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<DATE>2012-08-21</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
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<P>AN APOLOGY, Vindicating the CAVALEERS from a partiall, or rather a pa&s;&s;ionate a&s;per&s;ion too rigorou&s;ly put upon them for making Churches Pri&s;ons and Stables. <HI>Wherein is di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, di&s;puted,</HI> (<HI>although</HI> not the lawfulne&s;&s;e) yet (at this time) the unavoydable nece&s;&s;ity of it.</P>
<P>London Printed in the yeare, 1643.</P>
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<HEAD>AN APOLOGY, Vindicating the Cavaleers, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P>_MAny of this Kingdome, have &s;eemed of late to be much troubled, (I cannot &s;ay in con&s;cience, untill it better appeare by their conver&s;ations; that they make a con&s;cience of any thing, therefore, let it be trouble in their thoughts,) and trouble others with their &s;illy di&s;cour&s;es, about the throwing downe of Organs, &s;ilencing of Cathedrall Roarers, and Squeakers, bat|tering of Images, defacing the Popi&s;h paint, &amp; gaudery of Churches, and a&s;&s;aulting immode&s;tly for&s;ooth, and irregiou&s;ly, not onely that &s;acred &s;mock of the whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> the Surplice, but al&s;o the formali&s;ts grand Charter for Heaven, the Common prayer Book: all this while the&s;e de|vout men have not beene at all perplexed, or moved at that piacular in&s;olence, and more then heatheni&s;h impiety of the Cavaleers at <HI>Oxford, King&s;tone</HI> upon <HI>Thames,</HI> &amp; <HI>Cirence&s;ter,</HI> have not onely made pri&s;ons, but by the inhumane re&s;traint of their Pri&s;oners, Jakes, &amp; in <HI>Devon&s;hire,</HI> and <HI>Cornwall</HI> &s;tables of Gods hou&s;es; &s;o reverentiall and devoutly tender of the honour of Gods hou&s;es, have the&s;e Bi&s;hops white boyes been, who yet in the account of &s;ome half witted Guls, are the onely Patrons both of Church men, and Churches, &amp; the truely zealous advancers of the Prote|&s;tant Religion. The &s;erious con&s;ideration of which premi&s;es, cals to my remembrance, that no le&s;&s;e true then famous axiome of Divines, <HI>quicquid propter Deum fit aequaliter fit</HI> (1) what is done to Gods glory, is alwaies
<PB N="3" REF="2">done upon the &s;ame occa&s;ions, for he that honoureth God upon true Grounds will honour him impartially, and at all opportunities alike; by the help of which &s;ub&s;tantiall ground I &s;hall at once confute both the pra|ctice of the di&s;&s;embling Cavalier, and al&s;o the opinions and di&s;cour&s;es of tho&s;e formall Prote&s;tants, who upon all occa&s;ions decry the Browni&s;t and his practice, and yet have not an ill word for the&s;e cur&s;ed Cavaliers, who farre tran&s;cend the Browni&s;t in that very particular, whereof the Browni&s;t in their mi&s;guided partiall judgement &s;tand guilty.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, if the Cavalier in good earne&s;t di&s;like the rudene&s;&s;e of the Se|parati&s;t, in laying violent hands upon the&s;e &s;acred Uten&s;ills, appointed by our holy mother-Church, for the &s;etting forth of Gods wor&s;hip with more lu&s;ter, and a &s;tronger Influence upon the dull affections of the vulgar, why doth the &s;ame Rake-hell &s;o farre forget his own di&s;cour&s;e, as to unhallow not onely the &s;acred implements, but the very Churches them&s;elves, if his eye were all on Gods glory, in his accu&s;ations of the Separati&s;t? he might &s;ee as ju&s;t cau&s;e to condemne him&s;elf, who doth the &s;ame thing in a more notorious manner, if any love to God &s;et his tongue on work again&s;t the Separati&s;t, it would teach his hand to ab&s;tain from that which he &s;o deeply cen&s;ures in the other.</P>
<P>Secondly, tell me, thou lukewarm, or rather key-cold Prote&s;tant, who art alwayes &s;narling at the&s;e poore de&s;pi&s;ed Chri&s;tians, who&s;e practi&s;e thinke&s;t thou is more &s;candalous, the Browni&s;t's, who out of con&s;cience la|bours to purge our Churches of the&s;e Babiloni&s;h Reliques, or the Cavalier (who at lea&s;t without, if not again&s;t Con&s;cience) transformes the very Churches them&s;elves into Pri&s;ons, Stables, Jakes? did&s;t thou adore the&s;e &s;tinking Cavaliers onely (as thou &s;ai&s;t) for their zeal and Religion to Gods hou&s;es, then coulde&s;t thou not hold al&s;o from defilng them for their unex|ampled polluting of them: either then &s;pare the la&s;h of thy venomous tongue towards the one, or el&s;e &s;pit thy venome al&s;o at the other.</P>
<P>Our Saviour thou knowe&s;t (if I may without offence mention that &s;a|cred name, when I talk of the&s;e varlet) tells us that the temple is greater, and holier then either the Altar, or gold upon the Altar, and accounts of the Scribes, and Phari&s;ees, as of blind buzzards, who thought otherwi&s;e <HI>Mat.</HI> 23.17. If it be &s;o then I hope the blind formali&s;t by the &s;ame force of rea&s;on will be convinced, that the churches them&s;elves de&s;erve more reverence from us, then Organes or other Popi&s;h trumpery; if therefore thou ha&s;t any heart (thou be&s;otted ignorant formali&s;t) to put in practi&s;e the former golden rule above mentioned, fail not to remember that when
<PB N="4" REF="3">thou di&s;gorge&s;t thy rancor again&s;t Separati&s;ts for di&s;honouring Gods hou&s;e, thou oughte&s;t at the &s;ame time to be&s;patter the Cavalier, who much more di&s;honours it; if thou forget this thy duty inforc'd upon the &s;ame ground, then take it not ami&s;&s;e, if thou be herafter accounted by every wi&s;e man that heats thee a &s;hamele&s;&s;e Cen&s;or; and that thou rather di&s;couere&s;t thy malignant humour then any judgement, when thou &s;everely reprehende&s;t the one, and &s;pare&s;t the other, who more ju&s;tly de&s;erves thy bittere&s;t re|prehen&s;ions.</P>
<P>But notwith&s;tanding all that hath been &s;aid, or (it may be) can be &s;aid, are there not &s;ome &s;o impudent as to palliate and varni&s;h ouer this cur&s;ed fact, who yet keep on barking at the poore &s;eparati&s;t? nay are not &s;ome grave Doctors of that Univer&s;ity, where this fact was committed who have had the fore-heads not onely in their private di&s;cour&s;es, but (I would I could not &s;ay it) in the pulpet, as it were in de&s;pight of all that which hath hitherto been preached &amp; written, by that practi&s;e to the contrary, to legi|timate that ba&s;e action and proclaime it not onely lawfull and &s;eemely, but laudable? and now here I be&s;eech you upon what learned grounds the&s;e grave bea&s;ts have &s;o determin'd it? becau&s;e for&s;ooth the Cavaliers were nece&s;&s;itated to what they did, wanting other convenient receptacles for their pri&s;oners. Eye upon that foule mouth that &s;aid it, fouler I wis then tho&s;e profane Churches after a months defilement: for were there in all <HI>Oxford</HI> no un&s;anctified Colledges, which might with more convenience and le&s;&s;e &s;candall have been converted into Pri&s;ons and Jakes then God hou&s;es? to my apprehen&s;ion, rather then you &s;hould have &s;o thwarted your Epi&s;copal doctrine, by &s;uch an unheard of pre&s;ident at &s;uch a time, when your zeale for Churches and their ornaments &s;hould have been mo&s;t con&s;picuous, had it not been much better, and more advantageous to your cau&s;e that your &s;elves had wanted for a time the convenience of hou&s;es, then that Gods hou&s;es &s;hould bee &s;o fouly di&s;honoured. <HI>Vobis ip&s;is &s;pectantibus &amp; plauden|dentibus,</HI> whil&s;t your &s;elves were lookers on, nay applauders and collourers of &s;o &s;hamefull an action? e&s;pecially &s;ince you cannot, but have fre&s;h in your memory, that at the reedifying of St. <HI>Pauls Church</HI> at London, good St. Gregories was demoli&s;hed by the Command of your then great <HI>Metropo|litane,</HI> that &s;o St. Pauls might have the more elbow-room, for no man hath yet heard of any other cau&s;e, whence I thus rea&s;on; If God him&s;elfe may be ca&s;hiered of a Church meerely out of a &s;illy complement to St. Paul, your &s;elves might with patience have layen in the &s;treets (a decent lodging for &s;uch Athei&s;ts) for the pre&s;eruing Gods hou&s;e from &s;uch unexpiable di&s;honour.</P>
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<P>Yea but another Reverend bea&s;t &s;aid that this di&s;u&s;e (how finely the man could phra&s;e it) of the&s;e Churches, was onely for &s;ome &s;hort time; he that &s;aid &s;o, might as well excu&s;e a &s;onne that ravi&s;heth his Mother, by &s;aying he did it onely for a time; can the beggarly circum&s;tance of ime excu&s;e that tedious practi&s;e which &s;hould not &s;o much as lodge in your thoughts, the lea&s;t minute of time? Moreover the people of <HI>Oxford</HI> know for how long time this Sacrieledge was continued, and how ready the &s;ame men are (&s;hould God permit them any more to conquer, which the ba&s;e u&s;e of their pa&s;t victories will, I doubt not, avert) to doe the like or a more impious and &s;candalous act at any time</P>
<P>But it hath been gravely an&s;wered: that the Pri&s;oners, good men had their option, at lea&s;t de&s;erved no other place of their re&s;traint then Chur|ches. Had the&s;e Caytifs knowne &s;o much, they had que&s;tionle&s;&s;e found pri&s;ons &s;ome where el&s;e; lea&s;t in any thing the&s;e poore Saints &s;hould by their meanes have had their de&s;ires; againe the&s;e poore men though they mo&s;t of all love Gods hou&s;es, yet know, that to love them for &s;uch u&s;es, had been to have loved the abu&s;es of them which were not to love them.</P>
<P>Another incarnate Divell &s;aid aloud, that &s;uch Puritans de&s;erved in that hou&s;e to be purni&s;ht, where by their preci&s;enes they had &s;o often offended; which is all one as if he had &s;aid, they de&s;erve there to be puni&s;hed, where God had been by them &s;o devoutly &s;erv'd. What reward waites for thee thou Heli&s;h tongue? <HI>&s;imilis labra luctueas,</HI> a bla&s;phemy well be&s;eeming a Court divine; neverthele&s;&s;e the truth is, what ever pretences they have &s;ought out for the palliating this unparalel'd piece of Athei&s;me, for &s;o it would have been accounted three yeares &s;ince, even by the whole rabble of the&s;e Cathedrall Sycophants, the true cau&s;e I &s;ay of this vile fact was none other then the ba&s;e e&s;teeme (however they have &s;eem'd to carry it) that party hath of Churches of which as formerly they &s;peak with reverence, and entered them with great &s;hew of devotion, and at other mens charges adorn'd, &amp; &s;et them forth with all manner encomioms of holynes, &s;o now the tide of things being &s;omewhat turn'd, and Policy coming in the room of &s;hewfull Pageantlike devotions, as a more helpfull a&s;&s;i&s;tant to the pre&s;ent exigences: now I &s;ay the &s;ame men who&s;e thoughts were wholly po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;'d with Popi&s;h projects of attiring Churches; thereby to approve them|&s;elves to their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> man Idoll, are as well content that the &s;ame Chur|ches &s;hould be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> vile&s;t offices: Nay mo&s;t confident I am, and &s;o I beleeve are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> who have with di&s;cretion lookt into their di&s;|&s;eumbled outward <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> that &s;o their cau&s;e may be advanced by it,
<PB N="6" REF="4">the be&s;t of them care not, if all the Churches in England were converted into &s;ynagogues for Jewes, or Mo&s;ques for Mahomet, nay their height of joy it would be, if all our Churches were turned (as of late &s;ome of them you know have beene) into Pri&s;ons, &s;o Puritans and Roundheads fill'd them: and if all manner of &s;ervice of God were for ever laid a&s;ide upon condition the title of their Lordly revennues were chang'd from frank Almoygne to fee &s;imple, whereby they might durably entayle their pride and luxury upon their licentious brats and po&s;terity.</P>
<P>Had not &s;ome &s;uch chri&s;tian thoughts and de&s;ires as the&s;e, lodged in the brea&s;ts of our Court-Clergy-Para&s;ites at <HI>Oxford,</HI> it is impo&s;&s;ible but that upon view or notice of that Publique Profanation of their Churches, either &s;ome Arch-bi&s;hop, or Bi&s;hop or Doctor, e&s;pecially that Ceremonious Ma&s;ter of Baliol Colledge Do. Laur. who wore the con&s;ecrated &s;lippers, and &s;pent mo&s;t of his &s;tock of learning upon that empty di&s;cour&s;e of his, touching the holine&s;&s;e of churches, &s;hould not have made way to his Ma|je&s;tie, and after this or the like manner have ea&s;'d his cou&s;cience, and expre&s;t him&s;elf to his &s;acred per&s;on.</P>
<P><FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="sermon">
<P>Mo&s;t gracious Soveraigne, defender of the truly anncient Catholique faith, and the great protector both of Churches and Churchmen.</P>
<P>I humbly crave your Mate&s;ties gracious pardon that I your Maie&s;ties mo&s;t unworthy &s;ervant, yet truly loyall &s;ubiect dare adventure to open my mouth before your &s;acred Mate&s;tie, having not fir&s;t received your Maie&s;ties commands for the unloo&s;ing my infant tongue.</P>
<P>Your all knowing Maie&s;tie cannot but exactly know and it hath been a &s;ubiect frequently &s;tood upon and gravely pre&s;&s;ed in your Maie&s;ties audience, by your Maie&s;ties mo&s;t faithfull &s;ubiects and &s;ervants the Arch-bi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops and other of your learned Clergy, who&s;e happine&s;&s;e it hath been to performe their duties before your Maie&s;tie in the hou&s;e of God. That the ma|teriall Churches or Temples are places &s;et apart &amp; con&s;ecrated to Gods pecu|liar &s;ervice. That God him&s;elfe whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot con|taine, delights to dwell in the&s;e hou&s;es made with hands, vouch&s;afes a &s;peciall pre&s;ence unto them, and conferrs at the in&s;tance and devout importunity of his pious &s;ervants are all though ineffable holine&s;&s;e upon them, and therefore in all ages of the Church, more e&s;pecially in the purest times when the &s;eemly wor&s;hip of God mo&s;t flouri&s;ht, a &s;ingular care hath been alwayes taken to pre&s;erve the&s;e &s;acred fabricks from common u&s;es, e&s;pecially from Pro&s;anation; in imitation whereof (for your divine Maie&s;tie cannot fall &s;hort in any point of the mo&s;t re|nowned Chri&s;tian Princes) there is, at lea&s;t hath been of late yeares under your
<PB N="7" REF="4">Maie&s;ties mo&s;t religious Raigne, the beauty of holine&s;&s;e &s;o farre forth to be found in your Mate&s;ties Churches, that in de&s;pight of the&s;e ignorant peevi&s;h male|contents who care not or rather de&s;ire that Gods hou&s;es &s;hould be as undecently or &s;lutti&s;hly kept as their &s;hops or Barnes? Churches have been to admiration adorned, Altars erected, Copes, Tapers, Crucifixes and other comely and ho|ly ornaments brought in u&s;e againe, and by your Maie&s;ties countenance, and the vigilancie of the Reverend Fathers of your Church, the antient and &s;oule-ravi&s;hing wor&s;hip of God &s;o &s;etled, not onely in your Churches but al&s;o in the affections of your &s;ubiects, that a proportionable reward thereof in this life, the choy&s;e&s;t ble&s;&s;ing of Heaven &s;urrounded your royall throne, the maligners of your Maie&s;ties Diadem and the &s;acred Miter, find few, at lea&s;t, no con&s;ide|rable advocates. Indeed it cannot be di&s;&s;embl'd that of very late dayes by the mighty working of Setan, the&s;e coutemptibe mu&s;hromes (but now touched at) di&s;covering a di&s;contented party though from different grounds from them) among&s;t the Nobles and Commons in the late Parliament of your Maiesties own mo&s;t Gracious calling, who envying the happine&s;&s;e of your Maiesties meniall &s;ervants, and &s;ome &s;elect Mini&s;ters of &s;tate, whom the beames of your Maiesties Grace had mo&s;t in&s;tly made glorious, or (which is neare&s;t of all the truth, lowring at your Maie&s;ties royall &s;cepter, &amp; Prerogative, a tribe of Politicks de&s;titute of all de&s;erts, or el&s;e your omni&s;cious Maiesty had certainly taken notice of them) yet highly conceited of an indi&s;|coverable, worth and eminency in them&s;elves, and a &s;uitablene&s;&s;e to high employments, which God knowes they eminently want; unto this &s;eed of evill doers permitted by the Divine Providence in your Kingdome, onely to exer|ci&s;e the vertues of your accompli&s;hed Councell, have this onely re&s;erve of turbulent Cartwrights <HI>Geneva</HI> novelty applied them&s;elves, and in requitall of their cra&s;ty &s;impathizing with their Rebellions ends, have been admitted into their confederacy, who &s;o gracious with them, as the&s;e Church-racking, tu|multuous &s;pirits, the&s;e every where unprotected and baffled Sectaries, who again the better to gratifie their new ma&s;ters, and to approve them&s;elves, and (which is their meat and drink) to doe mi&s;chiefs, upon apprehen&s;ions of their new patrons de&s;igne fell &s;peedily, and furiou&s;ly (as their man|ner is) to work, blew the coules mo&s;t zealou&s;ly to their Rebellious enterpri&s;e, di&s;paraged the Crown: blemi&s;hed that intaminate Peerele&s;&s;e Con&s;ort, in no|thing inferiour to that greate&s;t &s;aint of her name in heaven, but immortality, threw dirt in abundance upon the &s;acred Miter. buzzed impure notions of licen&s;e, and independency into the credulous vulgar, in a word &s;o plaid their parts in &s;currilous libells, Sermons, di&s;cour&s;es, that in &s;hort time, they which
<PB N="8" REF="5">&s;et them a work had nothing almo&s;t left for them&s;elves to doe, but onely to admire the dexteritie, and &s;ucce&s;&s;efullne&s;&s;e of the&s;e formerly contemned in&s;tru|ments Whereupon their new ma&s;ters abundantly &s;en&s;ible of their &s;ufficiency began to unfold them&s;elves more freely unto them, nay threw open a wide gap to their familiarity &s;ola&s;'t each other in their low ungrac'd condition as Caius Marius and Carthage did of old in the Hi&s;torian prayd together for the confu&s;ion of the Churches and Kingdomes glory.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>*</HI> Velleius Paterculus.</NOTE> Prerogative and Prelacy; indeed by Gods connivance in Proce&s;&s;e of time, &s;o it came to pa&s;&s;e, that this mongrel mon&s;trous bea&s;t begotten betweene a &s;ectary and an envious Peere, &s;o thrived and gathered &s;trength whether thorough the novelty of the proiect (for the Vulgar are u&s;ualy ravi&s;hed with new fangles) or the activity and zeale of the&s;e cur&s;ed incendiaries, who left no &s;tone unroll'd to bring about the de&s;igne; your Maie&s;ties Cathedrall &s;ubiects were put into a bodily feare, that their fatall period and de&s;olation was drawing neere, and that Pre|lacy (which I tremble to relate) was either to be devor&s;ed from Prerogative, or el&s;e both as they had long stood, &s;o in a trace were to fall together, and the glorious Church and Monarchy of England to run the &s;ame ba&s;e fates with Democraticall Scotland. This unexpected hurli-burly (as there was iu&s;t cau&s;e) &s;oone put your Maiesties &s;acred Clergy out of the&s;e devout offices, which held the peoples hearts unto them, and we became a &s;ort of men cheap and contemptible, untill at length it plea&s;ed God by a new a&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Martiall vigour to &s;trengthen your Maie&s;ties &s;acred arme, and to rou&s;e up the &s;leepie courage of your liege people &s;o farre that the greater and better part of your Kingdome were animated to declare to fight for your maie&s;ties rights (a large portion of which have no other fountaine then your Clergies height, and nearne&s;&s;e to your Maie&s;tie) &s;ince which time (your Mate&s;tie and we all can|not but with exultation acknowledge) by the Cathedrall prayers of your Cler|gy as well as by the &s;words <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> the&s;e &s;onn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> of Mars, the heroick Cavaliert ma|ny glorious victories haue been obtained as at Keinton, Branford, Marlebo|row, Cirencester &amp; in the North, all which and the re&s;t, which are yet to come are under God, wholly to be attributed to the &s;peciall re&s;pect the Allmighty beares to your Mo&s;t Religious Per&s;on, and to the Canonicall, Cathedrall Prayers of your upper Clergy &s;o that now your Maie&s;ties, &amp; your Church|es glorie, &s;eemes only to have been Eclip&s;ed for a time that it might &s;hine forth again in fuller &s;trength &amp; gaine new beams by that di&s;con&s;olate interrup|tion. Yet after all the&s;e te&s;timoates from heaven of the truth of your Maie&s;ties cau&s;e, one particular there is, by the demerits whereof without early prevention we may chance to hazzard all our happine&s;&s;e in the very haven, and that is it,
<PB N="9" REF="5">which with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to your Maje&s;ties divine judgement I &s;hall now take the boldne&s;&s;e in a few words to di&s;cover, and it is none other then that mo&s;t unhappy ac|cident ca&s;t in of late, no doubt by the impure hand of Satan, nay to bla&s;t our bud|ding, nay almo&s;t flouri&s;hing hopes, that unparalelled profanation of Gods and your Maje&s;ties Churches, which I began to looke at, at the entrance of this my addre&s;&s;e to your Maje&s;ty, but was diverted and thru&s;t a&s;ide by tho&s;e uncivill ju&s;tlers of Monarchy it &s;elfe, whom I could not but for a time let flie at, even in the pre&s;ence of your Maje&s;ty; returning therefore from whence I have &s;o long digre&s;&s;ed, I &s;hall now by your Maje&s;ties pardon and patience, cloze this humble tender of my duty and con&s;cience in a briefe repre&s;entation of this horrid fact, and the inconveniences, or mi&s;chiefes rather; which either have already, or will in rea&s;on infallibly attend it. The fact &s;uch, that I feare tho&s;e &s;o effectuall <HI>Cathedrall</HI> ori&s;ons of your Clergy, without &s;ome &s;peciall miracle of mercy from heaven upon them, cannot expiate, and therefore the mi&s;chiefes which mu&s;t attend, will corre&s;pond to the de&s;erts of &s;uch a Cau&s;e, if a timely humiliation ward them not off from us; I cannot then (dread So|veraigne) longer di&s;&s;emble that, which is the joy and hope of your enemies, and a ra&s;or upon the hearts of your mo&s;t faithfull Subjects, That too well, and too far violation of two of our neighbour Churches here in <HI>Oxford,</HI> that of Saint <HI>Giles,</HI> and <HI>Maudlins</HI> Pari&s;h, into which your <HI>Provo&s;t Mar&s;hall</HI> (no doubt for want of other convenience, but that &s;atisfies not) thru&s;t that Rebellious crew which a late Victory brought from <HI>Cirence&s;ter:</HI> I have heard the like was done at <HI>King&s;ton,</HI> but I will not beleeve it, oh that no man knew or beleeved this, it is the be&s;t wi&s;h I can breathe out, next unto that, it had not at all been done, but done it is, I would there were an Act of oblivion pa&s;t upon it, at lea&s;t I would we could as ea&s;ily ga|ther up the infamy of it, as it might have been prevented: Your Maje&s;ty I know is cleare and innocent from this great offence, may the puni&s;hment fall upon that head which fir&s;t conceived it, and may your &s;acred Maje&s;ty be untoucht, better your Church, your Kingdome fall, then your &s;acred per&s;on feele but one twinge of the toothache: How loath me thinkes I am to &s;peake out all, how officiou&s;ly my fancy &s;tirs my tongue to other matters, but my thoughts will not, out it mu&s;t, le&s;t it bur&s;t in the delivery, your Churches (gracious Soveraigne) your Churches are di&s;ho|noured defiled, become an abomination in the &s;ight of heaven, your Churches only dedicated to heavenly u&s;es, are made to &s;erve the vile&s;t offices. Neither the &s;acred Font, that fountaine of &s;pirituall life, nor the ble&s;&s;ed Altar, that heaven upon earth, where Chri&s;t vouch&s;afed us more then his &s;pirituall pre&s;ence, can &s;ay I am not pol|luted, I am not vile and contemptible, can the enemy &s;ay le&s;&s;e, where is now their God? Certainly he will &s;ay, what is become of that reverence, that pro&s;tration, that opinion of holine&s;&s;e, u&s;ed and &s;aid to be in Churches, was all that &s;ervice but a
<PB N="10" REF="6">frolicke, but a toy, but a &s;cene made to &s;erve the times, and Churchmens turnes, will the next cour&s;e of &s;erving God be thought other then another frolicke, a hu|mour, a ba&s;e accommodation to the times? Will your Reverend Fathers be hereaf|ter beleeved, When they &s;hall gravely tell that too much reverence cannot be u&s;ed in the hou&s;e of God, where God hath a &s;peciall re&s;idence, is more pre&s;ent then el&s;ewhere in the world who can with &s;ilence, with patience, &s;ee God him&s;elfe put out of his po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion, and nor be Martyrs in the vindication of &s;uch Sacriledge? Were there not hou&s;es to be found in your Maje&s;ties territories capable of the&s;e mi&s;creants, be&s;ides your Churches? Let me once &s;peake with freedome to your Maje&s;ty, better had it been that the&s;e Rebels had yet remained unquelled, that the&s;e enemies of your Scep|ter had yet exalted them&s;elves, then that your God &s;hould have been thus di&s;honour|ed, better had it been to have fled before our enemies, then that our God &s;hould have been put to flight, and cha&s;ed from amongst us, and that in time of need, when Mo|narchy, nay more, Epi&s;copacy is &s;o boldly a&s;&s;aulted. I feare dread Soveraigne, I would this feare were groundle&s;&s;e, that <HI>Wallers</HI> late Victories, and the con&s;ternati|on of your Subjects, owe them&s;elves to no other cau&s;e, then the profanation of the&s;e Churches, tho&s;e enemies of your Crown and heaven, though no friends to Churches, were yet &s;o mode&s;t, or &s;o politicke, as not to adventure upon this way of incen&s;ing heaven, untill they &s;aw Gods ju&s;tice ingaged again&s;t your party in &s;ome notable &s;troke of vengeance, &s;o religious they were, as not to be leaders in the crime: I have done, and my hearts de&s;ire it is, that future misfortunes makes not your Maje&s;ty too &s;en&s;ible of the truth of that which is the &s;ilence of others who better might have &s;poken, Command of con&s;cience only bad me &s;ay,</P>
<CLOSER>Vivat Rex Carolus.</CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT></P>
<P>Such a Homily as this would, whether you re&s;pect the flattery, the bla&s;phe|my, the &s;uper&s;tition, or the &s;pightfull excur&s;ions not ami&s;&s;e have &s;uited with the grave managing of a <HI>Cathedrall</HI> beard, and I wonder that none of all that rout of <HI>Cathedrall</HI> fugitives which now emba&s;e the Court, had not remembred to be&s;tow on his Maje&s;ty one ca&s;t of their wonted zeale in this argument, but the truth is, the bouncing of Guns, the prauncing of Hor&s;es, the ratling of Armes, the pledging of healths, and the cur&s;ing of Schi&s;maticks and Parlia|ments have disfurni&s;hed our <HI>Cathedrall</HI> Droanes of all thoughts of the holi|ne&s;&s;e of Churches; alas, when Epi&s;copacy it &s;elfe is &s;o fiercely &s;truck at, nay wounded in a vitall part, can a Bi&s;hop have the lea&s;ure, in &s;uch a time when all thoughts and indu&s;try is too little in &s;eeking plai&s;ters for the wounds of Epi&s;copacy, to trouble and di&s;tract his minde about the &s;ervice of God, and holine&s;&s;e of Churches; indeed a time of deep peace was &s;ea&s;onable for &s;uch thoughts, a time hewne out for the advancement of Churches and Churchmens
<PB N="11" REF="6">pomp, was now indi&s;creetly allowed to the ungratiating of Churches both with King and People: but the depth of <HI>Cathedrall</HI> mi&s;eries now it is, that it can only be &s;aid, &s;uch times lately were, when the wheele of Fortune is turned, and the robu&s;tious &s;ouldier &s;its uppermo&s;t, and at the next whirle the inexo|rable Seperati&s;t may chance to perk up, <HI>Cathedrall</HI> men may commendably leave off tithing Mint and Cummin, leave off talking of Altars, and holine&s;&s;e of Churches, and &s;adly meditate on tho&s;e weightier matters, of maintaining wives and children, of &s;ecuring their Carka&s;es from the Parliament, and their hou&s;es from that terrible word <HI>Plunder:</HI> Me thinkes I heare a <HI>Ca|thedrall</HI> Humble Bee buzzing out &s;ome &s;uch dolefull &s;traines as the&s;e, Oh that there had been &s;o much providence in our Velvet Nodles, as to have thought there might have been a Parliament, and &s;uch &s;hrewd heads in it, that the re|wards and Grace of a King cannot purcha&s;e &s;uch as can overmatch them, which yet &s;eemes very &s;trange, e&s;pecially &s;ince &s;uch care was taken to bring idlene&s;&s;e and licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e in fa&s;hion both at the Innes of Court, and Uni|ver&s;ities, &s;o that it had been (one would thinke) an ea&s;ie matter for a Prince, in who&s;e hand was the &s;taple of all preferments, to have had choi&s;e of in&s;tru|ments for any &s;ervice, e&s;pecially by the concurrent a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Law and the Go&s;pell, but yet which way &s;oever it came about, improvident we were, and irre&s;pective of afterclaps, el&s;e we might have laid up friends in <HI>Banke,</HI> even among&s;t the Seperati&s;ts them&s;elves, which now would have be&s;teed us in time of need, &s;omwhat in prudence might have been abated in the rigorous exaction of Ceremonies, the Canons in force might have been executed with|out &s;pightfulne&s;&s;e and delight, in the puni&s;hment of &s;uch as were found tardy, Churches might have been adorned like Matrons, not tricked up like &s;trum|pets, like the Idolatrous Temples of Rome, enough might have been done to draw on devotion, though all had been omitted which &s;erved to erect a wan|ton love to Churches, it might have been &s;aid, and &s;car&s;e gain&s;aid, that Churches were fitly both rai&s;ed and u&s;ed for the publike &s;ervice of God, it needed not to have been added an unexpre&s;&s;able holine&s;&s;e was impre&s;&s;ed on the walls, by meanes of con&s;ecration, and then if an urgent nece&s;&s;ity, as &s;ince hath happened (but then I beleeve had never been) had turned a Church into a Pri&s;on, it might fairely have been &s;aid, that Church had lo&s;t its u&s;e, not lo&s;t that holine&s;&s;e it never had, and then this vile practi&s;e of the Cavaleers had not thus &s;tuck like a bur of infamy in our Cathedrall throates, &s;hall I &s;ay, or upon our con&s;ciences, if any &s;uch thing we have hardlier, to be removed then taking up Armes again&s;t our Prince, from the tender Con&s;cience of an hone&s;t Brow|ni&s;t, neither then (&s;ay I) had there been occa&s;ion to have rai&s;ed or re&s;olved
<PB N="12" REF="7">the&s;e two que&s;tions mentioned in the fronti&s;peece, which in the la&s;t place call for a di&s;patch, and the fir&s;t was this:
<Q><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> Whether the Seperati&s;t (as he is called) who makes his hou&s;e, or (as it is &s;aid) his Barne a Church, be more &s;candalous, or the Cavalier (who look|ing another way in his di&s;cour&s;e and profe&s;&s;ion) hath at <HI>Oxford,</HI> where his Maje&s;tie re&s;ides, turned Churches (with reverence be it &s;poken) into pri&s;ons, and Jakes, and in <HI>Devon:</HI> at many places into Stables.</Q></P>
<P>This Que&s;tion &s;eemes to be, and is, I beleeve, in &s;ome mens apprehen&s;i|ons, a Ca&s;e of Con&s;cience, yet, I feare me, little will be contributed either from the Popi&s;h, or Prote&s;tant Ca&s;ui&s;ts towards the deci&s;ion: for, as I gue&s;&s;e, they have not heard of it, much le&s;&s;e handled it; neverthele&s;&s;e feare not, Gen|tle Reader, but that it may be fairely determined, for I have heard a wi&s;e man &s;ay, that a tollerable under&s;tanding be&s;t &s;tates a point of Con&s;cience, when there is lea&s;t of the&s;e Ca&s;ui&s;ts both directions and judgements in it. Give me leave fir&s;t to explaine &s;ome things in the Que&s;tion, and then thou &s;halt have my iudgement, &s;uch as it is, in this weighty matter. Fir&s;t then, by the Sepera|ti&s;t I meane all tho&s;e people of new or old <HI>England,</HI> who either will not, or el&s;e have no great heart to ioyne in the outward wor&s;hip of God, with any, be their learning or e&s;teem what it will, who make a con&s;cience of the Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|call policy, or Di&s;cipline of the Church of <HI>England,</HI> as it was lately mannaged by the Archbi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. Secondly, I adde that Parenthe&s;is <HI>(as they are called)</HI> to imply that in my judgement, though they are u&s;ually &s;o called by the adver&s;e party, yet they are ill called Seperati&s;ts, for (good men) they agree throughout with the for|mall Prote&s;tant, in the maine of Gods wor&s;hip, and in the whole Doctrine of the Go&s;pell, but Seperati&s;t only in that, wherein they are in con&s;cience per|&s;waded they ought not, and the adver&s;e party cannot, in the judgement of any indifferent man convince them, that they ought to joyne unto them: Indeed when it &s;hall be made cleare, or certaine, that they ought to joyne with the <HI>Cathedrall</HI> party, and then they &s;hall &s;tand off, I al&s;o &s;hall be well conten|ted to have them Chri&s;tened Seperati&s;ts.</P>
<P>In the meane time I wonder that any, at lea&s;t iudicious men, &s;hould fa&s;ten a terme of di&s;grace (for &s;o it is accounted) upon men both upright in their lives, and Orthodox in their tenets, meerly for not according with them in a humour, for not complying in a point of outward uniformity, when variety (for ought hath beene &s;aid to the contrary) hath both as much decency, and
<PB N="13" REF="7">might have for its companion, as much charity, in my poore iudgement (which I profe&s;&s;e in Gods &s;ight is impreiudiced for ought I know in this cau&s;e) men may as well call him a Seperati&s;t, that betakes him&s;elfe from one neighbourhood to another, or from one Corporation to another; for as &s;uch a man may be as good a Subiect to his King in both places, though hee ob&s;erve not the &s;ame Cu&s;tomes, and &s;hould be accounted &s;o; in like manner the other whom heedle&s;&s;e men call a Seperati&s;t, keeping the Relation to God, and his people inviolable, &s;o farre as God Commands him, at lea&s;t &s;incerely indeavouring it, is capable of, and &s;hould have our Charitie, and good opi|nion (though he differed from us in the&s;e outward Ceremonies) as cordially, as he that mo&s;t of all complies with us, nay, more many times, if rea&s;on may be heard, for many agree with the <HI>Cathedrall men</HI> meerely out of fa&s;hion, and this man differs out of con&s;cience, and what man, who is &s;ound in the Head|peece, likes not a man better than a <HI>Jacke-an-Apes,</HI> at lea&s;t each wi&s;eman &s;hould doe &s;o.</P>
<P N="3">3. Thirdly, when, I &s;ay, [<HI>That the Seperati&s;t makes his hou&s;e</HI> or (as its &s;aid) <HI>his Barne a Church</HI>] I &s;peake it againe in the words of his Calumniators, for it hath not yet beene made apparent that he doth either, at lea&s;t, not the latter, how ever it is not their con&s;tant opinion (who beare that name) that Churches &s;hould be di&s;us'd, and Barnes, or private Hou&s;es &s;erve in &s;tead of Churches, onely this much is true, that in regard they are offended at the Cu&s;tomes and humane impo&s;itions in our publike wor&s;hip, they chu&s;e rather to &s;erve God in their private hou&s;es, or it may be any where, then omit the performance of &s;o nece&s;&s;ary a duty, &s;o that what they now doe is onely <HI>In ca&s;u nece&s;&s;itatis,</HI> and whil&s;t our publike places of wor&s;hip are not open, at lea&s;t, for the foppi&s;h Ceremonies u&s;ed in them are offen&s;ive to them.</P>
<P N="4">4. Fourthly, the burthen of the <HI>Quere</HI> re&s;ting upon the&s;e words <HI>[More &s;can|dalous]</HI> It is but convenient that this phra&s;e of compari&s;on be well weighed: Fir&s;t then, I would not have any man hence inferre, that the practi&s;e of the Seperati&s;t is at all &s;candalous in propriety of &s;peech, becau&s;e I am about to prove the practi&s;e of the Cavaliers is more &s;candalous, for the &s;candall which ari&s;eth from the practi&s;e of the <HI>Nonconformi&s;t</HI> (for &s;o may he mo&s;t fitly be cal|led, unle&s;&s;e you plea&s;e to call him, what in very truth he is, an hone&s;t man,) is only <HI>Scandalum acceptum,</HI> a po&s;itive Scandall, a &s;candall in fancie and opinion only, wheras that of the Cavalier is <HI>Scandalum datum</HI> an active &s;candall, a &s;can|dall in truth and reallity: Secondly, I would thus be conceiv'd that to any man that makes a con&s;cience of his ways, the Practi&s;e of the Cavaliers upon &s;uppt|fition of their owne principles touching the holine&s;&s;e of Churches, which
<PB N="14" REF="8">the Seperati&s;t conceives, and that truely mo&s;t fal&s;e, is, at lea&s;t ought to be an|counted more offen&s;ive, even to the men of their own party, as having in it a ju&s;t cau&s;e of &s;candall, then the practi&s;e of the Non-conformi&s;ts; &s;uppo&s;e all true which is obiected, can be either to the Cavalier, or any Chri&s;tian what&s;o|ever, the former being truely &s;candalous, the latter in a groundle&s;&s;e opinion onely, and therefore the former is more &s;candalous; neverthele&s;&s;e leaving the indifferent Reader to his owne judgement touching what is &s;candalous, or more &s;candalous, I &s;hall, I doubt not, by the Rea&s;ons following make it evi|dent <HI>ad hominem,</HI> at lea&s;t that the practi&s;e of the Cavalier is mo&s;t &s;cancaious, and that out of the notorious Po&s;ition of their owne party.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, then one point of their Divinity is, that Irreverence in Churches is &s;candalous upon this ground; they condemne all &s;uch as bow not at the Name of <HI>Je&s;us;</HI> all &s;uch as receive not the ble&s;&s;ed Sacrament Kneeling, all &s;uch as bow not at the Altar, or &s;tand not up at <HI>Gloria Patri, &amp;c.</HI> as &s;candalous per|&s;ons, whence I &s;ub&s;ume, that if the&s;e men are upon the&s;e titles &s;candalous, then <HI>a fortiori,</HI> much more the Cavaliers, who by di&s;honouring, by polluting, and unhallowing whole Churches, at once ca&s;heeres all tho&s;e ob&s;ervances, the very neglect whereof in others they cry up as &s;candalous.</P>
<P N="2">2. Secondly, another principle of theirs is, That throwing downe of Organs, &s;ilencing of Cathedrall Roarers and Squeakers, overturning of I|dolls, battering of Paint and Images, pulling up railes, a&s;&s;aulting of Surpli|ces, and Common-Prayer-Bookes is &s;candalous, whence I likewi&s;e inferre <HI>a fortiori,</HI> that thus violating of whole Churches, and prophaning and unhal|lowing all the &s;acred Uten&s;ils of Churches is much more &s;candalous, which is the knowne gracious practi&s;es of the holy Cavaliers.</P>
<P N="3">3. A third Po&s;ition of theirs is, that by vertue of Con&s;ecration there is im|pre&s;&s;ed an holine&s;&s;e on Churches, and therefore &s;uch as unhallow them in any kinde are eminently &s;candalous, yet the Cavalier (who&s;e Doctrine this is) notwith&s;tanding this holine&s;&s;e of Churches, converts Churches into Stables, Pri&s;ons, Jakes, a wor&s;er unhallowne&s;&s;e then which cannot be immagined, unle&s;&s;e the Cavaliers them&s;elves quartered in Churches, and by their bla&s;phe|mous Oathes, Execrations, ribaldry, made their Church (which their con|&s;cience would not &s;tartle at) their hell.</P>
<P N="4">4. Fourthly, and la&s;tly, they Vote unanimou&s;ly that the Seperati&s;t, who makes his Hou&s;e or Barne a Church is truely &s;candalous, and if &s;o, then let any man of con&s;cience or judgement, tell me whether the Cavalier be not much more &s;canda&s;ous, who in &s;tead of making his Hou&s;e and Barne a Church, transformes his Church to what was &s;aid before. That this la&s;t Argu|ment
<PB N="15" REF="8">may have (as its fit) its full weight and empha&s;is, con&s;ider with me (good Reader) for a &s;hort time;
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, the Fact of the Seperati&s;t with the aggravations of it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, the Fact of the Cavaliers and its aggravation.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>And then by an equall ballancing or comparing them together, any man may ea&s;tly di&s;cerne whether of the twaine is more impious and &s;candalous, the Se|perati&s;t or the Cavalier.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, the Separati&s;ts Fact is, that he makes his Hou&s;e or Barne a Church, for let that al&s;o for once be admitted, which yet hath not beene pro|ved, but by Fame, which is u&s;ually a Lyer, now what it is to make an Hou&s;e or Barne a Church? and wherein lies the hainou&s;ne&s;&s;e and offence of him that doth &s;o? I an&s;wer, to make a private Hou&s;e or Barne a Church, is either to doe the Offices which are proper to a Church, or to allow the Offices which are proper to a Church to be done in a private Hou&s;e or Barne; what the&s;e Offices are, tho&s;e of the Cavaliers who come to Church cannot be ig|norant of, and they are chiefely; 1. Preaching or Expounding the Scriptures. 2. Admini&s;tring the Sacraments; unto which you may adde, if you plea&s;e, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;econdary things; 1. Prayer. Secondly, Marriage. Thirdly, Burying, and then either all, or mo&s;t, or &s;ome at lea&s;t of the&s;e mu&s;t be done by the Sepera|ti&s;ts, or any other that makes his Hou&s;e or Barne a Church.</P>
<P N="2">2. Secondly, the aggravation or crime of the Seperati&s;ts fact is this. 1. That he <HI>[the Seperati&s;t]</HI> who po&s;&s;ibly, or probably, or certainly is not in holy orders, that is, hath not been &s;anctified by any Bi&s;hops &s;acred Clutch, now appointed &s;olemnly to the performance of &s;uch holy duties, yet u&s;urpes and dares to doe the office of him, that hath been thus con&s;ecrated or hallowed unto them. 2. That he the Seperati&s;t, a laymean, and not of the Clergy, dares doe the&s;e offices in a private hou&s;e, or which is more, in a barne, in the audi|ence of Rats and Mice, which &s;hould only be done. 1. By Clergy men. 2. In con&s;ecrated hollowed places. 3. His fact is aggravated by the Law which hee violates in &s;o doing, which is fir&s;t the Statute Law of the Laud, as they &s;ay, Secondly, The Laws and con&s;titutions of the Church of <HI>England.</HI> Thirdly, the Canon Law, or the Popes Law (which <HI>Luther</HI> called <HI>merdam Papalem</HI>) and which yet &s;ticks upon, and layes hold on us, where it is not again&s;t the Lawes of God, or of the Land; as they &s;ay, Fourthly, his fact is further ag|gravated, 1. By the time, for he is generally &s;aid to doe the&s;e offices at an uncanonicall time, as in the night, or when he li&s;ts, when the Spirit (as the Cavaliere Phra&s;es it &s;weetly) moves him. 2. By the manner of doing it, which is, they &s;ay, 1. In &s;pight and oppo&s;ition to the Hierarchie. 2. Without the&s;e holy weeds, and cu&s;tomes of Ve&s;tments, as Surplice, Cap, Cope, Cro&s;ier,
<PB N="14" REF="9"><GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="15" REF="9"><GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="16" REF="10">Rochet, Gowne, Canonicall Coat, con&s;ecrated &s;lippers, without cringings, pro&s;trations, &s;tations, or conver&s;ions to the Ea&s;t. 5. All this he doth out of con&s;cience, and full per&s;wa&s;ion that what he doth is more acceptable to God. And are not the&s;e, my friend, haynous things, and un&s;ufferable in a Church, and Chri&s;tian commonwealth, and offen&s;ive to all that heare of, and &s;ee it?</P>
<P>In the next place con&s;ider with me the fact of the Cavaleer, with its aggra|vations.</P>
<P>His fact is, that he converts the Churches of God into Barnes, Stables, Jakes, that is, he either doth him&s;elfe, or cau&s;eth to be done (which is not an haires bredth to chu&s;e) the &s;ame offices in Churches which are proper to Pri|&s;ons, Stables, Jakes. And now heare the aggravation of his fact: He <HI>[The Cavalier]</HI> who maintain that Churches are not to be defiled, who holds that there is an holine&s;&s;e in Churches, who condemnes, and would gladly de&s;troy the Seperati&s;t for his rudene&s;&s;e even toward Church-implements, he the ma|jor part, nay the totall of who&s;e devotion and religion it is to have God alone &s;erved in Churches, and with tho&s;e Ceremonies which the Seperati&s;t abhors, in &s;hort, he who had rather be a Papi&s;t, then part with &s;uch ceremonies. Se|condly, yet he <HI>[The Cavaleer]</HI> not only unhallows the Uten&s;ils of Churches, but profanes the Churches them&s;elves, and for the manner and mea&s;ure as bad, if not wor&s;e then the <HI>Goth,</HI> or <HI>Turke,</HI> for can a <HI>Turke</HI> or <HI>Goth</HI> doe more vilely then make a &s;table or jakes of a Church? Thirdly, his fact is aggravated by the time, and what is the time when the Cavaleer doth thus di&s;honour Churches? even when he fights to maintaine the honour of Churches, when he kils the Seperati&s;t for tampering with &s;omething in Churches. Fourthly, He doth all this where his Maie&s;ty re&s;ides, in an Univer&s;ity, in the &s;ight of the Reverend clergy, who have &s;o con&s;tantly preached and written in the defence of the holine&s;&s;e of Churches. Nay, fifthly, he is not only content to doe, and approve, and applaud this vile fact him&s;elfe, but hath likewi&s;e corrupted the judgements of the grave Fathers of our Church, hath drawne them into the &s;ociety of this crime, he hath got the lights of our Church to legitimate his black impiety. Sixthly, by his fact he hath violated all the Laws, and Canons in this bahalfe like an arrant Seperati&s;t. And la&s;tly, all this he hath done, even while&s;t he is throughly re&s;olved, and per&s;waded in con&s;cience, that he ought to have done the contrary, nay when he knew that all his party are &s;candali|zed at the rudene&s;&s;e of the Seperati&s;t, which yet is not to be named the &s;ame day with this prodious <HI>Gothique.</HI></P>
<P>And now (my friend) what thinke&s;t thou, how many bowes &s;hort is the Cavaleer off the &s;in again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t?</P>
<P>In the la&s;t place, let us ponder and ballance (as I promi&s;ed to doe) the&s;e facts thus qualified as you have heard.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="10">
<P>Fir&s;t, then the Seperati&s;t offends out of &s;illine&s;&s;e and ignorance, and at lea&s;t pretendeth con&s;cience for what he doth, but the Cavalier in regard of his wi&s;dome and knowledge doth all this even again&s;t con&s;cience. Secondly, the Seperati&s;t by his rudene&s;&s;e offends onely the Cavalier his mortall enemy, but the Cavalier his owne party, his friends of whom he &s;hould be mo&s;t ten|der. Thirdly, The Sepreati&s;t is offen&s;ive onely for not joyning with the Ca|valier in &s;ome outward, and as the Seperati&s;t is per&s;waded an indifferent part of Gods Wor&s;hip, but the Cavaliers in that which he judgeth mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Seperati&s;t is offen&s;ive for running in Common with the Cavalier, but the Cavalier takes in hor&s;es, and lets them runne in Common with the Groomes in Gods Hou&s;e, as at <HI>King&s;ton, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. The Saperati&s;t cannot be per&s;waded that he violates any Law of God or man, but the Cavalier knowes that he violates all Lawes.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, the Seperati&s;t is frequent in the &s;ervice of God at home, and at Church he will heare Sermons, but the Cavalier &s;erves the devill at home, and his revenge and his hor&s;es at Church; and now let my Cavalier, who is not drunke or mad (if any &s;uch may be found) judge whether is more pro|phane and &s;candalous, He, or the Seperati&s;t.</P>
<P>How gladly would I learne what the mo&s;t profound Cathedrall Doctor in <HI>Oxford</HI> could An&s;wer to the&s;e Rea&s;ons, what eva&s;ions they could excogitate, for reconciling the practi&s;e of their Patrons with their acknowledged Doctrine.</P>
<P>But alas! what rea&s;on hath any man at this time, of all times, to expect &s;ub|tilties from <HI>Oxford,</HI> where before the King came thither, when Sacke aboun|ded in their Tavernes, the height of judgement was but &s;ome frothy <HI>Non&s;cence</HI> raptures of wit, but &s;ince (God knowes) by rea&s;on of that long unhappy di|vorce betweene their braines and the &s;pirit of Sacke, nothing hath flow'd a|bove the &s;ad complexion of dull Ale, and Colledge Tapla&s;h.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;&s;e though I utterly de&s;paire of &s;atisfaction from them, I will be &s;o courteous as to lend them a word of Coun&s;ell, and to wi&s;h them capable of it, and it is this: That &s;ince the world is &s;o offended with this bea&s;tly fact of their Minions, and di&s;appointed of all ju&s;t and rea&s;onable Apologies for it, from them&s;elves, they would exhort very earne&s;tly the Cavaliers, and others whom it may concerne, to play an after-game of Repentance and Reforma|tion, &s;o that at lea&s;t they might skin over that wound which they cannot heale.</P>
<P>The Church Story not impertinently to this purpo&s;e, makes mention of a <HI>Mor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;&s;ian</HI> Prince (as I remember) called <HI>Cabares,</HI> who pur&s;uing the <HI>Gothes</HI> and <HI>Vandalls</HI> with an huge Army, &s;till in his pa&s;&s;age as he went, clean&s;ed all
<PB N="18" REF="11">tho&s;e Churches, which that impure Nation had de&s;ir'd; and would it not be an exemplary peece of piety, and much tending to the honour of your party with po&s;terity? Fir&s;t, if the Cavaliers would in their hands, or mouthes, or any other more fitting way carry out the filth of tho&s;e Churches, which by a more than <HI>Gothi&s;h</HI> impiety they have de&s;iled; and then &s;econdly, if the Lord|ly Cleargy would humble them&s;elves &s;o low as to come after the Cavaliers, and with their Cathedrall Bee&s;ome-like Beards &s;weepe them; and &s;o much be &s;poken touching our fir&s;t Que&s;tion: the &s;econd was,
<Q>Whether Churches thus prophaned, and fallen from Grace and holine&s;&s;e are not by the Bi&s;hops to be con&s;ecrated.</Q></P>
<P>Of which Que&s;tion with all manner of expedition: Fir&s;t then the Puritans here, &s;o much he is for holine&s;&s;e, would, I warrant you, goe neare to hold they ought, if he thought,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Fir&s;t, That there were no neede of con&s;ecrating Churches.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Secondly, that any holine&s;&s;e were &s;tampt on Churches by the Mini&s;try of Con&s;ecration.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. And thirdly, that Churches could fall from Grace or holine&s;&s;e, once re|ceived, but holding neither of the&s;e, its probable that his iudgement &s;tands for the negative.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Secondly, on the other &s;ide the <HI>Cathedrall</HI> Doctors maintaining with one con&s;ent; 1. A nece&s;&s;ity of Con&s;ecrating Churches. 2. Undi&s;cernable Characters of holine&s;&s;e impre&s;&s;ed on Churches. 3. Falling from Grace in the be&s;t Saints of God, much more inanimate Churches mu&s;t in rea&s;on be thought to hold the affirmative, and that Churches thus de&s;iled ought to be recon&s;ecrated, e&s;pecially con&s;idering,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That Con&s;ecration of Churches is an holy and heavenly Work, which begets an high and reverend e&s;teeme in the people; for &s;ay the people, the Bi&s;hops mu&s;t needs be eminently holy men, who can make dead Churches holy, and therefore at this time when Bi&s;hops have beene much vi|lified, all occa&s;ions &s;hould be catcht at, for a reingendring in the people a re|verentiall conceit of the&s;e holy Fathers; and therefore recon&s;ecration not to be pa&s;t by.</P>
<P>Secondly, Con&s;idering that it may chance to be &s;candalous, and to their brethren of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> not to have the&s;e unhallowed Churches (though in pollicie made &s;o at their in&s;tigation) recon&s;ecrated, of who&s;e con|&s;ciences they ought to be very tender, in requitall of their bowells of com|pa&s;&s;ion towards the Bi&s;hops cau&s;e lately in much ieopardy to have beene
<PB N="19" REF="11">con&s;umed by the fiery zeale of the Schi&s;maticks, had not that holy man of <HI>Rome</HI> and his agents be&s;tirred their &s;tumps, and brought more than holy wa|ter for the extingui&s;hing of that flame.</P>
<P N="3">3. Thirdly, con&s;idering that the Con&s;ecration of a Church, which is no great labour, and brings no benefit at all, either to Auditors or &s;pectators (which is at length to be thought on, lea&s;t the People by the Bi&s;hops meanes grow too Holy, and too knowing, as of late it &s;ell out, both to their &s;hame and &s;mart) will &s;ave the good Father a Sermon for that weeke of Con&s;ecrati|on, which is well &s;aved, e&s;pecially &s;ince experience hath atught the Church of late, that Sermons have done &s;o much mi&s;chee&s;e.</P>
<P N="4">4. Fourthly, con&s;idering that at the recon&s;ecrating of every Church, there ought to be a con&s;ecration Dinner at the charge of the Pari&s;h, which will be comfortable both to his Lord&s;hips old corps and no fal&s;e Latin in his pur&s;e by &s;aving a meale after the&s;e hard pinching times, which had almo&s;t exhau&s;ted all, and <HI>tantum non,</HI> brought <HI>rem ad repem,</HI> that is, brought his good Lord&s;hip within a clo&s;e or two off the Beggar.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, con&s;idering that &s;o few Churches are in the&s;e peevi&s;h times erected, and therfore though there be no great need (&s;uppo&s;ing Churches clean&s;ed and &s;wept as was above advi&s;ed) of recon&s;ecration of them, yet lea&s;t the holy Father &s;hould forget the trick of it, and &s;o the Country People, in ca&s;e there be at any time an occa&s;ion of con&s;ecration, and the boyes &s;houd have matter mini&s;tred unto them to laugh at his Lord&s;hip, when po&s;&s;ible he &s;hould be (through di&s;u&s;e) to &s;eeke what to doe next.</P>
<P>Yet notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e &s;trong rea&s;ons for the recon&s;ecration of Churches, it &s;eemes not onely expedient but nece&s;&s;ary not to recon&s;ecrate them. 1. In ca&s;e the Kings Maie&s;tie or the Queen, or the Privy Councell, or the Chiefe Prelate then in highe&s;t place, do not approve it. 2. In ca&s;e there can be no con&s;ecration dinner, or a poore one. 3. In ca&s;e the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> declare to the contrary, and La&s;tly, in ca&s;e his Lord&s;hip be decrepit, and cannot trample about all the time without danger of having a fit of the gout, or &s;tone, and then it &s;hall be thought &s;ufficent that his Lord&s;hip either omit the duty, or con&s;e crate onely the new Boards, Poa&s;ts or other Uten&s;ills, which were not before con&s;ecrated, that &s;o a greater good may be con&s;ulted. <HI>viz:</HI> his good Lord&s;hips ea&s;e, and indeed were I freely to give my Judgment, this much (if any thing at all were to be done) would be enough, for my private opinion it is (gentle Reader pardon me that I tell not from whence I had it, untill I know my Authors plea&s;ure from whom I had it, whether I may re|veale it) that con&s;ecration is a kinde of Bapti&s;me, and therefore &s;hould not
<PB N="16" REF="12">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="17" REF="12">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="18" REF="13">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="19" REF="13">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="20" REF="14">be iterated, lea&s;t wee &s;imbolize too farr with the cur&s;ed Anabapti&s;t, and therefore onely the new parts of a Church &s;hould be con&s;cerated, no part recon&s;ecrated, and yet in this new way there are new difficulties, not a few, as if Con&s;ecration be a kind of Bapti&s;me, why &s;hould not a man, who hath beene Baptized in his infancy, be rebaptized when he is growne a great Lubber, and hath gotten much new fle&s;h about him, as well as a Church re|ceive con&s;ecration in the new parts of it; and many more &s;uch difficulties I could with more ea&s;e conjure up then put them downe againe, but I beleeve &s;uch are niceties, which a man may be ignorant of, or el&s;e Holy Church will hereafter re&s;olve them, if we can have the patience to waite her lea&s;ure, and &s;o I &s;hake hands with this perplexed Ca&s;e touching the recon&s;ecration of un|hallowed Churches.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
