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<DATE>6-21-14</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>Presbytery POPISH, NOT EPISCOPACY.</P>
<P>By way of <HI>Epi&s;tolary Di&s;cour&s;e</HI> to a Per&s;on of a mi&s;per&s;wa|&s;ion, leading <HI>Presbytery</HI> to the School of Repentance, ra|ther then to continue in the &s;eat of the &s;cornful.</P>
<P>By <HI>H. E.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Philemon Stephens</HI> the younger, at the <HI>Kings Arms,</HI> over a|gain&s;t the <HI>Middle Temple</HI> Gate in <HI>Fleet&s;treet.</HI> 1661.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
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<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the READER</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Courteous Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_ALthough the many Books which have been already printed in de|fence of Epi&s;copacy, may &s;eem not only to fore&s;tal the credit, but to evacuate the u&s;e of future Impre&s;&s;ions, about the &s;ame &s;ub|ject; yet con&s;idering the me&s;&s;e of Confederate Brethren, who are &s;worn to oppo&s;e it, which (being an Oglio of all Sects) is of far greater dimen&s;ion then the defendant party. I pre&s;umed it would not amount to the reckoning of a vanity to enter with my unkeen weapon into the &s;ame field: which (though unworthy to be mu&s;tered with tho&s;e for|ces of wit, that fight for victory) may &s;erve (like
<PB REF="3"> the attendants <HI>of</HI> an Army) to face the enemy. It is the fate of truth for its naked &s;implicity to be as little known, as tru&s;ted, with earthly inhabitants: whereas errour, clothed with glo&s;ing variety, finds not only acceptation, but maintenance in the hearts of mo&s;t. What Gangrenes of Here&s;ies, and fret|ting &s;ores of &s;chi&s;matical opinions have infe&s;ted the body of our National Church? &s;ince Bi&s;hops (the mini&s;terial pre&s;ervers thereof in &s;oundne&s;&s;e of Do|ctrine) were fir&s;t divorced from their office, as the Hi&s;tory of former ages can yield no examples to parallel, &s;o (being by Satans &s;ubtilty heightned to an exqui&s;ite degree of wickedne&s;&s;e) the po&s;&s;ible corruption of &s;ucceeding times, will want inventi|on to excel. Such was the &s;udden growth <HI>of</HI> gree|dy innovations in the black art of enmity, again&s;t their ancient guides, that experience hath proved them to be a true exception to the Philo&s;ophers &s;aying, <HI>Nemo repente fit turpi&s;aimus.</HI> And if their ma&s;ter, who rai&s;ed them to the pinacle of prefer|ment, had not thrown them down headlong by a timely temptation, they would have all turned conceited Monarchs, and not lookt over, but for the Kingdomes of the earth. It will be as much &s;hame hereafter to report, as it is now grief to re|member
<PB REF="3"> the fiery generation of tho&s;e meteors of men, which (ri&s;ing by the fall of our great &s;tars) have vapoured from the Regions both of pulpit and pre&s;&s;e, into the hou&s;es of the honourable, and mu&s;ty Cottages of the ba&s;e&s;t people, deluding them into &s;uch a lamentable deviation from their right principles, that the greate&s;t part o&s; them (like benighted Drunkards) are not yet able to finde the way home. The con&s;ideration whereof doth offer us &s;o much occa&s;ion, to pity the dangerous e&s;tate of their di&s;ea&s;ed &s;ouls, that I could wi&s;h no better &s;ucce&s;&s;e to attend this work, then that, by detecting the malignant di&s;temper of their faults, it may become a direction for their recovery. But knowing that habituated Crimes will not readily yield to a &s;eperation from the &s;ubjects that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e them, and that cu&s;tome in &s;in, (holding rea&s;on in bondage to the dominion of &s;en&s;e) doth &s;eldome nau&s;eate the &s;inner to a dete&s;tation thereof. I am di&s;po&s;ed to doubt, that the event will be unan|&s;werable to the &s;cope of my de&s;ire. However the chiefe&s;t Part of this Book being written in time of per&s;ecution, when Tyranny had &s;tated the Tribes of all hone&s;t men in a fitter capacity of receiving wrongs then giving rea&s;ons, I &s;hall not now di&s;|own
<PB REF="4"> the expo&s;ing thereof to publick view, though it happen to make a fermentation of humours in the cholerick &s;tomacks of our Engli&s;h Phari&s;ees. For being &s;et forth with the &s;ame intention where|with it was fir&s;t penned, more to declare my wil|lingne&s;&s;e to approve, then ability of mind to de|fend the right of Epi&s;copal Government. It may not be coujectured to be compo&s;ed with confi|dence to confute tho&s;e that deny, but out of love to confirm them who believe the &s;ame.</P>
<P>To thee therefore, Gentle Reader, who&s;oever thou art of this number, do I principally dedicate this my labour, wherein if thou apprehend no|thing de&s;erving thy condemnation, but the truth of my affection to the welfare of the Church, it will be applau&s;e enough to &s;atisfie the expectation of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thy well-wi&s;hing friend,<LB> HUGH EDMONDS.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
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<HEAD>THE CENSORS CENSURED.</HEAD>
<P>_AS in natural, &s;o in bodies Politique, there are no di&s;tempers more &s;martly afflict|ing, than tho&s;e which invade the mo&s;t noble parts, and among&s;t the many cau|&s;es, which work a &s;olution of unity, in a civill con&s;titution of government, the corrupt humours of a brain-&s;ick clergy are the mo&s;t intrin&s;ecal. The Truth whereof, though we have by the &s;ad experiences of our own pa&s;t mi&s;eries been better taught to bewail, than di&s;pute; yet being farther in&s;tructed by the pre&s;ent di&s;covery of their pro|pagated mi&s;chiefs (notwith&s;tanding the bountiful rayes of mercy diffu&s;ed among&s;t them from our <HI>Englands</HI> Sun) we cannot but account it a pitifull folly to commi&s;erate them, who think it a virtue to be cruel to them&s;elves; for they, whom neither the &s;en&s;e of their own &s;in, nor apprehension of the Kings pardon can reform, mu&s;t needs be not onely the
<PB N="2" REF="5"> wor&s;t of &s;ubjects, but men. What lawful ground tho&s;e A&s;&s;o|ciates have had to &s;hew them&s;elves &s;o lately bu&s;ie with their tongue-pullies, to draw on a pack of Craft&s;men into a Con|&s;piracie of hands, for the rai&s;ing up of their Presbyterian <HI>Diana;</HI> and by the pionerie of their wits to undermine the foundation of the Kings Authoritie in &s;piritual affairs, coveteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and pride mu&s;t be the Advocates, (though ignorance be the chief witne&s;&s;e) in their plea, &s;hould the Grandees of the Church (becau&s;e they are the Apo&s;tles Derivatives, betwixt Chri&s;t &amp; whom there was no temporal jurisdiction intervenient) con|clude for them&s;elves a priviledge of immunitie from the pow|er of Kings in Eccle&s;ia&s;ticalls; There might appear &s;ome rea|&s;on in the face, though no truth in the bulk of the Argument; but for Petit Presbyters who are but under-graduates in &s;piri|tual juri&s;diction, and, for the out&s;ide of their calling, the Bi|&s;hops workman&s;hip, for &s;uch, I &s;ay, hoven up with a Timpa|nie of impudent ambition, to entitle them&s;elves to that, which their &s;econd makers with humilitie di&s;own, even in the mo&s;t Hierarchical order of the Clergie, can be no le&s;&s;e than an act of capital pre&s;umption, and &s;awcie irreverence, which hath not &s;o much as the countenance of a rational plea to defend it. Among&s;t the &s;even things which God hateth, pride is the &s;in of the fir&s;t Claffis, <HI>Pro.</HI> 6. 6. &amp; for its antiquitie of Lord&s;hip hath the preheminence, whereby only it cometh to pa&s;&s;e (&s;aith the &s;ame wi&s;dome) that man maketh contention; in exemplificati|on whereof, I have newly ob&s;erved &s;ome &s;tiffe-necked factors of the Presbyterian merchandi&s;e &s;o haughtily &s;tubborn in their opinion, that they &s;eem de&s;perately re&s;olved rather to break with their own errours, than bow to the truth, which others maintain, being now fuller of &s;cornfull di&s;content in the eyes, then heretofore they have been of envious detraction in their mouths, as if (like the Sun) they were naturalized to look
<PB N="3" REF="5"> bigge&s;t, when they are going down; and although our Graci|ous Sovereign, for his complacency and benevolence to all peo|ple, doth rightly compeer that Darling of mankind, <HI>Qui ne|minem &agrave; &s;e dimi&s;it tri&s;tem,</HI> and for his compa&s;&s;ion and charitie is not inferiour to the <HI>Scotti&s;h</HI> Monarch, who was therefore &s;tiled the poor mans King: yet the tyrannie of the&s;e mens arrogant &s;pirits, will not allow them to pray for this incomparable per|&s;on by his determinate name, but to pre&s;ent him to heaven in a driblet of words, under the notion only of <HI>Individuum ex hy|pothe&s;i,</HI> as if <HI>Charles</HI> the Second, were to them a <HI>Shibboleth,</HI> which they could no more plainly pronounce han obey. It may well therefore be wi&s;hed, that his Sacred Maje&s;tie would in Iu&s;tice (which is the root of mercie) be plea&s;ed to doe to the in&s;olent Presbyters, what once the good <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> &s;aid to a contentious Prelate, <HI>Si tu paeem fugis, ego te ab Eccle&s;ia fugere mando,</HI> which would be a readie means to prevent &s;uch Church Moths from fretting out the beauty of that garment, wherein they are bred, and to extingui&s;h the generation of Diotrephan Tribes, who (like inte&s;tine worms, maintained by the ho&s;pi|tality of the &s;tomack) out of a greedie appetite to higher fare, than their Ordinary can afford them, will at la&s;t de&s;troy the very body that gave them being. But that their mouths may not be fully &s;topt, before they have &s;poken the utmo&s;t for them&s;elves, <HI>I</HI> &s;hall do them that right to declare what <HI>I</HI> have learned from &s;ome of their &s;tars of the fir&s;t magnitude, by who&s;e influence of wit the le&s;&s;er lights are &s;upplied with this &s;ubtile di&s;tinction, which indeed is but an excu&s;e as blameable as the fault, we are, &s;ay they, &s;ubject to Kings <HI>circa &s;acra,</HI> but not <HI>in &s;acris,</HI> whereby they fal&s;ly &s;uppo&s;e them&s;elves in their mini&s;terial Robes, &s;o ab&s;olutely impropriate to God, that no man can have a Relative intere&s;t in them, and, within the pale of the pulpit, to be &s;uch a peculiar inclo&s;ure from the Com|mons
<PB N="4" REF="6"> of the Nation, that they are not ba&s;e enough for &s;ubje|ction to the high way of the Kings Government, as if their &s;piritual incumbencie were a decreed exception to the Apo|&s;tles <HI>Rom. 13. 1. Omnis anima,</HI> and their ordination to teach &s;upream Magi&s;trates an injunction not to obey him. Surely <HI>Hilkiah</HI> (a better man than a Presbyter) was not of their mind nor manners, in his religious behaviour towards his Sove|reign, who (though con&s;cious of the Kings youthfull age, more apparently fit to execute the advice, then to command the &s;ervice of a high Prie&s;t) did not take it upon him&s;elf to re|form the abu&s;es of the Church, but waited for better authori|ty then his own to legitimate the work, and (which is highly ob&s;ervable) having found the book of the Law, which &s;eemed a proper in&s;trument as well for the Prie&s;ts cu&s;tody as u&s;e, 2 <HI>Kin.</HI> 22. he thought it his duty to deliver it to the King, both to be kept and read. To make a &s;olemn Covenant with God, is <HI>agere in &s;acris,</HI> a matter that concerns not the skirts, but the very bowels of Divinity; yet this did <HI>Jo&s;uah, Jo&s;.</HI> 24. (who was neither Prie&s;t nor Prophet) by his kingly authoritie, en|gaging all the people in &s;ubiection thereunto. <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> though not in office, was yet in act, a Prie&s;t by con&s;ecrating <HI>Aaron,</HI> whence it is more then probable, that Kings by their unction, are endued with a higher capacity to deal in holy things, than our cla&s;&s;ical Authors will allow them to be, who&s;e power bea|ring date immediately from the court of Heaven, makes both their per&s;ons &s;acred, and their names divine, whereby they are not only truly, but &s;olely qualified for Gods Deputation, and &s;o being next to the mo&s;t High, can neither have &s;uperiours nor equals upon earth within their Dominions, they are <HI>Chri&s;ti Domini,</HI> the Lords own anointed, which denomination was ne|ver given to Prie&s;t or Prophet, but (as a learned Bi&s;hop hath ob&s;erved) in 33. places of Scripture (where it may be found)
<PB N="5" REF="6"> is alwayes &s;poken either of Chri&s;t or Kings. It mu&s;t needs be then the di&s;ea&s;e of a loyal heart to remember how ingeniou&s;ly mi&s;chievous &s;ome Rebels have been heretofore in maintaining the Kings authority, either coordinate or &s;ubordinate to the power of Parliaments, and what u&s;e hath been &s;ince made of thar Helli&s;h Tenent not only for &s;eque&s;tration, but &s;ubver&s;ion of mens e&s;tates, will be ea&s;ier for our po&s;terity to condemn, than for us to forget. Should our Sovereign Lord the King have been longer deprived of his iu&s;t right, in di&s;tributing Iu|&s;tice either by rewarding the vertues, or puni&s;hing the vices both of Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall and Civill per&s;ons, Gods complaint of I&s;rael might be <HI>Englands</HI> proverbial &s;ongs; like people, like Prie&s;ts, the people would feel the bite of the Prie&s;ts teeth, the Prie&s;ts the venome of the peoples tongues, and both the &s;mart of divine judgement, <HI>Ezekiels</HI> foxes would degenerate into <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> dogs, tho&s;e, who did craftily watch, would greedily eat up the &s;ins of the people, and attend their flocks, as the <HI>Caper|naites</HI> did Chri&s;t, to feed their own bellies, and to be clothed with the wool of the &s;heep, rather than with the Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of the great Shepherd. But ble&s;&s;ed be the name of the Lord, who hath &s;et the Crown on his Maje&s;ties head with his own hands, without the vain concurrence of fle&s;hly arm<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">s, whereby he hath revealed, <HI>per me Reges,</HI> to be not only his word but his deed, not permitting the act, but approving the Right of his Reign, which in Truth &s;hould be as well a terrour as conviction to the con&s;ciences of tho&s;e who have &s;tampt it in &s;ome peoples brains for doctrine as currant as their Creed, that Monarchical government is but a more noble kind of Tyran|ny, which hath exi&s;tence only by Gods connivance, and is ra|ther the rod of his wrath to puni&s;h, than the &s;taffe of his love, to &s;upport a Nation. Truly, where there is a brimfulne&s;&s;e of lenvious re&s;olution to oppo&s;e the be&s;t, there can be no room for
<PB N="6" REF="7"> charity, which &s;ubmitteth to the wor&s;t of Governours, and it may be ju&s;tly feared, that no true concordance will inhabit the centre, while&s;t &s;uch Heteroclites are left to lurk in the circum|ference of the Church, who will rather profe&s;&s;e them&s;elves St. <HI>Peters</HI> animals by &s;tanding out in their own conceit, than St. <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;ouls in &s;tooping to the authority of their lawful &s;uperi|ours, neither can they be well thought fit Tru&s;tees for the &s;e|curitie of the Go&s;pels trea&s;ure, who having once &s;hipwrackt their Allegiance to the King, are &s;till bankrupt of faith and ho|ne&s;ty. Tho&s;e are the old &s;tocks, whereupon Satan hath graffed the variety of Sects, which hath been the &s;hame, and is yet the grief of <HI>Englands</HI> Church, who&s;e fir&s;t non conformity to Ca|nonical orders, hath been the very originals, whereunto the ma|ny copies of ob&s;tinate Fanaticks, that are now extant, have their true reference, who following the tracts of St. <HI>Judes</HI> murmurers, in admiration of &s;ome mens per&s;ons for advantage &s;ake, do di&s;&s;ociate them&s;elves from the community of Saints, not only in opinion, but practi&s;e, than which nothing can be more de&s;tructive to the concord and peaceable unanimity of &s;piritual Congregations; for as in phy&s;ical Compo&s;itums, a violent di&s;union of Integrable parts breeds a more dangerous &s;hi&s;me in the body, than a humerous di&s;temper; &s;o in Eccle|&s;ia&s;tical corporations, an actual &s;eperation from the Catholick fellow&s;hip of beleevers in Gods &s;ervice is a greater pandor to confu&s;ion, than the &s;candal of a &s;peculative di&s;traction. It is time therefore for our Seminary Presbyters, who have been the Protopla&s;tiques of a Rebellious generation, both in Church and State, to make a confe&s;&s;ion of theit pa&s;t faults, as well as their pre&s;ent faith to the King. They are now &s;ufficiently read in the book of their own con&s;ciences to know, <HI>nemo periculo&s;i|us peccat, quam qui peccata defendit,</HI> to Apologize for &s;in is more damnable, than to act it, and not to retract inexcu&s;able
<PB N="7" REF="7"> errours, doth as much unqualifie a delinquent for mercy, as the perpetration thereof can adapt him to ju&s;tice. Repentance, though it may be too &s;oon ended, can never bee too late be|gun; he, that lives like St. <HI>Lukes</HI> judge on the bench, neither fearing God, nor regarding man, may have the grace to die like the <HI>Jewes</HI> theef on the Cro&s;&s;e, with profe&s;&s;ion of both; for that power which expre&s;ly denyeth forgivene&s;&s;e to one &s;in one|ly, doth implicitely conceede a po&s;&s;ibility of pardon to all o|thers. On this con&s;ideration it would be worth their paines to tran&s;late their Petition for Presbytery into a Suit for Indemp|nity, and publickly to acknowledge his Maje&s;ties Declaration which is the proof of his grace, to be an argument of their guilt, who (like cunning fencers, that aim at the legs, when they intend to veny the pate) under a reformative pretence of de&s;troying tho&s;e ravenous bea&s;ts, which worry the people, begg'd leave of their ma&s;ter to hunt the kingdome, which be|ing granted, they took liberty of them&s;elves to make him their chief game: for it is well known from <HI>Dan</HI> to <HI>Beer&s;heba,</HI> that the credit of their fal&s;e doctrine was the very leaven where|with the people were fir&s;t moulded into a &s;owre lump of ar|med malice again&s;t their Sovereigne.</P>
<P>And I may truly &s;ay, it was the unlucky Boutefen, which not only yielded &s;moak to &s;mother all Treaties into a nullity of &s;ucce&s;&s;e, but that gave light al&s;o to clear the way for more active in&s;truments then them&s;elves to take off the Head of our eternally renowned Saint <HI>Charles,</HI> together with the Government from his &s;houlders; for although they entred not the Stage with tho&s;e mi&s;creants that per&s;onated <HI>Pi|late</HI> in the fifth Act; yet becau&s;e they appeared with others who playd the parts of <HI>Annas</HI> and <HI>Caiphas,</HI> in the fir&s;t Scene of the Tragedy, we may ju&s;tly chri&s;ten them the Grandfathers in law of that bloudy fact, which being unmatchable in hu|mane
<PB N="8" REF="8"> &s;tories, may be in &s;ome &s;ort compared to the crafty com|plement of the cruel wolfe in the fable, who told the &s;heep, <HI>Da mihi potum, &amp; ego mihi dabo cibum,</HI> meaning to eat him up for his courte&s;ie. A fact, which as former ages have not been &s;o learnedly wicked to invent, &s;o I hope the future will be more hone&s;tly wi&s;e than to imitate; A fact, which may &s;choole our Kings of <HI>England</HI> into a u&s;e of the <HI>Italians</HI> prayer, to be deli|vered from their friends whom they tru&s;t, as well as from their enemies whom they fear, and inform the people with the <HI>Spa|niards</HI> &s;oul, rather to &s;heath their &s;words in one anothers bow|els upon private quarrels, than to draw them again&s;t their So|vereign in open war.</P>
<P>But, if the Recognition of &s;uch an execrable murder be not caution enough for &s;ubjects to re&s;train them from Rebellion, let the memorable example of the <HI>Amalekites</HI> puni&s;hment be their exhortation to obedience, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1. 13, 14. who (though a &s;tranger to <HI>Sauls</HI> kingdome, and by them reque&s;ted to con|clude his pain with the inference of death) was by <HI>Davids</HI> command for touching the Lords anointed, in&s;tantly con|demned to loo&s;e his life.</P>
<P>If Kings lives then are &s;o precious in Gods account, that they may not be touched in the heat of proclaimd ho&s;tility, what a cur&s;ed &s;in mu&s;t that be, which ju&s;tifieth tho&s;e who take them away in cold bloud?</P>
<P>By the&s;e animadver&s;ions I hope the whole ho&s;t of &s;pirituall officers, who have fought again&s;t the Regiment of the Church, will be victoriou&s;ly fens'd into a unanimous Iudgement, that it is far better for them to have the Apo&s;tles doctrine in their hearts, then the <HI>Scots</HI> di&s;cipline in their hands, to be content with that e&s;tate wherein they have been, then to covet that wherein they ought not to be, to &s;ubmit to the King in cau&s;es Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, rather then by calling his power in que&s;tion, to
<PB N="9" REF="8"> abu&s;e their own authority in the Go&s;pel, to give <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> his, will be no &s;ub&s;traction from their due, had not our Saviour paid for him&s;elf and <HI>Peter,</HI> it might be doubted, whether the Clerks of this age (like the old <HI>Egyptian</HI> Prie&s;ts) would not plead their e&s;tates untributary, as well as their offices un&s;ubject to the King.</P>
<P>With what tenure of &s;piritual power they are inve&s;ted <HI>Ju|re divino,</HI> none but tho&s;e Laicks whom the Popes Mandate hath &s;creen'd from the Sun-&s;hine of Gods word, can be ig|norant.</P>
<P>The officious Acts of <HI>Jehoiada</HI> to <HI>Jehoa&s;h,</HI> and <HI>Nathan</HI> to <HI>David,</HI> are not only pre&s;idents to warrant the right, but boundaries to limit the extent of their claim; they mu&s;t in|&s;truct Kings as the one, and may reprove them as the other did, which was not executed by an excommunicative &s;courge to make <HI>David</HI> do pennance for his offence, but with the monition of a meek &s;pirit, to give him a penitent &s;en&s;e there|of; for as the act of reproof argued the King to be Gods &s;ubject: &s;o the mode of reproving maintain'd him to be the Prophets Sovereign.</P>
<P>And thus I believe <HI>Azariah,</HI> with&s;tood <HI>Vzziah</HI> by no o|ther force, &s;ave that of the tongue, who&s;e aim was to &s;trike at the fact, not the per&s;on of the King, to induce him into a con&s;ciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of his fault, not &s;o require his &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to puni&s;hment, which, becau&s;e immediately inflicted of God, &s;uppo&s;eth him priviledg'd not to receive it from man: &s;o that <HI>rebus &s;ic, &s;tantibus,</HI> our mini&s;terial Guides have little rea&s;on, and le&s;&s;e grace to pride them&s;elves in their Gho&s;tly authori|ty of rebuking Kings, &s;uch verbal Reprehen&s;ions being no more then religious &s;ervants (not adventuring beyond the &s;phear of their calling) may lawfully practi&s;e towards their
<PB N="10" REF="9"> ungodly ma&s;ters; for as it is the Re&s;olve of Divines, that in ca&s;e of nece&s;&s;ity <HI>Quil bet Chri&s;tianus e&s;t &s;acerdos,</HI> &s;o it is not only the liberty, but the duty of every one in Gods ca&s;e bold|ly to reprove an offending brother, as I think my &s;elf bound to tell the a&s;&s;ociated brethren, that they have highly wron|ged the Maje&s;ty of God &amp; the King, both by their orall and manual prolu&s;ions to introduce a new fangled governmentin the Church, &amp; that it will be more &s;afe for them to ob&s;erve the duty of looking into their own, then the fal&s;e commi&s;&s;i|on of over&s;eeing their &s;uperiours actions, the performance whereof might happily make that &s;aying <HI>ex culpa &s;acerdotum ruina populi,</HI> to be as well known to them&s;elves, as felt by o|thers, and convert the hypocri&s;ie, which &s;ome do, into the &s;incerity of obedience, which all &s;hould profe&s;&s;e; for though none of them be puritanized into Donati&s;me, but can prote&s;t it their nece&s;&s;ary obligation to reverence the Kings per&s;on, yet mo&s;t are &s;o far &s;ublimated from the dro&s;&s;e of &s;uper&s;titi|on, that they cannot without defiling their con&s;ciences vaile to the train of his ceremonious Titles, they can ea&s;ily con|coct &s;upream Governours, dryly &s;wallowed, but with the &s;awce of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical cau&s;es it quite nau&s;eates their &s;to|macks, and the name of head is more offen&s;ive to their pa|lates, then perfumes are to the no&s;trils of tho&s;e that are grie|ved with an Hi&s;terical pa&s;&s;ion; a mon&s;trous &s;traw for &s;uch mighty men to &s;tumble at, which may be put in the &s;ame ballance with that of their &s;chi&s;matical Predece&s;&s;ours in the conference at <HI>Hampton Court,</HI> who were &s;candalized with the word ab&s;olution in the <HI>Liturgy,</HI> but well content with the Term <HI>Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins.</HI></P>
<P>What difference there is betwixt &s;upream Governour and Head in a notional acception, is more fit for Grammatical
<PB N="11" REF="9"> Criticks, then politick Chri&s;tians to inquire, as they are complicated in one &s;ubject, and determined to a con&s;tant onene&s;&s;e both of action and end, they mu&s;t by the rules of hone&s;ty as well as Art, be con&s;trued Synonymous, and in a promi&s;cuous manner adjudged to contract their literal vari|ety into an identity of &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P>Indeed we cannot deny but the Title of &s;upream Head was fir&s;t given to King <HI>Henry</HI> the Eight by the Pope, who being by his own in&s;titution in the world (as the &s;oul is in the body by Gods Creation) <HI>Totus in toto,</HI> and not onely <HI>&s;in|gulis,</HI> but <HI>univer&s;is major,</HI> cannot be &s;uppo&s;ed to part with a piece of him&s;elf but for his own ends; yet we conceive it no tre&s;pa&s;&s;e again&s;t any Canon, either of Scripture or rea&s;on, to convert that to a good u&s;e, which was fir&s;t be&s;towed to an ill purpo&s;e, but for Presbyters to take that away for the better e&s;teem of their own authority, which was given by the Pope, to di&s;grace the Kings jurisdiction in the Church, is no le&s;&s;e unrea&s;onable to devi&s;e, then irreligious to pra|cti&s;e.</P>
<P>That great Bulwark of objection, (Chri&s;t is the &s;ole Head of the Church, <HI>ergo</HI> no other can have the Title) which hath been pre&s;umed too &s;trong for an army of Schoolmen to beat down, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily yield upon terms to our &s;ide. For although as the Church is internally con&s;idered in re&s;pect of the kingdome of Grace, and our Saviour Chri&s;t as Lord thereof, by right of Redemption, ruling the hearts of the faithful by his &s;pirit, there is no &s;ubjection allowable, nor head&s;hip to be attributed but to him only; yet as he is King by right of Creation, loving an Imperial Sovereignty over all his creatures, and the Church in a militant condition, which (by rea&s;on of an in&s;eperable commixture of good
<PB N="12" REF="10"> and bad, and common relation of the inward and outward man) doth nece&s;&s;arily require an external policy to maintain a uniformity and order in the wor&s;hip of God, &s;o he hath ordained his Vicegerent on earth to whom both Clergy and Laity mo&s;t be &s;ubject.</P>
<P>And in this qualification of &s;en&s;e Kings may be truly &s;ti|led &s;upream Heads in cau&s;es Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, within their Do|minions; Thus <HI>Samuel</HI> called <HI>Saul</HI> the Head of the Tribes of I&s;rael, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15. 17. which <HI>in eodem &s;igno rationis</HI> doth imply all per&s;ons, as well Eccle&s;ia&s;tical as civil in that Com|monwealth, to be his &s;ubordinate members. And that the Prie&s;ts were &s;ubject in their very Offices to the &s;upreame power of their magi&s;trates, 2 <HI>Chron. 8. Solomons</HI> Acts in or|dering their cour&s;es, and appointing the <HI>Levites</HI> to their charges, (who in manife&s;tation of their duty are faid not to depart from the commandement of the King) do &s;ufficiently evidence, who&s;e authority likewi&s;e to puni&s;h &s;ins of the fir&s;t table, that refer to Religion as well as tho&s;e of the &s;econd, which belong to humane &s;ociety.</P>
<P>Gods own pre&s;cript Laws to <HI>Mo&s;es, Deut. 13. Deut. 17. Levit.</HI> 17. are the authentique &s;eals to confirm, whereunto we may annex that fact of our Saviour Chri&s;t him&s;elf, cha|&s;ti&s;ing the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Pedlers, by vertue of his divine Royalty, for profanation of the Temple, as an exemplary proof be|yond all exception.</P>
<P>Having pickt out the pith of their Divinity in the former objection, there re&s;teth one hard Argument more to break, wherein lies the marrow of their Logick, if the power, &s;ay they, in Eccle&s;ia&s;tical matters be proper to the &s;upream ma|gi&s;trate as a Ma&s;ti&s;trate, then it &s;hould belong to all magi|&s;trates, and con&s;equently to the heathen: the definition of
<PB N="13" REF="10"> a magi&s;trate being one in Chri&s;tian and Heathen Princes; but this would be both &s;inful and ridiculous to a&s;&s;ert, <HI>ergo</HI> that cannot lawfully be maintained.</P>
<P>Truly this is a witty &s;ophi&s;me, which de&s;erves the Reply of an ingenious Re&s;pondent in the Philo&s;ophers School, <HI>&s;al&s;e profecto, &s;ed fal&s;o quidem.</HI> I pre&s;ume the &s;ame learning which qualified them to oppo&s;e others, may enable them to an&s;wer them&s;elves in this point; for if their con&s;equence be good, <HI>Baals</HI> Prie&s;ts had as much right to the &s;ervice of the Tem|ple, as the <HI>Levitical</HI> Clergy-men, neither can our Prote&s;tant mini&s;ters have a better Title to the di&s;pen&s;ation of Chri&s;ts ordinances, then the officers of the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Church do now claim.</P>
<P>Therefore if they will hone&s;tly defend their own as we do the Kings authority in the Church, they mu&s;t acknowledge their argument to be contrary to the principles of art, as their opinion is to the precepts of Religion; for when a Re&s;tri|ctive Term is adjoyned to an equivocal &s;ubject (as magi&s;trate is) To argue from an indefinite to a univer&s;all, is an illegal con&s;equence, the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e what is attributed by &s;uch a note of limitation, is not an ab&s;olute but a comparate propriety, which doth <HI>convenire &s;ubjecto mediante alio,</HI> as the power of the King in cau&s;es Eccle&s;ia&s;tical is not proper to him, &s;imply <HI>&s;ecundum naturam,</HI> but Relatively as he is a true Chri&s;tian Magi&s;trate; according to which univocation, if their Argument had been formed, the con&s;equence would be logically true.</P>
<P>But as we do appropriate this power onely to Kings truly Chri&s;tian, So I mu&s;t acquaint them that the Heathen &s;ubjects had &s;uch a Reverend re&s;pect to the authority of the &s;upream magi&s;trate in matters of their idolatrous Religion, that <HI>Ari|&s;totle,
<PB N="14" REF="11"> Polit. l.</HI> 3. could &s;ay <GAP DESC="foreign">. The King is Lord and Ruler of things that per<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ain to the Gods.</P>
<P>To conclude, I wi&s;h tho&s;e men, who (like the fir&s;t mat|ter have an indifferency to all forms, and are &s;o unfixedly di&s;po&s;ed in Religion, that they can be content with the <HI>Si|chemites,</HI> to be circumci&s;ed for the<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">r advantage, would (not for wrath but for con&s;cience &s;ake) give a &s;ea&s;onable Te&s;ti|mony of their obedience by a willing conformity to the Kings power in Eccle&s;ia&s;tical cau&s;es, that the Church may be no longer grieved with the rapine of forreign wolves, or &s;poil of dome&s;tick foxes, but that &s;ound doctr<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ne may flou|ri&s;h within her ga<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">es, and true di&s;cipline be e&s;tabl<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;hed in her borders, to which end the Lord &s;end us a &s;peedy Re&s;taura|tion of our ancient Government by the hands of <HI>Zerubba|bel</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> the King and the Bi&s;hop, that as we are bap|tized in one faith, &s;o we may be &s;ubject to one Rule, &amp; as we are of one body, we may be all of one mind, to wor&s;hip God both in the purity and beauty of holine&s;&s;e, and to pre|&s;erve the unity of the &s;pirit in the bond of peace. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="11">
<P>THE AUTHORS LETTER TO AN Anti-Epi&s;copall MINISTER Concerning the GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH.</P>
<Q><L>Qua potes, excu&s;a, nec Amici di&s;cere cau&s;am,</L>
<L>Quo pede caepi&s;ti, &s;ic bene &s;emper eas.</L> <BIBL>Ovid.</BIBL></Q>
<P>Written <HI>Anno Domini</HI> 1651.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Philemon Stephens</HI> the younger at the <HI>Kings Arms</HI> over again&s;t the <HI>Middle Temple Gate.</HI> 1661.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="12">
<PB N="17" REF="12">
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_ALthough it be a task above the greate&s;t experiment of Nature, to &s;top the open &s;epulchres of other mens mouths; yet to vindicate a mans own name from the unju&s;t imputations of &s;candalous a|&s;per&s;ions, is a duty compatible with the lea&s;t vigour of grace.</P>
<P>It is well known to the me&s;&s;enger who brought me your challenge, how unwilling I was at fir&s;t to open my <HI>Cepha|lique</HI> vein in tho&s;e <HI>Canicular</HI> daies, wherein Remedies &s;trong|ly applyed, are more dangerous then di&s;ea&s;es, and mo&s;t men by a malignant con&s;tellation, unluckily complexion'd to di&s;|like what they cannot correct, but receiving a &s;econd infor|mation of your <HI>Goliah</HI> &s;pirit, daring the whole I&s;rael of our &s;ide to a Goo&s;e-quil-fight, after a &s;erious debate betwixt my under&s;tanding and will, I re&s;olved at la&s;t, rather to expo&s;e my &s;elf to the hazardous cen&s;ure of &s;ome for a di&s;pen&s;ible forwardne&s;&s;e, then nece&s;&s;arily to incur the blame of others, and my own con&s;cience, for an inexcu&s;able cowardi&s;e in Religion.</P>
<P>Thanks be to God, I do not only believe as a Chri&s;tian; but as a &s;choller under&s;tand the divine right of Church-Go|vernment,
<PB N="18" REF="13"> which in its &s;ub&s;tantials, by the con&s;ent of mo&s;t men on all &s;ides, i<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter"> not ambulatory (like a moveable Tent) to be &s;et up, and put down, at the plea&s;ure either of civil or Eccle&s;ia&s;tical power, but (like the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Law) unaltera|ble, both in re&s;pect of per&s;ons, and time; but whether the admini&s;tration of this decreed Government, be by divine commi&s;&s;ion originally granted, either to a Presbyterian, In|dependent, or Epi&s;copal mini&s;try, <HI>&s;ub Judice lis e&s;t:</HI> in which proce&s;&s;e (di&s;mi&s;&s;ing the &s;ceptique enqu<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ries of humane Au|thors, as writs in&s;ufficient to determine controver&s;ie) we mu&s;t appeal to the word of God for our <HI>quietus e&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>The Con&s;i&s;torian Presbytery, which for a wh<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">le (like <HI>Senacheribs</HI> Letter) in&s;ulted over Kings, people, hath al|ways been as great a &s;tranger to my &s;tudy, as to my faith; for I could never think that the extemporary invention of a nece&s;&s;itous condition, would ever become an object of &s;pe|culation, much le&s;&s;e of practi&s;e, to the Church of <HI>England.</HI> The Arguments which are chiefly urged to maintain the credit of this &s;ociety upon a divine &s;core, are altogether un|&s;atisfactory to my con&s;cience, not &s;o much becau&s;e they do in a &s;ingular con&s;truction, run counter to the Catholique &s;entence of the Church in former ages, as in that they offer violence to the natural &s;en&s;e of the word, which is the be&s;t Interpreter of it &s;elf; for I would gladly be informed by you, or any man of your con&s;titution, who (like <HI>Diogenes,</HI> an <HI>Epicure</HI> by conver&s;ation, but a <HI>Stoick</HI> in opinion) can &s;eem an Independent in face, yet be a Presbyterian in heart, why, or how the Term Ruler, which in all places of Scripture, touching &s;piritual matters, is the e&s;&s;ential predicate of a Pa|&s;tour, &s;hould or can be under&s;tood of a Lay Elder, e&s;pecial|ly &s;ince the original word u&s;ed by St. <HI>Paul, in Genere, Rom.</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="13"> 12. 8. is by the &s;ame Apo&s;tle 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 5. 12. directly given to the Pa&s;tour <HI>in &s;pecie.</HI></P>
<P>I would likewi&s;e willingly know by what my&s;tery of Art you can prove the Teacher, Exhorter, and Ruler to be di&s;tinct kinds of officers, the Acts of Teaching, Exhorting, and Ruling, 1 <HI>Tim. 3. 2 Tim. 4. Heb.</HI> 13. 17. being in &s;e|veral and plainly intelligible Text letters, jointly appropri|ated to one and the &s;ame &s;ubject: or with what confidence you can compo&s;e your &s;elf to re&s;olve the que&s;tion, whether the Teacher be above the Exhortor, or the Exhortor above the Teacher, in their di&s;tinct offices, <HI>utrumque non vacat ab|&s;urdo;</HI> for if the Teacher be above the Exhortor, then the Teacher may exhort, but the Exhortor not teach, and &s;o <HI>&egrave; conver&s;o,</HI> the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the greater may doe, what the le&s;&s;e can, but the le&s;&s;e cannot, what the greater doth, as the Teacher and Exhortor may govern as well as the Ruler, but the Ruler cannot teach nor exhort as well as they, accor|ding to the cla&s;&s;ical Commentators own opinion. There|fore (unle&s;&s;e there be an <HI>Algebra</HI> in Divinity to invent the &s;ecret of a numeral diver&s;ity without a difference) this in|comprehen&s;ible new di&s;tinction of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical functions mu&s;t needs be &s;uch a grand <HI>A&s;y&s;taton</HI> to the word of God, as he that is but an <HI>ABCdarian</HI> in Scripture, may ea&s;ily &s;pell at the fir&s;t &s;ight.</P>
<P>And here I cannot &s;ufficiently wonder at the deliberate, and <HI>cum privilegio</HI> errour of our Synodical Presbyters, who &s;o hotly urge the in&s;eperability of the keys a|gain&s;t<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vid. jus divinum in Regim. Eccle&s;.</NOTE> their Independent brethren, to lock up the peoples mouths from gaping after the power of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Jurisdiction, and yet allow tho&s;e a|mong&s;t them&s;elves to judge in the Con&s;i&s;tory, whom they
<PB N="20" REF="14"> forbid to preach in the Pulpir. Certainly, if the rea&s;on be forcible enough to bar the Independent multitude, it mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be equally effectual to exclude the Presbyterian &s;ingularity, from the management of &s;piritual commi&s;&s;ions, the propriety of a thing being as incommunicable to one, as to many of a different kind, for the u&s;e of Rea&s;on is as incom|patible with the nature of a particular, as of a univer&s;al bea&s;t|hood.</P>
<P><HI>Baalams</HI> A&s;&s;e by a natural con&s;titution had no more privi|ledge to &s;peak, then the whole family of that &s;ex, neither hath a Triumvirate of Laymen better authority to rule in the Church, then a century of the &s;ame lineage.</P>
<P>Away then with <HI>&s;olum non &s;olus praee&s;t,</HI> a fre&s;h di&s;tinction, which &s;mells of as much untruth as novelty, calculated for the meridian rather of a Utopian Commonwealth, then an <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Church. Can a real divi&s;ion &s;tand with an ab&s;olute in&s;eperability of the keys: hath God joyned them together in his word, and mu&s;t they now be divorced by humane in|ventions? <HI>ubi &s;criptura non di&s;tinguit, nec nos di&s;tinguere de|bemus,</HI> was alwayes held a &s;ound Canon in the doctrinal bo|dy of Theology, till the Popes head by the de&s;tructive ma|chination of an <HI>Index expurgatorius,</HI> broke off the neck of the Rule.</P>
<P>What a &s;inful &s;hame is it for our reforming prophets, (who claim the reputation of Go&s;pel Edifiers) to go about to build up <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> with the Rubbi&s;h of <HI>Babylon?</HI> and to dawb over the wall of Chri&s;tian Religion, with the untem|pered mortar of Je&s;uitical di&s;tinctions. Chri&s;t gave the keys to his Di&s;ciples, as preaching mini&s;ters of the word, and powerful di&s;pen&s;ers of his Sacraments; therefore &s;uch as they are the &s;ole Proprietaries of that Authority, for <HI>qua|tenus
<PB N="21" REF="14"> ip&s;um includit per &s;e.</HI> How then can this new thing cal|led Lay-Elder be rightly &s;aid to rule only? who hath no right to rule at all: &s;urely <HI>dabo tibi claves regni coelorum</HI> was not &s;poken to a mixt per&s;on, comprehending Clergy and Laity, (St <HI>Peter</HI> was no &s;uch Hermaphrodite) but to a Ho|mogeneal root, virtually containing a univocal generation of mini&s;terial branches, to be &s;pread over the whole world, for defence of the Catholique Church. Oh take heed therefore how you corrupt &s;ound Texts with adulterate glo&s;&s;es, or advance a <HI>Geneva</HI> Tran&s;la<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ion above Gods origi|nal, let not the bia&s;&s;e of novel opinions turn your heart from the way of Truth, (it being far better to halt in the right path then to run headlong into a wrong) but &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider whether it be not &s;afer to maintain a Church-warden by Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical policy, then a Lay Elder by divine right? As for the preci&s;e Independency, which is now the predomi|nant humour in the di&s;temper'd body of this Common|wealth; I conceive it to be fal&s;ly grounded, either on pre|cepts not truly under&s;tood, or examples not commonly pra|cti&s;ed: by the one, that is, erroneou&s;ly attributed to the people, which is directly intended to Church Officers, as <HI>Matth.</HI> 18. 17. and from the other, that, which for the pro|mulgation of the Go&s;pel in the blooming of the Church, was di&s;pen&s;ed to &s;ome &s;pecial per&s;ons by an extraordinary in&s;tinct of the holy Gho&s;t, as <HI>Acts</HI> 11. 19, 20. is drawn in|to a common and ordinary u&s;e for all &s;orts of men in the&s;e dayes.</P>
<P>From the fir&s;t particular we have a ready weapon to beat down the &s;trong imagination of &s;ome vulgar inqu<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ors, who report the opinative enmity betwixt the Presbyterian and Independent to be an irreconcileable oppo&s;ition, as if
<PB N="22" REF="15"> the one were a <HI>Jew,</HI> and the other an <HI>Egyptian:</HI> a bold er|rour, worthy to be put out of countenance in the &s;tocks of correction; for although tho&s;e yeomen in Religion, hold not together <HI>in capite,</HI> yet they are joint-tenants in tail, and (like the monumental foxes) are bound by agreement to find firebrands for the combu&s;tion of the Church.</P>
<P>The only variance among&s;t them is, either in the Arith|metical account of &s;in, as <HI>Mary Magdelen,</HI> who was po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ed with &s;even devils, differ'd from the <HI>Gadarene</HI> that had the company of a legion, or in the temporal computation of their original, as <HI>Cain,</HI> the fir&s;t murtherer, was di&s;tingui&s;ht from <HI>Judas</HI> the greate&s;t Traytor in the world.</P>
<P>In which re&s;pect (though &s;ome, mi&s;taken in the &s;cience of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Heraldry, have given Presbyterians the honour to be of the older Hou&s;e) the Independents, with|out &s;u&s;picion of Phari&s;ai&s;me may at a fe&s;tival dinner, chal|lenge the uppermo&s;t place as their due, by an unque&s;tiona|ble right of preheminence from their ancient Progenitors, for (unle&s;&s;e <HI>Aarons Levites</HI> &s;uperannuated, did degenerate into Lay Elders, or the A&s;&s;emblie in the ca&s;e of that run|away Concubine, kill with over-leacherous kindne&s;&s;e, were a type of a <HI>Geneva</HI> Con&s;i&s;tory) <HI>I</HI> cannot apprehend the lea&s;t advantage either of a right line in &s;en&s;e, or collateral in con&s;equence, to deduce the Genealogy of a Presbyterian (in the la&s;t Edition) through the whole age of the old Te|&s;tament, whereas the Independents pedigree, is notoriou&s;ly known to be derived from the Congregational confederates of <HI>Korah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> famous upon Record in the very infancy of the Law.</P>
<P>But pa&s;&s;ing from their Prerogative to their pre&s;umption, give me leave in a ju&s;t exprobration to deride the confidence
<PB N="23" REF="15"> of this forward generation, who (ere they have learned with the <HI>Ethiopian</HI> Eunuch to under&s;tand the Scriptures) will undertake to di&s;pute in the &s;choole of <HI>Tyrannus,</HI> and (as if they were of the hou&s;e of <HI>Stephanus</HI>) be their own ordain|ers to &s;ave others, before they know (like St. <HI>Pauls</HI> Jailor) what they mu&s;t doe to be &s;aved them&s;elves.</P>
<P>For who but a fools wi&s;e man will believe, that <HI>Davids</HI> eating the &s;hew bread, was a Catholique licence for every hunger-&s;tarved I&s;raelite, or <HI>Epicure Jew</HI> to make it his ordi|nary meals meat.</P>
<P>Nece&s;&s;ity, that great School-mi&s;tre&s;&s;e of Arts, (though it hath no law by proverb) is not lawle&s;&s;e by Providence, neither was it ever decreed by the policy of heaven, that a|ny man (though he owneth the condition of the unju&s;t Stew|ard, without art of husbandry to dig, and boldne&s;&s;e to beg) &s;hould relieve the want of his teeth by an inju&s;tifiable trade of the tongue.</P>
<P>It &s;eems a merry &s;pectacle to behold a &s;erpentine mecha|nick, who like a pictur'd head, hath much art, but no &s;en&s;e, to vault from a Tub into a Pulpit: but it is a &s;ad hi&s;tory in|deed to hear him with the &s;trings of his tongue, lead a troop of &s;illy evites by the eares, out of the garden of Paradi&s;e, in|to the wilderne&s;&s;e of hell, by fooling them into a fanatick fancy, that they may be wi&s;er, then God by creation fa|&s;hioned them to be, nor can the innocency or uprightne&s;&s;e of mens intentions excu&s;e the obliquity of their actions, no more then the <HI>Beth&s;hemites</HI> harmle&s;&s;e curio&s;ity in looking in|to the Ark, or <HI>Vzza's</HI> conceited courte&s;y in touching it, could priviledge them from the puni&s;hment of death. A hand&s;ome pair of <HI>Judaical</HI> pre&s;idents to damn the practi&s;e of tho&s;e men, who are either overbu&s;ie in prying into Gods
<PB N="24" REF="16"> &s;ecret coun&s;el, or too pre&s;umptious in handling his revealed will.</P>
<P>It was not lo&s;&s;e of limb, but of life, for any one (except <HI>Aaron</HI> and his &s;ons) to wait on the Prie&s;thood in the old Church, and if God were &s;o careful by a penal &s;tatute of death, to provide a uniformity of con&s;ecrated officers to at|tend on his Altar under the Law, why &s;hould we &s;o much undervalue the Maje&s;ty of our Saviour Chri&s;t, and his <HI>Eco|nomical</HI> providence over the hou&s;hold of faith, as to think that he hath allowed his own table to be &s;erved with a Gal|lamalfry of mini&s;ters under the Go&s;pel; or that he doth ap|prove an unpoli&s;hed rabble of lame and blind Laicks, to &s;et them&s;elves up as pillars and lights in the Chri&s;tian Church, &s;ince tho&s;e even among&s;t the Clergy, who had but the lea&s;t blemi&s;h of corporal deformities were forbidden to officiate in the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Sanctuary.</P>
<P>The offering up of incen&s;e was an acceptable &s;ervice, as well to procure the ble&s;&s;ing of Gods love, as to prevent the cur&s;e of his anger, yet being unlawfully done, by hands not ordained to the performance of the duty, it became an im|pul&s;ive cau&s;e of &s;evere vengeance, the Preface only of which mi&s;demeanour expo&s;ed <HI>Vzziah</HI> (Royalty having no ward again&s;t the &s;troak of divine Ju&s;tice) to the grievous penance of a durable di&s;ea&s;e; and if it were the ju&s;t merit of a King to be marked in the forehead, for committing but a demi|rape on the Prie&s;ts office, what &s;hould Minimes of men de|&s;erve to &s;uffer, who in a full career of &s;infull ambition, pur|&s;ue the honour of a higher calling, then God hath made them either capable to overtake, or skilful to undergo.</P>
<P>Verily the Camels doom in the fable, who for de&s;iring the Bulls horns, lo&s;t his own eares, is a penalty too mode&s;t
<PB N="25" REF="16"> for &s;uch Mountebank adventurers. Doth not the Scripture witne&s;&s;e, that Chri&s;t put &s;ome Teachers in the Church, to teach us that no man &s;hould pre&s;ume to put him&s;elf, and but &s;ome, to a&s;&s;ure us, that all cannot be put in the &s;ame office, and is not his &s;hort plea in the Brethrens ca&s;e a &s;ignal decla|ration to the whole world, that as he, being dedicated to a &s;piritual imployment, would not intangle him&s;elf with ci|vil matters: &s;o no man that is con&s;tituted in a civil vocati|on, &s;hould be bold to meddle with &s;piritual affairs.</P>
<P>Truly, if the coming into <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> chair without <HI>Aarons</HI> call, doth not &s;ignify a climbing up the wrong way, I am yet to learn the meaning of entring in at the right door, or if a &s;elf-will'd invading of the mini&s;terial function. be not to run in Gods errand without &s;ending, I know not what it can be to go with a Commi&s;&s;ion; I heartily wi&s;h tho&s;e watchfull Seers, who are &s;o clear-&s;ighted in e&s;pying the motes of others, had the illumination of true grace to di&s;|cern the beams of their own errours; for I mu&s;t roundly tell them, if St. <HI>Pauls</HI> check to the pragmatical <HI>The&s;&s;aloni|ans,</HI> cannot humble them into a continence of them&s;elves within the term of their own bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, St. <HI>Peters</HI> cen&s;ure will ju&s;tly exalt them into the fellow&s;hip of murderers and thieves.</P>
<P>Neither can I omit to pay the tribute of the like charita|ble affection to the de&s;perate fraternity of their next kindred by bloud, who&s;e brains, overwhelm'd with the vapours of an Anabapti&s;tical feaver, di&s;po&s;e them to dream of a ubi|quitarie coordination of men, which to tho&s;e who are throughly awakened into the liberty of their &s;en&s;es, is all one with an exact confu&s;ion of States; for order (without u&s;ing the rack of an abu&s;ive Trope to make it &s;peak more
<PB N="26" REF="17"> truth then it literally intends) is nothing el&s;e but the Stew|ard&s;hip of nature, maintained by a gradual proce&s;&s;ion, as well of one above another in place, as after another in time; therefore it can be no le&s;&s;e then an abnegation of our Crea|tor&s;hip, and a rebellious outlawing of our &s;elves from divine protection, to &s;eek that on earth, which is not to be found in Heaven, &s;ave in God only, who&s;e individual identity of e&s;|&s;ence is the only exception again&s;t irregularity of per&s;ons. All other creatures (though of the &s;ame kind, as men and Angels) by rea&s;on of their numerical difference in nature, being &s;u&s;ceptible of degrees in accidentall qualifications: and how &s;uitable this phy&s;ical ob&s;ervation is to religious doctrine St. <HI>Pauls</HI> brief injunction in words, Let every &s;oul be &s;ubject, is a large lecture of confirmation in effect, which univer&s;al precept not only includeth the world of liberal and mechanick Arti&s;ts, but likewi&s;e the whole tribe of Eccle&s;ia|&s;tical officers, neither can that &s;ophi&s;tical &s;ubterfuge (the quinte&s;&s;ence of Presbyterian Tyranny) that Church-men are &s;ubject to Kings in their per&s;ons, but not in their office, free them from the compleat duty of the Text, but is rather an aggravation of their untowardne&s;&s;e to obedience for &s;uch Legierdemain (like that Apologetical di&s;tinction which the <HI>Romani&s;ts</HI> invented for <HI>Julius</HI> the Third, that he was a good Pope, but a bad man) though it may dilude a child of <HI>Nini|veh</HI> that knows not the right-hand from the left, cannot da|zle the eyes of intelligent per&s;ons from a &s;en&s;ible di&s;covery of the impo&s;ture, becau&s;e mini&s;ters, <HI>quatenus</HI> mini&s;ters, and in the very officious relation of their &s;piritual factor&s;hip (un|le&s;&s;e Scripture be of no more value then a Legendary proof) are liable to the cen&s;ure, Judgement and Reproof of the &s;u|pream Magi&s;trate.</P>
<PB N="27" REF="17">
<P>For that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> out of pious anger, hotly rebuking <HI>Aaron</HI> for making the golden Calfe, was guilty of an over-zealous pre&s;umption, or <HI>Aaron,</HI> by a way of penitential &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, calling him Lord, of too reverend di&s;&s;imulation; I mu&s;t profe&s;&s;e, <HI>I</HI> am not wicked enough to believe, nor whether <HI>Solomon,</HI> who by his own regal authority, depo&s;ed <HI>Abiathar</HI> the high Prie&s;t, and &s;et <HI>Zadock</HI> in his office, did act beyond the &s;phear of his calling.</P>
<P>Have <HI>I</HI> an impudent &s;ufficiency of prophane Critici&s;me to que&s;tion? <HI>I</HI> am neither ignorant nor incredulous of the powerful priviledges which have been, and &s;till are familiar to Chri&s;tian Worthies, yet <HI>I</HI> am loth to believe that tho&s;e men who will not obey as &s;ubjects for an hour, &s;hall reign as Kings on the Earth for a thou&s;and years, or that they who e&s;teem it the be&s;t policy of di&s;cipline to march in bands (like <HI>Solomons</HI> locu&s;ts) without a Leader, are a fit Ar|my (though their teeth be &s;words, and their jaw-teeth knives) to fight again&s;t <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> for the Monarchy of the world.</P>
<P><HI>I</HI> rather think &s;uch fool-hardy volunteers that li&s;t them|&s;elves in the &s;ervice of the Church, to bring the body into one ranck, without the word of Gods command, are more apt (like <HI>Elies</HI> &s;ons) to grea&s;e their mouths with the fat of the peoples offerings, and to lye with their Si&s;ters at the Congregation door, then to &s;tand up again&s;t idolatrous Phi|li&s;tines, for the Redemption of Chri&s;ts Ark, or to &s;acrifice their lives in defence of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>But as a learned <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> man once &s;aid in ca&s;e of Hi&s;tory, &s;o may <HI>I</HI> in this controver&s;ie, He that followeth truth too clo&s;e to the heels, may chance to have his teeth da&s;ht out: my pre&s;ent purpo&s;e is rather to vent my own, then to traf|fick
<PB N="28" REF="18"> with other mens opinions; yet this <HI>I</HI> mu&s;t believingly &s;ay, the Presbyterian ruling, and Independent preaching, Lay Elders are no more warranted <HI>jure divino,</HI> then U&s;ur|pers are allowed by municipal, or U&s;urers by the civill Laws.</P>
<P>And if our Saviour Chri&s;ts expo&s;tulatory demand, who made me a Judge? be not Argument enough of conviction to the one, and the Apo&s;tles determinate que&s;tion, are all prophets? a &s;ufficient an&s;wer of &s;atisfaction to the other, I &s;hall leave them both to content them&s;elves with that liber|ty which St. <HI>Paul</HI> gave to the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> if they will be ig|norant, let them be ignorant &s;till, and conclude their opini|ons to &s;ympathize with the nature of tho&s;e perver&s;e kind of devils, which cannot be ca&s;t out but by prayer and fa|&s;ting.</P>
<P>The Epi&s;copal jurisdiction which con&s;i&s;teth in a perpetual right of pre&s;idency over the Presbytery, is both to my faith and rea&s;on the proper &s;ubject of Church Government, confirmed by <HI>Aarons</HI> &s;uperintendency over the <HI>Levites</HI> in time of the Law, and by the Apo&s;tles eminency above the Di&s;ciples under the Go&s;pel, who&s;e jurisdictive prehemi|nence was not (like the gift of miraculous power, a &s;piritual monopoly, to be extingui&s;hed with their per&s;ons, but a com|prehen&s;ive priviledge, entailed on their &s;ucce&s;&s;ours to the worlds end.</P>
<P>Their extraordinary per&s;onal qualifications, &s;erved to convert tho&s;e that were without, but their Prerogative pow|er to govern them who were within the line of profe&s;t Chri|&s;tianity, the one was given for the birth, the other for the education of Chri&s;tians, the fir&s;t died with their original &s;ubjects, becau&s;e the means cea&s;es, when the end is accom|pli&s;hed,
<PB N="29" REF="18"> but the &s;econd lives in a derivative po&s;terity, be|cau&s;e where the end is not determined, the means mu&s;t con|tinue; for although the e&s;&s;ence of Church Government be <HI>in facto,</HI> yet the exerci&s;e is &s;till <HI>in fieri,</HI> committed to the hands of &s;elect officers, not for a temporary u&s;e, but a per|petual work of the mini&s;try, till we all come in the unity of faith to the perfection of Saints.</P>
<P>Neither is it agreeable to the principles of religious rea|&s;on, that what was heretofore of good, &s;hould now be of bad, or no u&s;e in the Church.</P>
<P>Why &s;hould not I believe it an ordinance of Gods appro|bative will, that, as the Pontificial dignity begun with <HI>Aa|ron,</HI> continued <HI>de jure</HI> in a &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Prie&s;thood, till Chri&s;ts coming in the fle&s;h? &s;o the Prelatical order founded in the Apo&s;tles, &s;hall remain in an Epi&s;copal Generation, till his coming to judgement.</P>
<P>I am &s;ure an orderly rule to prevent the growth of con|tentious &s;pirits, is fit for Chri&s;tians as well as Jews, and the practi&s;e of di&s;ciplinary jurisdiction as needfull in this age, as in the primitive time, mongrel i&s;&s;ues both of &s;chi&s;matique and heretical Sects, being now as much &s;warming in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> as gra&s;&s;ehoppers once were in <HI>Egypt,</HI> or broods of mon&s;ters are in <HI>Africa.</HI></P>
<P>Neither do I build this faith more upon the foundation of politique then Theological inductions; for granting (which is an unque&s;tionable doctrine) that the Apo&s;tles received their degree of authoritative &s;uperiority above the Di&s;ci|ples, not as extraordinarily gifted per&s;ons (becau&s;e &s;ome of the Di&s;ciples wrought miracles as well as they) but as mi|ni&s;terial officers of the Church, it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow that the &s;ame kind of &s;upereminent power doth rightfully
<PB N="30" REF="19"> belong to all their &s;ucce&s;&s;ours, for reduplicative propo&s;iti|ons are of a univer&s;al con&s;equence, according to the noted maxime in the Schools, a <HI>quatenus ad de omni valet con&s;e|quentia.</HI></P>
<P>And whereas it is objected, that Bi&s;hops being planted in their office by mans authority, cannot in truth be called the Apo&s;tles &s;ucce&s;&s;ours, who were immediately commi&s;&s;iona|ted by our Saviour Chri&s;t, without intervention of humane means.</P>
<P>Therefore our Argument mu&s;t needs lap&s;e into the &s;can|dal of a fal&s;e progre&s;&s;ion <HI>ab Hypothe&s;i ad The&s;in,</HI> I know not what better Rejoynder I &s;hall make to &s;uch a frivolous ca|vil, then what a &s;ound father replyed to a corrupt Interpre|ter of Scripture, <HI>nemo ita intelligit, ni&s;i qui nonintelligit,</HI> no man under&s;tands that to be a good rea&s;on, but he that un|der&s;tands none; for if lawfull &s;ucce&s;&s;ion in the matter of an office mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily depend on the manner of in&s;titution, then the Rulers of I&s;rael may not be truly &s;aid to have &s;uc|ceeded <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in their magi&s;terial callings.</P>
<P>Indeed the Apo&s;tles immediate mi&s;&s;ion from Chri&s;t (whence they had their Title) doth &s;eem to enter a caveat <HI>in foro Eccle&s;iae,</HI> again&s;t the claim of any other to the &s;ame name, but not to the Executor&s;hip of the &s;ame office, as it was tran&s;mittible to po&s;terity.</P>
<P>Next to tho&s;e everla&s;ting Church: monuments the Apo|&s;tles, we have the pre&s;idential acts of <HI>Timothy</HI> and <HI>Titus,</HI> to make good the right of Epi&s;copal &s;upremacy, who&s;e power of ordination, and prerogative of cen&s;uring the offending El|ders, doth convincingly argue their fixed majority above the Presbyterie, for <HI>par in parem non habet pote&s;tatem,</HI> to be active in exerci&s;ing, and pa&s;&s;ive in &s;ubmitting to a power,
<PB N="31" REF="19"> are di&s;tinct Acts, which mu&s;t needs beget an unequal re&s;pect in the Subjects, neither can the force of the maxime be de|feated by that &s;mall repul&s;e of a great Rabbi in the &s;chooie of Church Levellers, that one neighbour may compel an|other to give him &s;atisfaction for wrongs offered, <HI>ergo hoc aliquid nihil e&s;t,</HI> which conceit is much like in feature to that ridiculous conceit of <HI>Ae&s;ops</HI> fly on the cart, who thought him&s;elf authour of the vapouring du&s;t, which was rai&s;ed by the violent motion of the wheels, who knows not but by execution of the magi&s;trates power, a Steward may be en|abled to take away the goods of his Lord, and a ba&s;e hang|man the life of a noble thief, which are their &s;uperiours, yet neither of them have any authority of jurisdiction in them|&s;elves (which is the &s;tate of the que&s;tion in hand) over their equals; nor is the &s;ubjection of one Prophet to ano|ther, an homage only of moral compliance, which barely con&s;i&s;teth in a mutual &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of judgements to the rule of better advice, as the Di&s;ciples of <HI>Smectymnuus</HI> do fondly imagine, becau&s;e the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, which the Apo&s;tle u|&s;eth 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 14. 32. is not only by right of Etymology and con&s;ent of prophane Writers, an ab&s;olute &s;ign of per&s;onall &s;ubordination, but likewi&s;e by the &s;ame Apo&s;tle repeated to expre&s;&s;e the &s;ubjection of people to their &s;upream Gover|nours, <HI>Rom.</HI> 13. 1. and by St. <HI>Peter</HI> of &s;ervants to their ma|&s;ters, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2. 18. who&s;e duty (as <HI>I</HI> take it) &s;tandeth not in an indifferency of complemental officiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but in the nece&s;&s;ity of real obedience.</P>
<P>The common exception again&s;t the in&s;tance of <HI>Timothy</HI> and <HI>Titus,</HI> as being Evangeli&s;ts, and con&s;equently neither Bi&s;hops them&s;elves, nor fit patterns whereby others may be formed into that office, hath been &s;o abundantly exploded,
<PB N="32" REF="20"> that the finer &s;ort of Presbyterian Advocates are a&s;hamed to own &s;uch a cour&s;e plea.</P>
<P>But that which grates them all to the quick, is their &s;olita|ry power of ordination, whence the Bi&s;hop becomes the Presbyters Godfather, which they being neither willing to confe&s;&s;e, nor able to deny, would fain put off with the old &s;hift of an extraordinary priviledge, whereby indeed they affront them&s;elves, as well as the Bi&s;hops, and directly ad|vance the opinion of tho&s;e giddy fanaticks, who maintain ordination of mini&s;ters to have no foundation in the word of God.</P>
<P>It cannot be denied but all inferiour Mini&s;ters are lawfull copartners with their &s;uperiours in the Elementary com|mi&s;&s;ion, goe and teach, but that an equal intere&s;t in the au|thority of &s;ome &s;pecial admini&s;trations &s;hould create the in|mate neighbourhood of a Synonymous complexion be|twixt them, (as if a Bi&s;hop were but the counterpene of a Presbyter) would be no le&s;&s;e then a demon&s;tration of &s;in|gular ignorance to grant.</P>
<P>And what though the Primates of Chri&s;tianity (who were both the materials and builders of the Church) did act the part of ordinary labourers in Gods vineyard, and were content to live in their &s;piritual calling by a promi&s;cu|ous contribution of titular characters; yet the example of their fir&s;t general under&s;tanding was no bar, but an overture (witne&s;&s;e the hi&s;tory of their own Acts) to an after di&s;cri|mination of particular offices.</P>
<P>Therefore how a perpetual parity (notwith&s;tanding the Apo&s;tolical in&s;titution of degrees) &s;hould be the nece&s;&s;ary &s;ucce&s;&s;our of a temporary enterfare in the mini&s;try, &s;eems an Apocryphal riddle, as far out of the ken of my apprehen|&s;ion,
<PB N="33" REF="20"> as the hypocri&s;ie of a &s;tratagem is from a childs di&s;co|very.</P>
<P>Neither can I be &s;atisfied why the argument of a nomi|nal community &s;hould prevail more with my under&s;tanding to profe&s;&s;e Bi&s;hops and Presbyters but one in office, then to deny Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ciples (having the &s;ame familiarity of appellation) to be divers; for if the medium be of pure nece&s;&s;ity, Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ciples mu&s;t be one in office, as well as Bi&s;hops and Presbyters, if it be not, Bi&s;hops and Presbyters may be diver&s;e, as well as Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ci|ples: and if one officer could &s;ub&s;i&s;t with variety of names, why might variety of officers with one name; why not a Bi&s;hop and Presbyter with the common name of Elder, as well as an Apo&s;tle, with the di&s;tinct name of Presbyter and Deacon.</P>
<P>To clear this point more fully from the mi&s;t of doubtfull Expo&s;itions, and to cut the throat of that thread-bare eva&s;i|on, <HI>Privilegia per&s;onalia non trahuntur in exemplum.</HI></P>
<P>St. <HI>John</HI> doth <HI>digito demon&s;trare,</HI> directly delineate the &s;ub&s;tance of Epi&s;copal authority, for the Angels of the <HI>A|&s;ian</HI> Churches, were neither Apo&s;tles nor Evangeli&s;ts, (all of them being dead when he wrote tho&s;e Epi&s;tles) and yet they were reared in a degree (if not an order) of dignity a|bove the Presbytery within their &s;everal precincts, as ap|pears by the peculiar and definite application of his &s;tile, where the article <GAP DESC="foreign"> prefixt to the &s;ub&s;tantive, to the Angel, and doth not only denote a determinate <HI>individuum,</HI> but an eminent per&s;on, which is a &s;ufficient confutation of that beggerly &s;hift, which &s;uppo&s;eth a collective &s;en&s;e of the words, equally including the whole Presbytery, whereas both the direction and charge of the Epi&s;tles do notably re|&s;train
<PB N="34" REF="21"> the &s;ummary intention of the Apo&s;tles expre&s;&s;ion, in a di&s;tributive interpretation to the &s;ingular Bi&s;hops of tho&s;e Churches, for as it is a bla&s;phemous imagination to con|ceive the holy Gho&s;t &s;peaking more then he intends: &s;o it is an unwarrantable pre&s;umption to &s;uppo&s;e him intending more then he &s;peaks.</P>
<P>Gods written Word is the exact copy of his will, and full number of our faith, which may not be divided by &s;ub&s;tra|ction, nor multiplyed by addition.</P>
<P>Shall we practi&s;e le&s;&s;e in our lives, when he commands more in his laws, or when he writes one in the right line of his Word, &s;hall we tran&s;cribe many by a crooked Paren|the&s;is of an interlineary glo&s;&s;e? What is this, but either to undermine the divine foundation by athei&s;tical detraction, or overlay it by Antichri&s;tian &s;uper&s;tition:</P>
<P>What rule have we either in Logick or Divinity (without a con&s;equent collection of circum&s;tances from the Text) to give a plural con&s;truction to a word of &s;ingular termination, or what con&s;traint of Rhetorick can we pretend to fly from the congruity of Grammatical concordance, to the irregular &s;upport of a &s;oleci&s;tical Synechdoche? For my part, as I think it a nece&s;&s;ary duty to ob&s;erve that directory caution, which I have learned in the primordial Rudiments of Reli|gion, never to depart from the literal &s;en&s;e, as long as it a|greeth with the analogy of faith, and contexture of Scri|pture: &s;o I cannot be per&s;waded (much le&s;&s;e convinced in con&s;cience) to believe, that the holy Apo&s;tle writing though of infallible things) to failing per&s;ons, &s;hould wrap up his purpo&s;e in an implicite term, &s;ince the connexion but of one letter (the i&s;&s;ue of an in&s;tant pains) would have plainly un&s;olded the &s;cope of the matter, and explicitely e|quallized
<PB N="35" REF="21"> his &s;peech to his meaning. The Holy Gho&s;t ex|plains the vi&s;ion of &s;even Candle&s;ticks by an adequate nu|meration of &s;even Churches, and the my&s;terious figure of &s;o many &s;tars by the like quantity of Angels, whereby (if according to the verdict of our new Septuagint Interpreters we under&s;tand the whole mini&s;try of the Church) we mu&s;t con&s;equently de&s;troy the analogical applications of the truth to the Type; for why the &s;ame arithmetical propor|tion &s;hould not be maintained betwixt the &s;tars and Angels, as there is betwixt the Candle&s;ticks and Churches, which by a &s;pecial note in the one, and particular nomination of the other) are preci&s;ely limited to the number of &s;even, I find no ground either of rea&s;on to induce, or Religion to command my belief.</P>
<P>As for the contrapo&s;ition of &s;imilitude (whereof the pre|gnant Presbyters after long travel were delivered) that as a thou&s;and per&s;ons making up one Church, is repre&s;ented by one Candle&s;tick, &s;o many mini&s;ters making up one Presby|tery by one Angel.</P>
<P>I conceive it more fit to exerci&s;e a &s;chool-boyes wit, then a Divines judgement; for the word Church being a noun collective, which requireth a multitude of men to con&s;titute its e&s;&s;ential definition, can bear no proportion of &s;imilitude with the term Angel or mini&s;ter, that is <HI>vox &s;ejunctae &s;ignifi|cationis,</HI> and nece&s;&s;arily excludeth a plurality of per&s;ons, be&s;ides their fal&s;e <HI>procedendo &agrave; concreto ad ab&s;tractum,</HI> which he that is but a blear ey'd Logitian, may judiciou&s;l<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> e&s;py in many mini&s;ters, making up one Presbytery, which (to hold a corre&s;pondency with the whole) &s;hould be expre&s;t: &s;o many mini&s;ters making up one Presbyter.</P>
<P>When they have art enough to make this good, I &s;hall
<PB N="36" REF="22"> beg the honour to be their pupil. Indeed &s;ometimes a &s;in|gular expre&s;&s;ion admits of a general con&s;truction, as our Sa|viours &s;peech to St. <HI>Peter, Matth.</HI> 16. 19. (though del<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ve|red in a &s;olitary phra&s;e) is under&s;tood in a comprehen&s;ive &s;en&s;e, which is not an imaginary inference of private inter|pretation, but a real expo&s;ition of publick truths confirmed by collation of Scripture; for what is &s;ignified by Thee in one place, is expounded by Ye in another, and what is in|tended by <HI>Tibi dabo</HI> to St. <HI>Peter,</HI> is declared by <HI>Accipite</HI> in the re&s;t of the Apo&s;tles, but by one Angel to under&s;tand all the Presbytery, is not only an Heterodox and cro&s;&s;e con|&s;truction to the literal &s;en&s;e of the Text it &s;elf, but an un&s;u|table analy&s;is to the conference of other places, which do e|vidently appropriate the burthen, as well as the direction of the charge, in an interrupted &s;tile, without variation of number to one per&s;on.</P>
<P>Therefore St. <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> Apology to his di&s;&s;enting father, <HI>Dent veniam quidlibet aliud opinantes, ego magis credo tanto Apo&s;tolo,</HI> &s;hall be my defence in this ca&s;e, I &s;hall rather be|lieve the plain language of one Apo&s;tle, then the figurative comments of a Presbyterian univer&s;ity; who (in imitati|on of that politick knack of <HI>Julius Cae&s;ar; Depo&s;uit nomen Di|ctacurae, at vim retinuit</HI>) do in pure zeal put down the name, but in corrupt affection take up the power of a Bi&s;hop, and advance it to a higher &s;tep of &s;upercilious &s;everity, then ever the Arche&s;t Bi&s;hop adventured to practi&s;e; for I never heard nor read that any of them (&s;ince the Popes power was purged out of this land) did claim the pride of an ungraci|ous authority to place the chair of &s;tate under the &s;tool of re|pentance, which the rig'd Presbyterians have mo&s;t impu|dently done: be&s;ides the&s;e convincing te&s;timonies of Scri|pture,
<PB N="37" REF="22"> which to me are as clear as the noon day Sun. The unanimous con&s;ent, and univer&s;al practi&s;e of the Church in all ages, recorded in h<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;tory Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, (which is a &s;uf|ficient evidence for matter of fact) are two main &s;upporters to bear up my belief of the Bi&s;hops right. For why &s;hould not I credit <HI>Eu&s;ebius,</HI> who tells me that <HI>Policarpus</HI> was S. <HI>Iohns</HI> Angel or Bi&s;hop of <HI>Smyrna,</HI> as well as <HI>Beza,</HI> who writes that <HI>Calvin</HI> was Pre&s;ident of the <HI>Geneva</HI> A&s;&s;embly, I confe&s;s I do as much pity as condemn the humerous di&s;po&s;itions of our factious Novelli&s;ts, who&s;e heads are troubled with the <HI>Athenian</HI> itch, <HI>non tam magna quam nova mirari,</HI> and (like un&s;table Weathercocks) carried away with every new puffe of doctrine, from the centry of their old principles: as <HI>ini|tio non fuit ita,</HI> and <HI>huju&s;modi con&s;uetudinem non habemus,</HI> are arguments enough to confute either an inqui&s;itive Phari&s;ee, or a &s;chi&s;matical <HI>Corinthian,</HI> which engageth me to &s;ub&s;cribe to the Catholick cu&s;tome of the Church, rather then con|&s;ent to the up&s;tart eventilations of private &s;pirits; for al|though antiquity without truth is but a mu&s;ty con&s;erve of errour, yet to arre&s;t the tracts of our predece&s;&s;ours upon a bare &s;u&s;picion of fal&s;hood, &s;eems to me an act as much a|gain&s;t the law of Chri&s;tian charity, as Eccle&s;ia&s;tical policy, neither is the cu&s;tomary infirmity of a mi&s;per&s;waded con|&s;cience, &s;o dangerous as the peremptory innovation of unad|vi&s;ed brains; for humane frailty may extenuate an ignorant errour, but nothing can excu&s;e a pre&s;umptuous &s;in.</P>
<P>To conclude, although our Bi&s;hops are now di&s;leized of their ancient tenure by an ejectment deed of the &s;word, and (who were heretofore thought worthy, as Reverend fathers of dutiful re&s;pect) are now become objects of their chil|drens &s;corn; yet the pre&s;ent alienation of their condition,
<PB N="38" REF="23"> per&s;ecuted by the herd of popular catchpoles) is too &s;oft an argument to turn the edge of my opinion; for in &s;uch &s;ub|&s;tantial ca&s;es, (wherein judgement mu&s;t be u&s;her to affecti|on) <HI>Cicero</HI>'s paradoxical plea &s;hall be my religious re&s;oluti|on, <HI>licet irrideat &s;i quis vult, plus apud me tamen vera ratio va|lebit quam vulgi opinio:</HI> Sir, as I have freely given you this ac|count of my faith, touching the government of the Church, &s;o <HI>I</HI> hope you will not think it unworthy either your Chri|&s;tian patience to read, or your learned pains to an&s;wers the &s;ame, <HI>I</HI> am not &s;o much wedded to my own, but can be in love with better rea&s;on, which if you plea&s;e to afford me, you will engage me, not only to acknowledge my &s;elf your conquered enemy in opinion, but likewi&s;e willing to &s;ub|&s;cribe your convert friend in affection,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Chri&s;tianus Philalethes</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="poem">
<PB N="39" REF="23">
<HEAD>METROMACHIA, OR, A POETICAL COMBAT Betwixt the AUTHOUR And the &s;ame MINISTER.</HEAD>
<LG>
<HEAD>Authour.</HEAD>
<L>IN &s;uckling age, when convert &s;ouls were &s;cant,</L>
<L>The Go&s;pel preachers were itinerant,</L>
<L>When Chri&s;ts chief Lackeys po&s;ted day and night</L>
<L>From &s;tage to &s;tage to make a pro&s;elyte,</L>
<L>Church Angels then by patent had no le&s;&s;e</L>
<L>Then the worlds Kingdoms for their Dioce&s;&s;e.</L>
<PB N="40" REF="24">
<L>But when tho&s;e Chri&s;tian babes, by the &s;weet bread</L>
<L>Of life, were &s;prouted to a numerous head,</L>
<L>Then the unerring coun&s;el thought it meet,</L>
<L>To fa&s;ten fetters to the Pa&s;tors feet.</L>
<L>The fir&s;t born Bi&s;hops took no over plus,</L>
<L>Above the bounds of <HI>Crete</HI> and <HI>Ephe&s;us,</HI></L>
<L>And &s;hall their younger brethren &s;eek to try</L>
<L>Their fortunes by a &s;trange plurality:</L>
<L>As if a chri&s;ten'd Curate when he li&s;t,</L>
<L>Could rebaptize him&s;elf Evangeli&s;t.</L>
<L>Oh what a &s;pot doth filthy lucre place</L>
<L>Vpon th' example of a Clergy face,</L>
<L>This is the cau&s;e &s;o many fixed &s;tars</L>
<L>Are turn'd malignant Planets &s;ince the&s;e wars,</L>
<L>Who wander from their proper &s;phears to &s;trike</L>
<L>The vacant &s;heaf of corn which they be&s;t like:</L>
<L>Return b<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="2 letters">nd &s;hepheards, your commi&s;&s;ion'd power</L>
<L>Is only for to feed, not to devour</L>
<L>The harmle&s;&s;e &s;heep, which (when you run a&s;tray)</L>
<L>Are to the wily fox and wolf a prey.</L>
<L>Can they prove faithful martyrs at a &s;take,</L>
<L>Who love the flock but for the fleeces &s;ake?</L>
<L>The Manna of the word can ne're delight,</L>
<L>Nor make a glutton a true I&s;raelite,</L>
<L>Who&s;e brains are quarter'd in his guts, perplext</L>
<L>To be confin'd unto an empty Text.</L>
<L>Such pulpit flatterers are more fit to prate</L>
<L>In markets, then to preach within the gate</L>
<L>Of the Lords Temple, where the golden wedge</L>
<L>Tempts none but <HI>Achans</HI> into &s;acriledge:</L>
<PB N="41" REF="24">
<L>Tho&s;e Elders by their u&s;e teach men to try</L>
<L>The Apo&s;tles Phy&s;ick to young <HI>Timothy;</HI></L>
<L>And for to purge their Diet from complaints;</L>
<L>They do hold forth the Love-fea&s;ts of the Saints.</L>
<L>But where is he that writes him&s;elf content,</L>
<L>With the &s;ame Authors cour&s;er complement</L>
<L>Of food and raiment, that in barren ground</L>
<L>Hath learn'd his thir&s;ty le&s;&s;on to abound?</L>
<L>Where is the Prie&s;t that in a &s;mall tith' a place</L>
<L>Can banquet freely on the Herb of Grace?</L>
<L>Or that can frolick with a well pleas'd look</L>
<L>On the lean Index of his <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI> book,</L>
<L>And like the <HI>Lent</HI> fed <HI>Bapti&s;t</HI> glad to call</L>
<L>A de&s;art Vicarage his best Ho&s;pital.</L>
<L>Such creatures now are as rare in this Land,</L>
<L>As pilgrime travellers in the <HI>Arabian</HI> &s;and.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Mini&s;ter.</HEAD>
<L>SOme froward Children of our Age &s;till cry,</L>
<L>Though they may have both &s;uck and lullaby</L>
<L>Enough from their Kind Mother, who&s;e full Brea&s;t</L>
<L>And &s;ugar'd voice allures them to their re&s;t:</L>
<L>Yet &s;till they cry, becau&s;e they Children are,</L>
<L>And froward too, and that makes peace a war:</L>
<L>Fie api&s;h, pevi&s;h &s;quals, what can no food</L>
<L>Content your palate, but what is not good?</L>
<L>Your blindne&s;s makes you want that which you have,</L>
<L>And therefore what you want, not that you crave.</L>
<PB N="42" REF="25">
<L>The Church when in its &s;wadling band it lay,</L>
<L>Had nur&s;es for its infancy, and they</L>
<L>By their great care did cau&s;e the tender babe</L>
<L>To &s;tretch its limbs from <HI>Salem</HI> to <HI>Arabe,</HI></L>
<L>And (being fairly grown near marriage)</L>
<L>She fell under that <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> &s;tepdames rage,</L>
<L>Who did this virgin pro&s;titute to th' lu&s;t,</L>
<L>Of all her wanton favourites, then mu&s;t</L>
<L>This charmed dam&s;el move, or &s;it, or hold,</L>
<L>As that great whore, or her ba&s;e lovers would,</L>
<L>They plaid their pranks, and did her teachers frame</L>
<L>By their un&s;criptur'd model, and thence came</L>
<L>Your lordly Bi&s;hops, prie&s;ts too lordly too,</L>
<L>Which theevi&s;h Churchmen did the Church undoe,</L>
<L>Yet long they reign'd, yea reign'd untill this day,</L>
<L>Until the lamb his banner did di&s;play,</L>
<L>And &s;natcht his &s;pou&s;e off from the lions paws,</L>
<L>Where now he gives to rule by his own laws.</L>
<L>And the&s;e confine no teacher to one place</L>
<L>Above the re&s;t, but place him or di&s;place,</L>
<L>As work calls for them, here no tithes do draw.</L>
<L>The teacher, but his great Commanders law.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Authour.</HEAD>
<L>'TIs strange a Lecture man, who undertakes</L>
<L>To teach &s;hould be &s;o lavi&s;h in mi&s;takes;</L>
<L>Our froward children by in&s;tinct do &s;ay</L>
<L>They meet with wormwood in their milky way,</L>
<PB N="43" REF="25">
<L>Dropt by nur&s;e foxes, who in wait do ly,</L>
<L>To give them a death &s;leeping lullaby.</L>
<L>Can the &s;hrill accents of a whining brea&s;t</L>
<L>Sweeten their &s;en&s;es with a candid re&s;t!</L>
<L>Who&s;e bones are as unplea&s;ing as the call</L>
<L>Of mourners at an <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> funeral.</L>
<L>Can doctrine prove good food mixt with the raw</L>
<L>Juice of &s;chi&s;matical <HI>Coloquintida?</HI></L>
<L>What freedom is therein a fettred &s;lave?</L>
<L>Or what a calm of peace can children have?</L>
<L>When that the &s;torming fathers do un&s;tring</L>
<L>Their long hang'd tongues in pulpit skirmi&s;hing.</L>
<L>I wi&s;h they wanted what they have, and then</L>
<L>They would not crave to have the &s;ame agen.</L>
<L>This Clerk doth well di&s;play tho&s;e who did plant</L>
<L>The infant Go&s;pel Temple, but doth want</L>
<L>A good Church Heralds &s;pectacles to &s;ee</L>
<L>The Alpha of a Bi&s;hops pedegree,</L>
<L>Who is no bastard, &s;tain'd with bloud impure,</L>
<L>Claiming from <HI>Rome</HI> his primogeniture,</L>
<L>But lawful branch of th' Apo&s;tolick &s;tock,</L>
<L>VVho built their hou&s;e upon a lasting rock,</L>
<L>VVhence they by faiths per&s;pective did de&s;cry</L>
<L>Mysterious craftsmen of iniquity,</L>
<L>VVho labour'd with an artificial hate,</L>
<L>The &s;pirits purene&s;&s;e to &s;ophi&s;ticate;</L>
<L>Yet did Chri&s;ts &s;pou&s;e the &s;tepdame bawd defy</L>
<L>That would make &s;ale of her virginiy.</L>
<L>Nor did the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Church (though in di&s;gui&s;e</L>
<L>From the foundation truth apo&s;tatize,</L>
<PB N="44" REF="26">
<L>&V;ntil that Damned Coun&s;el &s;pawn'd at <HI>Trent,</HI></L>
<L>Had &s;plit with Cannons her main Battlement:</L>
<L>What if the Lordly Adjunct were fir&s;t &s;et</L>
<L>By Kings, as an enamel'd Epithet,</L>
<L>On plain &s;ub&s;tantial Writers, mu&s;t that glo&s;s</L>
<L>Bankrupt the <HI>Text</HI> to a perpetual lo&s;s?</L>
<L><HI>Bi&s;hops</HI> commi&s;&s;ions cannot lo&s;e their dates,</L>
<L>By the acce&s;s of &s;uch Magi&s;trates,</L>
<L>No more then an Appendix Garment can</L>
<L>&V;ndo the bulkie Fabrick of a man.</L>
<L>Is't only now the <HI>Saints</HI> have learn'd to &s;ing</L>
<L>A right tun'd Antheme to their <HI>Heavenly King?</HI></L>
<L>Hath he decreed that this new year &s;hould be</L>
<L>Proclaim'd the fir&s;t year of their <HI>Jubilee?</HI></L>
<L>Then did our <HI>Martyr'd Predece&s;&s;ors</HI> dwell</L>
<L>Not in <HI>Gods Hou&s;e,</HI> but in the <HI>Gates</HI> of <HI>Hell.</HI></L>
<L>Is it his Law that Churches &s;hould be built</L>
<L>After the model of a wandring tilt;</L>
<L>And <HI>Churchmen</HI> &s;teer their cour&s;e from dale to hill</L>
<L>By the large compa&s;&s;e of their greedy will?</L>
<L>The <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> then their <HI>Pa&s;tors</HI> wings did clip,</L>
<L>To fix in <HI>Towns</HI> a &s;tanding <HI>Elder&s;hip.</HI></L>
<L>Doth not the Spirit ring an angry peal</L>
<L>Into the <HI>Ephe&s;ians</HI> Angels ear, who&s;e zeal</L>
<L>Was &s;hrunk but in degree of maiden heat</L>
<L>From the&s;e, where he by calling had his &s;eat.</L>
<L>And is it yet the <HI>Divine</HI> will and law</L>
<L>Of liberty, that <HI>Pa&s;tors</HI> may withdraw</L>
<L>Their fir&s;t love from their flocks, &s;till wa&s;ting le&s;&s;e</L>
<L>&V;ntil it vani&s;h to a nothingne&s;&s;e?</L>
<PB N="45" REF="26">
<L>Doth not the &s;pirit mark a hireling by</L>
<L>His carele&s;s leaving of the <HI>Sheep</HI> to die,</L>
<L>And cur&s;ing threaten for &s;uch &s;inful tricks,</L>
<L>To take the <HI>Church</HI> Lights from their candle&s;ticks,</L>
<L>It is Gods work then, or the Devils play</L>
<L>VVhich calls on them to move them&s;elves away?</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Mini&s;ter.</HEAD>
<L><HI>CHildren</HI> and <HI>Fools</HI> tell truth, thus you di&s;cover</L>
<L>Your Parentage, and childi&s;h rage all over;</L>
<L>And cau&s;e you get a <HI>Leader</HI> that &s;eems tall,</L>
<L>Y are glad and mad to follow &s;uch a <HI>Saul,</HI></L>
<L>VVho feigns to cloath you all in <HI>Scarlet,</HI> but</L>
<L>They will prove Garments of the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> cut;</L>
<L>Among&s;t the <HI>Prophets</HI> he may prophe&s;ie,</L>
<L>That is no Prophet in a <HI>Prophets</HI> eye:</L>
<L>Thus whi&s;pers <HI>Mahomet</HI> through his clo&s;e <HI>Trunk</HI></L>
<L>Lies to his creatures, and the <HI>Whore</HI> keeps drunk</L>
<L>VVith her old Pro&s;tigies, the giddy many,</L>
<L>VVhich thir&s;t for <HI>Bi&s;hops, Prie&s;ts,</HI> Church forms, or any</L>
<L>Corrupted Lees, and that her lies may take,</L>
<L>She makes her <HI>Sacred Book</HI> her <HI>Almanack:</HI></L>
<L>You talk of worm wood <HI>Pulpit</HI> skirmi&s;hings</L>
<L>Of <HI>Fetters, Foxes,</HI> and &s;uch deadly things:</L>
<L>But here's your cunning, or your knavery,</L>
<L>You are the <HI>Thieves,</HI> yet first make hue and cry,</L>
<PB N="46" REF="27">
<L>Yours are the <HI>fleecing Prie&s;ts,</HI> the greedy <HI>Dogs,</HI></L>
<L>The per&s;ecuting <HI>Wolves,</HI> the croaking <HI>Frogs,</HI></L>
<L>The <HI>Drones,</HI> the <HI>Wa&s;ps,</HI> the <HI>Cranes,</HI> the blind St. <HI>Johns,</HI></L>
<L>The <HI>Kill-&s;ouls,</HI> and the true <HI>Camenions;</HI></L>
<L>And that their Character I truly &s;ing,</L>
<L>There needs no proof, but their ju&s;t &s;uffering:</L>
<L>But the lo&s;t <HI>Bi&s;hop,</HI> and his birth is it,</L>
<L>Which you &s;tretch on the <HI>Tenters</HI> of your <HI>Wit;</HI></L>
<L>Which with my &s;pectacles the be&s;t that are,</L>
<L>I &s;ee from Apostolick claim as far</L>
<L>Di&s;tant as <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> from <HI>We&s;t,</HI> which you likewi&s;e</L>
<L>Might &s;ee, had you but Eye-&s;alve for your eyes.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Author.</HEAD>
<L>CHildren and Fools may well be Telltroths, when</L>
<L>The greate&s;t Clerks are not the wi&s;e&s;t men:</L>
<L>When men are drunk with lies, the truth mu&s;t be</L>
<L>Bib'd in by Sucklings in a Mi&s;tery.</L>
<L>Who&s;e <HI>Dove</HI>-like-hearts do pant with zealous rage</L>
<L>To hear a Rook bla&s;pheme their Parentage:</L>
<L>Ile not di&s;pute whether a tall <HI>Saul</HI> can,</L>
<L>Lead better then a wandring <HI>Jonathan;</HI></L>
<L>Or which doth be&s;t &s;et forth a Doctors face,</L>
<L>The <HI>Lin&s;ey-Wool&s;ey,</HI> or the <HI>Scarlet</HI> Grace.</L>
<L>But what our Prophets of the New Game, but</L>
<L>Have gain'd in Learning, by a &s;huffling put</L>
<L>Of their Book <HI>&s;eniors</HI> to the whole &s;ale lo&s;s,</L>
<L>Both of per&s;onage Text, and vickrage glo&s;s:</L>
<PB N="47" REF="27">
<L>Or what a &s;ound nois'd faith doth fill our ears</L>
<L>Blown from their lung impo&s;tum'd Trumpetters,</L>
<L>Is &s;o well noted, that we need not grudge,</L>
<L>To let the whole world be an umpire Iudge,</L>
<L>For when Patch Cobler &s;hall in pride tran&s;late</L>
<L>His &s;tool office to a chair Con&s;ulate,</L>
<L>And &s;tretch his will beyond the la&s;t, to mend</L>
<L>A &s;oolwry trodden with a Scripture end,</L>
<L>When &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">ipper Taylor &s;hall prefume to make</L>
<L>A Chri&s;tian wedding garment, for who&s;e &s;ake,</L>
<L>He that did our first lap&s;ing parents ble&s;&s;e</L>
<L>With coverings for their &s;inful nakedne&s;&s;e,</L>
<L>Hath preordain'd that none &s;hould look &s;o high,</L>
<L>But tho&s;e whom he hath &s;ent to prophe&s;y,</L>
<L>When &s;uch pragmatick cutters lay a&s;ide</L>
<L>Their &s;heers, that they may with their tongues di|vide</L>
<L>Gods word into new fa&s;hiond doctrine, how</L>
<L>Can this mad prophet &s;ay, <HI>God &s;peed the plow.</HI></L>
<L>His chain of ugly names belongs by right,</L>
<L>To an untamed Engli&s;h Ie&s;uite,</L>
<L>Who &s;corns to be inclos'd within the line</L>
<L>Of Church-communication di&s;cipline,</L>
<L>Doth not he &s;ute the picture of a fool,</L>
<L>Or an exploded Dunce in Logick &s;chool:</L>
<L>VVho makes his proof by a disfigur'd throng</L>
<L>Of words, ab&s;urder then the question.</L>
<L>Are Bi&s;hops malefactours, cau&s;e they have</L>
<L>Been by a powerful hand conveyd to grave,</L>
<L>Or hurled into pri&s;on, mu&s;t they be</L>
<L>Therefore the objects of ju&s;t Infamy?</L>
<PB N="48" REF="28">
<L>If rea&s;on &s;hould be dre&s;t &s;till in this gui&s;e,</L>
<L>Twould be a &s;inful Art to &s;yllogize,</L>
<L>For what a damn'd conclu&s;ion might men pre&s;se</L>
<L>From the contexture of &s;uch premi&s;es,</L>
<L>By this the <HI>Jews</HI> might argue when Chri&s;t died,</L>
<L>That he de&s;erv'd to be &s;o crucified.</L>
<L>He that hath learn'd to level in degree,</L>
<L>A Bi&s;hops and a Pa&s;tours pedegree,</L>
<L>May by the &s;ame invented rule conclude,</L>
<L>The &s;tars are all of equal magnitude.</L>
<L>VVell, &s;ince this Clerks complexion is too hot</L>
<L>To be allaid by my Ink gally pot,</L>
<L>Let him alone, 'tis fruitle&s;&s;e to invite</L>
<L>From &s;ilver &s;hrines an Idol Ephraimite,</L>
<L>I &s;ee &s;uch giddy Church tops will turn round</L>
<L>Till they be gigg'd by Bi&s;hops to the ground.</L>
</LG>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="28">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
