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
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
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
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
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
this Realm provided alway that no Canons Constitutions or Ordinance shall be made or put in Execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocation of the Clergy which shall be contrariant or Repugnant to the King's Prerogative Royal or the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm any thing contained in this Act to the contrary hereof notwithstanding And in the close of the said Act it follows Provided that such Canons Constitutions and Synodals Provincial being already made which be not contrariant nor repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the damage or hurt of the King's Prerogative Royal shall now still be used and executed as they were before the making of this Act till such time as they be viewed searched or otherwise ordered and determined by the said Two and Thirty Persons or the more part of them according to the Tenor Form and effect of this present Act. But nothing being done in pursuance of this Power vested in that King thereby the same was again Enacted by Stat. 27. H. 8. c. 15. But the Power of Popery rendring that Law also Ineffectual it was again by Stat. 35. H. 8. c. 16. Enacted That that King should still have the same Authority during his Life But still nothing was done for the Priests chose rather to continue the Canons and Constitutions and Laws Ecclesiastical in the uncertainty in which they were left by the said Stat. 25. H. 8. c. 19. than that the King and Sixteen of the Temporalty should intermeddle in Matters Ecclesiastical But King H. 8. died and left the Ecclesiastical Constitutions as the were unestablish'd by the last mentioned Statute And the Reformation having made a considerable Progress in the Reign of Edw. 6. the like Power and Authority was again given to that King by Stat. 3. and 4. Ed. 6. c. 11. But still the Old Leaven remained and nothing was done in his short Reign and Popery returning to its Vigor under the Reign of Queen Mary the aforesaid Stat. of 25 H. 8. c. 14. was Repealed by Stat. 1. and 2 Phil. and Mary c. 8. And although that Act was Revived again by the Act of 1 Eliz. c. 1. yet that Authority which had been given to King H. 8. and King Edw. 6. seems not to be given by that Act to Q. Eliz. But by the same Act the High Commission Court was created to Act under the Queen's Prerogative which was quite another sort of Authority and left the Laws Ecclesiastical as they were left by the Stat. 25. H. 8. c. 19. And the High Commission being since found inconvenient and condemned by Law it seems to me that something remains to be done for the Establishment of the Church And therefore tho' I impute it to the Prevalency of Popery that all those Statutes were of no Effect yet I would hope that the Divine Providence did permit so many Laws of that Kind to be made with a design that they might be Presidents for the like Authority to be vested in our most Gracious Sovereign Queen Anne whose Life hath set a rare Example of Christian Piety whose Reign the Almighty hath blest with the best Bishops that ever fill'd the English Sees and whose Care of all her Subjects hath been so often Exprest with such moving Accents from the Throne of whose Affection to the Church of England no Man can doubt and who may easily render it a Means and Pattern of Union to all the Protestant Churches and in a short time to the whole Christian World I write not this without Ground but with good Reason and some Glimpse of Hope Had any of the said Statutes in the Reign of H. 8. been pursued Popery had been further establish'd And in the short Reign of Edw. 6. Things were yet in great Confusion Matters in Controversie had not been fully discust Laymen-had but just got the Bible which is the Instructions left by our Blessed Saviour into their Hands and therefore could not so well judge whether his Ambassadors followed his Instructions or no. Humane Inventions had so long been made Equal to Divine Institutions that it was not easie at that time to distinguish them And considering the gross Ignorance that abounded among the Clergy when the Transition was made from Popery to the Protestant Religion by Queen Elizabeth it is wonderful that the Reformation should have made so great a Progress as it did in her Reign During the Reign of King James the First the Spanish and French Matches the Cowardise and yet the Ambition of that King diverted his Thoughts to other Matters than the Establishment of the Church but yet a step was made towards it by the new Translation of the Bible which was made in his Reign During the Reign of King Charles the First the Cassandrian Design of a Re-union to Rome was pursued with great Industry and therefore no wonder that a better Establishment of the Church was not attempted in his Reign And perhaps till the Mischief of Enthusiasm had shewed us the necessity of a National Church it would have been difficult to have brought the Dissenters to any Reasonable Terms of Union and therefore the first Opportunity which seems to me to have presented it self for such an Attempt was at the Restoration of the Royal Family when it was in the Power of King Charles the Second to have Establish'd the Church on such Foundations as would easily have taken into her Communion almost all Denominations of Christians who had not cast oft the Ordinances of Christ and their Allegiance to the Civil Government But the foreign Education of the Royal Brothers had sixt their Inclinations to a Union with France and Rome and the Fear under which King Charles the Second laboured was not lest the Dissenters should not comply with the Act of Uniformity but lest they should One Party was to be turn'd out that another might be brought in So that this time was not improved towards our Union But after that Popery appear'd barefac'd under the late King James the Second and Advances were made both by the Church-Party and the Dissenters towards Union at the Revolution that Season was look'd upon as a happy Juncture for such an Attempt But to speak my Mind freely although I think no Man can give an Instance wherein his late Majesty King William shewed any want of Affection to this National Church yet his Education under another sort of Church-Government did as I apprehend cause the Church Party to take Umbrage as if he designed to bend the Constitution in the Church too much toward the Dissenter And might also occasion in the Dissenter Expectations of greater Concessions than are necessary to Peace and Unity But the Mischiefs of Enthusiasm in the late Times the Persecution of the Episcopal Party then and of the Dissenters in the Reign of King Charles the Second and the terrible Visage of returning Popery under the late King James have occasioned great Thoughts of Heart All
the true Interest of their Native Countrey nor any Duty or Gratitude to Her Majesty I must beg further time for Consideration I must also take time for further Thought or desire further Information what those Truths are which in your Preface you say you do with Deference and Respect to the House of Lords and in a decent and respectful manner endeavour to Establish for as to your two main Pillars other Hands have sufficiently shewed that they are far from being Pillars of Truth I am also with great Submission much surprized to be told Page 6. that the same Arguments were made use of against this Bill which were formerly insisted on for Repealing all the Test-Laws whatsoever for many of the Great and Wise Men in the Kingdom and more especially in Shropshire Herefordshire and thereabouts do well remember that the way to Peace at Home was with much Eloquence declared to be by Repealing those Laws when to Repeal them was manifestly to serve a Popish Interest and with no less Assurance when the late Bill was promoted when the same End would have been served tho' by quite contrary Means so that one at least of those Arguments would have been very acceptable to me who have always thought that the Reasons for Repealing those Laws in a Popish Reign were of the same Size with those that are urged for rendring those Laws more strict and severe in the Reign of a Protestant Queen Concerning this Matter therefore Preface to Peace at Home there are some Mistakes and Misapprehensions I doubt that do still prevail with some Persons and seem to call for a further Explanation of it And perhaps that the same Arguments were used for both these Purposes would be as considerable a Truth if it were made out as any other of the Truths endeavoured to be establish'd by your Discourse But tho' I was against Repealing the Test in a Popish Reign I Publish'd some Reasons for Repealing some part of it in a Protestant Reign which I have added to this Letter No. 1. for your Consideration That the Bill affected only those particular Dissenters who thought fit to Conform for an Office but would not Conform for the Unity of the Church is another of your Truths which needs to be establish'd because on the contrary it seems to affect my Occasional Conformist or rather Occasional Dissenter nay to be principally levell'd at him who conforms meerly for the Unity of the Church and not for an Office who endeavours to preserve the Unity of the Catholick Church from being rent as often as a Whimsey shall take any Sett of Men to be adding their own Inventions to Christianity and then to call themselves the Church to make a parcel of Ceremonies Articles of Communion whereas the 39 Articles of the Church are not so if you believe your Oracle One Truth indeed you have taught us out of the Preamble of the intended Bill against Occasional Conformity viz. That nothing is more contrary to the Profession of the Christian Religion and particularly to the Doctrine of the Church of England than Persecution for Conscience sake only It was therefore it seems to be Enacted to this effect That whosoever being in a Publick Office would not join himself to the High Church Party so as never more to Communicate with any other part of the Christian World altho' he believed the Holy Catholick Churah and endeavoured to shew his Faith by his Works should forfeit his Office and a Fine of 100 l. to the Prosecutor c. Now if the Man did Communicate with other good Christians out of Conscience as is abovesaid would not this be Persecution for Conscience only And pray Sir was not the danger of Establishing the aforesaid Truth the true Reason why that Truth was left out of the Preamble in the Second Edition of that Bill And this Question I ask you with the greater Freedom tho' with great Submission because this Truth being once in the Preamble of that Bill is used by you as an Answer to the Objection That they who think the being present at a Meeting to be so high a Crime can hardly think that Toleration of such Meetings ought to continue which by Reason of the said Truth being in the said Preamble you argue to be an hard not to say unwarrantable and uncharitable Censure on the Representatives of the People I don't say Sir That going to a Meeting is now by the Toleration Act Establish'd or made part of our Constitution thereby But I say that if the Creed be part of our Constitution if the Articles of the Church be another part and the Meeting be within the Description of the said 19th Article going to it is Established both by Law and Gospel But I apply to your Questions which I am willing to take as the chief Points and to expect a good Issue not from the Weakness but Strength of the Reader 's Judgment First Whether it be consistent with the Safety of the Established Government either in Church or State with the Wisdom of the English Nation with the Practice of any Wise Government in the World or with the true Intent and Meaning of the Corporation and Test Acts to admit any Person whatsoever into Publick Offices and Imployments relating to the Government either in Countries or Corporations who are not sincere Members of the National Church and who do not heartily approve of the Laws of the Land and chearfully pay Obedience to them Secondly And whether it is better to have the Administration of Publick Affairs in the Hands of Persons of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion or to have a mixture and confusion of Men of opposite Principles in one and the same Administration or in other words whether it is better to have all the Publick Officers draw together the same way for the Publick Good or to have some drawing one way and some another and thereby tearing the Government between them in pieces That is in short and in effect whether it is fit that the Corporation and Test Acts should be Enforced or Repealed Now that I may keep to the Subject Matter of the Debate I must take leave to divide these Questions into several Heads because they seem to me too perplex'd as they are stated and therefore seeing the Subject Matter is Occasional Conformity or Occasional Nonconformity First Let us consider whether the Occasional Conformist or rather the Occasional Dissenter be not a sincere Member of the National Church who heartily approves of the Laws of the Land and chearfully pays Obedience to them and whether he and the Churchman be of opposite Principles or of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion Secondly Whether if the Occasional Bill had passed 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 Principles and not
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
All the Christian Acts of Moderation in other Countries he takes to be Acts of Necessity not of Choice He seems to think that there are no Laws in England but those of Uniformity and the Corporation and Test Acts or otherwise he shamefully belies the Dissenters for no Men are more fond of the other Laws of England made for the Security of the Establisht Government 'T is a mighty Discovery that he has made that the Dissenters would Repeal those Laws Surely no Man ever doubted it so far as concerns good Protestants tho' it would be in Effect not a Repealing but rectifying those Laws He has confirmed my Observation that there is a strange Byass on a certain Party of Men towards Popish and French Presidents or surely he would not have troubled the Reader with the Presidents of Portugal Spain Italy Peace and Vnion Pag. 4. and France any more than of Muscovy Turkey Persia or China And for Holland they are a Wiser People than to Exclude those that Communicate with their National Church because they believe their Creed and Communicate also with other Protestants 'T is no wonder if Men that pretend to Infallibility and take the whole Web of Priestcraft to be as Sacred as our Saviours Seamless-Coat should Establish an Inquisition but that Men that pretend to no Infallibility but have rejected 19 Parts in 20 should be setting up an Inquisition to secure the Fag-end of Priestcraft from being torn off from Christianity this is wonderful especially when Constant Conformity Page 10. which as the Party would impose it is Schismatical Separation from the Catholick Church is put on the same Foot with the Oaths of Allegiance and Abjuration I hope that I have shewed that Author another way to Peace and Union than by Bribing Men by Offices to be Separalists there needs no going over of the Church to the Dissenters or the Dissenters to the Church but if both will go over to the Bible it would be well and Christendom in a little while would go over with them Let him take his Swing against all Parties that would undermine our Constitution but the things he and his Party are so fond of are rather our Excrements than our Constitution and if only one thing is to be done at once Page 16. let me Advise the Party to take Care of a Commandment an Article of the Creed or a Petition of the Lords Prayer and put an incapacity on those that trangress let God be first served at least before a Humane Ceremony or an Addition to our Saviours Institutions and as to his Controversy with D'foe I am not at all concerned whether your Offender or your Defender are against Occasional-Conformity upon the same or different Principles I hope the Precedent Sheets give a quite different Account of and defend that Practice from the misrepresentations of them both But least the word Excrement should offend you I think sit to acquaint you that I have it from that great Man eminent Church-man Dr. Henry Moor who among his Remains which I have seen written with his own Hand has this Passage That that which is good indeed should be generally relished by the World is as unlikely as that dead Men in their Graves should call out for Drink but when Goodness is revived in the World that which now goes for Food and Delicacy shall then be left as Dung and Excrement I hope Sir Humphry that Goodness is reviving in the World and I know that Sir Humphry Mackworth has his Heart and Hands engaged in its Resurrection and you know that there are Occasional Consormists who join intirely with you therein I was heartily sorry to find your Name to a Discourse which signifies to me that you take that for Food and Delicacy which I think deserves the other Name But there is another Passage among those Remains in these words There is a Natural kind of Religiousness which is but the Stamp or Character of this or the other Man's disposition some are given naturally to the magnificence of outward Ceremonies others do attend the inward motions of their Mind and think at ever moving of the Water a good Angel at least if not God himself is there But few Men are aware of their own natural Temper of Genius but let every one be assured that wherever Humility Upright-dealing and Charity are wanting both Ceremony and Inspiration are but a ridiculous piece of Gullery Humility assures me that the Oracles of God teach the true Terms of Christian Union to walk humbly with our God Mic. 6.8 is what the Prophet long since pronounc'd to be good and what God required Upright dealing teaches the publickly to my own Principles for which for some Years past I have been almost daily reproach'd and I thank God my Charity extends to the utmost limits of that Promise The Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isaiab 11.9 Oh Sir Humphrey Heb. 2.14 consider of Peace on Earth Luke 2.14 as well as at Home Not what will secure your Party but what will unite the Christian World who all agree that the Scriptures are the Word of God endeavour to render the Church of England a means of this glorious Peace and you will for ever oblige Your most c. No. 2. Woolsey's Letter IT is not concealed from your Holiness what are the various Effects of the new Invention of Printing that thereby Books and Learning are introduced and restored so that they have given rise to innumerable Sects and Schisms which daily break out in the Christian World especially in Germany where Men now begin to call into doubt the present Faith and Pleasure of the Church and to bring under Examination how far the Roman Faith at this day differs from the Primitive and Apostolical Institution From whence which is greatly to be lamented it comes to pass that Lay-men and the Dregs of the People are incited to read the Scriptures in the Vulgar Tongue Which great Mischiefs if they be tolerated not only greater will follow but it will come to pass that the Vulgar will at length be brought to believe that there is no such great need or use of the Clergy for if once there comes into the Minds of Men this Perswasion and Opinion that they can find a way for themselves to God in their own Mother Tongue which will enter Heaven as well as if it were in Latin plainly all Authority of the Mass and the whole Ecclesiastical Order will be ruin'd Pag. 73. A PLEA FOR THE Holy Sacrament being an Attempt to Rescue it from some late Prophanations in Civil Matters IN A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament By a Lay-Hand Licensed March 25 1689. James Fraser A PLEA FOR THE HOLY SACRAMENT March 20. 1688 9. SIR IT hath been one of the most successful Stratagems of the Apostate Prince of Darkness to ruin Mens Souls by those very means
be hereafter accounted for in this Discourse And however the Epistles of St. Ignatius stand Irrefragably defended from the charge of being Spurious I cannot see but that allowing the Bishop to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sufficient to comply with the full Sense of those Epistles especially if it be consider'd that the Bishops of which he speaks were made so by the Apostles themselves and no doubt were chosen by infallible Direction and must therefore deserve a most singular Respect But allowing Men to think as they see Evidence concerning this Difference of Order certainly the Practice of the Church may be such as may allow of Different Apprehensions without occasioning either Tyranny or Schism the Method whereof is attempted in this Discourse However it is plain that both our Saviour and his Disciples did wholly reject all Temporal Jurisdiction and applied themselves entirely to their Spiritual Administrations and that there was no Distinction Causes into of Spiritual or Ecclesiastical and Temporal or Civil in the Christian World for above Three Hundred Years after Christ Indeed while the Emperors were Heathens and the Judges too throughout the Empire the Christians according to the Advice of St. Paul forbare to go to Law 1 Cor. 6.5 6. and referred all their Differences usually to the Bishops or Pastors of the Congregations of which they were Members And when Constantine came to the Empire his mistaken Zeal confirm'd the Custom though the Apostle's Reason for it ceased And whereas the Civil Power ought to have been reassum'd by the Christian Magistrate and the Clergy eased of Secular Business his Edict set up the Clergy's Domination and from Arbitrators they became Judges and Christian Magistrates might not Judge unwilling Christians This Corruption grew so fast Socrat. lib. 7. cap. 11. that about the Year 430. in the Popedom of Celestine the Patriarchs of Rome and Alexandria did Degenerate from an Ecclesiastical to a Secular Ruling and Dominion And when I consider how positively that Degeneracy is forbidden by our Saviour Matth. 20.26 Luke 22.25 Mark 10.43 who upon all Occasions reprov'd it in his own Disciples When I consider what Miserie 's the Clergy Domination has caused more than Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years since that Degeneracy how it has turn'd the Church into a meer Worldly Kingdom and the Laws thereof into Humane Politicks I cannot but rejoice that by the Laws of England this Degeneracy is or might be cured were the Laws put in Execution and the Supremacy restor'd to the Civil Power And whether the Pope of Rome by this Degeneracy did commence the Apocalyptick Beast entring into the Seat of Daniel's 4th Beast and so the time of his Reign be expired may be worth the Consideration of those that study the Apocalypse But certain it is that in England the Bishop of Rome before the Norman Conquest had no allow'd Jurisdiction but the Conqueror coming in under the Pope's Banner gave him leave to send Legates into England From William Rufus he attempted to gain Appeals to Rome which occasion'd the Banishment of Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury during the Reign of that King Upon Henry the First he Usurp'd the Donation of Bishopricks On King Stephen Appeals to Rome On Henry the Second the Exemption of Clerks from the Secular Power And from King John he got the whole Kingdom I shall not trace the Steps by which the Kingdom recover'd it self out of the Hands of the Clergy but notwithstanding the Pope held our Ancestors Consciences in Slavery till the Reign of Henry the Eighth many Acts of Parliament were made to uphold and maintain the Sovereignty of the King the Liberty of the People the Common Law and the Commonweal as appears by the Statutes of Edward the Third and and Richard the Second Henry the Fourth and Henry the Fifth being Laws of Premunire and Provision by which the Civil Power was preserv'd and the Body secured against the monstrous pretended Foreign Head And upon the whole the Civil Power of England kept it self out of the Hands of the Priests in all Matters and Causes except Causes Testamentary and of Matrimony Divorce Rights of Tythes Oblations and Obventions for as the Emperors out of a Zeal and desire to Grace and Honour the Bishops allow'd them Jurisdiction in Causes of Tythes because they were paid to Priests in Causes of Matrimony because Marriages were Solemniz'd in the Church in Causes Testamentary because Testaments were many times made in Extremis when Priests were present So the Kings of England before the Reformation did all along derive Jurisdiction in these Causes to the Bishops though the Right remain'd in them as the Fountain But herein England hath been more unhappy than the Empire for whereas the Bishops when Christian Emperors granted them this Jurisdiction proceeded in these Causes according to the Imperial Law as the Civil Magistrate did proceed in other Causes our Bishops introduced the Imperial Law and since it came into the World the Canon Law also into England and endeavoured all they could to destroy Caesar's Image and Superscription They call'd their Courts Courts Christian as if the Civil Courts were but Courts of Ethnicks and their Causes Spiritual as if Civil Causes were Carnal And yet if an Honest Man Examine the Matter he will probably find as much Christianity in Westminster-Hall as in Doctors Commons and Adultery a Crime no more Spiritual than Murder Since the Reformation began the Civil and Pretended Spiritual Authority have been wresting and they are not yet fully agreed It was Enacted by the Statute 24 Hen. VIII Cap. 12. That all these Spiritual Causes should be Judged within the King's Authority and not elsewhere By the 26 Hen. VIII Cap. 14. The Parliament took upon them even in those Popish Times to Create new Bishops Suffragans and to appoint their Sees And this multiplying of Bishopricks is no new thing for if you will believe Giraldus Cambrenses he tells us in a Writing which he presented to Pope Innocent the Third That in Britain there were in the time of the Romans Five Provinces and accordingly Five Arch-Bishopricks under each of which was Twelve Bishopricks so there were Threescore Bishopricks at a time when the Island was not wholly Christianized Nor is the Translation of Sees any Novelty for in the Year 604 Pope Gregory did for the sake of Austin the Monk procure the Translation of the Archiepiscopal Seat from London to Canterbury where it remains to this Day notwithstanding the endeavour of Gilbert Folioth Bishop of London in the time of Henry the Second and the endeavours of other Bishops of London since to recover the Archiepiscopal Dignity But to proceed by Statute 1. Edw. VI. Cap. 2. The Writ of Conge delire was ousted and it was Enacted That none but the King by his Letters Patents should collate to an Archbishoprick or Bishoprick That all Process Ecclesiastical should be in the King's Name and the Test in the Name of the Person having
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