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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<P>Lacrymae Eccle&s;iae ANGLICANAE: OR, A &s;erious and Pa&s;&s;ionate ADDRESS of the <HI>Church of England,</HI> To her <HI>SONS,</HI> e&s;pecially tho&s;e of the CLERGY.</P>
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<P>Printed in the Year, 1689.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
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<HEAD>TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>Church</HI> of <HI>England</HI> ever &s;ince its Recovery from the Darkne&s;s of Popi&s;h ignorance and Super&s;titi|on, has been no le&s;s the envy of <HI>Rome,</HI> then the Honour and Glory of all other <HI>Reformed Churches:</HI> for its <HI>Con&s;titu|tions</HI> are Holy and Primitive, its <HI>Liturgy</HI> pious and devout, all her <HI>Doctrines</HI> con&s;onant and agreeable to the word of God. She retains the Ancient <HI>Creeds,</HI> She Rejects all novel and &s;uper&s;titious Doctrines, that are neither to be found in, nor warranted by the Word of God: She retains the two Sacra|ments in&s;tituted by our <HI>Saviour,</HI> and rightly and duely ad|mini&s;ters them, and that whole and entire according to Primitive In&s;titution, and that too, neither Super&s;titiou&s;ly advancing them above the nature of Sacraments, nor yet prophanely, or irreverently, detracting from the Greatne&s;s and Holine&s;s of their My&s;tical, and invi&s;ible &s;ignificance. <HI>Marvel not therefore Brethren if the World hate you,</HI> for even our dear Redeemer was hated and &s;corned and &s;hamefully put to Death, and &s;hall the <HI>Di&s;ciple</HI> be above his <HI>Ma&s;ter?</HI> 'Tis what our Saviour him&s;elf foretold, <HI>they hate me, they will hate you al&s;o:</HI> Now altho' it may be objected, that there are &s;everal &s;candalous and loo&s;e Livers among the <HI>Clergy</HI> of the <HI>Church</HI> of <HI>England,</HI> what then? does not the Church reprove &s;uch? Does it not correct &s;uch?
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And if they prove ob&s;tinate and incorrigible, does &s;he not di&s;own &s;uch? And 'tis no wonder that among &s;uch a nume|rous Clergy there &s;hould be &s;ome ill per&s;ons; Our Saviour when pre&s;ent upon Earth in his humanity, was not with|cut a <HI>Judas</HI> among twelve, and no doubt it will be &s;o in all numerous A&s;&s;emblies, while the world endures. But this is matter of Compa&s;&s;ion, not of &s;corn, they are Per&s;onal Blots, but does not injure the Con&s;titutions or Doctrines of the Church. All the&s;e things are more amply and fully handled in the following Book, which was fir&s;t Printed in 1663. and then humbly Dedicated to the King and his great Council the Parliament of <HI>England;</HI> and it having fallen into my hands of late, after a careful and delightful peru&s;al of it, I thought it not improper to Reprint in the&s;e times, and therefore recommended it to the Book&s;eller as a u&s;eful piece, and &s;o I do to thee <HI>Reader,</HI></P>
<CLOSER>Farewel.</CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
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<HEAD>Lacrymae Eccle&s;iae ANGLICANAE:</HEAD>
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<HEAD>CHAP. I.</HEAD>
<P>_O All you that pa&s;s by me, &s;tand and &s;ee, <HI>if there be any &s;orrow like unto my &s;orrow;</HI> if it hath been done to any Reformed or Prote|&s;tant Church under Heaven, as it is done unto me! O now my wounds were ready to be clo&s;ed, my Ruines to be repaired, my De|&s;olations and Wa&s;tes to be fini&s;hed; when the Barbarous was checked, the Licentious was re&s;trained, the u&s;urpers were removed, the profe&s;&s;ed Enemies of different Intere&s;ts and Religion which per&s;ecuted me, were &s;ubdued, and I ready to &s;ettle upon the Eternal Foundations of &s;ound Do|ctrine, of Primitive Government, of an holy and pure Wor|&s;hip, of a decent and comely order, to the amazement of the World, to the honour of Religion, to the glory of God, to the peace of the whole Earth, and for good will among men! behold! my Children are di&s;content, my Government is complained of, my Ordinances are neglected, my Mini|&s;ters are de&s;pi&s;ed, my peace is di&s;turbed, and my &s;afety en|dangered. <HI>Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth!</HI> What<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Churches &s;en&s;e other r<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">proach &amp; &s;uffering.</NOTE> could I have done that I have not done? Have I not taught the truth of God &s;incerelie, giving Milk to babes, and &s;trong|er meat to them that were able to bear it, and the Oracles of God to all in a Language they be&s;t under&s;tood? Have I concealed any part of Gods &s;acred Coun&s;el from you? Have I not &s;et forth with all plainne&s;s and freedom the ble&s;&s;ed fulne&s;s and excellencies of my Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in &s;uch a manner and mea&s;ure as I received from the Word and Spi|rit?
<PB N="2" REF="4">
Have I not admini&s;tred all the Ordinances of God faith|fully? have I not enjoyned and taught all vertue and all grace, carefully recommending to my Children <HI>what&s;oever things are good, what&s;oever things are true, what&s;oever things are hone&s;t, what&s;oever things are ju&s;t, what&s;oever things are pure, what&s;oever things are lovely, what&s;oever things are of good report;</HI> every holy Duty, every nece&s;&s;ary Rule; and every imitable Example; with all the Advantages of &s;ound Know|ledge, powerful Preaching, which at once was able to inform the weak, to reclaim the mo&s;t erroneous, to reform the mo&s;t debauched, to &s;atisfie the mo&s;t curious, and to &s;ilence the mo&s;t refractory? Have I not prepared with much &s;tudy and indu|&s;try, with many prayers and tears, with long education, and diligent care, Reverend Bi&s;hops, Orderly Presbyters, able Mini&s;ters, workmen that need not be a&s;hamed, duly ordai|ned, and called after an uninterrupted and Catholick &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion through all Ages, agreeable to that original in&s;tituti|on which was from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the great High Prie&s;t, the true Prophet, the &s;overaign King of the Church, the chief preacher of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and Bi&s;hop of our Souls? Have I<NOTE PLACE="marg">Her care.</NOTE> not, I &s;ay, taken an holy care of a &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of Mini&s;ters a|bout holy things, who might divide the Word aright by &s;o|lid preaching, might wait upon God &s;olemnly by a devout and di&s;creet Praying, might convince Gain-&s;ayers by acute Di&s;puting, might in&s;truct the world by exact Writing, might maintain peace and order by wi&s;e Governing, might reform the world by holy living? Hath it not been my care and endeavour to keep up the &s;oundne&s;s, power and life of Chri&s;tian Religion? Have not I laboured that my good peo|ple might every where have what is nece&s;&s;ary and whole|&s;ome for their &s;ouls good, in devout Prayers, in holy Sacra|ments, in powerful Sermons; whereby I de&s;ired (God know|eth) to pre&s;erve whol&s;ome and &s;aving truth, to promote true holine&s;s, to &s;et up an holy decency, to maintain the whol&s;ome form and power of godline&s;s, in truth peace, order and uni|ty? Have not I held forth an holy Light, Rule, and Life, in the plain parts of Scripture every where read; in the Articles every where acknowledged, in the Creeds and Catechi&s;m eve|ry year explained, in the Liturgy con&s;tantly u&s;ed, whereby
<PB N="3" REF="4">
poor &s;ouls had a plain, ea&s;ie and &s;ure way to Heaven, through an unfeigned Faith, &s;incere Repentance, a Catholick Chari|ty, a devout humility, a good con&s;cience, and an holy obedi|ence to God and man, according to the will of God, unto all well plea&s;ing? Do not I take care to in&s;truct the ignorant di|ligently, to comfort the weak hearted tenderly, to rai&s;e up them that fall compa&s;&s;ionately, to vi&s;it tho&s;e that are &s;ick cha|ritably, to relieve tho&s;e that want mercifully, to bury my dead that &s;leep in Je&s;us &s;olemnly, to puni&s;h tho&s;e that do a|mi&s;&s;e &s;everely, to re&s;tore them that have gone a&s;tray pitiful|ly, to in&s;truct them that oppo&s;e them&s;elves meekly, to frame a way of Peace, Order, and Cummunion (in which Brethren might happily dwell together in unity) prudently, rational|ly and di&s;creetly? O what failings of mine then have occa|&s;ioned the&s;e impatient murmers which I hear! What faults of mine have rai&s;ed tho&s;e bitter reproaches which I bear? What enormities of mine have provoked tho&s;e imminent dangers which I fear? O why is it that ye who own my Sa|viour, who have &s;ubmitted to my Doctrine as your Rule, who have partaked of my Sacrament as your refre&s;hment and comfort; O why is it that ye hate and di&s;pi&s;e me, that ye &s;trip and wound me, that ye tear and mangle me, that ye impoveri&s;h and deba&s;e me, that ye make me a &s;corn, an abo|mination, an hi&s;&s;ing and a&s;toni&s;hment to all that &s;ee me, a de|ri&s;ion and a mocking to my enemies round about me?</P>
<P>Alas, all men of weight and worth, for parts and piety,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Her Apolo|gie for Con&s;tituti|on.</NOTE> for judgement and ingenuity, for con&s;cience and integrity, for grace, learning and renown, know my innocency thus far, that as to the foundation of Faith and Rule of holine&s;s, I have only adhered to Gods ble&s;&s;ed Word: as for the Cir|cum&s;tances and Ceremonies of Religion, I u&s;e in them pru|dently and charitably that liberty and power which I &s;up|po&s;e is allowed here for peace, order, and decency, by that ble&s;&s;ed God who is not the Author of Confu&s;ion, but of peace, as in all the Churches of the Saints. If we may believe the integrity of tho&s;e Reformers that &s;etled this Church, who&s;e learning, worth, and piety, hath been confirmed by the Te&s;timony of &s;o many wi&s;e and religious Princes, by the approbation of &s;o many learned and reverend Convocati|ons, by the applau&s;es of &s;o many other reformd Churches:
<PB N="4" REF="5">
if we may believe the preaching living and dying of &s;o many hundred excellent Bi&s;hops and Mini&s;ters, or the Prayers and proficiencies of &s;o many thou&s;and of godly Chri&s;tians; or if we may believe the wonderful ble&s;&s;ings and &s;pecial graces of a merciful God, atte&s;ting the verity, integrity and &s;anctity of my Chri&s;tian Con&s;titution for many happy years: or if you will believe all men in <HI>England,</HI> who have by oaths and &s;ub|&s;criptions, by Vows and Prote&s;tations re&s;olved to maintain the Prote&s;tant Religion as it was e&s;tabli&s;hed in the Church of <HI>England;</HI> who di&s;pair any where to find the way of truth and peace, of holine&s;s and happine&s;s, but in the u&s;e of tho&s;e holy means, and in the exerci&s;e of tho&s;e divine graces which accom|pany &s;alvation, within me profe&s;&s;ed and enjoyed. I know nothing excellent in any Church for outward policy, inward tranquilitie, and eternal felicity; nothing that was pious or peaceable, moral or vertuous, ritual or &s;piritual, orderly or comely, or any way conducing to truth and holine&s;s, to grace or vertue, to the &s;ouls edification and comfort, which was not by me entertained with competent Maintenance, noble Encouragements, ingenuous Honours, peaceable Serenity, and munificent plenty; In which I flouri&s;hed &s;o many years by Gods goodne&s;s, and mans indulgence.</P>
<P>Alas, whatever I have done in the &s;ettlements of the Rites, Circum&s;tances and Decencies of Religion, I have ob&s;erved that mode&s;ty, wi&s;dom and humility that became a Church of Chri&s;t, in di&s;creetly and ingeniou&s;ly complying with &s;ober, primitive and venerable Antiquity in the Church, as far as it ob&s;erved the Rules of Gods Word, and went not beyond the liberty allowed it in point of Order and Decency. O you are too knowing to be ignorant, and too ingenious to be in&s;en&s;ible of your duty to God, and your re&s;pect to me; who was heretofore &s;o much loved by my Children, applauded by my Friends, reverenced by my Neighbours, &s;eared and envyed by mine Enemies for tho&s;e &s;piritual Gifts, Mini&s;terial, Devotional and Practical, which were evidently &s;een in me, tho&s;e heavenly influences which people received from me, tho&s;e gracious examples and fre|quent good works &s;et forth by me, the ble&s;&s;ed experiences men enjoyed with me, the charitable &s;implicities exerci|&s;ed by my members, the numerous A&s;&s;emblies, the frequent
<PB N="5" REF="5">
Devotions, the reverent Attentions, the unanimous Com|munions, the well-grounded hopes, and un&s;peakable comforts which thou&s;ands enjoyed, both living and dying, in obedi|ence to, and communion with me; which to impartial men were mo&s;t impregnant evidences, and valid demon&s;trations of true Religion, and a true Church, &s;etled by the joynt con|&s;ent, and publick piety of a Chri&s;tian Nation. He was a wi&s;e, holy, and reverend Son of my bo&s;ome, who &s;aid, <HI>That in the greate&s;t maturity of his Judgement, and integrity of his Con&s;ci|ence, when mo&s;t redeemed from juvenile Fervours, popular Fal|lacies, vulgar Partialities, and &s;ecular Flatteries, he declared to the pre&s;ent Age and po&s;terity, that &s;ince he was capable to move in &s;o &s;erious a &s;earch, and weighty a di&s;qui&s;ition as that of Reli|gion is; as his greate&s;t de&s;ign was through Gods grace to find out and per&s;evere in &s;uch a profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tian Religion as hath mo&s;t of truth and order, of power and peace, of holine&s;s and &s;olemnity, of divine verity and Catholick antiquity, of true charity and holy con&s;tancy: &s;o he could not (apart from all prejudices and prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions) find in any other Church or Church-way, ancient or modern, either more of the good he de&s;ired, or le&s;s of the evil he would avoid, then he had a long time di&s;cerned, and upon a &s;tricter &s;crutiny more and more in the frame and form, in the Con&s;tituti|on and Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Church of</HI> England. <HI>No where,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>diviner My&s;teries, no where &s;ounder Doctrinals, bolier Mo|rals, warmer Devotionals, apter Rituals or comlier Ceremonials. All which together by a meet and happy concurrence of piety and prudence, brought forth &s;uch Spirituals and Graces, both in their Habits, Exerci&s;es and Comforts, as are the Quinte&s;&s;ence and Life, the Soul and Seal of true Religion; tho&s;e more immediate and &s;pecial Influences of Gods holy Spirit upon the Soul, tho&s;e joynt Operations of the ble&s;&s;ed Trinity, for the Ju&s;tification, Sanctification, and Salvation of a Sinner.</HI></P>
<P>1. Can you blame my Government, that ancient and Ca|tholick<NOTE PLACE="marg">She ju&s;ti|fieth her Govern|ment.</NOTE> Government of godly Bi&s;hops; which is &s;o agree|able to Right Rea&s;on, &s;o &s;uitable to the Principles of due Or|der and Policy among men, &s;o con&s;onant to Scripture-wi&s;|dom both in Rules and Patterns, &s;o conforme to the Catho|lick and Primitive way of all Chri&s;tian Churches throughout all Ages, and in all places of the world? Would you have me, again&s;t all charity, mode&s;ty, humility or equity, to fall
<PB N="6" REF="6">
away from the Apo&s;tolical way of all Famous Churches and religious Chri&s;tians? to ca&s;t off the <GAP DESC="foreign">, <GAP DESC="foreign">, the <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>nec conciliis in&s;titutum, &s;ed &s;emper retentum, &amp; non ni&s;i authoritate Apo&s;tolica in&s;titutum;</HI> the <HI>Apo&s;tolici &s;emi|nis traduces Epi&s;copos,</HI> that <HI>univer&s;am &s;ucce&s;&s;ionem Epi&s;copo|rum;</HI> tho&s;e <HI>&s;ucce&s;&s;iones ab initio decurrentium Epi&s;coporum;</HI> that <HI>ordinem Epi&s;coporum qui in Johannem &s;tat Authorem;</HI> that <HI>toto orbe decretum.</HI>) Shall I not enquire of the former Age, and prepare my &s;elf to the &s;earch of my Fathers? for I am but of Ye&s;terday, and nothing. Shall not they teach me, and tell me, and utter words out of their hearts? Shall not I &s;tand in the way, and ask for the old way, which is the good way, and walk therein?</P>
<P>Would you have me give offence to the whole Chri&s;tian World, which either is or would be governed by Bi&s;hops, as the mo&s;t Apo&s;tolick, Primitive, and Univer&s;al Way? Would you have me di&s;own the right &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the pow|er Mini&s;terial, conferred by Epi&s;copal hands unto this day? Shall the Jewi&s;h Church have the Heads of their Tribes as Bi&s;hops and Rulers over their Brethren the Prie&s;ts and Le|vites, and the Chri&s;tian Church (in imitation of them, as in other particulars, &s;o in this, have their Apo&s;tles, Evangeli&s;ts, their Pa&s;tors and Teachers, without reproach, and may not I? O it is certain, that what is once well done, in a regular pub|lick way, is ever after done as to the permanency of that ver|tue that is always in a great and good example. Shall I lay a&s;ide Primitive and right Epi&s;copacy, which hath &s;uch grounds from Scripture, both as to the divine wi&s;dom &s;o or|dering his Church among the Jews, as al&s;o by the example, Precept and Direction evident from our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the holy Apo&s;tles in the New Te&s;tament, who preferred worthy per&s;ons for their Piety Zeal and holy Gravity, to exerci&s;e a Chri&s;tian authority over Mini&s;ters and people for their &s;ouls good, which might con&s;i&s;t with charity and hu|mility, for the pre&s;ervation of the Churches peace and purity in the be&s;t and primitive times; &s;uch grave per&s;ons as for their Age, were Fathers; for their innocency, Saints; for their indu&s;try, Labourers; for con&s;tancy, Confe&s;&s;ors; for zeal, Martyrs; for charity, Brethren; for their light, Angels; and venerable for all Excellencies&punc; And I own no other Bi&s;hops
<PB N="7" REF="6">
but &s;uch in whom are remarkable the vertues of the mo&s;t ancient and imitable Bi&s;hops; the Indu&s;try of St. <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> the Courage of St. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> the Devotion of St. <HI>Gregory,</HI> the Lear|ning of <HI>Nazianzen,</HI> the Eloquence of St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> the Mild|ne&s;s of St. <HI>Cyprian,</HI> the Love of St. <HI>Ignatius,</HI> the Con&s;tancy of St. <HI>Polycarp,</HI> the Noblene&s;s of St. <HI>Ba&s;il;</HI> and tho&s;e come near|e&s;t the Apo&s;tolical pattern and re&s;emble the mo&s;t of any Chri&s;tians or Mini&s;ters, the Grace and Glory of our Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t. I endeavour that my Bi&s;hops may be among Chri&s;tians the mo&s;t faithful; among Men, the mo&s;t civil; among Preachers the mo&s;t painful; among Orators, the mo&s;t per&s;wa&s;ive; among Governours, the mo&s;t moderate; among pious Men the mo&s;t fervent, among Profe&s;&s;ors, the mo&s;t for|ward; among &s;evere Men the mo&s;t exact; among Sufferers, the mo&s;t patient; among Per&s;everants the mo&s;t con&s;tant: the mo&s;t compleat every way, and perfect unto every good work. The&s;e I take care &s;hould be duely cho&s;en, &s;hould be e&s;teemed with honour, and reverenced with love. My Rule to them is, That they &s;hould over-rule with vigilance, &s;hould rule with joynt coun&s;el, neither levelled with younger Preach|ers and Novices, nor exalted too much above the grave and Elder. I allow the&s;e men an honourable competencie, with eminency, wherewith they may exerci&s;e a large heart and li|beral hand, which may conciliate a general re&s;pect, and de|&s;erve the common Love. My direction to them, is, that their vertue and piety may pre&s;erve the Authority of their places; and this is the order, peace and dignity of the Church, that they may be the Touch&s;tone of Truth, the Load&s;tone of Love, the Standard of Faith, the Pattern of Holine&s;s, the Pillars of <HI>Stability,</HI> and the <HI>Centres of &V;nity;</HI> &s;uch as the <HI>Erroneous may hate,</HI> the <HI>Factious envy,</HI> good men <HI>may love,</HI> and <HI>bad men may Fear.</HI></P>
<P>2. Can ye blame my Doctrine, approved by the Refor|med,<NOTE PLACE="marg">She ju&s;tifi|eth her do|ctrine.</NOTE> and agreeable with the Primitive Church? a doctrine according to godline&s;s, teaching all men <HI>that denying all ungod|line&s;s and worldly lu&s;t, they &s;hould live righteou&s;ly, &s;oberly, and godly in this pre&s;ent world.</HI></P>
<P>3. Do you find fault with my Devotion in the publick<NOTE PLACE="marg">She ju&s;tifi|eth her De|votion.</NOTE> wor&s;hip of God, by Confe&s;&s;ion, prayers, prai&s;es, P&s;alms, and other holy Oblations of a Rational and Evangelical &s;ervice,
<PB N="8" REF="7">
offered up to our God by the joint piety of all my children, (the <GAP DESC="foreign">, the <GAP DESC="foreign">, the <HI>Communi Oratio</HI>) where nothing is expre&s;&s;ed as my mind, which I thought not agree|able with the mind of Gods &s;pirit in the Scripture? nor do I know any part of it to which a judicious Chri&s;tian might not in Faith &s;ay <HI>Amen,</HI> taking the expre&s;&s;ions of it in that pi|ous and benign &s;en&s;e which the Church intended, and the words may well bear. Indeed the whole compo&s;ure of my Liturgy is (in my judgement) &s;o whole&s;ome, &s;o holy, &s;o com|pleat, &s;o di&s;creet, &s;o devout, &s;o u&s;eful, &s;o &s;avoury, &s;o well|advi&s;ed, that I find nothing in the eighteen Liturgies com|po&s;ed in the Ea&s;tern and We&s;tern Church, that is excellent, but is in this of mine; and many things which are le&s;s clear or nece&s;&s;ary in them, are better expre&s;&s;ed or wi&s;ely omitted here; the whole being &s;o ordered, as might be&s;t inform all peoples under&s;tandings, &s;tir up their affections and quicken their devotions, in a whole&s;ome form of &s;ound words; &s;uch as <HI>Mo&s;es, David,</HI> the Prophets, and the Lord Je&s;us left behind them, &s;olemnly recorded in the Scriptures. So that according to the primitive care, I fir&s;t laid down Scripture grounds in the Creeds and Confe&s;&s;ions, and then I enlarged and fixed my Liturgies and devotions as near as I could to the maje&s;ty, &s;o|lemnity, and exactne&s;s, unanimity and fulne&s;s of publick Prayers upon all holy publick occa&s;ions, &s;o plainly, that the devout &s;oul knows well what it &s;hould de&s;ire of God; and &s;o affectionately, that it earne&s;tly de&s;ires in it, what it knoweth God alloweth; and &s;o uniformly, that it peaceably goeth along with the Congregation, with one mind and one heart <HI>in the unity of the &s;pirit, in the bond of peace.</HI></P>
<P>4. Is it the Rites and Ceremonies I impo&s;e that di&s;plea&s;e you? Alas I find the God of Heaven which we wor&s;hip in <HI>England</HI> enjoyning more Ceremonies on his own people, and forbidding no holy cu&s;tom to any Chri&s;tians, in order to ad|vance the decency and order of his &s;ervice, or Chri&s;tians mu|tual edification and joint devotion under the Go&s;pel. Our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour hath by his &s;pirit guiding the pens and practi|&s;es of the Apo&s;tles, &s;ufficiently manife&s;ted the Power and Li|berty given the Church, and the Governours of it, for the choice and u&s;e of &s;uch decent cu&s;toms, Rites and Ceremonies, (not as divine in&s;titutions upon the con&s;ciences, butashu|mane
<PB N="9" REF="7">
injunctions&punc; upon the practi&s;es) as agree with godly man|ners, and the truth of the Go&s;pel, and may be&s;t &s;erve for or|der, decency, peace, &s;olemnity, and mutual edification of Chri&s;tians, agreed upon by publick con&s;ent; in which every ones vote is per&s;onally or vertually included. It's true, as the Liturgy, &s;o the Ceremonies have &s;omething of <HI>Rome</HI> in them: for to deal plainly, I did freely and ju&s;tly a&s;&s;ert to my own u&s;e and Gods glory whatever upon due tryal I found to have the &s;tamp of Gods truth and grace, or the Churches wi&s;dom and charity upon it. I would not refu&s;e any good I found among&s;t them, becau&s;e it was mixed with &s;ome evil; but trying all things, I held fa&s;t that which was good, being intent upon the great ends of piety, devotion and charity. It's true I enjoyn my people an inward wor&s;hip of &s;oul, in &s;pirit and in truth, before God; but withal I enjoyn outward wor&s;hip of the body; (which is but a rea&s;onable &s;ervice to God that made the body) exemplary and &s;ignificant before men, in &s;uch habits and ge&s;tures as may mo&s;t conduce (by the advice of the whole Church; for the private &s;pirit of the prophets, in tho&s;e things ought to be &s;ubject to the publick &s;pirit of the Prophets) to re|verence, devotion and edification, in knowing, humble, meek and quiet &s;pirits, rightly di&s;cerning the innocent nature of &s;uch things not prohibited and &s;o indifferent; and the Chri&s;tian liberty allowed to them, to u&s;e tho&s;e things indiffe|rent when commanded, and to lay them a&s;ide when not commanded. However, let the many Obligati|ons to unity by the true Faith you joyntly profe&s;&s;e give you more &s;atisfaction, then the occa&s;ions of dividing the Cere|monies in which you differ give you offence: &s;o that you may not upon &s;o &s;mall occa&s;ions, in &s;uch &s;mall matters, &s;acrifice to your private pa&s;&s;ion and per&s;wa&s;ion the publick Peace and Pro&s;perity of the Church&punc; e&s;pecially &s;ince I never heard of a|ny &s;ober Chri&s;tian, or truly godly Mini&s;ter, who (being in o|ther things prudent, unblameable, and &s;incere) did ever &s;uf|fer any check of con&s;cience meerly upon the account of ha|ving been conformable to, and keeping communion with me&punc; nor did they ever complain of Ceremonies, Liturgy and E|pi&s;copacy, as any damps to their real graces, or to their holy communion with Gods ble&s;&s;ed &s;pirit; but admired them as the united influence, the joynt con&s;ent, the combined devoti|on
<PB N="10" REF="8">
of all good Chri&s;tians in this Nation, who publickly agre|ed with one mind, and in one manner to &s;erve the Lord, in a way allowed by the mo&s;t pious of Princes, practi&s;ed by the be&s;t Nobility, owned by the wi&s;e&s;t Gentry, maintained by the mo&s;t learned Clergy, and embraced by the be&s;t &s;ort of Commons. I allow only &s;uch Ceremonies as make religious Duties not more pious, but more con&s;picuous; not more &s;a|cred, but more &s;olemn; not more &s;piritual and holy, but more vi&s;ible, imitable and exemplary; to quicken my chil|dren, to allure others, to in&s;truct and edifie all.</P>
<P>5. Are ye offended with my Canons and Injunctions? Is it fit that a few men whom order and Policy hath made infe|riour to others, as the Rulers and Repre&s;entatives of the whole &s;ociety, &s;hould prefer their own private Opinions and Judgements before the well-advi&s;ed Re&s;ults, the learned Conn&s;els, the pious Endeavours, and &s;olemn Sanctions of &s;o many, eminent for piety, prudence, integrity, publick influ|ence, and ju&s;t Authority?</P>
<P>6. Are my &s;olemn Fa&s;ts and Fea&s;ts, your grievances? tho&s;e &s;olemn remembrances of Gods Mercy to men in Chri&s;t cele|brated with prayer, prai&s;es preaching and communicating to Gods glory, and all &s;ober Chri&s;tians improvement, accor|ding to the known pre&s;ident of the Jews, and the general practice of the Chri&s;tian Church? What harm is there if &s;ome good men ob&s;erving a day, ob&s;erve it to the Lord; and others not ob&s;erving a day, ob&s;erve it not to the Lord?</P>
<P>7. Do you re&s;ent my Endeavours for Unity and unifor|mity? Alas, I de&s;ire only that men &s;incerely wor&s;hip one true God, and profe&s;s the Faith of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that they may be partakers of the gifts and graces of the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, and may have an holy communion with that adorable Tri|nity, and with one another in love and charity, as Chri&s;ti|ans, enjoying the noble&s;t life, the &s;weete&s;t &s;ociety, and mo&s;t heavenly fraternity; imitating God, emulating Angels; Children and expectants of happine&s;s, Partakers of grace, and daily preparing for eternal Glory: that all men who have been called, baptized and in&s;tructed by lawful Mini&s;ters here, in the my&s;teries and duties of the Go&s;pel, may make a joynt and publick profe&s;&s;ion of the Chri&s;tian Faith, and Reformed Religion, in the name, and as the &s;en&s;e of the whole Nati|on,
<PB N="11" REF="8">
grounded upon the holy Scripture, guided al&s;o and ad|mini&s;tred by that uniforme order, due authority, and holy. Mini&s;try for Wor&s;hip and Government, which according to the mind of Chri&s;t, the pattern of the Apo&s;tles, and the pra|ctice of all primitive Churches, hath been lawfully e&s;tabli&s;h|ed by the wi&s;dom and con&s;ent of all E&s;tates in this Kingdom, for Gods honour, the Churches &s;afety, the publick peace, and the common good of &s;ouls.</P>
<P>8. Do I not allow you a ju&s;t liberty to do &s;uch things con|&s;tantly and chearfully which are mo&s;t proper and advantagi|ous to the nature and excellency of men? to think what is true, to do what is fit, and enjoy what is ju&s;t in reference to God, others and your &s;elves? I have taken from you no li|berty but that of <HI>doing evil:</HI> you are at liberty to enjoy all the comforts, priviledges, and Ordinances which Chri&s;t hath in|&s;tituted, in an holy order, and regular way, for private or publick good; and to hope for that reward and crown which God the righteous judge hath promi&s;ed tho&s;e that per&s;evere in well doing. My highe&s;t aim is, that you may have li|berty to exerci&s;e a good con&s;cience, void of offence towards God and towards man, that they may willingly in all things live hone&s;tly.</P>
<P>9. Are ye di&s;plea&s;ed with my Members? Alas, innocent men, they pur&s;ue after the knowledge of, and communion with God, in order to a rational, religious, &s;piritual, graci|ous, perfect, and unchangeable life; enjoying them&s;elves in the ble&s;&s;ed enjoyment of God, the enjoyment of whom &s;a|tisfieth all their de&s;ires, rewards all their duties, requites all their &s;ufferings, compleats all their happine&s;s; crowns and perfects true Religion. They endeavour that <HI>on earth</HI> which they hope for <HI>in heaven;</HI> viz. a right knowledge and a wil|ling performance, which as rea&s;onable they owe for ever to God their Maker, Pre&s;erver, and Redeemer in Chri&s;t. With this religious frame and temper, of which them&s;elves only are con&s;cientious they prepare for a glorious and ble&s;&s;ed im|mortality, with a &s;incerity of heart, and uprightne&s;s of con|ver&s;ation, which hath no other Rule but Gods Word, no other End but Gods Glory, no other Comfort but the Con|&s;tancy of this Di&s;po&s;ition to their Lives end. Innocent men, they look for one common Salvation, they u&s;e one com|mon
<PB N="12" REF="9">
Sacrament, they profe&s;&s;e one Faith and Rule of Holi|ne&s;s, they have one Gracious Temper, the &s;ame inward &s;en&s;e of Duty and Devotion; they walk in the &s;ame order with the Catholick Church over the face of the earth.</P>
<P>10. Do you envy me my Patrimony and Maintenance, what the Law of God allows me, what the Go&s;pel hath pro|vided me, what the Piety of Elder times hath be&s;towed upon me, what good Kings, Peers and people of their own endow|ed me with, freely <HI>honouring the Lord with their &s;ub&s;tance,</HI> that they that &s;erved the Altar, might live by the Altar? O why may not my children who attend the Go&s;pel, live by the Go&s;pel, &s;ince they attend a Mini&s;try as venerable in its My|&s;teries, as clear in its Doctrine, as glorious in its chief Mini|&s;ter <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> as painful to it's Mini&s;ters, and as comfortable to pious and devout &s;ouls, as the Mini&s;try of the Law? Why are you offended that they of my children that are taught, &s;hould communicate to them of my children <HI>that teach in every good thing?</HI></P>
<P>11. Do you envy my ju&s;t Power and Authority, whereby with the wi&s;dom gravity and integrity of &s;uch men as are inve&s;ted with that power, I may check all abu&s;es and di&s;or|ders in the Church, and by a well-ordered di&s;cipline, I may recover my &s;elf to my former glory and renown, for which I was &s;poken of throughout the World?</P>
<P>12. Do you except again&s;t the private infirmities, the per|&s;onal failing of my Bi&s;hops and Mini&s;ters, as le&s;s &s;trict and unblameable in their lives, le&s;s painful in their calling, le&s;s prudent in their undertakings, or le&s;s compa&s;&s;ionate in their Government? though all the world knoweth that within me Learning flouri&s;heth, knowledge multiplyeth, Grace a|boundeth, excellent Preaching thriveth, Sacraments are du|ly admini&s;tred, the fruits of Gods &s;pirit are mightily diffu&s;ed, ho&s;pitable kindne&s;s is exerci&s;ed, Chri&s;tian Charity is main|tained, plain heartedne&s;s and Good works are eminent; though I know the Chri&s;tian world cannot &s;hew men more e|minent then &s;ome of my Clergy are for well-weighed know|ledge, for Chri&s;tian Courage and Patience, for &s;incere piety, for indefatigable indu&s;try, for Care and Vigilancy, for exempla|ry Vertue, for &s;ound Doctrine, u&s;eful Writing, prudent Governing; for a firm Con&s;tancy, for fatherly In&s;tructions,
<PB N="13" REF="9">
charitable Corrrections, and imitable conver&s;ations; who guide the people without any allowed licentiou&s;ne&s;s in con|ver&s;ation, any undecency in Devotion, any irregularitie in Admini&s;tration; in all which according to the &s;acred directi|on of Gods Word, according to the heavenly a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Gods &s;pirit through Faith in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, they teach them to wor&s;hip the only true God, who is ble&s;&s;ed for ever; as the admirable in&s;truments of Gods glory, and the good of mens &s;ouls: teaching them a fruitful and effectual Faith, a &s;ound and judicious knowledge, an hearty and &s;incere Love, a di&s;|creet and prudent Zeal, a &s;evere and through Repentance, fervent and devout Prayers, godly and unfeigned Sorrow, &s;piritual and un&s;peakable Comforts, well grounded and firm Hope heavenly and holy Conver&s;ation, a meek obedience and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion in the general frame of Chri&s;tian mens car|riage. Though I have men famous for greatne&s;s of Learn|ing, &s;oundne&s;s of Judgement, gravity of Manners, and San|ctity of Lives; yet among my ten thou&s;and Mini&s;ters, it's likely &s;ome may do ami&s;s. If when there was but three men in the world, one was a Murtherer, if among <HI>Noah's</HI> &s;ons, one of the three was di&s;obedient; If among <HI>Jacob's</HI> children, of two one was prophane; if of twelve Apo&s;tles, one was a Devil, a|nother di&s;&s;embled, and a third denyed his Ma&s;ter; if among the A&s;ian Angels, there is none but was to be reproved; if among the few Primitive Preachers, there was a <HI>Demas that loved the pre&s;ent world,</HI> a <HI>Diotrephes that loved the preeminence:</HI> among my &s;o many thou&s;and Clergy; it's not likely but that &s;ome may fall &s;hort of the &s;evere exactne&s;s required in all Mini&s;ters, who ought to be patterns in good works.</P>
<P>Oh my Clergy are not Angels, but men &s;ubject to the like infirmities with other men. <HI>If they &s;hould &s;ay they have no &s;in, they would deceive them&s;elves, and the truth would not be in them: but if they confe&s;s their &s;ins, he is faithful and ju&s;t to forgive them their &s;ins, and to clean&s;e them from all unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s.</HI> Be Perfection the glory of other Church-members, the glory of mine is Sincerity. <Q>Without all peradventure, the mo&s;t holy and all-&s;eeing God, who walketh in the mid&s;t of the Golden Candle&s;ticks, who&s;e pure eyes are mo&s;t in|tent upon the Mini&s;ters of the Church, hath found iniqui|ty in his &s;ervants the Bi&s;hops, and other Mini&s;ters, both as
<PB N="14" REF="10">
to their per&s;ons and profe&s;&s;ions; all things being open and naked to him with whom we have to do.</Q></P>
<P>1. He ob&s;erves how many con&s;ecrated and &s;et apart to the &s;ervice of God and his Church in the name, place power and authority of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and approaching his gracious pre|&s;ence with <HI>Aaron</HI> in the holy of holies, in the glorious mani|fe&s;tations of God in Chri&s;t to his Church, by publick Ordi|nances and &s;piritual Influences, have not &s;o &s;anctified the Name of the Lord God, their God, in their Hearts and Lives, in their Doctrines and Duties.</P>
<P>2. The great Searcher of hearts knoweth how ra&s;hly ma|ny of his Mini&s;ters undertake, how carele&s;ly they manage that great and terrible work, under which Angels may &s;woon, and great Apo&s;tles cry, <HI>Who is &s;ufficient for the&s;e things!</HI> how vulgarly they conver&s;e, how lazily they live, how loo&s;ely they behave them&s;elves, how ambitiou&s;ly they de&s;ign, how covetou&s;ly they reach, how enviou&s;ly they repine, how unexemplarily they walk unworthy of the favour and in|dulgence &s;hewed them, to the amazement of their High-cal|ling, the di&s;honor of their Profe&s;&s;ion, to the forfeiture of their Dignity and Plenty, the endangering of their Peace and Safety.</P>
<P>3. He that is about our paths, and about our dwellings hath ob&s;erved how unpreparedly, negligently and irreve|rently, how partially, popularly and pa&s;&s;ionately, how for|mally and vainly, without any power of godline&s;s, Life of Religion, &s;ome perform the work of God, the great work of Eternal concernment to our own and other mens &s;ouls.</P>
<P>4. He who&s;e eyes &s;ee, who&s;e eye-lids try the children of men, hath looked down from heaven, and ob&s;erved the ini|quity of &s;ome mens holy things; their dead and unrea&s;on|able, in&s;tead of a living and acceptable &s;ervice: he hath ta|ken notice of that &s;upine negligence which hath &s;unk &s;ome mens Mini&s;trations below the ju&s;t maje&s;ty, &s;olidity and gra|vity of Go&s;pel-di&s;pen&s;ations; others by an affected height and depth, for want of plain in&s;truction, and charitable con|de&s;cending, amu&s;e the poor people, who know not what they &s;ay, nor whereof they do affirm.</P>
<P>5. He that will reprove, and &s;et mens &s;ins in order before
<PB N="15" REF="10">
them, hath taken notice of &s;ome mens remi&s;s compliance, and others exact rigours, (according to their private tempers, judgements and pa&s;&s;ions) whereby they &s;werved too much from that ju&s;t charity, di&s;cretion, legality and con&s;tancy which my Canons intented, and my con&s;titution, health and peace required; e&s;pecially in the peevi&s;h touchine&s;&s;e of the&s;e times, when &s;o many &s;ubtile and envious ones lie in wait to de&s;troy me.</P>
<P>Yet my Church-mens exorbitancies are not my con&s;titu|tions, their failings are not my frame, their infirmities are not my nature; their fall is no more mine who di&s;allows it, then the Angels fall may be the Heavens that forbid it: their weakne&s;&s;es are humane, my authority is divine: that charity which thinketh no evil, will not lay upon me tho&s;e enormi|ties which I forbid by a Law, which I re&s;train by Di&s;cipline, which I mourn for in mine Humiliation, and di&s;countenance in tho&s;e great patterns that &s;hew a mo&s;t excellent way. The&s;e &s;ins (O the Chri&s;tian world!) are tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions of my Law, affronts to my Authority, the baffles of my Cannons and In|junctions. O that my Apologie were written, yea, printed in a book, for the &s;atisfaction of the world, <HI>that the good that I would do, that I cannot do? and the evil that I would not do that I do! I find a law of my members again&s;t the law of my mind:</HI> So that it's no more I, but the &s;ins and the &s;inners that dwell in me.</P>
<P>4. It's you, it's you whom I have nouri&s;hed and brought up as children, whom I have encouraged as Mini&s;ters, whom I have promoted as Governours; it's you that have brought this reproach and danger upon me. When I had with he|roick patience endured the oppre&s;&s;ion of adver&s;aries, by a Chri&s;tian prudence defeated the attempts of Schi&s;maticks, by an exemplary humility and piety turned the hearts of enemies, and by a miracle of Re&s;tauration &s;ilenced the mouths of all men&punc; you my Sons, opened the mouth of &s;candal, &s;trengthned the cry of reproach, rai&s;ed the clamours of the envious. Oh, if an enemy had done this, I could with the &s;ame Chri&s;tian courage I have &s;uffered the&s;e twenty years, have born it; but it`s you of my own bo&s;om, family and pro|fe&s;&s;ion: O you, my Clergy, whom I expected more glorious, more e&s;teemed, more reverenced before all the world, after
<PB N="16" REF="11">
your con&s;tant &s;ufferings, who coming out of this fiery furnace, might &s;hine brighter then ever you did with the love of Chri&s;t, and of me his Church, both as to the care of tho&s;e private charges and publick in&s;pections, committed to you in excellent order, and by due authority: and I expected that neither pride nor envy, pomp nor popularity, neither cove|tou&s;ne&s;s nor ambition, &s;hould di&s;tract the thoughts, divide the hearts, exa&s;perate the humours, or provoke the reproach of an incen&s;ed people again&s;t my Order and Government, and the good of all &s;orts of Chri&s;tians. Who&s;oever of you, not|with&s;tanding the miracles both of your &s;ufferings and relief, at &s;uch a time as this, when the mouth of Hell is open again&s;t me, &s;hall open any other mouth to joyn in the cry again&s;t the Church, give life or tongue to any &s;candalous &s;in, and &s;et that to its <HI>clamans de terra,</HI> crying from the ground; that by lux|ury or &s;loth, by covetou&s;ne&s;s or griping, by in&s;olence or pride, by carele&s;ne&s;s or loo&s;ene&s;s, by di&s;order and irregularity&punc; &s;hall ju&s;tifie mens malice again&s;t me, and by that means per&s;wade credulous and ea&s;ie people, that is true that hath been &s;aid of me, all is ju&s;t that hath been inflicted upon me; I know not what Wo is heavy enough for him: <HI>O alas, my Brother!</HI> O it had been better for him <HI>he had never been born.</HI></P>
<P>5. My Doctrine I can maintain, my di&s;cipline I can a&s;|&s;ert, my con&s;titution I can vindicate: <HI>You, you,</HI> O my Sons, I cannot ju&s;tifie: wo is me that I mu&s;t hear your reproach, and cannot gain &s;ay it. Five things there are that tend equally to mine and your own ruine, which I mu&s;t charge you before the world: Five things that will in&s;en&s;ibly undermine my famous Fabrick, which hath been the care and labour of &s;o many years when erected, and the miracle of this la&s;t year when re&s;tored. The&s;e five &s;ad Particulars, are,</P>
<P>1. <HI>&V;ndue Ordination.</HI></P>
<P>2. <HI>An uncon&s;cionable Simony.</HI></P>
<P>3. <HI>Carele&s;s Non-re&s;idence.</HI></P>
<P>4. <HI>Loo&s;e Prophanene&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>5. <HI>Encroaching Pluralities.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="17" REF="11">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. II.</HI> The Church of <HI>England's</HI> re&s;entment of &V;ndue Ordination.</HEAD>
<P>ALthough I am well &s;atisfied (whatever the Romani&s;ts and others have of late &s;ugge&s;ted) that my Ordination is <HI>Authentick,</HI> Primitive and proper in <HI>the form</HI> of it, is <HI>valid</HI> in the Author, being by men ordained in an uninterrupted &s;ucce&s;&s;ion by the primitive Bi&s;hops, as they were by the A|po&s;tles, and the Apo&s;tles by Chri&s;t, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t by God him&s;elf; and is regular and legal in the circum&s;tances of it, being agreeable to the e&s;tabli&s;hed Laws of the Realm; yet not without much regret mu&s;t I confe&s;s, that &s;olemn inve&s;ti|ture of men to the great calling of Mini&s;ters, fallen much be|low its native glory, much &s;hrunk in its Primitive &s;acredne&s;s and reverence, and extreamly decayed in its fir&s;t e&s;teem and honour, becau&s;e my reverend Bi&s;hops in the great intricacies of late alterations, are &s;urprized to be&s;tow the honour of that high calling, 1. upon the Young, 2. upon the Unlearned, 3. upon the Debauched; and 4. upon the Factious.</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. 1. Of Young Mini&s;ters, whereof I have a Call of above 3000.</HEAD>
<P>WO is me! when I have tho&s;e that <HI>teach</HI> before they have <HI>learned;</HI> that I have tho&s;e that would in&s;truct others, and have need them&s;elves be in&s;tructed which are the fir&s;t principles of the Doctrine of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> In&s;tead <HI>of the ancient Fathers, we have children who are made Prie&s;ts in all Lands.</HI> Former times honoured my excellent Clergy for their age and gravity, reverenced them for their learning and au|&s;terity and e&s;teemed them as the <HI>wonder of the World;</HI> and &s;aid <HI>Ask the Father, and he will &s;hew thee; thine ancients, and they &s;hall tell thee:</HI> this age &s;lights them for their youth and weak|ne&s;s, for their ignorance and unexperience, as per&s;ons <HI>that are but of ye&s;terday, and know nothing. We have under&s;tanding,</HI> &s;aith the common people to the young men, <HI>as well as you: we are not inferiour to you; yea, who knoweth not &s;uch things as the&s;e?</HI> As the Patriarchs &s;eparated their fir&s;t-born for the Prie&s;t-hood, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> re&s;erved them&s;elves many years for their Mini&s;tries, and the Law prepared men thirty years for the &s;acred &s;ervice; and the ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us, the Preach|er of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, entred not untill the thirtieth year of his
<PB N="18" REF="12">
Age upon the great work of Mini&s;try: &s;o my Bi&s;hops, <HI>knowing how to behave them&s;elves in the work of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth,</HI> took heed to them&s;elves and the flocks over which the holy Gho&s;t <HI>had made them over&s;eers, that they laid hands &s;uddenly on no man,</HI> neither were partakers of <HI>other mens &s;ins, but keep them&s;elves pure,</HI> ta|king care that men be fir&s;t <HI>proved,</HI> and then u&s;e the Office <HI>of a Deacon,</HI> being found blamele&s;s; and then when they had u|&s;ed the Office <HI>of a Deacon well, and purcha&s;ed to them&s;elves a good degree of a Prie&s;t or Bi&s;hop, then they took care that they &s;hould be blamele&s;s, vigilant, &s;ober, of good behaviour, given to ho&s;pitality, apt to teach:&mdash;not Novices, le&s;t being lifted up with pride, they fall into the condemnation of the Devil.</HI>&mdash;Moreover they took care they might have a <HI>good report of them that are with|out, le&s;t they fall to reproach and condemnation of the Devil.</HI> But now &s;ince the loo&s;ene&s;s of the&s;e late times, there are admitted to the Prie&s;thood of the <HI>meane&s;t of the people, who are not the &s;ons of Levi:</HI> as in <HI>Jeroboam's</HI> days, every one that will, is made a Prie&s;t, that he may have bread to eat. Tho&s;e Pulpits that were filled with ancient Fathers, are now Desks for young children: tho&s;e &s;olemn A&s;&s;emblies that were rapt up into the third Heaven with pious Sermons and devout Prayers, hear the late pedantique Herangues and juvenile&punc; Orations with &s;corn and laughter: tho&s;e people that thronged to hear the wi&s;dom of God delivered in the demon&s;tration of the Spirit and with power, are quite weary of that true <HI>fooli&s;hne&s;s of Preaching,</HI> that con&s;i&s;ts only in the childi&s;h wi&s;dom of words, and in the <HI>trifling enticing words of mans wi&s;dom,</HI> I had reve|rend men that &s;hewed <HI>them&s;elves a pattern of good works&punc; in Doctrine &s;hewing uncorruptne&s;s, gravity, &s;incerity, &s;ound &s;peech that cannot be condemned; that they that were of</HI> The contra|ry party were a&s;hamed, having no evil to &s;ay of them, <HI>when I ordained Elders in every City.</HI> I had men <HI>blamele&s;s, &s;ober, ju&s;t, holy, temperate;</HI> who&s;e judgements were <HI>&s;etled,</HI> who&s;e pa&s;&s;ions were <HI>allayed,</HI> who&s;e affections were compo&s;ed, who&s;e actions were advi&s;ed, and con|ver&s;ation exact and uniforme: &s;ince, every one did what was good in his own eyes. My young Mini&s;ters have been un|&s;table in all their ways, un&s;etled in their minds, ra&s;h in their, undertaking, imprudent in their carriage, weak in their di&s;|cour&s;es,
<PB N="19" REF="12">
unexperienced in their behaviour, not even, orderly and &s;tayed in their conver&s;ation; to the grief of good men, who e&s;teem all Mini&s;ters very highly in love for their works &s;ake; to the joy of tho&s;e evil men that have ill-will for <HI>Sion,</HI> who cry Aha, aha, &s;o would we have it. <HI>O young men, who requireth the&s;e things at your hands?</HI> Why do you run before I am willing to &s;end you? O how dare you take <HI>this Office up|pon you,</HI> until you are called with &s;olemn preparation, as was <HI>Aaron?</HI> Are not you afraid (now you have newly pa&s;&s;ed the elements of Philo&s;ophy, <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">nd the fir&s;t principles of Nature) to look into tho&s;e my&s;teries which the Angels de&s;ire to look into, to &s;earch into that knowledge which pa&s;&s;eth knowledge? Are not you afraid to a&s;cend that pulpit whither <HI>Luther</HI> &s;aid he never a&s;cended (though very aged) without fear and trembling? are not you afraid to undertake that dreadful work from which the Prophets fled, the Fathers avoided, the Primitive Pa&s;tors trembled at; Do you know what you do, when you under|take to be Emba&s;&s;adors in Chri&s;ts &s;tead, to bring back the world to God, to be Co-workers with God in the &s;alvation of &s;ouls, to be Angels of the Church, to be as Stars in Gods right hand, to be Stewards of the My&s;teries of God, to watch for precious &s;ouls <HI>as they that mu&s;t give an account?</HI>&mdash;How can you govern others, who cannot govern your &s;elves? What power have you over others, who have hard|ly any power over your &s;elves? What e&s;teem can you find among them, who will naturally di&s;pi&s;e your youth? Did not Philo&s;ophy think you fit (O young men) to <HI>hear</HI> Morals, and &s;hall Divinity&punc; admit you to <HI>read</HI> divine Lectures? How can you in the heat of youth, in the vigour of your lu&s;ts, appear in the world per&s;wading men to mortifie their lu&s;ts, to cru|cifie the fle&s;h with the affections and lu&s;ts? With what hope can you endeavour to compo&s;e the world to that great Rule, to which you cannot compo&s;e your &s;elves? How will you behave your &s;elves as guides among per&s;ons who&s;e years and experience are &s;o much beyond yours&punc; How impertinent|ly will you conver&s;e, how weakly will you di&s;cour&s;e, how im|prudently will you deal? how contemptibly will you live a|mong a &s;taid and di&s;creet people, wi&s;er then you in their Generations?</P>
<P><Q>The goodne&s;s of God having furni&s;hed&punc; man with two
<PB N="20" REF="13">
chief In&s;truments (&s;aith an incomparable man) both ne|ce&s;&s;ary for this life, hands to exerci&s;e, and a mind to devi&s;e great things; the one is not profitable longer then the vi|gour of youth doth &s;trengthen it, nor the other greatly till age and experience have brought it to perfection.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. 2. Of Debauched Men ordained, 1500.</HEAD>
<P>OH, am I, as <HI>Juhan</HI> bla&s;phemed, the &s;anctuary of all pro|phanene&s;s? Am I a refuge for all licentiou&s;ne&s;s? Whom a &s;trict Colledge expels, whom the &s;evere Univer&s;ity di&s;|countenanceth, whom civil men note with a mark of hatred and abhorrence, mu&s;t I admit to my &s;acred Order, and ho|nour with my mo&s;t &s;olemn Mini&s;trations? My care is, that each Mini&s;ter &s;hould be of <HI>an holy and unblameable conver&s;ati|on:</HI> What have the&s;e poor creatures to do to take Gods word held forth by me in their mouths, &s;eeing they hate to be re|formed? O my reverend Sons, what, do you bring a man to teach the world a God and his &s;ervice, <HI>Who is without God in the World?</HI>&mdash;What, do you &s;end them to &s;peak of that God <HI>who is not in all their thoughts?</HI> Why are they employ|ed to propogate the knowledge of God, who de&s;ire that the knowledge of the holy One may cea&s;e from them? To what purpo&s;e do they preach an holy Life, who never intend to live it? Why do they put tho&s;e poor &s;ouls to pray for tho&s;e things of God, which they do not <HI>de&s;ire?</HI> to read that Bible which they do not believe, to bind tho&s;e heavy burthens upon the people, which they them&s;elves do not intend to bear? to teach that on the Sabbath demurely, which they will contradict throughout the Week profanely? Is there any need of autho|rizing publick patterns of impiety? Do you intend to de&s;troy what ye have built? I know you not. Why then do you &s;end lewd Mini&s;ters to teach men by an evil example that pro|phanene&s;s which I have endeavoured to reform by my good in&s;tructions? Wo is me, that I &s;ee tho&s;e within me running to all excels of riot, who are imployed to teach a pure Religi|on, and undefiled before God. You, O reverend Fathers, taught men to deny all ungodline&s;s and worldly lu&s;ts, and live &s;oberly, ju&s;tly and godly in this pre&s;ent world; and will you &s;uffer men to go from among you, to teach all ungodline&s;s and worldly lu&s;ts? O alas! one man a Divine and a Bea&s;t!
<PB N="21" REF="13">
What, con&s;ecrated to God, and devoted to &s;in! An abomi|nation in the holy place!&mdash;<Q>Behold, thou art called a Mini&s;ter, and re&s;te&s;t in the Law, and make&s;t thy boa&s;t of God, and knowe&s;t his will, and approve&s;t the things that are more excellent, being in&s;tructed out of the Law; and art confident that thou thy &s;elf art a Guide to the blind, a light to them which are in darkne&s;s, an In&s;tructer of the fooli&s;h, a Teacher of babes, which ha&s;t the form of know|ledge and of the truth of the Law, thou therefore that teach|e&s;t another, teache&s;t thou not thy &s;elf? thou that preache&s;t a man &s;hould not &s;teal, do&s;t thou &s;teal? thou that &s;aye&s;t a man &s;hould not commit adultery, do&s;t thou commit adul|tery? thou that abhorre&s;t Idols, do&s;t thou commit Sacriledge? thou that make&s;t thy boa&s;t of the Law, through beeaking the Law di&s;honoure&s;t thou God? for the <HI>Name</HI> of God is bla&s;phemed among the people through you.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. 3. Of &V;nlearned Men Ordained.</HEAD>
<P>I Am a&s;hamed that that ignorance which formerly found <HI>preferment,</HI> &s;hould now find <HI>orders</HI> too; and that I &s;hould &s;ettle them legally in that calling, whereunto I alwayes &s;aid they had illegally intruded them&s;elves. It was too much to &s;uffer that daring ignorance to <HI>&V;&s;urp</HI> the &s;acred Office, much more to con&s;ecrate it to it. The late Mi&s;carriage, want nothing to compleat them, but to be <HI>hallowed.</HI> The Catholick Church never entertained a Mini&s;try but what was qualified either with extraordinary gifts from above, or with humane learning from below: by which the mind being <HI>in|&s;tructed</HI> and <HI>improved</HI> in all the riches of wi&s;dom and know|ledge, which are part of the glory and image of God in man; by this learning all truths are clearly unfolded. How do you think poor &s;ouls can clear divine truths, lying hid in the depth, darkne&s;s and ambiguity of Original words, without skill in Languages? How can they attain the genuine and em|phatick &s;en&s;e of the Word of God without skill in the Origi|nal words and phra&s;es? How can they maintain the truths I have e&s;tabli&s;hed, and confute the errours I have condemned? How can they detect the fallacies with which my poor people are deluded, and convince the gain-&s;ayers with which I am troubled, and di&s;cover tho&s;e &s;ophi&s;ms in which poor &s;ouls
<PB N="22" REF="14">
wrap them&s;elves, <HI>darkning wi&s;dom with words without under|&s;tanding,</HI> without the art of &s;ound rea&s;oning? How can they convey the holy truths they are furni&s;hed with to others, with|out an holy Eloquence, a &s;acred Per&s;wa&s;ion and Rhetorick, which may commend them to mens minds, and enforce them upon their hearts? how can they &s;atisfie them&s;elves and o|thers in the Controver&s;ies of this Age, without the Ob&s;erva|tions, Hi&s;tories and Cu&s;toms of former Ages; and &s;tanding in the ways, and asking for the old, which is the good way, and walk therein, &s;o find re&s;t for their &s;ouls?</P>
<P>How is it po&s;&s;ible for tho&s;e poor creatures to under&s;tand &s;undry pa&s;&s;ages of Scripture, depending upon propriety of words &amp; Idioms, or upon the Cu&s;toms, Rites, Proverbs, Forms, U&s;ages Laws, Offices and Antiquities of the A&s;&s;yrian, Per&s;ian, Greek and Roman Governments, without a competent por|tion of humane Learning? My Religion was as the Kings Daughter, all glorious within; attended on by Arts and Sci|ences, tho&s;e Handmaids who cloathed her with garments wrought with needle-work of divers colours, embroidering her with pathetick Elegancies, with &s;olid Eloquence and O|rations, with Sublimity and Gravity, with Method and A|cutene&s;s, with excellent Morals, and u&s;eful Ob&s;ervations of a very &s;ober &s;en&s;e. But now, alas, it's expo&s;ed to a prophane world, with the ridiculous impertinencies and fooli&s;h adven|tures of men zealous, but not according to knowledge. What empty di&s;cour&s;es do I hear? what incoherent Notions do I read? what vain trifles am I troubled with? what pilfering learned mens works do I endure? O what abundance of things &s;hould a Mini&s;ter under&s;tand! O what a great defect is it to be ignorant of them! O how much do we mi&s;s a compe|tent Knowledge in ordinary Mini&s;ters, 1. To &s;atisfie them|&s;elves and others exactly in the true and original will of God. 2. To explain and unfould the words in which Gods will is o|riginally expre&s;&s;ed, and to endeavour by all means a right no|tion and conception of them&punc; as they are to be under&s;tood in the Scripture. 3. To &s;hew exactly what are tho&s;e &s;aving truths&punc; which are naturally contained in tho&s;e words &s;o explained. 4. To confirm tho&s;e truths &s;o drawn out of the Scripture, by &s;uch evident Arguments and powerful Rea&s;ons as may e&s;ta|bli&s;h the true believer, and convince the Gain&s;ayer. 5. To pre&s;s tho&s;e truths &s;o made manife&s;t upon men with that pow|er
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that they may have their proper influence and efficacy up|on mens hearts and lives. The hone&s;t men that are indu&s;tri|ous, I would willingly encourage, provided they have (what I wi&s;hed always, and &s;hall now expect in all my Prie&s;ts and Deacons) &s;olidity, gravity, mode&s;ty, piety, and &s;ome &s;avour of Learning, joyned with humility and zeal, with humanity; &s;ome methods of intelligible Rea&s;on, and profitable Scripture-Divinity.&mdash;The Law was publi&s;hed by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> learned in all the Learning of the Egyptians: The Go&s;pel was propa|gated by <HI>St. Paul,</HI> bred up at the feet of <HI>Gamaliel,</HI> in all the varieties of Heatheni&s;h and Jewi&s;h knowledge? the Primi|tive Fathers (as <HI>Clemens Alex. Eu&s;eb. Tertul.</HI> St. <HI>Aug.</HI> St. <HI>Am|bro&s;e Min. Fel. Lactant.</HI> and others) maintained the Faith &s;o propogated, by their comprehen&s;ive Learning. Therefore I have taken care that none &s;hould be admitted to Orders, but they who are approved by &s;ober and wi&s;e men, as <HI>who have given them&s;elves wholly to the&s;e things;</HI> that their profi|ting may appear unto all as men of whom there is &s;ome hope, becau&s;e of their promptne&s;s of wit, quickne&s;s of conceit, fa&s;t|ne&s;s of memory, clearne&s;s of under&s;tanding, &s;oundne&s;s of judg|ment, and readine&s;s of &s;peech; that they may in time, by art, indu&s;try, experience and ob&s;ervation, become skilful Lin|gui&s;ts, &s;ubtile Di&s;putants, copious Orators, exact Critiques, comprehen&s;ive Hi&s;torians, profound Divines, and powerful Preachers; that throughout the three Kingdoms I may have tho&s;e that may &s;ettle the people rightly, in&s;truct the ignorant clearly, &s;atisfie the doubtful fully, meet with the &s;educers skil|fully, and promote piety and peace &s;uccesfully. As the times now are, wherein Learning aboundeth even unto wanton|ne&s;&s;e, and wherein the world is full of Que&s;tions, Contro|ver&s;ies, Novelties and Niceties in Religion, and wherein mo&s;t of our Gentry and people are (by the advantage of long peace, and the cu&s;toms of modern Education, together with a multitude of Engli&s;h Books) are able to look through the ignorance of a Clergy-man, and cen&s;ure it, if he be tripping in any point of Hi&s;tory, Co&s;mography, Moral or Natural Philo&s;ophy, Divinity or the Arts; yea, and to cha&s;ti&s;e his very method and phra&s;e, if he &s;peaks lo&s;ely or impertinent|ly, or but improperly. I, as the&s;e times are, mu&s;t not admit any Clergy-men without a competency of Learning; as who
<PB N="24" REF="15">
may endeavour by their prayers, care and indu&s;try to im|prove the Learning they have, &s;o as they may be able upon good occa&s;ion to impart a &s;piritual gift to the people of God, whereby they may be e&s;tabli&s;hed, and to &s;peak with &s;uch un|der&s;tanding, &s;ufficiency and pertinency, in &s;ome good mea&s;ure of proportion to the quickne&s;s and ripene&s;s of the&s;e pre&s;ent times, &s;hewing in their Doctrine uncorruptne&s;s, gravity, &s;in|cerity, <HI>&s;ound &s;peech which cannot be condemned; that they which are of the contrary party may be a&s;hamed, having no evil to &s;ay of them.</HI> I, who&s;e Clergy profe&s;&s;ed to u&s;e, and prayed to God to ble&s;s their long&punc; Preparative Studies, Meditations, Writings, Readings, habitually to fit them for that dreadful work, and for every actual di&s;charge of it; I am a&s;hamed of tho&s;e poor Smatterers, who have gathered a few raw and indige&s;ted Notions, either by &s;uperficial reading of the Scriptures, or by hearing &s;ome Sermons or by gleaning a little here and there from the plaine&s;t Writings, (without any Critical, Hi&s;tori|cal, or Polemical Learning) who are fit implements to bring in &s;uch ignorance, irreverence, Athei&s;m, Super&s;tition and Confu&s;ion, as &s;hall quite put out the Chri&s;tian and re|formed Religion in this Nation, (reducing all to the ancient darkne&s;s, loo&s;ene&s;s and barbarou&s;ne&s;s) which hath been e&s;ta|bli&s;hed by per&s;ons of real abilities, of good Learning, &s;ound knowledge, &s;ober Judgements, orderly Method, grave Utte|rance, and weighty Eloquence; which all wi&s;e and &s;ober Chri|&s;tians expect &s;hould appear in every true Mini&s;ter of the Church of Chri&s;t, in &s;uch a competent mea&s;ure and evident manner, as they may be able <HI>comfortably to di&s;cern them and u&s;efully to enjoy them.</HI> I am a&s;hamed to &s;ee a Roll of four hundred and &s;ix and twenty Trade&s;men, who, 1. out of de|&s;ultory re&s;tle&s;ne&s;s, 2. out of covetou&s;ne&s;s and ambition, 3. out of &s;ullenne&s;s and di&s;content, 4. out of pride and envy, ha|ving intruded in former years into the &s;acred Calling of a Mi|ni&s;ter, are now <HI>ordained</HI> to it. I am a&s;hamed that my Autho|rity &s;hould con&s;ecrate their Extravagancies&punc; and that what I looked upon as the mi&s;ery of late times, &s;hould be <HI>allowed</HI> in this; that I &s;hould countenance vain men that run from that Calling wherein they are called, and u&s;urp the Office, Ho|nour and Authority of that &s;acred Prie&s;thood and Evangeli|cal Mini&s;try, in&s;tituted by the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as &s;ent of
<PB N="25" REF="15">
God the Father; a mi&s;chief that greatly threatneth the Church and State, Faith and good Manners, all things Civil as well as Sacred. O what wi&s;e and hone&s;t-hearted Prote&s;tant (that hath any care of Po&s;terity, or pro&s;pect for the future) finds not a &s;ad di&s;pondency, with an holy impatience ari&s;ing in his &s;oul, while he &s;eeth &s;o many weak &s;houlders, &s;uch unwa&s;hen hands, &s;uch unprepared feet, &s;uch ra&s;h heads, &s;uch empty &s;ouls, publickly intruding them&s;elves upon all holy Duties, all &s;a|cred Offices, all &s;olemn My&s;teries, all divine Mini&s;trations, with equal in&s;olency and in&s;ufficiency, being for the mo&s;t part &s;o much the more impudent, by how much they are gro&s;ly ignorant; in whom you cannot di&s;cern any either rational or religious, orderly or hone&s;t expre&s;&s;ions in any degree propor|tionable to what was ob&s;ervable in my mo&s;t &s;olid Mini&s;ters, my mo&s;t acute Schollars, and mo&s;t profound Divines, who have been hitherto my <HI>&s;upport</HI> and <HI>Ornament.</HI> Certainly (Reverend Fathers) you will not &s;o deba&s;e and undervalue the Evangelical Offices of Chri&s;t, as to admit every &s;elf flat|terer and Obtruder pre&s;ently to officiate, without any due examination or approbation from tho&s;e with whom that commi&s;&s;ion and power hath been ever depo&s;ited in a regu|lar and vi&s;ible &s;ucce&s;&s;ion from Chri&s;t, the great Examplar or Original: although (duly con&s;idering the diver&s;ities of gifts from the &s;ame Spirit) you are not to exclude any mode&s;t, per&s;on though of meaner parts and le&s;s improved education (if he be of ingenious education, of pious affections, and an or|derly life) from a place in Chri&s;ts Mini&s;try, where one may &s;ow, another may reap, according to the &s;everal di&s;pen&s;ations and gifts <HI>of the &s;ame God, who worketh all in all.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. 4. The Church of <HI>England's</HI> re&s;entment of the thirteen hundred for|ty and two factious Mini&s;ters that have been lately ordained.</HEAD>
<P>YEt I will ju&s;tifie you (O ye my reverend Sons) in this, that though you were &s;urprized to ordain young men, yet you hoped that years might <HI>improve them;</HI> and debauch|ed, yet you may hope that Di&s;cipline may <HI>reform them;</HI> and unlearned men, yet you may hope that time (with Gods ble&s;&s;ing upon their private indu&s;try and &s;tudious piety&punc;) may <HI>in&s;truct them;</HI> but I cannot with patience &s;ee your hands laid upon their heads &s;o &s;uddenly for their Ordination, who laid
<PB N="26" REF="16">
their hands lately upon you for your ruine. O that mine head were waters, that mine eyes were a fountain of Tears, to weep for the unhappine&s;s of the daughter of my people, that mu&s;t needs unadvi&s;edly authorize men principled again&s;t its Government, prejudiced again&s;t its Order, prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed again&s;t its Liturgy, and privately practi&s;ing again&s;t its peace and happine&s;s! In vain doth Authority &s;ilence your old ad|ver&s;aries, if you <HI>con&s;ecrate</HI> new ones: in vain do they &s;up|pre&s;s the former race of <HI>Non conformi&s;ts,</HI> if you rai&s;e up a new Generation, <HI>a &s;eed of evil doers, children that are corrupters.</HI>&mdash;Shall we perpetuate our mi&s;eries, and keep up our un|happine&s;s? Mu&s;t a &s;ad race of Di&s;&s;enters run paralel with the Orthodox &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the end of the world? whereby I mu&s;t langui&s;h and die, my reformed Religion mu&s;t decay, my pi|ety and charity mu&s;t be weakned, and my Authority and di&s;cipline langui&s;h. What eye will pity me, when I have rai&s;ed tho&s;e men that &s;hall ruine me, when I have commi&s;&s;i|oned tho&s;e men that &s;hall oppo&s;e me, and given them an op|portunity for popular applau&s;e who &s;hall u&s;e it again&s;t me? without my leave no Ordination; no Ordination, no pretence to preach; no preaching, no publick opportunity to &s;educe whole multitudes again&s;t Doctrine and Di&s;cipline, again&s;t Order and Government. My &s;afety is now in mine own hands: If I take care whom I prefer, I need not care whom I may fear: If I carefully chu&s;e my Mini&s;ters, I need not offen|&s;ively &s;u&s;pend them: If I took care whom I ordained, I might without any noi&s;e put an end to all my trouble: Mortality would &s;ilence tho&s;e Mini&s;ters that now di&s;turb my peace, and my care may prevent any more. How ominou&s;ly do &s;ome men di&s;cour&s;e? how popularly do they endeavour to preach? what dangerous intimations do they make? how untowardly do they confirm? how auckwardly do they u&s;e my Ceremo|nies? and read my Liturgy? when I con&s;ider the general ap|probation and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to my Government and Di&s;cipline before the Wars, by all the Clergy &amp; Layty of the&s;e Kingdoms; and withal, remember how contrary to true Learning and hone&s;t Integrity, as if they under&s;tood not what they did, or that they did conform contrary to their con&s;cience, contra|ry to their former oaths and practi&s;es, again&s;t their obedi|ence to the Laws in being before the points in controver&s;ie
<PB N="27" REF="16">
had any free and impartial debate, the&s;e men cryed down the e&s;tabli&s;hed Government and Religion, and approved and encouraged the violent and mo&s;t illegal Extravagancies, tend|ing to the utter ruine of Religion and Government.</P>
<P>Indeed I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e that mo&s;t of all &s;ides who have thought or done ami&s;&s;e, have done &s;o not out of malice or wilfulne&s;s, but out of mi&s;-information or mi&s;&punc;apprehen&s;ion of things: and therefore I charitably think none will be more faithful then tho&s;e per&s;ons who upon mature delibera|tion being made &s;en&s;ible of their errours, do feel in their hearts mo&s;t vehement motives of repentance, and earne&s;t de|&s;ires to make &s;ome reparations for former defects. Yet &s;uch <HI>&s;incere Converts</HI> are they, who are not &s;o much frighted with the &s;udden mi&s;carriages, as convinced of the continued er|rour of their ways; who are rather per&s;waded by the truth and rea&s;on I always urged, then <HI>awed</HI> by the authority and power I now enjoy&punc; and &s;o are not blindly carried on by that Providence that <HI>advanceth</HI> me now, as it did, and may again <HI>overturn</HI> me; but are rationally wrought upon by the preg|nant evidence of the Word, the clear practice of the Catho|lick Church, the be&s;t Comment upon that Word, and the irre&s;i&s;table &s;trength of Rea&s;on for Order and obedience, upon which I was alwayes E&s;tabli&s;hed, which they have not ra&s;hly complyed with, untill they had examined all Allegations impartially, &s;urveyed the merit of the Cau&s;e lea&s;urely, wait|ed upon God by prayer humbly, &s;earched the will of God and the con&s;tant practi&s;e of good men diligently and &s;incere|ly, conver&s;ed with good and knowing men profitably and &s;a|tisfactorily, and denyed them&s;elves in all worldly re&s;pects mo&s;t Chri&s;tianly. The Lap&s;ed were not formerly admitted to the communion of Chri&s;tians, much le&s;s to the honour of Mini&s;ters, without that di&s;creet delay wherein they might have time to &s;atisfie them&s;elves in the <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> and others in the <HI>&s;incerity</HI> of their repentance and conver&s;ion. With that caution, was the Jewi&s;h Pro&s;elyte received to the &s;ynagogue? with what care ought a Chri&s;tian be brought to the Pulpit? Do they &s;erve God in this compliance, or do they &s;erve the time? If they &s;erve God, he was the &s;ame as ye&s;terday, &s;o to day, and for ever. Do they &s;erve the times? God forbid that they who teach a Religion who&s;e intere&s;t is in another
<PB N="28" REF="17">
world, &s;hould yet own no more Religion then may con&s;i&s;t with their intere&s;t in this, Alas, (&s;ay poor &s;ouls, di&s;tracted with alterations of times and men, to their uncon&s;tant Mini&s;ters) is this way lawful, you &s;ubmit to? why then did you declare it &s;uper&s;titious, Popi&s;h, and intollerable the&s;e twenty years, before God, Angels, and Men? Is it unlawful? why do you practi&s;e it now? was it again&s;t your Con&s;ciences all the while it was di&s;countenanced, and is it agreeable to your Con&s;ci|ences now it is upon a &s;udden countenanced? Oh have you per&s;waded us the&s;e twenty years to venture Lives and E&s;tates again&s;t tho&s;e things you now allow and practi&s;e? Is it for this you prayed? Is it for this we fought? is this the i&s;&s;ue of all our blood and trea&s;ure? <HI>&amp;c&punc;</HI> Oh it's a &s;ad thing to &s;ee men in the &s;ame Desk reading Common-prayer in a Surplice, where they preach'd again&s;t both Common-prayer and &s;urplice. Oh it's a &s;ad thing to &s;ee men build up in a day, that which they have de&s;troyed the&s;e twenty years. It's intolerable to &s;ee men keep their places by Conformity, which they gained by Non-con|formity; when they turned out hone&s;t men by crying down my Government and Wor&s;hip, now they keep them out by compliance with my Government and Wor&s;hip. Alas, to &s;ee men Presbyterian in the beginning of the War, Indepen|dent in the end of it, and now Epi&s;copal. Where &s;hall we &s;top? Where we are now, we know; where we &s;hall be a year hence, God knoweth. Alas, is a good Living the only Creed men have? and Preferment their only Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith? It was a miracle that St. <HI>Peter</HI> could convert three thou&s;and at one Sermon, It's nothing now that his Maje&s;ty hath converted ten thou&s;and Mini&s;ters with one glance of his eye. Ah, ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Hammond,</HI> thou did&s;t write rationally; excellent <HI>Gauden,</HI> thou did&s;t per&s;wade powerfully; devout <HI>Taylor,</HI> thou did&s;t urge pathetically: hone&s;t <HI>Nichol&s;on,</HI> thou did&s;t an&s;wer &s;atisfactorily: &s;olid <HI>Sander&s;on</HI> thou did&s;t &s;tate clearly: holy <HI>&V;&s;her</HI> and <HI>Hall,</HI> you did offer moderately, hear|tily and learnedly.&mdash;But who O ye worthies! believed your report? who would hear you? who was convinced by you? The King is re&s;tored, I flouri&s;h, and di&s;po&s;e of all Pre|ferments, and my Converts are innumerable. Well, I have but two Wi&s;hes; the fir&s;t is, That all who are gone a&s;tray may be reclaimed to the way of truth; the &s;econd is, That
<PB N="29" REF="17">
all who are reclaimed, may be reclaimed from mature de|liberation, and a &s;erious con&s;ideration of all that can be al|leaged on all hands, <HI>trying all things</HI> and upon good grounds <HI>holding fa&s;t that which is good.</HI> Give me the men who conform upon the con&s;cience of my principles, and not upon the pro&s;perity of my Cau&s;e&mdash;who can neglect the mo&s;t &s;ucce&s;s|ful errour, and own the mo&s;t afflicted truth; who are &s;et|led my principles which are con&s;tant, and not upon upon my preferments which are uncertain. Is it the Kings Maje&s;ties favour they depend upon? he may fail. Is it the Church-Government they depend upon? that may fail, Is it Church-encouragement they &s;tick to? that may fail. Is it the antient Truth and Faith they comply with? that hath never failed, and that will never fail. Give me Mini&s;ters who as they preach, &s;o live upon the things which are not &s;een, and not the things which are &s;een; the things which are &s;een are <HI>temporal,</HI> the things which are not &s;een are <HI>eternal.</HI></P>
<P>And mu&s;t I have a Samaritan of Religion? &s;erve the true God in the Temple, and the Calves at <HI>Bethel?</HI> Mu&s;t I have a &s;ound form of words in the Desk, and an <HI>extempory</HI> effu&s;ion in the Pulpit? mu&s;t I have the &s;ame man read Epi&s;copally to walls, and preach factiou&s;ly to a throng? u&s;e the Ceremonies, and &s;ay to his confidents, <HI>they are a burden to him?</HI> u&s;e the<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. H. Mr. M. Dr. J&punc; W&punc;</NOTE> Surplice, <HI>yet unwilling to give offence?</HI> u&s;e the Cro&s;&s;e in Bap|ti&s;m, yet &s;ay, <HI>I wi&s;h it were forborn?</HI> Well, I &s;hall never for|get the words of a wi&s;e and judicious Father, now with God: <Q>They them&s;elves (meaning the Non-conformi&s;ts) <HI>when time was &s;eemed to be,</HI> and if they di&s;&s;embled not, which we are unwilling to believe, <HI>were indeed</HI> rea&s;onable <HI>well af|fected:</HI> for they &s;ubmitted to <HI>Government,</HI> u&s;ed the <HI>Lyturgie,</HI> and ob&s;erved the <HI>Ceremonies</HI> appointed according to Law and order: and gave their own <HI>profe&s;&s;ed approbation</HI> of the &s;ame as well by expre&s;s <HI>words</HI> from their mouths, as by <HI>&s;ub|&s;cription</HI> under their hands, yet <HI>remaining upon record:</HI> what hath wrought this <HI>change</HI> in them, (<HI>evidence</HI> of <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> or <HI>worldly intere&s;t</HI>) and how far it hath wrought upon them (in reality, or but in compliance) and in what order too, (by immediate a&s;&s;ault upon their <HI>judgement,</HI> or by <HI>dealing</HI> underhand fir&s;t with their <HI>affection</HI>) them&s;elves do or &s;hould be&s;t know. It highly concerneth them&punc; as much as the <HI>peace of their con&s;cience are worth,</HI> (and much more then &s;o) to be
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well a&s;&s;ured that their hearts are upright in this affair: and in order thereunto, not to content them&s;elves with &s;light and overly examination, (there is more wickedne&s;s and de|deceitfulne&s;s in the hearts of <HI>all men,</HI> then <HI>mo&s;t men</HI> are aware of) but to make the more diligent, di&s;trict and impartial &s;earch po&s;&s;ible in the true <HI>Cau&s;es</HI> and <HI>Motives</HI> of this Change; (and for &s;o much as fears and hopes have been ever found the fitte&s;t engines to work &s;uch feats) to enquire particu|larly what influence or opperation either the <HI>fear</HI> of loo|&s;ing what they had, or the hope of <HI>getting</HI> more might have in this work towards the producing &s;uch an effect.</Q> It will be&s;t become others to judge as charitably as they may; but doubtle&s;&s;e it will be &s;afe&s;t for them to be very jealous over them&s;elves, le&s;t <HI>&s;o great a Change</HI> could not have been wrought in <HI>&s;o &s;hort a &s;pace,</HI> without a &s;trong infu&s;ion of the one, or of the other, or both, into the Medicine that wrought it; e&s;pe|cially &s;ince the conjuncture of time wherein this change hap|pened, may very probably rai&s;e &s;ome &s;u&s;pition that a vi&s;ible hope and advantage had &s;ome co-operation at the le&s;t with what&s;oever was the <HI>principal</HI> cau&s;e of this &s;o &s;udden an alte|ration. If not &s;o, nor &s;o, but that they find them&s;elves clearly convinced in their judgements of their former errour, and that they are fully per&s;waded that they are now in a better way then that wherein they formerly walked, it is happy for them, and I doubt not but that they will find matter of re|joycing in it if they be not mi&s;taken (a thing not impo&s;&s;ible) in the tryal of their own hearts. O that I had men that in the change of times were unchangeable in their mind and o|pinion, and to hold to their former and well grounded Prin|ciple, &s;o long as they can neither apprehend any rea&s;on of &s;ufficient &s;trength to convince their under&s;tandings that they are in the wrong, or to manife&s;t unto them the nece&s;&s;ity of making &s;uch a change.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. III.</HI> The Church of <HI>England</HI>'s re&s;entment of &s;candalous Profanene&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>OH you, my Sons, why do you the&s;e things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Oh, Sirs, my God above looks upon you, and is provoked, the ble&s;&s;ed Angels
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&s;ee you their fellow-&s;ervants, (for you area &s;pectacle to God &amp; Angels) &amp; are grieved; wicked men ob&s;erve you, &amp; bla&s;pheme God, good men behold you, &amp; are <HI>a&s;hamed.</HI> Is it for this that you are delivered, that you may work <HI>wickedne&s;s?</HI> Hath God pu|ni&s;hed you, and will you yet &s;in more and more? Will not twelve years &s;ufferings reform you? will not twenty years re|proaches awake you? will not miracles of judgement deter you from evil? will not miracles of mercy oblige you to good? Oh, de&s;pi&s;e you the riches of Gods <HI>goodne&s;s</HI> towards you, not knowing that the <HI>goodne&s;s</HI> of God &s;hould lead you to <HI>repen|tance?</HI> But after your hardne&s;s and impenitency of heart, will you trea&s;ure up more <HI>wrath</HI> again&s;t another day of wrath? Is this the return you make to a gracious God, to di&s;honour him? Is this your kindne&s;&s;e to me, to undoe me? Is this you gra|titude for the publick favours of King and Parliament, to be utterly unworthy? Religion hath honoured you with a high Calling; you betray it: your Prince vouch&s;afed you Royal Favours; you &s;hame him; hone&s;t people afford you their pity and compa&s;&s;ion; you deceive them. Is this your kindne&s;s to your friends?</P>
<P>I &s;aw indeed the late &s;candalous Centuries, but I neglect|ed them as &s;landers and calumnies: I heard the late com|plaints and outcries, but &s;lighted them as I do envy, malice and hatred. Dreadful things were daily &s;ugge&s;ted again&s;t you; great things were daily offered for you: the Faction reviled, the Orthodox maintained you: &s;ober men writ for you; but now you con&s;ute them: holy men excu&s;ed you; but you con|tradict them: good and great men &s;poke for you; but who will now believe them? Mu&s;t you needs ju&s;tifie Malice it &s;elf? Mu&s;t you needs ju&s;tifie what Uncharitablene&s;s it &s;elf dur&s;t not &s;ugge&s;t again&s;t you? Do you hear what they &s;ay,&mdash;<HI>There, there, go your Mini&s;ters?</HI> If you hear not what they <HI>&s;ay,</HI> &s;ee what you <HI>are:</HI> You are the &s;alt of the earth; if the &s;alt now loo&s;e its &s;avour, wherewith &s;hall it be &s;alted? it is thenceforth <HI>good for nothing</HI> but <HI>to be ca&s;t out,</HI> and to be trod|den under foot of men. You are the &s;alt; yet, how un&s;a|voury? you are the light of the world, and do you walk as children of light? are you burning, are you &s;hining <HI>lights?</HI> Oh your carele&s;ne&s;s, Oh your indifferency in matter of Re|ligion!
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Oh how negligently you do the work of the Lord, while you know God is &s;erious in the Word he &s;peaks, in the Judgements he aflicts, in the Mercies he be&s;tows! when you know Chri&s;t is &s;erious in redeeming &s;ouls, the holy Spirit is &s;e|rious in &s;anctifying them, the Devil is &s;erious in undoing them; the whole Creation is &s;erious round about you. How you Triffle with immortal &s;ouls! how you play with the great and terrible work of the Mini&s;try! how formally you do pray! how nnconcernedly you do preach! how vain and un|profitably do you di&s;cour&s;e! how unevenly do you walk! What, do you &s;peak for Eternity? do you preach for Immor|tality? Are you &s;ent of God? Are you here to &s;ave &s;ouls? and yet <HI>Gallio</HI>-like, <HI>care for none of tho&s;e things?</HI> Wo is me, to &s;ee you <HI>walk in the coun&s;el of the ungodly, &s;tand in the way of &s;inners,</HI> and <HI>&s;it in the &s;eat of the &s;cornful;</HI> who&s;e <HI>delight</HI> &s;hould be <HI>in the Law of the Lord, in who&s;e law</HI> you &s;hould <HI>meditate day and night!</HI> What the &s;ame man laugh at Religion and preach it! the &s;ame &s;oul Droll upon &s;erious Holine&s;s in com|pany, and yet urge it in the great Congregation! What, per&s;wade men to vertue in the Pulpit, and laugh men out of it in the Parlour! Where is that &s;erious Holine&s;s that crown|ed, that &s;olemn Gravity that adorned, that &s;evere Vertue that advanced my &s;ober Mini&s;ters, my Reverend Pa&s;tors, and holy men? Where is thy pious Spirit, devout <HI>HALL!</HI> where is thy gracious Temper, excellent <HI>&V;SHER!</HI> where is thy even and &s;etled Frame, &s;erious <HI>HAMMOND!</HI> where is thy vertu|ous deportment, Famous <HI>MORTON!</HI> where is thy rational, well-weighed, and &s;tayed &s;oul, O venerable <HI>SANDERSON!</HI> In <HI>England,</HI> as in <HI>Rama,</HI> there is a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning; I as <HI>Rachel</HI> weeping for my excellent children; but they are not. Wo is me for your <HI>Covetou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> O ye my &s;ons, that you in&s;truct men for ano|ther world, yet look not beyond this; that you who are &s;ent to teach men to <HI>live by faith,</HI> &s;hould yet <HI>live by &s;en&s;e;</HI> that you who teach <HI>faith the evidence of things not &s;een,</HI> &s;hould yet eye only the <HI>things which are &s;een.</HI> O &s;hame! <HI>&s;elf-denial</HI> is the great duty you enjoyn, <HI>&s;elf-&s;eeking</HI> is the great &s;in you are guilty of. <HI>Love not the world,</HI> is one of the mo&s;t remarkable Axiomes of our Religion; <HI>Love the world,</HI> is the con&s;iderable&s;t rule of your lives. <HI>I have coveted no mans &s;ilver or gold,</HI> &s;aith
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the Apo&s;tle: Oh what &s;ay you? <HI>I &s;eek not yours, but you,</HI> &s;aith he: <HI>I &s;eek not you but yours,</HI> &s;aith you, <HI>Neither at any time u&s;ed I a cloak for covetou&s;ne&s;s, God is my witne&s;s,</HI> &s;aith the Apo&s;tle: Oh, what you have done, God and men are witne&s;s. <HI>Give me the &s;ouls</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Abraham) take thou the goods: give us the goods</HI> &s;ay you) <HI>take you the &s;ouls.</HI> Is <HI>to live to Chri&s;t</HI> in this &s;en&s;e, thy <HI>gain?</HI> is <HI>to die to him,</HI> thy <HI>advantage?</HI> Alas! Alas!</P>
<P>Oh your debauched cour&s;es, (you vile and &s;ordid &s;ouls) An holy Calling, and an unholy Life! Spiritual per&s;ons, and yet live after the <HI>fle&s;h!</HI> a clean Garment, and an unclean heart! &s;ervants of God, and yet &s;ervants of &s;in! reverend in your Function, and yet &s;hamefully in your Lives! a Mini&s;ter, and yet given to Wine! a Prie&s;t, and yet wanton! in holy Or|ders, and yet in riotous Di&s;order! walk circum&s;pectly and yet reel! a man devoted to the Study and the Clo&s;et, in cham|bering and wantonne&s;s! conver&s;ation in heaven, and in Ale|hou&s;es and Taverns! &s;tudy Eternity, and yet trifle away time! &s;tand at the Communion of Saints, yet &s;it down in the company of &s;corners! <HI>Oh the&s;e things ought not to be.</HI></P>
<P>Thus <HI>vile</HI> you are, and yet you are <HI>proud;</HI> thus <HI>di&s;honouring</HI> your &s;elves, and yet <HI>ambitious. Learne of me</HI> (&s;aid Chri&s;t) <HI>for I am meek and lowly:</HI> Look upon you, you are proud and Lordly. I made you Mini&s;ters for the &s;ervice of &s;ouls, you advance your &s;elves to be Rulers. I taught <HI>every &s;oul</HI> of you to be &s;ubject; you are impatient of &s;ubjection. Humility and meekne&s;s was the glory of my Mini&s;ters; haughtine&s;s and pride is your &s;hame. Were you rai&s;ed by the favour of God and men lately, to be high now? God remembred, and man pitied you in your low e&s;tate; God will remember, and man will puni&s;h you in your high e&s;tate. You humbled your &s;elves, and you were exalted; you exalt your &s;elves, and you may be made low. Oh the pride that compo&s;eth your Ser|mons, that contrives your de&s;igns, that fills your thoughts, that formeth your countenances, that putteth the Accents and Empha&s;is on your Words, that ordereth your Habit, model|leth your Ge&s;tures; that makes you aim at your &s;elves in all you do, and forget God; when you &s;hould aim at God and forget your &s;elves. Shall Mini&s;ters that bring men to Heaven, live in pride, that ca&s;t Angels to Hell?</P>
<P>You are proud, poor &s;ouls, and ye mu&s;t be <HI>contentious</HI> too:
<PB N="34" REF="20">
Amba&s;&s;adours of peace ye are, yet in &s;trife and envy: you profe&s;s a Go&s;pel of peace, yet what emulation? what wrath? Chri&s;t left peace among you when he went to Heaven, &s;hall he find peace when he returns from Heaven? Oh no: though Religion Obligeth you to peace, although divi&s;ions have un|done us, although Truth be almo&s;t lo&s;t, the power of Godli|ne&s;s be decayed good men be grieved, I be endangered; though enemies be encouraged, and Athei&s;m be promoted by your unhappy differences; yet &s;till you quarrel, &s;till you di&s;pute. Why do you &s;trive, &s;eeing ye are brethren? Have you not one God? have you not one Faith? have you not one Bap|ti&s;m? have you not one Hope? O why do you not keep the unity of the Spiri<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter"> in the bond of peace? why the&s;e jealou&s;ies, the&s;e fears, the&s;e di&s;tances, the&s;e bitterne&s;&s;es? I mark them which cau&s;e divi&s;ions contrary to the truth and peace; I al|ways owned, and &s;hall avoid them. Bi&s;hop <HI>&V;&s;her</HI> propo&s;ed what was moderate, you hearkened not; Bi&s;hop <HI>Davenant</HI> writ peaceablie, you read him not; Bi&s;hop <HI>Sander&s;on</HI> offered mode&s;tly, you regarded him not: many &s;ober men offered healing Principles agreeable to the Conce&s;&s;ions on all hands, yet they are neglected: God him&s;elf united you in your mi&s;e|ries, yet you di&s;agree in your judgements; he joined you in &s;ufferings, yet you divide your &s;elves in his &s;ervice. O tell it not in <HI>Gath,</HI> publi&s;h it not in <HI>Askelon,</HI>&mdash;that Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel di&s;agree among them&s;elves, and head and lead their people to di&s;agreements. What, &s;hall a Mini&s;ters live and not love? How do you Read? How is it written? Is it not, <HI>Follow peace with all men as much as in you lieth, if it be po&s;&s;ible?</HI> Do not you read, do not you Preach thus? Oh why do you not live thus? Yea, there is utterlie a fault among you, that you fall out with your Neighbours. Now there is utterlie a fault among you, <HI>That you go to Law one with another, I &s;peak this to your &s;hame,</HI> Why do not <HI>you rather &s;uffer wrong? why do not you &s;uffer your &s;elves to be defrauded?</HI> How Preach you, how read you, is it not, that <HI>ye re&s;i&s;t not evil? and if any man &s;hall &s;ue thee at the Law, and take away thy coat, give him thy cloak al&s;o. Who is a wi&s;e man, and endued with knowledge among you?</HI> Let him &s;hew out of a good conver&s;ation his works with meekne&s;s and wi&s;dom: but if you have bitter envy|ings and &s;trifes in your hearts, glorie not, and lie not a|gain&s;t
<PB N="35" REF="20">
the truth. This wi&s;dom de&s;cendeth not from above, but is earthlie, &s;en&s;ual and devilli&s;h; for where envying and &s;trife is, there is confu&s;ion and every evil work: but the wi&s;|dom which is from above, is fir&s;t <HI>pure, and then peaceable, gentl, ea&s;ie to be intreated,</HI> full of mercie and good works, without partialitie, without hypocri&s;ie: and the <HI>fruit of righ|teou&s;ne&s;s is &s;own in peace of them that make peace.</HI></P>
<P>Well, if you go on profe&s;&s;ing Religion indifferently, do|ing the work of God negligentlie; if you carrie on only a form of godline&s;s hypocriticallie; if you live without the grace of God within you prophanelie; if you live without the fear of God before you loo&s;elie; if you live without the love of God uncharitablie; if you live again&s;t your profe&s;&s;ion &s;hame|fully: farewel the mo&s;t flouri&s;hing Church, farewel Ordinan|ces, farewel Mini&s;try, farewel Comforts, farewel Ble&s;&s;ings, farewel our Glorie, farewel our God; <HI>and wo unto us when he is departed from us.</HI></P>
<P>Oh my Sons, hearken to this one Wi&s;h; and Oh that it be not my la&s;t!&mdash;For Gods &s;ake, for our own &s;ake, for my &s;ake, for three Kingdoms &s;ake, for our gracious Kings &s;ake, for the &s;ake of late Po&s;terity.</P>
<P><HI>TAKE HEED TO YO&V;R SELVES.</HI></P>
<P>1. That you want not that grace you offer others; that when you &s;ave others, you peri&s;h not as Ca&s;t-aways your &s;elves. Oh feel the power of that Religion you preach, and preach the power you feel: <HI>Be</HI> what you <HI>per&s;wade others to be.</HI></P>
<P>2. <HI>Take heed to your &s;elves,</HI> and con&s;ider what manner of men ye ought to be in all holy conver&s;ation and godline&s;s.</P>
<P>3. <HI>Take heed to your &s;elves,</HI> that you pull not down with a wicked life, what you build up with an holy Doctrine. If there be no &s;uch thing as Religion, preach it not; if there be, live it; if a loo&s;e life may be allowed, do not preach again&s;t it&punc; and if it may not be allowed, do not live it; be not decei|ved and deceive not others. Do you know the Judgemenr of God, that all that commit &s;uch things as you do, are worthy of death? then why do you do them? if not, why do you preach the other? Oh preach exactly, and live exactly: as you <HI>think</HI> all the week how to <HI>&s;peak</HI> upon <HI>Sunday,</HI> &s;o <HI>re&s;olve</HI> upon <HI>Sunday</HI> how to live all the <HI>week.</HI> How curiou&s;lie you preach! O how carele&s;lie you live!</P>
<P><PB N="36" REF="21">4. <HI>Take heed to your &s;elves,</HI> and walk wi&s;ely towards them that are without; that whereas they &s;peak evil of you, they may be a&s;hamed, con&s;idering the nature and end of your conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>Oh <HI>take heed to your &s;elves:</HI> You have many eyes upon your infirmities; you have many &s;pectators of your falls, to find to aggravate, and to publi&s;h them: God forbid that you &s;hould do evil in the eyes of the whole world; the good part whereof watcheth on your Vertues, to imitate you: the e|vil part watcheth on your Vices, to traduce you; you are as lights upon a hill, O walk as in the light.</P>
<P><HI>Take heed to your &s;elves&punc;</HI> if not for others, yet for your own immortal &s;ouls. Oh preach not of Heaven, and fall &s;hort of it: Oh preach not of Hell, and fall into it; of grace and du|ty, and yet live without them.</P>
<P>Oh <HI>take heed to your &s;elves.</HI> Vigilant is your Tempter, great are your trials, many are your temptations much the oppo|&s;ition you will meet: for weighty is your work: you de&s;troy the power of Satan: you engage the power of hell: Oh take heed to your &s;elves.</P>
<P>Oh <HI>take heed to your &s;elves.</HI> You have the &s;ame nature with others, but you commit not the like &s;ins with others&punc; the &s;ins that dwell in you are th &s;ame with other mens, the &s;ins that are committed by you are greater then other mens&punc; Oh watch then over your evil nature, take care of your great tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions: 1. Again&s;t knowledge, willfullie: 2. Again&s;t your truth unfaithfully: 3. Again&s;t your profe&s;&s;ion, hypocri|tically: 4. Again&s;t others very offen&s;ivelie; again&s;t the ho|nour of God and his wayes, very dangerou&s;lie; <HI>who is bla&s;|phemed by the ignorant and ungodly through you.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Take heed to your &s;elves,</HI> that you may be ble&s;&s;ed in your un|dertaking. Let your wayes plea&s;e God, as you hope God will ble&s;s your wayes.&mdash;If not for your own, yet for other mens &s;ouls &s;ake take heed to your &s;elves: &s;peak from your hearts to their hearts: be not intangled by &s;in, that you may be able to &s;peak again&s;t &s;in. Oh <HI>do</HI> as you preach, that the world may &s;ee you <HI>mean</HI> as you preach.</P>
<P>Oh reverend Fathers, enjoyn my whole&s;ome Canons &s;e|verelie, vi&s;it mens lives and carriges exactly, over&s;ee the flocks over which the holy Gho&s;t have made you over&s;eers,
<PB N="37" REF="21">
carefullie: Pittie Religion that is a dying; pittie me that am decaying, pittie your &s;elves that are again falling. Reform my Clergy and you are &s;afe; neglect them, and you peri&s;h: keep up the <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="3 letters">e and practi&s;e of Religion, and that will keep you, if the power of Religion be lo&s;t, the profe&s;&s;ion of it will; your Calling will fail, your Order will fail; and God knows <HI>what will be the end thereof:</HI> I fear nothing but &s;in, I want nothing but true grace eminent in all my Mini&s;ters, where|by they may plea&s;e God, adorn the Go&s;pel, convince Gain|&s;ayers, and reform the world.</P>
<P><HI>Have you not enjoined, That</HI> no Eccle&s;ia&s;tical per&s;ons &s;hall<NOTE PLACE="marg">Can. 75.</NOTE> at any time, other then for their hone&s;t nece&s;sities, re&s;ort to any Taverns or Ale-hou&s;es, neither &s;hall they Bord or Lodge in any &s;uch place? Furthermore, they &s;hall not give them&s;elves to any ba&s;e or &s;ervile labour, or to Drinking or Riotting, &s;pending their time idly by day or night, playing at Dice, Cards or Tables, or any other unlawful Game; but at all times convenient they &s;hall hear or read &s;omewhat of the holy Scriptures, or &s;hall occu|py them&s;elves with &s;ome other hone&s;t Study or exerci&s;e, alwayes doing the things which &s;hall appertain to hone&s;ty, and endeavour|ing to profit the Church of God; having alwayes in mind that they ought to excel all others in purity of life, and &s;hould be ex|amples of the people to live well, and Chri&s;tianly, under pain of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical cen&s;ures to be inflicted with &s;everity, according to the qualities of their offences.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. IV.</HI> The Church of <HI>England</HI>'s Complaint again&s;t &V;ncon&s;cionable Simony.</HEAD>
<P>IN your other cour&s;es, O ye my Sons, fear of Authoritie may deter you, Con&s;cience may check you, &s;trict Laws may re&s;train you, a &s;evere over-&s;ight may reform you: in this &s;trange, in this &s;ad mi&s;carriage of <HI>Symony,</HI> I have made Laws, yet you tran&s;gre&s;&s;e them: I have enacted, 31 of Q. <HI>E.</HI> 6. <Q>That if any per&s;ons, bodies Politick or Corporate, &s;hall or do at any time for any &s;um of money, reward, gift, profit or benefit, directlie or indirectlie, or for or by rea|&s;on of any Promi&s;e, Grant, Bond, Covenant, or other a&s;|&s;urance of or for any &s;um of monie, reward, gift, profit,
<PB N="38" REF="22">
or benefit what&s;oever, directlie, or indirectlie, pre&s;ent or collate any per&s;on to any Benefice with cure of &s;ouls, Dig|nitie, Prebend, or Living Eccle&s;ia&s;tical; or give or be&s;tow the &s;ame for or in re&s;pect of any &s;uch corrupt cau&s;e or con&s;ideration; that then every &s;uch Pre&s;entation, Colla|tion, Gift, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;hould be utterly void, and of none effect in Law; and that any per&s;on accepting of any Eccle&s;ia|&s;tical promotion upon &s;uch &s;ordid accounts, &s;hall be judg|ed a di&s;abled per&s;on in Law to have or enjoy any Benefice, Dignity, Prebend, or Living Eccle&s;ia&s;tical.</Q>&mdash;Yet &s;till you truck for Livings, you market for Benefices; &s;till you buy and &s;ell in the Temple: this abomination is &s;till forbid|den, and yet &s;till allowed: my Cannons tie from it by an Oath, yet you venture. You &s;wear thus:</P>
<P>I, N. N. <HI>do &s;wear that I have made no Simonical pay|ment, contract or promi&s;e, directly or indirectly, by my &s;elf, or by any other to my knowledge, or with my con&s;ent&punc; to any per&s;on<NOTE PLACE="marg">Can. 40.</NOTE> or per&s;ons what&s;oever, for or concerning the procuring and obtaining of this Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Dignity, place, preferment, Office or Living, nor will at any time hereafter perform or &s;atisfie any &s;uch kind of payment, contract or promi&s;e made by any o|ther without my knowledge or con&s;ent. So help me God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Yet you do it. Oh you men of God, can you for&s;wear this abominable &s;in, and yet commit it? Will you publickly di&s;|own it before God and the Church, and yet own it be|tween your &s;elves and your Patrons? Shall not God &s;earch out this? The&s;e things you do and God keeps &s;ilence: you think he is altogether &s;uch a one as your &s;elves. Ah, he, will reprove you; he will &s;et your &s;ins in order before you. Oh con&s;ider this, ye that in this forget God! Oh be &s;ure your &s;ins &s;hall find you out. Shall a man take the name of God in vain, and be <HI>guiltle&s;s?</HI> Shall a man break his &s;o|lemn Oath, and be delivered? <HI>Shall he e&s;cape</HI> that doth &s;uch things? Shall he pro&s;per? How will you look that God in the face in Prayer, whom you have bla&s;phemed in your Oath? How can you behold that Congregation that knows you are for&s;worn? What Preach the Word of God, and re|gard
<PB N="39" REF="22">
not the Oath of God! What, gain a Par&s;onage, and loo&s;e thy &s;oul! to attain to a Preferment, &s;hall you hazard more then the whole world?</P>
<P>1. <HI>Have you never read that in</HI> Acts 8. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. And when Simon &s;aw that through laying on of the Apo&s;tles hands the holy Gho&s;t was given, he offered them MONEY, &s;ay|ing, Give me al&s;o this power, that on whom&s;oever I lay hands, he may receive the holy Gho&s;t. But <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aid unto him, Thy money peri&s;h with thee, becau&s;e that thou ha&s;t thought that the gift of God may he purcha&s;ed with money. Thou ha&s;t neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the &s;ight of God. Repent therefore of this wickedne&s;s; and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterne&s;s, and in the bond of iniquity. <HI>You will &s;ay,</HI></P>
<P>Object. <HI>You buy not any gift of grace, as</HI> Simon <HI>would have done; but &s;ome encouragement to exerci&s;e your gifts and your graces.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> Alas! is it not the <HI>gift of God</HI> you buy? are Tythes of God, or are they not? if they are not why do you chal|lenge them? <HI>If they are of God, why do ye buy them of men? Shall a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me, even this whole Nation.</HI> They &s;ay wherein have we robbed God: in Tyths and Offerings. The Lay-patron takes from God, and you take from him: he &s;teals from God, you receive from him. Is it his? why do you &s;ay Tythe belong only to Mini&s;ters? Is it the Mini&s;ters? why do you pay him for it? why do you ju&s;tifie his encroachment, betray Gods right, wrong me and undoe your &s;elves? <HI>Who goeth to warfare at his own charge?</HI> You do it. Doe ye not know that they who mini&s;ter about holy things, live of the things of the Temple? and that &s;o the Lord hath ordained, that they that preach the Go&s;pel, &s;hould live of the Go&s;pel?</P>
<P>Object. <HI>I deal not with the Patron him&s;elf,</HI> you will &s;ay.</P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> Oh be not deceived? God is not <HI>mocked:</HI> what you do by others, you do your &s;elves: <HI>Simon</HI> him&s;elf went not to God, who&s;e the holy Gho&s;t was, but to <HI>Peter,</HI> one of the Stewards of the <HI>manifold gifts</HI> of God.</P>
<P>Object. <HI>I am civil to the Steward.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> How read you. 2 King 5. 20. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Gehazi the &s;er|vant
<PB N="40" REF="23">
of <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> the man of God, &s;aid, <HI>Behold, my Ma&s;ter hath &s;pared</HI> Naaman <HI>the</HI> Syrian, <HI>in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as the Lord liveth I will run after him, and take &s;omewhat of him.</HI> So <HI>Gehazi</HI> followed after him: and when <HI>Naaman</HI> &s;aw him running after him, he lighted down from the Chariot to meet him, and &s;aid, Is all well? and he &s;aid, all is well: my ma&s;ter hath &s;ent me, &s;aying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount <HI>Ephraim</HI> two young men of the Sons of the Prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of &s;ilver, and two changes of garments. And <HI>Naaman</HI> &s;aid, Be content take two talents; and he urged him, and bound two talents of &s;ilver in two bags, with two chan|ges of Garments, and laid them upon two of his &s;ervants, and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tow|er, he took them from their hand, and be&s;towed them in the hou&s;e; and he let the men go and they departed. But he went in, and &s;tood before his Ma&s;ter: and <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> &s;aid unto him, Whence come&s;t thou, <HI>Gehazi?</HI> And he &s;aid, Thy &s;ervant went no whither. And he &s;aid unto him, Went not my heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and Olive-yards, and vineyards, and Sheep, and Oxen, and men-&s;ervants, and maid-&s;ervants? the Lepro&s;ie therefore of <HI>Naaman</HI> &s;hall cleave unto thee, and un|to thy &s;eed for ever. And he went out from his pre&s;ence a leper as white as &s;now.</P>
<P>Object. <HI>Yes, let Gehazi look to that.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> Is it a &s;in in him to receive a gift, and is it not a &s;in in you to give it?</P>
<P>Object. <HI>I only laid a wager, bought a hor&s;e married my Pa|trons daughter, or gave bond to refigne.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> Fie, fie! Are you called to be Mini&s;ters? Do your duty, you may look for your due, and make no terms with men for what God freely gives you. Will you add a cheat to your Sacriledge? rob God, and put a trick upon the Law? is this, is this to obey for con&s;cience &s;ake?</P>
<P>Object. <HI>I only bought an Advow&s;on.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sol.</HI> If you cannot buy a living when it is void, how can you buy it over another mans head when it is not? What do you aim at in the <HI>Advow&s;on?</HI> Do you aim at the good of
<PB N="41" REF="23">
&s;ouls? tho&s;e &s;ouls are provided for already. Do you aim at the benefit of the place? O unworthy man! What, embrace the pre&s;ent world! is the Tythe a Mini&s;ters? what need you buy it aforehand? Is it the peoples? why do you take it at all?</P>
<P>2. And is the Church grown &s;o contemptible, that it may be bought and &s;old for money? Is Preferment rather a prize for the Riche&s;t, then a reward for the Worthie&s;t? who will &s;pend their dayes in &s;erious &s;tudie, and their life in weari|&s;ome retirement, and their e&s;tates in a chargeable educati|on, and at la&s;t mu&s;t either buy their preferment, or live ne|glected, and die unob&s;erved? what ingenious man can en|dure tedious allowance, un&s;upportable fees, intollerable baffles, and not retire to his Clo&s;et, and there give him&s;elf to di&s;pondency and di&s;pair, cur&s;ing the <HI>day wherein he was born,</HI> and the years wherein he was bred up; &s;aying, as <HI>E|lijah</HI> &s;ecretly to his &s;oul, <HI>Lord, it is enough, take away my life,</HI> &s;ince I have out-lived the glory of the Church, the ho|nour of my Calling, the encouragements of Parts and Worth?&mdash;I cannot live u&s;efully; O that I might die comfortably!</P>
<P>3. Have I no true Mini&s;ters, but a Generation of <HI>Dema&s;&s;es,</HI> that embrace the pre&s;ent world? Have I no Mini&s;ters called of God, that will live upon God? none that can tru&s;t God with their maintenance? Will you all crouch for the Prie&s;ts office only, that you may eat a Mor&s;el of bread? will you all degrade your &s;elves, and buy and &s;ell your &s;acred per|&s;ons and employments? Ju&s;tly would the Catholick Church have degraded you, <HI>Can. ap. 10. Conc. Chalc. 2. Conc. Au|ria&s;.</HI> 14. And will you go on making merchandize of the Word? and will you go on in the Mini&s;try, out of <HI>filthie lucre, and not out of a ready mind?</HI></P>
<P>Thus, thus are my worthy Sons laid a&s;ide, the unworthy are promoted: my people peri&s;h, my Religion decaies, my enemies break in upon me, and I have only here and there one to &s;tand by me. The <HI>weak,</HI> the &s;candalous that came in by <HI>Simonie,</HI> betray me. Oh &s;acred Maje&s;ty, O ye the ho|nourable Nobility, O ye worthy Gentlemen, let it be your honour that you can di&s;po&s;e of Livings to the glory of God, the honour of the Church, and your own comfort: let it
<PB N="42" REF="24">
be your &s;hame that you make any advantage of your Livings to the di&s;honour of God, the danger of the Church, and the ruine of &s;ouls. O ye ingenious Mini&s;ters, content your &s;elves rather that you de&s;erve Preferment, then endeavour to enjoy them in this vile, unworthy and dangerous way: never &s;toop to the&s;e low terms: be rather buried in an hone&s;t privacie, then appear with a publick infamy. <HI>Non &s;i nunc &amp; olim &s;ic erit.</HI> Oh &s;acred and augu&s;t Authority of King and Parliament, own your former Laws; vindicate your Autho|rity; meet&punc; meet this threatning mi&s;chief; &s;et a watch upon Patrons and their Stewards; frown upon the reaching Clergy; find out the Panders of <HI>Symonie</HI> that lie about town, and &s;et up as it were an Office for abomination. Take heed. O ye Patrons, how you lay the Childs portion in a Par&s;onage, <HI>and devour that which is holie, and after make an enquirie;</HI> for|cing the hopeful Youth to begin with Perjury, and commence with Sacriledge. Oh! words fail me: I mu&s;t leave with you the excellent <HI>Jewel</HI>'s words to Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> 1561.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="document">
<P>The Livings of &s;uch as are in the Mini&s;try, are not in their hands to whom they are due: they &s;eldom pa&s;s now a|dayes from the Patron if he be no better then a Gentleman, but either for the Lea&s;e or pre&s;ent money. Such Merchants are broken into the Church of God, a great deal more into|lerable then were they whom Chri&s;t whipt out of the Tem|ple. Thus they who &s;hould be careful for Gods Church, that &s;hould be Patrons to provide for the con&s;ciences of the people, and to place among them a learned Mini&s;ter, who might be able to preach the Word to them in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on, and to fulfill his Mini&s;try, &s;eek their own, and not that which is Ie&s;us Chri&s;ts; they &s;erve not Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, but their belly: and this is done not in one County, in one place, but throughout all <HI>England.</HI> Oh mercifull God, whi|ther will this grow at the la&s;t? If the mi&s;ery which this Plague worketh would reach but to one Age, it were intole|rable; it will be a Plague to Po&s;terity; it will be the decay and de&s;olation of Gods Church. Young men &s;ee this, and they are weary and di&s;couraged, they divert their &s;tudies a|nother way. I know your Grace heareth not of the&s;e mat|ters, and I hope God will work in your gracious heart &s;ome
<PB N="43" REF="24">
remedies again&s;t them: for otherwi&s;e the Schools will be for|&s;aken, the Church de&s;olate, the People wild and di&s;mayed, the Go&s;pel di&s;credited; and this noble Realm, which ever was famous for the name of Learning, likely to come to &s;uch ignorance and barbary as hath not been heard of many memory before our time. Poor &s;ouls are de&s;titute without a Guide, the afflicted in con&s;cience have none to quiet them; they grow wild and &s;avage as a people that hath no God; they are comman|ded to change their Religion, and for lack of in&s;truction they know not whither to turn them&punc; Oh if the Kingdom of God be not worthy to be promoted, yet the Kingdom of Satan is wor|thy to be overthrown.</P>
<P>Oh our Po&s;terity &s;hall rue, that ever &s;uch Fathers went before them; and Chronicles will report this mi&s;carriage: they &s;hall leave it written in who&s;e time and in who&s;e reign this was done. Or if we grow &s;o barbarous that we con&s;ider not this, or be not able to draw it into Chronicle; yet for|reign Nations will not &s;pare to write this, and publi&s;h it to our everla&s;ting reproach and &s;hame. By the&s;e means for|reign power which by Gods mercy this Realm is delivered from, &s;hall be brought upon us: the truth of God &s;hall be ta|ken away; the holy Scripture burnt and con&s;umed in fire; a marvellous darkne&s;s and calamity mu&s;t n&eacute;eds en&s;ue.</P>
<P>Oh that your Grace might behold the mi&s;erable di&s;order of Gods Church! or that you might &s;ee the calamities that will en&s;ue! It is a part of your Kingdom, and &s;uch a part as is a prop and &s;tay to the re&s;t. I will &s;ay to your Maje&s;ty as <HI>Cyril|lus</HI> &s;ometimes &s;aid to the godly Emperours, <HI>Theodorus</HI> and <HI>Valentinian: Ab ea quae erg<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> Deum e&s;t pietate reip, ve&s;trae &s;tatus pendet.</HI> You are our Governour, you are the Nur&s;e of Gods Church: We mu&s;t open this grief before you, and God knoweth whether it may be redre&s;&s;ed, it is let grown &s;o long, it is gone &s;o far: but if it may be redre&s;&s;ed, there is no other but your Highne&s;s that can redre&s;s it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="definition">
<HEAD>The Definition of Simonie.</HEAD>
<P>SYmonie is an intentive de&s;ire or purpo&s;e to buy or &s;ell a &s;piritual Living, or any Corporal thing annexed to the Church.&mdash;<HI>Grat. di&s;t. 1. p. 2. 91. Zanch. de. inter. cultu. Concil. compl. Sect. 43. dec. cont. Nic. can.</HI> 8. 96.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="44" REF="25">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. V.</HI> The Church of <HI>Englands</HI> Complaint again&s;t Encroaching Plura|lities.</HEAD>
<P>IS your portion&punc; oh my Sons in this life, or is it in another&punc; Is the &s;atisfaction your immortal &s;ouls look for in the em|ptie, vain, low and peri&s;hing contents of this world, or in the full, high and everla&s;ting enjoyments of the other world? If in this life you have hope only, you are of all men the mo&s;t mi&s;erable, the mo&s;t contemptible, and mo&s;t deceitful: if in another, why &s;o many Imperial Laws, &s;o many Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal Canons, &s;o many Decrees of Councils, &s;o mans &s;evere Reproofs from Fathers and Ca&s;ui&s;ts, &s;o many Complaints and Reproaches, &s;o many Laws and Injunctions, &s;o many Attempts and Endeavours in Parliament the&s;e &s;ixtie years a|gain&s;t your Monopolie of Livings and Pluralities of Benefi|ces? Why do you heap upon your &s;elves this envie? why do you provoke the&s;e Reproaches? I provided for you libe|rally; I checked tho&s;e that oppo&s;ed your maintenance, &s;ea|&s;onablie, I encouraged your Indu&s;trie and Merit carefully, beyond any reformed Church in the world; I re&s;tored you to your Rights hand&s;omly, I &s;ecured your Rights legallie: will not this &s;atisfie you? will not this content you?</P>
<P>1. It's but lately that you were thought uncapable of one Living; and now three, four, five, cannot &s;uffice you. It's not long &s;ince you wanted nece&s;&s;aries, and do you now heap up &s;uperfluities? Lately you could not provide for your Fami|lies <HI>Wants,</HI> and do you now provide for their <HI>Exce&s;s</HI> and Pride? have you forgot how lately <HI>you gra&s;ped all,</HI> and <HI>you lo&s;t all?</HI> Alas! Alas!</P>
<P>2. And will you eat bread out of your Brethrens mouths, and will you &s;tarve your fellow-&s;ervants? Are you Mini|&s;ters? &s;o are they. Are you Orthodox? &s;o are they. Are you Loyal? &s;o are they. Have you been con&s;tant? &s;o have they. Are you &s;erviceable to the Church? they more; <HI>in labours more abundant.</HI> Oh how many excellent men who out-lived the late mi&s;eries, Articles, Committees, Seque&s;tra|tions, Prote&s;tations, Covenants, Engagements, <HI>lingring out their lives,</HI> laden, and almo&s;t oppre&s;&s;ed, worn out, and quite tired with the burthen of years, cares, fears, labours, ne|ce&s;&s;ities
<PB N="45" REF="25">
and afflictions, are now fain to die in ob&s;curity, want and contempt, as if the Sons of the Church of <HI>England</HI> wan|ted only this to make up the mea&s;ure of their &s;ufferings, <HI>That they &s;hould be undone when the Church is re&s;tored!</HI> How ma|ny hundreds, &s;ober and able men are laid a&s;ide, and con|temned by &s;ome as Orthodox, and de&s;pi&s;ed by others as poor? whom the people would relieve, but that they are faithful to me: whom I would relieve, but that I am &s;wallowed up by you. When you look big with your abundance and &s;uperflu|ity, and glory in your preferments, how many hundred able and &s;ober men are a&s;hamed of their Order and Function, are wrapped up in poverty and di&s;content, and lo&s;t in poor em|ployments? who&s;e faithful labours I want, who&s;e &s;ober con|ver&s;ations might honour me, who&s;e diligence and care might re&s;tore me, who&s;e rea&s;on and learning might uphold me, who&s;e powerful preaching might e&s;tabli&s;h me, who&s;e &s;elf-de|nial and devotedne&s;s to publick good might &s;ave me. Alas, Sirs, <HI>let none of you think of him&s;elf more highly then he ought to think, but to think &s;oberly according as God hath dealt to every man the mea&s;ure of faith, for as you have many members in one body, and all members have not the &s;ame Office;</HI> &s;o I being made of many, am one body in Chri&s;t, and every one in me is a member one of another. You, my Sons, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given you, whether Prophe&s;ie, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> why &s;hall not they that prophe&s;ie be encoura|ged according to the proportion of Faith? or Mini&s;trie, why &s;hould not all be encouraged that wait on the Mini&s;trie? or they that teach, on teaching? or they that exhort, on exhor|tation? The body is not one member, but many: now hath God &s;et the members in the bodie as it plea&s;eth him; and if they were all <HI>one member,</HI> where were the bodie? the eye can|not &s;ay to the head, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more tho&s;e members of the body which &s;eem to be more <HI>feeble,</HI> are <HI>nece&s;&s;arie;</HI> and tho&s;e <HI>le&s;s honourable,</HI> upon the&s;e we ought to be&s;tow more abundant honour. And our uncomely parts have a more abundant comeline&s;s: for our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked, that there &s;hould be no &s;chi&s;m in the body, but that the members
<PB N="46" REF="26">
&s;hould have the &s;ame care one for another. Now ye, my Sons, are the body of Chri&s;t, and members in particular: and God hath &s;et &s;ome in the Church; fir&s;t, Apo&s;tles; &s;econdari|ly, Prophets: thirdly, Teachers: Are all Apo&s;tles? are all Prophets? are all Teachers? are all provided for? Oh covet earne&s;tly the be&s;t Gifts, not the be&s;t Livings! And yet I could &s;hew you a more excellent way.</P>
<P>Why is that Preferment engro&s;&s;ed by one, which might maintain Twenty? Why are tho&s;e Revenues lo&s;t upon the folly, vanity and &s;uperfluitie of one family, which might pro|vide for the hone&s;t occa&s;ions of five? Oh <HI>Ju&s;tice,</HI> the equal Di&s;tributer of Affairs, whither art thou fled! Oh <HI>Equity,</HI> whither art thou retired!</P>
<P>3. If you con&s;ider not the &s;in, do you con&s;ider the con&s;e|quences of the&s;e mi&s;carriages: the envie that you already &s;ink under, the occa&s;ion given unto them that &s;eek occa&s;ion, which hath already di&s;graced you; the great di&s;content that alreadie endangereth you. Have not you enemies to your Order, Calling and Judgement, and mu&s;t you incen&s;e your friends? Mu&s;t you provoke that God that hath hitherto upheld your Order and Function, by abu&s;ing the maintenance he allows for his &s;ervice and &s;ervants to your own advantage? Mu&s;t you di&s;plea&s;e his &s;acred Maje&s;ty, by appropriating to a few ill beloved per&s;ons, for who&s;e &s;ake his Maje&s;ty is thought the wor&s;e of, that encouragement which might be equally be&s;towed upon well-de&s;erving and well-beloved, who might in each Pari&s;h teach his &s;ubjects their duty faithfully, per&s;wade them to obedience &s;ucce&s;sfully and &s;ettle them in the Doctrine of Government according to the great Principles of Chri&s;tia|nity, mo&s;t happily? Mu&s;t you provoke your Brethren of the Clergy to di&s;content, by taking up all the encouragements of their Studies, all their employments and hopes? How many hopeful young men in City and Country are forced either to want, or, which is wor&s;e, to live upon your &s;mall Pen&s;ions, and &s;cant allowance; and, what is natural for parts, and inge|nuity, in want to di&s;pair their fortunes, and envy yours? How readily do they now, hopele&s;s of any regular favour, apply them&s;elves to popular applau&s;e, that their compliance may gain that among the people, which their merit could not a|mong you? Do not you &s;ee how the people for&s;ake you, as
<PB N="47" REF="26">
Self-Seekers? how the Gentry cen&s;ure you, as Uncon&s;cion|able? how the Clergy abhor you as invaders of their places and preferments? Do you not &s;ee that the Law can hardly &s;ecure you? that authority can &s;carcely defend you from all the affronts and baffles that Malice do &s;ugge&s;t to an incen&s;ed people? the adver&s;aries triumph, the many friends I have weep, the Sober and Serious are amazed, to &s;ee four&s;core or an hundred odious men filling up a whole Church. Do you imagine tho&s;e many active men will re&s;t in a di&s;pirited, poor, mendicant, decayed, dejected and vexatious condition? Do not you fear their melancholy thought, their retired con|trivance, their forlorn meetings? You know there are none &s;o dangerous as the <HI>Di&s;contented Scholars.</HI> Monopolie is the Ruine of the State; Pluralities are the ruine of the Church; the one nece&s;&s;itates the indigent Subject to dangerous cour&s;es and practi&s;es; the other, the poor Scholar to as dangerous di&s;cour&s;es and thoughts.</P>
<P>Is it not enough that mens late malice and in&s;olencie again&s;t the Mini&s;try, reduced them to want and contempt, but that (to my &s;hame, who am ble&s;&s;ed of God with abundance and honour) one &s;mall part of the Mini&s;try &s;hould reduce the other to &s;mal Contributions, poor Dependencies; &s;o uncer|tain and &s;o ba&s;e, that men of ingenious &s;pirits and learning mu&s;t dete&s;t them, who cannot endure when they do their work to beg for their wages, not without forbid compliances and flatteries with vile men in their vile&s;t humours? Oh look upon the poor Curates, and their Families; what is their por|tion of the pro&s;perity we now enjoy? Alas, they live by Gods mercy, and mens charity. How de&s;picable is their Calling? How little their Authority? how incon&s;iderable their In&s;tru|ctions? How &s;ucce&s;sle&s;s their Doctrine? how uncreditable their Lives? Do not you &s;ee that your fellow-Mini&s;ters under the&s;e nece&s;&s;ities will not long be able to a&s;&s;ert the honour of their Calling; and that no after-Generation will &s;ucceed to inherit their poverty and pains, unle&s;s &s;uch as will further de|ba&s;e the Dignity of the Function? What, mu&s;t all the ingeni|ous Mini&s;ters be Stipendaries! The Faction threatned no more. Mu&s;t they have only their allowances? Anarchie could have done no more. Are you re&s;tored to reduce your fellow-&s;ervants to that penurie by Law, which Fanaticks
<PB N="48" REF="27">
would have brought them to without Law? they wanted on|ly this mi&s;ery, to be undone by their Brethren, and peri&s;h by them of their own profe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Ob&s;ect. <HI>The&s;e poor men,</HI> you will &s;ay, <HI>are provided for an&s;we|rable to their Parts.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Have they Parts for the Calling of Mini&s;ters, and have they not Parts for the Maintenance of Mini&s;ters? Can they preach the Go&s;pel, and can they not live by the Go&s;pel? Are they worthy to di&s;charge your Cures, and are they not worthy to enjoy them?</P>
<P>5. Do you de&s;ire the advantage of &s;o many Benefices, or do you de&s;ire the charge? if the <HI>advantage,</HI> then the poor Separati&s;t was in the right, when he called you <HI>Hirelings;</HI> then indeed you make <HI>merchandi&s;e of Souls;</HI> then you are the greate&s;t Juglers and Deceivers in the world; and you laugh among your &s;elves, (as the <HI>Tu&s;can</HI> Sooth-&s;ayers) and confer Notes, as that Pope with his Cardinal, &s;aying&punc; <HI>How much gain doth this fable of Chri&s;t bring us?</HI>&mdash;and poor &s;ouls &s;hould avoid you as the &s;hadow of death. What, &s;hall I hear him who&s;e godline&s;s is gain! who&s;e God is his belly! who&s;e faith is his advantage! who&s;e hope is only in this world! His watchmen are blind, they are ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they <HI>cannot bark;</HI> &s;leeping, lying down, loving to <HI>&s;lum|ber:</HI> yea, they are greedy dogs which can <HI>Never</HI> have <HI>enough,</HI> and they are &s;hepherds that cannot under&s;tand: they all look for their <HI>own way,</HI> every one for his gain from his <HI>quarter.</HI> Come ye, &s;ay they, I will <HI>fetch wine,</HI> and we will <HI>fill</HI> our &s;elves with <HI>&s;trong drink;</HI> and to morrow &s;hall be as this day, and much more abundantly, <HI>F&s;ai.</HI> 56. 9, 10, 11, 12.</P>
<P>If the <HI>Charge,</HI> do you know what you do? do you know that you mu&s;t watch over the Congregation as they that mu&s;t <HI>give an account?</HI> &s;o many Benefices, &s;o many more hundreds of &s;ouls that you mu&s;t an&s;wer for? Do you know what it is to an&s;wer the great God for an immortal &s;oul? do you know what it is to give an account of the purcha&s;e of Chri&s;ts bloud? do you know what is the work, what is the charge of a Mini&s;ter? Oh poor &s;ouls! you con&s;ider not whether &s;ome have not accu&s;ed you to God, whom you ne|ver &s;aw; whether &s;ouls under your charge are not daily go|ing to another world, with doleful complaints again&s;t you,
<PB N="49" REF="27">
whom you never knew; whether any in Hell do not cry out again&s;t you, whom you never &s;aw: thou&s;ands have ap|peared before the Judgement-&s;eat of God, excu&s;ing them&s;elves with your faults, though you lay it not to heart; alledging, that they &s;aw no more Religion in the world then Intere&s;t and Gain, they knew not what to do to be &s;aved. Alas, you are not &s;en&s;ible that there may be hundreds in Hell that you looked not after, cur&s;ing the day that ever you were born, that ever you were &s;ent into the World, that there &s;hould be &s;o many Wretches that lived only to damn men. If it be a Charge you de&s;ire, why do you not attend unto that flock over which the holy Gho&s;t made you over&s;eers? Why do you not in that calling wherein you are called abide with God? Is it po&s;&s;ible for you to &s;erve two Cures? you will hold to the one, and de&s;pi&s;e or neglect the other: and is it po&s;&s;ible for you to be &s;aved? Lord, what if you gained the World at the rate of undoing &s;ouls? Do you con&s;ider that the bread you eat is the price of &s;ouls? How can you eat with comfort, and think Oh &s;ome of my charge may be now going to Eternity, and I prepared them not? How can you &s;leep &s;ecurely, and think, Some of my charge may awake to morrow in another World, whether of Wo or Well I know not? How can you die peaceably and think, <HI>Where &s;hall we meet the many &s;ouls that have gone before us out of our Congre|gations?</HI> Oh where are ye, O immortal &s;ouls! with God, or for ever departed from the pre&s;ence of the Lord! Oh did you ever read that of St. <HI>Bernard, Qui non unus &s;ed plures in beneficiis, non unus &s;ed plures in &s;uppli<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">iis?</HI> If you pity not me once again by the&s;e cour&s;es decaying, if you pity not poor &s;ouls by this means peri&s;hing, Oh pity your &s;elves&punc; and have mercy upon your own fouls: Alas, that men &s;hould be educated chargeably, &s;hould &s;tudy diligently, &s;hould be ordained &s;olemnly to delude &s;ouls, to mock God&punc; to deceive the world, and undoe men, for two, or three, or four hundred pounds yearly, during a &s;hort life! that you &s;hould appear in a Pulpit (if yet you do appear in a Pulpit) for a little Maintenance! that you &s;hould appear very &s;olemnly every Sunday, only to put a trick upon God and men! I hope bet|ter things of you, and things that accompany &s;alvation, though thus I &s;peak. <Q>In the Primitive times every <HI>Church</HI> of &s;o ma|ny
<PB N="50" REF="28">
&s;ouls as are of your Pari&s;hes, had many Mini&s;ters, where|of the able&s;t &s;peakers did mo&s;t in publick, and the re&s;t did the more of the le&s;s publick work, (which &s;ome mi&s;take for ruling Elders) but now one of you takes the care of many Churches.</Q> The Popi&s;h times, I mean years 632. could di|vide <HI>England</HI> into Pari&s;hes, for the better di&s;charging of the cure of &s;ouls: our times unite tho&s;e Pari&s;hes again, for the better maintenance of pride and vanity. Is it for this that we are reformed? is it for this we are Prote&s;tants? then each Pa|ri&s;h had their Mini&s;ters to pray with them ferventlie, to teach them faithfully to comfort them &s;ea&s;onablie, to conver&s;e with them u&s;efully. Ah! <HI>in quae nos re&s;ervamur tempora!</HI> Now, now my people are neglected, my buildings are ruined, my ho&s;pitality is lo&s;t, my authority is &s;hrunk and faln, and the Church of <HI>England</HI> is thought to be nothing el&s;e but the inte|re&s;t of a few crafty Clergymen, ordering all things to their be&s;t advantage.</P>
<P>Though <HI>Envy</HI> may know, and <HI>Prejudice</HI> it &s;elf may con&s;i|der, I am a Church made up of godly and religious men: Princes, Nobles, Gentry, Bi&s;hops, Mini&s;ters and people main|taing an Orthodox Doctrine, a Primitive Government, a pure and orderly Wor&s;hip, a &s;evere Di&s;cipline, and a Chri|&s;tian Communion in Word and Sacrament; who have for|bid the&s;e extravagancies by whol&s;ome Laws, checked them by &s;evere Canons, and di&s;allowed them by fair and ju&s;t means imaginable. In the darke&s;t and mo&s;t &s;uper&s;titious times, I ordered, <HI>That no Monks,</HI> i. e. <HI>idle per&s;ons, &s;hould take Livings of Bi&s;hops, or appropriate the Revenues of them to them|&s;elves; but that the Prie&s;ts &s;erving tho&s;e Cures, and the Church|es, might be provided with nece&s;&s;aries.</HI></P>
<P>Do you know why Monks were pulled down in <HI>H.</HI> 8. time? Lay it to heart, I be&s;eech you, for many look for your fall too.</P>
<P>1. They were accu&s;ed for engro&s;&s;ing Wealth and trade; and do you hear what the world &s;aith of you? 2. They were ac|cu&s;ed for impoveri&s;hing Pari&s;h-Prie&s;ts, and decrying Preach|ing, as mini&s;tring Matter of Schi&s;m and Di&s;putes, and mag|nifying their own performances of Prayer and Devotion: by which and other Artifices, they undermined the poor Prie&s;ts, and procured that many Churches pre&s;entative, with their Glebes and Tyths, were appropriated to their Covents, leav|ing
<PB N="51" REF="28">
but a poor pittance for the <HI>Pari&s;h-Vicar.</HI> This was the occa&s;ion of the fir&s;t Impropriations, I pray God your carele&s;|ne&s;s doth not occa&s;ion another.</P>
<P>Oh remember <HI>Robert Whitgifts,</HI> the Abbot of <HI>Wellow's</HI> &s;peech, who was wont to &s;ay, <HI>That they and their Religion could not long continue, becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>I have read the whole Scripture over and over, and never found that Mona&s;teries</HI> (and I may add pluralities) <HI>were founded by God: for</HI> (&s;aid the ho|ne&s;t Abbot) <HI>every planting which my heavenly Father hath not planted, &s;hall be rooted up.</HI></P>
<P>Do you remember that Lay-parliament in King <HI>H.</HI> 8. his time? wherein the Nobles and Commons a&s;&s;embled &s;ignified to the King, that the Temporal profe&s;&s;ion of Abbots, Priors, &amp;c. vainly &s;pent, would &s;uffice to find 150 Earls, 1500 Knights&punc; 6200 E&s;quires, 100 Ho&s;pitals? do you remember tho&s;e Mock-Parliaments that often con&s;idered how many 1000 men your Tythes (ill be&s;towed upon you, as they thought) would maintain? You were once undone,&mdash;now are you made whole: I be&s;eech you, my &s;ons, &s;in no more, le&s;t a wor&s;e thing come unto you.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="document">
<HEAD><HI>Bi&s;hop</HI> Jewel <HI>on 1</HI> The&s;. p. 71.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Fora&s;much brethren as we were kept from you for a &s;ea|&s;on concerning &s;ight, but not in heart, we are enforced the more to &s;ee your face with great de&s;ire. Therefore we would have come unto you, I <HI>Paul,</HI> at lea&s;t once or twice, but Satan hindred us.</HI> Such a zeal and care had he over the people of God. Oh in what ca&s;e then are they that are carele&s;s, and have no regard of the people of God! which hunt after Livings, and bend not them&s;elves to do good! which &s;erve their own belly, and &s;eek to be rich, and eat up the people of God as if they were bread! they cannot &s;ay they have a de&s;ire to &s;ee the face of their flock, and that their heart is with them: how|&s;oever they find time for other matters; they can never take time to know their &s;heep, and they do the work of the Mini|&s;try among them: they care not for them, they think not of them; they plant not, they water not, they watch not, they give no warning of the dangers at hand: they teach them not to deny all ungodline&s;s and worldly lu&s;ts, and to live &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly and godly in this pre&s;ent world. It were happy if all &s;uch were removed out of the Church of God: they de|&s;troy the &s;ouls and lead them to de&s;truction by their negli|gence. What account &s;hall they give unto God for the &s;ouls
<PB N="52" REF="29">
of their Brethren? Where &s;hall they &s;tand? or what will they &s;ay when he &s;hall bid them make a &s;trait account? this is the practice of Satan, he u&s;eth all means to &s;nare us, and withdraw us from that ble&s;&s;ed hope: &s;ometimes he letteth the encrea&s;e of the Go&s;pel, by rai&s;ing up tumults; and di&s;qui|eting the Church of God, and &s;tirring the heart of &s;uch as are in Authority to per&s;ecute by all means the teachers of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t. Again, when God gives peace and quiet|ne&s;s to his Church, he leadeth the Over&s;eers of the people to a forgetfulne&s;s of their duty, to &s;eek the plea&s;ures and delight of this life, and to have no regard of the work of the Lord: &s;uch&punc; occa&s;ion the Devil &s;eeketh to hinder our &s;alvation, and to with&s;tand the truth and glory of God.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. VI.</HI> The Church of <HI>England's</HI> re&s;entment of Non-re&s;idence.</HEAD>
<P>OH&punc; my Sons, I have no plea&s;ure in expo&s;ing you; yet have I no power to excu&s;e you: you know that I have charity for you, that <HI>&s;uffereth long,</HI> that <HI>is kind,</HI> that <HI>is not ea|&s;ily provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.</HI> Alas! what &s;hall I do now my people complain, my adver&s;aries reproach, my Soveraign is di&s;plea&s;ed, my Nobility and Gentry are incen|&s;ed; and where-ever I turn my &s;elf, Complaints are made, Petitions are drawn up Jealou&s;ies are whi&s;pered, and Fears are murmured! <HI>If I &s;hould hold my peace, I &s;hould be thought altogether &s;uch a one as you are:</HI> if I &s;hould &s;peak, my tongue fails me. I am in a great &s;trait; yet you had better hear your mi&s;carriages faithfully reproved by me, to your reformation, then maliciou&s;ly aggravated by others to your de&s;truction. My words may be &s;mart, yet they are whol&s;ome; &s;evere they may be, yet kind; you hear me with &s;orrow, but not with more then I &s;peak to you with.</P>
<P>1. It's &s;ad that after &s;o many Councils, Decrees, (as <HI>Carth. 6. Tol. 6. Chalc. 7. Nic. 15. Sardic.</HI> 14. after &s;o many Fathers charge, as <HI>Hier. com. 2. p. 111. Aug.</HI> 7. 4. in <HI>B. 16. Athan.</HI> in <HI>Jo. 7. Naz. apol. p. 16. Cy. Ep. 8. Greg. de cura pa&s;torali pa&s;&s;im</HI>) after &s;o many provi&s;ions of Parliaments, as 30 <HI>H. 8. 4. 32. El.</HI> 6. &s;o many complaints from friends and foes, as 31 Q. <HI>El.</HI> 3 K. <HI>J.</HI> 12. K. <HI>Ch.</HI> a &s;in &s;o di&s;honourable to your profe&s;&s;ion, &s;o dangerous to Church and State, &s;o clearly repugnant to
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your Callings as Nonre&s;idence is, &s;hould yet be <HI>named among&s;t you.</HI></P>
<P>As, 1. Do you read that in <HI>Act. 20. 25. Take heed to your &s;elves, and to all the flock over which the holy Gho&s;t hath made you over&s;eers, to feed the Church of God which he hath purcha&s;ed with his own bloud?</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Take heed,</HI> be not ab&s;ent, neglect not. Do you con&s;ider where you are, what you have taken upon you? Over which the <HI>holy Gho&s;t:</HI> hath the holy Gho&s;t &s;et you over your flocks, and do you for&s;ake them? hath Heaven intru&s;ted them to you, and do you neglect them? <HI>Over&s;eers</HI> and yet come not neer your flock? Bi&s;hops, and never vi&s;it them? To feed <HI>the Church of God,</HI> that Church for who&s;e &s;ake the world is upheld. Oh what a charge have you underta|ken! &amp; will you be unfaithful to this charge? are you Stewards of Gods own Family? <HI>Oh it's required of a Steward that he be found faithful, 1 Cor.</HI> 4. 2. Have you the conduct of tho&s;e Saints that mu&s;t live for ever with God in glory, and will you neglect them? Are the &s;ouls of men thought meet to &s;ee his face in Glory, and are they not worthy of your utmo&s;t care and pains? Oh if you keep bea&s;ts you might &s;ay they are &s;carce worth looking after; but do you think &s;o of the &s;ouls of men, of the Church of God, the peculiar people, the holy Nation? <HI>Which he hath purcha&s;ed with his blood;</HI> God the Son hath purcha&s;ed the Church with his bloud, and will not you look to it? What, Sirs, will ye di&s;pi&s;e the bloud of Chri&s;t? Shall the price of his bloud be lo&s;t? Hath Chri&s;t died for &s;ouls, and &s;hall I not &s;weat? Are my people they which Chri&s;t came from Heaven to &s;ave, and &s;hall not I go from the City, from the Court, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to &s;ave them? Oh what do I hear, may you &s;ay, when it may be one of my poor flock peri&s;heth, for whom Chri&s;t died?</P>
<P><HI>After my departing</HI> (&s;aith the Text) <HI>grievous Wolves &s;hall en|ter in among you, not &s;paring the flock.</HI> Oh, Sirs, do you not know that the Je&s;uite is bu&s;ie, that the Seducers are many &punc; Why do you for&s;ake the flocks? are you re&s;olved to ruine me? Fir&s;t, you di&s;plea&s;e the people, then you leave them open to any &s;editious or factious per&s;ons that will improve their prejudice, di&s;contents and weakne&s;s, to their own advantage. It's true, you &s;ub&s;titute your Curates&punc; but alas, poor men, they are
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hardly able to live, much le&s;s to di&s;pute: they are hardly able to furni&s;h them&s;elves for Sermons, much le&s;s for Controver|&s;ies: be&s;ides that, they are &s;o contemptible, that I may here very pertinently alledge that of <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 9. 13.</P>
<P>Oh that you &s;hould betray his Maje&s;ties intere&s;t and my cau&s;e, and leave his &s;ubjects and my people to the temptations of tho&s;e men who with good words and fair &s;peeches deceive the hearts of the &s;imple, with feigned words making merchan|dize of them! Can you &s;tay in Court or City, and leave poor Neighbours perverted, hone&s;t men deluded, good &s;ubjects debauched, and a Kingdom almo&s;t overturned? As <HI>Augu|&s;tus</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Quint. Varus, Quintili Vare redde Legiones;</HI> &s;o his <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> &s;o I (if yet you will hear me) &s;ay unto you: Oh re|&s;tore us the many &s;ouls which by your neglect we have lo&s;t! Oh re&s;tore that peace which by your carele&s;ne&s;s we want! Oh re&s;tore us that purity of Doctrine and Wor&s;hip, which by publick and private diligence you might have &s;ecured? while you are a&s;leep, the enemy &s;oweth his tares; while you &s;leep, your ruine &s;lumbers not: while you ride to and fro &s;eeking that preferment your ambition may pitch upon, your adver|&s;ary the Devil and his Emi&s;&s;aries goes to &amp; fro &s;eeking whom he may devour. You compa&s;s Sea and Land for <HI>Wealth,</HI> your adver&s;aries compa&s;s Sea and Land for <HI>Pro&s;elites.</HI></P>
<P>And did not the late times &s;lander you? and are you Hire|lings indeed? <HI>He that is an Hireling, and not the &s;hepherd, who&s;e own the &s;heep are not, &s;eeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the &s;heep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and &s;cattereth the &s;heep. The Hireling fleeth becau&s;e he is an Hireling, and careth not for the &s;heep,</HI> Joh. 10. Oh of your own &s;elves do men ari&s;e <HI>&s;peaking perver&s;e things</HI> to draw away Di&s;ciples after them. Therefore watch; and remember, that in the Primitive times for the &s;pace of many years the Mini&s;ters cea&s;ed not to warne every one night and day with tears: and they could &s;ay to their Congregations, <HI>We take you to record that we are pure from the blood of all men, for we have not &s;hunned to declare unto you the whole coun&s;el of God. We have coveted no mans &s;ilver or Gold, nor apparel,</HI> Acts 20.</P>
<P>2. Are not you them <HI>that watch for mens &s;ouls?</HI> and do you not look after them? Are you to watch over them &s;o as to give an account? and do you leave them? are you the Angels
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of the Church, &s;ent forth to mini&s;ter to them who &s;hall be heirs of &s;alvation, and to behold the face of their father which is in Heaven? and do you not regard them? Angels and earthly? Angels, and yet worldly? Are you the Souldiers of Chri&s;t, and do you intangle your &s;elves in the affairs of this life? Are you ordained to preach the Go&s;pel? a nece&s;&s;ity is laid upon you, and wo is you if you preach not the Go&s;pel. Are you Stewards of the manifold gifts of God, and do you not remem|ber that you mu&s;t give an account of your Steward&s;hip, for you &s;hall be no longer Stewards? Are you in Chri&s;ts &s;tead, and yet &s;o carele&s;s of his people? Ah if Chri&s;t had &s;erved you &s;o, what had become of you? what had become of the world?</P>
<P>3. Do you love the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and yet not feed his flock? <HI>Simon Peter, love&s;t thou me? feed my lambs. Simon Pe|ter love&s;t thou me? Thou knowe&s;t, O Lord, that I love thee: feed my &s;heep.</HI> Have you any kindne&s;s for your peoples &s;ouls? Do you not hear them cry, <HI>Come</HI> and <HI>help</HI> us? Are they your joy, your Crown, your rejoycing? Oh have mercy upon them! Do you not hear them &s;ay, <HI>Ma&s;ter, care&s;t thou not that we pe|ri&s;h?</HI> We have immortal &s;ouls to loo&s;e, and Eternity to ha|zard; care&s;t thou not that we peri&s;h? Do you wonder that your people de&s;ert you, when you have for&s;aken them? Can you blame them that they &s;eparate from you, who have no care of them? They mu&s;t needs forget their duty towards you, when you have forgotten yours towards them. No won|der if they cleave to their <HI>Pa&s;tors</HI> and <HI>Teachers:</HI> for they find none <HI>like minded, who naturally care for their &s;tate.</HI></P>
<P>O Sirs, the <HI>harve&s;t</HI> of &s;ouls at this time is great: <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Bi&s;hop <HI>Jewl&punc;</HI></NOTE> the Pre|bends are many, the Prie&s;ts are many, the Deans are many&mdash;the <HI>Labourers</HI> are few: Shall I pray the Lord of the harve&s;t to <HI>turn you out,</HI> and <HI>&s;end forth Labourers into his harve&s;t?</HI> the &s;ouls that would be &s;aved are many; but they die in ignorance, and you are not among them to in&s;truct them? they die in doubt, and you not neer them to &s;atisfie them; they die in di&s;pair, and there is none to comfort them; they live in di&s;order, and there is none to guide them; they are in &s;tate of nature, and there is none to reclaim them&punc; they are weak and there is none to &s;trengthen them; they are liable to temptation, and there is none to a&s;&s;i&s;t them to manage their Temptation; they go a&s;tray, and there is none <HI>to &s;eek them that are lo&s;t;</HI> they are
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in the gall of bitterne&s;s, and there is none to relieve them; they are under the power of Satan, in <HI>darkne&s;s,</HI> and there is none to <HI>turn them to God,</HI> that they may receive <HI>forgivene&s;s of &s;ins and an inheritance among them that are &s;anctified by faith in Chri&s;t, if God peradventure might give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth, that they might e&s;cape out of the &s;nare of the Devil;</HI> that &s;o <HI>they might be converted, and their &s;ins be forgiven them.</HI> Fain would they <HI>hear, that their &s;ouls might live;</HI> but you are not among them to <HI>preach;</HI> willing are they to receive the Sacrament, but you are not among to admini&s;ter it. They are declining in grace, and there is none to recover them, or <HI>in the &s;pirit of meekne&s;s to re&s;tore them,</HI> they are at a lo&s;s&punc; and there is none to advi&s;e them; they mi&s;carry, and there is none to over&s;ee them, to watch over them, to look to them; they are &s;ick, and there is none to vi&s;it-them, to in|&s;truct and comfort them; they are unruly&punc; and there is none to &s;ee that Church di&s;cipline be exerci&s;ed upon them.</P>
<P>4. Will you receive the tyths of God, and not do the work of God? will you live of the Go&s;pel, and not preach the Go&s;|pel? will you live of the Altar, and yet not &s;erve the Altar? will you eat, and not work? will you receive tyths given to <HI>Mel|chizedec,</HI> and yet ble&s;s not the children of <HI>Abraham,</HI> that pay it! will you receive the Levites portion, and yet <HI>not wait on the Tabernacle, nor &s;erve the Sanctuary?</HI> will you have the dou|ble honour of <HI>Reverence</HI> and <HI>Maintenance,</HI> and yet not labour in the Word and Doctrine? Mu&s;t he that is taught communicate unto him that teacheth him not in every good thing?&mdash;How can you enjoy the&s;e Donations our forefathers made to Mini|&s;ters for teaching the Word of God, for praying, &amp;c. and yet neither teach nor pray? <HI>Vid. Spel. conc. Br. p. 29. Vid. Illyr. cent. 8. c. 9. Col. 316. Ed. 1624. Bede Hi&s;t. Eccl. l. c. 16. &s;in. Lamb. Arch. p. 22. Bonif. Ep. p. 24. Polyd. Virg. l. 5. p. 89. 90. Stow. p. 99. vit. Eg. Ingulph. Sect. 6. 7. Mat. We&s;t. Ge&s;t. Br. 2. 2 Til&s;l<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">y anim. &s;ed p. 173. Speed Hi&s;t. 7 c. 32. Fox Martyrol. 3. p. 136 Praefat. in Leg. Alfredi. c. 38. Leg. Eccl. Alur. Athel&s;tan. Mulinesb. de Ge&s;t. Br. 2. c. 11. Gemel. l. 6. c. 9. Seld. Eadm. Hi&s;t. p. 171. R. Ba&s;ting&s;t. 3. p.</HI> 186. How will you look your Ance&s;tors in the face, when you have taken their gifts, and neglected their de&s;ires? What, take the tythe they gave, and leave their po&s;terity de&s;titute!</P>
<P><HI>Ob.</HI> You will &s;ay, <HI>We have Curates</HI> and they perform our duty.</P>
<P><PB N="56" REF="31"><HI>An&s;.</HI> 1. Curates? what new generation of men are the&s;e Cu|rates? We have indeed &s;ome Prophets, &s;ome Apo&s;tles, &s;ome E|vangeli&s;ts, &s;ome Pa&s;tors, &s;ome Doctors: but no Curates. Your Commi&s;&s;ion (O my Sons) is, <HI>Go ye, and teach all Nations;</HI> not <HI>Go ye,</HI> or &s;end <HI>your Curates</HI> to teach all Nations. Hath your Ser|vant liberty to bring whom he will to your &s;ervice, while he takes his plea&s;ure; and have you liberty to bring whom you will to Gods &s;ervice, while you take your plea&s;ure? Oh Sirs, the Scriptures run thus: <HI>Son of Man, I have made thee a watch|man to the hou&s;e of I&s;rael: therefore hear the word of my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I &s;ay unto the wicked, Thou &s;halt &s;urely die, and thou give&s;t him not warning, nor &s;peake&s;t to warn the wicked from his wicked way to &s;ave his life: the &s;ame wicked man &s;hall die in his iniqnity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedne&s;s, nor from his wicked way, he &s;hall die in his iniquity, but thou ha&s;t delivered thy &s;oul. Again when a righteous man doth turn from his righteou&s;ne&s;s, and commit iniquity, and I lay a &s;tumbling block before him, he &s;hall die: becau&s;e thou ha&s;t not given him warning, he &s;hall die in his &s;in, and his righteou&s;ne&s;s which he hath done &s;hall not be remembred, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Neverthele&s;s, If thou warn the righteous that the righteous &s;in not, and he doth not &s;in; he &s;hall &s;urely live becau&s;e he is warned; al&s;o thou ha&s;t delivered thy &s;oul. I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;hall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his Kingdom: Preach the Word be in&s;tant in &s;ea&s;on, out of &s;ea&s;on; reprove, re|buke, exhort with all long &s;uffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure &s;ound doctrine, but after their own lu&s;ts &s;hall they heap to them&s;elves teachers, having itching ears. And they &s;hall turn away their ears from the truth, and &s;hall be turned into fables: But watch thou in all things endure af|flictions do the work of an Evangeli&s;t, make full proof of thy mi|ni&s;try.</HI> If you would be &s;aved only by Curates, then &s;erve God by Curates: if you may be damned only by Curates, then tru&s;t your charge to Curates. But how do you read? <HI>Son of man prophe&s;ie again&s;t the &s;hepherds of I&s;rael, prophe&s;ie and &s;ay unto them, Thus &s;aith the Lord God unto the &s;hepherds, Wo be to the &s;hepherds of I&s;rael, that do feed them&s;elves: &s;hould not the &s;hep|herds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye cloath you with the
<PB N="58" REF="32">
wool ye kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock. The di&s;ea&s;|ed have ye not &s;trengthned, neither have ye healed that which was &s;ick neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye &s;ought that which was lo&s;t: but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were &s;cattered, becau&s;e there is no &s;hep|herd: and they became meat to all the bea&s;ts of the field, when they were &s;cattered. My &s;heep wandred through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was &s;cattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did &s;earch or &s;eek after them. Therefore ye &s;hepherds hear the word of the Lord: As I live &s;aith the Lord God, &s;urely becau&s;e my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every bea&s;t of the field, becau&s;e there was no &s;hepherd, neither did my &s;hepherd &s;earch for my flock, but the &s;hepherds fed them&s;elves, and feed not my flock: Therefore, O ye &s;hepherds, hear the word of the Lord, Thus &s;aith the Lord God, behold, I am again&s;t the &s;hep|herds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cau&s;e them to cea&s;e from feeding the flock, neither &s;hall the &s;hepherds feed them|&s;elves any more, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.</HI></P>
<P>2. Are Curates Mini&s;ters, or are they not? if not, why do you employ them? if they are, why do they not live upon that maintenance that God hath allowed Mini&s;ters? You could not endure rationally in the&s;e late times to hear of Stipends yet now your Brethren mu&s;t be content with Allowances: and be&s;ides, if they are Mini&s;ters, then either they have cure of &s;ouls, or not: if they have cure of &s;ouls, why do they not attend their own charge if they have no cure of &s;ouls, how can they exerci&s;e any Mini|&s;terial act, &s;eeing they have none to exerci&s;e it upon? no people being obliged to attend any but their own Mini&s;ter: yea, all peo|ple being obliged to attend only their own Mini&s;ter. If you will &s;ay, He is your peoples Mini&s;ter, then you mu&s;t &s;ay, You are not.&mdash;One people can have but one Mini&s;ter at a time.</P>
<P>3. Do you, who are non re&s;ident expect tythes by mans Law only, or Gods? No by mans Law only; for you have &s;aid, and mu&s;t &s;ay again&s;t the Anabapti&s;ts, That they are of Divine right; otherwi&s;e they will &s;ay, <HI>What man hath given, man may take away;</HI> nor mu&s;t you look for it by Gods Law, which never allowed the maintenance of a Mini&s;ter to any but &s;uch as did the work of the Mini&s;try. <HI>The Labourer,</HI> and he only, <HI>is worthy of his hire.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="59" REF="32">4. Cannot the State keep Curates as well as you: If this be all, may not the Commonwealth allow Salaries and Stipends as well as you, add &s;o remove the <HI>burthen</HI> of <HI>tythe?</HI> O Sirs, you know not what to do; when the King, Lords and Com|mons ob&s;erve how much tythe goeth to maintain your pride, vanity and folly, and how little to maintain the &s;ervice of God, they &s;ay, what need this wa&s;te? why do ye throw away &s;o much of the publick Revenue, as amounts to two million and a half, whereas half a million may maintain men to read prayers, and do all the duties of Mini&s;ters? A Gentleman hath a Par|&s;onage of 200 <HI>l.</HI> a year in his gift; why, &s;aith he, &s;hall I part with &s;o much of my E&s;tate? cannot I give 20. or 30. <HI>l.</HI> to a Curate as well as a Clergy-man? You will tell him, <HI>Sir, you Rob God.</HI> He will &s;ay, no more then you: you know God only hath tythes when they are employed in his &s;ervice; and I &s;hall allow &s;o much more to Gods intere&s;t then you do. Obj. <HI>Why &s;hould you being a Lay-man, meddle with tyths which belongs to Gods &s;ervice? An&s;w.</HI> I do not meddle with any which belongs to Gods &s;ervice, but with what is abu&s;ed to mans wantonne&s;s. Obj. <HI>I am a Clergy</HI>-man. <HI>An&s;w.</HI> So are Thou&s;ands more; yet none hath right to tyth, but he that performs the duty enjoin|ed them that receive tythe: tythe is not &s;o much the mainte|nance of Mini&s;ters per&s;ons&punc; as their wages for their work: but a little of the tythe may &s;uffice him who does the work, as we may ob&s;erve from what you allow, and really I do not know by what Law of God or man a Clergy-man may turn his tyth to private advantage, any more then a Lay-man. O Sirs, if you neglect your Calling when you have maintenance, what will you do if you had none? Oh you that condemne Sacri|ledge, do you live by it? You that &s;ay a man &s;hould not rob the Church, do you rob it? You that preach and write again&s;t taking away Mini&s;ters maintenance, do you take away Mini|&s;ters maintenance? Is it for this the Nation upheld tyths again&s;t all oppo&s;itions, to have a few Readers and Curates? what, have we &s;aved them from the Factious, to be &s;wallowed up by the Covetous! Oh you are men born to undoe your &s;elves, to ruine your calling, and to tempt a greedy world to take away all your maintenance. Do you read Hi&s;tory? (Alas, I am af|fraid that a &s;pirit hath &s;eized you.) Do you ob&s;erve what was written in <HI>Ead. 10. ch. p.</HI> 279. and <HI>Chartres de nug. <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ur.</HI> 7. 21.
<PB N="59" REF="33">
<HI>They</HI> (the Prie&s;ts) <HI>grew &s;candalous:&mdash;they neglected their Cures; they re&s;ided not upon their Livings;&mdash;they went to and fro for their plea&s;ure; the people aro&s;e up again&s;t them, the Noblemen withdrew their tyth from them;&mdash;the whole kingdom cryed,</HI> No &s;ervice, no maintenance:&mdash;<HI>Yea, the poor, people burned the tyths, being loath the unworthy Mini&s;ters &s;hould have any bene|fit by them, though loath them&s;elves to meddle with them&punc;</HI>&mdash;There|upon it was agreed among the <HI>Thanes,</HI> that there &s;hould be no maintenance given to Par&s;ons, but to Churches, which might allow them to &s;uch per&s;ons as did them &s;ervice; and that none &s;hould live by Church-allowance, but they that did Church|duties. <HI>Seld. ibid. Excerpt. Egbert. can.</HI> 100. In continuance of time the Lazy and the idle had ingro&s;&s;ed almo&s;t all Church|preferments; then the tithes were alienated and impropriated as it is at this day&mdash;whereupon the Clergy awaked a while, and followed their bu&s;ine&s;s diligently in K. <HI>Ed.</HI> 6. and the be|ginning of Q. <HI>El.</HI> Reign. Yet men are men &s;till: for about the 30. of Q. <HI>El.</HI> the remainder of Church-livings that had e&s;caped the Impropriators, was ingro&s;&s;ed by a few Plurali&s;ts and Non|re&s;idents: in &s;o much that the Commons in the Parliament of that year petitioned the Lords earne&s;tly, argued rationally, con|cluded peremptorily again&s;t the&s;e mi&s;carriages, as they did in all Parliaments until the 12. of K. <HI>Ch.</HI> when the &s;candal of this u&s;urpation was &s;o great, the <HI>odium</HI> &s;o general, the clamour &s;o u|niver&s;al, the juggle of the Non-re&s;idents (in holding tyths un|der the pretence of the Mini&s;try for nothing, and in receiving a million of the National Revenue for nothing el&s;e but that they were in Orders) was &s;o apparent, that the whole maintenance of Mini&s;ters was endangered, all Church-preferment was threatned. And you who now cannot content your &s;elves with hand&s;ome and hone&s;t competencies, were like to be brought to a mor&s;el of Bread. O Sirs, <HI>give not occa&s;ion to them that &s;eeks occa&s;ion:</HI> let the world &s;ee that duty is more your care then Maintenance; that you do not <HI>work</HI> to <HI>eat,</HI> but that you <HI>eat</HI> to <HI>work;</HI> that to maintain the Engli&s;h Clergy, 1. to uphold Re|ligion; 2. to advance Gods Name? 3. to promote the &s;alva|tion of &s;ouls, to &s;upport the glory and intere&s;t of the Kingdom, together with the peace, civility, and happine&s;s of this Age and Po&s;terity.</P>
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