latter it being propounded to consider how the Partition-wall might be broken down the Bones of Contention which have made us so often snarle at one and other thrown out of the way every thing became so Sacred and Apostolical that they can part with nothing The Forks and the Shovels the Snuffers and the Snuffing-Dishes were all of pure Gold 'T is true in the height of the Storm they promised a Candle as tall as their Main-mast but that being allay'd one burnt into the Socket is too costly a Sacrifice to offer up for the Peace and Unity of the Church Oh! If they would not joyn issue with their Enemies against them how deliciously should they fare every day But now they can't spare a Crum for those scabby Lazarus's under the Table When they were in trouble and the Hand of god was upon them when they were spoken roughly to and no Apology or Plea they could alledge in their defence would be heard or admitted then like Joseph 's Brethren methinks we hard them complain to each other and say verily we are guilty concerning our Brethren In that we saw the Anguish of their Souls when they besought us but we would not bear them therefore is this distress come upon us Did we not speak unto you saying Sin ot against them for they are our Brethren but ye would not bear therefore is their Blood required as our Hands But no sooner did our Moses deliver them from their Task-Masters and brought them again into their Kingdom but like Pharaoh's chief-Butler they did not remember them but (a) Gen. 40.23 Obj. forgot them But to this it will be replied Are not those Promises fulfilled Hath not the last and this present Parliament setled that Liberty by a Law which the two last Princes straining their Prerogative gave by Proclamation Res 'T is very great Truth and for which Act the present yea the Generations to come will rise up and bless God the King and Parliament for that Justice Prudence and Pity which they have shown to a poor harassed and ravaged People who else would have been as certainly though not so sudden ruined as our poor distressed Brethren in France Tho' the departure of the greatest part of Dissenting Protestants here was far less from the Church of England than theirs from the Church of Rome But why might not things be so tempered that this Partition-wall might become less needful And the Church of England by hearkning to some Terms of Accommodation and making a Rebatement of disputable Things and all along offensive Rites and Ceremonies become more enlarged and setled upon a firmer Basis and more tried Foundation For though the late Indulgence hath prevented Ephraim from vexing Judah yet 't is scarce provided for that Judah should not envy Ephraim Although I have some good reason to know and believe and therefore do I speak that many of our Dissenting Brethren be of Mephibosheth's Mind that if the Protestant Religion may be secured against our restless and implacable Enemies of Rome the King and Kingdom setled in Peace poor Ireland saved out of the Hands of those whose tender Mercies are Cruelty they are contented the Ziba's should take all they grudge not at their Preferments and Dignities being satisfied with a slender Fare and Provision And of the Mind with that contented Man described by the Poet Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum Splendet in mensâ tenui Salinum Nec leves Somnos timor aut Cupido Sordidus aufert Esteeming the Liberty of Conscience and mean Diet a continual Feast But why should we envy our Brethrens sitting at the same Table when we have all the same Faith the same Father the same Baptism the same Hope of our Calling Obj. But suppose we should propound a Temper it will not satisfie nor will they comply unless all the Rules of Decency and Order be rescinded and totally destroyed Res 1st We hope better things of them and such as accompany the Peace and Union of the Church 2dly Suppose it should gain but a few yet that 's Ground enough for our Argument an Enforcement of our Plea Would our Governours please to imitate St. Paul they would become all things to all Men that they might gain some though not all Dissenters 1 Cor. 9.19 For though I be free from all Men yet have I made my self a Servant c. 20. To the Jews I became a Jew that I might the gain the Jews c. 22. To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all Men that I might gain some That St. Paul might not offend the Jews he condescended and circumcised Timothy The Pharisees were very strict for Circumcision 16 Acts 3. and though it needful to observe the Law 15 Acts 5. But the Apostles assembled at Jerusalem thought not fit to trouble the Conversed Gentiles which were turned to God with those Rites which the Converted Jews were zealous for Why might not the same Rule be observed among us He that is ambitious to have his Child signed with the Sign of the Cross in Baptism let him have the Liberty to procure his Child to be so baptized He that desires to be excused the Ceremony of the Surplice in his publick Ministration may he be left to his own freedom and so on the contrary being obliged oâ—ly to those things which are necessary especially where such Indulgence may gain some Pious and Conscientious Ministers into the Communion of our church and give ease to such who are actually engaged in its Ministry and pressed down with such Burthens Which is the second Reply to the Objection and Plea for Abatement 3dly Suppose our Concessions should not call many over into our Tents at present yet it might prevent those who are not yet admitted into our Communion from fleeing to separate Congregations for ease and refuge as to their Consciences who if some rough places were made plain would never think of departing from our Assemblies Would we Cedere à jure and rebate those things which are Goads in the Sides and Thorns in the Eyes of many good and Tender-conscienced Men whose Necks have been gauled with the Ceremonial Yoak It would happen to the Church from so benevolent an Aspect as it doth to the Earth from the happy Conjunctions and Configurations of the Stars whose effects though they be not immediately felt yet cast a future kind and benign influence upon it And is it not more than probable that Persons who hereafter shall be at liberty of their choice of two several Communions will choose that which they judge safest and in which their Consciences may be most at ease If in one of these the Word is soundly preacht as it is in the Assemblies of many of the Dissenters for they have owned and subscribed the Articles of our Religion so far as they respect the Doctrine of the Church where also the Sacraments according to Divine
to all that esteem the Herbs soure which are appointed to be eaten with it In which case we may use the words of the Poet. Nimium seritatis in illo est Est aliud levius fulmen c. St. Austin thought it an unworthy thing to Censure or Condemn one another for those things which no way recommend us to God Indignum est ut propter ea quae nos Deo neque digniores neque indigniores possunt facere alii alios vel condemnemus vel judicemus 'T is very well observed by a Conforming Member of our Church That our Differences are not so great as to exclude the opposite Parties from being made Members of one (l) Dr. Potter asserts that no Man who believes the Creed and all the evident consequences of it sincerely and heartily cannot possibly if he also believes the Scripture be in any Error of simple Belief which is offensive to God nor therefore deserves to be deprived of his Life or to be cuâ— off from the Churches Communion or Hope of Salvation Church Militant and Joint-heirs of Glory in the Church Triumphant Obj. But the Crime is Contumacy against the Commands of our Rulers than which there can be no greater Sin and for which there ought to be assigned no less Punishment Res Is an awful regard of the Supreme Lawgiver a Contempt to Humane Power and Magistracy to which we give all just respect and deference where we suppose we may without intrenching upon the Divine authority which is Paramount to any Dominion upon Earth Were it a pure despight to authority it would appear in other things as well as these Ceremonies of Religion we give Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour Tribute to whom Tribute is due nor can there be any occasion found against us unless it be concerning the Law of our God and if we do not pay an actual obedience to some of those Injunctions which we fear are Intrenching upon the Divine Sanctions we are not guilty of Contumacy or Disobedience to Magistracy unless by accident it being a thing which is neither designed nor without injury to weak Consciences to be avoided whilst we continue in the Communion of the Church not daring to make any Schism in it or separation from it As to the design of this undertaking I shall add nothing more but stand to the Mercy of every Man's Opinion To be sure it could not be Interest or Secular Advantage for I believe too many will think if it be (m) Pro laborum meorum proemio vix impetravi veâ—iam pardoned 't will be beyond its desert rewarded Tho the Church I am of Opinion may thank her Preferments for the extreme Zeal of many of her Votaries in the Case of Conformity The Roman Clergy had never stickled so earnestly to have advanced their Bishop above the Council if the latter could have given Dignities as well as the former The Whore of Babylon ne're wanted Pledgers whenever she drank to them out of her Golden Cup whatever Abominations 't was filled with But I am afraid I have transgressed the Rules of proportion in framing so wide a Gate to so straight a Fabrick spinning the Preface too much beyond the Staple Yea perhaps may have forestalled the Reader and in some things anticipated the ensuing Argument Yet cannot conclude till I have recommended it to those in Authority that they would consider such as are still pressed down under the same Burthens and forc'd to draw In an uneasie Yoke That they would put the Tears of their Complaint into their bottles and that they may be no longer like Water spilt upon the ground nor always driven to eat our Passover with bitter Herbs God delights not in grieving the Children of Men but makes his ways pleasantness and his paths peace Let us beseech you who have wisdom to judge of and power to redress our grievances by the Mercies of God in general and our late unparallel'd Deliverance in particular by which he hath saved us out of the hands of our Enemies that we might serve him without fear That you would imitate the Divine Providence in breaking every Yoke loosing every Burthen and letting the oppressed go free Permit me to speak with the words of the Prophet in his advice to the King Dan. 4.27 Wherefore let my counsel be acceptable to you break off your sins by repentance and your iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthning out of the tranquility which is my Heart's Desire and Prayer to God both for Church and State A PLEA for Abatement in Matters of Conformity to several Injunctions and Orders of the Church of ENGLAND c. IF the many earnest and repeated Promises of Persons in extremity can lay an Obligation of Performance upon them to pay their Vows whenever they become solvend How many are there of no small Figure and Interest in our Church under no mean tie to find out an expedient and temper to heal those Breaches cement those Schisms which several bandied and controverted Rites and Ceremonies of the Church have unhappily occasioned How many Families in this Quarrel have been ruined How many Garments rolled in Blood not excepting his who sate upon the Throne What Blood and Treasure have been spilt and spent in their defence can be easier lamented than counted Nor is the Nature of them grown less prolifick or productive of Distractions amongst us they being almost the only bones which makes us snarle at yea bite and devour one another So zealous are we to maintain the Fence that is made about them that we neglect the main Bank which keeps out the most raging Waves of the Sea of Rome I mean Popery and Arbitrary Power the Cup we so lately drank of which at this time swells high and bears hard against us not only from Foreign Inundations of open Enemies but private overflowings of the Gall of some over-jealous Men amongst us As if it were evil to unite Dissenting protestants upon those just equitable and safe Principles which many Wise and Pious Bishops and other Conforming Members of the Church of England have propounded as fit Terms and Expedients for Union and Peace than to cause the Reformed Religion to run a most dangerous Risque and Adventure Suppose some of our Tackling should be rent and Sprucery sullied yet it were a Misfortune no way comparable to that of dashing the Ship against the rock And what Shipwrack the Storms which some Zealots among us are ever upon the least alteration of that Rigging though upon the justest Reasons raising may occasion God only knows if he that stills the Raging of the Sea does not quiet the Madness of the People Suppose the Decency and Order of our most exact and innocent Rituals to be ten times more than what really they are yet they can never commute for the hundredth part of that Blood and Treasure which have been expended in their Quarrel But shall we not
one and maintain the other We have with Patience submitted not for Wrath but Conscience sake to the Commands of our Superiors We have bowed the Neck to an uneasie Yoak earnestly supplicating the Divine Majesty to send a Moses to deliver us from those Burthens which we have received so many Solemn and Royal Promises should never oppress nor grieve us whilst we behaved our selves peaceably under the Civil Government and Constitutions of the Land But here I thought to have made a stand and have eased both the Reader and my self of any further trouble and fatigue in the Prosecution and Pursuit of this unpleasing Argument were I not prest with the Reason of another most just Plea for a Relaxation and Abatement in the Matters aforesaid which I had thought to have omitted lest it should appear too invidious as to others and too opiniative of our selves I mean our Fidelity to the Interest and Constancy in the Communion of the Church in the late Times of Defection and Apostacy when both by Threatnings and Flatteries we were so strongly tempted to make a Breach in it When the Declaration for Indulgence was commanded to be publisht by us in our Churches we did not we durst not submit though we thereby forfeited the Favour and eminently incurred the Displeasure of a Potent Monarch bigotted to the Romish Religion in whose Hands we were and to be used by him at his Pleasure We could have very much rejoiced in a due Enlargement but we rather kept within our Inclosure than brake the Hedges and lay the Fences waste to obtain it I mean a general Violation of the Canons and Rubricks of the Church the enacted Laws and Statutes of the Common-wealth Relying in the mean time upon the Goodness and Providence of God wholly submitting our selves to his Will hoping that he would so far move the Hearts of our Rulers in due time and in a regular way to hear our Complaints and redress our Grievances And that which puts weight into this Ballance is that too many of those who clamoured high and made (a) Who were fierce Despisers of those that were good heady high minded Traytors having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power of it 2 Tim. 3.3.5 a great noise for Conformity to the Rituals of the Church baiting and bantring any whom they supposed guilty of the least defect and omission of their Duty in that respect accounting themselves the white Boys and only Sons of the Church yet were the first that turn'd colour and became Red-letter'd Men divers of which both of the Clergy and Laity I could name but I spare them and are at this day living and looking for a day to retrieve their lost Cause They still retaining those Spots and Crimson Tincture they received from the Scarlet whore which they resolve no Nirre either of Scripture or Reason shall ever take out Whilst such as they accounted and traduced as Betrayers of our Church stuck close maintain'd their Posts and in the day of Tryal proved faithful and true to its Interest We continued constant in the Exercise of our Ministry fortifying our People committed to our Care using the best Arguments we could joined with our own Examples to continue in the Communion of our Church and to stand fast in the open and zealous Professions and Defence of the Faith once delivered to the Saints comforting and to the best of our skill building them up in it notwithstanding the Threats and Menaces we met with from the profest and rampant Enemies of our Church and Religion But lest this should look like boasting I shall say no more but leave the Argument to be considered by our Superiors according to the Merits of it As for those who in the Day of Temptation went out from us because they were not of us we heartily pitty and pray for them and for their reduction to the Communion from whence they departed that they would be zealous and repent considering from whence they are fallen and return For which Reason we should be willing to use all the Weapons of our Spiritual Warfare And they are so happy as to fall into an Age and Hands which design no other we being sufficiently convinc'd that a Club may sooner dash a Man's Brains out than beat Understanding into his Head Only first give me leave to enquire who were the best Sons of the Church of England and deserve most at her hands Whether those who when time was were great Sticklers for Conformity in the strictest manner to all and every of its Rites Great Amorists and much in love with our Church and Religion whilst it lookt plump and fair to the Eye But when the Hand of the Lord had toucht it and was become black by reason of Affliction shrunk and shrievell'd upon the account of its Sorrow forsook their first Love Then their Language was What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved What 's the Church of England more than that of Rome Whether I say were these better Sons of the Church than those who though perhaps not so exactly satisfied with all and every thing that 's injoined yet brake not the Communion of it But buckling on the Helmet and being girt about with Truth were steddy and valiant in her most dangerous Conflict The other are fit to be Members of that Church whereof outward Prosperity is the Mark and Character who so long as ours was triumphant it had no greater pretended Votaries and Zealots than themselves But these Dive-dopping Plant-Animals dropping from the Tree upon which they grew and falling into the Waters of Tiber or Sea of Rome presently set up for Solon-geese mightily gagling for their espoused Religion Who having learnt the Romish Cant from their new Dictators we are ridiculed and lampooned by them in every Tavern and Coffee-house the bottom of whose Dishes and Glasses they better understood than the Reason of their Change and new-fashioned Religion Then they had the Face and Brow to tell us that the Church they once so much clamored for was till an Age or two past a Duck under water By whom the first and trite question we were usually interrogated upon was Where was your Religion before Luther To which we have answered a thousand times and can truly say again that the Platform of it is contained in the Holy Scriptures which is the only Rule of Faith and tried Foundation upon which our Religion is built 'T was instituted by Christ practiced in the Primitive Church though Tares grew up in the Field I mean Corruptions in the Bosom of it and what could not be amended or endured were necessary to be avoided For we can find whatever these Antiquaries may boast of no Foundation for Purgatory Prayers for the Dead or in a Tongue the People understand not no Warrant to direct them to Saints as the Object no Exemption of the Blessed Virgin from original Sin or Communion celebrated by halfs or in one kind c. in all