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<DATE>2012-01-07</DATE>
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<NAME>Louis Goldberg</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>GREAT BRITTANS RVINE PLOTTED, BY SEVEN SORTS OF MEN;</P>
<P>Di&s;coved and counter-plotted: <HI>In which</HI> Is contained a Probable way for the happy and peaceable compo&s;ing <HI>of all the di&s;tempers of the time, with Articles for the finding out of Scandalous Ministers.</HI></P>
<P>Commended in a Letter to a Friend, and now <HI>recommended to the Honourable</HI> PARLIA|MENTS <HI>Con&s;ideration.</HI></P>
<P>By a true-hearted well-wi&s;her to great BRITTANES happine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Thomas Vnderhill,</HI> and are to be &s;old at the &s;igne of the Bible in Wood|&s;treet, M.D.C.XLI.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>A Letter to a private Freind.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_WHiles I looke on the Ladie of <HI>I&s;lands,</HI> I meane great <HI>Britaine,</HI> and &s;ee her clo|thed with the mourning weed of &s;o many &s;ad, &s;trange, and di&s;honoura|ble accidents which have fallen out in the&s;e latter times, mine eyes run wa|ter, and my head is a Fountain of teares. So that one while the unhappie occurrences of State doe
<PB N="2" REF="3"> make me de&s;ire a &s;eque&s;tred and contemplative life, that I may with freedome bewaile the &s;inne and di&s;honour of our Nation; another while I &s;eem tran&s;ported with zeal for God his Church, and glory of our Nation; pre&s;&s;ed in &s;pirit with renewed thoughts of indignation again&s;t the in&s;truments of this pre&s;ent di&s;traction.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> In my retiredne&s;&s;e, mee thinkes I have di&s;covered the plot of <HI>Britains</HI> ruine (as you may perceive by the in&s;uing di&s;cour&s;e) together with the contrivers of it and their principles.</P>
<P>Afterwards I &s;hall propound unto you the way for the Counterplot, which may be wel contrived in the&s;e times, &s;uiting that high and honourable Court of Parliment, who&s;e wi&s;dome is &s;ufficient|ly able to di&s;cover the ill intentions of enemies to Church and State, and provide meanes of preven|tion &s;ea&s;onably.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> When I looke on that illu&s;trious A&s;&s;em|bly, I con&s;ider it as a well con&s;tituted bodie, ha|ving right &s;ymetrie in all parts, the humours well tempred, &s;o that there is no feare of any ex|ce&s;sive predominancie of one above an other; their &s;en&s;es internall and externall active, fancie nimble, intellect profound and &s;erious, memory &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ong and retentive, be&s;ides their hearing, &s;eeing, ta&s;ting, &s;melling, and feeling very good and quick; &s;o that it &s;eemes pre&s;umption for one that moves in the inferiour orbes to pre&s;ent objects to &s;uch accurate and high intelligences; Yet Sir, whiles pa&s;sion, judgement, &s;en&s;e of mine own in&s;ufficiencie, together with loyalty to my God,
<PB N="3" REF="3"> King, and Countrey, &s;truggle thus in the wombe of my conceptions, I am at a &s;tand, and almo&s;t re&s;olving to da&s;h my thoughts in the &s;hel and cru&s;h them in their <HI>embrio,</HI> but at la&s;t con&s;idering the&s;e pre&s;enr Halcyon dayes, wherein the Kings-fi&s;her begins to make his ne&s;t upon the waters, I can|not but promi&s;e my &s;elfe &s;erenitie in bringing forth my conceptions, e&s;pecially having &s;o fair op|portunity to put them to nur&s;e, and education in your bo&s;ome, who&s;e wi&s;dome, learning, tender|ne&s;&s;e, and particular faithfulnes, I value as &s;ufficient obligati<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ns of tru&s;t and confidence.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;&s;e Sir, it is not mine intentions, &s;o to confine my conceit unto your private acquain|tance and tuition, but if it find favour in your eyes you may pre&s;ent it to the view of S^r. <HI>Edward Dee|ring,</HI> S^r. <HI>Walter Earle,</HI> S^r. <HI>William Bruerton,</HI> S^r. <HI>Nathaniell Barnardi&s;ton,</HI> M^r. <HI>Pim,</HI> M^r. <HI>Hambden,</HI> M^r. <HI>S^t. John,</HI> M^r. <HI>Purphry,</HI> or others of the Com|mons hou&s;e, who&s;e names are precious with mee, and their minds &s;o &s;tored with the grounds of all true nobility, that I doubt not but they will know how to give a favourable acceptance, or el&s;e to pardon the errours of well intended fancie.</P>
<P>In the mean time I commit the tuition and ad|mini&s;tration of my conceptions to your &s;elfe, if you &s;ee cau&s;e, to &s;trike them <HI>in cunabulis</HI> afore they bee pre&s;ented to any further view, yet be plea&s;ed to give them a burial, be&s;eeming &s;uch as are di&s;cen|ded of one of your faithful friends, of Chri&s;tian and true Engli&s;h parentage.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="4">
<P>In my di&s;cour&s;e I &s;hall de&s;cribe, fir&s;t the Plot, &s;econdly the Counterplot; in the Plot I have con|&s;idered the Plot it &s;elfe, the Contrivers, the Princi|ples.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t for the Plot it is <HI>Mahomets,</HI> the introduction of a new forme of government; wherein <HI>Mahomet</HI> borrowed <HI>&agrave; Judais, &agrave; Gentibus, &agrave; Chri&s;tianis,</HI> from the Jew, from the Gentile, from the Chri&s;tian, &s;o our la&s;t yeeres have borrowed in their imaginarie forme from three &s;everall Places, <HI>Sodome, Egypt, Babylon:</HI> From <HI>Sodome,</HI> pride, idlene&s;&s;e, fulne&s;&s;e of bread, inordinate lu&s;ts, intemperance, &amp;c. From <HI>Egypt,</HI> cruelty, oppre&s;&s;ion, tyrannie over Gods I&s;|raell, and ruling in Church and State without any rule, but will, like <HI>Pharaoh</HI> in <HI>Egypt.</HI> From <HI>Babylon</HI> the Marchandize of Gold, Silver, precious &s;tones, and Pearles, <HI>Revel.</HI> 18.12. be&s;ides the&s;e, Bea&s;ts, Sheepe, Hor&s;es, Charriotts, &s;laves, and &s;oules of men, <HI>vers</HI> 13. without que&s;tion Sir, <HI>Sodome, Egypt, Babylon,</HI> or <HI>Rome,</HI> were the pre&s;idents or coppies of our latter times, according to which they have drawn upon our State, to the life, the Athei&s;me of <HI>Sodome,</HI> the tyranny of <HI>Egypt,</HI> the idolatry of <HI>Rome</HI> or <HI>Babylon.</HI> A mo&s;t helli&s;h device to &s;quee&s;e the Juice of three &s;uch vicious governments into this of ours, which before the late times of degeneration was the fame and glory of the whole World. The truth of this will appeare by the voluminous Te&s;ti|monies of the grieved partie, before the high and honourable court of Parliament.</P>
<P>Secondly, the Contrivers of the plot, whom I
<PB N="5" REF="4"> &s;hall referre to the&s;e &s;even heads. Fir&s;t the &s;can|dalous Mini&s;ter; Secondly the corrupt Magi|&s;trate; Thirdly the innovating Prelate with his officer; Fourthly the profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;t; Fifthly the Popi&s;h Prote&s;tant; Sixthly the rigid Armi|nian; Seventhly the Libertine.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the &s;candalous Mini&s;ter, I meane &s;uch as preach very &s;eldome, and then very coldly, happily farr above the capacitie of the hearer, or if hee preach often, his preaching and practice cro&s;&s;e the one the other, hee preacheth again&s;t &s;wearing, and yet is a common &s;wearer him&s;elfe, again&s;t drunkenne&s;&s;e, and yet is a common drunkard him&s;elfe, at lea&s;twi&s;e a common bib|ber, an intimate friend and ordinary acquain|tance of the common To&s;pots, making the Sack|&s;hop the chiefe place of Studie and contemplati|on; accounting tho&s;e the fine&s;t fancies which are begot over a &s;parkling cup, and tho&s;e divine raptures which are occa&s;ioned by exhalations drawne from the good Ale and Sack; my mea|ning is nor <HI>Sir,</HI> to wound any moderate man, who upon ju&s;t occa&s;ion of bu&s;ine&s;&s;e may looke into a Tavern, or &s;ometimes to expre&s;&s;e humanity or courte&s;ie to a friend may &s;ometimes take or give a cup of wine, provided it be inoffen&s;ively car|ried, in reguard of time, per&s;ons, or companie, place, moderation, and the like. Such only I in|tend <HI>Sir,</HI> who delight more in chirping compa|nie in the Ale-hou&s;e or Tavern, then they doe in Communion with the Saints, or their Wives and
<PB N="6" REF="5"> Families at home; that account their own hou|&s;es pri&s;ons, and taverns paradices, who&s;e de|faults in this kind, &s;uch Mini&s;ters own wives, and Tavern Boyes are be&s;t able to di&s;cover.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides the&s;e &s;uch al&s;o I reckon among&s;t &s;can|dalous Mini&s;ters as doe fill their Neighbours eares, and eys, with ob&s;caen &amp; wanton words and carriages, making la&s;civious ribaldry the fitte&s;t mu&s;ique at a table-meeting, <HI>Tom Trinkilo</HI> was ne|ver more acted to the life, then by many of the&s;e, who go under the name of the Angells of the Church of <HI>England,</HI> and by their mimicall, api&s;h, and ridiculous cariages, &s;eek to plea&s;e the humour of the brave &s;parks and gallants of our times.</P>
<P>La&s;tlie &s;uch al&s;o are &s;candalous mini&s;ters as are carried with bitter and malicious &s;pirits, a|gain&s;t the &s;trict and more exact practi&s;e of Reli|gion, which can &s;carcely forbeare to di&s;gorge their foule &s;tomacks in the pulpit again&s;t them who walke clo&s;er with God then them&s;elves, which can finde more Rhetorike to advance ce|remonie then &s;ub&s;tance, which can finde no ho|ne&s;tie in a man that practi&s;es in all the maine points of Religion, if tender in con&s;cience about a ceremony, but copious and full in te&s;timony of a good fellow, a boone companion, a common &s;wearer, if zealous only in matter of ceremony, &s;uch as cannot &s;uffer a pious con&s;cientious man to pa&s;&s;e without a jeere, nay haply per&s;ecute him, out of his pari&s;h, if he conform not in folio to all indifferent ceremonies, &s;uch bitter &s;pirits as the&s;e give great offence, whiles they arrogate the
<PB N="7" REF="5"> names of Chri&s;ts Mini&s;ters, and Amba&s;&s;adors, and in their lives &s;hew neither humility, nor &s;u|pernaturall charitie and love of their Ma&s;ter: The&s;e and &s;uch like are they which pull downe more by their practice then they build up by preaching. The&s;e are the watchmen on the wall which meeting with the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t pluck her vaile from her, wound &amp; buffet her, <HI>Cant.</HI> 5.7.</P>
<P>Secondly, the corrupt Magi&s;trate, &s;uch I meane as buy, and therefore mu&s;t &s;ell Ju&s;tice, which makes the face of his prince, not the laws, the rules of Ju&s;tice, which in a tryall con&s;ider more the per&s;on then the cau&s;e, &s;uch as delays or ha&s;tens an hearing according to his &s;atisfaction of the &s;en&s;e of feeling, &s;uch as wry Ju&s;tice upon a great mans letter, or private information that the per&s;on before him is a Puritan, as if he that were a Devill &s;hould not have his due.</P>
<P>Thirdly, innovating Prelates with their Offi|cers, whether Archbi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops, Deans, Archdeacons, Commi&s;&s;aries, Officialls, &amp;c. &s;uch are they which manage juri&s;diction Ec|cle&s;ia&s;ticall, whether Excommunications, Vi&s;i|tations, Synods, Corrections, and other Courts, <HI>ad collectionem nummorum non ad correctione~ morum.</HI> They rather vi&s;ite mens pur&s;es then their per&s;ons, &s;pinning their Cannons and Articles like the Spider his web, where little flies are caught but great ones breake through, the&s;e are &s;uch as have learned in the&s;e latter times, the art of commutation, they had rather have a hundred commutations then one publique &s;atisfaction
<PB N="8" REF="6"> and acknowledgment. They will connive, di&s;|pence, and what not, &s;o that they may have Dr. <HI>Argent</HI> to make the motion; Lords, Knights, Gentlemen and others, may whore, bee drunk, and what not, &s;o that the fat of their &s;ins may come <HI>ad culinam Epi&s;copi,</HI> to the Bi&s;hop and their Officers Kitchin. Such I &s;uppo&s;e are our corrupt Prelates as know how only (if they preach at all) to &s;peake <HI>placentia,</HI> to &s;ow pillowes under the arme-holes of Prince and People, &s;uch as u&s;e Rhetorike to &s;crew Prerogative as high as Ty|ranny, and conclude as much to belong to the King in way of command as to God Almighty.</P>
<P>But, O wonder of ages, I meane our gratious King, whom God hath pre&s;erved &s;o, that hee hath no more beene poy&s;oned with Epi&s;copall flatterie.</P>
<P>Examine all ages, was there ever pre&s;ident for &s;o many &s;u&s;pen&s;ions in the&s;e Chri&s;tian Chur|ches, as by our l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">te Bi&s;hops? was there ever &s;uch a fire kindled as in the&s;e our days by Prelates, to the hazard of three Kingdomes at once? were there ever Prelates and their officers &s;o gro&s;&s;e for notorious lu&s;ts, for oppre&s;sion, extortion, ra&s;ing fees, picking advantages, preaching &s;eldome or never? Were there ever any Bi&s;hops &s;ince the time of <HI>Edward</HI> the &s;ixth, and the reformation in tho&s;e days, that have brought us &s;o far back to a violent nece&s;sity of &s;uch u&s;ages as might more neerely conforme us to the Romi&s;h Religion and Ceremonies, bowings, ducking, cringings, Ima|ges,
<PB N="9" REF="6"> &amp;c. The&s;e <HI>Sir</HI> and &s;uch like are they who have improved all opportunities and diligence to di&s;courage and &s;upplant all Schollers in the U|niver&s;ities, and Mini&s;ters in their &s;everall Dio|ce&s;&s;es, who have been orthodox and indu&s;trious, Queene <HI>Elizabeths</HI> Prote&s;tants, if moderate about the ceremonies, and have planted right men (as they call them) in the roome of Ortho|dox and Pious men, haply learned, but ambiti|ous, Simonicall, &s;candalous, and inclining to all Romi&s;h corruption, whereunto their Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|call Patrons, I mean the Bi&s;hops, have invited them, either by their precepts or examples. The&s;e <HI>Sir</HI> and the like are tho&s;e who are the innova|ting Prelates, and have <HI>quantum in ill<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> brought ruine upon Church and State, and laid the Plot for an univer&s;all alteration of both.</P>
<P>Fourthly, The profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;t, I mean &s;uch whether convict or not convict as acknow|ledg the Popes &s;upremacie, never come to our Churches, admire their Popi&s;h prie&s;ts, e&s;pecially their Je&s;uites (tho&s;e infernall Locu&s;ts which have come out of the bottomele&s;&s;e pit) as their holy fathers, &s;uch as account Prote&s;tants Here|tiques, and it a &s;acred point of devotion to kill Prote&s;tant Princes, though in a barbarous, ba&s;e, and trecherous way, &s;uch as &s;erve God by Ima|ges, and account ignorance the mother of devo|tion, co&s;tly, unnece&s;&s;ary, and uncommanded ce|remonies the glory of the Church. The&s;e are they who are fallen into the great con&s;piracie
<PB N="10" REF="7"> again&s;t great BRITAINES pro&s;peritie.</P>
<P>Fifthly, The Popi&s;h Prote&s;tants, I mean &s;uch as are exce&s;&s;ively charitable concerning the profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;t, they love not to come to Church oftener then the lawes enforce, if the State will give them leave they will conforme to any Popi&s;h u&s;age, and are indeed Papi&s;ts in e|very point but Supremacie, and p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e&s;ts mariages, and in the&s;e likewi&s;e in their judgments they are very favourable to the Romi&s;h way.</P>
<P>Sixthly, The rigid Arminian, who accounts no Doctrine &s;ublime but what advances his own opinion about prede&s;tination, free-will, falling from grace, and the like.</P>
<P>The&s;e account all men un&s;ound, not rightly in|formed, or very dunces, that are not of their opi|nion, the&s;e finde no mu&s;ique in a Sermon, where the Mini&s;ter gives not a touch upon the Armini|an &s;tring.</P>
<P>The&s;e pretend the advancing of good life by their doctrine, while in the meane time if you ob|&s;erve them generally, there are none more di&s;|&s;olute, proud, vaine, and &s;currilous, then they that prate mo&s;t in the Arminian cau&s;e.</P>
<P>Seventhly, the Libertine, &s;uch I under&s;tand to be the &s;wearer, drunkard, whore-ma&s;ter, profa|ner of the Sabbath, &s;corner &amp; de&s;pi&s;er of others, following no calling but their &s;inful lu&s;ts, har&s;h &amp; cruell in their dealings, as though God had gran|ted them a charter to doe what they li&s;t, for the&s;e and the like doth the land morne, many are the
<PB N="11" REF="7"> Princes thereof, and a fruitfull land doth God make barren, for the &s;in of the inhabitants that dwell therein.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> I can never looke on the&s;e &s;even &s;orts of men, but I call to mind that <HI>Septemfluus Amnis</HI> the River <HI>Nilus</HI> which &s;wel'd and overflowed all EGYPT.</P>
<P>Yet if it plea&s;e his Maje&s;tie, and this high and honorable Court of Parliament, that three &s;orts of the &s;even, <HI>viz.</HI> the &s;candalous Mini&s;ter, the in|novating Prelate with his Officer, together with the rigid Arminian be well di&s;ciplined, you &s;hall ob&s;erve the other foure, the corrupt Magi&s;trate, the profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;t, the popi&s;h Prote&s;tant, and the Libertine pre&s;ently brought in by the power of the Go&s;pel, and if it plea&s;e his Maje&s;ty with the Parlament to plant in the rooms of the &s;ca~dalous Mini&s;ters and Arminians, approved mini&s;ters for doctrine and life, it would be a true piece of po|licie beyond the Bi&s;hop-craft practi&s;ed in the&s;e later times for the advancing of their Hierarchie.</P>
<P>And if it &s;o plea&s;e the wi&s;dome of the State to be&s;tow the Lands and Impropriations belon|ging to the Bi&s;hops and great Churches (be&s;ides what &s;hall be thought fit to &s;ettle on the Crown) upon Mini&s;ters con&s;cientious, indu&s;trious, able, and learned, where meanes is mo&s;t wanting, to make &s;ome provi&s;ion for Mini&s;ters widdowes and children, as they doe in the French Church|es, to maintain Schollers in the Univer&s;itie, and enlarge Schoole-ma&s;ters allowance, I dare con|fidently
<PB N="12" REF="8"> undertake, that learning would not bee di&s;couraged, but the pre&s;ent generation would pray, and po&s;terity for ever would ri&s;e up to prai&s;e God for &s;uch a ble&s;&s;ed King and &s;uch a happie Parliament.</P>
<P>In the meane time, <HI>Sir,</HI> Three di&s;couragements whi&s;per in my eares, all pretending that this al|teration is not &s;afe nor fecible.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Ob."> Fir&s;t, if Eccle&s;ia&s;tical government be altered, why may not the civil al&s;o be de&s;ired to be alte|red upon the &s;ame terms? <HI>An&s;.</HI> Fir&s;t, there is more general grief, and de&s;ire of alteration in the Eccle&s;ia&s;tical government then in the Civil. Se|condly, the con&s;cience is more concerned in the one then in the other, the pur&s;e is pinched in the one, the con&s;cience in the other; examine this wel you &s;hall find &s;omething worth notice. Thirdly, the Scripture &s;eemes to pre&s;cribe more for Ec|cle&s;ia&s;ticall government then Civill, leaving all Nations to libertie for their &s;everall lawes, pro|vided none cro&s;&s;e his own eternall commands.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ob.</NOTE>Secondly doth not rea&s;on require a levell in the Commonwealth as wel as a parity in Eccle|&s;ia&s;ticall dignities? <HI>An&s;.</HI> I am confident no moderate wi&s;e man would de&s;ire &s;uch a levell as to have all Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall grounds ly in a flat, high Mountaines are fitter for barren <HI>Wales,</HI> then fruitfull <HI>England,</HI> little hils doe not di&s;parage the mo&s;t fruitfull grounds. If &s;ome Mini&s;ter have one, &s;ome two, &s;ome three hundred pounds <HI>per annum,</HI> haply more, &s;uch hills will not bee com|plained
<PB N="13" REF="8"> of, only let the Mountains be throwne into the Seas, I meane the greater promotions, then &s;hall the little hils skip like lambs, when the World is more equally divided one graine of faith may remove the&s;e Mountaines into the midde&s;t of the Sea.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Ob."> Secondly the Church may bee called the younger &s;i&s;ter of the common-wealth, there was a Common-wealth in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> before the Prie&s;t|hood of <HI>Levie,</HI> Commonwealths were before Apo&s;tles, Pa&s;tors, or Teachers, &s;eniority u&s;ually gives dignitie, though <HI>Rachell</HI> the younger &s;i&s;ter was faire and more admired by <HI>Jacob,</HI> yet <HI>Leah</HI> the elder &s;i&s;ter was preferred, for it was the cu|&s;tome of the Countrey (&s;aid <HI>Laban.</HI>)</P>
<P>Thirdly much advantage may come by level|ling the Church, but unconceiveable mi&s;chief by levelling the Common-wealth, &s;andie Hills may be ea&s;ily levelled, high &s;tonie Rocks can|not without difficultie. <HI>Verbum &s;apienti.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Ob."> Thirdly the King will not ea&s;ily con&s;ent? <HI>An&s;. Sir,</HI> I fear it not, never was better King upon the Throne then our gratious Soveraigne, never a|ny more deepely engaged to maintain Epi&s;copa|cie, but I am confident that God who hath given him a gratious heart, will give him a di&s;cerning &s;pirit, to &s;ee the evil con&s;equences of degenerate Epi&s;copacie by the cleere information of his great Coun&s;ell.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> excu&s;e me for that my <HI>Remora</HI> hath &s;tayed my &s;hip a little longer among the projectors then
<PB N="14" REF="9"> I did intend, I will now come to the principles by which they have wrought.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t no ceremony no Bi&s;hop, no Bi&s;hop no King, a principle it is true, which (it may bee) plea&s;ed the palate of a wi&s;e man, but as it hath beene u&s;ed and applyed it hath opened a gap to de&s;truction, &s;chi&s;me, ruine, and danger.</P>
<P>It hath beene u&s;ed as though a King could not rule without the help of a Bi&s;hop, whereas Kings &s;wayed their &s;cepters before the Epi&s;copal digni|tie was ever knowne in the World, and as like them&s;elves as ever &s;ince, and as though a Bi&s;hop could not &s;ub&s;i&s;t without a ceremonie, whereas the Bi&s;hops of the Apo&s;tles and primitive times (as they were then called) had few or no ceremo|nies at all. The further you come from Chri&s;t, the Apo&s;tles, and primitive times, the more ceremo|nies you &s;hall finde, in <HI>Augu&s;tines</HI> time there were but few in compari&s;on of after times, yet he com|plaines of a Judai&s;me, and multitude of ceremo|nies, above that which is meet, that in a few hun|dred yeers were crept into the Church.</P>
<P>I conceive the Apo&s;tles and primitive Bi&s;hops were more pious, more con&s;cientious, more in|du&s;trious, and did more good, in feeding and go|verning the Church of God then our late Bi|&s;hops, and yet they u&s;ed few or no ceremonies in compari&s;on. <HI>Sir,</HI> the&s;e <HI>Septemvirated</HI> con&s;pirators if you ob&s;erve, have all admired this principle, witne&s;&s;e their inordinate zeal for the ceremonies as though there were no Religion but in the
<PB N="15" REF="9"> practice of the&s;e; have not the laws of God, I meane the expre&s;&s;e morall Commandements, beene &s;lighted and neglected, the breaches of it ea&s;ily di&s;penced withall? The fundamentall lawes of the Kingdome &s;haken, while the&s;e un|godly projectors have advanced their Ceremo|nies and Canons? for my part I have ever tooke a King for a beame, of the Deity ca&s;t into an an|gle of the Earth, and that Judgment and Ju&s;tice make the throne &s;table, ruling according to Law is the greate&s;t honour and &s;afety of a Prince, and therefore God requires by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that the King &s;hall read in the book of the Law night and day; there are two &s;orts of Lawes, Gods owne Laws, and the fundamentall lawes of a Kingdome or State, the King is to &s;ee the execution of both the&s;e, and it is mo&s;t &s;afe to pre&s;erve them with all tenderne&s;&s;e, &s;o that if a King have a care of the&s;e, he may bee &s;ufficienrly &s;upported without the help either of Bi&s;hop or Ceremonie; methinks it is a di&s;paragement to the Crowne to bee &s;up|ported by Bi&s;hops; &s;ure I am <HI>Solomons</HI> throne was &s;upported by Lyons; and for Ceremony to &s;upport Bi&s;hops, It &s;eemes &s;uch a &s;andy foun|dation, that with a violent &s;torme the foundati|on may be wa&s;hed away, and the whole building may ea&s;ily fall. Goe through all the &s;even &s;orts of men whom I have charged for the con|&s;pirators of State, you &s;hall hardly finde a man but working a great deale of trouble, by vertue of this principle: I will clo&s;e all with cro&s;&s;ing and thwarting of the proverb, A King may be
<PB N="16" REF="10"> without a Bi&s;hop, and an Apo&s;tles Bi&s;hop with|out a Ceremony.</P>
<P>The &s;econd principle, that a papi&s;t is much ho|ne&s;ter then a puritan, and much more to bee fa|voured; a damnable principle according to the intention and application of it, and of the effects that have followed in this Kingdome. No que&s;ti|on <HI>Machiavil, Ignatius,</HI> or the Devill began to ap|ply this old Hereticall name in &s;uch an extended and generall way. For in the&s;e latter times every man that &s;ub&s;cribed unto the Doctrine of the Church, if he was tender in matter of ceremonie hath beene reputed a Puritan, nay, every man that will not &s;weare, be drunk, wanton, &s;coffe and jeere others, he is a puritan, though conformable to the Doctrine and Di&s;cipline of the Church of <HI>England,</HI> &s;o that the late projectours have united together in this principle and by it have much advanced their de&s;ignes: upon this ground, the Papi&s;t hath beene cheri&s;hed as the hone&s;ter m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n, men of mo&s;t refined life, and exact godline&s;&s;e and have &s;hewed forth eminent vertue in practice, have beene brow-beaten, di&s;counte|nanced, and per&s;ecuted, drunkards have beene the good Sonnes of the Church, temperate men the &s;tubborne children of their mother; <HI>O Tempo|ra, O Mores,</HI> what &s;trange times were we fallen in|to, when light was called darkne&s;&s;e, and dark|ne&s;&s;e light, &s;weete &s;ower, and &s;owre &s;weet, good evill, and evill good, when the wicked &s;hall bee ju&s;tified for a reward, and the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the righteous &s;hall bee taken away from them? This
<PB N="17" REF="10"> principle hath beene followed with &s;uch helli&s;h zeal that Religion and Vertue are almo&s;t bereft of life and &s;en&s;e, for this principle hath put out the eyes, cut off the legges and hands of Religion and Vertue, Help Lord for faith and truth are al|mo&s;t peri&s;hed, and di&s;couraged for looking a|mong&s;t the &s;onnes of men.</P>
<P>Thirdly, libertie is &s;weet, a principle which is acknowledged mo&s;t true, provided it be not ex|tended in longitude and latitude above the true naturall dimen&s;ions of it; If it had beene &s;tretch|ed no further then Gods &s;ervice it had beene perfect freedome, but let it be onely under&s;tood of the &s;atisfaction of the carnall will and &s;en&s;uall appetite then liberty is dangerous, and of bad con&s;equence. Now <HI>Sir,</HI> &s;urvey &s;eriou&s;ly the latter times, you &s;hall ob&s;erve the &s;candalous Mini&s;ter, the corrupt Magi&s;trate, the innovating Prelate and his Officers, the profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;t, the Popi&s;h Prote&s;tant, the rigid Arminian, and the Libertine, all &s;ayling in one and the &s;ame channell of carnal libertie, and crying out, <HI>Te, te, nos po&s;cimus omnes,</HI> all of them with one con&s;ent de&s;ire libertie, not freedom of con&s;cience in indifferent &amp; undeter|mined things, for this you &s;hall &s;carce have one hand among&s;t them, but libertie to &s;in, to have their lu&s;ts, their heterodox and un&s;ound opinions, libertie to ca&s;t off the bonds of truth. This princi|ple doth cement their affections one to an other, and unite them more &s;trongly again&s;t all divine obedience, and hath hetherto made the late con|&s;piracies again&s;t Church and State more formi|dable
<PB N="18" REF="11"> and dreadfull. The&s;e and the like diaboli|call prin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">iples our late projectors have manna|ged with what faithfulne&s;&s;e they can, again&s;t the God of order, the law of charitie, the rules of pi|ety, &s;o that the beautie of the&s;e glorious I&s;lands by the&s;e and the like devi&s;es is much defaced and ob&s;cured. <HI>Sir,</HI> having thus &s;urveyed the&s;e Proje|ctors and their principles, methinks it &s;eemes our dutie, and the dutie of all good Chri&s;tians and true <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> hearts, to Petition unto the high and honourable Court of Parliament again&s;t the&s;e, as underminers of State happine&s;&s;e, either for their reformation, or el&s;e puni&s;hing or di&s;counte|nancing of them; for &s;o long as the&s;e have pub|lique encouragement in our State, neither can re|ligion be &s;ecured, nor the throne and tranquility of the Kingdome well e&s;tabli&s;hed.</P>
<P>Its true, whiles we looke upon the numbers of the&s;e confederates, upon their &s;trength (for they look like the &s;ons of <HI>Anak</HI>) or upon their union, for they &s;eem like the &s;cales of a Whale which a &s;word cannot pierce and divide ea&s;ily, they render them&s;elves to our eyes like the <HI>Mo|abites</HI> and <HI>Amonites</HI> to <HI>Jeho&s;aphat</HI> in a very terri|ble forme, and for our parts wee &s;eeme a little flock of &s;heepe, and like gra&s;&s;ehoppers in compa|ri&s;on: Yet mee thinks (under correction of your better judgement, unto whom I render my &s;elfe as a learner) there is hope in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> concerning this thing provided the countermine be wel wrought and managed, I &s;hall therefore crave your a&s;si|&s;tance to make up by your mature thoughts
<PB N="19" REF="11"> what is wanting in my conceit of a Counter|plot.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>THE <HI>COVNTERPLOT.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>_SIR,</HI> there is no better Counterplot to the workers of iniquity then for the oppo&s;ite &s;ide to worke contra|rily, to countermine errors with truth, unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e with righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, uncharitablene&s;&s;e with charitie, vio|lence with moderation, and all &s;inne with a &s;in|cere practice of pietie. This for a generall will hold as the great mine which the Church of God is to rai&s;e again&s;t the enemies of it.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides this there are three particular mines which I conceive are mo&s;t fitting at this pre&s;ent, to rai&s;e again&s;t the aforenamed confe|derate projectors again&s;t great <HI>Britain.</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t a well managed Commi&s;sion, the &s;econd is a well con&s;tituted and orderd Church-a&s;&s;embly, the third is a right frame of Eccle&s;ia|&s;ticall government. Fir&s;t a well managed Com|mi&s;sion, I under&s;tand by that, fir&s;t Commi&s;sio|ners
<PB N="20" REF="12"> cho&s;en by the hou&s;e of Commons, appro|ved by the Hou&s;e of Lords, which &s;hall bee no parties nor delinquents as far as can bee di&s;cer|ned, the&s;e cho&s;en out of every Shire or Dioces. If the Shire be barren of able and &s;ufficient men, then to appoint &s;tra~gers rather then delinquents, and tho&s;e qualified with integritie, wi&s;dome and re&s;olution.</P>
<P>Secondly when the Commi&s;sioners are thus cho&s;en for both the hou&s;es, to move his Maje&s;ty for &s;ufficient authority for the managing of the &s;aid commi&s;sion. That the Commi&s;sioners may bee enabled to give oaths, to call before them any parties offending or others for witne&s;&s;es as they &s;hall &s;ee cau&s;e, and to have as large power to puni&s;h contempts, non aparences, or abu&s;e of the Commi&s;sioners, as the Archbi&s;hops Vi&s;i|tors were wont to have, in their Metropoliticall vi&s;itations.</P>
<P>Thirdly, when the Commi&s;sioners are thus cho&s;en and armed with authority, then to have a booke of Articles according to the tenour of what I &s;hall propound in the latter end of the di&s;cour&s;e, and the &s;aid Commi&s;sioners to have power to admoni&s;h, to enjoine recantation, and to deprive Mini&s;ters, or el&s;e to return their names into the Hou&s;e of Commons to bee cen&s;ured there, and haply it might conduce well to the worke, to have a Regi&s;ter allowed to the Com|mi&s;sioners for every Shire or Dioce&s;&s;e, and &s;ome &s;mall fee to be paid to the &s;aid Commi&s;sioners
<PB N="21" REF="12"> towards the charges of the &s;aid Commi&s;sioners and Regi&s;ter, by every delinquent, as in like ca&s;es hath beene allowed in Bi&s;hops vi&s;itations.</P>
<P>Secondly a well con&s;tituted a&s;&s;embly or Sy|nod, I meane an a&s;&s;embly of godly, orthodox, learned, wi&s;e, and well tempered Divines, ga|thered by the &s;ingular prudence and providence e&s;pecially of the Hou&s;e of Commons, which haply might be done mo&s;t opportunely, when the commi&s;sion hath fir&s;t di&s;covered the innova|ting Prelates, the &s;candalous Mini&s;ter, Armini|ans, and Popi&s;h Prote&s;tants within the&s;e Chur|ches, and di&s;abled them from judging, advi&s;ing, or determining in any Church affaires till their reformation be eminent and well noted in the World.</P>
<P>In an a&s;&s;embly or Synod thus con&s;tituted, me thinkes <HI>Sir</HI> it would doe well to have the Do|ctrine of the Church well determined and ex|planed, &s;o that in matter of Doctrine wee might con&s;ent with all Prote&s;tant Churches, and (if it were po&s;sible) that an agreement might bee la|boured for betwixt us and the Southern and Ea|&s;tern Churches, and al Churches to be accounted Chri&s;tian, which &s;hall be found to agree in mat|ter of Doctrine; who knowes but the &s;ingular indu&s;try and wi&s;dome of &s;uch a well con&s;tituted a&s;&s;embly, may fetch in the <HI>A&s;ian, African, Euro|pean,</HI> and <HI>American</HI> Churches into greater unitie and brotherly corre&s;pondencie, and haply to the incredible &s;trength of the Chri&s;tian party again&s;t
<PB N="22" REF="13"> all the &s;worne enemies of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, Nay, who can tell but that &s;uch a reconciliation wrought in matter of doctrine may be a &s;peciall meanes to undermine the walls of <HI>Babylon,</HI> to bring under the <HI>Mahumetan,</HI> and to render the Lord Chri&s;t as a more acceptable <HI>Me&s;sias,</HI> to his old and for&s;aken people the <HI>Jews.</HI> But now, <HI>Sir,</HI> I cannot but pau&s;e, being tran&s;ported with &s;uch high thoughts, and de&s;ignes; but are not wee the tools and in&s;truments to &s;erve divine providence? Doth not Creation, Redemption, &amp; the con&s;tant benignitie of Gods providence en|gage us to &s;erve God in his highe&s;t and greate&s;t ends? Is there any part of the World where God hath ground better furni&s;hed with men of parts, Learning, Tongues, Arts, Sciences, brave and Noble Re&s;olutions, Ancient, and Renow|ned Valour, and Honourable Atchievements, then in the&s;e <HI>Briti&s;h</HI> I&s;les? Hath God &s;o honou|red and qualified Great <HI>Britain,</HI> with &s;uch &s;uffi|ciencie and eminencie in all things? And &s;hall not Great <HI>Britain</HI> reach out its Vertues to &s;erve her Lord and Ma&s;ter in his greate&s;t and highe&s;t De&s;ignes? Well, <HI>Sir,</HI> Let us not bee di&s;coura|ged, let us do, <HI>quantum in nobis,</HI> for our God hath often honoured him&s;elfe by the weake&s;t In&s;tru|ments.</P>
<P>Secondly, I de&s;ire the old boundaries and meeres, between actions nece&s;&s;ary, and indiffe|rent, may be &s;earched out, well viewed, re&s;tored, and determined; the lo&s;&s;e of Meere &s;tones often|times
<PB N="23" REF="13"> occa&s;ioneth quarrels betwixt neere&s;t Neighbours, and deare&s;t Friends, for many hun|dred yeeres by-pa&s;t, the Meer-&s;tones betwixt ne|ce&s;&s;ity and indifferency have beene (for the mo&s;t part) lo&s;t and buried under ground, &s;o that nece&s;|&s;ity hath encroached upon indifferencie, or indif|ferencie upon nece&s;&s;itie.</P>
<P>Heavens help us in this, for in earth wee could never find, for many hundred yeers, men of &s;uch moderate and temperate &s;pirits as would allow nece&s;&s;itie and indifferencie their owne, without wrong to the one &s;ide.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> I profe&s;&s;e, I would not have God to lo&s;e one foot of his own ground, nor the Con&s;cience its Chri&s;tian privilege, neither yet the Magi|&s;trate the lea&s;t due that God allows him; only I could wi&s;h it well determined in a competent and impartiall Church A&s;&s;embly.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, whether the Con&s;cience be tyed to obe|dience in any thing, but what God requires in his Word, by way of precept, or naturall and nece&s;&s;ary inference, and whether it be fit to &s;train an inference too far and too curiou&s;ly?</P>
<P>Secondly, whether all things be not indiffe|rent, wherein the Scripture hath not determi|ned, and the Con&s;cience free to u&s;e them or re|fu&s;e?</P>
<P>Thirdly, whether the libertie of Con&s;ci|ence in indifferent things was not purcha&s;ed by Chri&s;t?</P>
<P>Fourthly, If it be the Churches priviledge
<PB N="24" REF="14"> what man, or civill Magi&s;trate, hath power to take away my priviledge by Chri&s;t, without my own con&s;ent, te&s;tified by my &s;elfe, or others tru|&s;ted in my behalfe?</P>
<P>Fifthly, whether a Nationall Synod (after the Church is well purged) be not a fit way to con|clude our libertie in indifferent actions, e&s;pecially there being &s;ome to repre&s;ent the people (haply a Committee of the Hou&s;e of Commons, a&s;|&s;i&s;ting in the Worke) for the finding out of the bounds of indifferent actions, and the pre&s;cribing Laws concerning them?</P>
<P>Sixthly, whether any &s;uch a&s;&s;embly may make any Law for indifferent actions, but with a Prote&s;tation of Revocation upon inconvenien|ces ob&s;erved, and generall &s;candals?</P>
<P>Seventhly, whether charitie be not as nece&s;|&s;ary together with other generall Rules, <HI>Phil.</HI> 4.8. and as order or &s;ubjection to Magi&s;tracie, and how the&s;e can be all managed without cro&s;&s;ing, or violence to &s;ome &s;ide?</P>
<P>But now (mee thinks) whiles I looke into the Arke, I cannot but tremble and cry out with the Apo&s;tle, <HI>O the depth;</HI> the&s;e are <HI>arcana Eccle&s;iae,</HI> or fitter for a well con&s;tituted Synod, then for any particular, or private per&s;on to &s;earch into them, neither are they fit to be di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in &s;uch a Sy|nod without &s;ingular moderation, charitie, hu|militie, profound judgement, and integritie.</P>
<P>And now <HI>Sir,</HI> I have done with my &s;econd Myne, which being well wrought, will blow
<PB N="25" REF="14"> up many of the above-named Con&s;pirators. On|ly <HI>Sir,</HI> Let us encourage the work to the utmo&s;t for the reconciliation of all Chri&s;tians in matter of doctrine, who knows but that God, Great <HI>Britains</HI> Lord, will account the <HI>Indies</HI> too mean a recompence for her faithfulne&s;&s;e in erecting the Kingdome of Chri&s;t through the World, and making the light of the Go&s;pel more glorious? Sure I am, the opportunitie for the We&s;t <HI>Indies</HI> is fairer then ever, for my part I dare undertake to cleere it, and for neerer Kingdomes, who knows but they may &s;ay to us, as tho&s;e in the Prophecie of <HI>Zacharie, Wee will goe with you, for God is with you.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, A good frame of Church-govern|ment, which may repre&s;ent the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> comming downe from Heaven, wherein the Lambe may bee the light, and that unerring Truth of Gods Word the only Rule whereby to work this frame of building.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> I am confident, wee &s;hall never be free from &s;candalous Mini&s;ters, <HI>Arminians,</HI> Innova|tors, and Popi&s;h Prote&s;tants, till a new frame of Government be determined, which may more certainly finde out, di&s;cover, and &s;uppre&s;&s;e the Enemies of God and his Church, then this of ours.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> my meaning is not to a&s;signe any particu|lar forme or way for Church-government, that is fitter for a Nationall Synod, then my &s;elf, only into your bo&s;ome I dare vent my conceit in
<PB N="26" REF="15"> &s;ome generals; I wi&s;h the three &s;everall Govern|ments to be well &s;urveyed, the Epi&s;copall, the Presbyteriall, and the Independent ways in <HI>New England,</HI> to refine them all in a Church A&s;&s;em|bly, And wherein all or any of them may con|forme us, more neerly to the Word, and &s;ute with the di&s;po&s;ition and nece&s;sitie of our church, &s;o much, <HI>Sir,</HI> de&s;ire we may follow in any one or all of them, but where the&s;e &s;everall Govern|ments, or any of them, do cro&s;&s;e the Word, and are incon&s;i&s;tent with the pre&s;ent and di&s;tracted condition of our Church, I humbly pray to God Almighty, they may be reprobate, &s;o that Chri&s;t only may rule in his Church, according to his commi&s;sion from his Father.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> I believe you will find upon the examina|tion of the three &s;everall Governments, &s;ome thing worthy of admiration, and imitation, in e|very one of them; None of the three Govern|ments but may have their &s;everall defects or &s;u|perfluities, one out of all would doe well, yet &s;o as nothing be taken but what agrees with the Word.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> by this time, I am afraid I have &s;pent your patience, but if you plea&s;e well to con&s;ider the premi&s;es, you &s;hall haply finde &s;ome Gold, though much dro&s;&s;e; &s;ome &s;parks of Vertue, and &s;uch notions as being ca&s;t abroad, in the World, may beget &s;ome Noble and brave thoughts in the minds of our Nation; though I give but hints, profound heads can make larger
<PB N="27" REF="15"> commentaries, your judgment I know is able to fan away the chaff, and to keep the pure grain to your &s;elf.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> It were damnable pre&s;umption in mee to thinke the Parliament &s;hould be bound to my directions, <HI>per omnia,</HI> yet if &s;uch or the like ways were held, I doubt not, but Great <HI>Britain</HI> would be the wonder of Ages, and a great contribu|ter to the greater light and glory of all <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Churches in the World; who knows, but God hath humbled us in the eyes of the World, to rai&s;e us to higher honour, and that the <HI>Nor|therne</HI> glory, I mean the <HI>Scots,</HI> and wee &s;hould be neere a breach, to make way for a &s;tronger, and neerer Union? bones broken and well &s;et are &s;tronger afterwards, &s;o the <HI>Scots</HI> and we with our brethren in <HI>Ireland,</HI> may with more con&s;tant, and cordiall Union, advance the glory of our God, our King, and Countrey, to make their names famous among&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tians, Jewes,</HI> and <HI>Mahume|tans;</HI> the bloud of <HI>Richard</HI> the Fir&s;t, and <HI>Edward</HI> the Fir&s;t, is not wholly lo&s;t among&s;t us, neither of our Progenitours, who&s;e names were terrible as far as the <HI>Holy Land;</HI> the neer Union lately made with the brave, ingenious, and warlike <HI>Hollander,</HI> I looke on as the fir&s;t-fruits of a greater U|nion, and a Reconciliation in Doctrine and affe|ctions among&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> through the whole World.</P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> I know you are active, Let us &s;tir and &s;et forward Gods great works in the World; who
<PB N="28" REF="16"> knows what God would have done? haply in the mid&s;t of the&s;e great de&s;ignes, the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed <HI>Pal&s;grave</HI> unto whom our Nation owes much for neerne&s;&s;e in bloud, may be relieved: mi&s;take me not, let all be deliberately &s;urveyed, my end is not <HI>movere quieta, &s;ed quietare motum.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI> wee are all Gods tools to work with all, let him be the end of all, wee may wi&s;h and will, but the Kingdome, power, and glory is Gods, let him have the honour unto all Eternitie. <HI>A|men.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="articles">
<PB N="29" REF="16">
<HEAD>Articles concerning the Mi|ni&s;ters of <HI>England.</HI></HEAD>
<P>FIr&s;t, whether is your Minister a drunkard, a &s;wearer, an unclean per&s;on, an ob&s;caene and &s;currilous di&s;cour&s;er, &amp; co~mon railer again&s;t the be&s;t men of life and conver&s;ation, if tender about Ceremonies; Is he an Intimate, con&s;tant, and familiar friend of notorious and common drun|kards, &s;wearers, or the like, or a violent and bitter per&s;ecutor of men of good life, if hee can pick the lea&s;t advantage again&s;t them in matter of Church Di&s;cipline or Ceremonies, or doe you know him habited in any notorious and vile &s;ins expre&s;ly again&s;t the Laws of God and man? two or three witne&s;&s;es, upon oath, but men without iu&s;t di&s;paragement, will be &s;ufficient in any ca&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, whether is not your Mini&s;ter ve|hemently
<PB N="30" REF="17"> &s;u&s;pected or famed for tho&s;e or the like notorious offences, as are mentioned in the fir&s;t Articles?</P>
<P>Thirdly, Whether is your Mini&s;ter notoriou&s;|ly in&s;ufficient, and unable for his function?</P>
<P>Fourthly, Whether is your Mini&s;ter a Plura|li&s;t and Non-re&s;ident?</P>
<P>Fiftly, Whether doth your Mini&s;ter preach con&s;tantly and painfully with all plaine&s;&s;e and faithfulne&s;&s;e for the common u&s;e of the hearer, if he doe not, what you conceive is the rea&s;on?</P>
<P>Sixtly, Whether is your Mini&s;ter a profe&s;&s;ed <HI>Arminian,</HI> or popi&s;hly affected, a <HI>Socinian,</HI> &amp;c. or is he one that hath been not only pa&s;sive but a|ctive in the late Innovations in the Church, verie violent in advancing bowings to the Altar, &s;et|ting up of Images, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Whether is your Mini&s;ter, a cold, lukewarme, and a negligent Preacher?</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="articles">
<PB N="31" REF="17">
<HEAD>Articles concerning Archbi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops, Chancelors, Deans, Archdeacons, Com|mi&s;&s;aries, Officials, Prebends, Canons, Advocates, Regi&s;ters, Proctors, Appari|tors, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P>FIr&s;t, whether are the&s;e or any of them Drun|kards, &s;wearers, unclean per&s;ons, wantons, Revellers, Ince&s;tuous, or guiltie of any no|torious &s;inne again&s;t the Laws of God and this Kingdome, have any of them been Oppre&s;&s;ors, Extorters, and rai&s;ers of fees, kept people in their Courts, rather to pick their pur&s;es, then correct their vices, have they &s;ought advantages again&s;t men, and have they puni&s;hed and per&s;e|cuted rather men &s;crupulous about a Ceremonie, then common Drunkards, notorious Swearers, &amp;c.</P>
<P>La&s;tlie, have they or anie of them abu&s;ed the Cen&s;ures of the Church, and not exerci&s;ed them again&s;t notorious Offenders, but rather otherwi&s;e.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
