and pull down but not to build up They do not hang in the air bur build upon a firm ground they have setled principles consistent with the rules of stable policy Contrariwise Fanaticks truly and not abusively so called do build castles in the air and are fit instruments to disturb and destroy and root out but never to compose and plant and settle for which cause their Kingdom could never hold long in any time or place of the world Upon this ground Presbytery not sectarian Anarchy hath been assaulted with greatest violence by the more observing Prelatists against this they have raised their main batteries this appeared formidable for it is stable and uniform and like to hold if once setled in good earnest This party do not run so fast but they know where to stop they are a number of men so fixed and constant as none more and a Prince or State shall know where to find them They do not strain so high but they consider withal what the Kingdoms of the world will bear and are willing to bring things to the capacity of political Government They can have no pleasure in commotions and alterations for order and regular unity is their way and therefore stability of Government and publick tranquility is their interest It is most unreasonable to object that the late wilde postures extravagancies and incongruities in Government were the work of Presbytery or Presbyterians The Nation had never proof of Presbytery for it was never setled but rather decryed and exposed to prejudice by those that were in sway and that in the more early times of the late Wars The truth of this matter is cleared by a passage of our late Soveraign in a Letter to his Majesty that now is All the lesser Factions were at first officious Servants to Presbytery their great Master till time and Military Success discovering to each their particular advantages invited them to part stakes and leaving the joynt stock of uniform Religion pretended each to drive for their party the trade of profits and preferments to the breaking and undoing not only of the Church and State but of Presbytery it self Thus the joynt stock of uniform Religion was left and Presbytery neglected before the first War was ended Yea and those that stedsastly adhered to it were maligned and reviled by the exorbitant party for opposing their new models or agreements of the people Section XVII Neither can Sects or Schisms with any truth or justice be reckoned the Off-spring of Presbytery Consider the French Dutch Helvetian Churches how intire they keep themselves in Orthodox Vnity from the Gangreen of Sects and Schisms A wide Breach was once made in the Netherlands by Arminius and his Followers but after some years conflict it was healed by the Synod of Dort The Church of Scotland is inferiour to none in the unity of Doctrine and Church-Communion and their form of Ecclesiastical Policy and method of Discipline is very effectual to prevent the broaching of Errour King James in discourse with an English Bishop is reported to have rendred this account why so few Heresies and Errours of Doctrine are united and prosecuted to the publick disturbance of that Church Every Parish hath their Pastor ever present with them and watching over them and he with his Elders and Deacons hath a weekly meeting for censure of manners by which he perfectly knows his Flock and every abberation of them in doctrine practise and lest any heresie might seize upon the Pastor they have their Presbyters which meet together once also every week in the next chief Town or City and there they have their exercise of prophesying after which the Moderator asks the judgement of all the Pastors concerning the doctrine then delivered or of any other doubtful point then propounded and if the Presbytery be divided in their opinions the question is under an injoyned silence put over 〈◊〉 the next Synod which is held twice a 〈…〉 which the Pastors of that quarter or province do duly resort accompanied with their Elders and any question of doubt is either decided by that Assembly or with charge of silence reserved to a national Synod which they hold every year once whither come not the Pastors onely but the King himself or his Commissioners and some of all orders and degrees sufficiently authorized for determining of any controversie that shall arise among them Could the Bishops in former times procure a greater unity in the Church of England Whence therefore should this charge arise peradventure some Presbyterians have turned Sectaries Surely it would be taken for a weak arguing to say That Prelacy is the way to Popery because some Prelatists have turned Papists The truth is Sectarianism grew up in a Mystery of Iniquity and State policy and it was not well discerned till it became almost triumphant by Military successes But after that its growth and strength did manifestly appear Presbytery began to struggle with it and so continued until by the power of the Army it was inforced to sit down but never to comply Whereupon the tongues and pens of Sectaries were imployed against none more then the Presbyterians And I should be glad to hear of such bitter Invectives of the Papists against the Prelatists not that I rejoyce in the sin of the one or the suffering of the other but that the Protestant friends of Prelacy might more incline to their Protestant Presbyterian Brethren Surely the way to prevent the growth of the two utmost extreams is for the two middle parties to draw up and close together But however the world goes the Presbyterians shall ever keep as good a distance from the Sectaries or Fanaticks as the Prelatists shall from Papists And verily there is no greater bar against Fanaticism then the right Presbyterian principles as not to sever but joyn the written word and spirit for direction the spirit and use of Ordinances for Edification to erect a stated Church-Order and Discipline to allow to the Church a directive and to every Christian a discretive judgment to insist only upon Divine Scripture Warrant and to wave humane authority in matters of Religion For such is the temperament of these Maximes that they commend and require a distinct knowledge and illumination in the mind and in the affections lively motions and stirrings against Formality and blind Devotion and so do satisfie the minds of those who conceive that in true Religion there is spiritual light and life and power and also they shew the necessity of the written Word of constant publick Ordinances and private Exercises of Religion and of the direction and discipline of the Church all which do serve to settle the mind against dilusive impulses and wild fancies and raptures Section XVIII But of all the prejudices and scandals taken against this way there is none greater then this that it is represented as tyrannical and domineering and that those who live under it must like Issachar crouch under the burdens In
to contest with Princes and Nobles and all ranks and degrees about their Immunities Priviledges Pre-eminencies to multiply Constitutions and Ceremonies for props to their own Greatness but not to promote the Spiritual Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of people according to the life and power of Christianity The above-named Venetian Gentleman in his Narrative of the Popes Nuncio delivers this Maxime That the Court of Rome in perpetual pursuance of its old pretences is more sollicitous and laborious to reverse and destroy the Oath of Allegiance because it seems contrary to its temporall grandeur then to extirpate such Heresies as the Realm of England is infected with Even so such an Hierarchy will be more industrious and careful to establish and enlarge their own Power Dignity then to maintain and propagate Christs true Religion What are the weapons of the Warfare by which this Mystical State prevails Not such as are mighty through God working upon the conscience but pecuniary Mulcts and greater temporal penalties not to the wounding of the spirit but to the breaking of the outward estate By what wayes and methods must it be advanced The constant and practical preaching of the Word must be discountenanced Snares must be laid for the most zealous Ministers Sports and pastimes on the Sabbath dayes must be held forth with allowance and approbation Men of strict lives and serious in Religion must be reproached for Fanaticks By these means a people being first enthralled to ignorance superstition and profaness will be disposed unto blinde obedience and perfect spiritual bondage For in very deed the State here described will never stand safely among a people that are free serious searching and discerning in matters of Religion For this cause an Hierarchy of this nature hath a strong bias towards Popery Nay it must for its own safety approach as near it as the Nation can well bear The Reformed Religion doth not glory in the vast riches outward pomp and splendour of Ecclesiastical persons Wherefore when the grandeur of Prelates and pomp of Ceremonies is affected and admired the Church of Rome is sure to finde favour in the eyes of the Clergy The said Venetian reports That the Universities Bishops and Divines of this Realm dayly imbrace Catholick Opinions though they profess them not with open mouth for fear of the Puritans In this matter let them stand or fall by the evidence of their own writings Let it be well observed that the designes of suppressing Puritans and complying with Papists in this Nation had their beginning both at once and proceeded in equal paces And it hath appeared that the moderate Cassandrian Grotian Popery was no abomination to many Prelatists The Conciliators of our age have judged Papists and moderate Protestants as they call them very reconcileable but have cast the Calvinists or Puritans without the limits of the pacification Wherefore we cannot conceive that the excessive height of Prelacy I say not this of regulated Episcopacy to be the strongest Bulwark against Popery unless by Popery is meant no more then what the Trent Fathers except the Italians generally opposed to wit the stupendious exorbitant power of the Pope who pretends to be not only Supream but in effect sole Bishop of the Universe as reputing all other Bishops his meer subjects and delegates We confess Popery in this new and strict notion might be controlled by the height of Prelacy But according to a vulgar sence we take Popery in the height thereof for the Heresies and Idolatries and in the lower degree thereof for the gross errors and superstitions of the Church of Rome Section XXXII Moreover pure necessity in that state will constrain the Hierarchy to negotiate with Rome if they subvert and ruine the Presbyterians If in such a case they intend to uphold a Protestant State they understand not their own concernment The Bishops must either retreat to a moderate compliance with Presbyteriaus or advance to a reconciliation with Papists If they had a design to extirpate the Presbyterians and could accomplish it are they able afterwards alone and by themselves to bear up against the main force and to withstand all the wiles and methods of the popish Faction at home and abroad They mistake themselves if they think their unalterable adherents are so numerous and powerful In case they dissipate that other party which hath been always found most active vigorous and vigilant against Romish Encroachments what remains besides themselves and their zealots but a common dronish multitude that will do little for any religion or men of loose principles that would easily embrace Popery as a flesh-pleasing Religion When the common people are left to ignorance and prophaness for servile ends and purposes they are thoroughly prepared for Popery which is a gross sensual formal pompous way agreeable to the multitude whereas Fanaticism the other extreme takes but with a few in comparison because it hath something of pretended illuminations spiritual notions and raptures to which the common multitude is not propense If you ask how hath Prelacy held it out hitherto against Popery even from the first Reformation take notice that the Episcopal Clergy did not go about to exterminate the Puritans before their latter times and then he that had half an eye could discern the notable advance and the confident expectations of the Popish faction Section XXXIII Do any persons conceive a Reconciliation with Rome hopeful or possible upon moderate tearms as they suppose namely the permission of the marriage of Priests the Popes Dispensation for the Oaths of Allegiance and Supermacy so far as it concerns the Kings temporal power the administring of the Communion in both kinds and the Liturgy officiated in the English Tongue Let them observe that Panzani the Popes Nuncio in England declared privately to his intimate friend that the Pope would never admit any man to govern here as Bishop meaning over the Catholicks that should favour the Oath of Allegiance And the reason hereof is evident because it is a thing contrary to the maxims of Rome Moreover in that little History of the said Nuncio there is a passage which being well considered doth evince that the Courts of England and Rome are irreconcileable unless England become intirely papal That Author saith That this Realm is so perversly addicted to maintain its own resolute opinion of excluding the Popes authority that this hath been the cause why the Catholicks who for the first twelve years conformed themselves unto the Politie introduced into the Church of England have since separated from it and to testifie their uniting to the Pope have refused to frequent the Protestant Churches and have therby framed one party in that State Let a fair accord in the general be supposed yet the sole point of the Popes Supremacy shal dash the whole agreement We know that Jesuitism is the predominant humour in the Papacy and nothing can be done without their influence and therefore we cannot
good will but also for perpetual necessity Section XX. Moreover a wise State is busie in finding out but not in making Enemies Who can produce one solid reason that renders this Party Enemies to the Government or the Person Governing They are lovers of Monarchy and of the Royal Family From neither of these have they any cause of distrust or dis-satisfaction They have nothing to hold in derogation to His Majesties Authority safety or benefit and His Majesty hath nothing to hold that stands in opposition to their security There have been indeed unhappy differences but whence proceeding Not from any thing intrinsecal to His Majesties Government or to their condition but from things very remote from the Interest of Soveraignty The Kings Affairs do allow Him to extend Favour and Clemency to them as to any other of His Subjects and His Condescention towards them will work as happy effects to His satisfaction Section XXI Some men resolving in all things to detract from the Presbyterians have said That they promoted the Kings Return not out of good will to His Majesty or a love of Order and Unity but out of fear of being destroyed by the Phanaticks Upon the occasion of this surmise and the evil design thereof I am willing to debate this Question Whether the Presbyterians closure with the King in all avowed subjection and service be sincere and solid that His Majesty may safely confide in them The pretended reason of their insincerity seems to me to add much to their reputation in that behalf For if the Phanaticks would destroy them it is manifest that they are none of them Phanaticks would not destroy themselves willingly The several various Sects will wrangle with each other in verbal contests but they never knowingly plotted or banded against each other upon the account of their different Opinions but did all unite in one common Principle of pretended liberty of Conscience and in one common cause of Universal Toleration Be it also granted that self-preservation engaged the Presbyterians by any means to obviate and overturn the designs of the Sectaries it shews that the Sectarian Interest and theirs are Inconsistent as also that they are not unreconcilable to the Episcopal part of Protestants and that they had pacifick inclinations willing to put a period to these contentions Let men surmise the worst they can of their intentions in declaring for the King yet in as much as they had a choice before them to turn this way or that way it is evident they would betake themselves to that way that had the lesser evil and the fairer shew of good And could any think that they would knowingly make a choice of that which should destroy their just liberty wherefore were it no more than this it might gain them some regard for that they hoped for some good in this way when they could hope for none at all from the wilde ways and fancies of Phanaticks But the truth is they turned not to a lesser evil but to a thing in it self desirable for it was a clear case to men of sound minds and sober Principles that there was no way to lead us out of that wilderness wherein we wandred but the uniting of all sound and sober Protestants in things wherein all agree and a mutual forbearance in things not necssary to peace and edification The Presbyterians knew their single Interest would not settle the Nation And the Episcopalians may know as well that their single Interest will prove dificient In such a case what well-minded persons affecting the peace of the Church and Kingdom would not promote the restitution of the Royal Family that the King in whom alone the whole Nation can settle may pare off the superfluities of particular partial Interests and make a Union in the general Interest of the Protestant Religion and of Great Britain This was the scope of the Presbyterian design in that particular And as touching their cordial affection to His Majesties Person and Government we have their own more affectionate and solemn professions for it which are graciously owned by His Majesty And if any persist to gainsay those expressions seeing they are not searchers of hearts it lies upon them to prove this pretended disaffection by something discernable in the outward behaviour But suppose that a peoples Conscience and good inclination and disposition be called into question yet this is a maxime unquestionable That the main ground of sure and constant benevolence between Prince and People is a firm perswasion that they are the mntual Interest of each other His Majesties Royal Person and His Princely Virtues are amiable to us He is a Crown of Glory to the English Nation But that which got the mastery over all difficulties in restoring Him to His Dominions was an undoubted knowledge that the Nations Interest was bound up in Him our indubitable Soveraign Lord. There is a necessity of meer compulsion that drives the unwilling and there is a necessity of Interest that draws a willing people When this latter necessity doth bring a Prince and People together ingenuous minds will turn this necessity into a virtue and so the joyning of Interests draws after it the joying of hearts The Presbyterians enjoyning the same protection and benefit which other sober Protestants and Loyal Subjects will see no other probable nor possible way of repose and safety but under His Majesties happy Government It is not therefore a necessity of present force but of constant Interest which is here commended as so great a bond of loyalty and which Princes use to take for their best security The wisest way is not to reject and slight a party that are brought to hand and made for a Princes Interest upon a suspition that they may prove inconstant but to use the known means of preventing such inconstancy as is pretended and to manifest that regard to their encouragement and satisfaction as that they may rest assured that their own and the publick peace do run in the same channel From the Reasons aforegoing I conclude That the Presbyterians are fit and worthy to be imbodied with the whole number of the good People of England I proceed to perswade this Union by several Arguments Section XXII England hath indured conflicts of almost twenty years by Wars Divisions Commotions and manifold changes it was abased enfeebled and brought very low all which do shew that some great distemper had taken hold of this Body Politick before these things could break forth There is at length by the late Revolution a providential offer of rest and peace After those sad conflicts and this happy offer of Providence shall the seeds of discord lodge perpetually in this Land I fear passions of bitterness are too ready to stir and provoke Take away this fuel of strife the urging of things to uphold distinctions of Parties Whilest things are at such a pass animosities will arise upon every occasion discontents and quarrels will be ready to break forth in
THE INTEREST OF ENGLAND In the Matter of Religion The First and Second Parts Unfolded in the SOLVTION Of Three QVESTIONS The Second Impression Written by John Corbet LONDON Printed for George Thomason and are to be sold at the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Church-yard 1661. The Preface THe Indeavours of Pacification between the Subjects of the Prince of Peace and the Children of the God of Peace may be well taken from one who hath obtained mercy to be an Embassadour of Peace in the Ministry of Reconciliation Likewise it may well become any sincere Protestant Loyal Subject and true Lover of dear England to study and bring forth whatsoever hath a tendency to Reconcile those Parties in whom both the King and the Kingdom and the Protestant Cause are so highly concerned I am therefore encouraged upon this confidence That the offer of a willing mind in this service is acceptable to God and good men The Peace here propounded is the Friend and Sister of Truth It offers not to inthrall or burden Consciences of either Perswasion By allowing some diversity of Opinion it takes away the difference of Parties and permits the Points of Difference to be matters of Speculation but not of Practice As to give an instance Some of the Episcopal way hold that a Bishop differs from a Presbyter in regard of Order that he is ordained ad speciale Ministerium Others of the same way do hold That they differ not in Order but Degree The Presbyterians believe they are the same in regard of Order yet that a difference in Degree may be admitted and so they accept of a President-Bishop Nevertheless all the Episcopal Divines do judg it ordinarily necessary that a Presbyter be ordained by a Bishop in conjunction with Presbyters and none of them as far as I understand do judge it unlawful that Acts of Church-Discipline and Government be administred by a Bishop in the like conjunction And consequently the persons of these several Perswasions need not divide but may easily be made one in practice by the regular consociation of Episcopacy and Presbytery The Peace here pursued was earnestly expected and promised in the late great Revolution Christian Charity common Honesty yea Necessity pleads for this Peace They who now contemn it if there be any such may come to know the want of it as well as others Let them who have gotten the advantage rejoyce with trembling for who knows what he is doing and where is the end of his working whose judgments are unsearchable and whose ways are past finding out The most subtile Politician whose Writings are not held to savour much of Religion hath this Religious Observation If we consider the course of humane Affairs we shall many times see things come to pass and chances happen for the preventing of which the heavens altogether would not that any order should be taken Mach. And for example he alleadgeth the great miscarriages of the Roman Common-wealth in the War with the French insomuch that they did nothing like to themselves nor worthy of the Roman Discipline either for equity or industry or courage or foresight even until they were brought to the brink of utter ruine Certainly if the voice of Peace cannot be heard in this remarkable time when it calls and cries unto us by so manifold pressing engagements it is of the Lord who hath not given an ear to hear nor an heart to consider I am far from presuming upon the force of my own reasoning in this matter it is the subject it self that is my confidence and my heart is in it Let the God of Heaven inspire and prosper the King in His Gracious Inclinations to the work of Peace that all who fear Gods Name may see that in Him the Sun of Righteousness is risen upon them with healing in his wings Let the Interest of the Protestant Religion and the Kingdom of England prevail with a Protestant English Parliament Let all Ecclesiastical persons being the servants of Christ by special Office cease from seeking their own things and let them seek the things which are Jesus Christs Be it far from any of them to smite their fellow-servants whilest they are doing their Masters work If there be any consolation in Christ any comfort of Love any fellowship of the Spirit any bowels and mercies let all good Christians in their several places promote the Peace of Christs Kingdom and Family by all the ways of equal and reasonable Condescention and Forbearance Lastly Let the Candid Reader accept this Labour of Love and not undervalue the weight and worth of the Cause for the defects of these Discourses J. C. I. Q. Whether the Presbyterian Party should in Justice or Reason of State be Rejected and Depressed or Protected and Incouraged II. Q. Whether the Presbyterian Party may be Protected and Incouraged and the Episcopal not Deserted nor Disobliged III. Q. Whether the Vpholding of both Parties by a just and equal Accommodation be not in it self more desirable and more agreeable to the State of England than the absolute Exalting of the one Party and the total Subversion of the other The Interest of England in the Matter of Religion unfolded in the Solution of three Questions Section I. THe Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland legally united in one King but by violence subjected to one Usurped Power of different Forms successively were for divers late years reeling to and fro like a drunken man and driven hither and thither like a Ship in a troubled Sea The ancient Fundamental Constitution being overturned those who took to themselves the Government had gotten a plenary possession of all the strength by Sea and Land detected all Conspiracies quashed all Insurrections and by Policy Industry and wonderfull Success became formidable at home and abroad The people sorely bruised by a tedious civil War were glad of some present ease and generally desired nothing more then to lie down in rest and peace Likewise the more considerate part of men though little satisfied in the present state yet fearing other extreams were nothing forward to endeavour a totall change but thought it most adviseable to take things as they were and to bring them if it were possible to some reasonable temper and consistence Notwithstanding these advantages the Powers then in Being could never settle in a fixed stable posture and those who took the first Turn namely that Fragment of the Commons House could by no means advance or get ground in any degree towards it For besides the general hatred of their Usurpation and Selfish Practices their Republican Form and their Designs touching Religion were wholly aliene from the disposition of these Nations He who put them down from their Seats and exalted himself in their room reducing the Government to a single Person and a Parliament set up an Image of the ancient Form unto which the greater number were not unwilling to bow down not out of good will to the Person but for the Forms sake
and Popery be set up with a bloody Inquisition Section XI And verily if there were a design to reconcile England to Rome let all means be used totally to quash the Puritanes or Presbyterians but if England will keep her self pure from Romish Abominations let her be a kinde Mother to these her Children For this Interest is one chief strength of the true Reformed Protestant Religion Let those well known Principles that strike to the heart of Popery be brought forth for evidence to wit the perfection of holy Scriptures in opposition to unwritten Traditions the Authority of Canonical Books in opposition to the encroachments of the Apocrypha the distinct knowledge of the Doctrine of Salvation according to every mans capacity in opposition to implicite Faith the reasonable serving of God according to the Word in opposition to blind devotion Spiritual Gospel Worship in opposition to a pompous train of Ceremonies the efficacious edifying use of religious exercises in opposition to the Popish Opus operatum or work done lastly the power of godliness in opposition to splendid Formality Whether the Prelatical or Presbyterian party be the more rooted and grounded in these Principles let knowing persons consider and give judgement It hath been observ'd not by vulgar ones but by States-men in former times that the Puritans stood between the Papists and the swaying part of the later Prelatists as a partition wall which was therefore to be broken down as was reported to make way for an attempted reconciliation In those times a Venetian Agent in England being intimately acquainted with the Popes Nuncio here resident had fathomed the depth of his Religious Negotiation touching this grand affair and in his account given to the State that sent him and since published to the world hath these notable observations That in the Realm of England are three Faction the Catholicks the Protestants and the Puritans Now saith he these three Factions in Religion though they all oppose one another yet the hatred of Protestants against Puritans is greater then against Catholicks and that of Catholicks is greater against Puritans then against Protestants and that of Puritans is greater against Catholicks then Protestants and thus both Catholicks and Protestants do easily combine together for the ruine and rooting out of Puritans What these Protestants are he thus declares they did not so engage themselves to those particular opinions meaning of the Reformation but they have since set themselves to reform the abuse of Religion by reducing themselves again to the old practise of their Forefathers The Puritans he describes in these words that being seasoned and initiated with the Doctrine of Calvin they judge the English Reformation imperfect and so refused submission to that form of Policy Such is the account of this Statesman both a Forreigner and a Papist and not to be supposed partial in favour of Puritans Now by Protestants he understands only those that adhered to the English Prelacy And so indeed that party have impropriated the name to themselves excluding the Presbyterians who in the mean while complain of palpable injury and give evident proof that they of right have as much Interest in that venerable name As touching the passages here quoted let them rest on the Relators credit and their own evidence whatever it be What our great Clergie intended I determine nothing but in equity leave it questionable How far they actually advanced this way be it collected out of their own Writings and other manifest Expressions It is no novelty for Papists to impose the name of Puritans on such as retain the old Protestant spirit of Antipathy to Rome which is a good argument to prove that in the party more peculiarly so called lies the heart and strength of aversness and enmity to the Heresies and Idolatries of the Roman Church Wherefore Those Bishops in the Church of England who were heartily averse from Popish Innovations were more benigne and favorable to Puritans and themselves accounted Puritan by the adverse party and upon the same account the Gentry of this Kingdom were so esteemed And let it be well observed that the more primitive times of Protestantism were more leaning to that which Romanizing spirits have called Puritanism Pardon the frequent use of this terme for I glory not in it but am constrained to use it for distinctions sake in bringing former things to remembrance Should not King Nobles and Commons remember their Darling Protestiantism and not abandon that sort of persons which contribute so much to the upholding of it It is confessed there have been some scandals given yet more taken But in this case let the saying of our blessed Lord be minded Not only woe to the man by whom the offence cometh but woe to the world because of offences It will not be well with England while we give way to passion and prejudices from offences taken and so run from one extream to another Where is the wise Counsellour Can we come to no temper Is there no healing for us Shall we sleep securely whilest the Seedsmen of the Envious One the Jesui's and other Romish Agents sow the Tares of Division in our Field not only to weaken and hinder but to choak and eat out our common Faith Yea blessed be God for our gracious Soveraign who makes it his care and study to allay distempers and compose differences by his just and gracious concessions already published concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs Section XII The Presbyterians are loaded with many calumnies as that they are against the Interest of Civil Magistracy especially of Monarchy that they are giddy factious schismatical domineering and what not Let not prejudice but reason sway mens minds in matters of such importance As concerning the Interest of Civil Magistracy that Presbyterians pluck from it the power in Causes Ecclesiastical that they erect Imperium in Imperio is a groundless and gross mistake Take the declared Judgment of the highest in that way according to their own words To the Political Magistrate is allowed a diatactick ordering regulating power about Ecclesiastical Matters in a Political way So that he warrantably reforms the Church when corrupted in Divine Worship Discipline or Government He convenes and convocates Synods and Councils made up of Ecclesiastical persons to advise and conclude determinatively according to the Word of God how the Church is to be reformed and refined from corruption and how to be guided and governed when reformed He ratifies and establishes within his Dominions the just and necessary Decrees of the Church in Synods and Councils by his Civil Sanction He judgeth and determineth definitively with a consequent political judgement or judgement of discretion concerning things judged and determined antecedently by the Church in reference to his own act He takes care politically that even Matters and Ordinances meerly and formally Ecclesiastical be duely managed by Ecclesiastical persons orderly called thereunto He hath a compulsive punitive or corrective power formally political in matters of Religion
the first place let us rightly understand the meaning of this prejudice Is it because this Discipline doth censure scandalous disorders and enquire into the state of the flock as watching over their souls This is its high commendation in the sight of God and good men Doth Episcopacy care for none of these things Surely a Bishop is an Overseer to exercise the Office of a Bishop is to take the oversight of the Church and those that are over us in the Lord watch for our souls as those that must give an account thereof Howbeit Presbytery is not more severe in censuring the breach of Gods Commandments then the Hierarchy in censuring the breach of their own constitutions Or is the offence taken upon pretence that Presbyterians affect and arrogate an arbitrary power would rule by faction and exercise a rigout to the stirring up of animosities and unquiet humours Since the friends of Prelacy are loudest in this crimination I crave leave to use this mild retortion Is there no appearance of domination in Prelacy Was nothing like unto it objected to the dignified Clergy If you say those invectives and clamours were false and scandalous then let reason and charity be permitted to make some Apologie for the other discipline which the Nation hath hitherto never experienced in any measure of national uniformity and settlement But there are remedies at hand to prevent the abuse of any Government that is of it self lawful and laudable Certainly the wisedom of the King and Parliament with the advice of grave Divines may prescribe sure and certain rules of discipline Moreover to cut off all occasion and prevent all appearance of domineering all political coercive jurisdiction in matter of Religion may be with-held if need require from Ecclesiastical persons and that meer spiritual power alone which is 〈◊〉 to their office may be left to their management which is in the Name of Christ and by Authority from him to admonish the untuly and if they continue obstinate by the same Authority to declare them unworthy of Church-Communion and Christian Society and to require the Lords people to have no fellowship with them that they may be afflicted and humbled And because spiritual censures appertaining only to the Conseience may be too little regarded when no temporal dammage is annexed to them there may be a collateral civil power always present in Ecclesiastical Meetings to take cognizance of all Causes therein debated and adjudged in order to temporal penalties Vpon the whole matter aforegoing we firmly build this position That the Presbyterian Party ought not in Justice or Reason of State to be rejected and depressed but ought to be protected and encouraged Nevertheless there being a seeming complication in this business and an other ample party appearing in competition a difficultie remains and the matter falls into a further deliberation And thereupon we are fallen upon the second main Enquiry II Qu. Whether the Presbyterian Party may be protected and encouraged and the Episcopal not deserted nor disobliged Section XIX The grand Expedient in this difficulty is a well grounded Accomodation producing an intire and firm union That the Accommodation may be true and solid not loose and hollow it must be such as will content and satisfie for continuance and that it may be such the tearms thereof must not be repugnant to the conscientious principles of either party Otherwise whatsoever it be it is but a botch and will never hold Wherefore we now examine whether those principles are such as set the parties at an irreconcileable distance or else make the proposed union possible and hopeful As touching holy Doctrine they both receive the nine and thirty Articles of the Church of England unless that one side may demurr upon one or two passages respecting the Form of Ecclesiastical Government and Ceremonies being the matters now in question and remote from the foundation And in very deed the Doctrine of the English Bishops in general that lived in the elder times of Protestantism as Jewel Pilkington Babington and of the latter Bishops their Followers as Abbot Carleton Morton Usher Hall Davenant is intirely imbraced by the Presbyterians when as many of the latter Prelatists departed from it in the great point of Predestination Redemption Free-will effectual Grace Perseverance and Assurance of Salvation and termed it Puritan Doctrine Whereupon I conclude that those Prelatists of this Age who are the genuine Off-spring of the old Episcopal Divines will not divide from Presbyterians upon the account of Doctrine and that the other sort need not divide from them any more then from the rest that are of the Episcopal Perswasion But in the Form of Church Government the breach is much wider and the Reconciliation seems more difficult Indeed the Dominion of Prelacy and the exact Presbyterian parity are opposite Extreams Nevertheless a regulated Episcopacy and Presbytery may be found so far from mutual opposition and inconsistency that they may close together in a sweet Harmony The Scripture Bishop and the Evangelical Pastor is one and the same Officer The Primitive Ecclesiastical Episcopacy was not reputed by the Antients a different Order of Ministery The Bishop was only a Presbyter in a higher degree the President of the Presbytery and ruled in consociation with all the Presbyters The better part of the Scool-men place the difference only in degree not in order Of the same judgement were the old Episcopal Divines in England and even in the last times Morton Hall and Usher Whereupon they held the Forreign Protestant Churches that had no Prelaies to be true Churches and their Pastors true Ministers of Christ. And this is very remarkable in the most rigid Prelatists of their times when upon the new erecting of Prelacy in Scotland certain Scottish Bishops were to be consecrated here in England Bishop Andrews moved this question whether they ought not first to be ordained Presbyters as having received no Ordination from a Bishop Arch-Bishop Bancroft being there present maintained there was no necessity of Re-ordination for where a Bishop cannot be had Ordination given by Presbyters must be esteemed lawful This Solution being applauded by the other Bishops Doctor Andrews acquiesced On the other side an absolute equality among Ministers is not essential to Presbytery but a prudential priority according to the Churches occasions and consequently a stated Presidency may be admitted For the main principle of Presbytery is this That every Minister is truly a Pastor and that pastoral Authority includes both teaching and ruling for which cause the Presbyters may not yield up themselves as the Bishops meer Curates or Subjects For that would nullifie their Pastoral Office as to one part thereof which is as essential to it as the other in regard whereof the Presbyters are in Scripture called Bishops or Overseers and are charged to take the oversight of the Flock But this is no way violated by admitting a stated Moderator or president Bishop As concerning Worship or Divine Service
we conclude that those who agree in the Doctrine of Faith cannot disagree in the substance of Worship They differ only about the Liturgy and Ceremonies And the dissenting side oppose not all Liturgy but desire that the present form may be changed or reformed They oppose not any circumstance of Decency and Order but desire that mystical Ceremonies of humane institution may be abolished or not injoyned Section XX. Thus the Coalition of these two Interests into one appeareth possible because their conscientious principles on both sides have not that repugnancy but that they may well close together in a due temperament and constitute one solid Ecclesiastical politie And nothing hinders this conjunction but the obstinacy either of one or both parties from a humour of opposition or incurable enmity or some carnal designe Among the Bishops and Episcopal Doctors some of the most eminent have witnessed to the world their desires of Accommodation by their endeavours and proposals that way The Presbyterians preferr an uniting accommodation though upon yielding terms before division with an intire Toleration The incomparable Bishop Usher in the beginning of the late Troubles proposed his model Intituled The Reduction of Episcopacy unto the form of Synodical Government received in the ancient Church as an expedient for the comprimizing of the now differences thus declaring That by Order of the Church of England all Presbyters are charged to minister the Doctrine Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded and as this Realm hath received the same And that they might the better understand what the Lord hath commanded therein the Exhortation of St. Paul to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus is appointed to be read unto them at the time of their Ordination Take heed to your selves and to all the flock among whom the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to rule the Congregation of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Mark well how this pious learned Prelate declares his own sence and interprets the meaning of the Church of England that the Holy Ghost hath made all Ordained Ministers Bishops or Overseers to rule the Congregation of God He saith further Though in our Church this kinde of Presbyterial Government hath been long dis-used yet seeing it still professeth that every Pastor hath a right to rule the Church and to minister the Discipline of Christ as well as to dispense the Doctrine and Sacraments And the restraint of the exercise of this Right proceeds onely from the custom now received in this Realm no man can doubt but by another Law of the Land this hinderance may be well removed If the Presbyterians imbrace these or such like Proposals what hinders the agreement in that great and most difficult point in difference to wit Church-Government Section XXI If both parties refuse to meet each other and to walk together in a middle way the weaker party must needs be tolerated There is indeed a third way by subverting the rejected side but we believe that in the present case it is so abhorrent to humane reason and Christian Charity thâ—â—we will not take it into consideration Wherefore the Question lies between an Accommodation and a Toleration which of these two shall be chosen and why the former is more desirable for both sides then the latter I offer these arguments And first Multiformity of Religion publickly professed doth not well comport with the spirit of this Nation which is free eager zealous apt to animosities and jealousies besides that it hath ever had a strong propension to Uniformity Also it is too well known that the dividing of Church communion is the dividing of hearts and that we shall not live like brethren till we agree to walk in one way Only let this be well observed and ever remembred that the necessary and injoyned terms of this Unity be not in things superfluous but necessary at least for edification order and peace Moreover Toleration being not the daughter of Amity but of Enmity at least in some degree supposeth the party tolerated to be a burden especially if conceived dangerous to the way established and commonly holds no longer then meer necessity compels and consequently neither party take themselves to be safe the one alwaies fearing to lose its authority and the other its liberty And if men will lay aside self-conceit and fond indulgence to the way of their own perswasion they will quickly finde that the temper of this Kingdom doth not well accord with extreams on either hand Certainly well-minded and serious people were never better prepared for an equall Accommodation They are weary of tedious dissentions in Church and State and have seen felt the sad consequents thereof and could they once attain to setled union upon the same grounds they would do their utmost to hold and keep it inviolable Without controversie the earnest thoughts of such a compoture did expedite the peaceable return of his Majesty The Presbyterians vigorously acted for it although they knew there were some that breathed out revenge and cruelty against them yet they hoped that the prevailing part would be sober and carry it with all moderation But they relyed chiefly upon his Majestie 's Wisdom Equity and Goodness whose Virtues attested by faithfull witnesses proclaimed him the Soveraign Reconciler and Healer of our breaches And surely they will never repent of their honesty and loyalty And let them rest assured that their moderation shall plead for them in the time to come Section XXII If one party coming forward to meer their brethren make a tender of such propositions as in al reason may procure unity and order in the Church and cannot pass further without regret of Conscience in this case for the other party to go about to strain them higher is most unreasonable and uncharitable Let them remember his Rule who is Lord and Head of the Church Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye the same unto them Now such proposals may suffice for peace which will not satisfie humour and faction and carnal interest Unity and order may be obtained by those terms that do not prejudice the conscientious principles of either party and are not defective in things necessary I mean not onely to salvation but to the Churches peace and edification and verily to insist upon such terms alone is the most Christian and most rational way to a solid and sure peace As for the Presbyterians what they offer will sufficiently attain the said ends and what they stand upon doth not cross the said rule of Charity and Prudence Their proposals touching Prelacy Liturgy Ceremonies and Canonical Subscription are in no wise repugnant to the Churche's being or wel-being Section XXIII That Prelacy as it stood in England is not essential to a Church-State we call to witness the far greater number of Protestant Episcopal Divines yea the whole current of them till the times next fore-going our Civil wars Archbishop Bancroft no way
indulgent to Presbytery withstood the re-ordaining of those Scottish Presbyters elect Bishops upon this reason That they might not seem to question the Ministry of the Reformed Churches For which cause who can forbear to censure the palpable absurdity of some latter Prelatists that unchurch all the forreign Reformed Churches and nullifie their Ministery and Ordinances They have taken up a most destructive killing opinion which 〈◊〉 the unspeakable advantage of the Romish Church lets out the Vitals of the Protestant Cause and Religion And shall any that are hearty Protestants be fond of such Opinionists Moreover it is no less evident that the Prelacy as it stood in England is without the warrant of Divine right and that not only in regard of Lordly titles and exercise of temporal Dominion but also in regard of sole Jurisdiction and deputation of power Is there any text in the Scripture where the name and work of a Bishop is appropriated to a superior Order or degree in the Ministery Do not all the texts of Scripture that mention the name and work of a Bishop attribute both to all ordained Ministers Can there be a clearer evidence that a Bishop and Presbyter is the same spirituall Officer Besides to maintain the Divine right of Prelacy it sufficeth not to shew from Scripture any kinde of difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter unless it can be likewise proved that the Bishop is the alone subject or receptacle of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that he alone hath rule and government over all the Presbyters within his limits yea and over all the Churches leaving no power to the Presbyters but to execute his Injunctions But there is nothing more express then that the Holy Ghost hath made all Presbyters to be Bishops or Overseers and hath commanded them to rule the Church and to exercise Episcopacy or to take the oversight thereof And that this is the sence of the Church of England is manifest by appointing the exhortation of Saint Paul to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus and the character and qualification of Bishops written by the same Apostle unto Timothy to be read unto Presbyters at the time of their Ordination Hereupon a late famous Defender of Prelacy was driven to leave the beaten path of Episcopal Divines and to take a new way but to the ruine of the Cause maintained by him He saith That although the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elders hath been extended to a second Order in the Church and is now in use onely for them under the name of Presbyters yet in the Scripture times it belonged principally if not only to Bishops there being no evidence that any of that second Order were then instituted though soon after before the Writings of Ignatius such were instituted in all Churches Here it is fully granted that the Scripture Presbyters were Bishops and that the second Order of meer Presbyters which were no Bishops was not then instituted whereupon it follows that a meer Presbyter who is no Bishop is not of divine institution but a meer humane Creature if the holy Scriptures be the perfect Rule of all Divine Institutions Neither is the abatement of Prelacy unto moderate Episcopacy or Presidency any departure from the practice of the ancient Church but a true reviving of the same which was an election made by the Presbyters of one of their own number to preside amongst them and that upon no pretence of Divine Right but for remedy of Schism as Jerome witnesseth And with this Bishop or President the whole Presbytery joyned in the common Government of the Church Bishop Usher plainly shews how easily the ancient form of Government may be revived again and with what little shew of alteration namely by erecting a Suffragan Bishop in every rural Deanery into which every Diocess is subdivided who may every moneth assemble a Synod of all the incumbent Pastors within the Precinct and according to the major part of voices conclude all matters that should be brought into debate before them yet with a liberty to appeal if need require to the Diocesan Provincial National Synods That the number of Bishops should be very much augmented doth evidently appear to all that know and consider the weight of Episcopal Superintendency and the learned Bishop now mentioned gives a hint that their number might be very well conformed to the number of rural Deaneries Surely so many hundred populous Parishes now under the Government of one Bishop might be well divided into many Diocesses ample enough And such a course would make not only for the edifying of the Church by the more effectual inspection of many Bishops for one but also for the advancement of Learning by the multiplication of preferments Wherefore nothing of the Churches being or well-being nothing of Divine Institution or primitive practise doth withstand the reduction of Prelacy to moderate Episcopacy or the ancient Synodical government to which the Presbyterians may conform without repugnancy to their principles Section XXIV The point of Ceremonies comes next under debate And for as much as it concerns Divine Worship it is of high importance and a tender point of Conscience And herein we affirm that the Presbyterian concessions are no way defective but sufficient and ample unto all regular devotion in divine Service All natural expressions of devotion or natural external worship they readily acknowledge as kneeling and lifting up of the hands and eyes in prayer and such like which are called natural because nature it self teacheth all Nations to use them without any divine or humane Institution and a rational man by the meer light of nature is directed to them yet not without some government of counsel and discretion For in these things nature is in part determined and limited by the custome of several Ages and Countries and by the difference of several Cases In the act of adoration the prostration of the body is used according to nature in some ages places and occasions and not in others In ancient times the wearing of fackcloth and ashes and renting of clothes were fit expressions of humiliation and that according to nature yet the same suits not with our times For herein nature is subject unto some variety and now adays the wearing of the meanest apparel were sutable in a day of Humiliation because it is now a convenient natural expression of self-abasement and a kind of abstinence Likewise kneeling is a natural prayer-posture but where it cannot be used conveniently standing is naturally agreeable nevertheless neither the one nor the other is necessary where infirmity or other necessity makes it inconvenient Moreover they do not scruple the meer circumstances of order as time place and method without which humane actions cannot be performed They allow and commend all matters of decency as decent Churches or meeting places and furniture as a Pulpit Cloth Communion Cup and a grave habit for a Minister and in holy duties a grave posture of body composed countenance and
even for meer formalities In the late distempered times the Sectaries and masked Jesuites had a free rainge and all possible advantages yet it is manifest that towards the later end errour was rather in the wane then in the encrease which we are bold to attribute to the liberty of constant practical preaching Wherefore settle discipline incourage true Watchmen restrain seducers expel the Jesuites and the Church through Gods blessing will be kept in peace and order Section XXIX If these things are so whence proceeds the present vehemence and importunity of so many of the Episcopal party to carry things to the height of their way without the least abatement of the ancient rigour Some of that way as wise and learned and pious as many among them did offer terms in the time of their distraction and distress and in those times it was a common thing among the friends of Prelacy to condemn the violence of some of the late Prelates Have present advantages made them of another minde If they answer by retortion Why did not the Presbyterians make a more early offer of agreement and close when time was with the overtures of some Bishops Truely we are willing to argue the case and have many things to reply And first it is freely acknowledged that we ought to have had a more tender respect to each other to have better considered the state of England and to have studied moderation Yet let not one side bear all the blame when both are faulty Impetuous actings on both sides suddenly brought us to extremities and a War brake forth and then both Prelatists and Presbyterians were ingaged with such partakers that the more moderate on both sides must needs be overacted And as the War was prolonged the breach was widened Statesmen and Swordmen and particular subdividing interests having their peculiar and hidden designs Moreover when the Regal Power and the House of Peers were suppressed and most of the House of Commons secluded the Presbyterians had only an interest of liberty but not of power and authority and favour You cannot impute to them the want of unity which was not possible for them to encompass But they were heartily weary of those confusions and longed for unity and order and had much regard to Bishop Ushers reduction then reprinted desiring to take it for a ground-work or beginning of accommodation among all sober Protestants that we might not be spoiled of all Religion but what Papists and Sectaries would by their leaves allow us So that not of constraint but of choice and a ready mind they pursue peace and concord Howbeit in those times some Prelatists of the higher strain would condescend in nothing but gloried in calling themselves the unchangeable Sons of the Church of England that is in their sence the unalterable Asserters of the Opinions and practices of the late English Hieratchy There were also many more moderate Episcopal Divines that were formerly reckoned half Puritans and upon that account kept from preferment till about the beginning of the Long Parliament some of them were made Bishops for the support of Episcopacy These being exasperated by the late Wars and the issue thereof violent changes in Government and their own sufferings which happened beyond our first expectations were set at a greater distance from us Let both sides acknowledge their errour in departing unto such a distance from one another The truth is men ingaged in War aim at victory and having peculiar interests draw to extreams But now we settle upon a common bottom and prudence should guide us to aim at common satisfaction It is known that some Episcopal and Presbyterian Divines have joyned hand in hand and why should not all those of either party do the like that are both for Christ Indeed a calamity may befall sound and good Christians to refuse unity in Church-order when the terms mutually required seem to one or both parties unlawfull But in the present case when nothing is desired in contradiction to Divine Right Primitive practice order and decency but a forbearance or indulgence in things not of themselves necessary yet scrupled as unlawful and it will not be accepted surely either secular interest or the everlasting enmity is the root of this dissention And certainly with those that bear so hard upon mens consciences conformity to Church government Rites and Ceremonies is not sufficient to procure their amity We well remember how heretofore the conforming Puritanes were as great an eye-sore to some Prelates as the non-conformists But in good earnest shall such precious things as the peace and edification of the Church the needful service of so many able and godly Ministers and the quiet and comfort of so many sober-minded Christians be all sacrificed to the Hierarchy and Ceremonies Will not Episcopal Protestant Divines regard the weakning of the Protestant Cause in Christendom by treading the Presbyterians under foot The more ancient Bishops in England were of another minde as Bishop Robert Abbot by name witness this passage of his Sermon preached when he was Doctor of the Chair in Oxford That men under pretence of truth and preaching against the Puritans strike at the heart and root of Faith and Religion now establisted amongst us that this preaching against Puritans was but the practice of Parsons and Campians counsel when they came into England to seduce young Students and when many of them were afraid to lose their places if they should professedly be thus the counsel they then gave them was that they should speak freely against Puritans and that should suffice Let our Episcopal brethren as Divines as Protestants as Christians consider these things O let it not be said of this Generation in the time to come that the way of peace we have not known From the Discourse aforegoing I inferr this pacifick and healing conclusion That the Party called Presbyterian may be protected and incouraged and the Episcopal not deserted nor disobliged His Majesties wisedom and authority will draw both Sides to submit to reason The third Inquiry having connexion with the two former now follows to close up the whole matter Quest. III. Whether the upholding of both Parties by a just and equal accommodation be not in it self more desirable and more agreeable to the State of England than the absolute exalting of one Party and the total subversion of the other Section XXX That state of Prelacy which cannot stand without the subversion of the Presbyterians and that stands in opposition to regulated Episcopacy will become a mystery of a meer carnal and worldly state under a sacred title and venerable name of our Mother the Church For in such opposition of what will it be made up but of Lordly revenue dignity splendor and jurisdiction with outward ease and pleasure What will its design be from age to age but to uphold and advance its own pomp and potency Read the Ecclesiastical Histories and you shall finde the great business of the Hierarchy hath been
the degenerate and corrupt times We see the greatest Kings and Monarchs have their Councels There is no Temporal Councel in England of the higher sort where the Authority doth rest in one person Again he saith Bishops have their infirmities and have no exception from that general malediction which is pronounced against all men living Vaesoli c. Nay we see the first warrant in spiritual causes is directed to a number Dic Ecclesiae which is not so in temporal matters Again we see that the Bishop of Rome fas est ab hoste doceri and no question in that Church the first Institutions are excellent performeth all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as in Consistory and whereof consisteth this Consistory but of the Parish Priests of Rome which term themselves Cardinals à Cardinibus Mundi because the Bishop thereof pretendeth to be universal over the whole world Touching the second point the deputation of their Authority he saith the Bishop exerciseth his Jurisdiction by his Chancellor and Commissary official c. We see in all Laws in the world offices of confidence and skill cannot be put over nor exercised by Deputy except it be especially contained in the Original Grant and then it becomes dutiful There was never any Judge that made a Deputy The Bishop is a Judge and of an high nature whence cometh it that he should depute considering all trust and confidence is personal and inherent and cannot or ought not to be transposed Surely in this again ab initio non fuit ita But it is probable that Bishops when they gave themselves too much to the glory of the world and became Grandees in Kingdomes and great Councellors to Princes then did they deleague their proper Jurisdiction as things of too inferiour a nature for their greatness and then after the similitude of Kings and Count Palatines they would have their Chancellours and Judges This and much more hath that great Scholar Lawyer and States-man observed in that excellent discourse Yea our late Soveraign in his discourse touching the differences between himself and the two Houses in point of Church-Government declares in these words that he is not against the managing of the Episcopal presidency in one man by the joynt counsel and consent of many Presbyters but that he had offered to restore it as a fit means to avoid those errours and corruptions and partialities which are incident to any one man also to avoid Tyranny which becomes no Christians least of all Church-men besides it will be a means to take away that odium and burden of affairs which may lye too heavy on one mans shoulders as he thought it did formerly on the Bishops here Section XXXVIII By the desired reduction of Prelacy to the coalition of Episcopacy and Presbytery in a due temperament His Majesty will be so far from giving up or weakning that power and influence which in right and reason he ought to have over Church and State that he will thereby gain a surer and a larger interest Bishops lessened in power and encreased in number and resident in the Churches and duly dispencing the Word and Sacraments are not like to alienate the King from Parliaments nor Parliaments and people from the King but will become more popular and able to fix the hearts of the people to obedience and loyalty And this popularity of Bishops and Presbyters being alone without potency is no rational ground of distrust or jealousie to the King For their influence upon others will not be from greatness of power and command but from venerable esteem and reputation and that stands upon their prudent pious and peaceable behaviour Besides his Majesty can easily keep them in such dependence on himself as that he shall not hold this interest at their courtesie Do any suggest the Presbyterians may grow upon him Surely there are and will be enough to balance them Certainly they have seen so little good of changes that a reasonable condition with security will be acceptable to them Undoubtedly the union of both parties by an equal accommodation is the interest of Prince and people the strength and stability of King and Kingdom Let neither side lay hold on present mutable advantages to press them too far but let all consider what will stand with lasting tranquillity And above all let his Majesties wisdom who hath the high concernment of three Kingdoms for himself and his Heirs for ever lay a good and solid foundation for the time to come Section XXXIX Finally this accomodation is the interest of Jesus Christ the Redeemer and Head of the Church in as much as it takes in and secures thousands of godly able Orthodox Ministers thousands and ten thousands of godly peaceable Christians who otherwise might be rejected and oppressed And it may well be acceptable to the whole Christian world because it bears conformity to the whole State of Christendom to the forreign reformed Churches in Presbytery to the rest of the Churches in Episcopacy and to the ancient Church next to the Primitive times in the orderly conjunction of Episcopacy and Presbytery FINIS THE Second Part OF THE Interest of England In the Matter of Religion Unfolded in a Deliberative Discourse PROVING That it is not agreeable to sound Reason to prefer the Contracted and Dividing Interest of one Party before the general Interest of Protestantism and of the whole Kingdom of England in which the Episcopal and Presbyterian Parties may be happily United Written by J. Corbet Rector of Bramshot The second Impression Corrected and amended LONDON Printed for George Thomason and are to be sold at the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Church-yard 1661. I Intreat the Reader to take notice That in these Discourses I do not mention parties to maintain Division but to procure Vnion That necessity compels me to use those names of difference which I heartily wish might be no more remembred But whilst disagreeing Parties last names of difference cannot cease and to forbear their use is to little purpose My business is to take things as I find them and to state the Case between the Dissenters and to shew how far they agree and how little they differ for this end That Parties both Name and Thing might cease for ever Moreover as I use not the name of Presbyterian in the way of glorying so I use not the name of Prelate or Prelatist in way of reproach but meerly for distinction sake and I have warrant for it from the friends of Prelacy with whom it is not unusual to mention the name of Prelate in an honourable Sence The Second Part of the Interest of England in the Matter of Religion THe former Treatise of the Interest of England in the Matter of Religion makes known the way of peace in the reconciling of those two grand Parties the Episcopal and Presbyterian which if made one would take in and carry along the strength of almost the whole Nation The whole structure thereof rests upon these Positions as
be one with the Church of Rome unless we be subject to the Court of Rome and abandon all Protestantism Section XXXIV Whereupon all approaches and motions towards Rome are dangerous For popish Agents will easily over-act the Reconcilers peradventure lead them whither they would not If we walk on the brink we may soon fall into the pit Although it stands not with Christian Charity to disclaim agreement upon reasonable tearms with any that are named Christians yet it is not fit for a purer Church to incorporate with a Church defiled with such abominations Besides as to reason of State Enmity with Rome hath been reputed the Stability of England concerning which the Duke of Rhoan hath delivered this Maxime That besides the Interest which the King of England hath common with all Princes he hath yet one particular which is that he ought thoroughly to acquire the advancement of the Protestant Religion even with as much zeal as the King of Spain appears Protector of the Catholick Indeed that Scarlet-coloured Whore hath this bewitching ingredient in the cup of her Fornication that she disposeth Subjects to security and blind obedience and exalteth Princes unto absolute Dominion But against this poison a soveraign Antidote is given by a judicious Writer that this proves that subjects are more miserable not that Princes are more absolute among Papists forasmuch as where the Pope prevails there is a co-domination and rivalty in rule and this Protestant Princes are freed from and whereas Popery hath been ever infamous for excommunicating murthering deposing Princes the Protestant Religion aims at nothing but that the Kings Prerogative and popular Liberty may be even balanced If it be said that this is true of Protestantism but Puritanism leads to sedition rebelIion Anarchy let the world know that Puritanism which is no other than sound Protestantism doth abhor these crimes and defie the charge thereof The people that were called Puritans and now Presbyterians have had no fellowship with Polititians and Sectaries in those pernicious ways but their principle is for subjection to Princes though they were Hereticks or Infidels and if they differ herein from the Prelatical Protestants it is only that they plead for liberty setled by known Laws and fundamental Constitutions Section XXXV From the reasons aforegoing we conclude That Protestantism will best consist in the middle way by reducing Prelacy to the ancient synodical government or moderate Episcopacy And this is a blessed work worthy of a pacifick King w th respect to his honor service whose title is The Prince of Peace Herein his Majesty with Gods help may over-rule without difficulty or hazzard He need not say of those that are averse as David sometimes did of the sons of Zerviah That they are too hard for him Prelacy is not popular but moderate Episcopacy is and the more because it is a healing expedient for our broken times The Bishops depend intirely on the King but he hath no dependance on them no need of advantage from them What if some interessed persons be discontented The sober of the Nation both Episcopal and Presbyterian will have great contentment in the King's prudence and moderation His Majesty is a Prince by Nature He is our Native King and the delight of the English Nation and may govern as he please without fear or hazard by continuing to shew himself a common Father For there is none other upon whom the Inrest of England can bottom it self but our gracious dread Soveraign King Charles whose House and Kingdom let the most High establish throughout all generations He hath all hearts that are of sober principles earnestly waiting upon him longing and panting after his moderation and rejoycing in the begun expressions thereof and of which the Presbyterians have had so great expectation that they wished He were both King Lords and Commons as to the setling of this grand Affair Section XXXVI The excessive dominion of the Hierarchy with the rigorous imposition of humane Ceremonies was accounted much of the malady of former times which ended in those deadly Convulsions of Church and State Do we here reproach our Mother the Church of England In no wise This National Church consists of the Body of the Nation combined in the Unity of Faith and substance of Divine worship according to God's holy Word But if the Church be taken in a more restrained sence for the Clergy or Ministery yet so the Hierarchy is not the Church either formally or virtually When as according to Camdens report there are in England above nine thousand four hundred Ecclesiastical promotions how comes all the Interest and virtue of such a numerous Clergy to be gathered up in six and twenty Bishops with their respective Deans and Chapters and Archdeacons And can the self-same state and frame of Ecclesiasticks be now revived after so great and long continued alterations by which the anti-prelatical party is exceedingly encreased and strengthened Machiavel whose reason in things political may challenge regard gives these two directions to a Prince to be alike observed for securing his hereditary Dominions First that he doth not transgress the institutions of his Ancestors Secondly That he serve the time according to new occasions by which if a Prince be inducd with ordinary diligence in action he will preserve himself in his principality His Majesty returns to the exercise of his Kingly power after a long interruption in Government and great alteration in the State Civil and Ecclesiastical And he hath this happy advantage presenting it self to his hand that he may give general satisfaction by retaining the ancient Episcopal Government with some necessary variation conformable to these times in abating the excess of former things and qualifying the same with some temperate ingredients Certainly it concerns an hereditary Prince as to maintain the ancient constitutions so to redress ancient grievances and to cure inveterate maladies The party dissatisfied in former things were not a company of precipitate Mutineers but a Parliament of judicious and consciencious persons and their adherents who for the major part never intended to dissolve the Government but have to their power endeavoured and contrived the setling of these Nations on their ancient basis Section XXXVII Moreover this dissatisfaction in the old frame of the Ecclesiastical Government is not a novelty of these times as appears by those prudent considerations touching the better pacification and edification of the Church presented to King James by that most learned Lord Verulam sometimes Lord Chancellour of England who was no Presbyterian nor enemy to Episcopacy in which are these passages There be two circumstances in the administration of Bishops wherein I confess I could never be satisfied The one the sole Exercise of their Authority the other the Deputation of their Authority For the first the Bishop giveth orders alone excommunicateth alone judgeth alone This seems to be a thing almost without example in Government and therefore not unlikely to have crept in in