Clement St. Cyprian St. Chrysostom c. could not have been ignorant of it St. Clement says in his Ep. 54 55 56 57. the Apostles thought fit to reserve this Power of appointing Officers in the Church to themselves to prevent the Contentions that might happen about it And that all the People had to do was to give testimony of the Person chosen And to that end 't is true the People were to be present at the nomination of a new Bishop for since they were to be Men blameless and of good report 't was but fit that the People that best knew his Life and Conversation should be present to testify the same And herewith agrees St. Cyprian Ep. 68. whom Mr. Baxter vouches for the contrary says he The Bishop shou'd be chosen in the presence of the People that by their presence their Faults may be publish'd or their good Actions commended but says not a word of the Peoples Power of Electing him All our Ordinations must be done in the publick view of the People who are demanded of the Bishop whether any of them can or will except against the Persons to be admitted See the Form of Ordination in the Book of Common Prayer As to the Elections of Deacons 't is to be noted that 't was properly no Church Power which they had but they were Stewards of the Common Stock and therefore 't was but reasonable the Community should be satisfied in the choice of them St. Chrysostom in his Book de Sacerdotio complains much of the unfitness of the People to judge in such matters So does St. Augustine Ep. 110. And indeed were there no other Reasons against the Peoples choosing their own Ministers but the mischiefs that would necessarily attend it 't were sufficient for when ever the People assum'd this Power of choosing it caus'd so great Disturbances in the Church that at Antioch the Divisions of the People about the choice of a Bishop in the time of Constantine had kindled such a Flame as had almost destroy'd both Church and City The like at Rome upon the choice of Damascus And if the People have the Power of choosing their own Ministers what shou'd hinder but there may be a Presbyterian Independant Anabaptist Quaker and Papist teacher all in one Parish and so this would set open a door to infinite Divisions And therefore to avoid the great Evils and inconveniences of popular Elections the Power of choosing their own Ministers was taken away from the People by several Councils as 12. and 13. Can. Conc. Laodicea Conc. Antioch c. 18. c. Conc. 2 d. of Nice c. 3. The Reason that first gave Lay-men a title to the nomination of Ministers was when Christian Princes and others had given large Endowments to the Church 't was thought but just that they should have the nomination of the Ministers for those Churches that they had built and indow'd And this was a Prerogative in the Kings of England ever since the first foundation of a Christian Church here and long before any freedom of Elections was pretended to See Stat. 25. Edw. 3. and the Case of the King 's Ecclesiastical Power in Lord Cook 's 8 th Rep. and the Case of Praemunire in Sir John Davenant's Reports Case ult And this title of Patronage has been confirmed to Lay-men by several Councils as 1 st Coun. of Orange Anno Dom. 441. 2 d. Counc of Arles Anno 452. 9 th Counc of Toledo c. And this Right of presentation is not only us'd in England but in other reform'd Churches In Denmark the Archbishops and Bishops are appointed by the King so they are in Swedeland So in other Lutheran Churches the Superintendants are appointed by the several Princes and the Patrons present before Ordination The Synod of Dort hath a Salvo for the right of Patronage In France the Ministers are chosen by Ministers at Geneva by the Council of State who have Power likewise to depose them And Beza in his Ep. 83. declares against the Peoples choosing their Ministers as a thing without any ground in Scripture Grotius Ep. ad Boatslaer Ep. 62. p. 21. agrees herein How comes then our English Dissenters to make this a ground of Separation to wit The depriving the People of their Right of choosing their own Ministers when 't is evident they never had any such Right but when they got it by Usurpation And 't is contrary to the general practice of the Church in all Ages and even to the practice of other reform'd Churches at this day But besides the unwarrantableness of the Peoples choosing their Ministers and the great mischiefs that attend it by making the People run into Divisions and Factions 't is a thing very unreasonable in it self that such an ignorant proud unpeaceable sort of People as Mr. Baxter himself confesses in his Sacrilegiae Dissert p. 102. c. the ordinary sort of Christians to be should be made judges of their Ministers abilities and soundness of Doctrines who are most apt to revile the best and gravest Ministers as the same Mr. Baxter says himself in his Cure of Divis p. 393. Sure 't is more likely that the King and Parliament and the Governours of the Church shou'd provide able and fit Ministers for us than such sort of People as these unless any will be so ridiculous as to suppose that the Magistrates and Clergy are all bad men and the ignorant common People the only incouragers of Vertue They may say 't is as unreasonable on the other hand that all the People of a Parish shou'd be oblig'd to take a Minister put into the Cure by some young raw extravagant Heir that had the good Fortune to be born to an Estate to which the Advowson did belong but perhaps is as ignorant and unfit to judge of the abilities of a Minister as the meanest in the Parish To this I answer That though such ignorant Persons may sometimes have the right of Presentation yet they have not the Power of putting into the Cure any Minister they please for the Patron has only the right of presenting his Clerk who must be admitted and instituted by the Bishop before the Cure is said to be full and if the Bishop with the rest of his Clergy after examination had c. do think him any way unqualified for the Cure of Souls he may reject him and put the Patron to present another qualify'd for the Office which if he neglect to do within six Months from the time the Church became void he shall lose his presentation for that turn and the Bishop shall present So that the Patron it seems cannot put whom he will on the People for their Pastor but is bound to find Personam idoneam a fit Person And now before we pass from this matter let us see whether the Civil Magistrate has Power to silence Ministers or not Doubtless he has otherwise 't is impossible that any Kingdom should be safe for since the
the Will of their lawful Prince though a Heathen And will not our Dissenters shew the same respect to a Christian Prince that the Apostles did to Heathen Magistrates But whether Christian Magistrates have power to silence some Ministers such as they think fit or not it is a thing questionless that has been practis'd by 'em in all Ages ever since the time of Constantine the Great which is near 1400 years Constantine by his Edict suppress'd all separate Meetings and among the rest the Novatians and silenc'd their Preachers though their Ordination was as good as any among our Nonconformists See Eusebius Vita Const lib. 3. cap. 63 64 65 66. And St. Augustine did very much commend the Emperour for so doing See Aug. Ep. 48. and see also his 4 th Book against Cresconius a Donatist ch 51. All the Reform'd Churches in the World do at this day silence such Ministers as refuse to submit to the Orders and Government of their Church and believe they have Power so to do At Geneva their Council of State has the sole Power of Electing and Deposing Ministers Nay farther by the Constitution of Geneva they have Power not only to silence but to excommunicate such Ministers as shall contemn the Authority of the Church or by their obstinacy disturb the Order of it In the French Church if any refuse to subscribe to the Orders of their Church he is to be declared a Schismatick And Calvin himself Ep. Olevian pag. 311 and 122. says Let him that will not submit to the Orders of a Society be cast out But what need we go so far from home for Instances of this kind Let us see what the Opinion of our own Dissenters heretofore was in this matter First then in the great Dispute between the Brownists and the Non-conformists about the Ministers preaching c. against the Will of the Prince the Non-conformists all agreed That the Apostles had Power immediately from God to set up his Kingdom but their Power was extraordinary and under Heathen Magistrates But our Ministers have no such extraordinary Power And our Magistrates being Christian are much more to be respected See Gifford a Non-conformist Minister his Answer to Barrow And see the Confutation of the Brownists by several Non-conformists who join'd together for that purpose publish'd by one Rathband by their command p. 51. And see Mr. Bradshaw his Answer to Johnson to the same purpose where he says That the Magistrate had no Power to silence the Apostles for that 't was manifest by the silencing of them was intended the utter extirpation of Christianity But the case is alter'd among us for the intent of a Christian Magistrate is not to silence all Christian Ministers but some particular men only so that the Question is not whether Minister or no but whether this or that Minister of Christ And doubtless every Christian Prince has Power to chuse what Men he thinks fittest for publick Offices in Church or State so long as they be equally qualified according to God's Law But to go on The Opinion and Practice of the Dissenters in the late unhappy Times are not yet forgotten they were all then of an opinion that Christ's Ministers may be silenc'd and accordingly put it in practice every Party as it serv'd their turn See their Solemn League and Covenant all who would not enter into it and solemnly swear to doe their utmost endeavour to abolish Episcopacy and set up Presbytery were immediately not only silenc'd but sequester'd though their Ministry was as much of Divine Right as any of theirs now Conscience then was no Plea for not taking this solemn Oath They would not suffer one of the old Clergy to teach a School Nay they would not allow their own Independent Brethren to preach though they had all taken Presbyterian Orders as they themselves See the Letter from the Presbyterian Ministers of London to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster Ann. 1645. Jan. 1. And the grand Debate c. And in New-England where the Independents have the Power they are all of the same Mind none is to preach publickly by their Laws where any two organick Churches Council of State or general Court shall declare their dissatisfaction thereat See their Body of Statutes which they have lately printed Nay they are not satisfied to silence such Ministers as will not conform but they banish them too as they did Mr. Willams and others And is it not very strange then that the silencing of such Ministers by the King and Governours of the Church who positively refuse to submit to the Orders of the Church or to give their Governours such a Test of their Obedience and Conformity to the Laws of the Church and State as they in their Discretion have thought fit to require of them that this should be a thing so unlawful and wicked now that has been practised in the purest Ages of the Church and by the Dissenters themselves when they were in Power and by all the Churches in the World at this day And indeed if the Tests which the Laws require of their Obedience and Loyalty be too severe and rigid they may blame themselves for it for Governours cannot be too cautious in securing the Peace and Safety of the Kingdom against a Faction that has once already overthrown this Monarchy and Church And give us all the Reason in the World to believe That they are ready to do the same again especially the latter as soon as ever it is in their Power The bitter Spirit they show in Scotland already and their Unchristian like behaviour to all those that differ from them in Opinion shews us plainly what we may expect here when ever they are able And thus much for the Pleas which the Dissenters use for Separation which relate to the Constitution of our Church The second sort are against the terms of Communion with it They say our terms of Communion are unlawful for that the Church of England injoins some things in God's Worship which are not expresly commanded in Scripture and so makes the Scriptures insufficient And these things are our Ceremonies and prescribed Forms of Prayer c. First as to our Ceremonies The Church of England uses no Ceremonies but such as were us'd in the purest Ages of the Church as Dr. Stillingfleet has prov'd in his Mischiefs of Separation And such as are now us'd by the greatest part of the Reform'd Churches beyond Seas The Lutheran Churches have the same and more Ceremonies than we have And yet these Churches have been thought fit to be united to the best Reform'd Churches by the best and wisest Protestants as appears by a Synod of the Reform'd Churches at Chareton in France Anno 1631. And indeed there is no Christian Church in the World but what do make Laws and Canons in Matters of Circumstance and compel both Ministers and People to obey the same They do not believe that every variation in Circumstance in God's Worship
as the Roman Empire began to decline there follow'd a general decay of Learning and gross Ignorance had over spread the Earth insomuch that many of the Priests themselves cou'd not read Latin and then it was no difficult Matter to bring in what Heresies and Schisms Men wou'd And this was the time that most of the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome were introduced as Dr. Comber observes in his Advice to the Roman Catholicks of England Under this Cloud of Ignorance and Darkness did the Church lie hid for many Hundreds of Years till about the Year 1510. when it pleased God to open the Eyes of some of his People and to let them see those great Abuses with which the World had been so long abus'd and under the Burden of which the Church had groan'd for so many Hundred Years And though here in England there has been for many Years before the Reformation a strong Disposition that way as may appear by the several Acts of Parliament made since the Conquest to lessen and take away the Pope's Power and Authority as well in Ecclesiastical as Civil Matters within these Kingdoms See Coke's 5 th Rep. De jure Regis Ecclesiastico Yet the Pope had always so great an Interest at Court and the Clergy in the Nation having got most of the Lands into their own Hands that this glorious Design cou'd never be accomplish'd till it pleased God to make an open breach between King H. 8. and the Pope upon which he totally rejected the Pope's Supremacy and assum'd to himself the stile of Supream Head of the Church in these Nations and Defender of the Faith And thus the Pope being quite forsaken 't was likely Popery wou'd not live long having lost its Infallible Head And so indeed it prov'd For in King Edw. 6. days Popery was quite turn'd out of Doors by the general consent of the whole Nation whose Example many of the Churches beyond Seas follow'd And thus the general Reformation was happily begun and the Christian Church being stript of all its antick Disguises began to appear again and shine forth in its natural Form and Brightness But because 't was impossible to bring the People clearly off from what they and their Ancestors had been bred up in and accustom'd to for so many Ages or to make them capable of distinguishing on a sudden between things hurtful in Religion and things Indifferent therefore 't was thought convenient that no Alterations shou'd be made in things Indifferent nor any Scruples rais'd about them which wou'd at that time have hinder'd much the Reformation since many were with difficulty enough brought to things necessary So that for this Reason as also to let our Enemies see that we did not break Communion with them for Indifferent things many things were retain'd at the beginning of the Reformation that were afterwards Reform'd In the days of Edw. VI. the Liturgy and Publick Service of the Church was Corrected and Amended And this was done with all the Care and Deliberation imaginable and the King and Parliament took the best Advice in the doing of it that cou'd be had either at home or abroad Which makes me indeed admire to hear every illiterate Dissenter find so many Faults in the Liturgies and Worship of the Church of England that was so well approv'd of then by all those Holy Bishops and Martyrs that were our first Reformers and by Calvin Bucer and all the Eminent Divines beyond Seas 'T is very strange to think that such Excellent Men and Men of such indefatigable Pains and great Integrity as Cranmer Ridly Latimer and Bradford c. were after all their diligent Enquiry and fervent Prayers to God that he would direct them in the Performance and Management of so great a Work cou'd not after all spy so much as a mote of Unlawfulness in those things that now every Dissenting Preacher though never so raw or illiterate yea and the very meanest of the People can see such Beams in 'T is certain that our terms of Communion are the same or rather easier now than they were then as most of the Dissenters will allow and as Dr. Stillingfleet has prov'd at large in his Mischiefs of Separation During all the Reign of King Edward VI. there were no Divisions in this Church about these Matters There might have been some in those Days that might have wish'd for a farther Reformation as no Church ever yet wanted such But there was no such thing as Separation from the Church and going to separate Meetings upon that account No 't was so far from that that when actual Separation was first begâ—n in Queen Elizabeth's Days those who practis'd it were severely Condemned by most of those who were very desirous of a farther Reformation The time when Separation first began in the Church of England was about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign For after Queen Mary's Death the Ministers and others who were Banished and Fled in her time began to flock back again into England but the Impressions which were made on some of our Divines during their Banishment especially those who continued at Geneva a place always inveterate against Ceremonies did not wear off at their return home but after a little while they began to insinuate into the People who are ever fond of Novelties a hatred to the Livery of Antichrist as they call'd the Vestments and Ceremonies upon which some of the People began to Separate and this was the first occasion of pressing Uniformity with Laws and Penalties The Queen and Parliament now began to see it Necessary for the Quiet of the Church and Nation and for the avoiding farther Divisions upon this account that all the Clergy shou'd give some assurance of their Conformity and Obedience to the Laws of this Land and the Religion Establish'd by Law and to the Orders and Discipline of the Church agreeable to Law And accordingly certain Articles and Subscriptions were agreed on and such of the Clergy as would not Subscribe thereto were Suspended They who were Suspended writ to their Oracle at Geneva Beza who was a Man of greatest Authority with them to know what they shou'd do Beza advises them That if they cannot otherwise be continued in their Offices but by wronging their Consciences that they should submit and live quietly but by no means to exercise their Function against the Will of their Queen and Bishops for says he We tremble at the thoughts of that * See Dr. Stillâ—â—â—fleet's Mischief of Separation Pag. 20 21 c. But he tells them farther That though he does not approve of the Ceremonies yet being 〈◊〉 Evil in themselves he does not think them 〈◊〉 that moment as that the Ministers shou'd leave their Functions for them or the People forsake the Ordinances rather than hear those who did Conform And it seems indeed that the more Serious and Learned of those Divines who in their Banishment had suck'd in a Dislike to the
to the Doctrine of this Church are in a safe and ready way to Heaven But 't is a difficult Matter for Men to forsake what they have been all their lives accustomed to they cannot believe that Separation is so great a sin as we seem to make it And that so many honest good People and godly Ministers did live and die in sin If they are resolv'd they will not believe Separation from a true Church to be sinful who can help that The great number that have liv'd and dy'd in that Opinion does not make the thing less sinful The Donatists in the African Church were more numerous that our English Dissenters are and had 't is likely as many sober and learned Divines among ' em For at the Conference at Carthage they had 400 Bishops yet these were condemn'd for Schismaticks by St. Austin and all the Catholick Bishops And the things that these Donatists separated from the Church for were for the most part the very same that our present Dissenters make the cause of their separation from the Church of England They thought the Bishopricks too large and the Power of the Bishops too great They refus'd to join in Communion with the Catholicks because sinners were admitted there They forsook the Ministers because they were not so agreeable to their humour as they would have them * Optatus Malevianus lib. 2. p. 47. They would not suffer any to speak in the Churches but the Ministers and stopt the mouths of all the People They held that the Civil Magistrate had no Power to Reform the Church They made a shew of greater Zeal for the Purity of Religion than other People and by their stiff rigorous severity which they shew'd and the vehement out-crys which they made that Discipline was not duly executed Many of the People not well grounded in the truth were terrified and turned unto them believing them to be the most zealous holy Men and the only true Church in the World Finally they condemn'd all other Churches as not true Churches See all this in Gifford a Non-conformist Minister his Book against the Brownists 2. part These are the very pretences that our present Dissenters make for their separating from this Church Our Bishopricks are too large our Churches not according to Christ's Institution our Ministers unable and ungodly our way of Worship false our Magistrates assume an unwarranted Power in Church Matters Yea and in their over pretending to Purity and Godliness they are exact Donatists and by that very means do draw the more ignorant and zealous sort of People to them as the Brownists did No People pretend so much to Purity and Religion as they do In all places where they have their publick Meetings they are sure to begin before the Parish Churches and end after be they as long as they will But yet go in to one of their Meetings and you shall see as little signs of Devotion and as many of the People asleep as in any Parish Church in the Kingdom for the number So in their common Discourse many of them will scarce allow themselves so much liberty as to make them good company for fear they should happen to tell a lye but yet in their Dealings they will over reach a Customer in a Bargain and use as many equivocations to deceive him as any other People shall But least you think I do them wrong let us hear what the learned Mr. Baxter says of them you won't believe that he would wrong them In his Poor Man's Family Book p. 221. speaking of such who run into Parties by Divisions says he Those injudicious sort of Christians having an over high esteem of their own Vnder standings and Godliness and desiring to be made conspicuous for their Godliness in the World separate from ordinary Christians as below them and unworthy of their Communion these Sects have ever been the Nests of Errors And again ib. p. 331. he bids us beware of joining our selves to Separate Meetings who pretend to stricter Discipline and greater Purity who set themselves up Factiously and Contentiously against the Concordant Churches on pretence of greater Purity whose Meetings are imployed in Reviling others and Condemning other Churches and puffing themselves up with Pride as if they were the only Churches of Christ But our Dissenters will say This is a scandalous abuse to say that they condemn all other Reformed Churches in the World But I doubt they agree with the Donatists even in this For I suppose they will condemn all those that account them Schismaticks And this do all the Reformed Churches for they all hold that Separation from a true Church is Schism and own the Church of England for a true Church and consequently make them Schismaticks and so have expresly declared them as appears before Again I suppose they will condemn all Churches that communicate with an Idolatrous Anti-Christian Church knowing her faults some of them declare the Church of England to be such a Church and then they must condemn all the Reformed Churches which communicate with her Well say the Dissenters You of the Church of England have a great deal to say for your selves and if all be true that you have told us our Separation from you is sinful and unreasonable But what reason have we to believe you we have a great many able and godly Ministers of our own who tell us the quite contrary 't is certain they can't both be in the right why may we not then believe your Ministers may be deceived as well as ours I answer 'T is not so likely that all the Divines of the Church of England that have been since the Reformation should be deceived in a thing of this nature as that those of the Non-conformists should First Because they are much more numerous and 't is not so likely that a great many good Men should be deceived as a few 'T is a Rule in Logick Quod plures sapentiores testantur credibile est esse verum And Secondly Because they have much better means to come to the knowledge of the Truth than those of the Non-conformists can pretend to as will plainly appear by considering the Method taken on both sides for the breeding up of Divines Those who are design'd for the Study of Divinity in the Church of England are kept at the best Schools that can conveniently be had till they understand Latin and Greek very well then they are admitted into one of the Universities where they are put under the Care of a particular Tutor who is always one of the Fellows of the College and consequently a Man well approved of by the whole College for his Learning and Sobriety for by the Statutes of every College none but such are qualified for Fellowships This Tutor has seldom above 20. Students under his Care at a time and many of them not half that number every Student comes twice a day to his Tutor's Chamber to be instructed by him And besides