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<DATE>2007-04-25</DATE>
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<NAME>Jonathan Blaney</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>B^P <HI>CARLETONS</HI>
TESTIMONIE
<HI>Concerning the</HI>
Presbyterian Di&s;cipline
IN THE
<HI>LOW-CO&V;NTRIES,</HI>
AND
Epi&s;copall Government
Here in <HI>ENGLAND.</HI></P>
<P>VVherein is briefly di&s;covered the No|velty
of the one, and Antiquity of the other; with a
&s;hort ta&s;te of the inconveniences that attend
the new Plat-forme, where that is &s;et
up in the roome of the old
<HI>Primitive Government.</HI></P>
<P>Publi&s;hed for the common good.</P>
<P><Q>Tolle Epi&s;copos, &amp; tot erunt &s;chi&s;mata, quot homines.</Q></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI>
Printed for <HI>Nath: Butter.</HI> 1642.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
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<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE READERS.</HEAD>
<P>_IF you are of tho&s;e that are di&s;affected to the
Church-government by Law e&s;tabli&s;hed amongst
us, I wi&s;h this &s;mall Tract into your hands to
choo&s;e, to be read and con&s;idered of by you with
your mo&s;t &s;erious thoughts, that &s;o it may help
on your conver&s;ion. Doe not ca&s;t it away ere you have peru&s;ed
it, becau&s;e here a Bi&s;hop &s;peaks in his own cau&s;e. With the
&s;ame rea&s;on a conformable man may ca&s;t away <HI>Smectymnuus,</HI>
becau&s;e there &s;o many <HI>Presbyterians</HI> &s;peak their own cau&s;e.</P>
<P>Reade it. The Author (however &s;ome of your per&s;wa&s;ion
beare the world in hand mo&s;t injuriou&s;ly, and mo&s;t cunningly,
that a Rotchet mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily cover a Papi&s;ts heart) was all
his life, at flat defiance with Rome; and had he been cal|led
to the fiery tryall, doubtle&s;&s;e he would have followed <HI>Cran|mer,
Ridley, Latimer, Hooper,</HI> tho&s;e famous Prote&s;tant Bi|&s;hops
even to the &s;take, and &s;ealed that doctrine with his bloud,
which his tongue and pen publi&s;hed to the world.</P>
<P>Among other Tracts of his now extant, he hath a book forth
again&s;t <HI>Pelagiani&s;me</HI> and <HI>Arminiani&s;me.</HI> The book &s;tyled
<HI>Thankfull Remembrances</HI> &s;peaks likewi&s;e this Bi&s;hop Au|thor;
a book which no friend to Rome would certainly ever
have written. Let him be then your Remembrancer, and un|prejudiced
by you, (notwith&s;tanding his Lawne &s;leeves) prevail
<PB REF="3">
&s;o far with you to move you, if you finde he delivers truth to
change your mindes in ca&s;e you be now Schi&s;maticall in the
point of Church-government.</P>
<P>This learned man was one of tho&s;e &s;ent by that ble&s;&s;ed
Peace-maker, our late famous Soveraigne King <HI>JAMES</HI> to
the Synod of Dort upon a friendly errand: I would to God
this &s;olid and hone&s;t piece of his might helpe to make faire
accord at home in his own Countrey, which &s;o much needs paci|fication
now in the Church as well as the State.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not de&s;paire, but that it may conduce &s;omewhat to|ward
the one, &s;o parciali<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">y and all prejudicate opinions be laid
a&s;ide. It was a good &s;aying of a great &s;cholar, <HI>Amicus Plato,
&amp;c. Plato</HI> is our very good friend, &s;o is <HI>Socrates,</HI> and &s;o
<HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> but Truth is a much dearer friend. Somewhat like
this would you would &s;ay once and hold to it, <HI>Amicus Calvi|nus,
&amp;c. Calvin</HI> is our very good friend, &s;o is <HI>Beza,</HI> and &s;o
<HI>Cartwright,</HI> but Truth is by much our dearer friend.</P>
<P>Were the&s;e your mindes and re&s;olutions, you would no lon|ger
wi&s;h that yoake of di&s;cipline on your necks, which this ho|ne&s;t
Bi&s;hop will tell you in the next leafe, the Netherlanders
groane under and would faine ca&s;t off. So I refer you to the Bi|&s;hop,
I for my part have done with you, when I have a&s;&s;ured
you this is a true draught of learned <HI>Carlton;</HI> and onely far|ther
(which civility requires) bid you</P>
<CLOSER>Farewell.</CLOSER>
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<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>B^P Carletons te&s;timony concerning the
Presbyterian Di&s;cipline in the Low-Countries, and Epi|&s;copal
Government here in England.</HEAD>
<P>_TOuching the point of their
Di&s;cipline in the Low-Countries,
I can witne&s;&s;e
that they are weary of it,
&amp; would gladly be freed
if they could. VVhen we were to yeeld
our con&s;ent to the <HI>Belgick</HI> Confe&s;&s;ion at
<HI>Dort,</HI> I made open prote&s;tation in the
Synode, That whereas in the Confe&s;|&s;ion
there was in&s;erted a &s;trange conceit
of the parity of Mini&s;ters, to be in&s;titu|ted
by Chri&s;t; I declared our di&s;cent
utterly in that point; I &s;hewed, that by
Chri&s;t a Parity was never in&s;tituted in
<PB N="2" REF="4">
the Church; That he ordained 12. Apo|&s;tles,
and al&s;o 70. Di&s;ciples; That the au|thority
of the 12. was above the other;
That the Church pre&s;erved this order
left by our Saviour. And therfore when
the extraordinary authority of the Apo|&s;tles
cea&s;ed, yet their ordinary authority
continued in Bi&s;hops who &s;ucceeded
them, who were by the Apo&s;tles them|&s;elves
left in the government of the
Church to ordaine Mini&s;ters, and to &s;ee
that they who were &s;o ordained, &s;hould
preach no other doctrine; That in an in|feriour
degree the Mini&s;ters that were
governed by Bi&s;hops, who &s;ucceeded
the 70. Di&s;ciples; That this order hath
been maintained in the Church, from
the time of the Apo&s;tles; and herein I
appealed to the judgement of Antiqui|ty,
and to the judgement of any learned
man now living, and craved herein to
<PB N="3" REF="4">
be &s;atisfied, if any man of learning could
&s;peak to the contrary.<NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">B. Dave|nant. B. Hall.</NOTE> My Lord of <HI>Sa|lisbury</HI>
is my witne&s;&s;e, and &s;o are all the
re&s;t of our<NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">D. Ward. D. Goad. D. Balcan|quall.</NOTE> company, who &s;pake al&s;o in
the cau&s;e. To this there was no an&s;wer
made by any; whereupon we concei|ved
that they yeelded to the truth of the
Prote&s;tation. And &s;omewhat I can &s;ay
of mine owne knowledge, for I had con|ference
with divers of the be&s;t learned
in that Synode, I told them that the
cau&s;e of all their troubles was this, that
they had no Bi&s;hops among&s;t them,
who by their authority might repre&s;&s;e
turbulent &s;pirits, that broached novel|ties.
Every man had liberty to &s;peak or
write what he li&s;t, and as long as there
were no Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall men in authori|ty
to repre&s;&s;e and cen&s;ure &s;uch contenti|ous
&s;pirits, their Church could never be
without trouble: Their an&s;wer was, that
<PB N="4" REF="5">
they did much honour and reverence
the good order and di&s;cipline of the
Church of <HI>England,</HI> and with all their
hearts would be glad to have it e&s;tabli|&s;hed
among&s;t them; but that could not
be hoped for in their State. Their hope
was, that &s;eeing they could not do what
they de&s;ired, God would be mercifull to
them if they did what they could. This
was their an&s;wer, which I thinke is e|nough
to excu&s;e them, that they doe
not openly aime at an Anarchie, and
popular confu&s;ion. The truth is, they
groane under that burden, and would
be ea&s;ed if they could. This is well
knowne to the re&s;t of my A&s;&s;ociates
there.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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