged in Conscience sometimes to Communicate with them tho' I had rather call such Occasional Dissenters and such as prefer the Worship of Dissenters for a Constancy but hold the Worship of the Church of England to be Lawful and think themselves obliged to testifie their Charity by Communicating sometimes with it who are properly Occasional Conformists I take leave also to inform you That both these sorts of Occasional Conformists do believe the Apostle's Creed and particularly the Holy Catholick Church or as the Nicene Creed has it They believe One Catholick and Apostolick Church They acknowledge the 19th Article of the Church of England That the Visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of Faithful Men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments be duly ministred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same That neither sort of these Occasional Conformists find any such Article in any Creed as this I believe the High Church-Party of the Church of England And thus believing they thus Reason He that believes the Holy Catholick Church takes himself to be a Member of that Church and consequently believes it his Duty to refuse Communion with no Party of Christians whose Communion does not necessitate him to Sin and no Communion of Christians who are a Visible Church of Christ within the said Description given by the said 19th Article do necessitate him to Sin They make a great difference between the Use of a Ceremony or any indifferent thing about Religion and the Imposition thereof as necessary to Communion in the Ordinances of Christ and again another difference between the Imposition thereof by any particular Church or Division of Christians on those that Communicate with them and the Separation of that Division of Christians by such Ceremony or indifferent Thing from the rest of the Catholick Church The Use therefore of a certain Ceremony is what they do not scruple as wearing a Gown or Surplice Standing at the Creed Kneeling or Standing or Sitting at the Sacrament according to the Usage of that Party of Christians with whom they Communicate Again They don't scruple the like Ceremony tho' they be imposed by the Government on any National Church or Party of Christians so as they be not made Parties to the Imposition or compelled to declare their Approbation thereof by Word or Practise It is their Judgment That all Religion is Natural or Revealed That there is no Revealed Religion nor any part of it which is not found in the Word of God That nothing ought to be imposed amongst Christians as a Term of Communion which has not its Warrant from thence according to the Sense of the Primitive Church and the whole Protestant Church at the first Reformation And they think it absurd to talk of Unrevealed Parts of Revealed Religion It is therefore their Opinion that if any Party of Christians make a Law That whoever communicates with them must use such or such an Unscriptural Posture or Ceremony and must not have Communion with any other Christians who use not the same altho ' true Churches according to the said 19th Article of the Church of England and this under the Penalty of being starved or any other severe Penalty they take that Party of Christians to be such as the Psalmist speaks of Psal 94.21 who frame Mischief by a Law They think that such Party of Christians do thereby set up an unaccountable Schism in the Catholick Church and separate themselves from it by setting up their Posts by God's and their own Thresholds by his and their making a Wall between him and them so that the Schism lies at their Door and not at theirs who in Contradiction to such a Law continue Members of the Catholick Church They are of Opinion that the Roman Catholicks are justly charged with the greatest Schism that ever was in the Christian World because they separate themselves from the Catholick Church by their new Articles of Faith and Notorious Idolatries which they impose as Terms of Communion but they pretending that the things which they impose are necessary and to be comply'd with on Peril of Damnation are not therefore so Self-condemned as that Party would be who should by such a Law concerning things indifferent separate themselves from all the rest of the Catholick Church The Occasional Conformist therefore by his Communicating with the Church of England declares That he takes it to be a sound Part of the Catholick Church and his Communion with it is Communion with the Catholick Church and not with a Party He Communicates with it because he Agrees with it in all the Essentials of Christianity tho' he Approves not of its Impositions And his Communion with other Protestants is Communion with the Catholick Church of which he takes them also to be a sound Part. By the first he declares himself an Enemy to Separation by the second to unnecessary Impositions by both a Catholick Christian And he is the more confirmed in this Practice because of the plain Tendency of the Unscriptural Terms of Communion which the High Church-Party would establish to a Re-union with Popery as is obvious to any Person who shall seriously consider them And for satisfaction therein I would refer you to avoid Repetition to the Preface of a little Discourse entituled Catholocism without Popery where this Matter is particularly Considered And the Notions therein advanc'd have been effectually Justified by the Oracle of your Party the Author of the Case of the Regale Pontisicat a Book written directly against her Majesty's Supremacy and which has received a Second Edition which asserts That the Dissenter will neither take nor give quarter will neither propose nor accept any Terms of Reconciliation Page 255. and cannot for that unless only for that Reason be angry at the High-Party's seeking or offering Reconciliation with others who may be better disposed and that the whole and only difference between that Party and the Church of Rome Page 244. and which hinders Communion is the Extents of the Pope's Supremacy which the Galliean Church have thrown off as well as they But that all the difference between the Popish French Church and the Church of England are so far Reconcilable as not to hinder Communion And proposes in the First Edition a Treaty between our Convocation and the General Assembly of the Galliean Bishops and Clergy and complains in the Margin of the Second Edition pag. 263. That the English Convocation not being suffered to sit while that of France lasted rendered any Treaty betwixt them impracticable And pag. 179. proposes it plainly as a means to this blessed End that a Bill should pass to render all those that go to Meetings uncapable of any Place of Trust or Profit in the Government And that this must be the
but otherwise let us not be bubled out of our Senses either by the Jus Divinum of Episcopacy or of Presbytery while by one is meant the English Hierarchy or the Seotch Church Government by the other Do not all Learned Men know that Pope Leo the Great who began his Popedom about the Year 440 in his 87th and 90th Epistles is express for a pular Election of Bishops And altho' Pope Symmachus in the latter end of the Fifth Century about the Year 498 endeavoured to exclude the People from the Election yet Pope Celestine the Second in the Year 1143 was the first Pope made without the Peoples Election even in the See of Rome where Priesteraft did most prevail And now in England the Dean and Chapter chose the Bishop in Pursuance of an Act of Parliament and by Authority from the Crown Hierom and Eutichius are express that in Alexandria from Mark their first Bishop one of the Presbyters was chosen to be Bishop by the rest So that the Presbyters could make a Bishop for we read of no Bishops that Ordained or Consecrated Him when so chosen which is the Practice in England The Learned Vsher acknowledges that the Presbyters Power which I plead for is taken from Him in England only by Law and may by Law be restored And yet because an Episcopacy was early in the Church the English Prelacy must be put upon us to be Jure Divino Take it as it is Jure Humano and I have not one word to say against it And 't is plain that notwithstanding the noise now made about the Jus Divinum of Bishops as a Superiour Order to Presbyters that was not the Sense of the Church at the Restauration of King Charles the Second for if it had the Lords Spiritual would never have agreed to the Stat. 12. Car. 2. Cap. 17. which restores Ministers Ordained by any Ecclesiastical Persons before the 25th of December then last past Alass Sir Christ himself and not the Apostles Ordained the Seventy Philip the Deacon sent Christianity into Abasinia where it still is by the Aethopian Eunuch who was no Bishop that I know of and yet they had Ordained Ministers before they received an Abuna or Archbishop from the Patriarch of Alexandria Let the Priests be Governed in all Countries as they are most Governable it hinders not but we may be all of the same and not of opposite Principles but of the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion I don't pretend to determine how far the Civil Power may enforce Reveal'd Religion but I hope all Christian Princes and States will take care that the Priests add not to or diminish from our Christianity in any Form and let them be Governed as they may but for God's sake let Discipline be restored and then 't is no great matter in what Form the Priests are managed Let every Minister who has the Cure of Souls be enabled to exercise Disciplinam Christi which I am sure is Jure Divino and perhaps the Reduction of Episcopacy to the Form of Synodical Government by Archbishop Vsher tho' not Jure Divine would be found so agreeable to Reason suitable to Primitive Practice and accomodate to the Ends of Discipline that a due Consideration thereof might in a while bring all Christian Churches into the same Form of Government without the Pretence of a Jus Divinum for it Let us have no Laws about the Matter of Reveal'd Religion but what are at least plainly justified by the Scripture and not be hampered by the Priests Additions in any Form and Discipline will be easie and without Difficulty But if the Parish Minister may not Excommunicate a Notorious Convicted Atheist Deist Blasphemer Idolater Prophane Swearer Sabbath-breaker Abuser of Parents Murderer Adulterer Thief Perjured Person Extortioner Barretor and such like but must complain to the Diocesan and an Appeal must lie to the Archbishop the same Reason may carry it to the Pope tho' our Laws justly prohibit it So in the other Form of Government if such a Criminal after Conviction by Law may appeal from his Pastor to the Sessions thence to the Presbytery thence to the Synod and thence to the General Assembly the same Reason will carry it to a General Council and I think there ought to be one Appeal more in such Cases viz. to the Day of Judgment Indeed if Priests may make us a Horse-load of Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical and load us with Ceremonies of which St. Augustine in his Second Epistle to Januarius complains that the Condition of the Jews was more tolerable than of the Church in his Time which was the 5th Century and the Transgression of every one of them shall be a new Sin there may be need of Appeals nor will it be sit to trust a single Person to teaze a Parish for not submitting to Priestcraft But the Laws of God are plain the Duties required by Christianity are well known and I am so far from Abridging the Ministers of the Gospel of their just Power that I think 't is a horrid shame that they have not more 'T is an excellent Passage cited out of Mr. Chillingworth by the late Author of a Discourse called the Principle of the Protestant Reformation I am fully assured that God doth not and therefore that Man ought not to require any more of any Man than this to Believe the Scripture to be God's word to endeavour to find the true Sense of it and to Live according to it The Bible the Bible I say the Bible only is the Religion of Protestants But though I agree with the Author page 5. That a Person by Baptism is not made a Member of any particular Church but only of the Christian Church Universal yet I conceive that he is wretchedly out when he insinuates That there is no Part of Primitive Church Communion which might not have been performed by a Woman as well as a Man and that a Woman 's Narrative would have been part of the Gospel Because that Bible tells me not that our Saviour had any She-Apostles or Evangelists Indeed Priscilla as well as Aquila did instruct Apollos but so may any good Woman instruct her Friend without being a Church-Officer And the Context of that Passage 1 Cor. 11.21 which he quotes seems to insinuate as if this Fancy of a Female Officer had got footing in the Church of Corinth but the Apostle tells us That the Head of the Woman is the Man ver 3. and that she ought to have Power or a Covering on her Head So far from being heard that she was not to be seen And in the next Chapter v. 28 29. he speaks of Church-Officers but of no She-Ones And again Chap 14. v. 34. He is plain in the Case Let the Woman keep Silence in the Church for it is not permitted to them to speak and so 1 Tim. 2.12 Again I think he is strangely out when he says page 11. That there is no absolute Necessity for
Heads and to make it obnoxious to the Romanists for its Invisibility And hence upon the Happy Revolution it was a Question between a very Eminent and Learned Prelate Vox Cleri P. 68. and the Prolocutor of the late Convocation What it was that distinguish'd the Church of England from other Protestant Churches The Bishop rightly affirming That the Church of England is an Equivocal Expression and was not distinguished from other Protestant Churches but by its Hierarchy and Revenues And the Prolocutor asserting That the Church of England was distinguished by its Doctrine as it stands in the Articles Liturgy and Homilies as well as by its Hierarchy And although since His Majestys happy Accession to the Throne His Pious and Princely Care of the Church hath fill'd the Archi-Episcopal and Episcopal Seats with Men of Consummate Piety Learning and Moderation whereby and by giving the Royal Assent to the Act for Indulgence He hath been our Deliverer from Tyranny in the Church as well as in the State yet it cannot be forgotten how during the Prevalency of the High Church Party in the late Reigns not Kneeling at the Sacrament not Baptizing with the Cross Hearing in Congregations which are Churches of Christ within the Definition given by the Articles of the Church were Prosecuted with the greatest Violence and Men cast out of the Church for those Reasons while Men of the most Profligate Lives Swore D n them they were for the Church of England and were admitted to the Sacrament without reserve That great Numbers of the sober Serious Subjects of England were kept out from that which was called the Church for Conscience sake and all the Prophane and Vicious let in that were willing to enter That those things that would make a Man Holy on Earth and prepare for Heaven yet would not let him into the Church and that he might be a beloved Member thereof who was not fit to live on the Earth and made most visible haste to the Devil These and the like considerations made me wonder that no Man had concerned himself to tell us plainly What the Church of England is And since the Cant of that Party is still The Church the Church I will like an Honest Lay-Christian that is not any way infected with Priest-Craft return a short Answer to the Question which may be at least of use to put some Body upon explaining it better The Articles of the Church to which all the Clergy have Subscribed and to most of which since His Majesty's happy Accession to the Throne the Dissenting Ministers have also subscrib'd expresly Teach us That the Visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of Faithful Men Article XIX in which the Pure Word of God is Preached and the Sacraments be duly Ministred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same Now whether this Description be meant of the Universal Church or of a single Congregation 't is thence an easie Conclusion That the Church of England is that Part of the Universal Church which is Compos'd of all the Congregations of Faithful Men in England in which the Pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly Ministred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same And if this Description be allowed 't is impossible to exclude the Presbyterian Independant and Antipaedobaptist Churches from being Part of the Church of England Of the Antipaedobaptist may be the greatest doubt because they deny Infants to be capable Subjects of Baptism but nevertheless that Error excludes them not out of this Description for to the Subjects they allow to be capable and of which their whole Communion consists the Sacraments are duly Administred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same It is therefore a wonderful thing to hear Men on one side loudly declare in the Presence of God and the Congregation That they Believe the Holy Catholick Church and yet calling their Brethren that go under those several Denominations Phanaticks Hypocrites and other odious Names and Excommunicating them out of the Church And it is no less wonderful on the other side to hear some under those several Denominations accusing those that conform to the Establisht Ceremonies with Antichristianism and denying the Church of England to be a True Church when they themselves have Subscribed to that very Article and Five or Six and Thirty more of their Thirty Nine and are really Part of the same Church And this one Consideration Justifies the Practice of those who condemn the Imposition of unnecessary things by Communicating with the Moderate Dissenters and condemn the Separating Censorious and Schismatical Humour wherever sound amongst the Dissenters by Communicating with the Conformable Part of the Church And indeed it seems to be little considered by the Generality of Protestants how great the Agreement is between all the said Parties They have the same Rules of Faith Manners and Devotion for they own the same Scripture to be of Divine Authority and a perfect Rule of Faith and Life the same Creeds are Profest by them all the same Ten Commandments are acknowledged by them all as the Divine Law and they agree to our Saviours Exposition thereof and to all the Precepts and the Ordinances and Sacraments of the Christian Religion they have the same Object of Worship the same Mediator the Inspiration of the same Holy Spirit they have the same Objects of their Hopes and Fears they fly from the same Wrath and expect the same Glory Again these several Parties do condemn the Twelve new Articles of the Roman Faith all the Idolatries of the Mass Image-Worship Praying to Saints and Angels and for the Dead Monkery 1 Tim. 4.1 2. with all the Doctrines of Demons invented by the Hypocrisy of those Lyars nor do any of them retain any thing substantial in Doctrine or Practice introduc'd by the Apostacy of the Latter Times The Disagreement among them lies only about Imposing and Refusing Circumstances of Worship Observation of Days the Use of Habits and Gestures of Forms and Ceremonies and Unscriptural Forms of Church-Government and about Subscriptions and Oaths and Laws made to enforce Mens own Inventions All which I shall briefly touch when I have in the following Propositions endeavour'd to shew what are the true Terms of Union for the whole Christian World and how all the above-mention'd Parties may enjoy this their Unity in the Church of England When our Saviour condemn'd the Jewish Divorce he grounded his Sentence upon this Foundation From the Beginning it was not so and to discover the true Terms of Christian Unity we must look back to the Rise of Christian Religion CHRISTIANITY came into this World Pure and Free without the Jewish Yoak of beggarly Elements without the Heathen Niceties of painful Rights and Ceremonies It taught to Worship God in Spirit and Truth bound Men to no
because he hath not Five Nay he that hath but one may improve it to Salvation though he never understood School-Divinity nor the Power of the Church in Decreeing Ceremonies But though I might I will not presume to name those Truths or Terms of Union the Moderate of all the aforesaid Persuasions will easily agree therein And to the Consideration of the Sons of Peace I leave the Particulars though I think I may say That the Articles of the Church to which the Dissenters do Subscribe contain them all But it will still be Objected That though an Assent to those Doctrinal Articles to which the Dissenters have Subscribed and which include Scripture as the Rule of Faith and Manners and thence Collect Rules of Faith Practice and Devotion were made the Terms of Admission into the Church of England yet there remain many things in Point of Practice which keep up Differences and divide us into Parties as I. Forms of Prayers II. Habits of the Clergy III. Presentations IV. The Cross in Baptism V. Kneeling at the Sacrament VI. God-fathers and Godmothers VII Holy-Days VIII Ordination of Ministers Subscription and Oaths on one Hand Objections Antipathy and Prejudices against all these things and some Indecencies on the other hand And I will shortly touch on all these Heads when I have premis'd First Indifferent Things used in Religion or by Religious Men and suffer'd to remain according to their Nature were never the occasion of Division and Indifferent Things enforc'd by Laws have ever caused Divisions in the Christian World To instance in the Church of England kneeling at the Sacrament is impos'd and keeps out Thousands of Good Christians out of the Establish'd part of the Church whereas sitting when we sing Psalms is not commanded but the Posture has obtained in all Assemblies as well of the Church as of the Dissenters We have had abundance of Paper spoil'd in Writing for and against Kneeling at the Sacrament but not a Page for or against Sitting when Psalms are Sung And yet we may Argue as strongly against Sitting when we Praise God as against Kneeling at the Sacrament abstracted from the Imposition We do not pretend to an Uniformity in Time but in some Churches the Parish meet at Nine in some at Ten in others not till Eleven yet the Church of England never received any prejudice by the want of Uniformity therein The Surplice has even divided the Martyrs among themselves being an indifferent thing impos'd wearing black Cloaths is used by Conformable Men and the Teachers among all the Dissenters indifferently and yet one may prove the Unlawfulness of the Clergy's wearing Black with as strong Arguments as any Man can use against wearing White But when Men will be giving Religious Significations to Insignificant Things we see what comes on 't Imposition is warring against the Nature of Man Adam in Innocency fell by the Breach of a Positive Law concerning a Matter in it self indifferent abstracted from the Sanction of the Law although it receiv'd the Sanction from GOD Himself And it must be highly unreasonable for Men to expect from fallen Man that Obedience which was not paid by Adam to GOD Himself except at least their Power to Command were as Evident as His. The Right Reverend Prelate Doctor Jeremy Taylor tells us in his Liberty of Prophecying That he that makes an Article of Faith or a Term of Church-Communion without a Divine Authority chalks out a new way to the Devil The Incomparable Chillingworth and the Excellent Hale of Eaton have fix'd the Name of Schismaticks on the Imposers of unnecessary things And certainly he that in Matters of Religion makes indifferent things necessary Usurps Power Superiour to Christ and his Apostles yea to GOD Himself for they thought fit to leave them indifferent Job 40.12 And shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him If it was not well done he that reproveth GOD let him answer it As for the Appointing of Churches and Places and Times for Assembling and Circumstances of the like nature Reason makes such Appointments necessary but still without Restraint as to other Places or Times and such Appointments fall not under the Notion of Indifferent Things 'T is an absurd way of Arguing That the Church may command Indifferent Things because Things Good are Commanded and Evil Forbid by God and they have no other way of Exerting their Power Would they be Greater or Wiser than their Master Our Saviour died to bear witness to the Truth and the single Truth that he immediately died to bear witness unto was That He was a King And I know no Man or Church that has any thing to do to mend our Saviour's Institutions Their Power in Religious Matters is to enforce what He has commanded and to restrain from what he has forbidden and accordingly to Administer Rewards and Punishments This is Power and Work enough for Souls that are sincere and wherever any Power on Earth hath been found making such Additions they have also been found entirely negligent of what is commanded or forbid by God and their whole Zeal hath been employ'd in enforcing their own Innovations Christians as well as Jews have made void the Commandments of GOD through Mens Traditions But to Reflect a little upon the several Particulars above-mentioned Form of Prayer I. I am of Opinion That a Set Form of Prayer appointed to be read in all Churches which receive Maintenance from the Government The beginning of the Preaching of John the Baptist was the beginning of the Gospel and yet John taught his disciples and our Saviour his a Form of Prayer is not only lawful but desirable yet so as no Man be compell'd to use it against his Judgment or Conscience For a Form of Prayer Compos'd in Scripture Language or according to the Sense of Scripture is certainly Dictated by the Spirit and is according to the mind thereof and he who joins in that Prayer hath two Advantages which he that joins with an Extempore Prayer hath not First He is not bound to Reflection upon the Expressions of the Minister which is necessary in the other Case 1. To understand his Meaning 2. To judge whether it be sit to join with him in what he says And Secondly He that joins with a Scriptural Form hath consequently greater Liberty of Thought and may while the Prayer is Reading enlarge in his own Meditations and receive with greater freedom whatsoever immediate Influences the Holy Spirit may please to afford But there are Multitudes who cann't use a Form of Prayer without Formality And really the variety that is in the Temper and Genius of Men makes all unnecessary Impositions grievances to the World Nitimur invetitum is a great Truth though it be not an Article of Faith but the continual Fluctuation of Humane Affairs makes it necessary that the Minister use himself to a readiness of applying Extempore to the Throne of Grace upon extraordinary occasions which is a Liberty not
when all the ends of the Earth shall fear him Psal 67.7 and his Name will never be Hallow'd to purpose Mat. 6.9 10. nor his Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven till this Kingdom of his be come Third Proposition The Methods which Men have taken to attain Peace have been various Conquerors have endeavour'd it by making Mankind Slaves and reducing the World under an Universal Monarchy Mark 9.38 Luke 9.49 54. The Apostles themselves began to be Tempted by the Antichristian Spirit and were for bringing all under their Master by Silencing first and then by Fire from Heaven Popes have attempted it The Reason of this is Plain if the Pope be Antichrist and his Reign extended to 1260 Years by pretending to Infallibility and Councils by making Canons Some Places have labour'd to attain it by an Inquisition and others by Penal-Laws concerning doubtful Matters of Speculation And of them all except the Apostles who were afterwards better Instructed we must conclude with the Apostle The way of Peace they have not known or at least not practised to walk therein Fourth Proposition Ever since the Fall of Man this Lower Creation hath been a Stage of War Gen. 3.15 the Seed of the Woman and of the Serpent have been in constant Action 1 John 3.8 Our Saviour came to Destroy the Works of the Devil Eph. 2.2 whilst the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience keeps up his Works with all Diligence and therefore there is no Peace saith God Isai 57.21 to the Wicked Peace without Holiness is impossible and the World seeks it in vain The Apostle Instructs us to follow Peace with all Men and Holiness Hebr. 12.14 and the Prophet assures us Isai 32.17 That the Work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the Effect of Righteousness Quietness and Assurance for ever And that when God hath wrought all our Works in us Isai 26.12 He will Ordain Peace for us Fifth Proposition It is therefore Impudent Folly for men to Apprehend that they can have Peace with one another while they are at open Enmity with God He that hath all Mens Hearts in His hand will manage them so that his own Word shall be Establish'd if Men will not join in the Practice of Things in the Theory of which they all agree they will be still the Instruments of Divine Vengeance on one another And therefore if Magistrates would labour for Peace they must lay the Foundation thereof in the Reformation of Manners and be very Cautious of making Laws about Matters of Speculation For our Saviour hath told us John 1.17 That if any will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine the way to know more is to Practise what we do know Otherwise Sixth Proposition While Men Dispute with Vehemency and turn Divinity into the most Abstruse and Exquisite fine Notions they make Christianity unintelligible and distinguish all Religion out of the World They Impose on the Credulous confound mean Capacities divide Christians into Sects and every Sect Adores its own Distinguishing Character till if the Question be what Religion a Man is of 'T is Answer'd A PAPIST A CHVRCH OF ENGLAND MAN A PRESBYTERIAN AN INDEPENDENT AN ANTIPOEDO BAPTIST But no Man does and who can truly answer I 'm a Christian Seventh Proposition True Religion is the Bond of Union Isai 11.9 When the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isai 2.4 Mich. 4.3 then Men shall beat their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Then Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation nor shall they learn War any more then nothing shall hurt or destroy in all God's Holy Mountain And since it is evident that although Actions are Belief is not within the Power and Reach of Humane Law and that the Generality of Mankind never will without a Miraculous Power and Extraordinary Revelation agree on the Matters so hotly Disputed even among Protestants 't is worth the while to consider what are the probable Means which the Scripture hath Reveal'd and which it is our Duty to Use for attaining an Universal Peace among Christians There is a Rock on which our Saviour promis'd to build his Church that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it So solemn a Promise requires a Serious Consideration for as the Papists taking it to be the Person of Peter and his Successors have by that Mistake concerning this Rock laid the Foundation of the Antichristian Kingdom so the Kingdom of CHRIST MEDIATOR is truly and surely built upon this Rock which our Saviour intends in that Promise and that is Matt. 16.18 That JESVS CHRIST IS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. Ye believe in God John 14.1 believe also in me was the Substance of our Saviour's Doctrine and the Apostles Creed I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God was Martha's Creed Mark 16.18 John 11.17 And he that Confesseth That Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh God dwelleth in him and he in God John 1.4 It is the end of Writing the Gospel and this saith the Apostle is the Word of Faith That if we confess with our Mouth the Lord Jesus John 20.31 Rom. 10.8 9. and believe in our Hearts that God hath raised him from the Dead we shall be saved And accordingly upon his Profession of the Creed Acts 8.37 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Ethiopian Eunuch who before believed in God was Baptised and the words of Baptism instructed him as they do us in the Foundation of the Christian Church And before any other Creed was made the Effect of this Creed was Miraculous both with respect to the Holy Lives of those that profess'd it and the great Encrease of the Number of such Now what was sufficient in the first Ages was so to after-Ages and is so now 1 Cor. 3.11 For other Foundation can no Man lay than that which is laid already was a Truth in St. Paul's Time The Apostles Creed and the other Creeds subscribed to by the Church of England are not Additions to but Paraphrases of this Creed or Truths which necessarily follow from the Belief thereof and many of the Articles thereof were added in After-Ages in contradiction to the several Heresies which rose at several Times to the endangering that Foundation For Instance Iraeneus Adv. Haeres Lib. 1. cap. 19 20 21 22 23 c. all the Hereticks mention'd by Iraeneus wherewith the Devil vext the Church for the first Three Hundred Years were for a Plurality of Created Gods whom they held also to be Creators and for this reason it should seem were those Words MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH added which were not in the Creed called the Apostles for many Years as appears in the Symbol recited by Marcellus Ancyranus in the Confession of Faith which he
delivered to Pope Julius with the Exposition of the Apostles Creed written by the Latine Doctors The Nicene and Athanasian Creeds were further Explications of this Creed in Opposition to Arrius who struck at the very Foundation even the Godhead of Christ And the Second Councill of Constantinople enlarged the Nicene Creed in the Article that concern'd the Holy Ghost in Opposition to Macedonius who denied the Godhead and Personality of the Holy Ghost and in the Articles concerning the Catholick Church and the Privileges belonging thereunto and when the Roman Church after the Days of Charles the Great had added the Article of the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son in Opposition to the Greek Church the Council of Trent it self hath recommended it to us Council Tredend Ses 3. As that Principle in which all that Profess the Faith of Christ do necessarily agree and the firm and only Foundation against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail Thus out of their own Mouths may we judge those pretended Servants of our Saviour His Blessed Promise hath been perform'd to a Tittle his Church hath been preserved in spight of the Gates of Hell and the Rock hath been like the Foundations of the Earth unshaken by all Assaults of Hell of all that are there already and all that are hastning thither And it is to me a most Important Observation which is made by that Prophet and Apostle of this Latter Age Archbishop Vsher Usher's Sermon June 20. 1624. pag. 27. That whatsoever the Father of Lyes either hath Attempted or shall Attempt yet hath he neither hitherto Effected nor shall ever bring to pass hereafter that this Catholick Doctrine ratified by the common Assent of Christians always and every where should be Abolish'd but that in the thickest Mist rather of the most perplexing Troubles it still obtained Victory both in the Minds and in the open Confession of all Christians no ways overturn'd in the Foundation thereof and that in this Verity that one Church of CHRIST was preserv'd in the midst of the Tempest of the most cruel Winter or in the thickest Darkness of her Wainings And he further adds that if at this Day we should take a Survey of the several Professions of Christianity that have any large spread in any Part of the World as of the Religion of the Roman and of the Reform'd Churches in our Quarters of the Ethiopians and Egyptians in the South of the Grecians and other Christians in the Eastern Parts and should put by the Points wherein they differ one from another and gather into one Body the rest of the Articles wherein they all agree we should find that in those Propositions which without all Controversy are Universally received in the whole Christian World so much Truth is contain'd as being join'd with Holy Obedience may be sufficient to bring a Man to everlasting Salvation neither have we cause to doubt but that as many as do walk according to this Rule neither overthrowing that which they have builded by super inducing any Damnable Heresies thereupon nor otherwise Viciating their holy Faith with a lewd and wicked Conversation Peace shall be upon them and Mercy and upon the Israel of GOD. This is a Consideration of the greatest Weight and discovers the Foundation of Christian Vnity and of the Peace of the Universal Church And even J. W. in his Contest with the Right Reverend and Learned Doctor Stilling fleet Stilling Answ to sev Treatises 68.70 now Lord Bishop of Worcester proves the Vnity of the Roman Church by this Argument All those who Assent unto the Ancient Creeds are Undivided in Matters of Faith But all Roman Catholicks Assent unto the Ancient Creeds Ergo all Roman Catholicks are Undivided in Matters of Faith These says the Doctor are the most Healing Principles that have yet been thought of Fye for shame why should we and they of the Church of Rome quarrel thus long We are well agreed in all Matters of Faith which saith he I shall demonstratively prove from the Argument of J. W. drawn from his two last Propositions All who Assent to the Ancient Creeds are Undivided in Matters of Faith But both Papists and Protestants do Assent unto the Ancient Creeds Ergo They are Undivided in Matters of Faith and though this way of Arguing was only Ad hominem it is great Pity that the Major Proposition of the last Syllogism was not pronounced out of the Infallible Chair But certain it is That the Papists notwithstanding their great Boast of Vnity are much more Divided within themselves than any Protestants from each other for the Rent goes through the main Foundation of their Faith Their Church's INFALLIBILITY For where to place it they can by no means agree but as among that Party which calls it self the Church of England though some are Socinians Note If that Notion be true viz. That the Vaudois and Albigeois are the Two Witnesses 't is Demonstration that Hierarchy and Liturgy are no proper Terms of Union For although they have been pure Churches ever since the Apostles Days they have always been without both some Calvinists c. yet all agree in the Hierarchy and Common-Prayer So there are two things in which all Papists do agree viz. the Hierarchy under the Bishop of Rome and the Sacrifice of the Mass Upon these two Poles the Antichristian World stands firm though almost all others are controverted Fas est ab hoste doceri And therefore why may not the Governours of the Church of England fix upon those Terms of VNION wherein all Christians in the World are agreed which are few and plain and restore them to their Primitive Right of being the Foundation of the Peace and Unity of Christians Terms of Divine Institution will as certainly Unite the Christian World as Terms of Humane Institution have done the Antichristian And since it is not a Matter at present practicable to bring all sorts of Christians together to agree on those Terms it will be the Glory of the Church of England to set an Example which will be follow'd by all the Christian World There are in a Word some Truths which are the First Principles of the Oracles of God Heb. 5.12 and these are the Truths which ought to be the Terms of Union But I would not be misunderstood as if I thought no other Truths necessary for a Growing Christian There are the Principles of the Doctrine of CHRIST or as the Original the Word of the beginning of CHRIST which are necessary to Unite a Man to the Christian Church Heb. 6.1 and which are suited to the Unlearned as well as the Learned and ought to admit him into its Communion But there is also a going on to Perfection which becomes all Men that live in that Communion the degrees of which are various and the highest degrees most desirable but yet he that hath but two Talents ought not to be cast out of the Church
being freed and deliver'd from the Corruptions and Errors which have been introduced into the Christian Church by Hereticks by the Ambition and Tyranny of Priests and the Ignorance and Folly of the Laity At the late Revolution I presumed to present to the late Queen of Pious Memory some Thoughts on this Subject in Manuscript the Substance whereof was afterwards Printed under this Title Catholicism without Popery c. In the Preface to which short Discourse the Reader may find this Passage viz. If this Attempt may stir up the Spirits of others whose Parts and Qualifications are equal to such an Vndertaking to offer better Means to the same End In magnis voluisse sat est I shall greatly rejoice to be confuted by Proposals of better Expedients But no Man having been stirred up to the Vndertaking and my Practice agreeable to my Principles having rendered me Obnoxious to the Enemies of Peace I could no longer forbear to publish to the World what I judged necessary at the same time to vindicate my own Integrity and to promote the Interests of Genuine Christianity I need not any other Excuse than what I made to the Person who presented that former Discourse to Her late Majesty A Passage Recorded by all the Evangelists That it was a Lawyer that took care of the Body of our Blessed Saviour Matth. 27.57 Mark 15.43 Luke 23.50 John 19.38 when Crucifi'd at the Instigation of the Priests And while some Priests of all sorts are Crucifying his Mystical Body a Lawyer may have leave to Rescue it in hopes of its speedy Resurrection I hope I may with great Assurance use those words of Erasmus in his Epistle to the Bishop of Trent before Irenaeus Good hope possesses my Soul Itaque bona quaedam spes habet animum meum fore ut hanc Ecclesiae tempestatem Dominus inscrutabili suo concilio vertat in bonos Exitus Excitetque nobis Irenaeos aliquot qui compositis dissidiis pacem orbi restituant that God by his unsearchable Council will give a good Issue to this Storm in the Church and will raise up for us such as Irenaeus who by composing Differences may restore Peace to the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek signifying Peace that Father surely was Baptized very late or his Name was given by Prophecy But alas what possibility is there of Peace if the Priests continue so fond of their respective Parties that they will venture to trespass against their God against their Sovereign against Truth Scripture Charity and Reason to maintain their own Follies Of which we have a fresh and notable Instance in a late Discourse before the Queen Entituled Of the Imitation of Christ in which the Author appears to be a Person of good Learning and I hope serious Religion a Master of good Language and well read in Scripture yet has offered that to his Sovereign in the Name of God and as the Imitation of Christ which is false and Unscriptural a Notion mention'd by Papists Irrational and uncharitable The whole Passage runs thus Tho' one great end of his coming Page 13. was to take away the Ceremonial Part of the Law of Moses yet as long as it was to last how careful was he to preserve in it Decency and Order How readily in the mean time did he comply with all indifferent and harmless Rites much more those that were instructive and significant He Celebrated the Passover but an hour before the Substituted his Holy Supper in its Place He observed all the Festivals of the Church not only those that were of Divine Appointment but the Feast of the Dedication it self a Feast purely of humane Institution and no older than Judas Maccabeus It was sufficient to him that it was ordained by the Church of the which he was then a Member nor did he take upon him to question the Authority in so innocent a Right And what he practised himself he expresly commanded his Disciples to imitate The Scribes and Pharisees says he sit in Moses's Seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do Which by the way is an unanswerable Authority for the Churches Right in ordering Matters of Ceremony and Things indifferent For surely the Jewish Church was at that time corrupt enough to be denied that Priviledge If it were ever fit that such a Priviledge should be denied the Church And if Christ thus taught and practised Obedience to a Corrupt Church what must be thought of those who refuse it to a pure one If he submitted to all the Jewish Rites so numerous so dark and so burdensome what can they plead in their Excuse who disdain to comply with the Ceremonies of our Church so few so rational and so discreet They must not they cannot justly take it ill to be told that however they may flatter themselves they do not abide in Christ because they do not walk as he walked The things advanced in these words with which I am so free are these That our Saviour complied with all the Rites of the Jews which he calls indifferent and harmless That he observ'd a Festival of the Churches Institution viz. the Feast of Dedication That he commanded his Disciples to imitate him therein and that therefore they who do not comply with the Ceremonies of our Church do not abide in Christ because they do not walk as he walk'd Now 1. All this is false and Unscriptural for he justified his Disciples not washing their Hands before Dinner 15 Mat. 9.7 Mark 7.9 11 Luke 38.39 and told the Jews that in vain did they worship God teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men many Passages of like import are found in the New Testament and surely no Rite could be more indifferent or harmless than that 'T is also false that the Feast of the Dedication was Ordained by the Church for the place which he quotes tells us that it was Ordained by Judas Maccabeus and his Brethren with the whole Congregation of Israel 1 Mac. 4.59 which is rather the State than the Church and so Josephus tells us that Judas succeeded to the Command of the Army that he had the Publick Administration put into his Hands and that the People appointed that Anniversary Nor does it appear that our Saviour observed that Feast Josephus 336.338 by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Text says that he walk'd in the Temple in Solomon's Porch or Gallery which was without the Temple Joseph Lib. 8. Cap. 2. 3 Acts 11. 1 Kings 6.3 or Place of Worship but what then Suppose a Dissenter or an Occasional Conformist should on the Feasts of the Conversion of St. Paul or of St. Barnabas which were added to the Holy-days of the Church at the Restauration of King Charles the Second to shew the Parties Inclination to Unity and Peace walk in the Porch of St. Paul's would this be taken for Conformity 'T is also false that he commanded his Disciples to imitate him in
quasi tradita ab Apostolis asseruntur percutiuntur Gladio Dei Hier. in Agg. long after the 4th Century All those things which are asserted as delivered by the Apostles without the Testimony of the Scriptures are smitten with the Sword of God For it seems when Irenaeus and the other ancient Fathers had exposed all Vnrevealed Parts of Revealed Religion the Lovers of Priest-craft would have introduced some things as Revealed tho' not written but conveyed down by Tradition But I must not enlarge at least at this time on this Subject only having some Reason to know the Original of the Charter granted by the late Glorious King Willian Establishing a Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge I earnestly intreat the Reader to consider the Consequence of these Additions to Christianity with respect to that Design If I were now to apply my self to an Indian to instruct him in the Christian Religion I would appeal to his Experirience that Nature is corrupted and shew him the History thereof in the Scriplures 3 Gen. 5 Rom. 12.18 I would appeal to his Reason that Sin deserves Punishment and that Justice must be a Divine Attribute and shew him the same things in Scripture 34 Ex. 7. 45 Is 21. 3 Rom. 26. I would appeal to his Reason and shew him in Scripture what a loss Mankind was at to find out an Atonement that thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl would not suffice 6 Mic. 6.7 8. not the First-born the Fruit of the Body for the Sin of the Soul But that notwithstanding all that Man could do 49. Ps 7.8 the Redemption of the Soul was so precious that it must have ceas'd for ever Then I would shew him only by Revelation out of the Word of God That faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation 1 Tim. 1.15 that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners and so proceed to Preach the Gospel to him and to instruct him out of the New Testament The suitableness of such a Propitiation for our Sins sufficient to satisfie Divine Justice and the Cravings of a wounded Spirit seeking Means to make Satisfaction thereto was in my Opinion the true Reason of the Progress of Christianity in the first Ages of the Church and will be so when rightly enforced to the yet Vuchristianiz'd Part of the World And the Man by this time would be very willing to believe those Scriptures to be the Word of God And the Proof thereof would be very agreeable to him Account of the Proceedings of the Society by Mr. Stubbs or as an Indian King lately exprest himself that there was a Saviour born for Mankind But when he had rejoyc'd in Christ Jesus and hugged his Bible and read in the end of it and elsewhere Deut. 4.2 22 Rev. 18.19 Prov. 30.6 the Curses pronounc'd against those that diminish from it or add to it and desired to be Baptized with what Face could I tell him that he must not be admitted to have any benefit thereby unless he will constantly submit to divers things not to be found there and that unless he did so he was both for God and Baal Wou'd he think it a decent thing to add to the Institutions of such a Redeemer But I will not enter into Particulars if the Design of the following Discourse do prevail these Matters will be considered by wiser Heads but by none who wish more the Glory of the Christian Church and particularly of that part of it in England than Your Christian Friend J. HOOKE CATHOLICISM WITHOUT POPERY SIR IN your Preface to your late Discourse Entituled Peace at Home you have rightly observed That the Controversie which is the Subject Matter of that Discourse ought not to be carried on with Heat and Passion but fairly debated with Reason and Moderation not by unknown Persons who may be Jesuits or Deists but by such as dare own their Principles and will endeavour to Reconcile our Differences and not inflame them I hope that an Acquaintance of some Years hath sufficiently convinc'd you that I am neither Jesuit nor Deist And I dare appeal to your Conscience whether I have not given you undeniable Evidence of an Affection to the Church of England and a desire not to keep up but to reconcile our Differences not to promote Parties and Factions but Peace and Unity not for the sake of any private End or Interest whatsoever but for the sake of Truth and for the general Good Thus far therefore I conceive my self to be such a Person as you wish your Answerer should be But because you and the Writers of your Party have taken the liberty to accuse Men of my Principles as Hypocrites as unfit to be Guardians of Children or Executors of Wills as dispensing with our Principles for the sake of an Office as setting up an Arbitrary Dispensing Power in our own Consciences as acting contrary to our Original Principles as if Occasional Conformity were such an Offence as in inconsistent with the Publick Safety and Occasional Conformists Persons sit to be rank'd with Papists Deists and Socinians I have thought it my Duty thus to acquaint you that I have also that other Qualification to become your Answerer That I dare own my Principles But alass to what End were your Applications made to Her Majesty on Occasion of the late Bill since by your own Confession the Fears and Jealousies of those who are Members of the Church of England and of those who dissent from it And the Matters in Controversie arising from those Fears seem in a fair way to be determined to the Satisfaction of all Parties by Her Majesties Gracious Speeches from the Throne That Her Majesty will always make it Her particular Care to encourage and maintain the Church as by Law Established and to maintain the Act of Toleration for the ease of Dissenters Give me leave to add alass to what end did you erect a Pompous Frontispiece before an Epistle Dedicatory a Preface a Discourse and a Postscript and all these on a Subject of which you seem to know no more than if you had lived in Turky or under the Great Mogul I mean the Principles of the Occasional Conformists for I had rather impute your unaccountable Mistakes concerning them to Ignorance than Insincerity And unless they be understood your Discourse in behalf of the Establish'd Government in Church and State of Uniformity Establish'd Religion and Establish'd Constitutions seems Calculated and may indifferently serve for the Meridian of Edenburg Geneva Paris Rome or Constantinople and with a small Variation of Names may be publish'd in behalf of the Constitutions in Church and State in all those places I take leave therefore to inform you That the Description of the Occasional Comformists is true which is given by the Author of a Letter to a Clergy-man concerning the Votes of the Bishops in the last Sessions who divides them into two sorts such as prefer the Worship of
Reason of the Zeal of a certain Party therein and nor a Consciencious Regard to the Act of Uniformity is further Evident because Bowing at the Name of Jesus and toward the Altar tho' contrary to the Act of Uniformity but signifying an inclination towards Popery are as much practised and defended by that Party as any Ceremonies establish'd by that Law The Occasional Conformist therefore thinks himself bound in Conscience to make a Remarkable Difference in his Practise between the regard he shews to the Commandments of God and to the Inventions of Men especially when those Inventions are manifestly defended with the utmost Vigor to keep a Correspondence with France and Rome I might here name many Things which may be amended in the Church of England But I had rather Convince you that you are in a great Mistake when you affirm That there is no way to heal Divisions but by such a Bill as that against Occasional Conformity And because Her most Sacred and most Excellent Majesty is I trust raised up by Almighty God to perfect that Reformation both at Home and Abroad which was so much advanc'd by Her Predecessor Queen Elizabeth of Blessed Memory and because I take Her Reign to be a more proper Season for such a Work than that of the late King William tho' of Glorious Memory for Reasons easily Occurring to Men of Thought and some of which shall be hereafter mentioned I will venture to propose another Means to put an End to Faction to secure the Publick Peace in Church and State to remove the Causes of all our Fears and of all our Divisions which is worth Ten Thousand such Bills as that against Occasional Conformity and which the Promoters of that Bill cannot refuse to approve of if they be hearty Lovers of her Majesty and the Church of England It were easie to prove what has been before mentioned that the Primitive Rule of Reformation and the Rule universally used at the Reformation was That the Terms of Christian Communion ought to be only such as are found in the Scripture And perhaps in another Discourse the World may see a full Evidence That all the Mischiefs that have happen'd to the Christian Church have been occasioned by departing from that Principle and an account may be given of the gradual Growth of Priestcraft from the days of Diotrephes to the time of Cardinal Woolsey at least But before I mention the said Means of putting an End to Faction I will only observe that notwithstanding by Stat. 31. H. 8. c. 14. Transubstantiation Communion in one Kind Prohibition of Marriage to the Clergy Monkish Vows Private Masses and Auricular Confession are also Establish'd by Act of Parliament yet some time before viz. 25 H. 8. cap. 21. the King and Parliament did declare That they did not intend to decline or vary from the Congregation of Christ's Church in any thing concerning the very Articles of the Faith of Christendom or in any other things declared by Holy Scripture and the Word of God necâ—ssary for their Salvation and that this continued to be the Opinion even of the Popish Church of England appears from Stat. 1. Mar. Ses 2. c. 1. Wherein the Marriage of Queen Katherin to Henry the 8th is declared Lawful and all Sentences of Divorce between them Repealed And lest the Queen and Parliament should seem to enact any thing herein contrary to the aforesaid Principle It is thereby Enacted That the said Marriage had and solemnized between the Queen 's most Noble Father King Henry and her most Noble Mother Queen Katherine should be definitively clearly and absolutely declared deemed and adjudged to be and stand with God's Law and his most Holy Word So sensible were the Parliament in those times that God's Law and his most Holy Word ought to be the Rule of all things relating to Christian Religion And tho' an Act of Parliament will not make that stand with God's Law and his most Holy Word which does not stand therewith yet the Wisdom of the Nation at that time and the Wisdom of all Nations and of all Pretenders to Establish a Revealed Religion such as Numa Mahomet and others have thought it necessary to pretend Divine Authority for all Matters relating to Revealed Religion And had that seemed Good to the Governors of Church and State in Christian Countries which seemed Good to the Holy Ghost and the Apostles Elders or Presbyters and Brethren met in the first Council of the Christian Church at Jerusalem viz. To impose nothing but necessary things Had they taken the Prophet's Advice Isai 55.14 Take up the stumbling Block out of the Way of my People instead of forcing them to use it Popery had never risen but the Church had continued Pure to the Worlds end But this being premised I desire you to remember that when the Supremacy of the Pope was thrown off by the Church of England and the Crown restored to its Ancient Rights it was by Stat. 25. H. 8. c. 19. Enacted That the Convocation should be Assembled by the King's Writs and should not Enact any Constitutions or Ordinances without the King's Assent And it was further Enacted as follows And for as much as such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances as heretofore have been made by the Clergy of this Realm cannot now at the Session of this present Parliament by reason of shortness of Time be viewed examined and determined by the King's Highness and Thirty Two Persons to be chosen and appointed according to the Petition of the said Clergy in form above rehearsed Be it therefore Enacted by the Authority abovesaid That the King's Highness shall have Power and Authority to nominate and assign at his pleasure the said Two and Thirty Persons of his Subject whereof Sixteen to be of the Clergy and Sixteen to be of the Temporalty of the Upper and Nether House of the Parliament And if any of the said Two and Thirty Persons so chosen shall happen to die before their full Determination then His Highness to nominate other from time to time of the said Two Houses of the Parliament to supply the Number of the said Two and Thirty and that the same Two and Thirty by his Highness so to be named shall have Power and Authority to view search and examine the said Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial and Synodal heretofore made And such of them as the King's Highness and the said Two and Thirty or the more part of them shall deem an adjudge worthy to be continued kept obeyed and executed within this Realm so that the King 's most Royal Assent be first had to the same And the residue of the said Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial which the said King's Highness and the said Two and Thirty Persons or the more part of them shall not approve or deem and adjudge worthy to be abolish'd abrogate and made frustrate shall from thenceforth be void and of none effect and never be put in Execution within
things are now set in the clearest Light a better Friend to the Church can never fill the English Throne the terms of Catholick Unity are well understood both by the Clergy and many of the Laity while the Church has stood upon Stilts * Ceremonies it has been sometimes bending towards Rome and at other times towards Enthusiasm but by this means it may be unmoveably fixt upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone And this in short is what I would offer on this Subject that her Majesty may receive the like Authority by Act of Parliament as that so often given to King H. 8. and after to Edw. 6. By this means instead of our being cursed once a Year on Ash-Wednesday the Church may obtain the Benefit of that Godly Discipline which the Rubrick wishes to be Restored The Liturgy of the Church of England may be made a Form to some and at least a Directory agreeable to all the Protestant Churches the Rights Powers and Priviledges of an English Convocation would be better understood and all the Attempts of the Factors of Rome and France would be defeated for ever And therefore to use the Word of the Author of the Reasons for passing the late Bill with a very little Variation they being as I conceive much more for my purpose than his Since the Security of Particulars that is the Innocent the Honest and Peaceable for no body I suppose means to incourage the wicked Seditions or to protect them in their Crimes Such as that High Church-man who has lately Publish'd a Latin Treatise to prove the present Church of England Schismatical At least this is not a Design that will bear the Light since the Peace and Prosperity of the Nation in General by the Encouragement of Industry and Increase of Trade by the Benefit and Comforts of Society by Dutiful and Chearful Submission to those whom God God has set over us in Church and State by a most Cordial and Loyal Obedience to Her Majesty and Grateful Sence of the Blessings we enjoy under Her Just and Prudent Government since the Wisdom and Piety of our Legislators the Sagacity of their Judgments the Weight and Authority of their Deliberations their Unanimity and Firmness in the Pursuit of fit and necessary Measures and the Nobleness of their Resolution in overcoming all Difficulties since the Honour and Felicity of Her Majesties most Auspicious Reign Her Reputation abroad and Interest at home the Praise and Veneration that will be paid Her now and that Renown that will attend Her to all Succeeding Ages for securing to all Posterity that unvaluable Blessing which was Established by Her famous Predecessor Queen Elizabeth of truly Glorious Memory And as Her Majesty was pleased to tell us very lately even Her present Satisfaction and what she has most at Heart And above all since the Interests of Religion and the Glory of God are so nearly concerned in this Business and that Temporal and narrow Aims may be cashiered Brotherly Love revived and the little things that divide us giving place to the more Weighty that ought to unite us We may henceforth only contend for the Faith which was once delivered and that Purity of Manners which is the necessary Effect of it Let us unanimously agree in enabling Her Majesty to give all that Security and Perfection to our most excellent Constitution which it may justly require at our Hands Nor is it the Church only that requires this 't is the State likewise which must stand or fall with Her For the sake then of our most Wise and Constituted Government which all Strangers envy and which we seem to pride our selves so much upon for the sake of our Most Gracious Sovereign than whom never any merited more at our Hands and who so pathetically presses us to perfect Peace and Union among our selves and who declares She hath nothing so much at Heart as the Welfare and Happiness of Her Subjects who manages that Treasure so carefully which we have seen formerly squandered away so profusely on French Intrigues and Whores loads her People with no Deficiencies but even Taxes her self to ease her Subjects and if the most shining Virtue and Goodness placed upon a Throne can affect us if she be as worthy to be trusted as Hen. 8. for the sake of our Countrey for whose Welfare we profess such a mighty Concern and of which we would be thought such Zealous Patriots for our own dear sakes that most powerful Motive with all Mankind and lastly even for God's sake for the Honour and Glory of his Holy Name which ought to weigh with us above all other Considerations Let us not after rejecting a Bill against Immorality be so fond of a Bill which tends only to Establish Ceremonies let us search the Scriptures and not French Presidents for the Means of Vnion least we be judged by our Blessed Saviour for rejecting the Commandments of God that we may keep our own Tradition Let us at last discern the things that belong to our Peace and God forbid that they should at any time this especially be hid from our Eyes And now Sir having offered to your Consideration such Principles as I my self act by and which I conceive are agreeable to the Opinion of most of the English Occasional Conformists and Occasional Dissenters and proposed an Expedient for the Establishment of the Church of England which I conceive far more likely to unite us than the late Bill if it had past and applied the Pathetick Arguments of one of your Party to this Expedient I shall next consider what ever seems to me remain unanswered in your Discourse And first I cannot but admire that you who have pronounc'd that Her Majesty is none of the three Estates of the Realm but the Sovereign Head of that Great Body should in the very same Page allow Her no more than a Councurrence with what Her Parliament should conceive to be reasonable for methinks conceiving what is reasonable should be at least as proper for the Head as the Members I must confess that I concur with you in believing that Her Majesties Allies would not have been offended at the Wisdom of that Bill had it past into a Law because perhaps they could not have discerned it and it would probably have been the more invisible to them because it was so conspicuous to all the Papists and Jacobites in England But as to the Prophetick Part of that Dedication how much the Dissenter would have been pleased to know the extent of his Priviledges or how contented he would be or what Advantage would accreue from such Gentle Methods or in the words of Maimburg to the French King Moyens deux voyes de Grace Maimbourg Epistle Dedicatory to the Life of Gregory the 1st or whether the first words of your Dedication do insinuate that there are some good Men who have no Sense of Religion no concern for
of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion Thirdly Whether the Administration of Publick Astairs may not be in the Hands of Persons who are not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion nay of Men of opposite Principles without Confusion or tearing the Government in pieces between them and whether they may not notwithstanding draw together the same way for the Publick Good Fourthly Whether it is sit that the Corporation and Test Acts should be enfore'd or Repealed Fifthly Whether upon the whole Matter the Occasional Conformist may not be admitted into Publick Offices and Employments relating to the Government consistently with the Safety of the Established Government both in Church and State with the Wisdom of the English Nation and with the Practice of some wise Governments in the World And as to the first I answer that the Occasional Conformist is a sincere Member of the National Church who heartily approves of the Laws of the Land and chearfully pays Obedience to them and he and the Church-men are not of opposite Principles but of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion If the Church-man whom you suppose the only Person fit for an Office be one that troubles not himself about Religion but believes as the Church believes and does as he sees others do I neither can judge of his Principles nor his Perswasion in Matters of Religion but if he have espoused the Religion of the Church of England with consideration and can give a Reason of the Faith or Hope that is in him he knows that the Religion of this National Church is all to be found in the Bible He is taught by the sixth Article of that Church that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believ'd as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation The Reason given by the 8th Article why the three Creeds ought throughly to be received and believed is for that they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture And as to Creeds so as to Councils we are taught by the 21st Article that things Ordained by them as necessary to Salvation have neither Strength nor Authority only as it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture Now the Occasional Conformists are herein intirely of the same mind they agree intirely in the Creeds the Lord's Prayer the Ten Commandments as contained in the Decalogue and as explained by our Saviour In the two Sacraments and every Part and Article that any Protestant can have any Colour to call a part of Christianity But I have not Inclination nor can it be expected that I should particularize every Head and Point of Religion wherein they agree but should be glad to be informed by you of any Article of Religion or Point of Doctrine wherein they differ for no Man ever called Rites and Ceremonies of humane Institution Principles or Matters of Religion I must own that they are not fully satisfied in the large Sense of that Passage in the 20th Article That the Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies nor that as the 34th Article expresses it it is sufficient as to the Ceremonies that nothing be Ordained against God's Word if the Opposition of God's Word be intended a particular express Opposition but they are of opinion that to make any Rites or Ceremonies of Humane Institution necessary to Communion especially as is aforesaid to make them Terms of Separation from the rest of the Catholick Church is against God's Word but they are extricated out of this Difficulty by the last Clause of the 34th Article it being plain by long and pungent Experience that the Ordaining of such Rites and Ceremonies is not among the Things that have been done so edifying or if this should fail yet your said Oracle is express that the 39 Articles are required from no Layman a Licence for which no Occasional Conformist will thank him The Romanists by such Ordinance have indeed edified their Babel and from things not contrary have proceeded to ordain things destructive to Christianity and so in some Measure are all such Ordinances which differ as much from Religion as Christianity does from Priestcraft But to bring this Matter a little closer I hope to make it plain that not only the Occasional Conformist but the Presbyterian and the Independent are of the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion with the Church-man and not of opposite Principles and that nothing but gross Ignorance or a wilful blind Prejudice has kept Men of either Party from being convinc'd of this Truth And to make this evident I take leave to acquaint you with plain Matter of Fact You well know that in the late times the Assembly of Divines at Westminster as also the Kirk of Scotland agreed in a Catechism called the Assemblies shorter Catechism And this Catechism was also agreed to by the Synod of the Independent Divines met at the Savoy Now after the Restauration of King Charles the 2d and particularly some time before the Popish Plot a mighty Zeal appeared against that Catechism in the Men of your Party and if I mistake not this Catechism was publickly burnt at Oxford But it happened that one Mr. Thomas Adams formerly fellow of Brazen-Nose-Colledge in Oxford being convinc'd of the Truth of what I am endeavouring to prove he in the Year 1675 wrote a Discourse Entituled The Main Principles of Christian Religion in 107 short Articles or Aphorisms generally received as being proved from Scripture now further cleared and confirmed by the Consonant Doctrine Recorded in the Articles and Homilies of the Church of England under 4 Heads Of things to be Explained 1. Believed comprehended in the Creed 2. Done in the Ten Commandments 3. Practiced in the Gospel particularly two Sacraments 4. Prayed for in the Lord's Prayer Which Discourse was Licensed Sold well and received a Second Edition in 1677 which I have but alass it was at last discovered that the 107 Articles were the Answers to the 107 Questions of the Assemblies Shorter Catechism and that hated Book was thus disper'd under the Patronage of the Articles and Homilies of the Church of England And if you will please to peruse this Book I suppose you will need no other Proof that the Occasional Conformist Presbyterian Independent and the Church-man are not of opposite Principles but of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion and the Acceptation which that Discourse met with puts me in mind of a like Passage relating to the Sorbon to whom your Oracle above-mention'd desires that the Church of England may be united for when Abbas le Roy Publish'd a Discourse in France without naming the Author being a most Elegant and Pious Oration or Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ for obtaining the Grace of a perfect Conversion the
fulsom word Schism If they did not gather separate Congregations and set them up in Opposition to the Church they would be no Dissenters notwithstanding their different Sentiments as to the Points before mention'd for there are those in the Communion of the Church who may differ in Opinion about those things and may Reason and Argue them over with one another without any Breach of Charity or of the Unity of the Church which requires not that all Men should be exactly of the same Opinion in Matters of Discipline nor nof Faith but of one Communion this preserves the Unity of the Church Well said Wolf when you speak of the Church do but mean the Church in your Creed and fare-wel the Occasional Conformist for he does none of those ill things you complain of but is Sir Humphrey your very humble Servant and very fit for an Office Page 80. Occasional Conformity has no ill Consequence and is far from inferring of no Church and no Religion at all I acknowledge with that Author that setling the true Notion of the Church and the Priesthood as Instituted by Christ is really of Consequence and therefore in that little Discourse Entituled Catholocism without Popery I did earnestly request that it might be done for the Reasons therein mentioned Page 4.5 6. And there is the more Reason to desire it because else 't is hard to judge who are of opposite Principles and not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion especially since the aforesaid Oracle alias High Church Wolf tells us that the 39 Articles are not so much as Articles of Communion Page 16. far less of Faith He tells us that they are required from no Lay-men or any other but the Clergy who are in Office That there may be an Uniformity in the Doctrine publickly Preach'd So then Uniformity in Matters that are neither Matters of Faith nor Communion Constitutes the Church or is the Church-man then the Hypocrite instead of the Occasional Conformist being obliged to Subscribe and Preach a Doctrine in the Name of God which he does not believe and are the Ceremonies and Humane Additions more considerable in the Constitution of the Church than the 39 Articles But in truth this Matter ought to be search'd to the bottom and I am led to it by the same Author who in the beginning of that Discourse observes that there is a Mistake about the word Moderation for that it appears by the Context Page 1. the Original Word means a Patient and chearful Suffering of Afflictions So that instead of 4. Phil. 5. Let your Moderation be known unto all Men being a Text against Persecution it seems 't is a Text that supposes Persecution I must say that I never met with any Body that argued Indifferency as to Religion from that Text but surely 't is violently screw'd to make it favour Persecution Page 1. But 't is observed that this word is found but once in all our Bible and the word Clergy is found no oftner Page 2. and yet what work have we about that Word Laymen are not obliged to the Articles of the Church but only the Clergy who are in Office but how if the Laymen be the Clergy that is I mean God's Clergy or Inheritance for the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at least in that Sense is found no where in the Bible but 1 Pet. 5.3 where St. Peter having styl'd himself a fellow Presbyter exhorts the Presbyters to their Duty to feed the Flock of God which was among them as Bishops thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready Mind neither as being Lords over God's Clergy which we read Heritage but being Ensamples to the Flock Now this Epistle being Written about the Year of our Lord 64 't is remarkable that he who was an Apostle and a Partaker of the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost above 30 Years before calls himself a fellow Presbyter which for some Reason or other our Translation reads an Elder and Exhorts the Presbyters which we read Elders to Episcopize which we read taking the over-sight But the thing which I would here observe is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the late Learned Scholiast Gregory reads it out of Oecumenius is not the Priests but the People however the Priests afterwards came to engross the Name One thing I would therefore desire of the Priests that they would let us in again for a Share at least and not believe that they only are God's Clergy or Inheritance I wou'd also intreat them that they would not be the Church because tho' that word is used in the New Testament about one hundred times yet it is not once used for the Ministers without the People I know 't is pretended that the Gospel of St. Matthew where the word is twice found but no where else in any of the four Evangelists it must signifie the Ministers but not to enter now into that Controversie 't is strange that in the other 99 Places it should signifie no such thing and therefore since the People are 99 parts at least of the Church I would not have the Priests pass for the Church and if these two things be granted me I fancy we shall by and by come into a fair way of delivering the World from that Controversie about Episcopal and Presbyterian Government But I can't here omit to give you a short hint of what may perhahs be more fully discours'd elsewhere The Apostle Paul 2 Thes 2.3 Tells us that the Day of Judgment should not come till there had been an Apostacy or falling away and that Man of Sin be revealed and so goes on describing the Papacy most accurately But I must own that till I read Irenaeus that best piece of Primitive Christianity I never understood the meaning of that Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But that Primitive Father acquaints us that the Primitive Hereticks of whom Simon Magus was the Father Lib. 1. Cap. 30. invented a new sort of God's called Aeons of whom they imagin'd originally but four Lib. 1. Cap. 1. but were still adding new ones Lib. 2. Cap. 22. till they came to be 4380 according to the number of the hours of the Days of the Year and to carry on this Generation they began betimes to couple their Aeons as Man and Wife and one of the first couple wore Anthropos and Ecclesia Lib 1. Cap. 34. Vera Sanct Ecclesia so they called this same Goddess the Wife of Anthropos And his Anthropos they held to be above God Irenaeus Page 54 which exactly agrees with the Anthropus mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the aforecited Place And hence also we may gather who that Whore is that we read of in the Revelations even this same Wife of Anthropos which seems to me to be the Reason why in that whole Book after the third Chapter you never meet with
the word Church till after the end of the Prophecy and this perhaps is also the Reason why the Reformed Christian Church of the latter Days is called the Bride the Lamb's Wife A Bride in opposition to the Whore and the Bride the Lamb's Wife in opposition to the Wife of Anthropos But this by the way only observe that Simon Magus the Father of these Aeons was if you believe Baronius fetch'd down out of the Air by St. Peter's Prayers at Rome Anno 45 about 4 Years before St. Paul wrote the Epistle to the Thessalonians And take notice also that Irenaeus in his 33 d. Chapter of his first Book observes that Ignorance and Impudence False Zeal Fury Envy and Lust were said to be born about the same time with this same blessed couple Now Sir you must excuse me if I have no kindness for any of the Off-spring of these Folk and if I find any thing put upon me as part of Revealed Religion which appears to be begot by Anthropos on Ecclesia and if you or the Men of your Party Write as many Books as would fill the Tower of Babel in behalf of such things I shall still remember such Texts as these to the Law and to the Testimony If they speak not according to this Rule 't is because there is no Light in them 8 Is 20. Thus it is written c. I must always say of the Christianity contained in the Writings of the Sacred Penman as Josephus says of the Writings of Moses Every thing that they wrote is yet extant and we must take it as they left it Joseph Page 92. without any room for Ornament or Variation And it was by this Principle which runs throughout his whole Work that Irenaeus routed all the Hereticks and all their Army of Aeons except this couple who have plagued do plague and will plague the World till the total downfal of Antichrist for as your aforesaid Oracle in his New Association Page 2. Page 17. observes when once we leave the Institutions of God there is no stop and our Imagination is our only Rule Magna est veritas prevalebi◠But 't is high time Sir to stop least after all you should think that I here condemn the Church of England as by Law Establish'd against which I don't say one word the late designed Act not being past For I do declare I take no Church to be a Whore unless she be guilty of Idolatry for that is Spiritual Adultery in Scripture Language I could wish that none but the Great Whore were concerned with Anthropos but some Churches that are not Whores are a little guilty of Jilting now and then and are too apt to Paint and to take some parts of the Attire of an Harlot tho' they are not so and therefore I wish all honest Churches would consider what it is that will be done when it shall be said that the Marriage of the Lamb is come 19 Rev. 7. and his Wife hath made her self ready The Case of the Regale makes the only considerable Matter in Controversie between the Church and Dissenters to be Episcopacy all other Matters being easily accommodated that Episcopacy was the Heir which they said come let us kill him that the Inheritance may be ours Page 248 that he takes Episcopacy to be no indifferent thing but Instituted by Christ and confirmed by the constant Practice of the Vniversal Church of Christ in all Ages Page 254. And yet in the Shape of a Wolf Page 27. He falls very fiercely upon his Brother Wolf of Rome and calls the Pope the Grand Schismatick and why e'en because Catholick Communion is broke by the Church of Rome in the Usurpation of her Bishops over all the rest of his Fellow Bishops and confining the Catholick Church to his own Communion then it seems that is Schism in the Pope which would have been Establishing Peace and Unity and Setling our Constitution upon a sure and lasting Foundation if done by the Occasional Bill Peace at Home Page 12. But if the Pope be in the wrong what is this Episcopacy that is of Divine Right And what is a Diocess and what Texts are there that prove an Equality among Bishops which do not also prove Presbyters to be Bishops St. Peter we just now read was a Fellow Presbyter and would never have Exhorted Presbyters to act the Bishop if he had known that Presbyters and Bishops differed in Order Jure Divino Nor would St. John who Wrote his Gospel about the Year 98 about 65 Years after he had received the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost and after he came out of the boyling Oil have omitted so necessary a Matter nor would he in his 2 d. and 3 d. Epistles just before his Death have misled the Church by calling himself the Presbyter which is the first word in both those Epistles especially in his Third Epistle in which he complains of Diotrephes who lov'd the Preheminence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lover of Prelacy for not receiving him and for casting the Brethren out of the Church He would have been careful to have used the Stile of a Higher Order nay 't is plain he did not think it a Disparagement to the surviving Apostle of Jesus Christ to be styled a Presbyter but hitherto the Church of Christ remained a pure Virgin Hegesippus in Eus l. 3. c. 32. and Anthropos had not prevailed to introduce his Spouse in her stead This Parity appears from divers Places in Irenaeus in the second Century and the well known Place in St. Hierom the Confession of Binius in 1 Can. Apost is remarkable that the Names of Bishop and Presbyter were promiscuously used and not distinguish'd for above 200 Years I will add the words of the Learned Hales in his Discourse of Schism They deceive themselves and others who would perswade us that Bishops by the Institution of Christ have any Superiority above other Men except that which requires Reverence or That a Bishop is Superior by any other Law than Positivo and by the common Consent of Christians Do I then Sir Humphrey say any thing against the Constition of the Church of England not at all Jure Positivo The Priests and People are Governed by the Queen the Laws are made by Queen Lords and Commons there are as many Lord Lieutenants as Counties and Bishops as Diocesses and Archbishops as Provinces there are among the People Dukes Marquesses c. and among the Ministers Deans Arch-Deacons Prebends c. But for God's sake what Texts do you quote for the Jus Divinum either of the Monarchy limitted by our Laws and all the Subordinate Officers in the English Form of Government tho' the best in the World or for the Hierarchy of the Church of England with all its Subordinate Officers as described by Dr. Cousius in his Ecclesiae Anglicanae Politica Reprint that Book and let us have the Scriptures proving the Constitution Jure Divino in the next Edition
much longer on this Head than I designed But I cannot Omit to give you a Copy of a Letter Written by Cardinal Woolsey to the Pope when we of the Laity began to shake our Ears and look about Us as you may find it Ld. Herb. Hist H. VIII No. 2. And now Sir Humphry what is there in all this that hinders but that you a High Church-Man and I an Occasional-Conformist or rather if you please an Occasional-Dissenter are not of Opposite Principles but of the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion Is there any particular Part of Religion in what I have Discourst under this Head in which Consideration you do not fully agree with me in all Respects Sure you cannot still think either English-Prelacy or Scotch-Presbytery Jure Divino tho' by the Civil Sanction they be justifyed in the respective Kingdoms where they are Established T' is a wonderful Thing considering for how many Ages Prelacy prevailed in the World and the many Forgeries of Pieces of Antiquities and the Indices Expurgatoriae that have been made that there are so many Things to be said against Jus Divinum out of Antiquity and on the other side 't is wonderful that if Presbyterian Government without a President Bishop had been Jure Divino that so Early as the Year 140. it should be Decreed over all the World to change it to Diocesan-Episcopacy which the Presbyterians indeavour to Prove out of St. Jerom and that in no Age since till of late the Jus Divinum of it should be Discovered And I believe it may be proved that the Albegois and Vaudois Churches which have been pure Churches from the Apostles Days have always allowed of President Bishops tho' not of Diocesans being sole Pastors of a Diocess Jure Divino But this Question is no matter of either Natural or Revealed Religion and therefore hinders me not to Conclude that you and I are not of Opposite Principles but of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion especially since we are both Members also of the National Church heartily Approve of the Laws of the Land and cheerfully pay Obedience to them tho' both you and I would be Glad to see them altered so as to restore Discipline to Establish the Church of England more firmly to make a better Provision for the small Vicarages and Curacys to Unite our Differences and heal our Breaches to Provide for Employing the Poor to Suppress Vice and Immorality more Effectually and to promote Christian Knowledge both at Home and Abroad 2. And having been too Prolix tho' far from Impoverishing the Subject of the first Question I shall be short in my Answer to the other and as to the Second Whether if the Occasional-Bill had past it had secured the Government from such who are not sincere Members of the National Church nor heartily approve of the Laws of the Land nor chearfully pay Obedience to them but are of Opposite Prinnciples and not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion I will only say That 't is plain that altho' the Bill had passed Atheists Deists Socinians those that Value no Religion nor any Church if wise enough to avoid the late Act against Blasphemy Adulterers Common Swearers Extortioners and all those truly Scandalous Occasional-Conformists whose Lives shew that they neither heartily Approve of the Laws of God or of the Land and neither chearfully nor otherwise pay Obedience to them would be Capable of Publick Offices and Employments relating to the Government either in Countries or Corporations notwithstanding that Bill and would have been no way Affected by it a Person of Sober Life that had been in 5 or 6 Years 5 or 600 Times at Church and frequently received the Sacrament according to the Usage of the Church of England might have been removed out of an Office tho' he had also all that while laboured in doing Service to the Church as by Law Establish'd which will be of Everlasting Advantage to it and a Person of a Prosligate Life who had Publickly owned that he had not been at Church for as many Years might be Capable of a Wh. St. f. notwithstanding that Act but this is so Clear That it needs no Proof as to so much of this Question as relates to Religion and if you intend any other Laws the Defacto Men such as believe the Jus Divinum of Absolute Monarchy that take the Oaths to Her Majesty as an Ass eats Thistles that neither heartily Approve of the Laws of the Land abjuring the pretended James the III. and Establishing Her Majesty's Throne and the Protestant Succession nor the Law for Toleration nor chearfully pay Obedience to them would be all unaffected by this Bill surely the Promoters of it thought there was no Sin but going to a Protestant Meeting as one of the Characters in Timon of Athens thought there was no Sin but Murder Thirdly Whether the Administration of Publick Aflairs may not be in the Hands of Persons who are not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion nay of Men of opposite Principles without Confusion or tearing the Government in pieces between them and whether they may not notwithstanding draw together the same way for the Publick Good Now certainly Calvinists and Arminians High-Church and Low-Church Sherlockians and Southians such as take the Articles of the Church to be Articles of Faith and such as take them only to be Articles of Peace such as are for the Occasional-Bill and such as are not such as hold the Pope to be Antichrist and such as do not are not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion but of opposite Principles and yet Sir Humphrey you will not deny that they may be all employ'd without Confusion or tearing the Government in pieces between them and may notwithstanding draw together the same way for the Publick Good but the truth is this Queens Coronation Sermon p. 24. Mixing of Heaven Earth together as his Grace the Lord Arch-bishop of York expresses it When Men for difference of Opinion about the Methods of the publick Conduct break out into Parties and Factions sacrifice the Peace of the Kingdom to their own private Resentments and mingle Heaven and Earth for the supporting of a Side 'T is this which tears the Government in pieces It were indeed desirable that all the Subjects of England were good Christians for the sake of the Publick and of their own Souls for that Christianity gives the best Rules of Morality and the Name of Jesus Christ is the only Name under Heaven given among Men whereby they can be Saved Yet Faith is the Gift of God and Men may be of great Use in this World who may be very unhappy in the next It is a Notion long since exploded That Dominion is founded in Grace and Honesty Honour Skill and Imegrity may consist with a mistaken Belief as to revealed Religion and in this respect no Religion but the Popish or
Sorbon condemned it because they believed it to be written by a Jansenist but some Years after a Spanish Bishop having Translated it into the Spanish Tongue and Publish'd it with the Approbation of the Doctor 's of the Holy Inquisition Pesonius â— Hayer turned it into French Dedicated it to the Queen Publish'd it with the Royal Priviledge and the Approbation of the Doctors of the Sorbon And thus have I known a fierce Scotch Presbyterian sit with Reverence and Attention for a long time while one of my Acquaintance rend diverse parts of the Common Prayer but as soon as it was discovered how the Person was entertained my Friend who was a tall Man was glad to make the best use of his long Legs And here I will mention an Observation which I have frequently made That if you hear a Man declaring that no Man can be serious in the use of the Common Prayer nor worship God thereby with Fervency and Affection 't is forty to one that the Man never tried On the other hand if you hear a Person exclaiming against Extempore Prayer calling it Cant and Nonsense 't is as many to one that he never heard an Extempore Prayer in his Life but now there is one Occasional Conformist to my knowledge and I believe some thousands that have joined in worshipping God by the Common-Prayer a thousand times and have also joined in Worshipping Him as often with those that use no invariable Form who can testifie with great Assurance that both those sorts of People are wretchedly mistaken who can tell you that they know no reason why Christians should not agree in a Form as to the Matter of Prayer as well as of Belief or why those who make no scruple to sing the Psalms in Metre by Sternhold and Hopkins which is for the most part but a wretched Form of the Matter of Praise should scruple the Common Prayer which is much nearer Scripture Language than the aforesaid Version of the Psalms That it is a very agreeable Consideration that many Thousands of Pious Souls are at the same time joining in Adoring God in the same words as well as Desires without Idolatry and without any of the Additions made by the Papacy to the Christian Religion and in the best Liturgy in the World Especially when they consider that the 4 living Creatures improperly call'd Beasts in our Translation and the 24 Presbyters or Elders which represent the Christian Church are represented as constantly using the same Form of Thanksgiving and the like Forms are found 5 Rev. 9 12 13. 7 Rev. 10 12. 11 Rev. 17 18. 15 Rev. 3. 19 Rev. 1 2 6 7. And the same Persons can at the same time assure you that they never heard Cant or Nonsence among those who pray without a Form but for the most part the Expressions taken out of the Scripture the Prayers generally Premeditated Methodical Reverend and fervent accommodated to the various Circumstances of the Interests of Religion in the World both at home and abroad and the various Dangers or Judgments under which the Nation may be and to the Blessings of Heaven received They that so pray are never hindred from giving Thanks for Victories because 't is Lent nor from Humiliation under Judgments because 't is Christmass They usually have respect to the Subject Matter of the following Discourse which is a very good Preparation for Attention and a Means of obâ—aining a Blessing on the Sermon They can ingeniously and suitably accomodate their Devotion to the Circumstances of Families or Persons in Matter of Prayer or Thanksgiving for which it is impossible that any or all the Liturgies in the World can suffice Again these Occasional Conformists sinding that the blessed Spirit as a Spirit of Grace and Supplication is to convert the Jews Zach. 12.10 that in the 8 Rom. 26. The Assistance of the Spirit in Prayer is exprest by a word alluding to a Person who being to lift at a Beam has one that helps him to lift both at the end of which he has hold and at the other end too or signifying such a help as when one that is strong taketh up a Burden over-against another who is too weak and also sets his Shoulders against the other to lift up the Burden 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from these and other places of Sacred Scripture they are apt to gather that the Assistance of the Spirit in Prayer ought not to be confined I say confined to an invariable set Form of Humane Composure or only to enable the Minister to read a Prayer Audibly and Reverently nor are they willing to understand the Act of Uniformity in such a Sense as this That from and after the 24th Day of August 1662 neither the Parts nor Learning of any Minister of the Gospel nor the Gift of Prayer nor the Assistance of the Spirit in the Matter of Prayer should be of any further use in the Publick Worship of God They think it possible that Men may make an Idol of Words as well as of Wood or Stone and they are afraid that where the Spirit is rejected as a Spirit of Supplication he oft refuses to act as a Spirit of Grace And herein on Consideration I do verily believe that the good Church-man and the Occasional Conformist are of the same Mind But further as to all the Matters in Controversie between the Church-man and the Presbyterian and Independent as well as between Him and the Occasional Conformist which concern Matters of Ceremonies and Humane Additions such as the Sign of the Cross at Baptism the Posture of Kneeling at the Sacrament and the Surplice your Oracle above-mention'd has agreed That it is lawful for the Church to dispense with their Rites and Ceremonies and if lawful then necessary to heal the Schism of the Dissenters Page 247 That if they would all agree which of the indifferent things would purchase their Reconciliation the Church would readily grant it for so good an End Page 254. Indeed in another Form viz. As a Wolf strip'd of his Shepherds Cloathing he has been howling about the Streets for some time against the Dissenters and Occasional Conformists Protestants Jesuits Hellish Doctrines Diabolical Seed Fruit of Blood Massacre and all Wickedness Wild Enthusiasm Laodicean Latitude which God abhors Evil Beasts always Lyars Hideous Blasphemy Furious Phanaticks Impudence and Blasphemy Grin of a Lion Asses-ears Cloven-foot Thus in the compass of a few railing Pages beginning with the Jesuit and ending with the Devil and after all Page 59 complains of it as a heavy Charge against his Party That they do not treat the Dissenters in the Spirit of Meekness yet he tells us in that very Treatise Page 3. That the High Church should have little Quarrel with the Dissenters about all the Objections they make as to Habits Ceremonies Liturgy and even the Grand Point of Ordination by Presbyters in case of Necessity and where a Bishop could not be had if it were not for that