of Presbytery And the First Presbyterian Consistory Bishop Bancrost English Scotizing l. 3. c. 1. Full. Hist l. 9. p. 103. that ever was in England was held at Wandsworth in Surrey Anno Dom. 1572. And most of the Chief Men of this Presbyterian Consistory which was the First-Born of all Presbytery in England came from Geneva especially Mr. Tho. Cartwright and Walter Travers who both meeting with discontents in Trinity College in Cambridge travelled to Geneva and there were Catechised in the Presbyterian Doctrine and Discipline And Mr. Travers G. G. Ch. Hist p. 237. after he had left Geneva went to Antwerp and there having received Ordination of the Presbyterians upon his return he in England bitterly exclaimed against the Episcopal Government of our Church as then established in Queen Elizabeths Reign Thus Geneva and Antwerp gave the first Breath to Presbytery in England and Scotland And that all these Presbyterian Consistories in their very first Foundation and Erection were against Monarchy and Regal Supremacy is evident from John Calvin the Primo-Pater of them all who has openly in Print Declared his Judgment in Two Remarkable Points concerning Kingly Government 1. That Aristocracy or Democracy is to be preferred before Monarchy 2. That if Kings prove Heretical Vngodly or Tyrannical Then they may and ought to be Deposed by the Tribunes or Primes of the people As to the first Point Calvin delivers himself in these words scil Equidem si in se considerentur tres illoe quas ponunt Philosophi Calvin Instit l. 4. c. 20. §. 8. p. 306. Regiminis Formoe minimè negaverim vel Aristocratiam vel temperatum ex ipsa Politia Statum aliis Omnibus longè excellere c. That if all the Forms of Government which Philosophers and Ancient States-Men have propounded were well weighed and considered then in his judgment That of Aristocracy or a Common wealth Modelled out of it would appear to be infinitely the best Form And that because Rarissimè contingit Reges ità sibi moderari c. It rarely happens that Kings Govern either themselves or others well Wherefore says Calvin Vt libenter fateor nullum esse Gubernationis genus isto beatius sic Beatissimos censeo quibus hac conditione frui licet c. As I freely confess there is no kind of Government more happy than that of a Free Common-Wealth So I judge them most happy who are permitted to enjoy the same And Patrioe suoe Proditores c. They are all Traytours to their Country who do not use their utmost endeavours to promote and maintain the same These expressions are sufficient to shew what a bad opinion Calvin had of either Kings or Monarchy As to his Second Position That Kings may and ought to be deposed if they be wicked and ungodly and do not Govern according to God's Word Be pleased to reade his Comment on Dan. 6.22 25. where he assures his Reader That Calvin in Dan. 6.22 earthly Princes abdicant se devest themselves of all right to Power when they Rebell against God and are unworthy to be accounted in the number of Men that is as Dr. Nalson descants upon his words in plain English Nalson's Common Inter. p. 226. They do not deserve to live and men ought rather to spit in their faces than to obey them ubi sic proterviunt when they become so malepertly proud or froward as to endeavour to despoil God of his Right c. And in his Institutes (a) Si qui nunc sint populares Magistratus ad moderandam Begum libidinem constituti quales olim erant qui Lacedaemoniis Regibus oppositi erant Ephori aut Romanis Consulibus Tribuni Plebis aut Atheniensium Senatui Demarchi Et qua etiam fortè potestate ut nunc res babent funguntur in Singulis Regnis Tres Ordines quum Primarios Conventus peragunt adeo illos ferocienti Regum Licentiae pro Officio intercedere non veto ut si Regibus impotenter grassantibus humili Plebeculae insultantibus conniveant eorum dissimulationem nefariâ perfidiâ non carere affirmem quia Populi Libertatem cujus se Dei Ordinatione Tutores positos nôrunt fraudulenter produnt Calvin Institu l. 4. c. 20. §. 31. p. 311. Mr. Calvin confesses That although it be not lawfull for Private Men to rise up against their King yet Si qui nunc sint Populares Magistratus ad Moderandam Regum Libidinem constituti c. Where there are Magistrates elected out of the People or where there are Three Orders or States such as of King Lords and Commons There the People ought by their Representatives to moderate their King 's Ill Government to punish his Vice and Tyranny and to Over-Rule Him as the Ephori did the Lacedemonian Kings and as the Peoples Tribunes did the Roman Consuls whom they Deposed and turned out of Office when they thought fit These Treasonable Positions of Calvin made Adrian Seravia a Dutchman whom Learning and Piety preferred in England Heyl. Hist of Queen Eliz. hate to be called a Calvinist As Calvin so also in like manner did John Knox the other Founder of a Presbyterian Consistory in Scotland in Opposition to Episcopacy and Regal Supremacy Declare himself thus To wit Knox Hist of Refor of Scotland p. 392. That Subjects may not onely lawfully oppose themselves against their Kings whensoever they doe any thing that expresly oppugns God's Commandment but also that they may execute judgment upon them according to God's Law So that if the King be a Murtherer Adulterer or Idolater he shall Suffer according to God's Law not as a King but as an Offender And Knox is seconded in his Treason by his Countryman Buchanan whose Maxime was this Populo jus est imperium cui velit deferat That the People may alter the Government and bestow the Crown upon whom they please And the Learned Archbishop Spotswood though a friend to Knox when he heard Bishop Bancroft Preach at Hampton-Court-Conference before King James and heard his Learned Arguments against Knox for the King's Supremacy did declare That he was wonderfully pleased and satisfied with the said Arguments though as he reports in his History l. 7. p. 497◠The Scotch Ministers then present at Court Heyl. in vit Laud. p. 49. were grieved at Heart to hear their Scotch-Presbytery and Popery so often equalled in their Opposition to Sovereign Princes And this caused our English Cyprian Archbishop Laud so often to say and more particularly in his Sermon at Oxon 1614. That the Presbyterians were as bad as the Papists Because they deny'd The King's Supremacy And he Good Man found them to be so by wofull experience for it was the Factious Scotch and English Presbyterians and not the Papists that Cut off his Head Which lead them the way soon after to Act a Blacker Tragedy upon the Sacred Person of their Dread Sovereign the King Nor is it to be forgotten What Samuel
is Founded in Grace and Godliness And among them the Censores Judges of the Governour 's Grace and Godliness are the people of that Independent Congregational Church unto which the said Governour or Magistrate belongs For as was hinted before every Governour must be a Member of some Individual Congregational Church And before he can be admitted a Member he must declare The time of his Conversion The Marks and Evidences of his Conversion This he must doe in the open Face of the Congregation where every Individual Member of the Church is a Judge of his Grace and Fitness And if it be objected That he has not given sufficient Evidence of his Conversion then he shall not be admitted a Member of their Church Nor shall he be chosen a Governour or Magistrate of their Common-Wealth And all because he wanted Grace This is the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Independents in New-England And although this kind of Doctrine and Practice may be consistent with a Common-Wealth Yet we are sure it is Diametrically Opposite to the very Being of Monarchy which Jure Divino challengeth to it self a Regal Supremacy over all its Subjects whether Ecclesiastick or Civil And hence it is that all Independents are against Kingly Government to wit Because they are against Kingly Supremacy The Independents indeed would allow of Kingly Government if their King would let them chuse him and if he would submit himself to their Congregational Censures and Orders And in case their King should by them be found unfit for Government through want either of Grace or Prudence if then he would suffer himself quietly and meekly to be Deposed by them Upon These Terms and no other will or can the Independents according to their professed Principles admit of a King For hence it came to pass that Because the Independents in the Late Rebellion were of Opinion That King Charles the First was an Vngodly Man One void of Grace an Idolater and therefore Vnfit for Government Hence it was That They the Independents Deposed Him and then Cut off His Head and that as They termed it by the Axe of High Justice And Because after they had Murthered the Father they Feared that The Son King Charles the Second did also want Grace and trod in his Father's Steps and would not love the People of God i. e. Themselves Therefore it was That they the Independents strove by force of Arms with all their Might and Main to keep him Out of the Royal Throne For proof of this Witness a most virulent Independent Writer in his Treatise Intituled PEACE and TRUTH MOSES and AARON Kissing each Other The Authour of the said Treatise Writes his Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. John Blackbdell In his Preface to the Independent Army Dissuading them from Setting up the Present King in the Throne of his Father He Writes thus God was angry with the Israelites for desiring a King and that Page 7. because God was against the Form of Kingly Government and preferred the Government of Judges before that of Kings And what Will you desire a King Now Dear Friends Page 9. Concerning the Fruits that came by Kings I Appeal to God to his Sacred Word to the Records to the Chronicles to the experience both of our own and other Nations Whether Kings have been to be compared with those Judges for Have not Kings been addicted to Vices and very empty of such Graces as were requisite for Men in such eminent Places Kings were neither the first nor the best way of Government God disliked Kings and loved Judges And I verily believe These are the very times in which God will destroy corrupt Government and Governours and will give and restore to us Judges as at the first I am not desirous says he to call back those things that are done and past and therefore Page 14. Touching the late King's Death Consider that we cannot recall that What then Are you Resolved to set up the Eldest Son upon the Throne of his Father Consider well of it Can you tell whether He will care for the Flock Can you tell whether he will prove wise or foolish Will you expect Grapes from Throns Do you see any Tokens of Godliness in Him David saith Page 15. That he loveth those that love the Lord and hateth those that are God's enemies And Page 22. he highly commends the Army for Defending the Rump and Common-wealth against the King and his Party And Page 25. he upbraids Prinn and the Presbyterian Party for shewing their Teeth but durst not Bite for going about to Manacle King Charles the First and for endeavouring to restrain and lessen his Regal Power But durst not strike where his strength lay to wit his Head Whereas the Independents did better for by Cutting off his Anointed Head they deprived Him of all Strength The Scripture says he is evident Page 31 34 That the People have Right in divers Cases Yo Depose and Punish wicked Kings and Governours when the Said People are Strong enough to Doe it Though says he wofull experience tells us How hard a matter it is for a People to get Strength enough to Remove a King though never so apparently Delinquent And therefore Dear Friends Let us be warned * * Pray Mark this Not to admit of the Son lest when he is in the Throne we shall not be able to Remove him But that which is most Prodigious of all and which speaks This Saint-like Independent a Worse and more irreconcileable Enemy to the King than any other except some of his own Gang and Sect is this That this Authour was so far from excusing The King's Murther as that he impudently Glories in that Bloudy and Hellish Action and dignifies the Regicides with the Title of The Worthies of the Lord And whereas it had been Objected That the Jesuits and Papists had a great hand in carrying on the late War against the King and in Cutting off his Sacred Head This Authour Johannes Melaina Bdella Page 41. denies that it was the Jesuits or Papists Doings But boasts that it was onely the Independents and their Godly Army whom Almighty God crowned with success it was they who conquered the late King and his mighty Host who By God's Law Deposed him and then after a fair and open Tryal justly Condemned him to Suffer Death for his Delinquency and Treason towards the people committed to his Government Oh the height of Villany and impudence not onely to commit Murther and Rebellion but also to Vaunt and Glory in it and without Blushing to proclaim their own shame and with a Brazen Forehead to stand at the Market Cross and cry O ye good People Believe us we we the Godly Independents that walk by Scripture-Rule We the People of the Lord and no body else are the Saviours of the Nation We and not ye Cowardly faint-hearted Presbyterians We and not ye wicked Jesuits nor ye Idolatrous Papists We
the Governours for Commanding Obedience in things Indifferent are the Disturbers of the Churches Peace SECT III. According tot he Reconciler The King and Governours Deserve Death for imposing things Indifferent The Reconciler's own Words are YOu Superiours Sect. Recon c. 10. p. 329. King and Governours disturb the Church much more Sinfully than the Dissenters by laying such Snares as shall unavoidably procure it i. e. a disturbance and then taking occasion by it to make a greater disturbance by your Cruel Execution ☞ If the Fly offend and deserve death by incautelously falling into the Spider's Web What doth the Spider that is the King and Governours deserve that out of her own Bowels Spread this Net in the way and kills the Fly that is taken in it Your own Actions most concern your selves try therefore whether you doe well in Commanding and Punishing as well as whether others offend in disobeying Thus far the Reconciler for which he again quotes Mr. Baxter Now What Sense can there be made of this Similitude between the Fly and the Spider but this to wit That the Venemous Spider is the King and the Governours who lay Snares for the People by Imposing on them Strict Laws for the Observation of Ceremonies and things Indifferent And that the Harmless innocent Fly are the Dissenters who are caught in the Snares of the Laws made by the King and Governours and for their Rebellion and Disobedience are either put to Death or Cruelly Punished And therefore according to the Reconciler as the Spider Deserved Death for making Webs by which the Fly was Caught So does the King and Governours deserve Death for making Laws by which the People are Caught and Restrained their Liberty and their Tender Consciences Imposed upon as to things Indifferent Never let this Authour any more Write against the Jesuits for their Treason untill he quits himself of the same SECT IV. The King and Governours according to the Reconciler are Traytors to the Common-Wealth and Betrayers of the Peoples Liberties for Imposing upon them Things Indifferent And that therefore the People ought not to yield to their Impositions But ought To Rebell and Vindicate their Christian Liberty The Reconciler's own Words are BOth these things that is Prot. Recon c. 5. p. 160 161. the Superiours King and Governours Imposing things Indifferent and requiring Subscription to them Both these things do put a necessary abstention and restraint upon us as to the use of these things if therefore says the Reconciler by so doing i. e. the Superiours our King and Governours if they in effect Betray our Liberties Dissenters ought not to yeild to them in the least nor should good Christians by a Vow restrain themselves from the free use of things Indifferent And as bad or rather worse Treason does the Reconciler utter p. 338. Where he plainly Suggests Two things by which Suggestions he extremely prejudices and incends the-Giddy-Vulgar against the King and his Government He Suggests 1. That the King and Governours are going about to Betray the City and Common-Wealth unto the Enemy 2. That therefore The Subjects May and Ought to Rebell and Vindicate their own Privileges For the Subjects may says the Reconciler neglect and transgress the Orders and Commands of their King and Superiours In hopes of a Greater Good The Reconciler's own Words are Secondly I Answer with the Learned Camero Prot. Recon c. 10. p. 338. That even Order may be not onely laid aside but even neglected and transgressed for a Greater Good As when a Citizen doth volantarily rise up against a Magistrate who is endeavouring to Betray the City to the Enemy or a common Souldier against a Rebellious Officer Never did Hugh Peters Preach and Print greater Treason For upon the pretended force of this very Treasonable Argument of the Reconciler's did Oliver and the Rump with their Rebellious Army cut off King Charles the First His Head Pretending to the People That the said King was going about to bring in Popery and to Betray the City of London and the whole Nation to their Enemies and deprive them of their Liberties And because as they alleged that He Imposed such Ceremonies and Orders upon Tender Consciences as would Damn the Souls of Myriads Therefore it was that the late Rebels made War against the said King and Murthered Him And loe Here is a Second Hugh Peters one that styles himself not onely a Protestant but a Priest nay a Cathedral-Man and therefore Doubly obliged to the King and the Church yet loe Here is Such an One That dares publish in Print That it is not onely lawfull but necessary to Neglect and Transgress the Magistrate's Orders and to Rebell if so be The Subjects apprehend a Greater Good will accrew to them thereby That is to say If the Subjects do fear that Myriads of Souls will be Damned by the King 's and Magistrates Impositions But may and will be Saved by their Rebellion and Transgressing such Orders and Impositions Then according to the Reconciler the Subjects May and Ought to Rebell The Reconciler's own words farther are Now says he Charity is greater than Faith Ibid. c. 10. p. 338. and therefore is a greater Good than Order in Extrinsecalls and the Salvation of Souls is the end of Order That therefore must be better than the Means and consequently Order may be transgressed when it is Necessary for that end to be so That is in plain English The King 's and Governours Orders and Laws may Lawfully be Transgressed Treason and Rebellion may Lawfully be Committed whenever the People shall think for their Greater Good and Ease it should be So. Thus the Reconciler takes the Liberty and Confidence to speak out that Treason which the Shamefaced Dissenter dares onely conceive in heart and mind And which of the Two is the most Malitious and dangerous to the King and his Government we will leave to others to determine SECT V. The Reconciler Scandalously affirms That the King and Governours want Piety and Prudence And therefore it is that they impose upon the People Things Indifferent FOr Proof of this the Reconciler quotes Doctour Tillotson though very Falsely The Reconciler's own words are If then this be not done to wit Prot. Recon Preface p. 19. an Abolition of things Indifferent it must be in his Judgment that is in Dr. Tillotson's Judgment through defect of Piety and Prudence in some men that is if he writes sense Tillots Serm. on St. John 13 34.34 p. 28. through defect of Piety and Prudence in the King and Governours especially of the Church for of such Dr. Tillotson treats in his said Sermon or through Consent with what is reasonable in others c. Now that the Reconciler means the King and Governours by what he says is evident Because he knows and confesses that it is in the power of none but onely of the King and Governours to alter the Imposition of things Indifferent And therefore according
to the Reconciler The King and Governours continue the Imposition of things Indifferent through want and defect of Piety and Prudence And now pray Is not this Reconciler worthy of Reproof to call his King and Governours Vngodly Imprudent What can he call them worse In our thinking it is all one as if the Reconciler had Mounted the Stage at New-Market where the King was much about the Time when his Book came forth and there had made Proclamation in the open Market and Harangued the Discontented People with such Phrase as this O Brethren Be wise and look to your selves for our King is a Fool our Governours are all like him unwise and imprudent they are as he is ungodly wicked men and for want of Grace and through Defect of Piety and Prudence Therefore it is That they continue the Imposition of things Indifferent upon you for I will assure you had they the Wisedom and Prudence which is from above or were they acted by a Spirit of Grace and Holiness They would ease Mens Consciences and would soon take away these Heavy Yokes and Burthens I mean the Imposition of things Indifferent from off your Necks But alas Dear Brethren I tell you and so does Doctour Tillotson tell you That the King and Governours want Piety and Prudence And that is the very Reason of their Impositions Now What is all this But a New Plot against the King and Government What is it But to Alarum the People First That the King and Governours are Vngodly Imprudent Secondly That according to Calvin's Doctrine Because they are Foolish and Vngodly they are therefore unfit for Government And Thirdly Because they are Vngodly Imprudent and Vnfit for Government Calv. Instit l. 4. c. 20. Therefore the People may Oppose them and may as Calvin and Knox Taught Depose them Thus in our apprehension the Reconciler again Sounds the Trumpet to a New Rebellion Odiously and Malitiously misrepresenting the King and Governours unto the People as Idiots and Fools as Wicked and Vngodly SECT VI. According to the Reconciler The King and Governours are the Destroyers of the Work of God and the Murtherers of Myriads of Souls for imposing things Indifferent The Reconciler's own words are IF I durst says he make the Parallel Protest Recon c. 4. p. 98. it unavoidably would be this That since Superiours by using of their Power in the Commanding of these things Indifferent doe that which accidentally and through the weakness of Dissenters doth Minister unto that Schism which is Destructive to them it may be feared that they i. e. the King and Superiours destroy the work of God and unnecessarily cause the Souls to perish for whom Christ died And Page 99. He adds Were I worthy to advise my Governours Ibid. p. 99. I would say Hast thou O King power in these things Indifferent Have it to thy self before God and use it to that end for which alone he gave it for Edification and not for Destruction Here is plain English and there is no need of an Oedipus to unriddle and find out the Odium and Scandal cast upon the King and our Superiours And in Page 195 The Reconciler has these words to the same purpose A Scandal says he in the Nature of it being Spiritual Murther Prot. Recon c. 6. p. 195. it is to me a wonder how Men that is the King and Governours can think it is consistent with Christian Charity to enjoin any thing unnecessary whence by experience they i. e. the King and Governours know the Murther of innumerable Souls is like to follow Now must it not oblige Superiours to lay aside a thing Indifferent as all the Ceremonies are for the preserving of many Myriads of Souls from Ruin It being then not necessary for Superiours to Command things Indifferent Page 196. much rather should they Quit them than be as they are Accessory to these sad Consequents of that Command to wit the Murther of so many Myriads of Men God Grant says he That our Lawgivers the King and Governours may make the due Inference from the Premisses c. Now Good Sir What Inference would you have us think the King and Governours in Honour and Justice should make from your Premisses But to Reward the Traytour according to his Treason unless he shall timely Repent Openly Recant and beg Mercy which God grant he may and then we hope the King's Clemency will be farther signalized in Pardoning so Notorious an Offender SECT VII The King Commands Men to Sin according to the Reconciler When he Commands their Obedience as to things Indifferent The Reconciler's own words are MOreover this may be farther Argued Prot. Recon c. 6. p. 200. That Qui non vetat peccare cum possit jubet He that being a Superiour as is the King doeth not what lawfully he may for the prevention of his Subjects Sinning does Command his Subjects to Sin Now it is confessed by our Superiours that if they please they may abate these Impositions of things indifferent And it is also certain that the not abating of them is the Occasion of the Schism and so of the Great Sin of many of their Subjects How then will they avoid according to this Rule Qui non vetat peccare cum possit jubet from commanding their Subjects to Sin when they may but will not prevent their sinning Most Excellent Logick The King and Parliament Command by Law that whoever calls the King Fool or Papist shall be hang'd A certain Rebellious Fellow wilfully transgresses that Law And is hang'd for it Ergo Because the King and Parliament had Power not to make that Law and after they had made it they had power to Repeal that Law But would not Therefore the King and Parliament Commanded that Rebel to Sin and therefore the King and Parliament are doubly Guilty First Of the Rebel's Sin Secondly Of his Death in not preventing both by Repealing the said Law For according to the Reconciler Qui non vetat peccare cum possit jubet SECT VIII The Reconciler's Rule for the King and Governours to Observe in case any Evil Consequents should happen through the Dissenters Disobedience after a Condescention Granted to wit To leave the Event to God The Reconciler's own words are IF says he it be Objected Prot. Recon c. 10. p. 326. That should our Superiours Indulge Dissenters in these Matters the Dissenters would never be contented with the Abatement of three Ceremonies unless as Dr. Womack urges we should also yield up the Churches Government and leave the Bishop and every Parish-Priest unto the Choice of the People The Answer and Rule To this says the Reconciler I Answer if so God's will be done however let us doe our Duty and Abolish these three Ceremonies scil Cross in Baptism Kneeling at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and Bowing at the Name of Jesus let us doe our Duty And leave the event to God c. That is to speak
the Church and for the prevention of Schism and Scandal Then may the King and Governours Now Impose things Indifferent and Unnecessary when they see it is Necessary for prevention of Scandal and Offence unto the Episcopal-Protestants who are the Onely Supporters of the Established Government in Church and State And Thousands of these Canonical Pious Conformists do think in their Consciences the present Ceremonies in the Church ought to be Continued for the Fame Peace and Vniformity of the Glorious Church of England which ever used them And for their own great Antiquity Decency and Vtility Hook Eccles Pol. 1.5 as Judicious Hooker Argues Farther as the First Christian Council at Jerusalem so the Four First General Councils did Impose things Indifferent upon both Clergy and Laity as Conditions of Church Communion as any one may know who will but consult their Acts and Deeds The observation of Easter-Day whether on the Jews Passover Day or on the First Day of the week was a thing Indifferent and some observed it at one time as did the Jews others observed it at another time as did the Romanists But for Vniformity sake the First General Council at Nice the Emperour Constantine being present determined Euseb in vit Const 1. 3. ◠18. That all Christians throughout the World should celebrate Easter on one and the same Lord's Day in the year To Pray unto Almighty God on Sundays whether Kneeling or Standing was in it self a thing Indifferent But yet the General Council at Nice Canon 20. for Vniformity sake Imposed upon the People the Posture of Kneeling in Prayer-Time on the Week-Days but Standing in time of Prayer on the Lord's Days commonly called Sundays And Tertullian informes us that in his time Die Dominico jejunium Nefas ducimus vel de Geniculis adorare c. It was counted a Sin on the Lord's-Day Tertull. Corona Mil. c. 3◠either to Fast or to Pray and Adore God Kneeling To Dip or Sprinkle the Party Baptized was a thing Necessary in Holy Baptism to be observed But to Dip or Sprinkle the Party Baptized more than Once was a thing Indifferent But yet by the Ancients it was Imposed upon the Clergy and People that the Party Baptized should be thrice Dipped or Sprinkled in Reference to the Three Sacred Persons in the Holy Trinity Hence that of Tertullian Tertul. Ibid. Apostolical Can. 49. Dehinc ter Mergitamur c. And the same Order was commanded upon the pain of Deposition And Zonaras on that Canon saith as our Reconciler himself well notes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it is an ungodly thing to dip in Holy Baptism but Once Tertullian mentions many things Imposed upon the People as terms of Church-Communion and he says the Ground and Warrant for those Impositions was not the Scripture Tertull. Coro Mil. c. 4. but Ancient Custome and Tradition Harum aliarum ejusmodi Disciplinarum si Legem expostules Scripturarum nullam invenies Traditio tibi proetendetur Auctrix Consuetudo Confirmatrix Fides Observatrix Thirdly As Reason speaks a necessity of making Civil Laws for prevention of disorder and confusion in the State so Reason speaks it as necessary to make Laws Ecclesiastical for preventing the same Mischiefs and Inconveniences in the Church And when such Laws are made and nothing can be found in them which is absolutely sinfull then Reason as well as Religion commands Obedience to them As Moral Wisedom preserves Common Life by ordering what is Convenient so Civil and Ecclesiastick Wisedom preserves Life in the State and Church by ordering what is Necessary and Expedient And as the Learned Hooker notes Whatever the Church Hook Eccles Pol. l. 5. p. 136 138. by her Ecclesiastick Authority shall in matters of Order and Comeliness probably think and define to be True or Good must in Congruity of Reason Over-rule all other inferiour judgments whatsoever and must be thought Convenient And all things in the Church which are void of Superstition and are of long Continuance in the Church are things which edifie and are not lightly to be altered Nothing is unfit or inconvenient which the King and Governours shall think fit and convenient Unless the said thing imposed be against 1. The Sacred Scriptures 2. Right Reason 3. The practice of Piety Whatever is otherwise thought to be inconvenient by the Subject it is the Result either 1. Of Pride or 2. Of an unsetled Mind a Melancholick phanoy and imagination or 3. Of Capriciousness And now let the Reconciler chuse and tell us which of them is in the Dissenters and is the Cause of their Non-Compliance with the King 's Lawfull Commands as to things Indifferent Thus far Scripture Councils and Reason conclude the Reconciler's Proposition as considered absolutely and simply in it self to be false for by these Testimonies it is a very great Truth scil That things Indifferent may and sometimes necessarily ought to be Imposed as Conditions of Church-Communion Contrary to what the Reconciler has Suggested to the Vulgar Secondly If we consider the Reconciler's Proposition Relatively as it Refers to the Circumstances our Church and State are in then it will appear also to be very False and Vnseasonably Propounded The present Circumstances of our Church and State Are either Good or Bad. Consider we them as Good And then they are 1. The enjoyment of present Peace and Quietness in stead of the late Intestine Wars and Rebellion 2. The enjoyment of good Order and Settlement in stead of the late Confusion and Anarchy God be Praised Now our King sits on his Throne of Inheritance Our Bishops and Clergv are repossessed of their Dues quoad Officium Beneficium both as to Office and Benefice And the People Nobles Gentry and Commons are now restored to their Rights and Privileges 3. We enjoy Justice and Equity in stead of the late Oppressions Extortions and Tyranny Our King demands and takes no more than what by Law is his Due And the People receive and enjoy all that by Law and Inheritance is their Right and Property 4. As to our Impositions in reference to Religious Worship they are all the very same which the Primitive Christians observed who died Confessours and Martyrs for the Truth And they are not more than were at the first Reformation in King Edward the Sixth's and Queen Elizabeth's Reign when there was less Talk but greater Exercise of Conscience and of Godliness than is now a-days Nay in this our Day there is an enjoyment of greater Liberty of Conscience than ever was granted by any Prince or by any Law or Act of Parliament whatever since the Reformation in England For now by Act of Parliament Men of all Persuasions may in their own Families use what Liberty they please as to their private Modes of Worship which Freedom none could enjoy under Popery Whereas now there is by Law a Toleration for all Sects and Religious Persons to Meet not exceeding the number of Five and
decayed to Reform the Church when corrupted and to Protect the same when Reformed This is the Supremacy which the German Princes being the first Reformers Assumed to themselves exercising their own Authority in Ordering and Setling Church-Matters within their own Dominions And because they all Protested against the Pope's Supremacy and Defended that of their own Therefore were they called Protestants In like manner King Henry the Eighth was the first Protestant Prince in England for no other Reason But because he was the first King of England since the Reformation who strenuously vindicated his Own Regal Supremacy And Protested against the Pope's Usurpation and Tyranny over Kings and their Subjects For which the Pope of Rome Excommunicated King Henry the Eighth and Branded him with the Name of Heretick and Protestant And notwithstanding King Henry's being a perfect and Rigid Papist in all points of Doctrine according to the Church of Rome yet because he Assumed his Own Supremacy and Abjured that of the Pope's he is Therefore styled and that very truely A Protestant And our statute-Statute-Laws call all them who deny the King's Supremacy Recusants whether they be Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists or Quakers The Law Names all Recusants and indeed such They are and Not Protestants For as in the Church of Rome no man is counted a Papist but onely he who declares for the Pope's Supremacy So in the Church of England no man is nor ought to be reckoned a Protestant but onely he who in Thought Word and Deed is for the King's Supremacy as above stated These things being Premised We are of Opinion That the Reconciler has Mistaken his own Title for in equity and honesty he should have Entitled Himself and his Book The Recusant and not the Protestant Reconciler For we know no Protestants in England that need any Reconciliation unless it be the Beaufronts alias Fair-faced Protestants Who have God and the King in their Mouths but the Devil in their Hearts Who Speak their Prince fair to his face but will Wound his Reputation and cut his Throat behind his Back Who will take and swallow all Oaths particularly those of Supremacy and Allegiance And yet will enter into a Scotch-Covenant or into a Shaftsburian-ASSOCIATION and Plot Treason and Rebellion against their King and his Government Who will cry-up the Church of England and yet cry-down the Bishops Who will on a Sunday-Morning go to Divine-Service in the Parish-Church and receive the Sacrament Kneeling and yet in the Afternoon Contrary to their Oath of Allegiance will go to a Seditious Conventicle These are the Tares among the Wheat the very Pests of the Nation And indeed They want a Reconciliation that is Of their ungodly Principles and Practices to Piety Of their Knavery to Honesty Of their Perjury and Hypocrisie to Truth Of their Faction to Loyalty Except these dissembling Beaufronts we know no Protestants that need any Reconciliation for in England there are no Protestants except the Beaufronts but onely the true-hearted and Loyal Episcopal men who in Heart and Conscience Own and Protest for according to our Churches Articles 34 36 37. 1. The King's Supremacy 2. The Churches Authority in Ordering Rites and Ceremonies 3. The Episcopal Government as now established Asserting the Distinct Orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons 4. Who give due Obedience to the Churches Orders and Constitutions These are the onely Protestants in England As for all others the Laws of the Realm Notifie them by the Name of Recusants So then it is a most Certain Truth though a Paradox to the Vulgar That although there be Myriads of Men in England who pass for Protestants and call themselves Protestants yet in truth and reality they are Recusants They all Combining and Siding with the Papists against the King's Supremacy do by so doing declare themselves to be No Protestants And the onely way to Reconcile these Recusants unto our Church is in the first place to persuade them to become Protestants that is to say to persuade them to Own and Protest for the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastick Matters and to become Obedient to his Laws Civil and Ecclesiastick for till this be done as was said before They are No Protestants And of this Nature and Character are all the Dissenters in England to wit Recusants and not Protestants For they all deny the King's Supremacy which is the Essence and Foundation of Protestantism in Opposition to Popery And whoever pleads for them to be Reconciled to the Church of England without an open Recantation of their Popish Principles as does the Reconciler is guilty of a Praemunire and smells more of a Papist than of a Protestant This then being the proper Notion of a Protestant We once more petition the Reconciler That he would be pleased to inform us who are the Protestants for whom he so earnestly pleads and unto whom he so passionately craves a Condescension may be granted by the King and the Governours If he says They be the Dissenting-Brethren as he has it in his Title Page then he grosly mistakes himself For the Dissenters are No Protestants Because they all deny The King's Supremacy Which is the onely Badge and Characteristical Note of a Protestant Now that All the Dissenters do so is easily proved by their own Avowed and Declared Principles and Practices The Dissenters in England although they be very numerous yet they may be reduced unto four Ranks and Sects which will comprehend them all at least all those which are of any Bulk and Note among us Such as the Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists Quakers All which Sects we shall in order prove to be No Protestants CHAP. II. The Presbyterians No Protestants THe Presbyterians are no Protestants in as much as They Deny The King's Supremacy And in Opposition thereunto They Set up their own Ecclesiastick Consistory above the King and his Power For by their Consistorian Power They pretend they may and actually they have censured and deposed their own Natural Prince raised War by Oath and Covenant against Him when he would not yield himself a slave to their Demands and Consistorian Tyranny This is too well known in Scotland and England and needs no farther proof And although they do declare with the French Presbyterians French Disci Eccles c. 5. of the Consistory That a Magistrate may be called and employed in the charge of an Elder in the Consistory yet it is with such a Restraint and Limitation as that the Execution of one of the Functions must not hinder the other and bring no prejudice to the Church that is to their Consistorian Power which is to over-rule and controll the Magistrate in matters Ecclesiastick It is to be Noted That the first Presbyterian Consistory erected in Opposition to Monarchy and Episcopacy that ever we heard of was first in Geneva Setled by Calvin and Beza And the First Presbyterian Confistory Setled in Scotland was by John Knox who came from Geneva and brought from thence the Platform
Dangerous if possible as a Reconciliation with the Dissenters For it is evident That unless the Papists will Renounce the Pope's Supremacy and so cease to be Papists And unless the Dissenters will acknowledge the King's Supremacy and so cease to be Dissenters Unless these two things be granted It is impossible for the Church of England as now established to be Reconciled unto either of these Schismaticks whether Papists or Dissenters Nor is it safe for the Government to admit of Schismaticks into our Church-Fellowship S. Cyprian de Vnit Eccl. §. 8.298 for Schismatici duos Episcopos duos Greges in una Ecclesia constituunt and they will bring in Confusion which is the destruction of all Order and Government Et dum Conventicula sibi diversa constituunt Ibid. 299. veritatis caput atque originem reliquerunt c. which words of St. Cyprian we will leave to the Conventiclers of both Parties to translate and seriously to consider We being well assured that the Principles of both Papists and Dissenters are inconsistent with Truth and with the Well-being of our Established Government in Church and State For as has been already proved Papists and Dissenters Deny the King's Supremacy And therefore notwithstanding their taking the Oath of Allegiance which many of them have taken the King has no firm Security for the Preservation of his Life and Crown from either Papists or Dissenters For if the Pope should command the Papists as he did Ravillac or if the Consistory bid the Presbyterians as it did in the Deposition and Expulsion of Mary Queen of Scotland or if the Congregational-Church bid the Independent as in the Murthering of the late King or if the Spirit move and bid the Anabaptist and Quaker as it did Venner to raise War against the King because he is an Heretick and an ungodly Man and to Depose and Kill him not being fit for Government Then they all both Papists and Diffenters must according to their several Principles obey their several Orders and must Fight against Depose and Murther the King and destroy all that side with him Wherefore that neither the King's Life and Crown nor our own Privileges and Immunities may be exposed to their Cruelty and Usurpation We humbly conceive it necessary That the Laws of the Realm should stand in force equally against both Papists and Dissenters Because there is no party of men in this Kingdom that ever were or can be according to their Principles true and faithfull in all respects to the King and the Government in Church and State as now Established but onely the Episcopal Protestants And for a farther confirmation of this great Truth we have the Attest of our present Dread Sovereign in his Royal and Noble Speech unto the * Dr. Gower Vice-Chancellour Vniversity of Cambridge upon their humble and Loyal Address made to him at New Market Sept. 18. 1681. In which His Majesty was graciously pleased to Oblige them and indeed the whole Nation with the following words and Assurances to wit That He would constantly own and defend the Church of England King Charles the Second his Speech to the Vniversity of Cambridge Printed in the London-Gazette by Authority as Established by Law of this He bid them be Assured for He would be as good as his word Notwithstanding whatever Representation either had or should be made of him to the contrary Being farther pleased to add That there was no other Church in the World that Taught and Practised Loyalty so Conscientiously as that did In truth This short but pithy Speech of His Sacred Majesty is a full Answer to the Reconciler's whole Book especially to that part of it which so unworthily Misrepresents His Majestie 's former Declarations to the eye and ear of the World CHAP. VII The Reconciler's Design proved to be As Managed Malitious and Treasonable towards the King and Governours both of Church and State OUr Church and State of England at present God be Praised are by the Divine Providence and by the King 's wise Conduct of Affairs in a very prosperous well-ordered and Setled State and Condition And therefore for any Man to wish and endeavour as does the Reconciler their disturbance by an unnecessary Alteration of their Established Laws is truely to wish them a worse state and condition than at present they are in And so to wish and endeavour is according to the Stoicks Philosophy the height of Envy and Hatred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diog. Laert. Zeno l. 7. p. 506. c. Now that the Reconciler's Design is as he has managed it thus Malitious and Treasonable Towards the King in Scandalizing and Blaspheming Him And towards the Church as now Established in representing her Bishops and Governours as Anti christian Cruel and Tyrannizing over Godly Mens Consciences And in prostituting her pious Orders and Constitutions to Publick Scorn and Derision That it is so Will be the Task of the following Lines and Sections to prove SECT I. The Reconciler Scandalously makes The King and Governours the Authours of all our present Schisms and Factions And that for Two Reasons 1. BEcause they impose things indifferent upon the People 2. Because the King and Governours require of the Clergy subscriptions to the things Imposed As to the First the Reconciler's own words are Why do Superiours still continue the Imposition of those Indifferent things Reconciler c. 1. p. 30 31. which do occasion the Schism c And in Page 339. he Argues and Queries thus Page 339. Whether those Rules of the Church which concern things indifferent should not be altered or relaxed when it so happeneth that an Horrid Schism with all its dreadfull consequences is by Imposition of them caused throughout the Body of the Nation But a little to stop the Carreir of this fierce WRITER and to Vindicate the Honour and Justice of our King and Governours as to this particular we entreat it may be noted That the Reconciler is not onely Disloyal towards his Prince and Superiours in so Aspersing them But also Disingenuous towards his Ignorant Reader in so miserably imposing upon him For the truth of the matter is briefly this To wit Not the Imposers of things indifferent But the Separatists and Disobedient are the Sole Causes of the Schism For it is Confessed by the Reconciler and by the Separatists that the things Imposed are things Indifferent in themselves and have no sinfulness in them And therefore the not observing them when by Lawfull Authority Commanded is a Sin of Rebellion and Disobedience And this sin of not Observing things Indifferent when Lawfully imposed is the sole and Prime Cause of the Schism Nay Mr. Baxter presses farther scil That although it be a sin in the Magistrate to Command yet it is a Duty in the People to Obey His Command in things not sinfull in themselves Mr. Baxter's own words are Many a Ruler sinneth in his Commands Baxter's Cure of Church-Divisions Direct 34. p.
194. when it is no Sin but a Duty of the Inferiour to Obey them A Ruler that hath but a bad end or bad circumstances may sin in commanding And yet it will be the Subjects Duty to Obey Yea as to the Matter it self it may be unlawfull for a Ruler to command a thing that will doe no good And yet it may be the Subjects Duty to doe it Therefore says Mr. Baxter remember that ye do not prove it sinfull in you to doe such things Ibid. p. 195. by proving it a sin in the Imposer unless ye have some better Reason and can shew a Law of God forbidding you And elsewhere he tells his Reader That a Form or Liturgy defective may and must be used rather than a Schism by Separation be made and rather than the Churches Edification be hindered by our Non-complyance with such a defective Form His own words are If I am restrained from the Publick Preaching of the Gospel or exercise of my Ministery Ibid. Direct 32. p. 185 186. unless I will use a more disordered or defective Form I shall take it for my Duty then to use it for to use a more defective Form with Liberty to use my best Gifts also and to exercise my Ministery publickly to all is more to the Churches Edification than by Separation to use my Gifts onely a few days in a Corner and then for my Disobedience to he in Prison and use them no more Thus far Mr. Baxter pleads excellently for Obedience to our King and Governours in things indifferent and which are not forbidden by some express Law of God and that not the King nor the Imposers but the Separatists and Disobedient are the Authours and Causes of the Schism and Faction throughout the Body of the Nation And great pity it is ☞ that Mr. Baxter's own practice by a daily Separation from the Church of England and by his Constant Disobedience to the King 's and Governours Impositions of things Indifferent should so Notoriously Contradict his own Doctrine But to return to our Reconciler and to speak ad hominem The Sin of not observings things indifferent when lawfully commanded is the sole and chief cause of the Schism This is no more than what the Reconciler himself has owned to be true in many places of his * Protest Recon c. 1. p. 22. c. 2. p. 29. c. 3. p. 58 59. c. 5. p. 145. and Preface p. 59. Book When he Exhorts the Dissenters to obey the King and Governours and to Conform to their Impositions And his Argument persuading the Dissenters to Obedience and Conformity is this scil Because the Ceremonies imposed are things Indifferent Ergo The Dissenters ought to Obey and Conform Lest by their Disobedience they become Guilty of Schism For Separating when they ought not to Separate * I verily believe all Separate Congregations in the Nation which are not Subject to the Government of our Diocesans are Schismatical and that all they who abet and head them and exercise among themselves a Spiritual Jurisdiction Independent on them do set up Altar against Altar Prot. Recon Preface p. 59. Thus our Reconciler is become a very Bifrons a Janus with Two Faces And with the One He looks upon the King and Governours as the onely Authours of our Schisms and Factions for Imposing things Indifferent But with the other He looks on the Dissenters as the onely Authours and Causes of the Schisms throughout the Nation for their not Conforming to the Ceremonies imposed which are things Lawfully to be observed they being things Indifferent As to the Reconciler's other Reason scil That the King and Governours are therefore the Authours of all our Schisms Because they require Subscription †Protestant Reconciler c. 1. p. 7. to things Indifferent c. It is as scandalous to the King and Governours and as false as the other Argument And can be published for no other end But to amuse the World and to prejudice the People against the King and his Government For did not God himself require an Oath which is much more than Subscription of the Priests and People of Israel thereby strictly binding them to observe not onely his Moral but also his Ceremonial Law which chiefly consisted of things Indifferent before they were lawfully Imposed and Commanded And I pray Are not Kings God's Vicegerents And is it not their Prerogative to be like God and to Imitate him in all things lawfull and expedient And did not the Religious Kings and Princes of old Nehem. 5.12 c. 10.29 2 Chron. 15.14 2 Chron. 34.21 33. particularly Nehemiah Asa and Josias make the People take an Oath and to Swear Vniformity and Conformity to God's Laws and to some things that were Indifferent in themselves And have not all Christian Kings and Princes throughout all Ages imitated those Godly Kings when they went about Reformation Have they not required Subscription to their Pious Orders and Constitutions The Reconciler is not able to mention any one Christian Council or Christian Emperour King or Prince that ever made any Canons Laws or Constitutions for Government of the Church and State but they required either an Oath or Subscription for the better observation of their said Canons and Laws or else they subjoyned a dreadfull Punishment such as an Anathema and Excommunication upon Obstinate Disobedience And yet those Primitive Councils and Ancient Christian Emperours ☞ were never Scandalized as is our Gratious King and Governours nor ever said to be the Authours of Schisms and Factions for requiring Subscriptions and strict Obedience unto their Impositions of things indifferent as our King Bishops and Governours are said to be by the Scurrilous Reconciler SECT II. According to the Reconciler The King and Governours are Proud Men and the Plagues of the Earth for Imposing things Indifferent Take the Reconciler's own words IT seemeth Pride for men to institute unnecessary Rites and Ceremonies and say I Command you all to Worship God according to these my Institutions and Inventions and he that will not thus Worship him shall not have liberty to Worship him at all Note Reader * A Great Lie cast upon the Kingand Government that this is an Abominable Lye told of the King and our Governours for by Act of Parliament Any Man with any Company not exceeding five may in his own House worship God in any manner If says the Reconciler the work of Church-Government be to make small Matters great and make that damnable which before was lawfull and this without any Necessity at all Prot. Recon c. 10. p. 328. it will tempt the People as it does the Reconciler to think such Governours to be The Plagues of the Earth To confirm all this Harangue the Reconciler quotes Mr. Baxter's Disp 5th of Human. Cerem Ch. 14. Sect. 8. and Ch. 5. Sect. 4. And in the following words he says Prot. Recon ibid. p. 328 329. That not the Dissenters for Disobeying But
these Holy-Days of the Macchabees appointment But he also confirmed the lawfull use and Imposition of them by his working of Miracles on those very Holy-Days And farther That Christ might set a perfect Example of Obedience unto all Subjects as to things Indifferent when by Lawfull Authority imposed Christ himself did therefore observe all the Minuter Rites and Ceremonies of the Law and of the Passover which none ever did or was able to doe before him And lest Christ should give any offence to the Superiours then in power he observed the Impositions and Ceremonies of the very Pharisees which they by their own Laws had injoyned upon the People as Terms and Conditions of their Church-Communion And particularly Christ observed the Pharisees Religious Orders of Washing the Feet at Feasts and at the Passover which was onely an Ordinance of Humane Invention St. Luk. 7.44 And Christ did publickly blame the Pharisee for not giving him Water to Wash withall according to the Pharisees Orders and Impositions St. Peter positively determines against the Reconciler's Proposition not onely Categorically but also Vniversally commanding Submission and Obedience unto every Ordinance of the King and Governours which is not against the written word of Cod 1 St. Pet. 2.13.18 Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him Eras Grot. in Loc. that is sent by God and the King such as are Magistrates in the State and Bishops in the Church all sent and set over the People by God and the King And in v. 18. of that Chapter St. Peter adds as the Whole Duty of Man this Injunction Fear God Honour the King Thereby plainly intimating unto us this excellent Truth scil That if we will not peaceably submit to every Ordinance of the King as to Things Indifferent but will become Mutinous and Rebellious and make a Schism and Faction in the Church and State by our Disobedience then notwithstanding our high Profession of Religion we neither Fear God nor Honour the King Secondly The Practice of the Primitive times of Christianity sufficiently Declares the Reconciler's Proposition as taken absolutely and simply in it self to be false In the First place if we consider the Authour of our Christian Religion Jesus Christ and his Practice we shall find That although Christ Instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and commanded Bread and Wine to be used in the Celebration thereof Yet He even Christ left it to the prudence of the Governours of the Church to determine the things Indifferent in that Holy Sacrament As for instance He left it wholly to the Governours of the Church to determine what kind of Bread whether Barley Oaten or Wheaten whether fine or course whether as among the Jews at the Passover onely unleavened or leavened Bread As also what kind of Wine Red or White whether Wine onely or Wine mixed with Water as is the use of many Churches in Remembrance of Water and Bloud that issued out of Jesus his side on the Cross In like manner Christ determined nothing as to the Priests and Ministers Garments nor as to the Peoples Posture and Gesture whether Sitting Kneeling or Standing or Lying along at the Receiving of the Sacrament But he left these indifferent things wholly to the Determination of the Governours of every National Church And as Christ determined nothing in these particulars So neither did the Apostles nor does any part of the Canonical Scriptures Determine what Form and Liturgy what kind of Garments what Posture and Gesture the Priests and People shall use and observe in Divine Worship and in Receiving the Lord's Supper But leaves all such circumstances and things of Indifferency unto the Prudence of the Supreme Governours And therefore Counterm c. 4. p. 41. it is judiciously noted by the Countermine That although the Sacred Scriptures are a perfect Rule for Faith and Doctrine yet they do not lay down particular Rules for particular Discipline and Modes of Worship Nor do they determine that in such a particular Garment Posture or Way and in no other All Nations shall in the Sacrament or in Divine Worship serve God For God in his infinite Wisedom has left the Particular Rules of Discipline and Modes of Worship unto the Care Wisedom and Prudence of the Supreme Magistrate to determine Onely the Scriptures lay down certain General Rules which the Supreme Magistrate and all Imposers of Laws whether Civil or Ecclesiastick are bound in Conscience to observe such as 1. To enact and doe all things to the Glory of God 2. To doe all things with Decency and Order 3. To be Moderate towards all Men that is not to be bitter and wrathfull but meek and mild towards all men as far as Law and Reason will permit * Vid. Mr. Evans Excellent Discourse on the True Notion of Moderation Preached before the Lord Mayor of London with all Resolution and Firmness of Mind to hold fast the Form of sound words of Good Order and Discipline it being inconsistent with the Honour Trust and Dignity of the Superiours and Governours to be tost to and fro with every wind of Doctrine or Popular Persuasion This is the Moderation and these are the General Rules which the Scriptures injoyn the Legislatours to observe in their Impositions of things indifferent As for the Ancient Councils and Fathers they declare by their practice the Lawfulness and sometimes the Necessity of Imposing things Indifferent as Conditions of Church-Communion Take for instance The First Christian Council that ever was to wit that at Jerusalem where St. James Bishop of Jerusalem presided In which Abstention from the use of things Indifferent in themselves was Imposed Such as the Abstaining from Pollutions of Idols i.e. from Meats and Drinks offered to Idols and from things strangled and from bloud These things in themselves were good for every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer 1 Tim. 4.4 And yet the Apostolical Council Imposed the Abstaining from the use of these things Good in themselves as necessary conditions of Church-Communion Act. 15.20 28 29. It is confessed That the Reconciler makes mention of this Apostolical Council at Jerusalem But in his Notes upon it he gives himself a shrewd Box on the Ear Prot. Recon c. 8. p. 302. p. 302. for his words are The things imposed by the Apostles were in their nature things Vnnecessary But yet for preservation of the Churches Peace and Union and for prevention of Scandal to the Believing Jews they were necessary to be Imposed as Conditions of Church-Communion c. Now from the Reconciler's words we thus argue scil That if the Apostles did Impose things Vnnecessary and Indifferent when they saw it necessary for the Good i. e. for the Peace and Union of
to serve God after their own Desire And pray What Kingdom is there in the Christian World where by Law Greater Moderation and Clemency is shown than this These are some of the Good circumstances our Church and State are in at present And therefore for any man to desire that our present Laws especially those of Vniformity may be altered it is really to desire That our present Good State and Condition may be Altered especially in the Church whose Good and Welfare does and ought to go hand in hand with that of the State And although an Alteration of the Established Laws may possibly be for the better yet it is an hundred to one but such an Alteration may be infinitely for the worse if we duely consider the great Divisions Heats Animosities and Bloudy-Plots on foot among us and all under the Pretence of Reformation and of setting up a more holy and purer way of Worship than what is Established by Law And therefore these things considered it seems to be the wisest and safest way to keep our present Station and to be what we are that is Well and Prosperous Lest by Changing we prove to be otherwise that is Convulsive Sick and Vnsetled in both Church and State Secondly If we consider our present circumstances as to the Time we live in then in truth they are bad enough For our Church and State as now established have Enemies abroad and which is worse at home The times we live in are full of Deceit and Hypocrisie of Divisions and Distractions full of Plots and Treasons And these Clandestine Treasons are Hatched not onely by Papists but also by Dissenters So that our King and Governours have no real Friends no True Trojanes to Trust unto but onely the Episcopal Protestants of the Church of England whose Honour and Glory it is that they were never sound Guilty of any Treasons or Plots against their King and his Government And in truth it is impossible They should ever be Disloyal unless they shall renounce their own professed Principles and act contrary thereunto and then they would cease to be Episcopal Protestants Whereas on the other side it is impossible for the other Parties whether Papists or Dissenters ever to be constantly Loyal and Faithfull to the King and his Government if they shall continue to act according to their own professed Doctrines as has already been proved For Sinon will ever be a Sinon And if King Priamus shall hearken to his Advice Sinon will persuade him to break down Troy's Wall and let in the Trojan-Horse Nirgil Aen. l. 2. and then in the Night-time of Security Sinon contrary to his Vows and Promises his Plighted Faith and Troth Sinon will Betray the over-credulous King and the Coeci furore Citizens into the hands of the Grecians and set City and all into a Combustion And as my Lord Verulam observes the Wolf will ever be a Wolf though in Sheeps Clothing And the Fox will ever remain a Fox No Art nor Argument can ever prevail with the one to lay aside his Ravening and Cruelty Nor with the other to lay aside his Deceipt and Cunning. And therefore it can be no part of Prudence nor of Fidelity in the Shepherd to let either the Wolf or the Fox into the Fold among the Flock lest the Sheep and the Lambs become a prey to them both Wherefore Queen Elizabeth for the preservation of Peace and Good Order in Church and State and for the prevention of Errour Heresie and Schism did wisely make a strict Law for Vniformity and She Severely punished the Rebellious and Obstinate Offenders Notwithstanding their great and earnest Plea of tenderness of Conscience for their Non-Conformity And She hang'd some of the first Independents that ever were known to be in England Full. Hist l. 9. p. 169. such as Mr. Barrow Elias Thacker and John Coping for their Seditious and Treasonable Practices But to shew that she could be Mercifull as well as Severe she graciously pardoned Mr. Brown the Independent But our present Gratious King has in Acts of Mercy infinitely out-done Queen Elizabeth for he has saved from Death many of the Presbyterian and Independent-Regicides and has pardoned the whole Body of them for that and other their Treasons But because he found that they and the rest of their Dissenting-Brethren were restless and by their daily Separations made a Dangerous Schism in the Church and as Pernicious a Faction in the State setting up Church against Church Government against Government and thus rendring the Kingdom Divided Therefore was the King and Governours forced to make Laws to Restrain them and to bring all things into their Pristine Order and Vniformity And forasmuch as the Causes and Occasions of the said Laws of Vniformity are still in Being Therefore the said Laws themselves ought in Reason and Prudence to be continued and to stand still in their full force and power And if our King should execute the Laws of Vniformity with Rigour and Severity yet His Majesty would doe no more than what the Independents in New England have done for the Suppression of Dissenters among themselves For they Excommunicate and Banish all Anabaptists into Long-Island All Quakers into Road-Island or other parts and all Episcopal-Men they Expell their Territories And it is not to be forgot how Severely they dealt with Mr. Dunster the first Master of Harvey College in Cambridge in New-England whom the Independents first Excommunicated out of their Congregational-Church at Cambridge then deprived him of his Mastership and Expelled him the said College and after all they Banished him and his Wife out of their Dominions upon Suspicion of his being an Anabaptist or rather as some believe for his being an Arminian and for uttering some words in favour of the Church of England's Episcopacy Nor may we pass by their Severity towards two or three Quakers whom they Hang'd for returning after Banishment and for disturbing their Congregations in New-England Thus the Reader may see what Strict Laws the Dissenters where they have power do make for maintaining their own Ecclesiastick Orders and Impositions and how severely they execute them upon the Offenders And therefore neither the Dissenters nor the Reconciler have any Reason to complain of our King for want of an Indulgence and Condescention toward them when by executing His Laws for Conformity He does but give them their own Measure and does onely par pari referre Doe to them as they doe to others This being Granted We may now from the Premisses Rationally Conclude against the RECONCILER and his Proposition That Considering the Circumstances of Treason and Rebellion of Schisms and Factions our Church and State our King and Governours at present are Molested withall Therefore Things Indifferent ought the rather by Strict Laws of Uniformity and Conformity to be Imposed as Conditions of Church-Communion FINIS