s .y!^,.^/^u,.„^,ji/:A 12k a s:o O^ <&^ £^ ^2- OK THF. AT PRINCETON, N. J. QTo. 13 c» :v .'^ *■' z c » TV Of SAMUEL AONEW, ^ ^ OFI-niLAIlELPBIA.PA. ' fWS^P^^^^/O aU fcfU / ^REFLECTION UPON Church-Government : O R, A N E N Ct U I R Y Into the Nature and Extent of the Several Powers Belonging to the CHURCH, ASA Me!igiot4S sociETr, Both before and after ita UNION with the STATE. LONDON: JPrint^d for R. Do d sl e v, at Tulfy's Head in Pall-Mail. 1745. The Reader is delired to correct the following Errata, occafion'd by the Author's Diflance from the Prefs, PJge 49. /. 23. for ot read ^.54. /; \ 6. for his read Its,. P- SS- f°''' R"l" and Meafures read Rule and Meafure. p.6j.l. 15, 16. for ingenious ri?<2rt' .ingenuous. /. 72. /. 1 3 . yjj- coincident r. coinciding. ^.83 /. 1 6 . for tliem r^(7^ him . /. 87. /. Z. for Being r. Objcft />. 96. /. I 2. ^;/?r;- done read or oniiUed. /). no. Ihfore aJTemble ^^V and. p. 114. /..1 9. ^'AwJt-Iappinefs . ^rrt'i:/ and Mifery. />. 1 28. /. 25. /or Purity r. Piety. j''. 148. ({. 10. for v.'ork rm^ produce. f. 154./. 17. rf/jz/conititutcs. />. 160. /. 18. ;Y-7r/ Offices. ^. 165. /.'i3./r7- their tegular 7-ead t^c irregular. j!>. 177. /. 18. after that;r^fl' if. p. 178. /. 4. /or in read to, r,?ul I. 18. ^? Comma after Aq- grce. /I.. 1 8 5 . /. II. ^t.vV they are fit- ted to. f. 189. /. 2. forO\-\ read no. p. 190. /. 18. />ifore miud add human. p.iqz. I. 21. ^i^r Things read Being. p. 195. /. II. for publick reaA Man's. /. 209. /. 23. rf^.i' polTcfs'd of. p. 238. /. 10. for Dii orders r. Difcords. p. 270. /. 10. for national read natural. p. 277. /. 10. for in read of; ajid /. 2 1 . before by addend. p. 296. /. 23. for Interells read Rights. p. 2q8. /. 10, 1 1 . ,^j;-Truth read \] KvAiy ^ ajid for Utility read Trutli ; and /. 1 5 . for Fa- vourites jvi?«' Favourers. />. 3-1 2. /. 1 1 . for civil r. evil. /).5i6. A 18. de/eSo. p. 320. /. 20. r^r^i/Deviation. />,3 38. /. 1 5 for great r. greater. />. 372. /. 10, 1 1 . /or his Exiil- ence rr.^d it. ^.37!;. /. 23, 24. /iK/^ Comma after propofed, and dele Com- ing after Appointni nt ; and I. 25. dckoi. p. 377. /. 5. dele civil. ^. 3S1 . /. 9. /or Reafons r-^ad Introduction. /.38r. /. 6. ^V/i- could. /. 390. /. 18. /ir Reception r. Introdudion. p. 393. /. 23. for leaning read leaping. p^-^jG. A 2 1 for ann ?•£•««' and. (^\ UPON THSOLOGICiL Church-Government,'^'^''' ""' §• I- ^J^^^H^SH E geii^ral Complaint in all Ages of the World has ever been, that the Pvace of Men, then ex- iting in it, were more debauch'd in their Morals, and run greater Lengths in Wickednefs, than any that have already gone before them j and that Vice vi^as never known to be more countenanc'd, or to tc held in greater Credit and Eileem than it was at fuch particular Time j which Com- plaint, if now made, as it every-v/here is, and there be any thing of Truth in it, as un- B doubt- 2 REFLECrfONS UpOH undoubtedly there muft, otherwlfe it would not be fo general, is, we prefume, owing ta the Littl^ of Religion there is left amongfl us j and to tlvit vifible Negledl and Difregard every where fhewn and paid to moral Principles ; and to all the great, important Branches of Virtue i none of which, notwithftanding the fine airy things afcrib'd to them, can, in Fad:, be of any farther Signlficancy, with refpedl to their Influence upon the Bulk of Mankind, than as tliey are fourded ori> ^nd fupported by the Aid of Religion. For upon Enquiry, as well 4nto the Reafpn of tfee thing, as', into the com- mon Hiftory of all the various, diflindt Nati-» ons, of which we have had Accounts tranf- mitted to us, it will be ever found, that thd Wickednefs, and its immediate Confequence^ Mifeiy, of every particular Kingdom^ will be greater or lefs in Proportion to the different) Degrees of Irreligion fubfifting in it, or, ra- ther,, in Proportion to its different EfFeds up- on the Members of it. Bat v/hat will fur- prife every intelligent, confiderate Perfon, is, that Men fiiould be publickly taught, how that they might live fecurely, either in, or out of Society, without the reflrainmg Principle of Religion taking any hold of their Minds; and CHtJRCH-Cov£RNM£NT,^(:. ^ and that all Kinds of civil Eftablifliments of Religion are dired: Invalions of Mens Rights ; injurious in a high Degree to their civil Inter- efts J with much more to the like Purpofe anfl EfFed:. Thefe, we fay^ are Dodrines of a modern Growth, and but of late Invention* It muft be own'd thefe extraordinary Doc- trineSj We call them extraordinary, upon ac^ count of the extraordinary Confequences, if generally adher'd to, they have neceffary Ten- dencies to produce, meet with fuch particular Marks of Applaufe, as if the Truth of them were of the laft Importance to Mankind 5 highly affiitant to the Support of civil Go- vernment ; moil benign and friendly to its In- terefts • and conducive to Man's chief and ul- timate End. But however fome Moderns may think, thofe great and wife Men, the Ancients, Were, we may be fure, of a quite different Opinion, when we find them, as we do find by reading the paiticular Hiflories of thofe People, all, to a Man, concurring to make Laws in the firfl Place to keep up the Reverence due to religious Ordinances and In- nitutions : Well knowing, as being Perfons intimately acquainted with human _ Nature, that taking the befl poffible Care of the 4^airs B 2 of 4 Reflections tipon of Religion, was the riioft effectual Way, both lo promote, and to iecure, the temporal Peace, Quiet, and Happinefs of Mankind. The out- ward Actions of Men being ever found in Fa Reflections upon ijt or unfit in itfelf, but is fo in Reference to Ibnie End (for the Attainment or Non-at- tainment of which it comes under the Deno- mination of fit or unfit, (Sc.) which End can be no other than Happinefs. And confe- quently upon Suppofition that there is no ni- ture State, no Profpe<^ of Exiflence beyond the Grave, that Conduct in Man would be term'd, and moil juilly fo, the fitted and mofl reafonable, that procur'd him the great- eft pofiible Sum of Happinefs during his Continuance in this Life. The Cafe hes Jiere ; if there be a God, who fuperintends hu- man Affairs, the Rewarder of Good, and the Puniilier of 111, Reafon tells Man, that if he would be finally happ)', he mufl endeavour to conform himfelf in all his A but arife partly from thence, and pardy from the Kindnefs and Benevolence of others ; which Church-Government, &c. i() N^hlch Kindnefs and Benevolence he cannot oblige them to afford him any further than his own Interfeft is fuppos'd to be conneded with theirs, aiid the Effeft of it ; but this it would oftener obflrud and interfere with i fmce no Man can promote another's Hap-' pinefs but he muft at the fame Time neg^ lea his own, unlefs Afts of Favour conti^ nually reciprocated, and ever flow'd from one to another, which in fuch a State of Things, as we have now under Confiderati- bn, there is no Ground to fuppofe will ever be the Cafe in Fad: : For allowing, that A would do B a Favour, in hopes that it would excite him to repay it with another j yet if B expe^is no more Favours fi-om A^ no Confideration of pafc KindnelTes would ever affed: him ♦ however not affe^: him in that" Deo-ree as to make him think himfelf under an Obligation to make him any Re- turn, efpecially if the doing of it was in the leafl inconfiftent with his own Happinefsj prefent or at a Diftance. Becaufe no ore would think himfelf cblig'd, and therefore could not be induced to poflpone his own Happinefs for the Sake of another's, or, in other Word:^ Gratitude^ in this View of C 2 Thing?, 20 Reflections upon Things, would be an Impradticable, If not an impoffible Duty. Befides ; what is lit to be done in Favour of A, may not be a Thing iit for B to do j nor what is fit for B to do, may be a Thing fit to be done for A. In the former Cafe nothing will be attempted to be done % in the latter, if any thing be done, the doing of it will be againil A's Happi- nels ; however not at, all in the Profeeutioa and Furtherance of it, 3 2- Some there are who will be ready to maintain, that the befl Way for every Indi- vidual to promote his own Intereft, is, by promoting^ as much as he is able, the great Intereft of the Whole j becaufe if the Whole be happy, the Parts which compofe it mufl be happy alfo. Since the Good of the Whole is no other than the Sum total of the feveral Degrees of private Good which every Indi- vidual or Part of that Whole enjoys. In Anfwer to this, we muf^ obferve, that if all would be virtuous, and promote the common Good preferably to any private Confideration, and would ^o to others as they could defire to be done by in like Cafes ; then indeed all wou'd be happy; and a general Harmony, or a good Agreement of Anions, would rua ..thro' Church-Government, G?<:. 21 tliro* and prevjjil in the World. But here lies the Cafe ; Men are always free, and con- fequently have it always in their Power to adt either as Profit, or Pleafure, or Inclination fhall draw them. And therefore tho' fome, for the Sake of this Connection of Private with Publick Happinefs, may a6t in Purfuit of the latter, yet the Generality will ever deviate from fuch a Courfe of Ad:ion, And from fuch a CoUifion of Interefls, and unto- N ward Concurrence of Mens Adtions, the Con- fequence is, and neceflarily will be, that an inflexible Adherence to the Caufe of Virtue in all its Branches, will many times be at- tended with great Difidvantages and Embar- rafments, and, in fome Cafes, with the Lofs of Life itfelf. And in all Inftances where more Mifery than Happinefs flows from a. virtuous Courfe of Aiftion, and no Confide- ration of future Happinefs is to be fet over againft it, that is, thrown into the other Scale, in order to turn the Ballance in Fa- vour of Virtue, Men mufl: of Courfe defert her Interefls, and go over to the other Side; unlefs Mifery, pure abfolute Mifery, can be fuppos'd more eligible to Man than Plappi- nefs; which we prefume will never be af- .feed, C 3 la Z2 Reflections r/^c« 13. In Confequeiiqe alio of this unfriendly Mixture of Wills and Adions it would necef- farily, and therefore frequently, happen, th^t Vice iliall flourish, whilft Virtue was neglect- ed, defpis'd, diilrefs'd -, and that the good, the finc^rc, and honeil Man, would often- times fuffer, meerly upon account of thofe Qualities j and fo Virtue be made to recoil upon herfeif, and to become her own Adver- iliry. For by this Means the honeil:, upright Heart thinking, and therefore fearing no 111 (for all Men judge of others according to the Vv^'orkings of their own Minds) is laid open to the Frauds of eveiy Peceiver, who will be ready to improve any Opportunity of making his own Ends out of tlie other's Simplicity. T^f r, fays an ingenious Writer, who hiow how to pi'aBife the greateji Crimes with the inojl Dexterity and Cunnings will doubtlefs be able to procure to themfches the greateji Advan- tages^ a'jd laugh at the poor Jiinple, 'virtuous Man^ whofe Courage is exercised in bea'ring his Misfcrtunes^ which his Integrity and Adherence to 'Truth and ^ufiice expofe him to. Now we would afk, what can oblige a Man to Virtue, when it is once become an Enemy to his pre- fent Kappiiiefs ? Nothing furely, but the Be- Church- Government, G'r. 23 "lief of a fuperior, invifible Caufe, who, as Guardian and Procurator of his Creature's Happinefs, will reward and make a Man hap- py fometime or other, either in this Life or the next, according as he has contributed to- wards the Good and Welfare of his depen- dent Brethren 3 and who will punilh all thofe who wilfully oppofe this Happinefs in a De- gree fuited to the Nature of fuch Oppofi- tion. 14. This little that has been faid, is, one would think, enough to fhew us, what would be the miferable, the diflraded State of Man- kind, not living under the aiFed:ing Senfe of Religion, that is, without all Senfe of a fupe- rior Being, inviting Men to Virtue and dif- couraging them from Vice, by Rewards and Punifliments, to be difpenfed either in this Life or in the next. 'Tis the not living un- der a Deity's Animadveriion, which is the Caufe of all the Diforder and Mifchief that has been committed in the World. 15. It has been the Opinion of fome, that human Laws are of themfelves fufficient to provide for human Safety and Convenience ; and if fo, may fitly enough fupply the Place of Religion. But if it can be made to ap- C 4 pear, 24 Reflections upon pear, that neither civil Gdvernment can be fram'd at firft, nor fupported afterwards (granting the former to be poffible) without the Senfe of a Deity's Animadveriion ; and 2dly, that human Laws neither are, nor can "be, commenfurate to all things in which hu- man Beings are interefted : This, we judge, will be fufficient to fhew their Deficiency for that Purpofe. lv\ every well-fram'd Govern- ment there ^re two thing-s neceflary to be fe-- cured, fo far as they are capable of being fe-. cured by human Foreflght and Provilion, which are, Protection and Obedience ; the former being due from the Governor to the Governed ; the latter from the Governed to the Governor, The one is the o^ly legitimate End of civil Government ; the other is the necelTary Means of attaining and fecuring this End, Protection againft all Encroachments dire<5lly or indiredly made, upon the tempo-, ral Liberty and Property of Man, being the Keafon why Men enter into Society, and which therefore they muft have a Right to claim at their Governors Hands, But if Go- vernors have not a fufficient Power affign'd them to provide for the. Safety and Happinefs of Society, fuch Protedion, as by the E;nd of Aflb-. Church- Government, GfiT. 2§ AfTociation they (the Governed would) have a Right to claim cannot be afforded, that is, the End of Government cannot be obtained, Confequently they mufi; have a Right to, and a Claim upon Society for, fuch a Pov^er, that is, the End of civil Government veils it in them. And if there be a Power lodg'd in Governors to be exercis'd for the Good of the Governed, it muft be anfwer'd by a fuitable, correipondent Degree of Obedience from the People. Since all Sorts of Authority, juflly founded, may lawfully claim an Obedience and Submiffion proportioned to its Extent and Comprehenfion, Protecftion and Obedience therefore are primarily and effentially contain'd in our Idea of all civil Governments, form'd and inftituted for the End for which all civU Governments ought to be. And as all Men are naturally fallible, it is abfolutely necelTary that both Governor and Governed fhould give each the other proper means of Security that their refpe<5tive Claims fhall be fatisfy'd. What Tokens or Pledges of Security can be given, fo as that each ihall fafely acquiefce in them, is the next thing that muft be confider« ^dirr^That the annexing temporal Penalties to the Breach of publick Faith will nqjt anfwer -«kA the ;j5 Reflect! on s upon the End, is evident from h^nce. lil:, Becaufc ill many Cafes fuch Truft may be violated with abfolute Privacy, and in all fuch Cafes human Penalties can be of no Force. 1 6. Suppoling, fecondly, that it fhould by fome means or other come to be known, yet matters might be fo carry'd on, and Schemes concerted, that the Offender could never be brought to an account for his injurious Pro- ceedings, and fo would efcape the jufl: and due Defert of his Adions. To give an In- ilance, how both Prince and People may be tlius injurioully (and yet unavoidably, if reli- gious Reflraints come, once to be fet afide) af- fedled by each other. Every Governor or Prince will, of Courfe, have Numbers ap- plying to him for. Places of Honour and Pro^ ^t vefted in him by the End of Government. By the Difpofition of which Places, among fuch Perfons as by Principle and Intereft are led to profecute his favourite Views, he at- taches them to himfelf, who, from the time of their AdmilTion into them, may properly be call'd his own Creatures, and faithfiil Ex.- ecutors of his Will. Others alfo he may win over by Bribery, or with the large Promifes pf future Favours 3 by means of whom, and with Chvrch- Government, ^r. 27 with whofe Concurrence, he will be fure, in every Inftance of Competition, to make the Good of the Community truckle to his own Humour, and give pkce to it. And private Interefl (whatever he makes it to arife from) will always be purfu'd in Diftindion from the Publick's. Experience is a landing Evi- dence of this, " That Men over-grown in " Power generally comrnence Tyrants, and '^ from being abfolute Mailers of the People's ^' Money, as to the manner of levying it for " the Publick's Ufe, they eafily, and almoft " naturally, become abfolute Mailers of their *' Lives and Fortunes. " And how can it in Jleafon be expeded to be otherwife ? A Per- fon veiled with the Force and Power of a whole Society, and w^ho has Thoufands at his Nod, ready to execute whatever he iliall be graciouily pleas'd to order, v/hether it be the Refult of Caprice and PaiTion, or of a fixt fet- tled Purpofe and Determination to be as mif- chievous and tyrannical as poifible, fuch a Perfon, we, fay, and fo circumilanced, would never,, one may be fure, fuffer any thing to controul his Will, to thwart his Inclinations, or fi-uftrate his Defigr.s ; becaufe what is a- gainftWill, isagainilHappincfs teps, the ^ ■ ■ ' Difap- 2? Reflections upon Dirappointment of Defire is fure to be at- tended with Uneafinefs proportion'd in degree to the height of fuch Defire ; which Difap- pointment, ifpollible to be avoided, he will never fubmit to. And he richly deferves the Name of Fool, who having the M^ns of Happinefs in his Power, fuffers himfelf to be made uneafy upon any account whatfoever. Such a Governor therefore would expe£t all Submiffion (tho* ever fo much againft the common Happinefs) on his Subjects lidej and make no Compliance or Condefcenlions (tho* ever fo beneficial to the Governed, on his own. And thus the Liberty and Property of the Nation wxiuld foon be fwallowed up and loft by Violence and Opprefiion. Hence if there were no Laws fuperior and antecedent to hu- man Laws, and from whence thofe Laws de- rive all their binding Force and Efficacy, what is there that an abfolute Prince would not do ? For having no Law but his Will, and no other Rule to ad by than his own ca- pricious Fancy, he can have no other View, in whatever he undertakes, but his own Satif- fadion and Delight, whatever he makes them to confift in. To what a deplorable Condition (fays the Author of the Poem entitled Cre^ ATIon) Church-Government, &c', 2^ ATioN,) would Mankind be reduced, JJootdd thofe irreligious Principles be wiiverfally receive id and embraced ! If fo many Kings and Po'- ten fates J who yet profefs the Belief of a God^ end of Rewards and Punijh?nents in a Life ta come^ do notwithjlanding from hoimdlefs Ambi^ tion, and a cruel "Temper^ opprefs their Sub^ jeBs at homey and ravage and dejlroy their Neighbours abroad^ JJjould think themfehes free fro7n all divine Obligatiofis^ and therefore too from the Rejlraifits of Oaths atid folemn Con- traBs : Thofe Felices and Securities removed, what a Deluge of Calamities wou'd break in upon the World? What OppreJJiofi, what Via- lencey what Rapine^ what Deflation^ woidd finijh the Ruin of human Nature? For if mighty Princes are oncefatisffd that it is im- pojible for them to do wrongs what Bounds are left to infatiable Avarice^ and exorbitant I'hirji of Power ? 17. On the other hand, what fhould hinder but that a number of Men fharing in common the fame Principles, and aded by the fame lawlefs, ungovernable Paffions, fhould combine together, with a View to fhake off the Yoke of Obedience, tho' mild and gentle, and to diftrefs the Government, tho' purfuing the proper "^a H E F L E C t I 0 N s Upon proper, perhaps (all things confidered) \h6 propereft Method of obtaining publick Hap- pinefs, and for compafling all the valuable Ends and Purpofes of civil Society ? And it requires no great Strength of Fancy, nor a warm Imagination, to draw in lively Colours or Images the difmal Effe(5ts, which muft ne- cefTarily attend an Infurrediion of the People on the one hand, and an Acfl of arbitrary Power in the Prince on the otiier. All think- ing People, all that will allow themfelves the Time and Ufe of Reflection upon it, mufl neceffarily be deeply affed:ed barely with the Contemplation of it in their Minds. Nothings fays an able Writer, can be a ftronger ^ye up- on Men to obey the civil V caver ^ than the Obli- gation of Confcience •, nothing can influence the Confciences of Men ^ like the po'werftd hifluences of that Religion which teaches Men for Confci- ence fake to be fubjedt to the higher Powers^ as Minijlers of God to them for Good. Whatever therefore advajices the Life arid Power of Re- ligion in a Kingdom^ doth very much advance the Security of the State. For if there be no- thing elfe but the Ties of Inter eft or Fear, with-^ out any inward Pri?iciple of Religion to keep Men within the Bounds of their Lhity to the civil Chwkch- Government, &c, ^r^ ci'vil Powers^ the Gonxrnment will Ji and upon a very uncertain Foundation^ and will be continually in Danger of being over-turn' d^ when either the Inter ejis of Men change^ or the Grounds of Fear, whereby Men offaSfious Spi^ rits are contained within the Bounds of their Duty, by the lucre afe of their Power, are ta-^ ken away. Hence it is that he who cofiverfes with Books will find, that the Declenfion of the Power of Religion in a Kingdom, has ufually been a bad Pre/age of the DefruSlion 'of the civil State. See an Eflay towards a Compre- henfion, or a Perfuafive to Unity among Pro- teilants. 1 8. To be jQiort^ neither Governor, nor Governed, if this be, as it adually is, a fair Reprefentation of the Cafe, would be fafe, if there were nothing to be found out of more univerfal Extent and Obligation than human Penalties. This therefore fhews us, the Ne- ceffity of the Belief of fome Principle, admg with that Force and Efficacy upon Mens Minds, as to render tliem, m Spite of all Temptations to the contrary, juft and iaith- ful. Now the Wit of Man can invent no- thing more more facred and binding than an Oatli, expkin'd and adminiilred in that grav? r, folemn 3^ Reflections upon Iblemn Manner in which it ought to be explain'd and adminiftred : But what avail Oaths, or of what Significancy are they to thofe who difbelieve a Deity ? Nothing at all : To impofe an Oath upon an Atheift, or for him to offer to take it as a Founda- tion of Credit and Confidence with others, is to the laft Degree ridiculous. Or the Matter may be fet more fully and clearly in the following Light. As Society is liable to be affected in Cafes of different Moment, (o from hence arifes the Neceffity of different Men adling in different Relations, and con- fequently of entrufling them with a Power proportionate to the Nature and Importance of thofe Cafes. And when Men ftand thus differently related to Society, they will have different Ways and Means of railing their own private Fortunes upon tiie Spoils and Ruins of the Publick, To fp^cify. in fome Particulars. 19. Eyery Government muff have Laws and Provifibns anfwering its various Wants and Exigencies of all Kinds. However, this is the only j«ft and legitimate End for which civil Conffitutions were firft formed, and Bo- dies politick ereded. The Defign of which Laws, Church-Govermment* Gfc. 33 Laws, is, to reftrain Injuries by punifhing Delinquents j to determine Differences relat- ing to Life, Liberty, and Property, by fome common Rule or Digeil, comprehending un- der it all the various Cafes (or the moft ma- terial of them) which may happen betwixt Man and Man j and to raife Money for the Publick Service : — — Thofe Laws muft be made either by a fingle Man, or by a Body of Men, according as the particular Form or Conftitution of the Government is, if any fuch Government can be eflablifned up- on the Principles of Atheifm, which, we prefume, is conceivable in Idea only. The renowned Plato fays, without the Certainty of thofe "truths, or, the Exigence of a God, his Providence a?id Jujiice^ it is to no Purpofe to make any Laws at all. If the Form of Go- vernment be art Abfolute Monarchy, that is, if the Laws be made by one fingle Per- fon, in the drawing up, and framing of thofe Laws, he would fuit them ( if no Senfe of a fuperior Principle, obliging Men by the ilrongeft Penalties to the ftrid; Ob- fervance of natural Juftice, Faithfulnefs, &c, prevail'd in the World) to his own fantaf- tical Humour, and his own Will might pro- . D perly 34 Reflections upon perly enough be fubftitu^ed in the Room of them, or he might be laid to rule and move altogether by it. If the Form of Govern- ment be Democratical, that is, if the Laws are made and executed by a certain deter- minate Body of Men, then nothing hinders, but that thofe, enjoying the fovereign Pow- er, and fubjecfled to no Reftraints in their Wilts and Anions from the Principles of Religion, might eonfpire together, and enter into Meafures, by mutual Confent, for the better adapting thofe Laws to their own real or imaginary Lnterefts, whenever thofe Inte- refts could be carried on, and promoted, in DiftindJon from the Intereft of the whole Body of Individuals. In both thefe Cafes, thofe Laws muft. be againfl the common Good, and abfolutely incompatible with the End of all fuch civil AlTociations. 20. And when Laws are once made, fomc muft be entrufled with the Execution of them J for they cannot execute themfelves. And all the falutary, beneficial Effed:s of So- ciety flow from an equal and impartial Exe- cution of equal and impartial Laws. Some muft be commifllon'd to infpe(fl fubordi- nate civil Offices, and the INI^inagemcnt o-f them J. Church-Government, &c. 35 them i to take Cognizance of fuch Matters as have any Reference to the Good or 111, either of Individuals, or the Publick itfelf > to fee when the Lav/s are violated, and hov^^ far, or to what Degree, they are fo j and then to make their Report accordingly, to fuch as move in a fuperior Sphere, and un- der w^hofe Animadverfion the Male-Admi- niftration of them properly falls. Others mull be appointed to hear Caufes, to decide Controverfies, and to punifh Delinquents, agreeably to what the Laws have decided in Cafes o£fuch or the like Nature. The King alfo muft have his Councel to advife with about Affairs of State ; to conclude what is requifite to be done in relation to foreign Courts ; efpecially when the Interefts of the Nation are fome Way or other, whether im- mediately or remotely, concern'd in the Steps thofe Courts take, and to fend the Refult of their Deliberations, with the other neceflary, concomitant Powers and Inftrudlions, to their AmbafFadors refiding there. There muft be Officers alfo, both civil and mili- tary, to execute whatfoever (hall be refolv'd upon by the Senate, or great Councel of the Nation J and laftly, there muft be Receivers D 2 of 36 Reflections upon of the Publick's Money, CoUedlors of Taxeg^ &c. Let us go back again, and obferve how eafily, and almofl neceffarily, thofe Of- ficers will be corrupted, if no religious Checks be fet on the other Side, againft the Impulfes of Self-Love, in order to reftrain the Impe- tuolity with which it hurries Men on in the Purfuit of what they lik-e, and which breaks down and over-powers all other Conlidera- tions and Arguments, but thofe fetch'd from another World. To begin therefore ; There is no Improbability in the Cafe, but that a Judge^ for the Sake of a Bribe, or thro' Fa- vour and Attachment to the Party, fliould pervert Right, and eftablifli Wrong, /. c. de- clare in Favour of rt j or that WitnelTes {hould be fuborned. Juries corrupted (tho' * ridly fpeaking, in a Herd, it cannot juflly, and with Propriety, be call'd a Society, of Atheifts, Jury and WitnefTes, and all Depo- fitions made upon Oath, arc but fiditious chim.erical Sounds and empty Charadters) by which undue Influence the Innocent would fuff.r, whilft the Guilty got off free. And yet at the fame Time, the Forms of Proceeding might in fuch Manner be laid,, <»Jid Matters fo manag'd, that both Judge 2 and Church-Government, &c. 37 a«.d Jury, and WitnelTes, fliall be able to co- ver their Injullice with the fpecious App^ar- aftce of the contrary Quahtyj or Courfe of A(5ting, And thus Integrity, Innocence, and Simplicity of Manners, will be trampled un- der Foot, whilfl Violence, Fraud, and Op~ preffion fliall ride triumphant ; and notwith- ftanding all Appearances to the contrary, have the Law on their Side, Such a Condition is infinitely worfe than theirs who live in a State of Nature, becaufc then the Struggle generally lies betwixt Man and Man, and not betwixt a fingle Man and the whole executive Power in a Society, which, wh-er^ corrupted and abandon 'd to Proftitution, ren- ders Governm-ent intolerable, and is one of the greateft Evils that can pofljbly befall Mankind. There is no Prefumption, not the leall Degree of Preemption to the contrary, but that an AmbaiTudor negotiating on fuch Affairs o^ publick Concern as War and Peace, or tlie exciting and preventing Caufes of them, with foreign Powers interefled there- in, fliould have Propofals made him from thofe Powers, of much greater Moment and Confequence to himfelf and Family, than what he could polTibly exped:, even upon D 3 5up- 38 Reflections upo?i Suppofition that he aded the moil upright- ly, from his own Country, provided he would betray the weak Side, and reveal (fo far as it was in his Power to bring it into Light) what was refolv'd upon, and intended to be carry'd into Execution by the Prince and his Councel, which above all Things ought (whilft any Differences ariiing from a Com- petition of Interells fubfifted betwixt them) to be kept a Secret j becaufe, if known. Precautions might be us'd, and proper Means taken on the other Side, in order to con- found and baffie, and, in many Cafes, a(flu- ally would baffle and confound thofe De- ligns, and break the wifeft, and to all Ap- pearance, the beft^concerted Schemes of hu- man Policy. It is not improbable, we fay, (when no Apprehenlions of a Difcovery in-r tervene to prevent him, before he has rnade his Bargain, or entered into an Agreement, for his Perfidioufnefs ) that he fhould ac- cept thofe Offers, and by fuch a Breach of Truff go near to ruin the State j the Improbability indeed lies on the other Side, and it would be a much greater Wonder, if he refus'd fuch tempting Overtures. Nor is it unlikely that Collectors, or Receivers of Church^overnment, ^c. 39 of the Publick's Money, fhould by joint Contrivance and Confentj mil-flate Accompts, and io enrich themleives with the Govern- ment's Money, without any Poflibility of te- ing cati'd to an Account for fuch publick Roguery. We might go on to inftance in the almofl infinite Number of publick Of- fices and Employments with which Society has to do, but that we tliink what has been faid will enable any one to form a jufl: I- dea of the Condition of Mankind living un- der no Senfe of the rellraining Principles of Religion. And without a regular, con- fcientious Difcharge of thofe Duties arifing fi-om the feveral Relations Men fland in t-o Society, and paying a ftridt impartial Re- gard to the Good of the Whole, in the Exe- cution of all publick Offices without Diflinc- tion, the Society muft foon be difTolv'd, and come to nothing. Religion^ lays a late ju- dicious Author, is as iiecejfary to the Welfare of Society, as inoral Virtue ; and the only ra^ tional Obligation of Confcience to the o?ie^ mufi be deriv'd from the ether, 2 1 . As the Variety of Cafes therefore, in which Society is interelled, neceflarily re- quires that fome ^Ct in a publick Capa- D 4 eity, 40 Reflections upon city, fo nothing but the Senfe of a Be-»" ing, who will make every Creature, one time or other, accountable for the good or bad Ule of the Powers it is entrufted with, and for the Purfuit of thofe Means of Hap- pinefs and Mifery which he within its Power to procure or avoid : Nothing but this Ap- prehenfion, we fay, of future Rewards and Punifhments, can be, in all Cafes, a fufficient Motive to a6t with a dilinterefted View for the Good of the Community, where Men can better ferve their own particular Ends in this World by ad:ing in Oppofition to publick Intereft, and in Violation of the great TrufI: repos'd in them ; We fay, when they can do it with Impunity (and ftrong Temp-, tations will ever flatter fanguine Minds with full Hopes of Security) there is nothing from without that can pofTibly prevent or hinder them : For being by Suppofition out of the Reach of human Difcovery, they come not within the Influence of human Laws. Nei- ther is there any Thing from within ca- pable of reftraining them. For what avails Confcience, when Men live under no Ap- prehenfion of an invifible Caufe, and of thofe Rewards and Pu]:ii£hinents* which are to be dealt Church-Government, &c. 41 dealt out and diilributed in another Life to fuch as by their Condud have merited the one or the other ? The urging in Anfwer to this the Sacrednefs and binding Force of Oaths, is frivolous and iniignificant ; becaufe all Oaths, and the Security founded there- upon, neceflarily prefuppofe the Belief of a God and his Providence, to be regularly idminiftred either in this World, or in the next. Take but once away this Belief, and the Obligations immediately ceafe, and are at an End. 22. From the Account wc have given above, the Reader will be enabled to judge what Confulion and Diforder muft necelfa- rily, and in Fadl, arife in the World, upon Suppofition, that the prefent fa/hionable Doc- trine of the State's being able to fubiifl w^ith- out the Influence of Religion, v/as to take Place and be obferv'd. It bemg flricft- ly demonilrative, " That when the pri- " vate Intereil of the principal Members of " any politick Body is carry'd .on, and pur- " fu'd at the Expence of the great Interefl *' of the W^hole, that, that Whole muft be '■ nearly ally'd to Ruin, or its prefent Con- [^ dition or State of Joeing very deplorable.'* And ^% Reflections tipon And this (hews the ImpofTibility of fuppo^ iing any State being able to fubfift long, unlefs we previoufly fuppofe the Members thereof influenced in their Condus prefum d ^.ill fet the Mattter in fo clear a Light as no to admit of any forther Doubt or D.fpute, as 46 Reflections iiport'^ ^*^ -^ to the Sufficiency or Infufficiency of humari Laws for this Purpofe. 24- And firft we obferve, that as it is the Sandions which attend the Obfervance orNon- obfervance of Laws, which induce the ObU- gation, and enforce an Obedience to them j fo it is neceflary, that the Penalties annexed by human Laws to the Breach of Pubhck Trufl, or to the Violation of civil , conftitutional Rights, do over-balance the Pleafure or Profit that draw the contrary Way, /. e. which flows from a Breach orTranfgreffion of thofe Rights j otherwife there would lie an Obligation upon Men in fuch Cafes to the Violation of them, and confequently thofe Penalties would be ineffed:ual to attain the End aim'd at by them. 25. As human Knowledge is limited to, and confequently circumfcribed within, certain Bounds, and therefore, in fuch Circumftances, cannot forefee what will, in all Cafes, and to what Degree, make for the Good and Hurt of Society ; fo human Legiflators cannot pro- vide fuitable Remedies for and againfl all fuch things in which civil Society is concern'd. 26.Tho' Happinefs, private Happinefs, be the true ultimate End of all human Adions, Men notwithflanding differ very much in their Pur- fuit Church- Government, (ifr. aj iliit after it ; and the Reafon is, becaufe they place their Happinefs in different things, which, of neceffity, will require different Means of Acquifition. 27. The Quantity of Happinefs or Mifery produc'd by any Objed:, A6tion, or Event, is ever in a compound Ratio cf the Degrees of Good and Evil in fuch Objedl, Adion, or Event, and the Sufceptibility of the Subjedt, or Perfon affedled j or is in Proportion to the Powers of producing Happinefs in the Objecft, and to the Capacity of receiving it in the Sub- jedt. 28. A Difference in Mens Opinions concern- ing the Tendencies of Acftions to their Happi- nefs or Mifery, conftitutes a Difference in their Defires and Averfions, in their Likings and Loathings ; and confequently occafions diffe- rent Degrees of Happinefs and Mifery in refpedt of the fame Adtions. For, to ufe the Words of that incomparable Metaphyfican, Mr. Locky " As pleafantTaftes depend not on theThings " themfelves, but on their Agreeablenefs to " this or that particular Palate j wherein is " great Variety ; fo that the greateft Happinefs '^ conlifts in the having thofe things which " produce the greatefl Pleafure ; and in the " abfence 4^ Reflections upon *' abfence of thofe which caufe any Diiluf- ** bance, any Pain. Now, thofe to different " Men are very different Things. If Men in •^ this Life only have Hope j if in this Life ** only they can enjoy, 'tis not ftrange, nor " unreafonable, that they fhould feek their " Happinefs by avoiding all things that difeafe *' them here, and by purfuing all that delight " them ; wherein it will be no wonder to find " Variety and Difference. For if there be no " Profped: beyond the Grave, the Inference *' is certainly right, Let us eat and drink, let us " enjoy what we delight in, for to-morrow-we " die. This, I think, may ferve to fliew us " the Reafon why tho' all Mens Defires tend " to Happinefs, yet they are not all moved by " the fame Objedt." To which we beg Leave to add, that tho' all neceffarily {huh Mifery, yet what is Mifery to A in this or that Degree, may not be Mifery to B in the fame Degree ^ but in a Degree either above or be- low it, who accordingly will be differently affedtcd by it. 29. From whence we may gather, that the Penalties or Degrees of Punifhment, annex'd by human Laws to this or that particular fett of Ad:ions, will not, wliilil they are of Force to deter Church- Government, ^r. 49 deter fome from the Commiffion of them, be found effectual to reftrain others. For whihT: thePaiTions of Shame and Remorfe (if fuchPaf- llpns could be acquir'd in aPlace where no Senfe of a Deity is to be found) with the neceiTary concomitant Pain and Mifery, which a tender, fufceptive Nature, vicioufly difpos'd, is appre- henfive of feeling, and confequently fuffering from the Breach of publick Rules and Orders, m^ke him fhudder and tremble at the Thoughts thereof, and confequently are fufficient in moft Inftances to fecure his Obedience to them, yet will they not ad: with that Force and Efficacy upon a flurdy, harden'd Rogue, wholly immers'd in Vice, and grown hoary inWickednefs, that is, upon fuch as have con- tracted ftrong, inveterate Habits of them. Hence appears the Impoffibility of annexing Penalties, and confequently of diftributing Punifhments, flridtly proportioned to Men's Vices and Demerits. 30. But fhould we fuppofe this Inconveniency jot over, and that human Laws weigh'd out PuniiGbments in Proportions exadly fuited to the Nature and malignant Tendency of human Adlions ; flill how many Holes have crafty, defigning Sinners to creep out at ? and bow E often 50 Reflections upon often would a Sinner go^«/?z7z^ 07z, and even ' after the Commiffion of a whole Series of Grimes, make his Exit, and go off the Stage undifcover'd?- Arid what can be a more power- ful Motive, or longer Excitement than this, that others, attach 'd to the fame Principles, and in'fluenc'd by the fame exorbitant Defires, fiiould betake themfelves into the fame Road, an"d to follow in the fame Steps? for every Exemption from Punifliment, or Evafion of Juftice, becomes an additional Motive, both to the Offender and ' others to purfue the like villainous and pernicious Practices. A worldly, fM-fri'nterefled Difpolitiori, fpiirr'd on by a Pro- fpe(9: 'of Gain, and fupported by the Hopes of Impunity, will moil certainly, if not check'd and reflrain'd by a higher Principle, break tbrb'-all the Laws of human Effablifliment, fo fai-as it is in his Power to break thro' them, and he finds his' Interefl in fo doing. 3 I . We know but of one Objection that cm be rais'd againft t\\t Sufficiency of Religiose for all the Ends and Purpofes Of human Life j which- is, that- tHo' we havea Church by Law tffabliflied, and all under certain Penalties are^ oblig'd to be Members of it, and join in her €?61i:f^munion,^"bir ill ^he CoiVin^thioti'of fome ^^^^-^ other Church- Government, ^^. 51 other religious Society exifting in, and tokrated by the State : Yet we have the fame Inftances of the Breach of publick Truft, and of the Rules and Ties of civil Government amongft us, as have been given in and complain' d of above. But what is the Reafon^ the beft afiign- able Reafon for it ? Is it the too deep and affeding Senfe of an omnifcient and all-fuper- intending Deity, that occafions this want of Integrity in the Execution of publick Offices, and in Mens various Dealings and Intercourfes with each other, and which caufes them to tranfgrefs the Duties, and violate the Bonds and Obligations laid upon them by civil So- ciety, whenever they can do it without Detec- tion ? It is, we prefume, the very Reverfe of this. And this Objedion leads us to confider, what Influence the Belief of a God, and of an equable, impartial Retribution to be made hereafter, will necefTarily have upon the Con- dud: and Behaviour of Men. 32. By Religion we would be underllood to mean a defign'd Conformity of Adion to the Will of the Deity ; or, it is the doing of fuch Things as God hath enjoined, and avoids ing thofe which he hath forbidden 5 and for this plain Reafcn, becaufe he hath enjoin'dthe E 2 o^'^> 52 Reflections upon one, and forbid the other ; and that Marl fhall be rewairded for the doing or avoiding of them, that is, becaufe fuch a Condu(a will entitle, or give him a Right, to divine Favour and Acceptance. Nov^ the Will of God (as will appear by viewing him in his Works of Crea- tion and Providence) is that every Being intro- duce into the World a Degree of Happinefs fuited to his Circumftances and Situation in it. And if fo, then if all unanimoufly, and with one accord, would be religious, all would then be compleatly happy, or as happy as it was poffi- ble for Creatures of fuch a Clafs in the Scale of Beings to bej that is, a iftridt, univerfal Obferv- ance of thofe Duties proper to rational Beings, would be the Parent of univerfal Happinefs. Therefore, whatever, as a Means, tends to make Men more religious, tends of Courfe to make them more happy, and, in fuch Cafes, mufl be a Contributor to, and a Promoter of, human Eafe and Conveniency, and therefore, by the Terms, deiirable. 33. When a firm Belief, and flrong Per- fualion, that the Univerfe is not only the Workmanfliip, but alfo that it is conftantly under the Guidance and Diredion of an all- wife and an all-powerful Being, who orders and difpofes Church-GovernmenTj (ifc. 53 difpofes of all Events, both in the natural and moral World, for the Good and Benefit of his Creatures ; who, by an all-feeing Eye infpeds every Occurrence in human Life, and can penetrate into the remoteft Corner and deepeil Abyfs, and who will moft certainly reward or punifh in another Life according as Men have behav'd in this ; and tho', by reafon of the confus'd Jumble of human Ads, there may Ap- pearances, in fome Inflances, turn up in Favour of Vice, yet the Balance fliall finally be on the Side of Virtue : when fuch a Senfe, we fay, as this prevails, we need not mention, or, to fpeak truly, we cannot determine, Vv^hat Influence it will necelTarily have upon the Lives and Converfations of Men : how ftrons- ly it will difpofe them to the Purfuit of Virtue, and to the careflil, regular, confclentious Dif- charge of thofe particular Duties j and to the Obfervance of all fuch A6ts, and Methods of Acting, as are judg'd agreeable to the fupreme, governing Intelligence, and fovereign Will of the Lord of the Univerfe —-Who can confider that ftupendous Work, the Creation, and the feveral Creatures, and Ranks of Creatures, brought into Being, each of v/hich |3y certain Liflinds, and Laws of Procreation, are prompt- E 3 ed 54 Reflections upon ed to propagate their Species, and fo, in /bme fenfe, to leave themfelves in their Gene- rations behind them ; and that all thofe Beings and Orders of Beings, iliould be formed, ad^ jufted, and fituated with fuch a Relation to, and Dependence upon, each other, as to be made fubfervient to one another's Good, and fo confequently to the common Happinefs of the Creation ; who, we fay, can confider this, and not revere the Hand that did it ? It feems indeed naturally impoffible, that a Being made Gonfcious of, and confequently affedied with a fuitable, becoming Senfe of its State of De- pendence upon God, the greatefl: of Beings, as well as the beft of Fathers, fliould be fo care- lefs of his own true Interefl:, as by a wilful Dif- obedience, and Contempt of his Authority, to lofe the Favour of him, from whom every Comfort and Satisfaction in Life proceeds. 3/}.. And the more lively and awflil Senfe Men live under of the Being of a God, and of his Perfections fo beautifully difplay'd in the Works of Creation and Providence j of the many great, and unmerited Favours fo liberally conferr'd on them ; and confequently of their Obligations to ferve him, and the like ; the more iludious will they be in the imitat- ine Church- Government, £5'^:. 55 ing of his Example, in copying of his Per- fedtions, in making his Difpenfations and Ads (the Imperfecflions of human Nature confidered and allow'd for) the Rules and Meafures of their own-«a-Hence Men, confidered as ra- tional, dependent Beings, their Religion, or, which comes to the fame, as to the material Part of Religion, their Obligation to obferve all focial and publick Virtues, will ever hold proportion to their greater of lefs Senfe of the Superintendency of a iirft great Principle, and of thofe Rewards and Punifliments which are to be difpenfed fuitably to Mens Virtues and Vices, and according to their Obedience to, ©r Violation of, his Laws and Inftitutions. 35. But the NecefTity of Religion appears no where fo confpicuous as in the Influence it is found in Fad: to have upon a virtuous and vicious Difpofition. Human Laws, as we ob- ferv'd, were viflbly defective in thofe two Points ; they could neither accommodate theDe- grees of Punilliment to the pernicious Tenden- cy of human Adions j neither if they did this, could they in many Cafes be impartially exe- cuted; becaufe the Eifecls of Juflice would frequently be fufpended, and its Courfe divert- ed out of its proper Channel 3 and diverted E 4 ' by 56 Reflections upon by thofe whofe Office and Situation in Society, at the fame time that it gave 'em Opportunities of doing this, feem'd to lay them under anObli- gation to an equal and impartial Diftribution of it. Now with regard to a vicious Difpofition, we have this to obferve, that fome Men by being habituated to evil Practices are grown fo bold and defperate in theirWickednefs, and to fuch a degree harden 'd in Vice, that they have Spirits enough not only to undertake, but alfo to go thro' with any Villainy, tho' Punifliment, capital Punifhment, is not only apprehended, but adlually known to be the fure Attendant. And to work a Reformation in fuch as laugh at the Magiftrate's Sword , and are content tQ take their Fortunes at the Gallows, nothing but the Apprehenlion of a Being, who will be fure to vindicate the Honour of his I^aws, and maintain the Reverence due to them, by letting (without making any Diftindion of Perfons) all fuch feel the jufl Effects of his Wrath as have v/Ilfully offended againfl them ; nqthing,, we fiy, but the Senfe of fuch a Being will prove effedual for this purpofe, And fuch an affeding Senfe of the Supreme Being, who has our whole Happinefs and Mifery within hi? Reach, and at his Difpofal, and who will ex- hibit Church- Government, ^<;; t;>r hibit a diiFerent Treatment, that is, exerclfe a different fort of Government tovs^ards thofe who have differently behaved themfelves un- der it, may have this good Effed:. And it has been found in Fad:, that.'fuch Perfons have fometimes by the Confidefation of a Hell, a State of everlafling Deflrudion, an unquench- able Fire, and a Worm that never dieth, been even terrify'dand fcar'd into a Compliance with their Duty ; This has effe(5lually done the Bufi- nefs, and anfwered the End. Such a Senfe, v/hen it has once taken Root, grows ftronger, and operates more and more upon them j de- mands their Attention, and changes their Pur- fuits to different Objeds. 3 6. When Virtue, inftead of recommending us to the Love and Favour of all around us, is made by crafty defigning Knaves a Snare to trepan and catch us in, it naturally produces a Sour- nefs of Temper and Difcontent of Mind, and in Room of the good-natur'd Principle (if it be pofTible for any fuch Principle to be acquir- ed in a State void of all Religion,which if con- ceivable, yet is not pradicable by the Bulk of Mankind) and inftead of the good-natur'd Principle, we fay, which comes by Degrees to to fubfide, and grow lefs and lefs influential, fucceeds rS Reflections upon fucceeds Peeviflinefs, a certain Fretfulnefs of Temper, attended with a fufpicious, captious Turn of Mind, which generally ends in an abfolute Indifferency to all that is good, vener- able, &c. But the only proper Remedy to raife the finking Caufe of Virtue, and to pre- ferve Men from falling into a State of Defpon- dency, and Abjedion of Mind, is to produce in them a Senfe of fome fuperior, invifible Caufe, and in Confequence of that, the Belief of another World, where Vice, tho' now triumphant, {hall be brought low ; and Virtue, tho' at prefent funk under a Cloud and eclips'd, jfliall break forth and brighten out to all Eter- nity. For when Religion interpofes, and cre- ates the Belief of a Deity's Animadverfion, in order to reward the Good and to punifhthe Bad, t-hen the Difficulties and EmbarafTments which attend the Good and Virtuous here, vanifli at the Thoughts of an hereafter. The Mind can with a certain Firmnefs and Conftancy bear fuch Evils, tho' at prefent they feel very grievous and preffing, which draw after them an Happincfs infinite in Duration. 37. From all which we may gather, how neceffary the Belief of another World is to pro- mote and fecure the Order and good Govern- ment CniriRCH- Government, {if^r." ^g merit of this j to fupport the Interefls of Vir- tue, and to preferve the Relifh for Benevo- lence in every State of Suiferance, and under every Temptation of falling off, quick, vi- gorous and durable. 38. And this, by the way, fhews us the Reafonablenefs of fuch Inftitutions as in their Nature and attendant Circumftances are fitted to recall Men from a too clofe Attachment tp the Things of this World ; to preferve in their Minds a lively and affecfting Senfe of the Being of a God, his Providence, and a World to come, had they no other Authority than human to recommend them. 39. From the Relation which religious A(5ls have to human Happinefs arifes the Right which civil Governors have to oblige every Individual in Society to go to Church, or any other religious AlTembly appointed by general Confent, there to make their Acknowledg- ments publickly of their Belief of the three great Truths abovemention'd ; and to hear their Duty to God, to their Fellow Creatures, and to themfelves, with the Grounds and Reafons of their Obligation, fully explained and fet forth. For if the careful Obfervance of thofe Truths, and the Duties imply'd in them, have 00 Re/lections upon have fuch a Tendency to the common Hap- pinefs of Mankind, as we have fhewn thofc Truths and Duties, if adher'd to and pratftis'd, to have 5 then Governors, as Guardians of civil Happinefs, have a Right to ufe the befl means in their Power of obliging Men to the \](& and Obfervance of 'em. Hence appears both the Abfurdity and Falfnefs of thofe Mens Argu- ments who would deprive the fupreme Ma- giflrate from the Exercife of all Power in religious Matters, upon account, that the Promotion of civil Peace and Happinefs is the proper Object of his Care, and the legiti- mate End of all his Purfuits : fince his Rela- tion to Society makes it is Duty to intereft him- felf in all fuch things as tend to its Advantage 5 which how much, and in what various ways, Religion does, has been largely fliewn above— " Religion (fays a very ftrenuous Advocate for Liberty of Confcience, and the Right of private Judgment) '' is properly the Pro- " vince of the Magiltrate in thofe Cafes, where ** the Interefls of Society are affedled : In fuch *' Inftances, indeed, the civil Power, as Guar- ** dian of the State, is obliged to provide for " its Safety and Prefervation againfi: the Shocka " it may fuffer, either by a miflaken Con^ 2 *' fcience. Church- Government, £?<:. 6i " fcience, or the Pretence of it. Thefe are " Truths of fo great Evidence, and fuch clear " Confequences from the Nature and Ends of " Society, and the Inflitution of civil Go- *' vernment, that a Man who difowns them, *' mufl either run headlong into Atheifm, ** and an univerfal Subjed:ion of Confcience " to the Dictates of Men, or at leaft into " very abfurd Miflakes about the Origin and " Nature of civil Societies.'* See a Pamphlet intitled the Vanity of believing too much, or too little. 40. In Place of thofe beneficial Confequences of Religion, as explain'd above, fome would fubftitute a Principle of Honour, as the mor© ad:ive of the two Principles, and of greater Force and Efficacy in the Determination of human Adions to the Advancement of pub- lick Good, and as being a flronger Fence and Security againft thofe Deluges of Evils which neceffarily flow from Fraud and Ra- pine, and every Species of lawlefs Tyranny and licentious Fadion. What this Principle of Honour is, or what, in Truth, is intended to be meant by it -, whence it had its Rife, and how it came to be introduc'd into Man's Nature, and to make one of his adive, go- verning Principles, we probably fl:iall give fome 62 Reflections upon fome Account of in one Part or other of this Treatife. At prefent, we fhall take no further Notice of it, and the only Reply we fliall make to it, will be in the Words of the Author of the Poem entituled, Creation^ whom we have quoted once before. " But " fince the Gentlemen who own no Obli- " gations' of Religion for the Rule of Be- *-' haviour, fet up in its Stead a fpurious Prin- " ciple, which they call Honour, and a " Greatnefs of Mind, that will not defcend " to a mean or bafe Action j let them re- " fled:, whether that Term, as they ufe it, '* is not an empty Sound, without any de- " termin'd Meaning. If Honour lays a Man " under any Obligation to perform, or for- " bear' any A(5lion i ' then 'tis evident, Ho- " nour is a Law," dr Rule,' and the Tranf- " grelTibn of it niakes us guilty, and ob- " noxious to Punifliment : And if it be " a Law, it mufi: ' bfe the Declaration of " fome* Legiflator's Will; ■ Tot this is the De^- "• finitlon of a Law, that it regulates the " Manners of a' moral Ageht. Now I afk " a Mail' of 'Hcnotif," wKo denies Religion, « * wliat; * ' 'or whofc ' 'La1 we muil^ for the iame Rtaion, foppoic aU thoie Diipo^tkms and Appctkcs Man is po^ £ei3'd o^ u> be Datoral, and coniequeiidy om* ver&l Iikewii£ ; and as all thoic Tarioas Appe* tkes have their proper Objcds, fbeachoftfacm, in propjTtioa to ks Hci^tJt, will be orgeat fcr the Enjoyment of its Objeoti arid propoctioD* ably Lo the dinczcni S^^er^gth ci" tho^ ^PP^ tites, v/ill Men be acrtd by fome one or ocber of them. And be it Eirther okierved, diat as the finalldl Degree of Gocd, if prefent, is fiirc to be enjojr'd, or the Enjoymerit of it de£red ^ ib the weake^ Appetiie, of wikat ibrt fbcrcr, if it has an Objed: at hand, will be fer po^ {s&j\g it ; and the Reaioa is, hecsaic the En- joyment of every Objc^ with which there is a Cccrefpondency of Appetite, amirds ibme Pieafure, more or, leil. Ccnieqaexidy, to fi^ pole Mankind as moch oiKkr the Trflrtwy^ of the benevolent Prirxiplc, as they arc under the In^uence of all thoie which fUnd opposed : ir, we umCt be obl^d to make a fiutiier ouppcf -vhich is, that this Principle ii cot oiiiy et^ual in Strength of Operation tq jTf ether Appetite of die^coocnDj Sort, but F3 al6 yo RlTLECTIONS Ufotl alfo th.it it exceeds all other Appetites In the Means of Gratification, as much ' as tjKey 'exceed it in the Number of them, that iij^ds liiiich as the Sum of all the other Appe- tite?, when added together, furpalTcs Unity. But neither of thefe Suppofitions can be made, as being contrary to every Day's Obfervation and Experience. If we impartially furvey the Aftions of the Body of Mankind, (and from thence our EAimate, if we w^ould form a true one, muft be taken) we fliall find this Principle greatly overmatch'd by thofe of a contrary Ten- dency ^ in fome it operates not at all, in q^hers \Qrf weakly in Comparifon of the others ; and in the beft of Men, 'tis fcarce fufficient v.'ith the additional Aid of Religion, to keep them conftantly in the Paths of Obedience to all the great Duties of Morality. What then could it do, or what in Reafon can be expected from it, without the Support and Affiftance of this moil: powerfull Ally ? But in tlie Appen- dix before mentioned, we hope to niake it appear that this Senfe, Tafle (or whatever Name it goes by) is acquired, and that the Iiuman Soul is as much a mere rafa Tabula in refped: of all implanted Appetites, AfFedlions, ^c. whatfoever, as ihe is in regard to innate Truths, §. IL Churck-Gov^rnment, ^c. 71 § IL u The Defign of the foregoing Sedion was to iliew, not the Truth, but the Ufe- fijlcefs of Religion to the temporal Inte- refts of Mankind ; in this we fhali endea- vour to prove the Reality of Religion, or that it has a Being founded in the Nature of Man, and comcquently refulting from the Relation he ilands in to all fuch Things with whkh his own Exiilenoe has a necef- j^ry Connection and Dependence. And a^ terwards we will fhew iiow Religion necetr ^ily, and of kiielf, compofei a Society dii^ tin dency on God ; and that this Senfe cannot 1-ife to, nor be preferv'd in, a Height fuffi- cient to be a conflant Principle of A(5lion within us, fhall, after defining what we mean by Worfhip, next be coniider'd. By Worfliip we mean, Mens publickly teiliiy- ing their Acknowledgments of the Belief of a God, and his Providence 5 their praying to him for fuch Things as they want; and their offering him Praife and Thankfgiving, the Tribute of a grateful Heart, for what they have receiv'd from him; and laflly, their paying him fuch Services, and in fuch particular Way or Manner, as either Rea- fon or Revelation, or both, difcover to be mofl acceptable to him, or what befl com- ports with his Defign in framing them. 17. There have been fome, who have founded the Creator's Right of Worfhip on his Power and Sovereignty over Mankind : But, not to inlift on any Arguments drawn G 3 from 86 Reflection s 2// Reflections upon Mm ; and of avoiding thofe which are offen-* five, and againft his Will — and if they have thofe EfFe(fls, or thofe Tendencies, they niuffc be natural Duties, .23. And from hence we are furni^ed with an Anfwer to thofe who danand, that tho' God, confider'd under the Notion of Creator 2.nd Governor, may have a Right to oblige hij Creatures to all fuch A6tions as he is pleas'd to prefcribe, yet what End canaBeing,whofeHap- pinefs is compleat and perfect, and therefore incapable of any Enlargement, have in requir- ing fuch and fuch outward religious Perform- niances, or flatcjd A(fls of Worfliip, at his Creatures Hands ? Is he the better, or con^- duces it to his Happinefs, to be worfhip'd ? Or can he be made more glorious, by being •glorify'd ? Or^ does he want the AddrefTes and Applications of his Creatures to be in- form'd of their Neceffities, or their Prayers in order to incline him to relieve them ? Did but thofe who talk in this or the like Strain,coniider ferioully with themfelves, what Tendency the regular 'Exercife of this important Duty has both ill Re/ifoh and FaB, to draw Men by de- grees to a clofer Imitation of theDivine Perfec- tions, they would readily fee that they are the Perfons Church-Government, C^c', ^^ Perfoiis who talk fooliihly and at Random. And did but they perform this Duty more faithfully, and attend it more frequently than they do, their own Experience, that is, the Difpoiition of MindnecefTarily, tho' gradually, form'd by it, would be a flanding Confutation of all fuch fort of Objedions -, and they would be happily convinced that there is no manner pf Ground or Foundation for the raiilng of them.~r-For in every fucceeding Intercourfe with the Deity, we have frefh Motives and Encouragements to write after his Copy ; to be tender-hearted and compaffionate to the Diftrefs'd ; to be kind and charitable to the Poor ; candid in our Conftrudions of other Mens Ad:ions 3 eafy, humane, and affable to all. And when Men live under fuch a Senfe of God and Religion, they will be afraid of offending him in the leaft, as well as in the greateft Matters, 24. Prayer, notwithftanding it has thofe ufeful and beneficial Effedis before-mention'd, has been ilil'd by fome a fort of an Impiety againfl God -, unbecoming of him to receive, and confequently of Man to offer. For, fay they, fince hemufl be allow'd to know our real want^ much better th^n we can be fuppos'd to ^6 Re F IE CT IONS «^o;f to do ourfelves, it argues much Prefumption in rational Beings, and feems to bear hard up- on his Attributes of Intelligence and Good- nefs, to teaze him with our Impertinences, and to think to move him with our Importunities, To which we anfwer : 25. That tho' God knows what Is moft fuitable to be done or omitted in all pofTible Situations of his Creatures, and will certainly, in every affignable Inflance, do, or omit do- ing, what is beft and fittefl, upon the whole, to be done, yet it feems but reafonable, that Men fliould afk before they receive. For a Favour, one would think, fhould be worth the afking for. 26. All Ends, be they of what Nature or Kind they will, are brought about by certain Means j and the Author of Nature does no- thing without them. This is Fa6l. Who knows therefore, but that Prayer is the Means, the Means we believe on Man's Part, which God has inftituted for the obtaining his Favour, and the Supply of fuch Things as his Circum- ilances require ? the great Means of pofTefling the Benefits of this as well as of another Life ? And that asking is made the Condition of Mens receiving f Sure we are^ that it would be Church- Government, £5?(:. 97 te monftrous Arrogance and Prefumptlon in an Order of Beings confcious of their abfolute Dependence upon the Supreme Being both for what they are, and for what they enjoy, to affert the Contrary. 27. The Deity's Favours are not to be ob-» tain'd but upon certain Conditions, that is, they cannot be enjoy 'd to any Advantage, all things confider'd, but by Men who have acquired fuch a particular Frame or Habit of Mind, as neceffarily qualifys them for the Reception and Ufe of them 5 or, unlefs there be fome peculiar Analogy, Correfpondence, and Suitablenefs betwixt the Petitioner's Mind and the Thing petitlon'd for ; and the Reafon is, becaufe Things are to Men, as they are in State and Difpodtion of Mind towards them : This Dif- polition or Habit of Mind, Prayer has a Ten- dency to produce and preferve 5 and therefore muft be a Means, a Means however of that which is itfelfa Means of receiving God's Fa- vours, and under that Notion of it, a proper neceiTary Duty of rational, dependent Beings^ 28. But, not to multiply Words : The End of Prayer is not fo much to move the Deity, who, confidered as an unchangeable Being, is not capable of being moved or affed:-' H ed 98 Reflections upon ed at all ; as it is in its natural Tendency adapted to difpofe the Petitioner for making a right Ufe, and having a full and proper Enjoyment, of what he makes his Prayers to God for 3 and for his being a fit and fuitably-inclin'd Subject of receiving thofe Communications of Goodnefs which he defign'd for a Creature in fuch Cir- cumftances. And this proclaims how necef- fary Prayer is to our Happinefs, and is one Inftance, out of many, of the divine Goodnefs in making it the procuring Caufe of the Bene- fits he confers on us, and without which it is plain we can have no Reafon to expedt them at his Hands > or rather, that they could be no Benefits to us but under that peculiar Turn or Call of Mind, which, in his Appointment of Things, God has made Prayer the neceffary Means or Inftrument of forming. But to proceed. 29. Since the Worth, or Value of Things, is ever in Proportion to their Ufefulnefs, or to the Moment of Good produc'd, or of Mifery avoided, by them, (for the Avoidance or Pre- vention of any given Degree of Mifery is equivalent, if not prepoUent, to the Introduc- tion of the fmie Degree of Happinefs) and H nee this Moment is always in a compound Ratio Church- Government, G?^. ^^ Ratio of the Number of Enjoy ers, and the Quantity of Happinefs each one polTefTes -, fo Things, whofe Influence is of greater or lefs Extent do, according to thofe their different Afpedls upon human Happinefs, come under different Denominations. What is productive of Good to private Perfons only, becomes the Objedl only of particular Men's Purfuits ; and what affedts large Bodies or Societies of Men, ought to be the Aim and Purfuit of fuch Bodies. What belongs to private particular Perfons, therefore, is of a private particular Nature, or Concernment ; and what con- cerns Men in general^ is of a general Na- ture and Signiiicancy. And as a private In- tereft demands private Endeavours, Purfuits, Applications, &c. fo does a publick Interefl re- quire publick Endeavours, &c. For if God in his Condudl and Government of the World, orders anddifpofes of Things in fuch a Manner^ as to give Men no Reafon to expert private Favours, unlefs they afk them firfl privately of him; Perfons, who in a publick Capacity have publick Concerns, have no Reafon to exped publick Favours, unlefs they afk them publickly of him likewife. Confequently, when Men are jointly concerned, they are <^' H 2 oblig'd 100 Re FLE CTI ONS a/(5« oblig'd to join in one common Prayer, if they cxpedt one common Benefit, and to make common Acknowledgments in Confideration of Favours received in common ; that is. Men ought to pray to God, and to praife him publickly, or there ought to be a publick Worfhip. 30. Pubhck Worfhip has alfo a natural Tendency to interweave and knit the Inter* efts of Mankind together j and confequendy, to promote each other's, and therein the com- mon Happinefs : For when a Number of them unanimoufly join in a Petition to the Deity, either for the Acquifition of fome Good^ or the Prevention of fome Evil, if they ex- pedt their Requefts fhould be granted in a Manner fuitable to their refpedive Circum- ftances, they muft in all their Movements and A«ftions endeavour to approve themfelves to him, by behaving after fuch a Fafliion as will of Courfe difpofe him to it -, that is, as will render them proper Subjects of his Favour, Now, as God's Approbation will neceflarily follow fuch Purfuits as are conformable to, and promotive of, his primary Motive, or exciting Principle of A(5lion ; that is, muft attend Ads of Beneficence, perform'd with a View 2 to Church- Government, Gf<:. loi to pleafe him, and to merit his Favour ; fo an Endeavour to approve themfelves to him, muft be no other than a deiign'd voluntary Endeavour after the Produq fometiines worfhiped amidft a Noife and Hurry of Bufinefs (to withdraw Men from which at fome certain Jun(5lures and Seafons was, as we have Ihewn, one great Defign, and the proper Concern, of all re- ligious Appointments or Conventions;) and if not rightly at all Times, then it is fitting that certain Parts or Portions thereof be fet apart for that Purpofe. 36. And as all Times are not alike, fo nei- ther are all Places j confequently, fome Places will be found more cowoenient for the Exer- cife of this Duty than others can in Reafon be fuppos'd to be 3 but the more uniform and confiflent, or the more compos'd and fettled, the Mind is in her Meditations, and the grea- ter Attention is us'd, and the more Hutnility obferv'd, in the Performance of every Ad: of religious Worfhip, the more intenfely dpes it contemplate the divine Nature and Attributes ; views more narrowly, and confiders more ferioufly, Man's own State and Condition ; the Relation he ftands in to his Maker, and his abfolute Dependence, in every Refpedt, upon liO Reflections upon upon him % and has a ftronger pradical Senffi of thofe Truths, and fuch others as are neccffarily connedted with them. Whence we draw, in the Manner of a Corollary, this Truth, that thofe Places which by their Make and Situation are leaft liable to difcom- pofe the Mind, and to draw off her Atten- tion to what is faid or fignify'd, are the iitteft and moft proper to be made choice of and appointed. To the Quotation above from Dr. Cave we Ihall fubjoin the following one, as it ftands conned:ed with the other. " Now " that Men might not be left to a floating " Uncertainty in a matter of fo great Impor- " tance, in all Nations and Ages Men have " been guided by the very Didates of Nature " to pitch upon fome certain Places and " Seafons, when and where they might meet, " aflemble together to perform the publick " Offices of Religion. 37. -^ proper Gcfiure cr Pofition of Body, fuited to the particular Nature and T'en- dency of each A6l of religious JForJhip to be performed. There is certainly a manifefi Difference in the out\7ard Gefturcs and Pofitions of a Man's Body, univerfally taken and underilood in thofe Cafes to be fignifica- tive Church-Government, ^c, m tive of* Men's different Sentiments. Hence fome are conftantly acknowledged to be Marks or Indications of a Senfe of greater Degrees of Dependency than others. Now, as the Geflures of the Body with which we worfliip the Deity fhould flow from a Senfe of our Relation to him, and Dependence upon him, and correfpond as ?iearly as may be to it 3 fo in Return, this Senfe of our Depen- dency will be encreas'd and heighten'd by thofe Geftures : Confequently, the more humble and devout we are in our Worfliip, or the more expreffive our Poflures, adapted to the particular Nature of each religious A(5t, are of Humility and our depende?it State, the higher will our Senfe of Dependency on God rife, and the more we fhall be difpos'd to obey and ferve him, that is, the more bene- volent we fliall be. 3 8 . The next Thing neceflary to the due Per- formance of publick Worfliip, is, fome certain Form, or For ?ns of Words, fignificative of their fever al Cafes, to be profefid in common by every Religioniji. For, if rational, fenfiblc Beings are, in Confequence of their refpedlive Circumftances in Life, oblig'd to join toge- ther in making Application for fuch Things ii2 Reflections upon as their NecefTities call for, and in returning Praife and Thankfgiving for that Current of Benefits which keep continually flowing fi'om the Deity towards them : the Form or Man- ner, in which fuch Prayer or Thankfgiving fliould be made and offered, ought to be previoufly agreed on amongll: themfelves, and the Words exprefHng the feveral Ideas com- pofing fuch Form, or Forms, collected into proper, fignificant Sentences, and difgefted under well-tim'd Periods. Becaufe, if either general or particular Cafes were ftated, and Occurrences provided for, in another Manner j that is, in no Manner at all, how could the Devotionifts fuit each other's Mind, and the Words fignifying their feveral Wants, Neceffi- ties, ^c. in each Addrefs to Almighty God ? To fuppofe they know beforehand what each other in the Congregation will fay, immediately and without Confultation, is to fuppofe that all of them are endow'd with the Gift of knowing each other's Mind -, that is, that they are omnifcient : A Property or Attri- bute, none of them, we dare fay, will lay Claim to, as being the fole Prerogative of the firfl great Caufe of all Things, and is itfelf in- communicable. 39. Again j' CtttJRCH^GoVERNMENT, &C. I 13 39. Again* fbme Things are fo necelTary to our Prefervation and Being, that if God fhould with-hold them from us, we fhould im- mediately ceafe to exifl in the Manner we do ; others there be alfo, which, tho' lefs necef- fary, yet they are fuch, as that we cannot live either happily or comfortably without. Now the Cafe requires, that our Wants and Necef- lities of all Sorts be exprefs'd in Terms fuit» able to the Nature, Quality, and Degree of them J and that all Applications made to the Deity fhould be ofFer'd up in Sentences ex- preflive of the true State of our Condition. Which fufficiently fliews, that in Matters of fuch general Concern, where the Thing or Things petition'd for have a Reference to the Produdlion or Removal of a Means of Hap- pinefs, or Mifery, to every particular Re- ligionifl; fo it is requifite, that each Individual do join in the fame Prayer for the Attain- ment or Avoidance of it. For as Prayer, to ufe the Words of an ingenious Writer, is an ajking of God the Mercies weftand in need of, fo it is but reafonable^ that thofe fiihlick Mercies which we all ft and in need of ftjould be petitioned for by all in the fame Words. Which cannot be done, unlefs there be I fome i'j4 Reflections upon fome common Focm eftabliflied by mutual Confent, comprehending the Subjedt Matter of fuch Petition. 40. Further ; in moral or religious Science, as well as in thofe which come under a phyfical Conlideration, all Things are not alike, or equally, clear to all Men ; fome there are (the Profeflion of which may in fome Degree be neceflary to their Happinefs) wholly above the Capacities of a very large Body of Men -, and which, as lying out of the commonRoad of low, uncultivated Underftandings, they cannot at all comprehend. Hence it is neceffary for the Benefit of the Illiterate, that Men's Opinions concerning the Being and Attributes of God, and their Sentiments relating to his creating and governing the World ; and in particular,, his Government over them, in all the various "Ways of difpenfing Happinefs to them, be drawn out into Propolitions, exprefs'd in fuch clear, intelligible Terms, as to work Convic- tion in, and to draw AfTent from, the loweft and meaneft Underftandings. And in having Kecourfe to which, it will ferve them as a Refting-Place, or Standard of Faith, to ad- here to upon all Occasions. 41. Who* CiiuRCH- Government, d^c. n^ 41. Whoever reads the civil and religious Hiflory of Mankind in theTimes of Paganifm, with any degree of Attention, v^ill readily fee, that to render the Heavenly Pov^^ers pro- pitious to them, their principal Care was to form themfelves, by an Imitation of the reigning Qualities of the God they Worfliipedj into a Likenefs with them 3 to cloath them- felves with the fame Nature and Faculties j and to mold themfelves into a Cail or Frame of Mind analogous to the leading Principle of that fupreme Being, or Beings who had them in peculiar* Hence that furpriling Re^ femblance betwixt the Manners, Cuiloms, &c, of the Inhabitants of any Nation^ and the Temper or Genius of the God who prefided over them y if the Numen was of a cruel, favage, implacable Nature, fo were they j if of contrary Difpoiitions and Determinations of Nature, they were in conformity with them. So, that given the natural Genius and Propenfity of the tutelar God of any particular PlacCj it was eafy to colledt from thence, the Ufages, Ways of Thinking and Ading, of his Votaries j and Vice "Oerfd, knowing thofe laft, we can difcover the firft. It is an unque- ftionable Truth therefore, as being founded I a Ofl ii6 Reflections upon on an unqueftionable Matter of Fad, that Men's Behaviour under the Senfe of Religioit, or their Conformity to the Divine Will, will be always according to the Notions they have fi-am'd in their Minds of the Nature and Per- fedlions of the fupreme Mind ; confequently the jufter and more agreeable to Truth thofe Notions are, the more perfedl will this Con- formity be, that is, the better and more ex- tenlive Influence they will have upon Men's Actions : And if fo, Care mufi: be taken, and proper Means us'd, to prevent the various and contrary Sorts of Infidelity and Superftitioii from mixing with them ; in the Degree ei- ther of which prevails in the World, fo much Detriment muft unavoidably arife to it Jfrom fuch a monftrous and unnatural Conjundtion. But there is no other way of doing this, ex- cept by having thofe Notions concerning the Deity carefiiUy collected, and drawn up into Propolitions or Articles, in the Nature of a Creed -, and Men's Relation to him, and the Duties arifing from it, exprefs'd in fuitab^p and correfpondent Sentences ; and the pub- lick ProfefTion of their Belief of the Truth and Reality of the one, and their Acknowledg- ments of the bind'"^ Force and Obligations of Church-Government, ^r. 117 of the other, made the Terms of Communion, and the difcriminatory Condition of Men's being received into it. Before we difmifs this Article, v^e beg Leave to give the Rea- der the three following Quotations out of the Works of three very able and judicious Writers. 42. The firft is a Tranfcript from the Ecciejiajiical Polity of the ever -memorable and judicious Mr. Hooker, whofc Words are full to our prefent Purpofe, and whofe Au- thority will ever be efteem'd, by all Judges of Candour and Impartiality, of equal Weight with any that can poffibly be brought on the other Side of the Queftion. Thefe are his Words : " To him which confider- " eth the grievous and Icandalous Incon- " veniences, whereunto they make them- " felves daily fubjedt, with whom any blind " or fecret Corner is judg'd a fit Houfe of " common Prayer, the manifefl Confufions " which they fall into, where every Man's " private Spirit and Gift (as they call it) is ** the only Biiliop that ordaineth to this Mi- " niftry ; the irkfome Deformities, whereby ** thro' endlefs and f^nfelefs Effufion of in- ** digefted Prayers, they oftentimes difgrace I 3 - ia ii8 Reflections updn " in moft infufFerable Manner, the wor.- ** thieft part of Chriftian Duty towards God, " who herein are fubjedt to no certain Order, " but pray both what and how they pleafe : " To him, I fay, which weigheth duly all " thofe Things, the Reafons cannot be ob- " fcure why God doth, in publick Prayer, " fo much refpedl the Solemnity of Places *' where, the Authority and Calling of the " Perfons by whom, and the precife Ap- ' ■ polntment even with what Words or Sen- " tences his Name fhould be call'd on " amongft them." Thus far that great Man. 43 , The next is from a fmall Tracft entitul- ed, I'he Faith and PraBice of a Church of 'England Man. " As far as I can find (fays " this ingenious Author) fince Miracles ceafcd, " there always was a Form of Prayer and " Service prefcribed, and it was never left " to every Clergyman to fay what Prayers, " and ufe what Form of Service he pleafed ; " much lefs was any Extempore Prayer to *' God in Publick ever approved of. For " befides the Indecency that will often be " committed in extempore Prayers (which " furely ought to be avoided if we can, when " we Church-Government, £5' occalion, be 01 great Ufe, in removing fuch Objedions, and in L fettling 1 46 Reflections upon fettling fome Doubts that will probably arife upon this Head. 19. Means muft ever be conformable to, and produ6tive of their refpe<5live Ends, other- wife Men's Purfuits after tliofe Ends will be without Effect, and of no fignificancy. Con- fcquently, given the End for which a Num- ber of Men bytmutual Concurrence aflbci- ated themfelves into a Body, and from thence may we difcover what thofe Powers, arifing to a Body fo united, and what the Manner of the Exercife of them will be : Becaufe thofe Powers being of a kind, fuited in the Nature and Tendency of their Operation to the at- taining this End, they cannot rife higher, or fall fhort of, but mufl be commenfurate to, and limited by, fuch End. Finding out there- fore the Reafon and Defign of a Church's Appointment, and this leads us to theDifcovery of the Nature and Extent of Church- Authority. Now we have lliewn above, that the End God had in view by appointing a Church, was the common Happinefs of his Creatures, or rather, the Advancement of their Nature to greater Degrees of Perfedion, which, in his Appointment of Things, can only be effeded by a Purfuit of each other's Happinefs, look- U)g up to him in what they do, and propofing 2 his Chorch- Government, G^r. 147 "his Acceptance as the £nd of their acfliilg in this Manner ; which will by degrees neceflarily render them fitly difpos'd for the Reception a.nd Enjoyment of his Favours. Biit the End why Men join in paying religious Service to hirri, is to procure his Regard and Approbation, or thofe Rewards which are always attendant up- on it* Church Power therefore mull be of fuch a Sort, as when exercis'd in a certain way or manner, tends to produce in the Sub- jed: fuch Difpofitions, or Deterthinations of Will, as, when carry'd into Adt, will intitle him to God's Acceptance and Approbation. This Acceptance or Approbation is beft obtain'd, can indeed be only obtain'd, agreeably to a former Obfervation of ours, by Our doing. Or by oui^ Intention to do, fuch Things as God hath en- join'd, and avoiding thofe which he hath for- bidden ; and upon this account, that he hath enjoin'd the one, and forbid the other, and that we fhall be happy or miferable, accordingly as we perform or negle<£t them. The Means Church-Officers therefore are entrufted with for the accomplifhing this End, are the Mo- tives of future Happinefs and Mifery, pro- pos'd in fuch Lights, and enforced with fuch Coniiderations, as will, at the fame time that they fatisfy the Reafon of Men's Minds, L 2 dif. J4S RiFLECTloi^S up$r% ^ifpoie alfo the Will to a fuitable Pradllce^ or Compliance with them* And every Ad:ion merits that, for die attainii>g which it was firil entered upon and taken in Hand ; and there- fore a<5ting upon the Motives of future Happi- nefs, or with a View to it, will give the Agent a Right to this Happinefs, Whence we learn, that the Powers belonging to Church-Ofhcer? mufl be of a kind properly fitted, in the Ten- dency of theirOperation, to workConviilion in the Underilanding, and to eneline the Will, and not iuch whofe Exercife tends tQ foixe it ; be- caufe the V/ill is of that Nature, as not to admit of the bail Compulfion or Reftraiiit ab e^tr^^ and therefore not to be influenc'd either as to Motion or Rell, to A(^ion or No.n-a^hat " they have to fay, with Arguments drawn " from the Rewards and Punifhments of ano- " ther World; but how fliould the People « believe them, when they do not live as if " they believed themfelves?" None therefore ought to be admitted to ferve in the Church, who wilfully ads in Contradiftion to the known Principles of Religion, or difputes the Pveality of its Exiftence, either in the way of Banter or Argument. - Whence it is fitting, L 4 that 152 Reflections upon that both the natural and religious Qualifica* tions of thofe who offer themfelves for the Miniftry, be previoufly enquired into, and that fuch Perfons fliould be afterwards either taken into, or refus'd the Church's Service, as they are found, upon Examination, to be iit or unfit to perforin her Offices. The Qnsfti'^"^ ^^^^ is, who are to be Judges of the QuaHtications of thofe who are Candidates for fuch Offices ? The Anfwer, we prefume, is, the Governors, or fupreme Officers of the Church, themfelves. Eecaufe the fame Rea- fon which veils the executive Power of the Church in their Hands, will give them a Right of chooling fuch Perfons Members of their own Body, or into their Order, as they find beft able to affift thern in the Dire<5lior^ of this Power, and in the Management and Obfervance of thofe Duties that immediately lie within their Province ; or, in other Words, this Power of creating her own Minifters is vefted in the Governors of the Church ratkne OJicii, and has no other Foundation on which it refts, than the Nature of the Office it- ielf, or what gave Rife to the Inflitution pf it. 1 22. CoroJ, Church- Government, ^r. 153 22. Corol. Hence we fee, that every Church has a Right (the Exercife of which belongs to her Governors) of making and ordaining her own Officers -, which Right is fo eflential to her Being, as a Church, that the great Principle of Self-Prefervation will not allow her to relign it over to another on any Con- iideration whatfoever. 23. iV. B. The Rite, Ufage, or Cere- mony, by which Perfons were admitted into the Offices of Religion, or call'd to the Mi- niftry of the Church, was term'd Ordination > which denoted a Pcrfon's Deiignation, or his Appointment by a proper Authority to fuch particular Office, or what gave him a legal Right to the Exercife of it. More than this it cannot well be fuppos'd to im* ply. ^ 24. Prop. 4. 7'hat particular Form of Go'uernme?it in the Church ought to he chofe^ ivhich in the Nature of its Operation feefns heft adapted to ^ain the Etid for which 'Men become Members of fuch religious Society, For where there are different Ways leading to the fame Place, it is certainly the nioft prudent to make Choice of that which v^ill carry us the beft and fafeft thither *, In like Manner, where fp^^ Reflections upo?t where there are feveral Means tending to ' the fame End, it is the Province of Reafon toj chufe that which is the leaft likely to mifcarry. 'Tis true, Forms of Govern- ment fignify nothing, where the End is as well anfwered by one as another : But where there is 'a greater Aptitude in one certain Form to fecure the Order and good Govern- ment of any Society than in another, Rea- Ibn gives the Preference to the former ; fince it is properly her Bufinefs to fliew us the di- redteft Way by which any Event may befl be brought about, or End obtain'd. 25. An Agreement of one particular Form more than others, with the Genius and Tem- per of the major Part of the Members of any Society, conftitute its greater Fitnefs and Ex- pediency ; and therefore, a Change in the one, \vill oT Courfe produce a Change in the other j that is, that particular Form, v/hich was once efteem'd befl:, and there- fore mofl eligible, fliall, under an Alteration of Circumflances, be thought not to be fo ; but confequently, either fit to be laid afide, and fo another appointed in its Room j or otherwife to have fome Addition made to it by way of Amendment. 26. Church- Government, ^f. i_t;^ 26. N.B. By the Forms of Church-Govern- ment, we would be underftood to mean the Manner in which Church-Power is to be exercis'd, or how, and by whom it is to operate ; whether from a Confinement of it to one fingle Perfon, who is to rule a whole County or Diocefe in Kcdejiajiicalsy as a Prince or a civil Governor does a Nation in 'Temporals-, or it be diifus'd thro' the whole Body of Officers, to be fhared in equal Portions by them all in common -, or it be appropriated to a certain determinate Number chofen out of their own colled:ive Body. 27. Prop. 5. All Forms of Ecclejiafilcal Policy ought to be agreed on, and appointed by the whole Body of People which compofe fuch religious Society. This appears plainly from Propofition the firft, and is a neceflary Confequence from it. Befides, if Men at the firfl Inilitution of civil Societies had a common Right to inftitute fuch Forms of civil Government, as they judg'd would beft fecure their temporal Liberty and Property ; fo the fame Reafon holds, that the Members ef religious Society, or the fame Perfons takers and confider'd in a religious Capacity, ihould 156 Reflections upm fliould have a Right to make Choice of fuch a Form of Government in the Church, as they apprehend will beft anfwer the End of their AfTociation. And if the People have a Right to appoint what Forms they fliall choofe to live under, it is manifeft, that thofe Forms in different Nations will vary, ac- -cording to the different Tempers, Inclina- tioftg, and Ways of thinking of the People of thofe Nations. And confequently, to ex- pe(5t one uniform, invariable Method of con- du(51:ing Ecclefiaftical Affairs, is as foolifh and abfurd, as to expedt that all People fliould think, defire, and will alike : A greater Ab» furdity than which cannot well be main- tain'd. Allowing Mankind, therefore, to be what in Fa£l we really find them to be ; we |Tieiln, with regard to their different Ways pf apprehending, judging, determining, &c, allowing this, we lay, and we may reafon- ably draw this Conclufion, *viz. that the People's Forms both of civil and ecclefiaf- tical Policy will generally be alike. If a monarchical Form in Crjih is found to be Attended witli lefs Diffradlion and Confufi* pn, and ib confecjuently to make mofl for ' the CllUKCH-GoVERNMENT, ^ci' l ^>y the Eafe and Quiet of the State, then wiFl likewile the fame Kind of Form in Ecck" Jwjiicals be thought to make moft for the Peace and Unity of the Church. The fame holds of any other Form, Hence, given the Nature and Genius of the civil Polity of any Nation, and we may in mofl Cafes difcover its ecclefiaftical onej or recipro- cally, given the Nature and Genius of the Form of eeclefiartical Policy, and we can gather the civil one of that Nation j fince generally, and for the moft part, there will be a§ near a Refemblanee as polTible betwixt them. And this, by the Way, is (with ub at leaft) a convincing Proof, that the Form gf Church-Government in the firfl Ages of Chriftianity was monarchical ; or, that the Government of it was lodg'd in the Hands ef him, who in every Church was ftyl'd its Bifliop; in perfedl Conformity to the Model of civil Government at that Time in Ufe among the Romans. For if we look into the Infant-State of the Chriftian Church under the Jloman Emperors, we iliall find its Policy plann'd in Imitation of their civil one. — r— For the better Adminiitration of Juftice, and the more fpeedy Determination Qf Caufes big with EfFeds of different Weight and 158 Re TLECT I oii$ upon and Moment to the Roman Nation, they, as a wife People, and poffefs'd of the moft confimimate Skill in the Arts of Policy, di- vided their Empire into a certain Number of Diocefes, and each Diocefe into a cer- tain Number of Provinces, and each Pro- vince contain'd a certain Number of Cities, over each of v^hich wsls fet a civil Magif-- trate, veiled w^ith various Powers and Pre-^ eminences, fuited to the Dignity of his Of- fice, and the Importance of thofe Matters which fell under his Cognizance. In per- fed: Analogy to this was the Model of the outward Regimen of the Church drawn : The Bifhop's Power in re Ecclefiajiicd of any City, Province, or Diocefe, was of the fame Extent v/ith that of the Civil Ma^ giftrate of fuch City, &c. in the Determina* tion of civil Caufes. As the civil Governor refiding in the Metropolis in every Province had a Power deputed him over all the Governors within that Province j fo the Bi* fhop of that Metropolis exercis'd Jurifdidion over all the other Bifliops of the feveral Churches within fuch Province : His Power extending over the reft of the Bifhops in ccclefiaftical Matters, in the fame Manner its Church- Government, (i?^. "i^;^ as the civil Magiftrate's/ did oyer the fevD- ral fubordinate Officets, or rather Govern- ors, under his Jurifdie ^alificatiom and Appointments mentioned in Prop. 3. This is no other but a direcft Corollary from that Propofition j and the very Nature of a Church, and the End of its Appointment, furninies ua with an ir- refragable Argunnent for the Truth of it, ?.'o. But, notwithftanding the Proof arif- iiig imipediateiy out, of that Propofition, be it further coniider'd, th^H if in ci\il So- ciety Church- Government, ^r. i6i Ciety, private Men, or thofe who v^^ere vefled with no Authority from the fupreme Magif- tratc, fhould take upon themfelves the Li* berty of direding and governing in Affairs of a publick Nature j or fhould Subordinates go beyond the Limits fet to their Jurifdic- tion, and concern themfelves v^ith the Ma- nagement and Ordering of fuch Things, as were by proper Authority committed to the Care and Superintendency of their Superi- ors, much Diforder and Conflifion would unavoidably, arife in civil Government 3 and the Mifchief done by this means to Society would be always greater or lefs accordingly, as fuch Practice became more or lefs gene- ral. In like manner, if private Perfons, or thofe who had no Call or Commiilion from the Church, (in whom we have proved the Power of creating her own Officers is lodg- ed) if fuch Perfons, we fay, fliould prefume to officiate in religious Matters, and to in- vade the Province of Church -men, pro- perly and regularly appointed j fuch an In- vafion of the Rights of others would necef- farily occafion the fame Diflurbance, and breed as much Confulion and Embarrafment in a religious Society, as the Intrufion into M civH i62 Reflections upon , civil Offices would produce in civil Soeicty^ For the Sake of outward Peace and Order^ therefore, (not to mention other worfe an(J more pernicious Effects, which might ne- ceiTarily, tho' gradually, arife from thence^) fuch Pradices ought not to be tolerated in one or other Society, but be refented \@, Proportion to their malignant Tendency. J(^ each. 'jr 31. Prop. 7. 1'he Church bas^ a Right of fjeBing out of h^r Communion all fuch cf her Members as refufe to conform to her RJX^ and Ceremonies > to her Ufages and Cu/lonis^; as alfo thofe whoje irregular Li-ves give.juji Offence and Scandal to the Churchy and in^ terfere with the End of her Appointments Every Society, as a Sodety, mufl move, ad:, and be regulated by certain Cuftoms and i^ated Methods of Proceeding, which in all Cafes are allow 'd to have the Force of Laws; becaufe its outward Order and Regi- men can only be fecured by the Obfervance of thofe Rules made to preferve It. Who- ever therefore of the Society refufes to con- farm to thofe Rules and Cufloms, does, ipfi fadfi)^ break ^ in upon, and diilurb the Peace nnd Older of tliat Society j and cpnfequent* Church-Government, ^c, 163 ly ought to be treated as an Enemy to its Conflitution : that is, he ought to be turn- ed out of it. ;?2. A Number of Men afibciated into a Body upon a religious Account, and agreed amongft themfelves about the feveral Modes, Ceremonies, and all other Circumftances ne- eefiary to the due Performance of publick Worfhip, have a common Right to the Ufe o£ fuch Modes, Ceremonies, (^c Confe- quently, whoever denies their binding Force, (after thus mutually agreed upon, and con- fented to) or difputes the Reafonablenefs of a Conformity to them, or difturbs others iii the Ufe of them; invades the common Right of that Body of Religionifts, and fhould be dealt with accordingly. 33. This Right of Expulfion is fo necef- fary both to the Prefervation and Well-be- ing of all Societies, that, without the Ex- ercife of it, every Society muft foon be dif- folv'd and come to nothing. We find it to be Fad, that all publick Bodies and Af- fociations of Men, however form'd, and whatever be the Nature and End of their Convention, from the powerfuUefl and mofl opulent Societies down to the meaneft Cor- M2 F^a- 1 64 Reflections upon ^ poration^ ading by an Authority deriv'd front the Heads of them, have the Power of ex* pelling diforderly Members j fuch who break the Laws, and diflurb the Peace and Order of the Society to which they belong. And if this be an inherent Power^ or eflential Property of all Societies, and founded in the Nature of a Society as foch, it rrxuft be in*- feparable from a religious Society ; and the Exercife of it equally necelTary to attain the End for- which fuch S<5ciety was founded. Thus i¥Hich with regard to the firft Part of the 'IVopoiition. ' --;: 34. Biit Excommunication is not only necefiaf}?, inrefpeft of .Non-Conformky to the Chupeli's Rites and Ceremonies, to her Rules arbd Orders, but alfo in regard to Im- morality "and Wickednefs. A Mixture of good -and -bad Men, known by the general Courle of- tlieir A '^c: 165 wlien a c^immon Petition is offer'd up to the Deity, what Reafon is there to exped that their Requefts ihould be granted ? Be it telfo further confider'd, that it will neceflii- rily be juft Matter of Grief and Trouble to the Confciences and religiousWays of thinking of the one, to join and alTociate with the other J for a good Man cannot but be dif- pleas'd with Vice and Wickednefs, and con^ fequendy with the Caufes of them 3 that is, with wicked Men. And the .more pi- ous one Part of the Society— is'j the more offended will it be at th^r-regular Adis and Pradices of the other ; and confequent- Iv, the more deflrous of having fuch bad Livers feparated from having or holding any Communion with their Church. The Matter refts here ; Men naturally love to ailbciate with thofe they like, and to fhun thofe they diflike : The Foundation of this ^^iking is a Suitablenefs or Correfpondency ^&f DifpofitioUj (for an Agreement of De- ifires and Aftedions is, in fome Pegree, the iailie:vus an Agreement of Wills ; and an -Ao;reement of Wilis is the Source of all fo- cial* Pieafure and Delight.) The Founda- ■thn of Diflikqii? ^n Unfuitablenefs of Dif- t; V, M 3 polition. 1 66 Reflection s /^/(9« pofition, or difcordant Affedions : Confe- quently, one of a religious Frame or Caft of Mind, cannot join himfelf with, but muft feek all Occafions to avoid, as much as may be, the Company of thofe of con- trary and different Difpofitions or Principles, with refped both to thinking, and adling, from him. And if private Perfons have it in their Power, and confequendy are at Liberty to chufe their own Company j that is, to admit thofe into it whom they like, and to rejed: whom they dillike ; fo muft the Church likewife : that is, the fame Perfons combin'd into a Body from a re- ligious Gonfideration, have the fame Right to exercifc fuch a Power in a publick, as they had before in a private Capacity. 35. Every Society being veiled with a Right to the Exercife of fuch Powers, as are ncceflary for obtaining the End of its Appointment ; the Members which compofe fuch Society, will ever have a Right to ejed whom and whatfoever oppofes this End j becaufe if fuch Oppofition be not remov'd, the End cannot be come at. The Favour of God is the ultimate End of a Church being appointed; and the immediate End, or Church- Government, '^c, 167 or tJmt without which the ultimate End can- not be obtain'd, is the Pradice of Piety and Virtue, under the Belief of a fuperior Being rewarding fuch a Condud: ; which publick Worfhip, as hath been (hewn, has a neceffary Tendency to enforce, and upon which account it became a natural Duty of feniible, rational Beings. Whoever therefore promotes Vice and Impiety, by- yielding to them himfelf^ or by encouraging the Prac- tice of them in others, oppofes, as much as in him lies, the End for which the Church was founded J and, upon that account, ought to be remov'd from her Society. Who- ever therefore by Word or Adion, or by both, (hews that he either diibelieves the Being of a God, or wilfully neglecls to per- form the Ehities neceflarily flowing Jiom fuch a Belief, defeats the End, and difappoints the Defign, as much as it is in his Power to defeat the one and difappoint the other, of all religious AfTociations ; and, fo doing, ought to be expell'd the Society, as not worthy to continue any longer a Member in- it, ■ Befides, fince fuch Declarations and Pradices will, in Effed, and by Degrees, necclTarily deilroy all Senfe of God's Super- M 4 inten- idS ReF L ? CTI ONS Z//»(?« . intendence over human Affairs, they muft ^e ablblutely inconfiitent with the very Be^ . iogi^f a. Church; becaufe, to keep up this Senfe ?ia: Men's Minds, and to extend its Influences as far as they can reach, and ren-^ der them as beneficial as poilible, was the chief and foleDefign of God's caufing fuch pubhck Aflemblies to be at firft inflituted. But tho' this expullive Facuhy, or the Right ^ of Galling out - of her Communion all difor- defly, jn-egular-Members, be lodg'd conjunc- ttm -iii -the- whole Society, and is the necef- fary-Refolt -of lit-.as a Society, yet the Exer-r tion ^fii this -Power is confin'd to the Offi^ cers'^of the Chiireh. This is but a Corollary from Prop'.'-3; - ^- "' ' '^d: It i^^ to' l>e obfervM, that before the " Right' of- Extorrimunication in either of the-' abovr-rncntton'd Cafes takes Place, or is put in'Prai£ti8e,ithe Offender ought tor be -made acquainted -with the -malignant Tendency of his Crihlej'anti''ihe pernicious EflFe<5ls of it fet'HeiBr^ ilim^ln- the- iifeft' five and a^. feifling Colours- and' all proper Means us^d to prevail- with him- to abhor and forlake ila^^ Puti-'if-altef fiich a 'juft-^od genuine Rc^^^ prefehtation "of the Matter, and ^11 • the Ad^s » vice CHtJRCH-GoVERNMENT, ^r. J 69 Vice and Admonition given for this Purpofe, he ftill goes on in his old way, and feems obftinately bent fo to do, it is then highly necefTary that he be banifliM the Society, as a vi^ilfiilly difobedient, untov^ard, and refractory Member, and one who gives not the leafl Hopes of Amendment and Reformation. 3 7. There are fome , (as Tindal in his Rights of the Chriftian Church) who fay, that " Nothing can be more unaccountable, than " to hinder a Man iirom performing one " part of his Duty (efpecially, fo great an " one as his publickly worfhiping of God) " becaufe he has fail'd in another ; Or, if " he has offended God publickly^, what can " be more abfurd than to debar him from " as publickly deliring his Pardon ? '* And further on : " The greater Sinner one is, there *' is the lefs Reafon to debar him from hear- " ing fuph Sermons as are made up of Rea- " fons to perfuadkC him to his Duty both to " God and Man, And therefore to exclude " Men from the Church, is a Violation of the " Rules of Charity," To which we return this Anfwer. ifr. That after ^ wicked Man has been made acquainted with the neceffary Effeds and Confe^^uents.^pf ,Sin in general, and jJOf -P-Ei^ LECTION S «^i>« 30d of his jown darling Sin in particular ; af- ter thofe Confequences have been fct forth before him in the flrongcft and ckareft Light, and the moft powerful and beft-adapted Motives have been made ufe of to prevail with hwn to forfake a Courfe of Life, which by Degrees, but inevitably, leads up to them ; If, ^fterall thofe Means Hs'd to change him, he is ftili the fame Man, and fms as frequently, dn5;- toall- Appearance, as freely, as before, ilonvithftanding his going to'Chtirch, it is feafbna^lc to conclude, that he goes not tlii;^ ther but of any Love to God, or from a Sehfe of Outy, (for then, and for the fame Reafon, he^would a\'TDld all fuch Things as arc Matters of Offence and Difpleafure to him) but rather as a Cloak to cover his Vices, and that he might not be thought fo had a Man as he really is: And when Iniquity wears the mafque of Religion and Sandity, and Men go to Church to take off all Sufpiciop, and to pre- vent an Enquiry being made into dieir A<5tion^, how much Religion fuffcrs, and what Mif- phief is by this Means done to the WoHd, Is bet-ter conceiv'd than cxprefs'id. tidly-," Thfe longer a Perfon continues' in nny known* Sins, the greater Affedion for, and the iriore *on- fijm'd Church-Government, ^c, i-ji £rm'd and kxil^d. Habit pf them he acqiiires ; and the ilroHger Habit of them he acquires, the more difficult they are to be parted with, and confequently the leis the Probability is, -of adlually parting £:om th^m, or of making, -4 Divorce betwixt fuch a Man and his Sin^ tho' he hear them both pubJickly declaini'd againfl, and in private is admoniih'd to for- iiikc them. But not to multiply Words^, \Ye have ihewn above, that without a Power of expelling diibrderly Members, the Church, a^ a Society, cannot fubfiil, nor the End pf it? Inflitution be obtain'd. 38. A Controverfy hath been flarted, and, as ifi ufual in fuch Cales, much laid en both Sides, concerning the Confequcnces of Men's Excluiion £-om the Church 3 as whether their Salvation in another World, or their Intereft iu the Favour of God, is likely to be aiFer fuch Perfons to exhibit and fet them forth in View, the necelTary Dependence and Connection of Virtue with, Happinefs, and of Vice with Mifery, and thq Obligations they are under to purfuethe one, and to avoid the other, with a Degree of Application proportion 'd to the vaft, momentous Concerns of themi they ■ k arc j^if. Reflections npon arc to give all paflible Encouragement to Men's Progrefs in the ways of Virtue j and, by all the Means and Methods c6nfiftent with the Nature of Religion, to recall thofe who havt err'd and ftfay'd from their Duty, into the Paths of it again. And if fuch Perfons refiife to hear them, and will take no Notice cither of their Inflrudtions and Exhortations, or of their Admonitions and Rebukes, they wilfuUy rejed the Means, God, in Conde- fcenfion to their Neceffities, has been graci- oufly pleas'd to appoint for the bringing about his benevolent Purpofes ; which being in- tended by him out of pure Kindnefs and Good-will to them, the Abufe of them, or neglc(5ting to pay any Regard or Attention to them, will necelTarily render Sinners more odious in his Sight, and confequently pro- perly-difpos'd Subjc tfieir Eflences, or in- ward Conftltutlons ; nor can the moft vigo^ rous Exertion of our Faculties ever enable us to reach them in this our prefent State of Things. Whence it unavoidably hap- pens, that we are oblig'd to take a great many Things upon Truft, and to build much upon the Teftlmonles of others. Tho* it muft be own'd as Matter of Fa6l, that fome Truths (and thofe not inconfiderable, either as to Number or Moment, have been brought Chuhch-GoveHnmekt, ^r. 193 brought to Light in thefe DaySj which the Literati of old, after all their Enquiries, had but a very incompetent Knowledge of, and were very much divided in Opinion about : And highly probable it is, or what from Analogy we may fafely conclude, 'viZi that other Truths fhall be known to later Phi- lofophers, which are now hid from thofe of our Age. And it is not in the leaft to be doubtedj but that it is in Confequence of fome momentous Reafons, that the hu- man Mind is fo made, as to be always in a Capacity (if rightly taken Care of) of filling her Store-Houfe with the AccefTion of new, unknown Truths. For who knows but that one Part (and that not the leaft and incon- liderable) of a Man''S Happinefs in another World, may arife from fuch freih Difcove- ries, efpecially if he has a Biafs that Way^ and a Mind given to Contemplation. How- ever, being fully allured a pojieriori, or from EfFeds, that our God is good, we have proportionable AfTurance, that whatever he demands our AlTent to, mufl, fome Way or other, tho' in what particular Way we know not, make for our Happinefs ; And that he commands us to believe it for no other O Rea- 194 Reflections upon Rcafon, but becaufe fuch a Belief is, in fome Senfe or other,. necefTary to this End, tho* as yet we are not able to fee the Con- nedlion ; and for what we know to the con- traryy it may be for certain wife Reafons that it lies conceal'd from our Sight, and out of the Reach of our Difcovery. This, is what we wanted to premife. 57. There are certain Dodlrines fuppos'd to be contain'd in Scripture,, the Belief of which fome Men think neceflary to Salva- tion, others think not ; or,, if necefTary at all, yet not neceflary in fuch Degree, as that the Want of Belief in that Degree, ihali af- fedt their fiiture Intereft. Some, judge this particular Form or Mode of Worfliip beft ;, fome judge thaf\. and the like. And this Difference in Opinion has given Rife to dif- ferent religious. Societies. " For, {to ufe the " Words of mv ahk Writer) lince it is evi- *^ dent ia Fat ate. It Church-Government, ^c. 221 It has been prov'd m the laft Sedion, that Religion compofes a Society. Now a Soci- ety that borrows none of her Rights, Pow- ers, (^c, from another Society, mufl be in- dependent on that other Society for the Ex- ercife of them : For what A has not fi-om B, may A ufe, and difpofe of, without B's Confent ; or B has no Right to meddle with it, much lefs a Right to molell A in the Enjoyment of it. But the Powers belong- ing to the Church, as a religious Society, arc none of them deriv'd from the State. And if not, then confequently the Church muft be independent on the State for the Exercife of them: And if independent on the State for what fhe is, and for the Ufe and Exercife of thofe Powers fhe poffefTeth, (he mufl therefore be abfolutely indepen- dent in all other refpeds on it, ' 6. That the Church has none of her Powers from the State; is^ evident from hence': 7. i/?, Becaufe fhe exifled long before civil Government had a Being, and confe- quently could receive none of them from it. For human Laws being no other than Enforcements of the Laws of Nature, that is. 222 Reflections upon is, of the Laws of God, by temporal Sanc- tions : fo they can only take place when the Motives of future Happinefs and Mi- fery, (the Sandions God is pleas'd to make ufe of to oblige Men to the Obfervance of his Laws) which Religion teaches, operate too weakly to keep Men in the Paths of i!ri(ft Obedience to them ; that is, when the Influences of religious Worfhip are found ineffedhial for obtaining the End aim'd at by the Inftitution of a Church. And there- fore the Church, in this View, mull be prior in Order of Time, as well as Concep- tion, to the Being of civil Government. 8. 2d. The Powers, defcrib'd in the lafl Section as belonging to the Church, are there demonftrated to belong to her, as to a Body alTociatcd under fuch and fuch pe- culiar Circumftances ; or they are fuch as are of the EfTence of a Church, or what conflitutes her one. For it is there fhewn, that wherever a Church exifts, there, of Neceffity, will be thofe Powers belonging to her, otherwife fhe could be no Church j which is a Circumftance or Condition ut- terly inconfiftent with all delegated Power whatfoever. 9. 3^. CHURGIf-GoVERN^MENT, C^C, 223 g. 'id. The Powers exercis'd by the Church- are fuch as by the Nature of them cannot be- lono- to the State ; and therefore fuch as the,^ civil Power could not confer : it being un- queftionably true, that no Man, or Body of Men, can give to another what they arc not polTeffed of themfelves. N. B. When we fay. Religion neceflarilyij and of itfelf compofes a Society diflina from, and independent on the civil, ous Meaning is, and fuch wc would kive the" Reader always carry in his Mind, when we fpeak' of the Church's Independency on the State, or the State's Independency on the Church, that Mankind, as Religionifts, have nothing to do with Mankind as Civilifts ; or,, that the fame Men, confidered in dif- ferent Capacities and Relations, or in Pur- fuit of different Ends, fhall have diftind and different Powers, Rights, &c. diltind and different Duties ; as alfo laid under different Obligations and Engagements, in refpcd to each other, and to themfelves. 10. And from the Church's Indef>enJency follows, by way of Corollary, her Supremacy. For that which is abfolutely independent on another, either as to Being itfelf, or the Man- ^24 R^ T LE ct ion B upon Manner of it j for the Rights it poffefTes, or for the Ufe it makes of them, cannot in any refped be fubjedted to the Power of that other. Since all Power, in whatfoever Hands lodg'd, and for whatever Purpofes intended, neceffarily implies Obedience j and confe- quently Dependency, proportion'd to the- Nature and Extent of fuch Power. Con- fequently, what is independent cannot be fubjedbed to the Obedience, nor therefore to the Jurifdidion of another, nor limited in its own ; that is, it mufl be fupreme. 1 1 . Freedom likewife follows Independence, i3.nd is a necefTary Confequence from it : be- caufe what is independent, cannot admit a^ extra of any Reftraint from Adlion, or of any Compuliion to it j and what will not admit either of Reftraint or Compulfion, muft determine, move, and ad freely. Confe- quently, the two Societies being independent, can never in the legitimate and rightful Adminiflration of their refpedlive Powers, be fubjedl to any Limitation, each from the other. Be it alfo further obferv'd, that Freedom in a religious Society is fo necef- fary, that without the Exercife of it fuch Society can never attain the End of its Inftitutiqn. j2. After ChURCH-CoVERNMENT, &C, 22^5$ 12. After the fame Manner may we prove the State's Supremacy ; its Freedom and Independence on the Chiyrch. 13. Prop. 2. l^he Etids of a civil and religious Society^ and the proper Means of attainiyig them ; that is, Me?i's Purfuits after thoje E?ids ; a?jd the refpeSiive Duties Obli- gatiojis, &c. ^rifing to a Man both in his civil and religious Capacity ; thofe Ends and Means ^ thofe Duties and Obligations-^ ivefay, do not interfere with each other ^ but are perfeBly confjient. A Creature, in the De- fign and Intention of its Maker, form'd to fubfiil in two different States of Being, and by a proper Ufe and Improvement of its Faculties and Powers of Adlion, to acquire for each State a Happinefs proportion'd to its Capacities of Enjoyment ; a Creature, we fay, fo circtimftanc'd, muft direct all its Movements and Purfuits to the Attainment of thofe two grand Ends ; or, more pro- perly, to the fame End in two different Periods of Exiflence. The Means, in Fad:, of pofTefUng the Happinefs of this prefent Life, is civil Society, form'd upon thofe Principles on which all civil Politics ought to be founded. Civil Society ftanding up- Q^ on 226 Reflections upon on thofe Foundations attains its End, partly by enforcing a flri6t and univerfal Obfer- vance of the Rule of Right, and by pu- nifhing all Violations of it, without any Regard had to, or making any Dillinc- tion of Perfons ; partly by annexing fuit- able Encouragements to all Improvements of Labour and Induftry, and by making, the beil poffible Provilion foi- the Wants, and Exigences of all its Members, in that almoll: infinite Variety of Cafes in which they may have Occafion for them. Man's Intereft in that other and future State is chiefly coniulted^ and bell promoted, by a careful Difcharge, from the Motives of future Happinefs, of ail the Duties arifing to a Crea- ture in his Circumflances 5 or, in other Words, the Means of future Happinefs is tlie Practice of univerfal Benevolence, which, ac- cording to the different Profpedls we view it under, or as- ufmg various Means for com- paiTing the fame End, is apt to alTume the Name of different moral Virtues, tho' they be but fo many Emanations from the fame Fountain, diverfify'd indeed according to the feveral Channels thro' which they flow, and which may be confider'd as different Modi- fications Church-GoveIinment, &c, 227 fications of one and the fame indivifible Principle, invariably purfuing, the' by diffe- rent V/ays, the fame grand Point which it has ever in View ; the Means of future Hao- pinefs is, we fay, the Practice of Benevo- lence in a degree commenfurate to Man's Sphere of ading, v/ith a View had to the divine Acceptance therein ^ that is, in Ex- pectation of the divine Favour and Appro- bation attending fuch a Condud:. From whence follow, in the Nature of Corolla- ries, the following Truths, which prove the Proportion. 14. Coroll. I. That Man's Purfuit of pre- fent Happinefs is not only conliHent with, but, if rightly direded, and proceeding up* on proper Principles, promotive of his fu- ture and more lafting Interefl in that other State of Being, into which he enters at his Departure out of this ; and confequently the Means of pofTeffing prefent^ will ever be com- patible with the Means of poUefling y/////r^ Happinefs. Cor oil, 2. That the more Good a Man does in the World, the more ufeful Mem- ber of Society he is ; and tlie more ufefld 0^2 Mem- 22S Reflections upon Member he is, the more he co-operates with his Maker's Will, and confequently the more religious he is. His Religion, as to the 'Value, Worth, orMeritorioufnefs of it, varying according to the Degrees of Happinefs he deiignedLy introduces into the World, always fuppofing him to ad: with a View to the Di- vine Acceptance and Favour. 15. CoroL 3d. That no forts of Opinions, tho' zealoufly urged, and flrenoufly infifted upon, byfbme indifcreet, bigotted Churchmen, as neceffary to be profefTed, which have Tendencies to dijfbirb the Peace and Quiet of civil Society, can be any Parts of Religion, or enjoin'd by it as of Importance to be believ- ed 5 that is, can be no Truths of R!eligion, or elfe Truths of nb Moment j for all Truths derive their Importance from their Ufefalnefs, that is, from their Connexion with Man's prefent and future Happinefs, the Means of which, as we juft now ohferv'd, can never crofs or obflrudt each other. From whence we draw the following momentous Obferva- tion. 16. That Churchmen can have no Right to impofe any Opinions, Do(5lrines, Cfr, either as Terms of Communion, as Matters of Church-Government,^^. 229 of Faith and Pradlice, &c, which are any ways injurious to the Interefts of civil So- ciety 3 nor, on the other hand, can the civil Magiftrate rightfully reftrain Men in the Ex- ercife of any neceflary, rehgious Duty, upon a civil Account, or enforce any Do(5trines, Obfervances, G?r. detrimental to Religion, under a Pretence of benefiting civil Society by tlie Profeflion of them : Since the true kgitimate Interefts of both have a perfect Coincidence with each other. And confe- quently, nothing can be really beneficial to civil Society, which is really incommodious to Religion, nor 'vice verfa, N. B, By civil Society we always mean a Government ftanding upon jufl, legitimate Foundations, that is, one form'd upon the natural Rights of Mankind, or upon thofe great Principles firom whence fuch Rights are deduc'd. 17. Hence appears the Abfurdity of all fuch Arguments as would conclude for the Church's Dependency on the State from the clafhing of two independent Powers in one and the fame Body of Individuals. Since the proper, rightful Exercife of thofe twb Powers can never injurioufly affed each Q^ 3 other* 230 Re F L E C T I O N s Upon other. For our Dodrine of two indepen* dent Societies, made up of the f\me Men, combin'd together for different Purpofes, and in Profecution of different Views, does not introduce an 'Empire within an Empire^ (in the Senfe of the Author of the Rights of the Chriilian Church) which, fi-om the clafhing of their refpedive Powers, muit neceiTarily have ended in the Dependency of one upon the other, which, in all Cafes, would be of thai of the weai<:er upon the Uronger. For the two Societies being fo elTentially diflind: in their Ends and Means, in their Natures an4 Powers, that in the proper Choice and Purfuit of the one,' and the legitimate Exer- cife and Adminiftration of the other, they cannot poffibly ever interfere, or obftrud each other's Operations. 18. And this fliews the Weaknefs as well as Falfhood of that AlTertion of the abovemen- tion'd Author, tho' laid down, as ufual, with much feeming Pofitivenefs and dogmatical AiTurance ; 'viz, " nor will the Diftin6lion "' of Ecclefiailical and Civil, at all mend the " Matter, fince two fuch Sovereigns muft " neceffarily clafh, and deftroy the Society, ** by confounding each other's Power." J'he Rights Church- Government, C^^. 231 Rights of the ChriJIian Church. And, to fpeak the Truth, whoever reads with any Attention this Author's inimitable Performance, will readily own, that his Argumentation in every part of the Book in which he endeavours to fliew the Abfurdity of an Imperium in Imperio, conftantly proceeds upon the Suppolition, that the Governors of each Society do univerfally deviate from the jufl: and lawfiil Exercife of thofe Powers arifing to them, from the Nature and End of thofe diflind: Societies over which they prelide. Let the Powers refped:ively belonging to the Officers of each Society be but righdy executed, and they cannot ever poffibly clafh, nor confequentiy can any Con- fiifion arife to one or other Society from therru That the Adminiflrations of thofe Powers do fometimes not fall within the proper Limits prefcrib'd them, but oftentimes exceed, or go beyond them, and in fuch Cafes is the Parent of much Diforder in the World, is the EfFed:, not of any natural Repugnancy or Inconiiftence in the Exercile of thofe Powers, either with regard to each other and among themfelves, or to the Attainment of their refpecflive Ends 3 but is owing to tlie Imperfedion of human Nature, and is one Q_ 4 Inftance, 232 Re F LE CTIONS W/'O^ Inftance, among many others, how liable Power, wherever lodg'd, is to be abus'd, and from that Confideration how neceflary it is, in all Delegations of it to any Body of Men, to guard againft tliofe Abufes of it to which it is mofl prone, by all fuch Means as are compatible with the End for which it is transferr'd. How fuch Abufe comes about, we fhall now endeavour to give an Account. 19. Had but thofe two Societies kept them- felves within their own Boundaries, and nei^ ther of them at any Time mov'd out of its proper Element, their Adminiftration could not pofTibly have injurioully affeded each other ; but a good Harmony and Agreement would always have fubfifted betwixt th^ Members of them j tho' unhappily for tliem both, the Cafe in Fadt was found to be other- wife ; the State fometimes went beyond the Limits fet to its Jurifdidion, and made En- croachments upon the Church's Rights j at other Times the Church 4id the fame with regard to the State, to the infinite Daniage and Petriment of them both. 20. How Evil iirilcame into the World is a Queflionno ways material to be decided here 5 that it is now in the World^ and is the Author of Church-Government, (ic. 233. t)f all the Confufion and Diforder reigning among Mankind, is too plain to admit of any Difpute. We need not go far for Inflances to teach us, how that fome Men, whether it be in Confequence of an untoward Biafs or Propenfion of Nature at firft, or, which is the more probable of the two, by virtue of ill- grounded, irregular Habits, are fo ftrongly at- tach'd to Vice, that they greedily clofe with every Temptation that happens to lie in the wav, and to folicit their Choice. And, as:reca- bly to a former Obfervation of ours, it is natural- ly impoffible that Vice fhould ever fit eafy upon a Perfon, who lives in the Belief, and under the Perfuafion of the Being of an animad- verting Deity, who will be fure to vindicate the Juftice and Reafonablenefs, as well as the Honour and Dignity of his Laws, in another World, by punifhing there, all fuch as wil- fully tranfgrefs and break in upon them here. Jt is the Dread of future PunilLments there- fore that makes vicious Men reafon againll the divine Being, that they may without Check, and free from all Reftraints from Confcience, indulge themfelves in their be- loved Vices. " It is notorious, fays an Author " we have fome where read, that all Degrees ^* of Infidelity and Atheifm arife from pro^ " portionable 134 Reflections upon " portlonable Degrees of Vice." The vici- ous Man's fir ft Care therefore will be to crafe out of his own Mind, as alfo to ex- tinguifh in the Minds of others, fo far as he is able to do it, fuch a Senfe of a Deity's Ani- madverfion. For the greater Number he brings over to his own Opinion, the more he will hug hirrfelf with his own Security, fince 'tis generally prefum'd that a Multitude cannot well be in an Error. The means to effed: this, muft be, either to prove the Non-exiftence of fuch a Being, or to with- draw others from fuch Places and Perfons as by their Situation and Office naturally tend to remind them of him. All Attempts made the former way will ever be found impracti- cable : The Evidences for a Deity are fo clear and confpicudus, and withal fo ftroiig and cogent, that they muft neceftarily force AfTent from all reafonable Men j efpecially from fuch as have attended to them with that Ap- plication of Thought which the Subjecft ,ne- ceiTarily requires. And every Argument in favour of Atheifm, if purfu'd thro' all its Habitudes and Dependences, will be found to end in a Demonftration of the contrary Truth, that is, of the Being of fome firft great Prin- ciple, Church- Government, ^r. ^^S ciple, itfelf uncaus'd, and the Caufe of Life and Motion to all other Beings. Such there- fore will have recourfe to the Iq/Iy as the moil fuccefsful Method. And in fed we fee, that the Clergy of all Churches, from the Time there was a Church in Being, have constantly been reprefented by the vicious part of Mankind (ever uneafy under the Reilraints of Religion) as the worft of Enemies to Mankind j Eh- croachers upon Men's Rights and Properties ; and endeavouring to deprive them the Liberty of the ufe of fuch Things as God and Nature •plainly deiign'd for them j that Religion was at firft the Trick of Statefmen, contriv'd on purpofe to keep filly Men in Awe, and by the Torments of another Life to frighten them into the Prad:ice of their Duty in this^ in all thofe Cafes w^here human Laws could not reach v/ith their Penalties, and confequently could take no fort of PoiTeffion of their . Minds, with regard either to Adion or For- bearance. Whoever reads the Hiftory of Mankind with Serioufnefs and Attention, will find this to be the Cafe in Fad. It is no irrational Conclulion therefore that we would make (for it is a Conclufion drawn from Obfervation and Experience,) that thofe whofe Vices 236 Reflections upon Vices have made them quarrel with Religion as irreconcileable with their Practice, have conftantly made ufe of all the Means in their Power to make it fit fo loofe upon them, as that they might fliake it off with Eafe and Pleafure as Occafions fhould require. And we find the moft common Method with them has been to weaken the Authority, by blackening the Character of thofe who are a:ppointed to defend it. It being both agree- able to Reafon, and confirm'd by Fa6l, that whatever tended to the Difgrace and Infamy of fuch an Order of Men, in the fame Degree tended to the Ruin of Religion. Without fuch Perfons therefore as there can be no Religion, or elfe Religion without Effed ; and with- out Religion, no Government, or civil Society, and confequently no Security either with re- gard to Life, Liberty, or Property, as hath been largely fhewn in the Beginning of this Treatife : So, upon political Confiderations, or as a Matter of a civil Nature or Concern, it is the Bufinefs of the civil Magiftrate to guard againft all fuch Practices in the Mem- bers of that Society over which he is appointed to prefide* nsM 21. Hence Church-Government, ^c, 237 21. Hence therefore arifes the Neceffity of the Aid of the civil Pow^er to protedl the Church againft thofe Attacks to which fhe is expos'd from without -, to punifh all At- tempts for depreciating the Chara and of enjoining fuch Rites and Ceremonies, fuch Habits, Cuftoms and Ufages as are peculiar to the Miniftrations of the Offices of Religion 5 or, in other Words, the Church gives up her Legiflative Authority to the State. For it being found by Experience, that Church-Officers would never admit the Laity, notwithflanding their unalienable Right to a6l in concert with them upon fuch Occa- fions, to a fhare with them in framing thofe Laws which were to be the diftind Meafures" of each Man's Adions in fuch Society j therefore if this Right of making ecclefiaftical Laws remained with her Officers after the Union, and only the proteding them in the Adminiftration of thofe Laws, as alfo in the Exe- 254 Reflections upon Execution of all other Parts of their OfHce, belong'd to the State; then the fupreme Magi- flrate would be in no better Condition or Pofl than that of the Church's Servant, and the civil Powder but an Executioner of her Will ; which would fubjed the State to the Church, inftead of rendering the Church de- pendent on the State. 35. One great Motive which induced the State to accept the Church's Offer of an Ac- commodation, muft be, that jfhe fhould refign up her Legiflative Power to the State, as being the principal Source from whence ilow'd all thofe Evils and Mifchiefs which affedled civil Society upon a religious Ac- count, as we hinted before, and which, if Occafion required, might be eafily fhewn. And if the abuiive Exercife of this Right was fo injurious to the State, then, from the Nature and Deiign of this Convention, the Church muft be fuppos'd to h^^e given it up to the civil Power. 36. And, 2dl)\ which is a Confequence of the other, flic refigns up the Right of con- vening her OfHccrs,, for the drav/ing up, in Conjunftion with her Lay-Members, fuch Forms of Prayers and- Thankfgiving ; the agreeing Church- Government, {i?r.^ 2^^ agf-eeing upon ceitain Modes of Worfhip, and fuch a Formulary of Faith j and the appointing fuch Faft and Feflivals, as parti- cular Jun(ftures may render both fcafonable and neceflary. This Right fhe muft have transferr'd over to the State v^Ith the foreeo- ing, the fame Reafons holding for giving up one, as they do for giving up the other. 37. But, in Juftice to Truth, we muft obferve, that tho'^ after the Convention, all Laws relating to the Adminillration of Church Affairs do pafs thro' the fupreme Magiftrate's Hands j are confirmed by,, and receive their binding Force and Obligation from thence ; yet it is but reafonable, that Church-OfRcers fhould have a principal Hand in drawing therti up, and in bringing them into fome Form or Method, and afterwards to lay them before^ and to commit them to the Perufal and Gonfideration of, the civil Legiflature, who are to enadl them into Law, provided they find them not to interfere with the tem- poral Rights of the Community, and to be agreeable to their own religious Notions. It is but reafonable, we fay, that the Cler- gy fhould have a principal hand in draw- ing up Propofitions relating to Matters of Gcclefiaflical 256 R E F L E CT IONS Upon ecclefiaftical Concernment, as beft knowing what makes moft for, or againft the Influence and Efficacy of Religion in general, and for the Order, Government and Difciplinc, fo necefliiry to be obferved by the Members of that particular Church of which they have the Care and Management -, becaufe every one, by the great Law of Equity, muft, ca* teris paribus, be prefumed to be a better Judge in general of what concerns his own Office, and the Duties of it, than any one who is a Stranger, or belongs not to it. How- ever, if they be not admitted to a Share in the forming Propofitions touching Church- Af- fairs, and which ought to be adapted for th& executing her Offices in a more orderly Man- ner • they, notwithftanding, muft have an un-* ciiiefiaMeKight to beconfulted, before anything which relates to them, or to their Miniftrati- ons, be carry'd into Law. In a free Coun- try, every Body of Men, whatever be the proper Concern or Bufincfs of their AfToci- ation, have a Right to petition their Repre- fentatives, and to give them Inflrudions, in Cafes where their own Interefts are fuppofed to be more immediately concern'd : Much more, one would think, ought the Officers of Church- Government, ©'<:. 257 of the Church, who are intrufted with ex- plaining the Do(5lrineSi and enforcing the Duties of Rehgion, to be advis'd with, be- fore any Law be made, v/hich lefs or more affeds the Church, her Inflitutions, Offices, and Appendages of all Kinds. The Church therefore, when flie refign'd up her legifla- tive Power to the State, mufh be fuppos'd to have referv'd tojierfelf a Right of being ad- vis'd with in the making of all forts of ec- clefiafLical Laws, whether relating to Matters of Faith or Prad:ice ; and confequently, that the Exercife of this Power by the civil Ma- giflrate is not arbitrary and unccnditional, but fubjedfed to this, or fome fuch lilce Re- ftrid:ion, ^-5 %afl deputed Power ought ^ and , in the Reafbn of Things mufi be fappos'd to be. 38. Cor oil. Hence appears the Abfurdity of thofe who contend for the Church's Inde- pendence and Supremacy ; and confequently, for her Power of making Laws feparately from the State's Allowance and Ratification. Since the two Societies can no more fubfifl: but in Union with each other, than Man- kind can fubfift themfelves out of civil Go* ^ernment. S 39. The 258 Reflections upon- 39. The Right of exa(5ting of the Laitjr what is necelTary for the Maintenance of her Officers, the Church gives up to the State,, when file enter'd into this Convention with- it. The Reafons for it are thefe : 40. That if after the Convention, the Dif - putes relating to the Clergy's Right of Main- tenance were not decided, and finally ac- commodated by the fame common Power which adjufled thofe refped:ing'. the civil- Rights of Mankind ; thofe Powers, or to- fpeak more properly, the Exercrfe of them,, would, as before the Convention, generally interfere ; which, as it would in many Cafes occafion a general Struggle, and io be the Parent of much Diforder and Confu- iion, and confequently be of great Detri- ment both to Church and State, ought to- be prevented. The Peace and Quiet of both Bodies therefore require, that this Right be ti-ansferr'd over to the State. ■ 41. Tho' the Clergy,, as we have fliewn in Prop, the 9th, ScB the 3d, have a natu- ral, unquefcionable Right to a Maintenance 5 yet before the Convention this Maintenance -was not fix'd, but voluntary J that is, thoV the Laity were under flrid Obligation to con- Church-Governmekt, oV. 259 contribute to the Maintenance of ecclefiaili-* cal Officers, yet the Meafufe or Degree in which they were thus to contribute was purely NLitter of Choice to them, and abfo* lutely within their own Power. To break this Dependency therefore, (attended, as we fliall immediately fhew, with very bad Ef- fedls, fometimes to one, fometimes to the other Societ)') betwixt Clergy and Laity, it is necelTar)', that what before the Convention was a fi-ee and voluntary, be, from the Commencement of it, changed into a fettled determinate Provifion. For thro' tlie Co- vetoufnefs and Infatiablenefs of fome of h^er Officers, the Church would fometimes en- urofs too great a Share of the National Wealth into her Hands. It is ufual. far Eccleiiafticks, ftrcngly attach'd to the In- terefts of this World, and acted by a Spirit of earthly Grandeur and Ambition, to ha- rangue the Multitude after the follov/ing Manner, v/hich v/as always fare to take with a credulous and bigot ^ed People : That fince Mankind depends abfolutely up- on God, both for their Exigence, and tlie Means of it, ( v/hatevcr tliey enjoy, an,d every tliin^- thev pofTefs, being tiie pure Er- ^ ' 32 ^ ^^ 26o Reflections upon feft of his Goodnefs and Bounty to them) and fince Gratitude is a Duty.enjoin'd them by their Creator^ and Gonfequently a natu- ral Duty; therefore,, if Men would be grateful for every thing they have from him^ they ought to pay him Tribute out of every thing they poflefs ; but having, in their pre- fent Circumftances, no other Way of doing this but by fetting afide fome definite Part of every thing they hold and enjoy for the Clergy's Ufe ;. therefore^ ^c. By which Means- the Clergy have in certain Countries artfully drain'd the Nation's Wealth, and in fome? meafure jftarv'd the major Part of the Laity. At other times,, by the Selfiilinefs and Avarice of the Laity^ the Church would not be able to fubfifl: her Minifters in a manner fuitable to the Dignity of their Office, or to a Degree adequate to the Labours of their Function. For in an irreligious, felf-con- tradled Age, as the Clergy had no Right to the Ufe of compulfory Means to oblige the Laity to maintain them in a Way which their Circumftances and Relation to Society' feem to make an equitable Demand of; ioy in this View, it would often happen that they would be obliged to fuit their Doc- 2 trine- Church- Gcvernment^ ^<:. 261 trine and Manner of Preaching, to the Ge- nius, the Inclinations, and the particular Ways of thinking and ading of their Au- dience, for the Sake, and in Hopes of tail- ing of their Charity and Benevolence. The wicked Man niufl not be told of his evil Pradlices, tho* privately -, nor muft the ge- neral, prevailing Vice be publickly preach'd againfl:, for Fear, in either Cafe, of giving Offence. And thus both the Caufe of God and Religion muft be proftituted j and by this undue Compliance, the End of all re- ligious Inftitutions entirely defeated. And a Perfon, in thefe Difficulties, and under fiich perplexing Circumftances, muft be obliged to fpeak and ad againfl his Senfe and Judg- ment of Things, which is tlie worft fort of Slavery a Man can poffibly experience. To fuppofe, that if thofe Perfons were but iincere in their Religion, their Attachments to its Interefts would fuperfede all the Mo- tives that led to its Difparagement, or which tended to dellroy its Influence ; fuch a Sup- pofition, we fay, has no Foundation in Rea- fon or Fad : For, whilft a Man lives here, he has the Calls of Appetites, that is, of Hun- ger and Tl^irft, returning at their appointed S3 Periods, '•262 Re tle ctions upon Periods, to fdtisfyj and a Body to fubfift 5 and therefore muft ever and anon be in want of fome or others of this World's Goods. Ecclefiafticks are but Men, and, under 'that Confi deration, as liable to mif- carry as others, v/hen ftrong Temptations lie in their Way. 42. From either of thcfe Cafes therefore (and thefe Cafes would frequently happen) much Inconveniency and Detriment muft neceffarily in Fad: arife to the Whole. And there feems no other Way of preventing thofe Evils, but by the State's fettling a cer- tain Proportion of ouHvaf'd Goods, Effeclls, &V. on the Oiticers of the Church, which, at the fame time that it gives them a Right ' to fuch a determinate Share, reftrains them from engroffing more. And if the civil Power hath a Right to fettle the Clergy's Claims for a Maintenance in fach and fuch given Proportions, then is it fitting that all Difputes relating thereunto be decided, and finally determin'd by the Laws of civil So- ciety. 43. We m.ay cbferve here, that as all delegated Power is neceffarily anfwerable to the Perfon deputing it for the Manner in v/hich Church^ Government,- {if^:. 263 ^which it is exercis'd : fo v/hatever is given to be diilri bated in a certain Way or Man- ner, which is not dillributed in that parti- cular Way or Manner, the Perfon or PerfonG ■from whorn fuch Appointments came, whe- ther we conlider tJiem ^s ad:ing in a private x)r a publick Capacity, have a Right to in- terpofe their Authority, and fee that they 43e us'd and difpos'd of agreeably to the -original Defign of their Foundations. From ^lence it will follow, that the Legiflaturc liaving fet over Part of the national Pro- perty for the Maintenance of the Clergy, in Confideration of their being the Officers of Religion, and for the Services they do in that View to tlie State ; and having intruded £L Number of Men with the Power of dif- poling of it in fuch a manner as befl fuits the Qualifications and Neceffities (for both, as jfhall be fhewn in another Place, mufl be taken under Conlideration) of each Ecclefi- aftick, it is manifefl:, that, if by the Abufe . <)f this delegated Pov*^er in the Patron, or thro' the infatiable Avarice of fome Church- men, one lingk Oiiicer fliould engrofs fuch a Share of the Church's Revenues, as would Satisfy two or three j it is manifeft, w-e fay, S 4 upon ^264 Reflections upon upon account of thofe great Inequalities In the Difpofition or Acceptance of thofe Bev' nefices, that the civil Power hath a Right tiii intervene, and fee that Church-Preferments ■ be deliver'd out in a more equitable Way, or, according to the original Intent of their . Appointment. This fhews the Right of^ the fupreme Power in Society to limit the refpedlive Shares of Church-Officers j to re- llrain Pluralities, and the like 3 becaufe, hav^ 1 ing fettled on the Church a Maintenance for her Officers, it will ever have a Right to Icttle it in fiich a Manner as beil agrees > with the Occafions of its Appropriation. 44. And m this View, to defcend to a Particular which concerns ourfelves, may the Condudl of the Legiflature be juftify'd at the Time of the Reformation^ in taking from the Church that Part of her Revenue . which her Officers had acquir'd to thema- nifefl: Detriment of the national Wealth, and~*" confequently, to the Diminution of its Pow- er, which, as it arifes from, fo will it he in Proportion to the other 5 that is, theWcight aiid Influence of a Nation will be univerfally as the Riches of its Members, the one being feen in Fadl to produce the other. For ecflcr Church-Government, ^c. 265 ecclefiaftical Benefices after the Convention, that is, under an Eilabliiliment, being Lay- Donations, or Favours and Conceffions from the State, in either Cafe to be held under certain Conditions, which are direcSlly ex- prefs'd; or elfe necelllirily imply'd in the Nature of the Grant ; whenever the Officers of the Church, by the Means abovementi- on'd, engrofs fuch a Share of them, as is inconfiftent with thofe Conditions, or Viola- tions of them J or when they accumulate more than what it was, or could in Reafon be thought to be, in the Intention of the Legiflature, that they fliould ; in thofe Cafes, the fupreme power refiding in Society will have a Right to reaffume them into its own Hands, and to difpofe of them either to thofe who feem to have thejuftefl and beft founded Ciaimg to them 5 or elfe in fueh a Manner as will befl promote the In- tereft of the Government, by affording a feafonable Supply tp its neceifitous Occa- iions. 45. Another Right which the Cliurch gives, up to the State, is the Pov/er of ad- mitting Eccleiiafticks to the Exercife of their Office. For, as it is a natural and eifential Right ^66 Reflections upmi Kight of the Cliurch, not to take into her MiniHry any other, but fuch as after due Examination made by her Governors, ap- pear properly qualify'd to difcharge the Oi- iices of Church-Men ; fo Hkewife, all civil Polities veiled v^ith the neceflary Powers of Self-Defence and Prefcrvation, have a Right to rertrain every Man, or every Body of Men, from the Exercife of any Othce, be it civil or eccleliafticrJ, vrhich gives them an Opportunity of injuring civil Society more or lefs : for all Offices, of what Nature or Quality foever, and for whatever End or Ends conftituted, liaving a certain Share of Power annex'd to them, which, if abus'd, inufl necedrily be attended in F^.dl with proportionable Inconveniences ; and how prone all Kinds and Degrees of Power are tx) fuch Abufe by reafon of the Imperfed:ion of human Nature, is feen, confefs'd, and much lamented by every wife and good Man. And if f ich be tiie Plazard to which civil Society is fabjecfl, it is but fitting that Candidates for all forts of Offices, before their Admiffion into them, do give proper Security to the civil Ma^iflratc of their Af- fcvflion to tlie Government, and of their Attach- Church-jGovernment, &V. 267 Attachments to its latereils ; that is, they ought to derive their Authority for the ex- ecuting of their Office from the iiipreme Magiftrate, and be accountable to him for their Behaviour in it, fo far, and up to the Degree in which it may concern the Good and Safety of civil Society. Let us but con- fider the Thing v^ith fome fmall Attention. Ecclefiafticks are but Men, finite in their Natures and Powers, and fallible in their Difpoiitions or Determinations to Adion, as others are -, and therefore it is no Wonder, if they fometimes do amifs, or if they be wanting in the Performance of the Duties of their Fundion. From which Viev/ arifes the Poffibility of Ecciefiaiticks falling off from ail Senfe of their Obligations to the Services of the State, x'lnd if we confidcr further, tliat among the Clergy there v/ill be alv/ays found fome, agreeably to a for- mer Obfervation of ours, who will be for ralfing (and what is the more furprizing, pven under an Eftabliihment) eclefiallical /Authority above, and for exercifing it over the civil J this PofTibility of injuring the State rifes up to a Probability. Whence the Neceffity of making Church-Officers de- pendent 268 Reflections upon pendent on the civil Power for the Exer- cife of their Office, fo far as the Exercife of fuch Office can be fuppos'd to have any Reference to, or be the Caufe of any Hurt or Detriment to civil Society. Whence, by the Bye, appears both the Validity and Juf- tice of Lay-Deprivations, in Cafes where the Prefer vation and Happinefs of civil So^ •ciety cannot be fecured without. 46. A^. B. By the Church's refigning ov^r her Rights to the fupreme Magiftrate, and hy her refigning them up to the State, or to the Legiflature, we would be always un- derflood to mean one and the fame Thing j I'iz. the fupreme Power refiding in every Society, wherefoever and in whatfoeverHands lodg'd, whether in a fingle Man's, or in a Number of them -, which ever varies ac- cording to the different Conilitutions of ci- vil Polities in different Nations and King- doms. 47. Prop. 5 th. If the State be oblige d to defend the Churchy Jhe hi Return is obliged to employ all her Interefi in the Service of the State. This, in Truth, is one of the chief fundamental Motives of the State's takins the Church into its Protedion ; and without h: ivim Church-(5overnment, G'r. 260 liaving which in View, it could not be fiip- pos'd to have enter'd into this Convention Wiihi' heir. Befides, there is the fame Rea- fon that the Church fhouid dired; all her Offices (fo far as they are capable of being direded that Way, without prejudicing her own Interefls,) and to apply all her Influ- ence to civil Purpofes, as that the State fliould proted the Church again fl all fuch Injuries as might externally or internally af- fedl her. And if the Reafcn is the fame, {o will be the Right ; that is, they have each a Right to the Aid and AfTiftance of the other, fo far as it is in their Power to afford it for one another. 48. Such as are Sharers in, ought in Rea- fon to be Contributors to, the common Fe- licity ; other wife Gratitude, which Religion teaches, and enjoins as a neceffary Duty of rational, dependent Beings, would be neg- iedled : And furely Reafon loudly proclaims, that it is the Duty of thofe who teach others to be grateflil, to be fo themfelves in as high, if not in higher Degrees. 49. That the Church fhouid afTift the State in the Promotion of civil Happinefs, is a Duty arifijig to Chujrch-Ofiicers from ^ the -ji 270 Reflections upon the very Defign and End of their Inftituti- on. The End every Rellglonifl has in View in each Adl of religious Woriliip, is, the Fa- vour of God : The Favour of God can only be. obtain'd and fecured by a Conformity of Adiion to his Will, in all thofe Cafes to which he has required an Obedience fliould be paid ; and what this Will is, hath b^en Lirgely fhcYv^n above. This Conformity re- ligious Worfhip tends in Its national Con- fequence to oblige Men to, and from that Consideration became a natural Duty, as hath been likewife largely fliewn above : confequently, it is the Bulinefs and proper Employment of Church-men, antecedently to this Convention betwixt the tvvo Socie- ties, to engage Men in the Purfuits of pub- lick Happinefs j and if their Concern and Duty before the Convention, then after the Convention they n-iiift be under an additi- onal Obligation to it, as is manifell from what has been already faid. 50. By the Church's afiifling the State, we would be undcrilood to mean her Offi- cers praying publickly for the Perfon of the fuprcme Magiftrate, as alfo for the Perfons of Church-Government, ^c, 271 of thofe who ad by Authority derived from • him ; that Succefs may wait upon their Un- dertakings, and Integrity conftantly attend the Execution of their Offices, whether they be fuch as relate to the Safety, the Honour^ and Dignity of the Crown, or to the greater Eafe and Advantage of the Subjed: j to con- tribute chearfuUy, in all the various Ways in which they have it in their Power to con- tribute, to the Support of the Government ; and not to diflrefs thofe. immediately em- ployed under the fupreme Magiftrate, by filling the People's Heads v/ith vain Jealou^ fies and idle Sufpieions, that Schemes are carrying on to the Deftrudion both of ci- vil and religious Liberty, when no fuch Thing is either attempted, or fo much as intended : but, on the contrary, to exhort, and perfuade thofe committed to their Care to obey thofe that are fet over them. In fhort, to ufe all the Influence and Credit, which, as Officers and Minifters of Religion, they have with the People, for making them loyal and faithfiil Subjects, and benevolently difpofed to the Whole, ^J^ Reflections ufot 'j 6 1. Prop, 6. T^he Stat^ ought to employ the Power it gains by theGonvefition for the Church's Safiiw Becaufe this was the Motive which induced the Chuixh to make Propofals for entering into Treaty with the State, and with her other Powers, to refign up her Indepen- dence, and confequently her Supremacy to it : Therefore, if the State would ad: agree- ably to the fundamental Motive of the Church's entering into a Convention with it, it ought to ufe the Power it acquires by the Convention for the Church's Security. The Truth is, the State has no Right to ex- ercife this Power to any other Purpofe, or for the Attainment of any other End. For having no Power in Ecclejiajlicah but what it receives from the Church, and the Church having given no Powers up to it, but fuch whofe Transfer was neceilary to aiford her ProtC(SVion in the Degree in which fhe fhould have Occafion for it. or fuch whofe Abufe was of Prejudice to civil Society :' fa, under this Confideration of receiving them to be us'd in the Church's Caufe, and for her Protedtion, the State cannot but con* ceive itfelf to be laid under the moft pref- fing Obligation thus to employ this acquir'd Power J Church-Government, ^c. 27J Power ; and it cannot, without Violation of the common Rules of Juftice, apply it in Diftind;ion from, much lefs in Oppolition to, this End. 52. All Power given conditionally) as this is, reverts into the Principals Hands, when the Conditions with which it was given are not perform'd ; becaufe the Prefumption of the Performance of thofe Conditions was the Rea- fon of its being transferr'd : Confequently, if the civil Magiftrate ufes that Power which the Governors of the Church, as Guardians and Protedors of the Interefts of Religion are veiled withi and which at the Time of the Convention they gave up to him, when, we fay, the civil Magiftrate ufes this Power, contrary to the (JonditionSj and beyond the Rell:ridtions, with which it was transferr'd ; and Church- Government, &c. vjj and" therefore arifing to him from the Nature and End of his Office. c6. To this it probably will be objected s that Force may oblige to outward Profeffion and Conformity, but ftill fuch Profeffion and Conformity can be no prefumptive Proof of inward Perfuafion or Convidion, but confe* quently tends only to make Men infmcere, and Hypocrites in their feveral Profeffions in Religion. To which we anfwer, that, as civil Society cannot fubfift but by the Influences of Religion, and as there is no poffible Proof of Men's living under fuch a S^nk of Religion but by publickly profeffing their Belief of the Exiflence of a firft Caufe ; fo, as this is the only Security civil Governors can have in a Cafe of this Nature, they have a Right to demand it, and ought to be con- tent with it. It is further obfervable, that by conflantly attending the Service of the Church, by a frequent Repetition of religious Adls, religious Habits will of Courfe be acquir'd, which, tho' perhaps irregularly founded as to the Concerns of another World, and Men's Intereft in the Favour of God, will yet fully anfwer 4II the Purpofes of civil Government in this. And more than this the civil Magi- flrate has no Occafion for, nor any Concern with, T3 ^J^ hn^ 57S Reflections upon §y. And let it alfo be confidered, that aa to the Man himfelf, his Condition in refped to the Favour of God is not one jot the worfe, by his going, in CompHance with the civil Power, to Church, or by his joining himfelf to any religious AlTembly, whether appointed, or only tolerated by publick Authority. For, fuppoling him tq believe that there is no God, and confequently nq State after this, yet he cannot plead Confcience for his not going to Church, that is, it cannot appear to hiqi to be linful to refort thither, let the Means of his goir^g to that Place be compulfive, or volunti^ry j becaufe Confcience neceifarily, and in the very Notion of it, both as to its End and Office, fuppofes a certain Relation to fome fuppos'd or real Law of God, and confequently has nothing to do with A<^ions or Omiffiqns of any Kind, when no Perfualion of a fuperior governing Prin- ciple has taken hold of a Man's Mind. And fuppoling him to believe that there is a God, he muft, in virtue of that Belief, acknowledge that he ought to be addrefs'd and apply'd to in a publick Manner : And therefore granting he may poffibly imagine thiU in going to Church in Confequence of a civil Command, he Church- Government, G?r. 279 he forfeits fome Conveniency, or quits the Enjoyment of fome Pleafure, he is either in PofTeffion or in Purfuit of; yet there are no poflibie Grounds for urging Confcience as the Reafon of his not frequenting fuch AiTembUes, but that on the contrary he mufl at all Times confefs it to be his Duty to join in them. And therefore his going thither mere- ly inPurfuance of the civil Magiftrate's Order, tho' it may detradl from the Merit of fuch Adion, or, more properly, deftroy it, yet it cannot make his going thither a Sin. — ^If it is further urg'd, that it is iinful in him to go to Church, not out of Convid:ion of Confcience, but in Subje(5tion to civil Authority, be- caufe he cannot but be fenfible that it is his Duty to refort to publick Worfliip w^hether there be any Order from the fupreme Magi- ftrate or not for that Purpofe : We anfwer, that it is equally finflil in him not to affociate with his Fellow-Creatures and Subjed:s for publickly profefling their Belief in the Being of a God and Providence, tho* the Magiftrate was lilent as to this Point, and left Men at full Liberty with regard to the Performance or Non-performance of this Duty ; becaufe he cannot but knov/, if he knows any thing of T 4 ^ 2So Reflections upon a God, that he is indifpenfibly oblig'd to make thofe pubHck Profeffions, whether the civil Power commands it or not. It appears therefore, that no Man's fixture Intereft, or Salvation in another World, is any ways or in any Degree impeded by his joining in Church-Communion with others purely upon a civil Account, and in Obedience to the Injuncftions of publick Authority. And there- fore this Objection, plac'd in what Light fo- ever, is of no Force againfl the civil Magi- Ibrate's Right in this Particular. ^%. Prop. ^th. T!he Go'uernors of the Church in Union with the State ^ with us the Bifhops, have the fame common Rights ground- ed upon the fame common invariable Princi- ples of Reafon, with the Rcprefentatives of the People^ to a Scat in the LegiJIaturc, viz. to ivatch over the Church's R^hts and Interejisy in the fame manner as the other are appointed to be Guards and Fences of the civil Liberties md Properties of the Nation, We took No- tice above, that among all Sorts and Ranks of Men, there will ever be fome, whofe Vices are of fucha Nature, and in fuch Degrees of Strength, and Influence, as will neceffarily en-- gage them tothrow off the Reflraiiats of Re- ligion, Church- Government, {i?c. 281: ligbn, by attempting, in all the various Ways- and Means within their Reach to attempt it, the Ruin and Deflrudlion of a Church, the great, Prefervative of a Senfe of Religion in- Men's Minds. And fince Church-Gover- nors are, by the very Nature and Deiign oF their Offica, in a more peculiar Manner the' Protedlors of Religion than others can be fup- pos'd to be J fo, from this Confideration, con- jointly with that ariiing from the Danger to which the Church is fubjefted from the en- venom'd Attacks of Irreligibn and Infidelity, it is both necelTary and . fitting, that they be permitted to lit with the great Council of the Nation, as Guards againfl all Encroachments upon the Church's Rights, her Powers, and Privileges of all Kinds. And be it fur-: ^her conlidered, that thofe who have no Love for Religion, cannot be fuppos'd to be much in Temper and Difpofition to fhew any great Regard or Favour to the Minifters of the Church, but rather to ufe all their Efforts to harafs and diflrefs them, by difpoffefiing them of their Powers, their Emoluments, Means of Subffcence, and fuch other Rights as they hold after the Convention, and- in Confe- quenee of it^ becaufe they know, that a 282 Reflections tipoji poor Clergy would foon grow contemptible, and their Doctrines lofe all their Credit and Influence with the People ; and confequently tliat thus to impoverifli Church-Officers would be the moil ejBTediual way (as appears by what has been faid in Art. 20. ) to get rid of the Church, which properly falls in with their Defire of having none. Another Reafon, and that a material one, for the Governors of the Church holding a Place in the Legiflature, is, that tho' fliould the fupreme Power refiding there receive Propofitions relating to ecclefia- ftical Matters from the Clergy themfelves, and drawn up by them, yet is it in the Choice of that Power, whether they fliall be- come binding, or not, upon the Members of the two Societies, now united. It is but reafonable therefore, that the Church fhould have fome of her Officers fitting there, to ex- plain theNature and Tendency of thofe Propo- fitions, to forward theirPaflage thro' the feveral Forms necelTary to be gone over upon fuch Occalions, and to urge the particular Seafon- ablenefs of having them enacted into Law at the prefent juncSture. Jufl in the fame man- ner as it is neeeifary, that the Law, the Army, the Navy, and the moil confiderable Branches of Church-Government, ^r. 283 of the trading Part of the Nation, fhould have fome of the Members of their refped:ive Bodies compofing Part of the Legiflature, in order to give a helping Hand thro' the Houfe, to all fuch Motions, Bills, ^c, as relped; their feveral Interefls. 59. Since the Delign of our Enquiry is to find out Truth, if it can be come at, fo we had rather incur the Cenfure of bein? tedious, than omit any thing which tends to difcover it. This therefore obliges us to offer one or two Arguments more in fupport of the Proportion before us. 60. Into whatfoever Hands Power is com- niitted, it is liable to be abus'd, either in greater or lefs Degrees : Whofoever therefore is entrufted with it, ought to be fubjedted to certain Conditions in the Exercife of it, and be ftridlly accountable for the Purpofes to vyhich it is made fubfervient. Thus, for In- ilance, when Men entered into civil Ccmpadf with the fupreme Magiftrate, and he accepted the Tender of their Obedience and Subjedion in Order to protedt them in their Powers, Rights, &c. they found it neceflary notwlth- f^anding to put a Check upon him, by reflrain- ing him in th^ Exercife of this delegated Power 2?4 Reflections upon Power, the better to prevent his injuring them in their Perfons and Properties, tho' it was thofe, and thofe only, he was bound to de- fend. They thought it further neceflary like- wife to their Safety, (imagining that one De- gree of Power would naturally afpire after a greater, and that after a greater flill, and fo on, till a Perfon thinks all others account- able to him, and himfelf not refponiible to ainy •) they thought it neceflary, we fay, to have fome out of their own Body compofe Part of the Legiflature, that they might ule their Vote and Influence with others, for the hindering any Bill being carry'd into Law, which in its Execution any ways tended to their Detrinient : By which wife Contrivance and Policy, as,Fa6t and Experience happily ,fhew, private Property was more effectually fecured ; Laws for the Peciflon of Difputes more impartially drawn" up, with refpe(5t to the feveral Cafes falling under their Cogni- zance J publick Juftice ipore equally admi- niftred, ^c. and thus the great Interefl: of the WTiole render'd more facred and invi- olable. And if the Members of civil Soci-r ipty' thought it expedient, that fome chofe put of their ovn collective Body flioulci have Church-Government, ^'c, 28^ liave. a Place in the Legilliture, with a View to watch over their civil Interells ; k it no^ as reafonable that the Church fhould, after the Convention, have fome of her Officer^ fitting there alfo, in ortier to watch over the Church's Interells ? Undoubtedly j and if the Reafon be the fame, fo is the Riglit • that is, the one have as much Riglit to fit and a(5t there, as the other : iince all Right either is, or ought to be founded upon Reafon. Whence we fee, that the Clergy- have the fame common Right with the Laity, to have their Reprefentatives (and thofe Mem- bers of their own Body) in the Legiflature^ to ad:, and manage their Concerns for them. 61. Much Good alfo mufl neceifarily arife from fuch a mix'd Number of Church-^ Officers and Laymen being plac'd in the Legiflatufe. For every thinking, con/iderate Man, muft be concern'd both for his future and his prefent Happinefs : The former he is confciaus muft arife from his doing die Will of his Creator, or by paying him fucli Services, and in fuch a Manner, as he judges- moft acceptable to him : The latter, from Proted;ion againft all Ena-oachments that 286 Reflect lo^is upon are, or (liall be made upon his temporal Liberty and Property : confequently, hd muft be plcas'd -vv'ith fuch Laws and A6ts of State, as tend to fcciire to him the full and eafy PofTeflion of all thofe Rights be- longing to him both in his civil and re- ligious Capacity j on making a right Ufe of which, his Intereft in the Favour of God, both with regard to this Life, and the next, abfolutely depends. But the beft way to fecure thofe Rights, is to have a Number of the Heads of each Society fitting in the civil LegiilaturCj and deliberating there what is fittell to be done, and to make ProvifionS accordingly : fince it cannot be fuppos'd that they would voluntarily fuffer any thing to be carry'd into Law, which either ac- tually breaks in upon, or but threatens the?f refped:ive Interefts. By which means Men's religious and civil Concerns will be more firmly fecur'd and eflablifii'd. And as this is a Cafe of confiderable Advantage to Man- kind, it (hews the Neceflity both of Church- men and Laymen having a Seat there. And as it cannot but be a great Satisfadlion to the People to fee both Church and State concur in enadting the fame Laws, which are Church- Government^ ££?r. t^'j are to be the Meafure of each Man's Adlions in Society ; fo, fuch a happy Concurrence creates a more particular Regard and At- tention to thofe Laws, and adds a kind of Reverence to their Sanctions : for nothing can be fuppos'd to be of better Elfed:, or at- tended w^ith more friendly and beneficial Confequences, than fuch a perfe(5l Amity and Agreement betv^ixt the governing Part of the two Societies. When Religion and civil Government, or Church and State, go Hand in Hand, and each performs its re- fpedive Duty to the other, nothing is want- ing to compleat Men's mutual Happinefs in each Society. And this we take to be a fiill and proper Anfwer to thofe who raife the following Objedion, 'viz. That if Bi- fhops fit in Parliament upon tlie Church's Account only, they have no Right either to forward or oppofe any Bill's paffing but what relates to ecclefiailical Matters, and concerns the proper Offices of Church-men. Befides, Bilhops confider'd in their Lay-Ca- pacity, or with regard to their temporal Ho- nours and Pofieffions, which they hold by Virtue of the Convention, have the fame Relation to Society as Laymen have; and with ^S8 Reflections upon with them are equally oblig'd to contribute out of their Eftates to its Support and Main-^ tenance. And if they have civil as well as religious Rights to take care of, their Con- fent, either as to the repealing old Laws, or the making new ones, is as neceffary, one would think, as the others j if not ne- celTary in the fcwie Degree, yet furely necef- fary in fof7ie Degree. Not that Bifhops fit in Parliament in Confequence of their tem- poral Honours and Emoluments, as Lay-^ Lords do j but they fit there as Reprefen- tatives of the Church, as Guards and Watch- men, to prevent the Power arifing to the State in Church- Affairs from the Conven- tion, from being exercis'd to her Hurt and Detriment. 62. From what has been faid above iri Proof of this Prop oil tion, we may take No- tice, that the Biihops Right to a Seat in Parliament lafts fo long as the Convention does, and no longer. For confidering that Imperfedlion and Fallibility are the necef- fary and infeparable Adjuncts of human Nature, fo from hence arifes ,the Poflibility of Deviations from the Rules of Juftice in lh« Execution of all Oiiices during every Pe- riod Church- Government, «^r. 289 riod of Men's Continuance in them^ And if fo, then in all Alienations of Power there is the fime Neceffity one time as well as another, for fome feafonable Check to be provided, in order to reflrain the abufive Ex- ercife of that delegated Power ^ and to pre- vent it from being employ 'd contrary to, or againfl the End for which it was given. And this iliews the Bifhops Right to a Seat in the Legiilature, fo long as the Convention be- twixt the Church and State fubliils : but when the Convention is at an End, the Reafon, and confequently the Right of their fitting there, ceafes at the fame time. For at the DilTolution of the Eftablifliment the Church recovers back her Independence, and with it the free Exercife of all thofe Pow- ers /he enjoy'd in her natural Capacity. But we have fliewn, that the Reafon of the Bi- fhops having a Seat in the Legiilature, was to hinder that Power, which the State ac- quires by the Convention, from being ap- ply'd to the Hurt, and againft the Interells of the Church : confequently, when this Power is no longer lodg'd in the fapreme Magiflrate's Hands, but returns again to the U Church, 290 Reflections upon Church, the Reafon, and with it the Right of their fitting there, expires. 63. Prop. 9. ^he Gonjenwrs of the Church retain their Right of holding Vifitations after the Convention^, for the better Execution of Church-Difcipline^ and to fee that Ecclefaf- tical Matters of all Kinds be rightly adminif- fred. That they had this Power before the Convention, has been prov'd in Prop. ii. of the lail Sedion : And that they have a Right to exercife it after the Convention, is abundantly manifeft from hence j tliat as the Exercife of fuch a fort of Power has been ihewn neceffary in the Fropofition before re- ferr'd to ^ fo the Clergy have a Right to the Exercife of it preferably to any other Sett of Men ; and for this plain Reafon, becaufe veiled in them antecedently to the Conven- tion. For, as the State hath no Right to demand a Refignation of any other Powers but thofe whofe abufive Exercife was de- ftrudive to the Peace and Safety of civil So- ciety, in Conjunction with thofe other Pow- ers, whofe Refignation was neceffary for the State's giving the Church the Protedlion fhe wanted : fo the Church was under no Ne- ceility. Church-Government, C^c. 291 ceffity, and confequently could not in Juf- tice relign more. And it defervcs our far- ther Obfervation in this Place, that in all Delegations of Power for a certain End, fiich Powers are always underflood to be refign'd up only to fuch a Degree, as bell coniifts with the End for which they were transfer- red and no further. This therefore fliews, that the Church cannot be reftrain'd in the Exercife of any of her Powers, but in Cafes where the Exercife of them beyond a cer- tain Degree, makes for the Detriment of the State, and is incompatible with that Pro- tection which the Cliurch expedis from it, and which by the End of the Convention {he has a Right to demand of it. 64. The Reader here v/ill underfland, that by the Power mentioned in the Pro- portion, is meant fuch an one as was defign'd fhould be exercis'd in our Vifitations, for the Reformation of thofe Abufes and Cor- ruptions which have taken Root and grown up in the Church j a Power to enquire into the Faith, the Life, and Morals both of Cler- gy and Laity ; and in fhort, into every thing that concerns the Church, and Execution of U2 her tg2 Reflections upon her Offices; and not merely a Power for Ec- clefiafticks to raife Money for their own pri- vate Ufe, and to their own Emolument ; which, if apply'd to that Purpofe, and to that Purpofe only, the only ufeful End of holding Vifitations is then dcftroy'd. 65. Prop. 10. The State enters into this Corn^ pa5l with that Church (if there be more Churches than ojje) which hath the Majority of its Mcjnhers in her Co7mnunion, The two great fundamental Motives of the State's ac- cepting the Church's Offer of an Accom- modation were, ift^ Security againil fuch In- juries, as the Church in her natural, inde- pendent Capacity might occaiion to civil So- ciety ; and 2dl)\ That the Church fliould employ all her Influence in its Service. But as the largeft religious Society is capable of doing the mofi; Mifchief, fo is it likewife capable of doing the moft Good to the State : fince, ccetcris paribus^ the greater Number, if fo difpos'd, will ever have it in their Power to do more Good or Harm to Society than a lefs ; becaufe when the Dif- pofitions and other Circumftances are equal, the Advantages or Difadvantages will always- be in Proportion to Men's Abilities, and thofe Church- Government, ^c, 293 thofe Abilities are generally in Proportion to their Numbers. With this Church, there- fore, the Convention muft be fuppos'd to be made. 66. And thus the Cafe with us in Eng- land w^ill always be in Fad:; that is, the largeft religious Society will be eredted into an Eflablifhment. For, to ufe the Words of a very judicious Writer, " In our Confti- *' tution a confiderable Share of the Legilla- " ture is lodg'd with Perfons eled:ed by the " Populace. Now is it not natural to ex- " pedt, that each fhould vote for Perfons of " their own Religion, or Favourers of it ? " And if the Majority of the People fhould " be of one Religion, the Majority of thofe " fent by them would be of that Religion " too. With that Majority the whole Power " and Interefl of that Branch of the Legif- " lature would be effectually lodg'd ; and " we may be fure they would ufe it for " the Advancement and Encouragement of " their own Religion. Sir WHliam Temple " tells us, That wherever the Generality of " a Nation are of a . Belief, it is by the " Force of Concurrence introduced into the " Government, and becomes the eilablifh'd U 3 « Re- 294 Reflections upon " Religion of the Country." Dr. Rogers's Vindication of the civil Eftablifliment of Religion. 67. Prop. II. That Part of the national Property ivhich the State fettled on the Church ought to be appropriated to the Officers of the Church in XJjiion with it. The Neceffity, as well as Seafonablenefs of which Appropri- ation in a Matter of this Nature, arifes from hence ; that lince where a Multiplicity of Claims is, there, of courfe, will be a Con- trariety of Interefts j and where a Contrari- ety of Interefts is, there Jarrs, Wranglings, and Contentions, (always deflru(5tive of the Peace and Quiet of civil Society) are un- avoidable. Thofe therefore, as it is the great End of his Office, fo will it be the Duty of the civil Magiflrate to prevent. But there ^ appear no other poffible Means of preventing this, than by limiting Church-Benefices to one particular Sett of Church-men, in Diflindlion from all others. And that the Church in Union with the State fliould have thofe pub- lick Allotments in Preference to any other Church, is a neceflary Confequence from the State's entering into a Convention with her. Nor indeed would it be confident with Church-Government, 6?r. 295 With the Safety of the State to intruft them with the Officers of any other Church, be- caufe the Acceffion of thofe Emoluments might render fuch Church in her natural, independent Capacity, an Over-match for the civil Power, and fubjed: his Interefts to the Will of her Governors. This flirther ap- pears likevi^ile from the State's entering into Convention with that Church which has the Majority in her Communion ; becaufe, in all Diviiions it is ftridly demonftrative, that the Eafe and more commodious v^ay of fub- lifting of the greater y cceterh paribus ^ fliould be univerfally preferr'd to the Eafe and more commodious way of fubfifting of the lejjer Number. 6 8. Hence we learn, that when for the greater Conveniency of performing publick Worfliip, diftind Congregations or Pariilies were mark'd out, and fettled by common Confent, we learn irom hence, we fay, that in a mix'd Number, where one Part of the Parifh are Members of the eftablifh'd Church, the others not io ; to prevent the Confufion which otherwife muft have unavoidably a- rifen from the clalhing of their refpedive Claims, it is neceflary to the Peace and Quiet U 4 of 296 Reflections upon of civil Society, that the publick Allotments be limited to one particular Sett of Church- men J and if to one Sett of Church-men, then, for the Reafons before given, the Of- ficers of the Church in Convention with the State, ought to have them in their Fa- vour. To fuppofe, as fome perhaps may be of fuch an Opinion, that each religious Sect fhould only maintain their own Offi- cers, would, in the prefent Stale of Things, be abfolutely imprafticable. For there is no Improbability in the Cafe, but that one Of- ficer, for the fake of getting Part of the other's Officers Dues and Right of Mainte- nance to hlmfelf, would endeavour, by all kinds of Means, whether juftifiable or not juftifiable, to draw Part of tliat other's Con- gregation fi-om him : whence would enfue endlefs Contentions, Animoiities, and Heart- Burnings betwixt them j fometimes throw the State into ftrong Convulfions, and be the Source of infinite Damage to it. And therefore this Colliiion of Interefts, fuch a Mixture of diffenting Interefts, in- creas'd and hei^hten'd by diffenting religious Principles, in one and the fame Parifh, ought not to be tolerated by the civil Magiftrate, becaufe Church-Government, &c. 297 becaufe fuch a Toleration would be produc- tive of one continued Scene of Broils and Quarrels, to prevent which was one of the great Ends of civil Society. — Hence ap- pears the Falfenefs of that Aflertion of the Author of T^be Rights of the Chriftian Church, *' It is not reafonable that Revenues fhould be " annex' d to one Opinion more than ano- " ther, when all are equally lawful.' ' And it is his Maxim, " That no free-born Sub- *' ]tCt ought to pay for maintaining Specu- *' lations he does not believe." 69. Cor oil. We learn from hence, that ec- clefiaftical Benefices, or Emoluments, were appropriated to the Officers of one particular Church, not upon the account of its Mode of Worfhip, or Schem.e of Religion being the true one, but to prevent Confiifion and Diforder (necelTarily confequent upon an In- terfering of Claims in refped of one and the fame Thing) in civil Society ; that is, in Confideration of publick Utility, and not of Truth : and confequently, that the Reafon of excluding the Minifters of Diflenting Con- gregations from having any fliare of that Reve- nue fet apart by the State for Church-Officers, is, not becaufe they are Members of an erro- neous 2gS Reflections t/pon neous Church, or Teachers of a different Re* ligion, but for the fake of publick Peace and Quiet. We are fenfible it is the Opinion of fome, that when the Church apply'd to the State to take her into its Protection, and in confequence of that, a certain Share of the national Property was fettled upon her Offi- cers ; that this Setdement was made, not up- on the Footing of Truth, but of publick U- tility. For fuppoling the Legiflature going to eltablifh one Syflem of Religion out of more openly profeiTed, would they not fix upon that which they themfelves were Fa- vourites of? and v/ould not the Reafon which they affign'd for it be this, viz. Becaufe that Church appeared to them to be the right one ? To which we anfwer in the following Manner : 70. 17?, That the Enquiry is not about what in Fad: were the Motives upon which the State parted with a certain fliare of the national Property for tlie Ufe of Church- men, but what in Reafon thofe Principles ought to be, or what could be legitimately in their Intention, or fo as to juftify the Affignment j that is, as we obferv'd in an- other Church-Government, ^r. 299 other Place, the Enquiry is not concerning the Fa£t, but the Right. The Cafe is e- qually the fame in regard to civil Society. When we enquire into the mutual Rights, and reciprocal Duties of Prince and People, we deduce the Prince's Right to govern from the Confent of the People ; and argue from that ever after as an allow'd Principle, tho' in Fa5l fuch Confent was never originally obtain'd; or, in Truth, fo much as afk'd for : and confequently, no civil Polity throughout the World, perhaps, was ever ereded upon that Foundation; tho' that, and that only, can confer a juft Title, or give a Right to govern.-— The Motive in- ducing the State to take the Church into its Protedtion, and to make an Affignment of Part of its Property for the Clergy's Ufe, was, the Avoidance of thofe Evils which neceffarily flow'd from the abufive Adminif- tration of her Government. This was of prime Confideration ; and when this was found neceffary to be done, the State found it agreeable to the Principles, and religious Ways of thinking of its Members, to grant thofe Privileges to that Church which they held Communion with ; which ever will be. as ^00 Reflections upon as it ever ought to be, that Church which has the Majority of the Members of the State in its Communion. 71. The anfwering the above Queftion leads us alfo to confider, what Advantages this Church gains by the Convention more than any other Church exifting in the State. And nothing more does fli* gain than any other by the Convention ; but Security of thofe temporal Emoluments, and outward Accommodations, which at the Time of the Convention were transferr'd over to herj Security, we fay, of thofe, againft all the Claims and Attempts made upon her by fuch as would difpoffefs her of them. For the fame Protection, and in as great a De- gree, which the eftablifh'd Church has a- gainfl: other Churches difiiurbing her Mem- bers in their Way of Worihip, have all thofe other Churches likewife againft the efta- blifh'd Church difturbing their Members ; which is granted them in the Toleration the State allows them for the free Exercife of their Religion. And this Toleration every State, in point of natural yiijlice, and for the fake of giving Eafe to fcrupulous Confci- ences^ ought to indulge its diftenting Bre- thren Church-Government, &c, 301 thren with. All Churches therefore exit- ing in the State have a Right to the fame Protection in this refpeB^ one as well as another, from it. The next Queftion is. In what View were thofe temporal PofTeffions and Accommodations annex 'd to the Church ? Was it done to ferve civil Purpofes, or Truth ? For an Anfwcr to which, we need only refer- the Reader to what has been already faid. Where he will find that thofe Allotments were fet afide, or appropriated for the Ufe of the Church in Convention with the State, for the fake of avoiding publick Diforder and Confufion, unavoidably confequent upon a Diverfity of Claims in refpedl of one and the fame Thing. For, by Prop. 9, Se£f. 3, it appeared, that the Clergy had a Right to a Maintenance from the Laity; and that both the Manner and Degree in which they were to contribute to this Maintenance was abfolutely in their Choice. Upon account of the bad Confequences arifing from the Dependency of the Clergy on the Laity in this refpedt, we have fhewn in Article loth of this Sed:ion, the abfolute Neceffity of breaking it, which can only be done by the State's making a fix'd and flanding Provi- fion 202 ReI^lections upon fion for the Ufes of Church-men. And in the foregoing Propofition we have prov'd, that this Part of the national Property, which the State, in confequence of the Conven- tion, fettled upon the Church, ought to be limited to the Officers of this Church in Alliance v^^ith it; and the Reafons there given are of a civil Nature, and proceed up- on civil Principles, as may be feen by turn- ing back to the Propofition. 72. The Truth of the Cafe lies here * tho' the tvi^o Societies be compos'd of the fame Number of Individuals, yet when the fame Men are confider'd in different Capa- cities, they will be found to have diftind: and different Views in forming this Con- vention. If we confider them in their civil Capacity, their End in eftablifhing Religion was, to prevent the bad Effeds arifing to their civil Rights from the abufive Exer- clfe of the Church's Power in her natural State, or to enable her to apply her Influ- ences in a more beneficial Manner for the Ufes of civil Government. If we confider the fame Men in their religious Capacity, their End in applying for an Eflablifliment was, Prote6tion againfl all Encroachments upon Church-Government, G?r. 30-2 Xipon their religious Rights, or Rights of Confcience. Confequently, the End the Church had in View in feeicing after this Convention v^as, Truth ; the End the State had in View was, pubHck UtiHty. 73. Prop. izfh. The State at the Ti?ne of^ or after the Convention^ ought to give the Church proper Security againji juch other rC" ligious Societies which do, or may exiji iii it^ by excluding from civil Offices all thofe who. are not of her Co?7imunion -, or there ought to be a Tefl-Ad: for dij criminating Men's religious Sentiments, and for dif covering their AffeSiion for the Church in U?2ion with the State, previous to their AdmiJJion into the Adminijlration. To proceed dillindlly in the Proof of this Propofition, it is expedient that we lay down the following Pofitions, which, in the Nature of Axioms, carry their own Evidence along with them j and which will, in a great Degree, confirm tlie Truth of the Propofition, or at leaft clear the Way to the Proof of it. 74. iji. When the Deity has not by any particular exprefs Revelation of himfelf de- clared the Mode or Manner in which he would have religious Service or Homage paid 304 Reflections tipon paid him, all his Creatures, capable of doing him Service, have a Right to agree on a Form or Manner betv^^ixt themfelves. 2^//)', When he has either himfelf fet out a Form of Worfliip, or given fuch Intimati- ons of his Will, that, by a proper Applica- tion of the Powers of Thought or Under- ftanding, fuch Form may be collected from the Notices he has given, his Creatures ought to acquiefce in it, v^^hen thus difcover'd. Every Man has a Right to worfhip God in fuch a Way as he judges moft agree- able to him J becaufe for one to do what he thinks to be wrong, or to ad; againft Confcience, and our inward Senfe of Things, is a Sin. 75. Men confidered as Men, the Peace, Quiet, and Satisfaction of Mind of the greater Number of them, ought to take Place of the Peace and Tranquillity of the lefs. From which flow, by way of Corollary, thefe Truths. That in choofing a Formu- lary of Worlhip, when Mankind have no other Guide to go by than their own Rsa- fon, they are obliged to make ufe of it, and to take up with fuch an one as Rea- fon lliews to be mofh worthy of the Deity. For Church-Government, &c. 305 for what Men are any ways concerned in to know, and which Revelation does not difclofe to them, that they are obliged to have Recourfe to Reafon to find out -, and what is the proper Bufinefs of Reafon, that every Man has a Right to exercife his Rea- fon about ; becaufe Reafon being the Gift of God to every Man, every Man ought to be guided by its Determinations, when he ufes it in the befl Manner he can : nay, he can- not avoid being determin'd by it ; becaufe what Reafon difcovers to be true, or to have the Likenefs and Appearance of Truth, that a Man's Confcience obliges him to pur- fue and adhere to j and there is no going againft Confcience without finning. 76. In a Chriflian Country, where the Laws of Chrifl are profefs'd to be fubmit- ted to, the ConfefHons of Faith and Mode of Worfhip muft be fuch, as after due Ex- amination, appear to be either expreflly pre- fcrib'd by, or to be mofl agreeable to the Will of Chrift, the Founder of that Difpen- fation. Since, ev^ry one is at Liberty to follow his own Judgment in the great Affair of Re- ligion (as by Art. 74, it appears that every X one 306 Reflections upon one is, and is fully prov'd in feveral Parts of this Treatife) the fupreme Magiflrate miift liave an equal Right with any one in the Community to have the civil Eftablifliment of Religion in his Favour. And if he have the fame common Right with any other, then has he, from the great Principle of na- tural Equity, a Right, with the Majority on his Side, to have his own Religion ad vane 'd into an Eflablifhment 5 iince, in all Diviii- ens, the Eafe and Quiet of the greater Num- ber ought to be preferr'd to the lefs. 77. It is proper to take Notice here, that the Plan of Communion ought to be as com- prehenfive as pofTible, without giving Of- fence to the Confciences, and religious Ways of thinking of the reft of the Members. Be- caufe nothing in Fa(S is found to contribute more to the Eilablifhment of Harmony and Agreement amongfl Mankind than Unani- mity, or Concurrence in Sentiment and Opi- - nion. But to come to the Proof of the Pro- polition. 78. That the largefl religious Society is to be the eftabliih'd Church, is prov'^d in Prop. loth of this Sedion, and neccflarily follows from the Nature and End of that Con- ClIURCH-GoVERNMENT, &C. 307 Convention the two Societies have entered into. And that none ought to be admit- ted into civil Offices but thofe that are Mem- bers of this Church, appears plainly frorn iience, that if a Door was open for all Per- fons to enter promifcuoujly^ and without any Diftindtion to be had to their religious Prin- ciples, into the fupreme Direction and Ma- nagement of publick Affairs, nothing hin-i ders but that the Adminiftration, by the Cunning and Intrigue of fome, might, in a great meafure, be fill'd with thofe of Dif- fenting Principles, who, prompted with Zeal for the Advancement of their own Scheme of Religion, will be for laying hold on every Opportunity of railing it upon the Ruin of the eftabliili'd Church. And the more Pow- er they have, the more deiirous they will be of doing this ; that is, their Deiires and En- deavours will rife proportionably to their Situation and Power in the Government 5 which is plain would be a breaking in up- on the Rights (and, which is much to be confidered. Rights of the tenderefl Nature, and mojfl important Concern) and confe« quently, upon the Peace and Quiet of the Majority 5 contrary to Art. 73. X % 79. Again: 308 Rf.t LECT I oti$ upon yg. Again ; we have fhewn that the gredt fundamental Motive of the Church's apply- ing to the State for entering into Terms of Agreement with her, was Protedion againft all fuch Attacks as fhe was exposed to from other religious Societies exifting in it; con- fequently the State, by the Reafons on which this Convention was founded, muft be fup- pofed to have laid itfelf under the highefl Obligation to provide for the Church's Safety in this Particular ; And if fo, the Church will have a Right to have this ProtecSlion granted her ; becaufe wherever there is an Obligation to pay on the one hand, there will ever be a proportionable Right to demand on the other : But there is no way of affording this Protection in that eifcdlual Manner, which will ferve the Church's NecefTities, except by preventing all Perfons whatever from having any iliare in the Adminiftration of civil Afrairs, but fuch who are Members of the Church in Union with the State ; and therefore to be fuppofed under ftrong Attachments to her Interefls : confequently the State is obliged to proted the Church this Way ; that is, to give her a Tefl-LaW;, whidi fhall fuffer none Church-Government, &c.' 309 none to fill civil Offices but fuch, who pre- vioufly to their Admiffion into them, fliall give Proof of their Conformity, by performing fome Rite or Ceremony belonging to her, or by fubfcribing to her Articles, or Formu- lary of Faith, as the Terms of Communion. 80. To fay, as fome of late have done, that pulling down the Fences of our prefent Efta- blifliment (at lead widening the Bottom of it) would be enlarging the civil Magiftrate's Circle of Friends, and be a ftrengthning both to his own, and the eftablifli'd Church's In- terefts, is contrary both to Reafon and Fad. To prove it contrary to Fa6t we need only have Recourfe to the Account given us of former Times, whofe Hiftory will abundant- ly convince us, what fort of Principles thofe Men were of, who now fo loudly exclaim againft all Church-Eftabllfhments, as notori- ous and flagrant Impofitions upon Men's na- tural Rights; what Sort of Principles, we fay^ thofe Men were of, when in Power, and had a large fharc of the Rein? of Government iu their Hands. Experience, the beft Authority in the World to confult upon fuch an Oc- cafion, will ever be a ftanding Monument, how common it hath always been for each X % religious 3 10 ReFLE C TION S 7//^« religious Sed, in its Turn, to be flriving to raife itfelf, and to diftrefs oti:ers, efpecially if any ways favoured by thofe in the Adminiflration. And upon Enquiry it will be alfo found con- trary to Reafon. For every one who is under full Convidion in his own Mind of the Truth and Reality of his own Scheme of Religion, and of the fuperior Acceptablenefs of his Mode of Worfliip, will be zealous of im- pofmg it upon others, and proportionably fo, as his Power of doing it is greater or lefs. And Men's Advancement in publick Life will alv/ays afford them many Opportunities of bringing about their Defigns. And it is morally impoffible, that any contemplative Perfon, or one who pays the leafl: Regard to the Ufe and Improvement of his intelledual Powers, fhould embrace Error as fuch, or willingly fuffsr others to continue in it. The Truths every one thinks he has difcovered concerning God and Religion, are generally thought by him of fuch Importance to the Honour of the one, and to the Interefls of the other, that he cannot be indifferent in en- forcing the Belief and Obfervance of them up- on others. This is human Nature ; and thus it hath been at all times, and thus it ever will be. 2 Church-Qovernment, ^^. 21 1 be. To pretend that this is what Men ought not to do, and if they advife with Reafon, it will -enjoin the contrary, may be true j but yet ar- gues but HtdeKnowledge of ourMake and Con- ftitution; fince it cannot be, that the Mind fhould either acquiefce herfelf in an Error, or approve of it in others. And therefore whijft Men are endow'd with a Power and Capacity of diflinguifliing Right from Wrong, Truth from Falfliood, Probability from Improbabi- lity, and all die various intermediate Degrees of Convidtion lying betwixt the lowefl De- gree of Probability and that next under Cer- tainty j whilft Man, we fay, is poffefs'd of fuch a Faculty (in the proper Exercife of which the chief Excellency of a rational Creature is fuppos'd to coniift) he will ftrive to eftablifli by all poffible Means what he perceives to be true, efpecially Truths of fuch vafl Importance as thofe on which the Favour of God, and confequently his own Happinefs, is imagin'd to depend. And there- fore for the State not to reflrain fuch Prad:ices in Non-conformhls, is exprclly contrary to the End the Church had in View in making: this Convention with it, whofe prime funda- mental Motive was Prote.flion of ail KmJs ^ 4 ^g^ljift 3i2 Reflections upon againfl all fuch Things and Perfons as might in any Shape, or in any Degree, injurioufly afFeno ^••I A a 4 "'" par- 360 Reflections upon particular Account of any Form of civil or ecciefiaftical Policy being eftablifli'd for tlie oUle. of the People of this firft Age of the •,y/iorld, either by God himfelf, or agreed cwpon amongft themfelyes by common Con-^ lent : The Rcafon undoubtedly mufh be, that tile Number (Of Families in thofe Days being but few, and they continually moving from Place to Place in quefl of new Settlements, f.nd of thq common NeceiFaries of Life, it became abfolutely impradticable for them to form themfelve?, or to be forni'd by others in;tp^difi:in<5t, particular Societies, eidier civil 'c[i.'* j^eiigious. In the fecond Chapter of his fijftjBook we read indeed, that God ap- pointed the fiventh Day [oa ivhich he rcjied from , all the V/ork that he had dene) to be kept holy to him, that is^ he appropriated it to religious Ufe^. And further on we read cf ^ Men calling on the Name of the Lord ; which, can be confider'd no other than a§ a folemn Aft of religious Wcrfhip, by which they invocated the great Difpenfer of all Things, for his granting them the Bleirings tliey wanted, or for averting thofe Evils they were afraid of ^ or elfe by making him tl^eir Acknowledgments for the Favours they 1:^4 receiv'd from him. After the Account given Church-Government, &c. 361 given us of the Flood, of the Motives lead,- ing to it, and the Confequences arifing from it, v^^e read of Altars being rais'd. Sacrifices offer'd, and Tithes paid : All which evi:- dently fhew, that the Pradiice of raifing AL tars, of ficrificing, &c. prevail'd in the World long before the Law w^is given by Mbfes, and confequently could not have its Rife from that Inilitution. The Qucftion then v/hich naturally offers, is, whence had this CuHom its Beginning ? Or to what Au- thority was its hrfl: Eflabliiliment owing ? -^ Now this Pra(5lice of railine Altars, of facrificing, and paying Tithes, fo univerfally (tho', by the way, this Univerfality is a good Argument of the contrary, as fhall be Ihewn immediately) prevailing in the World among all forts of People, hath given Oc- casion to fome to think, that the Patri- archs, and their immediate Defcendants, bcr- row'd it frorr^ the Heathens, among whom, by Times, they fojourn'd j and that ATcfrSj a cunning, politick Man, and one nearly related to the Priefthccd, and confequently defirous of annexing both Profit and Dig- nif^'ib it, introduced thofe CuftomxS into his ow^n Body of Laws, and made 'em a Part of it, :-tho' pretending at th^ lame time to have 'i'-''^v'-: had 362 Reflections upon had them communicated from Heaven t© him, and therefore that they were of divine Extra(£lion. Such hath been the Way of Reafoning, to make Men believe that Tithes and Sacrifices were originally of human Ap- pointment only. But that this Argumenta- tion is falfe, and the Dodrine what ought not to be given into the Belief of, will ap- pear from hence. 1 1 . That an univerfal Concurrence of Man- kind in a Particular, which from the Nature of it afforded no Proof for fuch Concurrence, is a ftrong Prefumption of its being the Ef-- fedl of fome Interpofition of God himfelf for that Purpofe : For this Concurrence being an Effed:, and every Effe(5l necefiarily re^ quiring a Caufe, and this Caufe not being to be found either in the Thing itfelf, or in its Habitudes and Relation to other Things, can be no other than the Senfe of a fupe- rior Being enjoining fuch a Pra(5lice. For tho' Reafon might and (if properly apply'd, ' and duly improv'd) would teach them, that '' publick Wor(hip was a Duty, a proper Duty indeed of rational dependent Beings ; and that 'certain A<5ts, as necelHiry Circumftances of it, '•pughttobe perform'd. Rites adminifter'^^ and Church-Government, &c. 361 and Ceremonies obferv'd ; which Things cannot be done, nor the Offices of Religion executed in fuch a manner as to obtain thofc good EiTeds, which, by being properly ap- ply'd and diredled, they are capable of pro- ducing, without a Sett of Men being ap- pointed to have the Care and Management of them ; and there being no fufficient In- ducement for Men to take upon themfelves fuch a Work, without having a proper Main- tenance provided for them ; and fince natu- ral Reafon could never inform them, that one Part rather than another ^ this fooner than that, fhould be affign'd for this Ufe: There- fore a Thing of fuch general IndifFerency could never become Matter of fo ftrid: and univerfal an Obfcrvance, as the Payment of Tithes ever has been, unlefs it receiv'd its binding Force and Efficacy from fome po- fitive Command or Inflitution of the Cre- ator, ,.,.|,ia. It would be needlefs here to go about to prove the Authority of Mofes^ as a divine Prophet, or that he writ his five Books by Jnfpiration,; or immediate Communication fi-om God himfelf, but we fhall proceed up^ oil Suppofition of the Truth of that J^iApry, "Tincc ^.64 ■ Reflections upsn fince we write in a Chriftian Country, and tx3 a Chriftian People ; who, therefore, in common Equity, mufl be allow'd to admit of Mofes's ading by a divine Commiffion, and in Virtue of it. However, if the Reader is deilrous of feeing Mofes's Character in this refpei5l fully made out,, and prov'd, let him confult the incomparable Author of the Di- *-ome Legation ^Mofes demojijiratedj who has placed Moft's's Pretenlions in fuch a Light, and fhewn both the Truth and Reafonable- nefs of them in fo ample and convincing a Manner, that they ftand eftablifh'd beyond all Contradiction. Whoever reads this facred Hiflorian, cannot deny but that God reveal'd himfelf to Mankind in a very extraordinary Way ; that in thofe extraordinary Commu- nications of his Will, 'tis likely he deliver'd a Collection of religious Rites, Cuftoms and Ordinances, to be by them obferv'd, and handed dowrt to future Generations : fom.e of which, m.oft probably^ afterwards came to be inferted into Mcfes's Catalogue of Laws, and made a Part of it, tho' no Ac- count be any-where given either as to the Time when, or the Reafons upon which they were commanded. Thus, for Inftance, we read, Church-Government, ^c. 36c read, that Noah facrific'd, Ge?2. Chap. viil.Ver. 20, 21 ; and that God was well-pleas'd with his doing of it : He rnufl; be pleas 'd there- fore, either upon the Account of the inhe- rent Worth, or natural Acceptablenefs of Sacrifices, or elfe becaufe they were per- formed-^ in Obedience to fome Command or other of his ; Reafon not being able to af- lign any other Ground, excepting thofe two, for fuch an Approbation of them. But they were approv'd, not for the fake of any na- tural Acceptablenefs of theirs, lince we may juftly defy the greateil Sticklers for Reafon to fliew us any fuch natural Worth or Ac- ceptablenefs in them. We mufc conclude therefore, that he was pleafed, becaufe they were done in Confequence of fome Com- mand or Injund:ion of his. But we iind no Mention any-where made, as to the par- ticular Time when God inftituted Sacrifices,, We mufl be forc'd to conclude therefore, that they, . and in all Likelihood many other Pradlices (fince their Qrigin can no other ways be accounted for) were the Effects of God's immediate Communication, or elfq fome certa,in Parts of the original Revelation fuppos'd to be given to Adam m Bis firu i\.., . Inter- 366 REFLECTIONS tlpon Intercourfe with the fupreme Being, and de* iiver'd down from one to another by Tra- dition. 13. dmi and Abcl^ the two firft Brothers we have any Account of, are faid to have follow 'd two different Occupations or Em- ployments J the one a Tiller of the Ground, the other a Feeder of Flocks. At a certain Time, each of them brought an Offering^ to the Lord of the Fruits of his refpedtive Labour. God is faid to have had Regard to the one, but not to the other. We afk, whence could arife this Difference ? Why was one preferr'd to the other ? Let us view the Matter all we can by natural Light, and Cain's. Offering will appear every way as ac- ceptable in itfelf as AbeN does ; or rather the more acceptable, as his was an Offering without Blood y the other's not fo, but at the Expence of the Life of an Animal. Sup- poling therefore. Offerings, Sacrifices, &c, were of Nature's di Church-Government, &c. 37 happen, that the Connection of one as Means with the other as an £W, could not be trac'd put, neither might it be in the Intention of our Creator that it fliould : But for certain momentous Reafons he left it to future Ages to dlfcover, the better to difplay thofe illuflri- ous Marks of Wifdom which all the Parts of God's Oeconomy are big with, fome of which, probably, may be found out in one Period or other of that Progreflion, which Religion, as well as other Arts and Sciences, is ever found to have made, from the Crea- tion of the World down to the prefent times, and which will continue to be carried on in the fame manner to future Ages, by flow and eafy, tho' not perhaps always by regular Steps ajid Gradations, v/hich Progreflion may be for the moft part imperceptible, and many times broke into, and dlfcontlnued, by that Confiifion and Embarr^s which the Mixture of oppolite Caufes, and incompatibly Interefts ever brings into the World, 17, The Matter may be plac'd and view'd in the following Light. God, 'tis probable, enjoin'd the raifmg qf Altars, the ufe of Sacrifices, the Payment of Tithes, with many ether religious Rites, in fome of the firft B b 3 Revelations 2^4- Reflections iipoji Revelations of his Will to Mankind ; and made his Favour or Difpleafure the neceffary Confequence of their Compliance with, or Negledt of them. For his Favour or Dif- pleafure w^ill ever follow the Obfervance or Non-obfervance of fuch Actions as he hath commanded ; and they receiving thofe Cuf- toms, Rites and Inftitutions at his Hands, took Care (as containing Matters of a general Significancy or Concern) to infiruc!^; their Children, their Friends, their Servants, and all other their Dependents in them ; and en- forc'd anObedience to them upon fucliMotives And Confiderations as had the moft natural Aptitude at that time to incline their Minds, and produce a Conformity of A6tion to them. And many of thofe continually fliifting from one Place to another in fearch of new Habi- tations, the Practice of railing Altars, of Sacri- ficing, tho' in different manners, and apply'd to different, and (fometimes) contrary Ob- jeds of Wor/liip, became, by this Means, ro prevail over the whole Earth. Tho' in Procefs of Time, thofe religious Notions, Cuftoms, &c. were in a Manner quite loft-, in the Multitude of Additions which Men made of their own to them ; or were fo wrapt Church-Government, C^c. 375 wrapt up in Fable and Allegory, that the true original ones could not be trac'd out and afcertain'd. Whence 'tis reafonable to conclude, that the various kinds of Sacri- iices, as pradis'd by the Heathens, under the Notion of Means of Atonement, will, if trac'd up to their iirfl Foundation and Settle- ment, be found (tho' much deprav'd and alter'd from what they were in their original Inftitution) to be deriv'd from the Hebrews^ to whom they had been deliver'd in the firft Ages of the World, by God's particular Communication. For Sacrifices were always us' d by the Antients, either as Means of pla- cating their Gods, and averting their Wrath 3 or elfe of obtaining fome fpecial Favour, or the like; that is, they were look'd upon as proper Means to render tlie Gods propitious to them. Tho' natural fleafon could never have difcover'd that they had any Connedlion with this End. And Means, which in their natural Tendency or Operation have no fort of Connexion with the End propos'd of their Appointment, Reafon could never have been the Author ofj but confequently they mull: have had their Origin from fome p^fi- B b 4 live 376 Reflections upon tive Law or Command of that Being, who iniiituted them for fuch Purpofes. 18. With fome it has been an Opinion (and an Opinion obllinately defended) that Abraham iiril carry 'd the Doctrine of the Being of a God and Providence down along with him into Egypt ^ whofe Inhabitants till this time were utterly void of all Senfe of the Superintendence of a fuperior Power, and cpnfequently had no forts of religious Rites, Cuftoms, ^c. in Ufe amongft them, before they were taught thern by this Fa- ther of the Faithful y which Rites, Cuftoms and other religious Notions, they by their future Converfe with the Patriarchs, efpe- cially yofephy who refided ^ confiderable time amongil them, had Opportunities both to enlarge and improve. But that this is a Miftake, is, we prefume, demonftrabte, from hence, viz. th^t, at the Time oi Abraham' % going into Egypt, a civil Policy was ali^eady eftablifhed there y and fuch a civil Policy in truth it was, as clearly befpoke both the Inftitutors and Condudors of it to be welli^iovi fkill'd in the Arts of Legiflation, and in alL the Methods of improving a growing State : .. And which, confidering the flow and eafy, but Church-Government, ^r. 377 but gradual Advance, which Arts and Sci- ences ever make in their progreffive State, mufl have been for a long Tra<5t of Time in arriving to that Perfection in which we find it at this Period of their civil Government. For we are told in holy Writ, " that the Princes ** oi Pharaoh alfo faw her [Abraham'' s, Wife) " and commer^ded her before Pharaoh ; and ^' the Woman was taken into Pharaoh'^ ." Houfe." By which we are given to un- derftand, that Pharaoh's Court was both fplendid and luxurious, the genuine Effed: of much Wealth and Opulence -, and confe- quently a demonftrative Proof, that all kinds of Arts and Trades were in a flourifhing Con- dition at the time oi Abraham's Entrance into Egypt. And if there was a civil Policy at this Time in Egypt, then muft there be fome Re- ligion profefs'd in common by the Mem- bers of that political Society : Becaufe no civil Policy ever was either fram'd at firft, or fup- ported afterwards, but by the concurring Aid and Affiftance of Religion. It is impoffible both in Reafon and Fad that it fliould be otherwife. The Queftion then is, how came the Egyptians, as alfo all other Nations, firfb by their religious Notions ? were they of Rea- fon's 37^ Reflections upon fon's finding out? Or had they them handed down from one to another by Tradition ? 'Tis impofhble that their Difcovery fhould be owing to Reafon, or any Effe^l of the O- peration of that Principle in its Searches af- ter Truth. Becaufe Reafon, if once fet to Work and properly apply 'd, would have directed them (if it could be fuppos'd to have diredted them at all, to a Scheme of religi- ous Worfliip, more perfe-ft in its Kind, than £iny that is to be found, either in Egypt, or in any other of the politeft and moft civillz'd Heathen Nations. The many ridiculous and abfurd Rites and Ceremonies with which tlieir Religion was conftantly clogg'd, and the Falflioods and Inconfiflencies which were known to abound even in the founder Parts of Paganifm, were both too numerous and too grofs to be the Produdlions of Reafon. What Reafon in any Age could have difco- vered, ..would not have been fo irrational. When indeed thofe Abfurdities, by the Con- currence of certain Caufes, came to be incor- porated into their Religion, and compos'd the greateft. Part of it, by being of popular Belief, then v/as Reafon many times call'd in to hide them from the Siglit of inquifitive Ex- plorersj Church- Government, Cs?^. -^^(^-^ Explorers, by the Addition of others made to them. And thus it conftantly fared with Paga-'. nifm. As foon as oneFalfliood was hkely to be deteded,fofureiywas another invented to hide' it ; till, in many Places, the Superftrud:urc growing, by this Means, too heavy for the Foundation to bear, it tumbled down of it-' felf, fell to Pieces, and expos'd to the naked Eye a whole Heap of Abfurdities, which it' was no longer in the Power of the ablefl Ad-' vocates to conceal. Not but that the wife and better Sort of Pagans, both faw, and in Secret confefs'd and lamented thofe Abfurdi-' ties, Falflioods and Inconfiftencies, with which theirRehgionwasailover-fluff'd, tho' uponac-' count of the People's inveterate Prejudices, and inviolable Attachrtients to their particular fa- vourite Syftems of Superflition, they durft neither exhibit them to open View, nor con- fequently attempt a Reform of them. The comm.on Opinion in all Ages having been, that to innovate in Matters of Religion, would neceffarily be the Parent of much Di- ftradlion and Confufion to civil Society ; Mankind in all Ages ever holding their religious Rights, Inftitutions, ^c. in equal Efteem with, or rather of much greater Importance than their civil ones. 19. To 380 Reflections upon 19. To the above we ihall adjoin the fol* lowing Extrad: from a late Author, whofe Words are as follows : " How then can Reafon, fays Jse^ be the Origin of Religi^ on, iince it has neither Confent, nor Pradtice, nor a direct Knowledge of any one Truth ? Yet all thofe Difficulties are removed, by allowing that divine Things were originally taught by Revelation, the Notices whereof pafling by oral Tradition only, in Procefs of Time became fo aL ter'd and obfcur'd, that Mankind had loft the true Apprehenlions of Things, and could not recover the clear Knowledge of them without a fupernatural Affiftance, And this occafioned thofe lame imperfedt Accounts of God and Providence, the Soul's Immortality, and a future State." 20. We cannot but conclude therefore, that the religious Notions, Cuftoms, &c. in Ufe among the Egyptians^ as among all o- ther Heathen Nations, before the Inftitution of civil Government, were either (though fuffering Alterations in greater or lefs De- grees) Parts of, or deriv'd from certain Pre- cepts contain'd in thofe firft and early Re- velations God made of himfelf to Mankind, an4 CiiURCrt-GoVERNMENT, ^C. 381 ahd afterwards convey 'd from one to an^ other by Tradition. Whence came it then, that the Objedt of Worfliip, or rather the Idea of him, with the Rites, Ceremonies, &c. which, as Circumftances of it, attended religious WorHiip, fuffered fuch great and monftrous Corruptions ? The following Caufes may, probably, with fome Perfons be thought to account for the Reafons of them. 21. i/?, Oral Tradition, from the very Nature of it, is liable to great and various Corruptions. It is as true as it is a common Obfervation, that a Story always gets by telling. It is, as it were, natural to Man to add to a Relation. Additions therefore, of Courfe, will be made to Fa€ts tranfmitted,. from one to another by Tradition. And this feems to be the firfl and moft natural Source of Corruption. And to this accumu- lating (if v/e may be allow'd the ExprefH- on) Spirit or Difpolition in Man, may we, with great Probability, afcribe many of thofe ftrange, thofe odd Tales fo frequently told a- bout the Pagan Gods j fome of which, indeed, were of fuch an extravagant Sort and Size, as required an uncommon Kind of Tafte to let them go freely down. 22. 2dl^ 382 Reflections upon 22. zdly^ It is of the EfTence of a finite limited Being to have its Powers and Qua- lities of a changeable, periihing Nature ; and confequently, fubjedt to great Uncer- tainties and Flucfluations in the feveral Pe- riods of its Exiftence. No Wonder then if the Memory, in common with the other Fa- culties of the Mind, be indifpos'd at certain Junctures to difcharge its proper Fundions j that is, it cannot always retain the Idea of any Objed: or Event long together, but is either apt to forget fome Circumftance or o- ther, which fhould be attendant on it, ai making a Part of it ; or elfe to cloath it with fome new Attribute or Property not belonging to it in its proper, original Ex- iftence. The Memory, therefore, is but an imperfeft Store-houfe, as it is crowded with an almofb infinite Number of Ideas arifine o from the Action of external Objedts upon the Organs of 'itvS.eated, in order to make the ImprefTions caufed by them more firm and lafling, or to prevent the Addition of other Circum- flances of Things and Perfons being made to them. 23. 2^fyy We took Notice above, that, notw^ithftanding Men's great Improvement in moral and reHgious Science, it was ftiil found neceffary, that their Opinions con- cerning the Being and Attributes of God, his governing the World by his Providence, and the like, be drawn up after the Man- ner of a Creed ; or, in other Words, that a Formulary of Faith, or Scheme of religious Woriliip, to be profefTed in common by every Individual, fhould be agreed upon, and eflablifh'd by common Confent ; the better to prevent the contrary and oppo- iite Charad:ers of Infidelity and Superflition fi^om mixing with them. And if it was judg'd necefiTary in thofe enlighten'd Times (when Arts and Sciences of all Kinds had made fuch a confiderable Proficjency) to make this Provifion, how much more fo muft it have been in the firft rude and un- cultivated Ages of the World, when -Men -had fcarce begun to emerge out of that State 384 REFLECtlONS UpOrt '-' State of Barbarifm and Ignorance, which had on all Sides fo clofely befet them ! But fuch a Provifion as this was impoflible in Fad: to be made in thofe Days. And for this plain Reafon, that Letters were not yet in Being, nor confequently the Ufe and Bene- fit of them known ; Which, humanly fpeak- ing, were the only probable Means of pre- ferving a Matter of Fad: entirely free froift Corruption : For, fuppofing God to have revealed himfelf with regard to the Obfer- vance of certain Rites and Ceremonies, or to the Performance of certain particular Ads, and in a certain particular Manner j there feems to be no way of conveying down the Matter of fuch Revelation to future Times, but either by written Records, or in Cafe of Failure of them, by a further Manifeftation of his Will, with refped to fuch particular Points, when either the Cha- raders of the former Revelation were effa- ced out of Men's Minds, or, which gene^ rally happen'd, when fuch Additions had been made to the Things reveal'd at diffe- lentTimes, fometimes to ferve private Views, but commonly, and for the moft Part, out of unavoidable Ignorance ; when fuch Ad- ditions, Church-Government, Gff.' 385 ditions, we fay, had been made to the Mat- ter of the former Revelation, or the Fads contain'd in it, that the true and found could not be diftinguilh'd from the falfe and fiditious Parts, and fo the firft Origi- nal could not be trac'd out and difcover'd. And here both facred and profine Hif- tory comes in opportunely to confirm our Account of this matter. For after . all our Enquiries, we fhall not be able to find any People upon the Face of the Earth, with whom the Notions of a Deity, and of his Adminiflration, were preferv'd diftind and juft, excepting thofe to whom God was plea- fed to reveal himfelf fucceffively for that very Purpofe. 'Tis likely all other Nations had gradually corrupted their religious No- tions in the Way and Manner before-men- tioned ; and particularly for the want of "v^ritten Records ; which, as {landing Monu- ments of the Things reveal'd, would have preferv'd the Memorial of them to future Generations. 24. Another Caufe, equally concurring with the other before-mentioned, to corrupt Men's religious Notions, was the want of Leifure to attend to them with that Seri- oufnefs and Compofure of Mind_, which the C c Impor- 386 ReF LECTlOliS tlpOlZ Importance of the Matter required. For, without frequent Attention had to any par- ticular Objedt, either the Idea of it will be obliterated, or other Circumftances of Things and Perfons will moft probably mix with it, by which Means it becomes quite diffe- rent from what it formerly was, and will accordingly be Yo confider'd by thofe who^ view it. In thofe early Ages of the World, when few or no Improvements had been made in any Trade, or Branch of Bufinefs, Man's whole Time, Thought, and Labour would be employ'd in furnifliing himfelf and Family with the NeceiFaries of Life. For Lands and Houfes, and other Materiab of an earthly Subfiftence, did not in thofe Days, as they now do in ours, defcend from one to another by Inheritance ^ but every •one found it difficult enouo^h to nrovide for D i. himfelf, and for the Wants of thofe whom Providence Iiad put under his more par- ticular Care and Protecflion. In fuch Cafes, what Progrcfs could be expected in Mat- ters of Religion ? Or rather, would not Ig- norance keep gradually growing upon them, with refped: to thofe Points, till fuch time as their Notions of a Deity were either in a manner wholly abforb'd, or, which was Church- Government, £i?<:. 387 generally the Fad, quite alter' d from thofe which were originally revealed from Hea- ven to them ? We all of us know, that to make any confiderable Proficiency in thisy or that particular Kind of Science, necefTarily fuppofes good natural Abilities, and a pro- per Application of them, which all are as fenfible can never fuit with the Condition of thofe whofe Time is wholly taken up in dire(3;ing all their Powers of Thought and Adtion to other Purpofes, and in Purfuit of other and different Ends. Under fuch Cir- cumfrances, therefore, 'tis likely that all kinds of religious Truths, Cuftoms, ^c. handed down from one to another by Tradition, fhould rather be corrupted, or incline to the oppofite Extremes, either of Atheifm or Su- perfrition, than carry'd to greater Lengths of Refinement and Perfediion. 25. " When the firfl Planters of the *' World, {fays the laft quoted Author) had " forgot every thing of the God of their " Forefathers, but the Name of fuch a Be- " ingj had no In{l:rud:ors but the Painting " of the Fields, the Flowing of the Sea, the " Motions of the Heavens, and the Reflexl- " ons they could make upon tliemfelvcs ; C c 2 '' their 388 Reflections^/^;/ *' their Time confum'd in the necelTary Toil " of clearing the Ground, and making Pro- " vifion for a milcrable Support : Thoufands *' of Years muft have palTed before they " could have formed fuch a Body of Phi- " lofophy, and Knowledge of the Works of *' God, as thence to infer the Neceflity of " his Exillence, or the Perfections of his *' Nature. And v^diy may we not conclude, *' that if God had not made a Revelation, " they would never have reafon'd, nor " thought of him at ail ; fmce, notwith- " flanding the Stock of Knowledge they *' once had, they could not retain in their " Mind any jujfl: Notions of him, but turn'd " them into a Lie, Figments, and Fables " of their own Invention ? And when " Knowledge again increafed in the World, *' the very Contemplation of vifible Things " fix'd their Admiration there, and hinder'd '' their Afcent to the Author and Maker of " them." See a Book intitled, T'he Knciv^ ledge of divine Things from Revelation^ not from Reafon or Nature, Tho', in Truth, the Author feems to have too much cry'd down the Ufe of Reafon in Matters of Re- ligion, as being of little or no Service to Man Church-Government, C^c.^ ^Sg Man in his Searches after Things relating either to his temporal or eternal Intereft. The contrary to which is evident in every Day's Experience. Witnefs the noble Dif- coveries which have been made in all Parts of Philofophy, and the glorious Progrefs which Arts and Sciences of all forts have made towards greater Degrees of Perfedi- on, by the Affiilance of this truly divine Faculty or Power. But, to go on with our Subjecfl : 26. The firft Gods that were worfhipp'd under material fenfible Forms, were the Sun, Moon, and other heavenly Bodies. The Ef- fects which thofe Luminaries, particularly that great and principal one, the Sun, had upon this Mundane Syflem, were viiible to the Eye of the moil carelefs Obferver, if he obferv'd any thing at all. It was ihcn to be primarily concern'd in the Production of many of the Things here upon Earth > and that the whole, or mofl of them, were preferv'd in Life and Motion with its vital Heat and Lifluence. By its kind, benign Afpedis the Fruits of the Earth took Root, grew up, ripen'd, and became fit for the life of Man 5 and with its Affiflange Men's C c 3 La- 390 Reflections upon Labours were further 'd, and they enabled to tafle and enjoy the Produd:s of them ; or rather, Men's Care and Induflry, and the Pains they took to get a LiveHhood, would, without its Concurrence, have been abor- tive, and of no Significancy. 'Tis to its all- enlivening and animating Influence that Men are indebted for a comfortable Continuance in Being. And the other heavenly Bodies would as naturally come in for a Share of Adoration, proportion 'd to their fuppofed Efficacy in bringing the Fruits of the Eartli to Perfection. The iirft Species of Idolatry then that prevail 'd in the World was, mofl probably, Planet -Worihip. 27. One Means, among others, that led Men to worlliip their Gods in bodily Shapes, and at lafl ended in the eafy Reception of Image -Worfhip, probably might be the ex- treme Difficulty of framing an Idea of a purely fpiritual Nature, and of dwelling long upon the Contemplation of it. It was found a painful Talk for the Mind to withdraw herfelf entirely from all material Confidera- tions, and to fix her Attention upon a Be- ing devoid of Senfe and Matter. Abflrac- tion is not the proper Work of low, grove- ling, Church- Government, G*r. 391 iing, and uncultivated Underftandings. To confefs the Truth, notwithstanding the Ad- vantages to be gather'd from the Writings of the moll improv'd Reafon, and the Be- nefit to be had from the laft and moft per- fect Revelation of the Will of God to Man- kind ; notv^ithflanding thefe Affiftances, we fay, if many, in thofe Times, were afk'd what their Idea of God was, they would be found to have very grofs and abfurd Con- ceptions of him, and apt to cloath him with a corporeal Nature, with Flelli and Blood, aod Organs of Senfe like themfelves. And accordingly, as they us'd themfelves to contemplate, and reprefent the divine Na- ture in their Minds by a vifible Form or Fi- gure J fo, by Degrees, they would begin to worfhip the divine Being under a vilible Mark or Reprefentation, till at laft the Ad- oration of the Thing rcprefe?ited ended in that of the Thing reprefenting» 28. But to iatisfy the Reader's Curiofity, who, probably^ wants to be better acquaint- ed with the feveral diftind: Species of Ido- latry that prevailed in the Heathen World ; whence they had their Rife, and what the Occafion of it j and how, in Courfe, they C c 4 fuc- 5^2 Reflections upon fucceeded each other ; we would refer him to that incomparable Performance above- mentioned, the divine Legation of Mofes demoJiftrated^ where he will find that ex- cellent Author to have defcrib'd, with great Juftnefs and Propriety, the Nature and Pro- perties of the feveral kinds of religious Wor- ship in ufe among the Heathens ; and the different Sources from whence each of them flow'd, and how naturally one introduced an- other. 29. Suppofmg it fliould be aik'd, if re- ligious Notions were liable to fo many and fuch great Corruptions, whence came it that, after fuch a Number of Changes and Al- terations made in it, the Idea of God came not to be intirely eras'd out of Men's Minds. ? But, on the contrary, we find, that there never was any Nation upon the Earth but what had fome Senfe, fome Notion of a fuperior, all-governing Principle, differing in- deed in different Countries, according as Men have been taught to conceive diffe- rently of fuch a Being. In Anfwer to this we may obferve, that when once the Senfe of a fuperior, animadverting Power, which firft made^ and afterwards preferves them in their Chitrch-Government, &c, 393 their Exiflences, has taken PofTclTion of Men's Minds, it naturally excites there a fort of religious Awe and Reverence towards fuch a Being. For what we are necefllirily dependent on, as to what we are, and as ^o what we have, fuch an one we are as necellarily difpos'd to fear, and to ftand in Awe of, and to pleafe him by all the va- rious Methods of adting that we judge a- greeable to him, and in our Power to ob- ferve. And tho' fjch Senfe be corrupted by the abovemention'd Ways and Means, or in a manner quite dijfferent from any that has been already aflign'd -, yet fuch Corrup- tion, inflead of abating, does really, and in Fad, both heighten and inflame this reli- gious Zeal and Reverence. For corrupt Religion, or Religion mix'd with Superfli- tion, is ever found, in Proportion to the De- grees of fuch Mixture, to pofTefs its Vota- ries with a kind of religious Phrenzy and Madnefs. Agreeably to this, we read in Scripture of Baah Prophets leaning upon tfje Altar which was made^ and cutting them- fehes with Knives and Lancets after their Marnier^ till the Blood guJJjed cut upon them. All which piuft be fuppofed to be done in HonQUf 394 Reflections upon Honour of the Gods they worfliipp'd. A fure Sign that they were feiz'd with the abovementioned Diftemper. 30. The Conclufion we would draw from this Digreffion, which we have been led into, is, that ail the Religion which was ii^ the World before the Inftitution of political Societies, was derived from thofe Revelati- ons which God has been pleafed to make to Noah and his Defcendants, and by them communicated to their Children, and fo con- vey'd down from one to another by oral Tra- dition. That a Revelation therefore there has been, or rather a fucceflive Series of Re- velations, with refped: to religious Truths, Notions, and Cufloms, feems to be abun- dantly evident ; tho* we may be in the dark, either as to the Time when, or the Occa- fion upon which each was given. For fure we are that they can be deriv'd from no other Source. But to return to the Mo- faick Account of Things. 3 I . The principal Part of Mofes's fecond Book is taken up in giving a Detail, and furnifliing out a fort of Hiftory of the many iurprizing Signs and Wonders that were wroughtj and of the fundry kinds of Plagues brought Church-Government, &c. ^9? brought upon Pharaoh and his People, as a proper Punifhment for his refufing, Time after Time (when folemnly call'd upon to do it) thro' a Spirit of Obllinacy, the If- raelites to go and do Sacrifice to the God of their Fathers in the Wildernefs. After they had obtain'd Leave of Pharaoh to depart out of Egypt^ Mofes goes on to fliew how the Lord conducted them on in their Jour- ney; He^o/;;^ before the?n by Day in a Pil- lar oj a Cloudy to lead them the Way ; and by Night in a Pillar of Fire^ to give them Light. And when he had brought them in this manner to the Red Sea, how he then divided the Waters, fo as to be a Wall on the right-hand and on the left, till they had pafTed fecurely over j and how Pharaoh and his Hofl were drowned in their Purfuit after them. The Book proceeds, m the next Place, to fliew how Mofes was taken up into the Mount ; had the two Tables of Stone, with the ten Commandments engraven on them by the Finger of God, delivered to him ; how God fpoke to himFace toFace, and, in this Interviev/, he received from him the neceflary Orders for making the Tabernacle, the Ark, the Mercy-Seat, with the Cheru- bims. ^^96 Reflections upon bims, the Tables, the Altar of Incenfe, ^c. with other Things of the fame or like Na- ture, till we .come to the 28th Chapter, where it, and moft of the remaining Part of this Book, with a great deal of the three . following ones, are, in a great meafure, taken up in giving an Account of the Inftitution of the Jewijh Priefthood ; defcribing the Manner o^ Aaron and his Sons Confecration, the holy Garments, the Urim and I'bummim^ and the Difference betwixt a Prophecy ut- ter'd by the Judgment of Urim and T^hiim- mim^ and that which was utter'd by an or- dinary Prophet J the Difl;in(5tion and Diviiion of the Levites ; their proper Offices and Em- ployments ; the Ephod, the Breaft-Plate, the Rites and Ceremonies of the Sacrificature, and an Account of the whole religious Ser- vice of the yewiJJj Church ; here Mcfes is full and particular, and fpeaks to all thofe Points with the greateft Propriety and Exad- nefs, 32. Such a Procedure is fo far from being inconiiflent with our Ideas of infinite Wif- dom and Goodnefs, (Attributes eilentially belonging to the divine Nature) that it is no more than what might be reafonably ex^cd;<>i Church-Government, ^f. 397 expected from a Being of fuch abfolute Per- fecftion in fo extraordinary a Manifeftation of himfelf : For fince nothing can keep the Mind fo fleddily attach'd to the Caufe of Virtue, as the Senfe of a Being who will rewai'd fuch a Condu<5l with an Over-Bal- lance of Pleafure to what, either upon Ap- prehenfion, or in ReaHty, can flow from the contrary Courfe of ading 3 and who will punifh all Difobedience to his Will with a Degree of Mifery fuperior in Fa6t to the Pleafure refulting from the Gratification of any vicious Appetite whatfoever : And fince fuch a Senfe of God, and of his Adminif- tration, can noways be preferv'd in Men's Minds in a Degree fuited to be a Principle of Adtion in rational fenfible Beings, but by religious Worfhip ; and fince religious Wor- iliip cannot be performed fo as to obtain its intended End, without a fuitable Provifion being made for this very Purpofe -, fo we find i?i FaB, that God, ever confulting his Creatures Plappinefs in the beft manner pof- fible, at the fame time that he reveal'd him- felf in fo extraordinary a manner to ^'kfes, did himfelf appoint a Church, and fet a- part a Number of Men to be Officers in it, who 39^ Reflections upon who, confequently, were to have the Ma- nagement of tliofe Matters wholly in their own Hands, and to give up themfelves to them. For we find, that Aaron and his Sons were, by his exprefs Order, feparated for holy Ufes, that is, to attend the Offices of Religion : And this Separation oi Aaron and his Sons was not only a Separation from the reft of the Ifraelites, but alfo from the Body of Levites in general, who had their feveral Minillrations at Jirfi about the Ta- bernacle, and afterwards in the Temple. And as they had diilincl, particular Offices, fo their Appointment to thofe Offices was by a diftlnd:, particular Confecration ; and by the putting on, and wearing of certain Robes and Garments peculiar to their re- ipedtive Funcflions, and the Buiinefs each had to do : All which are defcrib'd at large in the Eighth Chapter of Numbers. And the Rights and Exercife of the Prieflhood be- ing, by God's immediate Command, limited to the Tribe of Leii^ from the Time of this Appropriation of theirs, that Tribe becamiC exempted from all Bufniefs of a fecular Na- ture, that they might Iiave nothing to inter- rupt them in the Difcharge of the Duties of their Ghurch-Government, G?c. 399 their Calling. And this falls in entirely with what we have proved in the fecond Sedion of Part the firfl:, concerning Church- Officers, the Nature of their Employ, and the proper End of their Appointment. And thus Reafon and Matter of Faft mutually aid and fupport each other. 33. As it makes no Part of our prefent Defign, to enumerate all the different Ranks ©f the Priefts of this Nation, together with their diftin*5l Offices and Employments, and the Qualifications neceffary for performing the Duties of them j fo, omitting thofe, we fhall pafs on to other Things, only taking Notice firft, that as no LevitCy till the Age of twenty-five Years and upwards, was to be admitted to wait upon the Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation ; fo, at the Age of fifty Years, they were allow'd the Liberty of retiring fi'om this Service. By which wife Contrivance it was provided, that as on the one hand none fhould be taken into thofe Offices till they were of Age and A- bilities fitted to perform the Duties of them 5. fo, on the other hand, that in Confidera- tion of Years growing upon them, and Men's. Strength accordingly failing them, their con- iilant 400 Reflections ttpon flant Attendance upon thofe laborious Minif- tratlons (for fuch thofe of the Sacrificature really were) likewife then ceafed, and were at an End. 34. From the Account now given we may fafely conclude, that the Jewijh Church had, from its firfl Eredtion, a flanding Minillry > and that none were permitted to ferve in holy Things but the Levites^ feparated on purpofe from the reft of their Brethren for this very Bulinefs. V/hich, by the way, fully eftabliihes our Doctrine of the Nature and Properties of a religious Society, as ex- plained above, 'viz. that every fuch Society muft have a Body of Men conftituted to prefide over, and have the Adminiftration of religious Matters committed to them. 35. It would detain the Reader too long to have an Account delivered him of the fe- veral Kinds of Tithes which w^re by the ex- prefs Order and Nomination of God himfelf appropriated for the Levites Ufe. Belides thofc^ they had a Right in many of the various forts of Offerings that were made, as alfo other Allowances, that were declared to be their Due by God's particular Appoint- ment. We fhall only obferve, that all thofe '^ =-^ Ap- CnURCH-GoVEkNMENT, Q?C. 4'dl Appropriations in their Favour, if eonfider'd and attended to by us, fufficiently fliew thb Greatnefs of God's Love and Kindnefs to thofe who are peculiarly, and in a more eminent manner employ'd in his Ser\'ice, and whofe proper Bufincfs it is to officiate at the Altai-. For, had he not a more tlian ordinary Care and Tendernefs for them, he would ntver have made fuch an ample Provifion for them of the good Things of this Life, and in a way fo eafy and commodious to them j and declar'd his Abhorrence of the Fa6t in fuch ftrong Terms, and the Vengeance he would take of thofe who are guilty of it, that iSj of fuch who would deprive them of their Right in fuch Things as God had aA fign'd for their Maintenance, by afTuring us, that every Indignity offer'd to their Perfons, or Lijury to their Charadlers, and Encroach- ments made upon their Properties, he fhould ever look upon to be the fame as an Affront offer'd to hinlfelf, and who would refent it accordingly. 36.That the OfHcers of the yew(/h Church made ufe of publick Forms in their Devoti- ohSj and fuch like religious Exercifes, is evi- dent to every one that will but turn to the Dd fixth jj02 ^-Reflections upon , iixth Chapter of Numbers^ where he Witl find Gcd himfelf, in the twenty-third Verfe, letting down the very Form of Words with which the Priefts were commanded to blefs the People. And one of their Writers tells us, that they [the Jews'] had a publick Li* turgy, Set-Forms of Prayer, &c, fuppofed, as he fays, to be drawn up by that famous Scribe Ezra^ with the Afliflance of the great Senate, confifting of one hundred and twenty Elders J and that thofe Forms were in Num- ber eighteen, which he enumerates there ix\ their Order, with the Subjedl-Matter they contain'd. , ^^ ' <% 37. As to Subfcription, it could be of no sSignlficancy at all in the Jewifi Church 5 for all their religious Rites and Ceremonies, their Laws and Inftitutes, even to the mi- nuteft Circumftance relating to them, were drawn up by God himfelf; and thus di- gefted ^nd reduc'd into Form and Order, were deliver'd by him to the yews.' AncJ therefore whilft thi« Syilem, refpedling their religious Service, was adhered to and fbl-^ low'd, Subfcription could be of no V^^^^' therefore not necellary. And the Reafon is, that thofe carrying their own Evidence along s.ba Church- GovERNMEN T, ^r. 403 With them/ and confequcntly Convidion, there could be no Room for requiring Men's AfTent in the Way of Subfcription, which always fuppofes Probability, more or lefs, but not Certainty. For v/hcever defires me to fubfcribe to any fingle Propofition, or to a Number of Proportions, defn-es, of Courfe, my AfTent to fuch Propofition, or Propofiti- ons, as appearing to me upon probable Evi- dence to be true. And the Degrees of AfTent will ever be ftronger, or weaker, in Propor- tion as the Evidence on which the Propo- fition or Proportions reft, is greater or lefs : But Certainty, or what is adtually known to be true (as all Things coming immediately from God, and deliver'd by him, mufl be) never courts, but demands our AfTent ; tliat is, we cannot avoid giving it. 38. But in the Chriflian Church, as in all others (excepting the Jeii)ijh) pretended to be founded on certain Revelations from Heaven, where the outward Polity, com- prehending the feveral Rites, Ceremonies, and other Properties necelTarily attendant on all inftituted religious Worfhip j in fuch Cafes as thofe, we fay, Subfcription mufl be of Service, and therefore necefTarj". For fuppo- D d 2 fing .404 -Reflections iip07t Ung a Number of Christians combin'd into at Body, fi'om a religious Conlidcration, to malic the beft ufe of the Means in theii" Power for eftabUlliing fuch a PoUcy, or Form of Government, as would beft anfwer the End of fuch religious AfTociation j yet, confidering the Difference there ever is in Men's Undcrilandings, as likcv/ife the Diffe- rence in the Means of their Improvement, that is, in their Education andWay of bringing up, their Opinions in this, as well as in all other Things, (not capable of flridl mathematical Certainty) will of Neceflity be different; and confequently the fame Form both of Doc- trine and Difcipline, which fome thought beff calculalfed for obtaining the End of their Convention, others would think not fo. And therefore, whilft one is making Choice of this, others would be for fixing on that. And 'tis more than probable, that this Diverfity of Sentiments will, agreeably to what we liave fhewn above, give Rife to different Churches, tho' founded upon the fame Revelation of the "Will of God to Mankind. The Security of which Churches therefore (as alfo the Confideration of prefcrving Peace and Unity nmonsf the Members of tlicm) ncccffarilv re- quires- CSURCH-GOVERNMENT, C^c. 40 i" quires that the Members of each Church do ^ive fome publick Teftimony of their Zeal and Affedion for its Interefls, before thev are allow 'd to hold Communion with her*- at leaft it is neceflary, that thofe fliould fub--- Icribe who are to be Officers in any parti- cular Church. 39. That Excommunication was in ufe among the Jews, and the Inflidion of it as a Punilhment, or rather, the Right to the Exercife of this expullive Power, belong'd chiefly to the Priefts of that Nation, is abun- dantly manifefl to every one who has the leaft Acquaintance with the Hiilory of this People, or that knows any thing of their Laws, their Cuftoms and Inftitutions. And that they grounded their Practice in this Par- ticular upon divine Command, plainly ap- pears from feveral Paflages in the Old Tefta- ment, moft of which we ihall now enumerate. 40. There have not been wanting fome who have run up the Infcitution of this fort' of Punilliment as high as to the Time of C^/;2's killing his Brother Abcl^ when God is faid to have driven him out from his Pre- fence. Which Opinion of theirs they ground upon thofe Vfords of Cai?! : Behold, fliys D 4 3 he, 4o6 Reflections upon " he, thou hajl driven me out this Dny from the Face of the Earth ; and from thy Face I Jloall be kid, and I f?all be a Fugitive and a Vagabond in the Earth ; and it fiall come to pafs that every one that findeth me fiall flay me. Which WoFds, as they think, denote Cain's being prohibited the holding any manner of Inteircourfe with other Men, Whether they neceffarily imply io much as this, we iliall not take upon us to deter^ mine j or what the Confcquences of fuch a Prohibition at that time might have been, we care not to mention, 41. The next Inflance (if that lafl rnen- tioned was fuch an one) of this fort of Pu-.' nifhment which occurs in the Hiftory of the fewifi People, is in the eighth Chapter of Numbers ; when Korah, and his AfToci-s ates Dathan and Abiram^ rebell'd againft Mofcs and Aaron, by making themfelves e- qual with them, and in endeavouring to perfwade the refl of the Congregation that thev were fo likewife : and at the fame time accufing the Ruler of the People of Pride and Ambition for annexing the Office of HighrPriefl to Aaron and his Family for- ever, to the manifell Prejudice of thofe who^ ChXTRCH- GoviSRNMENt, £i?r. 407 they^ pretended, had an equal Right, and therefore as good a Claim to it as any of his own Family. The Lord, after Mofes had generoufly interceded with him for the reft of the Congregation, that they might not fhare the fame common Fate with the Rebels, the Xoi'd, we fay, addrefs'd himfelf to Mofes in the following manner : Speak unto the Cofi- gregation^ that they get them up from about the 'tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; which when they accordingly had done, the ' Earth opened her Mouthy and fwalkwed them up, with every thing which belonged to themy as unworthy to continue any longer upon the Face of it, 42.- In like manner, when Achan, con- trary to God's exprefs Prohibition to all the Children of Ifrael in general, had, from a Spirit of Covetoufnefs, preferv'd and taken to himfelf fome of the beft of the Spoils of Jericho 'j Joflmay by the immediate Di^ re(5tion of God, took him, and the Silver^ and the Garment, and the Wedge of Gold, and his Sons, ahd his Daughters^ and his Oxen, and his Afjes, and his Sheep, and his Tent, and all that he had, and brought them into the' FalfeyofAt\ibv. And wheii Mofes, D d 4 with •408 /« o> Reflections upon .: with all Ifrael, had brought them thither, he immediately proceeds to pafs Sentence againft them, which, as foon as he had 'done Ipeaking, was accordingly executed up- on them. And this Pradice of dealing with Offenders, that is, oi l^parating them-r felves from them before the Sentence of Condemnation was allow'd to take Place, was what was univerfally adher'd to by the ifci^s. And thefe Inftances indeed feem to ihew, that Excommunication was in ufe a- mong the yews before that the Power of iniiidling capital Punifliments was in a great rneafure withdrawn from them, contrary to the Opinion of thofe v/ho hold that it was taken up afterwards. Tho' it is proper to take Notice, that whilft the Jews prefefv'd their Liberty (which was, as long as they continued in the Paths of Obedience) and the Law had its ilill Force, and was execu^ ted impartially, and without Refped of Per-- Tons (which it ever was, whilil: God was the fupreme Magiftrate in Civils) tliat in their Hi(tary but few Inftances are to be found of Excommunication far Ads of Im- piety and Immorality of any fort ;' becaufe ihe fame Fads, which, after their Law was ^i'- broke Church-Government, &c. 409 broke through, that is, upon the withdraw^ ing of the extraordinary Providence under which that People hv'd all the Time the Mo-^ faick Inflitute or Difpenlation continu'd per^ fed:, and in its full Vigour • the fame Ads, we fay, which now fubjeded them, as they did the Members of all other religious Socie- ties, rightly form' d, and purfuing the proper Rnds of their Inftitution^ to Excommunica- tion, were, by their Law, punifl:i'd with Death. Adultery, Difobedience to Parents both natural and political, Idolatry, Profit nation of the Sabbath, and, in fhort, all kinds of notorious Oifences, did, by their Law, fub- jed the Perpetrators of them to capital Pu- nifliments. And confequently, as the Perfons guilty of thpfe Crimes, were not permitted to live, there was no Occafion for excluding them from the Temple by any fuch formal Ad as that of Excopimunication mull be acr knowledg'd tq be. Though, agreeably to what we obferv'd above, before th^ Admini- ftration of Juftice was allow 'd to takp Place, the People met together upon fuch an Occa- fion, were oblig'd to retire to a certain Dir fiance from them, which when they had done, the Law was.then executed upon them. 3m But after the Jews Return from the Bafy- lojitjh Captivity, when their Oeconomy was falling to Pieces apace, and their Law could not, as before, be equally executed, that is, whilft the extraordinary Providence was gra- dually v/ithdrawing itfelf, it was ufual for them to treat Offenders in this Manner, that is, by feparating them from the Congregation, A moil famous Inftance of which appears ia tlie feventh and eighth Verfes of the tenth Chapter of Ezra : And they made Proclama-' tion throughout Judah and Jerufalem, wito all the Childre?i of the Captivity^ that they JJjould gather themfehes together unto Jerufalem, and that whofoe'uer ivculd not come within three Days^ according to the Coiinfel of the Princes, and the Elders ^ all his Subftance jhould be for ^ feitedy and himfelf feparated from the Congre^ gation of thofe that had been carrfd air ay. In which Words we have a politive Denuncia- tion of this excommunicating Power, againft all fuch a^ refufed to come up to ferufalem to fatisfy the Ends of fuch Convention*.- :\}----\ '-'- 43. yofephus likewjfe, in the feventh: Chap- ter of the fecond Book of the Hiftory of the yeivijh Wars, giving an Account of the three Se^s int(3 which this People was at this tiipe Church-Government, X^c. ^h divided, viz. the Effenes, the PharifeeSy and the ^addiiceSy fpeaks of Excommunication as a moft fevere Punifhment amongll: tliofe of the grft Divifion. His Words are as fbllovvy, TJpoji. the taking of any Man in a notorious JVickedneJsy he is excluded the Congregation-, and whofoenjcr incurs that Sentence^ comes pro^ bably to atnijerable End -, for he is jiot allowed fo much as to receive a Bit of Bread fi-om the Hands of a Stranger ^ tho* his Life itf elf were in Hazard -, fo that Men are driven to graze like Beajis till the Flefi rots from the Bone : In this Dijlrefs the Society hath fomctimes had the Charity aiid Compafjion to receive them a- g&in^ when they were at the very Point of Deaths computing that the Punijloment theyfuf- fer'd might infome Degree atone for the Offence » Tho' fuch an extraordinary Puniiliment ought not to be inflided but upon the Commiflion of fome extraordinary Crime j not upon any one furely under a capital one : It being a- gainft all the Ties and Rules of common Hu- manity, and contrary to the juil legitimate Pur« pofes of all religious Societies whatever, to punifh fuch Sorts of Oifences after this Rate, and with fuch extreme Severity ; becaufe this |he very Nature of Religion, all whofe Acfls ought 41^ Reflections upon ought to be free and voluntary, abfolutely for- bids and condemns. m, 44. And that the Governors of the JewiJJo Church were vefted with the common ne^ cefliiry Powers of ordering and doing all thofe Things which were judg'd fit and expedient for the Service of that Church, and the Ad^ miniftration of her Ordinances, may be ga- ther'd from the Practice and common Me- thods of Proceeding of her Governors, efpe- cially from Numbers^ Chap. iv. Verfes the the loth and 27th. 45. This Defcription of the JcwiJJj Church, and of the Means by which Religion was carry'd on amongfl them, and both the Senfe and Spirit of it preferv'd active and vigorous in their Minds, falls in with the general Doc^ trine of a Church, as laid down and demon- ftrated in the foregoing Sediions, which will" appear abundantly manifeft to any one who will compare them together. For here is a Church, with all its feveral Rites and Cere- monies drawn out and exhibited to the open View of all its Members, with a Miniftry conftituted to have the Cognizance of Matters ■ of Religion, and to perform all the publick Offices of it 3 who hav^ their Maintenance, with wltli all their other various Dues, prefcrib'd and mark'd out .by 'God himfelf, the better to prevent the Cares and Bufinefs of this World, to enjoy the good Things of it, diverting them from their Attendimce on his Servijce • en- trufted With a Power of excommunicating all difobedient, refractory Members ; ading and governing by certain ftated Rules and Me- thods of Proceeding ; and all this in a mofl regular and orderly Manner. 46. Touching the Independence of the yewijlj Church on the State, and, reciprocal- ly, the Independence of the State on the Church, from whence refults the, Supremacy of each, we may obferve, that God, imme- diately, and at the fame Time that he infli- tuted both the civil and religious Policy of this People, incorporated the one into the o- ther ; and confequently we are not to expert a full and particular Defcription of the feveral Powers, Rights, &c. which belong to a Church in her natural independent Capacity, fince neither Church nor State can exift but in U- nion with each other. 47. The Reafon which determdned the Deity to make the Union betwixt the two . . . .■ ' - ■ So- 4^4 KtF tt c*t 10 tjs upon "Societies himfelf, might, prpbably,, be on^^of thefe following. ^''^ ^^^i'^---'-^- "°'^f « i/?. To ferve as a Pattern for others to , i '^dj. ai ci^aX'ii 070W s^ni:;* 48. For, knowing that In Confequence of. the fatal Propeiifity of both Societies, to the^ Abufe of their refpeftive Adminiflrations, they could never fubfift conveniently but in. Union with each other j he, in Confequence of his Love to Mankind in generalj and to the yewijh Nation in particular, (whom^ foX fundry wife Reafons, he had pitch' d upon, as the propereft Means to preferve thofe No- tions which he, at different times, had com-* municated to them, of his Nature and Attri-^ butes, pure and uncorrupted) he^ 'we fay^ made the Union himfelf, intending moil like- ly by this, that it fhould ferve (when he fliould be pleas'd to reveal himfelf more fully again to the World) as a Pattern foi: other Nations to take Examples by ; if not in fixing ^ the Conditions or Terms of Union, and in ad- jufting the reciprocal Rights, Duties, &c.. eonfequent upon it, yet in evincing both the., Lawfulnefs and Expediency of fuch a Practice betwixt the governing Part of both Socie-_ ties. ■.. sJ^in'^no-;.! ^-uTihJ i^ ^:.^:^ i-.* s.'^'-i^* 49. As Church-Government, (^c, 415 49. As God was the Author both of the civil and ecclefiaftical Polity of the yews.-, and confidering the Abufes to which the two So- cities were liable in the Exercife of their re- fpedive Powers, it was neceflary that fome kind of Union Ihould be entered into by them, if they would attain the proper Ends of their Inftitution j fo it fecms fitting that God fhould complete the whole Affair by making this Union betwixt the two Societies himfelf. — The Fad:, in truth, could not be otherwife. The Form of Government under which the JewiJIj People lived, was different from that of any other Nation under the Sun. For theirs was a perfed: Theocracy, God himfelf condefcending to be their King, or fupreme Magiilrate, by which Means it would necefTarily come to pafs, that he muft l)e Legiflator both in Civils and Eccleiiaili- cals ; the Confequence of which is, that the Obje<5l of their civil and religious Inflitutes being one and the fame, their religious and civil Policy would, ofCourfe, run into eacht; othcr^ and become perfectly incorporated; j,:? From whence likewife it would follow, thatj every Breach of this* Policy^ or \in otheci Words) all Sorts of Crimes committed mn fuch '416 Reflections iipori fuch a State, would neceflarily render the Subject guilty of lefe Majefty, and be punifh- ed accordingly. And in this View may be juftify'd all thofe penal Laws relating to Matters both of Opinion and Practice iil the Mofaick Difpenfation, which have in all Ages been Complain 'd of as iniquitous and unjufl. 30. Had there not indeed been this clofc Union betwixt the two Societies, the Peo- ple could never have been preferv'd, final- ly, as they were, from Idolatry. For at the! time of the Union, their religious and civil Concerns came to be fo mix'd and blended together, that they rofe and fell with each other ; our Meaning is, that the ftrid:er thofe People were in their Religion, or the more careful in the Obfervance of thofe Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances, which God had drawn up for their Ufe, and delivered to them, the happier and more prolperous they conftantly were ; and, reciprocally, their Afflid:ions and Sufferings ever increas'd in Proportion to their Undutifulnefs to God, and to their Neglecl of his Precepts. This will appear univerfaily true to aay one who r^ads the Hiftory of this People, as it is given ■Church-GovernmenTj &C. At J given us in the Old Teflament. When they withdrew thcmfelves from the Service of tlie true God, and had given themfelves up to the working of all manner of Uncleannefa with Greedinefs 3 Godj prOvok'd at thofe Pradlices, did, as he dendunc'd he ever would do in fuch Cafes, withdraw himfelf from them ; and then no Wonder, that we find them at fuch Juncflures as thofe become an eafy Prey to their Enemies : But when. they kept clofe to their Obedience, and were zealous in the Service of the God of their Fathers, he, agreeably to his Promife, was always with them, making them fuccefs- fill in all their Undertakings, and to profper in whatever they went about. And it Is a furprizing Gonfideration, that, notwithfland- ing temporal Bleffings and Afflidiions, (the flrongefl Motives, that as a People at that Time circumftanc'd, they were capable of being influenc'd by) always follow 'd their Obedience or Difobedienee to God's Laws, yet this indiiloluble Connexion of one with the other was not fufficient to keep them in the Paths of their Duty. Their Pliilcry in- forms us how forward they were (notwith- flandin^ the repeated Promifes and Threat- E e enines 4rS ReflectioKs upon enings made ufe of, the one to engage them by the Hopes of enjoying the good Things of this World in the Service of tlie only t^ue God ; the other to retrain them^ thro' the Fear of Punifliment, from every Adt of Rebellion againft himj) their Hiflory in- forms us, We fay, how forward they were, notwithflanding the Provifions made againfl: it (the befb Provifions infinite Wifdom could, contrive) to fall off from his Service,, and to join with the neighbouring Nations in their idolatrous Pradlices ; proftituting them« felves in the moft fcandalous manner, and irt Contradiction to the befl and mofl: perfe(5t Syftem of Laws that any Body of People befides themfelves were ever blefs'd with. Whence this Defedlion >n the Ifraelites from the Service of the true God, and his Reli- gion, could arife j and what Ends God had to ferve by his preferving the Jews (as he did finally) from Idolatry, are Quefrions which we fhall not now enter upon the Confideration of, as foreign to the Defign oi our prefent Subjed:, I II. Church- Government, &V. 419 § II. I. ^ B "^ H E Defigii of every Revela- JL tion, adlually coming from the fupreme Being, was to acquaint thofe, to whom it was iirfl communicated, as like- wife all others, who, after careful and im- partial Enquiry made into the Evidences of the Truth of its Preteniions, were come to a full Belief of its being of divine Ex- traction ; the Defign, we fay, of every fuch Revelation, was to inform all thofe, who thus embrac'd it, what particular Ad:ions, both as to the Matter and Manner of tliem^ as well as what Omiffions, were agreeable to the divine Will, and, on that Confider- ation, introdudive to his Favour and Ac- ceptance J and what Adions and Omiffi- ons had the contrary Tendency, and, as fuch, became the Ground and Foundation of his Difpleafure : Or, the Defign of God's revealing himfelf in this Manner, might not only be to do this, but likewife to dif- cover fome Truths, which Reafon, left to itfelf, without any other Guide or Affiftance, could not have trac'd out, the Belief of which was, fome way or other, in this or that Degree, neceifary to their Happincfs. Now E e 2 if ^20 Reflections upon if a Revelation would anfwer the End for which it was given, and cany with it the proper, necelfary means of Convidlion of its Defcent from Heaven, the Dodirines it exhibits, the Precepts it enjoins, the Duties it enforces, and the Motives and Affiftan- ces it propofes for the due and confcien- tious Obfervance of them, mufl: all and each of them, in their Nature and Tendency, be fuited to the particular Times, Places, and Genius's of the People, for whofe Ufe fuch Revelation was intended. For had it not this Refemblance, and thefe Marks of Con- formity and Agreement, it cannot be, but that fuch a Revelation would be rejected as the Impofture of fome defignhig Being, who, in not accomodating himfelf to their Capacities, that is, to their Conceptions of Things and Perfons, would be thought to deal arbitrarily with them ; and not in a way which their Wants and Neceffitiea of this Kind feem'd to require : Becaufe the Mind will necefliirily judge of Things ac- cording to the State and Difpofition in which flie is to view and confider them. And this fhews us, that a Revelation may be fit at one Jundure, which is not fo at another ;. Church-Government, ^t". 421 -another j and to this Nation, or Body of Men, which is unfit for that, varying ac- cording as Men's Capacities of admitting it are different. God, fays a certain great Au- thbf i^' 1 tempered the ceremonial Law according ■to the Condition and Capacity of the Perjons it ^was prefcrib'd to, and therefore the SanBions f 452 Reflections upon of human Wifdom liable to be baffled aiifl confounded. Nothing lefs therefore than a Being of infinite Intelligence, who can fee to and thro' the whole of Things, and the Dependence which the feveral Parts have up- on each other, can poflibly know what Events will turn up in this or that Age of the World. And confequently as every Prophefy fure to he fulfilled, cannot be fo, that is, cannot be brought about by human Contrivance and Ability only, it is evident, that it can no otherwife be effected except by the Direc- tion of divine Wifdom and Power : Or, in other Words, that being omnifcient, God fees what Meafures will be concerted, and hov/ Matters fliall be ordered for the bringing about any Effedt, and therefore, in fach Cafes, can pronounce with as much Certainty about it, as if the Accomplifliment v/as adually pafl. ' ' That a Man ihould fore- " tell very diilant Things, that depend on " the arbitrary Determination of free Agents, '" or that feem to be entirely at the Plea- " fdre and Orderance of Providence, can, *' favs an ingenious Writer, be never ac- " counted for but by fome Intimation given " him Church-Government, &c. 453 *' him by a Wifer and more knowing Being " than himfelf." iB. When the Lord of Nature, for tlie fuller and more explicit Difcovery of his Will, and the Reformation of fuch Abufes and monftrous Corruptions as had kept gra- dually creeping into Religion, was pleas'd to fend his Son from on High, to lead Man- kind to the true Knowledge of him, by a Method perfedly familiar, and every Way fuited to their Apprehenfions and Capacities -, to teach them the Way in which he would have them worfhip him, or what was the proper End and Defign of religious Wor- fhip J and to fulfill the Promife which he had made to the Founder of a chofen pe- culiar People, that out of one of the tiveke bribes to be defcended from him fiotdd co7JK the Saviour of the World, or one who fooula blefs all People^ or, rather, in whom all the Natio7is of the Earth Jhould be blejfed : At the Time foretold by certain Prophets God had rais'd up for this very Purpofe, in or- der to beget a general Expedation of him in the World, at the Time appointed, we fay, this divine MeiTenger made his Appear- ance in the Flefh, and with the mofl con- G g 3 fummate ^54 Reflections upoit liimmate Propriety anfwered that truly ami- iibie and heroick Charad:er given of him, of his being the Redeemer of Mankind: And he demonftrated as well the Divinity of his Million, as his Fitnefs for the Office to which he was appointed, by a Repetition of fuch A6ts as plainly exceeded all the Powers of created Nature ; for no Power lefs than infinite could have done what he did. He reftored Sight to the Blind j Speech to the Dumb ; Hearing to the Deaf; Life to the Dead : And as his Works were fuch as never Man perform' d, or could pretend to, fo he taught as no Man before him ever taught ; he left behind him, for the Ufe of Mankind, a Syilem of fuch plain and cafy, and v/ithall fuch excellent and perfe(^t Rules, for the Behaviour of Men in all States and Conditions of Life, and at the fame time enfbrc'd 'em with the ftrongeft Motives and all the engaging Methods of Perfuafion, as never were delivered from the Mouth of any Philofopher, or to be. found in all their Writings taken together. But, what is above all, he ad:ed as he taught, and his Behaviour in every Inflance of it was exactly conformable to the Laws he pre* fcribcd Church- Government, Q?r. 455 fcribed to others ; he was expos'd to all man- ner of Infults and OutrageSj and fuffer'd more and greater Hardfliips than any of the Sons ' of Men ever did j and notwith- ftanding all thofe Provocations and Abufes, exceeding in the Number of them, and as affrontive in their Nature^ as any that were ever yet fubmitted to by Man, he did no Sin, neither was Guile found in his Mouth, His Love and AfFe(flion for Goodnefs and Righteoufnefs was fuch^ as what the flrong- cll and moft powerful Temptations could not ftagger^ nor confequently overcome ; and he bravely withflood the fierceft Aliaults of his crueleft Enemies, by reiifling even unto Death, The Coniideration of a Life thus exemplary in itfelf, and fo entirely of a Piece with the Do(3:rines he delivered, is the beft-adapted and moil prevailing Motive that can be to draw over all thoughtful Men to an Imitation of it. Precept and Example in Conjundiion will be ever found, if due Attention be paid them, to have a mighty Efficacy upon others, and will fcarce fail, fooner or later, to engage fuch to an Obedience to, and Obfervance of them. And this was remarkably verify'd in the G g 4 Adion 456 Reflections upon A(5lions and Sufferings, in the Lives and Deaths of the Apoftles and firft Teachers of the Chriilian Faith, as "is abundantly e- vident from the Hiftory of thofe Times. Immediately before his Afcenfion into Hea^ ven, he appointed certain Officers out of thofe who had confbntly attended him, who who had feen his Works, and heard his Dodrines, during his Miniftry upon Earth, to carry on and perfed the great Work he had begun amongft them ; with Orders for feparating themfelves, after they had conti- nued a certain fpace of Time at yerufakm, and to preach the Gofpel to all Nations -, iirfl: indeed to the Ji^ivs ( as was moft fitting it fliould be, they being his chofen Inftru- ments for preferving the Dodtrine of the Unity ) and afterwards to the Gentiles : The great End of their Inflitution, or Appointment to this Work, was, to convert Unbelievers to the Chriftian Faith ; to explain the Dodirines, and enfosce the Duties of it; to inftrudt the Ig- norant ; to fatisfy the Doubtful j to convince the Gainfayer ; and to Confirm Believers in the Faith ; and laftly, to adminifter the two Sacraments of Baptifm and the Lord's Sup- per. Thofe he calls Apoflles, fignifying, by i.he Name he had now given tliem, tliat they Church-Government, ^f. 457 they were fent by him, and coiilequent- ly had their Conimiffion from him. And that all fuch, as ihould in After-times em- brace his Religion, might be fatisfy'd in a Particular of this Moment, we have the Coni- miffion granted to the Apoftles, left us up- on undoubted Record, 'John xx. Pcace^ foys, our Saviour, be unto you j as my Fathci- fcnt me [ to preach the Gofpel ] even fo fend I Ton -y and when he had faid this^ he breathed on them^ and faid^ Receive Ton the Holy Ghojl : Whofejoever fins ye remits they arc remitted ; a?id whofefoever Sins ye retain, they are retained. And to convince them that this Power was delegated, not to them only, but to all thofe who fliould fucceed them in that Office to the End of the World, when he afterwards gave them his Direc- tions for the Execution of it, he adds, by way of Encouragement, Lo I am with Ton always^ even to the E?id of the World. This the Apoflles, who mufl be allowed befl: Judges of the Will of Chrift, their common Mailer, fo underftod, that whatever hereby was committed to them, was not fuppofed to be merely perfonal, but fomething belonging ro their Office, and a Confequence from it; 458 Reflections upon it J and, in this View, not to die with them, but to continue to the End of the World : And accordingly we find, that when the Number of Believers encreas'd, and the Con- verfions to Chriflianity were both large and many, the Apoftles ordain'd fit Perfons to iiiTiil them in the Work entrufted to their Care and Management. And this they did by the Impofition of Hands, in reference to the Method, Mofes, by God's exprefs and fpecial Order, had ufed in the confecrating of Jojl.niay hi Jetting him over the Cojigrega- t'lon to go out and to come in before them^ Numb, xxvii, and alfo in Allufion to a Cuf- tom much in Ufe among the 'Jews in thofe Times, viz. their laying on of Hands up- on thofe whom they appointed to any par- ticular Office or Employment : For thus their Elders, and the Members of their San- hedrim iire faid to be chofe. Agreeably to this, when the Apoftles met together at Je- rufalcjn, they ordain'd the feven Deacons by laying their Hands on them j Acts vi. So likewife Faul ordain'd Timothy^ and he is laid to have receiv'd the Holy Ghoft, by the laying on of PauH Hands. In like maimer Paul and BmiMkas are mentioned, as Church-Government, &c. 459 as having ordain 'd Elders in every Church, ^^s xxiv. The Fa(fl is, the Succeffion of Officers in the Chriftian Church v^^ill, if trac'd up to the Fountain Head, be found to have had its Beginning from the Apoftles themfelves, as might eafily be made out from the Teftimonies of the Fathers, if occafi- on required — The learned Bi(hoipStiIIin^eefy in his Treatife flil'd Ireniciifn^ fays, that this Cuftom of laying on of Hands upon thofe defign'd for any publick Employment, bemg fo generally in life among the Jews in the Time when the Apojlles wej'e fent forth with Authority for gathering and fettling Churches, we fnd them, accordingly making Ufe of this, either for the more folemn hivo- cation of the Prefcnce of God upon thofe Per- fons, or for the T>efignation and Appointment of them to any pecidiar Service or FwiBion, For we have no Ground to think that the Apojlles had a?iy peculiar Command for laying on their Hands upon Perfons in Prayer (M)er them, or Ordination of them : But the Thifig iffelf being enjoin' d them, viz. the fetting a- part fome Perfons for the peculiar Attendance upon the Necefities of the Churches by them planted, they took up and made ufe of a laudable Rite 460 Reflections upon Rite andCuftom then in Ufe iiponfuch Occ a/ions. 19. From this Pra6lice of the Apoftleb, and firft Fathers of the Chriftian Church, may we draw an Obfervation, which will be of Service to us, as it carries along with it a diredt Confutation of one Sett of thofe Principles on which a certain Se6t amongil: us have built their Syftem of Divinit}-. For the Apoflles laying their Hands upon thofe whom they appointed Rulers and Paftors of the Church, plainly gives us to under- ftand, that it is neceffary, that thofe, who are to be admitted to officiate in it, ihould be outwardly ordain'd, as well as inwardly call'd. If Ordination, by the laying on of Hands, was an ufelefs Inllitution, and confe- quently of no Signiiicancy, what could be the Reafon of the Apoftles ordaining T'ittis^ Timothy, 6cc. and thofe others in a regular Order of SuccelTion } Thofe, whom the Apoftles thus ordai?2'dy muft be allow 'd to have, pre- viouily to their Ordination, as much of the Spirit's Illumination, and divine Graces, as any Number of Men amongfl us at this time of Day dare pretend to ; and yet for all this, they mufl: be ordain'd, we fee, be- fore they be permitted to preach the Gofpel, or Church-Government, ^c. 461 or to perform the other Offices of Church- men. An undeniable Argument of the Ex- pediency, if not of the Neceffity of this Rite, or particular Method of admitting Per- fons into the Miniflry of the Church 3 that is, this Pradrice of the Apoflles, and of their immediate SuccefTors, fliews us it is the Will of Chrifl ( for who can be fuppofed to know his Will, either in relation to the Govern- ment of the Church, or to the Appointment of her Minifters, better than they ) that there be a iix'd, ftanding Order of Men, to admitt and rejedl to and from the Mi- niilry all fuch Perfons, as upon Examina- tion appear to be fit or unfit for this im- portant Bufinefs ; and therefore without fuch a previous Ordination as this, Men muft not prefume to ferve in God's Houfe, or to give their Attendance in Quality of Officers, on religious Matters in publick Affemblies, whatfoever Gifts, Illuminations, &c. they make Pretences to, or actually conceit them- felves to be poffefs'd of : And it is not dif- ficult to conceive, how foon, and with what Facility, a ftrong Fancy, or warm Imagina- tion, may work itfelf into a Perfuafion, that it is really under the immediate A(5ti- on 462 REFLECTIONS Upon on and ImprefTion of feme fuperior invifi- ble Being. This Pradice of the Apoftles is, xve think, of Weight enough to overturn all the Arguments they can bring in favour of the Self-fufficiency of their admir'd inward Light. Can any, at this diftance of Time, pretend to know the Mind of Chrifl better than thofe who were conftantly with him ? And muft not the Apoftles, and their SuccelTors, be allow'd equally good Judges with any Body of Men in this Age, of the feveral Conditions and Qualifications requiiite to conflitute the proper Character of Church- men ? None furely can deny this. And with thinking Men this will have its Weight. ** When every other Office of Trufl and " Power, fays a judicious Writer, whether " in a civil or military Capacity, is conveyed " unto Men by fome Form of Admiffion, " and folemn Inveftiture, 'tis incongruous " to think, that thofe great Offices of fend- " ing up the Prayers of the People, of " adminiftrine the Word and Sacraments, " of bleffing the Congregation, of abfolving " the Penitent, of ejeding the Criminal, &c. *' fhould be left to the Difcretion of every " one, that either has Prefumption enough '* to Church-Government, &c, 463 *^ to afTume, or Abilities enough to perform ** it." See Comber 07i Ordi7iation. 20. The fame Qualifications which are ne- ceiTary to Men's Entrance into the Offices of Church-men, muft likewife tie neceflary to their Continuance in them. For it may be aflc'd, What gives Men a Right to an Ad- miffion into the Miniflry ? The Anfwer, we prefume, is, the having fuch Qualifications as the Governors of the Church, or thofe entrufted with the Power of Ordination, think neceffary for Men related in fiich par- ticular manner to the Churchy to have. Con- fequently thofe Qualifications are confider'd as neceffary to the due Performance, and pro- per Difcharge of the Duties of fuch Offices ; and if fo, then equally necefiary to Men's Continuance in, as they were at firft to their Admiffion into them. The next Queflion then is. What are thofe Qualifications ? and who are to be Judges of them ? As to the Qualifications themfelves, they are exprejly fet down by St. Faid in his Eplfi:les to T^itus and 'T'imothy : In his firfi: Epiftle to Timothy y Chap. iii. 'ver. 2. fpeaking of a Biffiop, he has thefe Words : A Bifiop 7mijl be blame- lefs J the Hiijband of ofie Wife • 'vigilant^ fo- ber^ 464 Reflections upon ber, of good Behaviour, given to Hofpitalif^, apt to teach, not give}irtQ Wi?ie • no StriJzef ; not greedy of filthy Lucre ; but pat^ient, not a Brawler^ not covetous ; one that ruleth iveU his own Houfe, having his Children in Sub- jecfion with all Gravity, (for if a Man knows not how to rule his -own Houfe, how Jlmll he take Care of the Church of God?) And in hk fecond Epiftle, the fecond Chapter, and M- teenth Verfe, fpeaking to 'Timothy, he ex- horts him thus : Study to fiew thyfelf ap- proved unto God, a Workman that needcth not to be afi-mmed, 7-ightly dividing the Word of Truth. The fame Qualifications, almoft in the very fame Words, he requires thofe fliould have whom Titu^ was to ordain, with this Addition indeed made to them, that a Biiliop JJoould hold fafi the faithfid Word, as he had been taught, that he may be able, by found Doc- trine, both to exhort and convince the Gain- fayers. From which two PalTages it evident- ly appears, that a Bifliop mull be a Perfon of fuch a Life and Converfation, and fo watch- ful over his Morals and Condud:, as not to give Offence thereby to any of thofe whom he is appointed to rule over ; or what may ■ have a Tendency to bring his Office into Con- Church-Government, ^c, /|.6c Contempt : And alfo one of that Learning, and of thofe Abilities, as will enable him to fatisfy the Sceptick, and convince the Infidel. Surel)^, of all Men, ought Minifters to be always ready to give an Anfiver to every Ma?i that ajketh thejn a Reafo?t of the Hope that is in them ivith Meehiefs atid Fear. And there- fore a good natural Capacity, or Underfland- ing, well fraught with Learning, and other fuitable Improvements, is, (whatever fome Men may pretend to the contrary) of excel- lent Ufe and Service, and, under that No- tion, not to be overlooked in the Choice of a Miniiler of the GofpeL St. Faiil reckons Wifdom and Knowledge in the firft Rank of the Gifts of God j and v/hen he comes to give us a Defcription of the Properties of a true Bifhop, or Governor of the Church, he requires, as we juft now obferved, this, as one necelTary Qualification, that he be apt to teach, and able by found Do5lrine, &c. Who are to be Judges of thofe Qualifixations, is the next Thing that demands our Confideration ; or, in other Words, In whom is the Power of Ordination lodg'd ? We anfwer, ftrictly fpeaking, it refides with the Governors of the Church. This we learn from St. Faid'^^ Com- H h mand 466 Reflections upon mand to I'imothyy not to lay Hajids fuddcnfy upon any Man ; which Charge, diredtly, and in plain, pofitive Terms, proves, that the Apoflles and their SucceiTors had a Right to ordain thofe Bifhops and Deacons, whom they found properly qualified to take the Care and Management of this important Truft upon themfelves ; and if fo, then a Right to judge, and finally determine, of Men's Abih- ties and Fitnefs for thofe Offices : For if thofe Words of St. Paul did not neceflarily imply a Power to reject the Unworthy, and fuch as have not the Qualifications requifite for the proper Execution of EcclefiafLical Offices, this Jjijundlion would have been fuch an Incon- fiAency in him, as we cannot in Juftice to his Charader, fuppofc St. Paul guilty of: And if the Charge implies a Power to rejc6l the Unworthy, fo confequently to admit the Worthy. Of which Worthinefs or Unwor- thinefs therefore Church-Officers themfelves mufl be left Judges. Befides, it may be tru- ly affirm'd, that not one among a thoufand of the lower Sort of People knows v/ho has,, and who has not, Learning and Abilities pro- per to defend Religion againfl the Attack$- of its common Enemies : And \i thofe who- are CiltJkClt-GoVERNrvIENT, 6V. are let apart to defend the Faith, be not able to do it, the People will foon have no Faith left to defend. But this hath been largely fliewn in Prop. 3. Seui. 3. — " Certainly fays a fine " Writer, no Care can be too great in the " Choice of fit Perfons to be entrufted ** with fiich an arduous Work ( as explain- " ing the Duties of Religion, and enforcing " the Obfervance of thereupon Mankind ; ) " nor in the Prevention of bufy Intruders *' fi-om taking to themfelves any Part in " the facred Miniftry of God's Church. " They who have already labour 'd in the *' Gofpel with approv'd Commendation, are *' certainly, in the Nature of Things^ the *' fittefl Judges what Qualities and Manners, " what Furniture of Learning, or what Suf- " ficiency of natural Talents will bell en- ^* able others to follow them in the fame " glorious Traft, with like Probabilities of " SuccefSj and with an equal Meafure of de- " ferv'd Applaufe. Preaching would be er- " rant Babling, an Ordinance neither fit for '' the Injlitution of God^ nor the Obfewance " of Man ; if from the Impuife of his own " private Fancy, every one wxre permitted " to vent in the Church the Crudities of FI h 3 '' his 468 Reflections upon " his fickly Heart, or more fickly Brains " This were an Abfurdity, and a Mifchief '' which the God of Order, and the Man of " Senfe, muil aHke abhorr and naufeate. " And to give all their Due,, it is pretty " generally now exploded." 21. Further^ if the Right of appointing the Oflicers or Miniflers of the Church be- long'd not to her Governors, but to the Laity, then could not thofe Governors laave a Power of expelling fuch of their Body as adted in Violation of the Trull arifing to them fi'om the End of their Office, and who em- ploy that Power, and thofe Means put in- to their Hands to be exercis'd for the Church's Good, in Oppofition to it, and in Prejudice to her Interefts : Becaufe in whomfoever the Right of Admiffion is lodg'd,. with thofe, of Courfe,isthe Right of Expulflon lodg'd alfo j and without the Exercife of this Power in her Officers, the Church as a Society cannot fublifl. 22. But tho' we re]e6t the abfolute Ne- ceffity, yet we contend for the Fitnefs and Expediency of the People's Confent and Ap- probation being given to thofe Perfons who are to be ordained their Miniflers : For be- twiict thefe there is.^a wide and material .Difference, Church-Government, 6?r. 469 Difference. It is indeed but reafonable, that the People, whole Interefl, both as to this and the other World, is fo much concerned in the juft and prudent Adminiftration of Ecclefiaftical Affairs ; and who are obliged to contribute, in a decent, honourable Way, to the Maintenance of their Miniffers, it is but reafonable, we fay, they fhould be con- fulted and their Advice taken, before fuch Officers are appointed over them. And ac- cordingly we find ^the Apofiles, after they had call'd the Multitude x)f Difciples to them, giving out their Orders to them, to look out from among them {tven Men, whom, fay they, we may appoint and fet over this Bu- finefs 5 which when they had done, the A- poftles are faid to have pray'd, and then to have laid their Hands on them. And this, we find, to have been generally the Pradtice in all Ages fince the Chi-iftian Church had a Being. " At all Ordinations, fays " the learned Dodor Oive in his Primi- " live Chriffianity, efpecially of fuperior Offi- " cers, the People of the Place were always ^' prefent, and ratify'd the Adion with their «' Approbation and Confent. And indeed ^^ it cannot be deny'd but that the People, in H h -3 " fome 47© Reflections upon " fome Places efpecially, were very much ** confidered in this AjfFair, it being feldom or " never done without their Prefence or Suffrage, "To this End the Bifliop was wont, be- " fore every Ordination, to propound and pub- " ///7j the Names of thofe who were to " have holy Orders conferr'd upon them, *' that fo the People, who beft knew ■ ' their Lives and Converfations, might inter- " pofe if they had any thing material to " objed: againft it. By which means the *^ Unworthy were difcovered and reied:ed, " the Deferving honoured and admitted, the *^ Ordination became legitimate and fatis- " fadt ory, having pall the common Vote " and Suffrage, without any Exception being " made againfl it, as 0;priaj2 fpeaks. " Hence the Clergy, of what Order foever, " were faid prtrdicari, to be propounded and '' ptd-lifffd. And this Way feemed fo fit '^ and reafonable, that Server us the Emperor "^''''(a wife and pmdent Prince ) in Imitation *^ 'of the Chriftians, eftabliflicd it in the '' Difpofal of civil Ofhces." 23. Bifliop Burnet, in his Hiflofy of the Reformation, like wife tells us, " that the ^' Apofllcs cllofe Bifliops a^id Faflors by an »' ex- Church- Government, ^r. 471 *^ extraordinary Gift of difcerning Spirits, and " propofed them to the Approbation of the •*^ People, yet they left no Rules to make ^* this Pradice neceflary. In the Times of " Perfecution, the Clergy being maintained " by the Oblations of the People, they were *V chofen by them : But when the Emperors >-' became Chriftians, the Town-Councils ^* and eminent Men took the Elections out ■*' of the Hands of the Rabble. And the " Tumults in popular Eledlions were fuch, '* that it was necelTary to regulate them. " In fome Places the Clergy, and in others ** the Bifliops of the Province made this •*' Choice. The Emperors referv'd the Con- *' firmation of the Elediions in the great <* Sees to themfelves.'* It is not difficult to affign, and with fome Exa6tnefs, the dif- ferent Caufes of thofe feveral Changes which from Time to Time happened in regard to thofe Eledions. 24. And be it further obferv'd in Vindi- cation of the Form of Procedure now in Ufe with our Bifhops, that as it is impofli- tle, in the prefent Circumstances of Things, for the Governors of the Church, to whom, we have prov'd, the Right of Ordination be- ll h 4 loJig^, 472 Reflections upon longs, fliould have a perfonal Knowledge of the Character of thofe who offer themfelves for Orders, fo is it fitting, that they have an Account of their Morals and manner of Life tranfmitted to them, under proper Tefti- monials, from thofe among whom they lafl refidcd ; that is, it is proper they fliould have the People's Confent and Allowance. But tho' we contend for this as the fitteft and moil: equitable Method of appointing Church- Officers, yet we maintain, that the Negled: of it, or that the "Want of fuch . Confent, does not render their Ordination a Nullity, or of none Effedl. 25. There are fome, who, tho' willing to allow the Apoftles to have been Officers of the Chriftian Church, and their Labours of eminent Service in Men's Converfions to Chriftianitv, yet maintain that the Office of Minifters died with their Perfons, and that every Man now was left at mil Liber- ty to be his own Prieft in holy Things. An Opinion fo abfurd and extravagant, and withall fo contrary to Fa ft, and the Practice of the primitive Church, thafit is fci^ree donceivable how Men at firft came ,. to f^ive into the Belief of it, . much jnorc , that . Church- Government, (i^r. 473 that any fhould be employed in the Pro-oL pagation of it. For if the Work of a Mi- nister be as neceffary in one Age of the World as it is in another, the Office mufl be fo likewife. And if there be an equal Neceffity for the Continuance of the Office down from the firfl Beginnings of Things to the final Conclufion of them, then mull the Office be continued to that Period of Time : Becaufe as Neceffity confiiitutes the Office, and if this Neceffity always remains the fame, then the Office mufl do fo like- wife : But the Neceffity ever continues the fame j therefore, ^c. That the Work, and confequently the Office of a Minifter, is, at all Times, in all Places, and under all given Circumftances, equally neceffiary in the World, appears abundantly evident from hence ; that Prayers and Thankfgivings, with all the fe- veral diflind: A(5ls and Properties of pub- lick Worfhip, are the conflant, proper Du- ties of rational dependent Beings, and confe- quently ought not to be neglected, or pofl- pon'd to other Confiderations of lefs Import- ance. And that the right and decent Per- formance of thofe Duties requires an Order of Men fet apart for this Bufinefs, has been 474 Reflections upon been fully prov'd above. Befides, agreeably to what we took Notice of in another Place, the Ignorant and Illiterate, ( of whom is the far greater Part of Mankind ) want the In- flru6tion of others in the great Affair of Re- ligion, and in Order to be let into an af- fecting Knowledge of the momentous Con- cerns of another World. Thefe are Things of everlafling Neceffity, and indifpenlibly in- • cumbent upon Men as Men. And there-r fore if Scripture was filent as to this Point, the Neceffity of the Cafe plainly fhews, that there mufl: be always a Church with proper Officers in it to the End of the World. If we look into Chriftianity, and di- rect our Enquiry into the Nature and De- lign of the Precepts, Statutes, and Ordinan- ces of it, we fliall find, that Men, confidered in the Capacity of Chriflians, are under the fame Neceffities in refpe6l of Inftruftion, and confequently have equal Occafions with any other Denominations of Men for a ftanding, ordinary Miniftry in the Church. If the Author of this Difpenfation did himfelf make Choice of an Order of Men to preach the Gofpel ; to convert Unbelievers to iht Chriftinn Faith 3 to explain its Doc- trines, Church-Government, &c. ^y^ trlnes, and adminifler its Sacraments : And if the Gofpel muft be preach' d ; if Perfons muft be admitted Members of his Church by Baptifm, and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper celebrated, till the End of the World 5 then muft there be a Body of Men appoint- ed to perform thofe and the like Rites, Offi- ces, &c, Becaufe the Performance of them was by his particular Appointment appropriated to fuch a Body of Men in Diftindion from, and Exclufion of, all others. 26. Had we no exprefs Declaration there- fore from Chrift himfelf of the Continu- ance of the minifterial Office to the End of the World, yet from the Nature and Defign of Religion in general, and of Chrifti- anity in particular, we might with Certainty conclude that it was to lafl: fo long. And our Saviour hath as good as in plain, di- re6t Terms told us fo, by faying, that he would be with the Apoftles and their Succeffors, as an Aid and Support to help them in the Difcharge of their Office, un- til his fecond coming to judge the World. 27. Laftly ; a Miniftry Was adually ap- pointed by the Apoftles themfelves, for fo we 476 Reflections upon we read, Adts xiv. 23. And when they had erdained them Elders in every Church, and had pray' d with Fajiifig, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believ'd. And pro- per Orders are given for appointing others to perform the hke Offices with them in the Church, that is, for continuing the Suc- ceffion, as appears from 2 Tim. ii. 2. A?2d the T^hings which thou hafi heard of me a- viong ma7iy Witnejfes, the fame commit thou to faithful Men, who fiall be able to teach ethers alfo. And from T!itus, i. 5. For this Caife left I thee in Crete, that thou JJjouldJi fet it Order the Takings that are wanting, a?id ordain Elders in every City, as I had appointed thee. From which common Prac- tice of the Apoflies, we may be affur'd (how- ever differently from them fome Perfons now-a-days may think, who, it feems, con- ceit themfelves to be wifer, and to under- Hand the Will both of Chrifl ann his A- poftles better than they ; ) we may be affured, we fay, their Opinion was, that the Offices of Church-men were not temporary, and to die with their Perfons : But, on the contrary, it was the Will of the Author of this Religion, that there ihould be a Succeffion of fuch Officers, Church-Government, (^c, 477 Officers, veiled v^^ith the fame neceiTary Powers of explaining the Dodrines of Chriftianity, and of enforcing the Duties of it, to the End of the World. 28. We have ihewn in Part the firft, SeB. the third, and Prop, iirft, that the Le- giflative Power of the Church refided both in Clergy and Laity ; and that all Rites, Cuftoms, and Ordinances refpeding Matters of Religion, and necelTary to the decent, regu- lar Performance of publick Worfhip, were agreed upon, and confented to, by both co?i- jointly. But it deferves to be confidered in this Place, that the Apoilles conflantly af- fum'd to themfelves a full and abfolute Power in the drawing up, and forming, as well Rules of ConduB to be obferved by the firft Chriilians towards their proper Paftors, and likewife towards one another ; as alfo of making all forts of Laws relating to the Go- vernment of the Churches founded by them, and to the Faith and Pradice of their re- fpedive Members. And this they generally did without confulting their Flock, or tak- ing their Advice in fuch Cafes as thofe. A- greeably to this, we find St. Paul, in many of his Epiflles, exercifing fuch an Autho- rity, 47? Reflections upon rity, in Matters regarding both the Dodrines and Difcipline of thofe Churches under his Care and Diredion : And foy fays he, or-^ dam I 171 all Churches, The Reafons for which Condudt in the Apoftles we take to be thefe. 29. Firjly In all Changes of ReligioUj where the Change is from one Religion to another efTentially different, both in the Cre* denda and Agenda of it, as was the Cafe at the Time of Meii's Converfion from Paga- nifm to Chriftianity, in a Change, we fay, of this Nature, the Means and Inflruments of fuch Change, tliat is, the Apoftles, and other infpired Perfons call'd up at different Times to this important Workj mufl be allowed to have a more perfed Knowledge of the Nature and Genius of the Chriflian Religion, as alfo what particular Form of Government, and what kind of Difcipline would beft fuit a Church of this Com- plexion, than their Converts could be fup^ pofed to have had. A Religion, which had the Completion of fuch a Number of Pro- phecies, and the Working of fo many Mi- racles in its Favour, foon convinced the iirfl Chriftians of the divine Extrailion of its Au- thor ; Church-Gqvernment, £i?r. 479 thor : And becaufe they had not r Leifure, nor perhaps ( which was the moll likely of the two ) Capacity, to examine into the peculiar Tendency of thofe Dodtrines and religious Opinions, into the Nature of thofe Duties, as hkewife into the Grounds of their Obligation, which the Apoflles taught and enforc'd as neceflary both to be believed and pradifed, fo were they under a Neceffity of leaving thofe things to the Care and Ma- nagement of the Apoflles, whofe Judgment they rely'd on, as they had good Reafon fo to do, and conflantly paid a mofl willing Obe- dience to all their Determinations. 30. Seco?idly, The Apoflles always ailing by the Guidance, and under the Diredion, of the Holy Ghofl, the Faith and Pradice of the firfl Chriflians, as to thofe and all other Points J had a firm and folid Founda- tion to refl on. The Apoflles being led by the infallible Spirit of God into the Know- ledge of all neceffary Truths ; and therefore obeying their Orders, and manifefling a will- ing Compliance with, and regard to, their Decifions, was no other than obeying the Orders, and paying a Regard to the unerr- ing Dictates of tlie Holy Spirit. But thofe Gifts 480 Reflections upon Gifts and Illuminations, fo eminently illui^ trious both in the Words and Writings, in the Lives and A(5lions, of the Propagators of the Chriilian Faith, ceafing at the for- ther fpreading of it, with them ceafed alfo the Reafon, and confequently the Right, of the Apoftles Succeflbrs, in making ecclefiafti- cal Laws, whether refpedting the Govern- ment of the Church, or the Faith and Mo- rals of her Members, exclufively of the Know- ledge, or independently on the Confent, of the Laity, after the Settlement of Chriflianlty in all thofe Places where it was fo-ft received. And the Laity being more at Liberty, and having better Opportunities of enquiring into the Grounds and Reafons of their Faith -, of difcovering its fuperior Ex- cellency to all other Religions, wherefoever and by whomfoever embrac'd; of finding out what particular Mode of V/orfhip ( if one Mode be preferable to another ) v/as either prefcrib'd by, or what appeared to be moft acceptable to Chrift, its Founder ; of judging what Form of ecclefiaftical Polity would make mofl for the Peace and Unity of the Church \ would render its Influences more extenfive \ and v/Iiich v/as befl foited to CnUkCH- GOVERNMENfT, ^r. 4S r to anfwer the Ends of its Inflitutlon ; as Men, we fay, began to have Leifure to make thofe Enquiries, and were farniflied with proper Helps and Affiftances for that Pur^ pofe, fo, in Proportion to thofe their Abili- ties, were their Obligations to make a pro^ per Ufe of them, and to form their Judg- ment, and afterwards their Pradiice, con- formably to the Refult of fuch Enquiries j for it is demonftrative " that Religion is " no further valuable, or of Service to Men^ " than as it is founded in Convidion and ** Choice." Agreeably to which T'ertidlian fays, that to ufe Force in religious Matters is no Property of true Religion^ to which Men muji be led by Choice^ and not by Violence, The SuccefTors of the Apoftles therefore not having, like them, the Advantages of Infpi- ration, or a Super-natural Affiilance from the Father of Lights a Diftin6lion, proper- ly fpeaking, ought to be made betwixt the one and the other, with Refpe6t to Legilla- tion. Becaufe to argue from the Pradice and common Method of Proceeding, as to this, and other Particulars, in the Apoftles, and other gifted Teachers, to what ought to be the Pradice of their SuccefTors in the Church, is to put the Decrees of fallible Men I i upon 482 kEFLECTlONS UpOti Upon a Level with thofe of the infallible Spirit of God himfelf ; and confequently, tho' many Things were enaded by the Apoftles, and lirft Officers of the Chriftian Church, without the Concurrence of the La- ity, yet it does by no jneans follow from thence, that the Minifters and Officers of Chrift's Church have a Right to alTume any Powers of this Sort, or to ad: after fuch a Manner, nor that any of their SuccefTors from that Time ever had. An Author, we have fomewhere met with, and whofe Words, as near as we can remember them, are to this EiFedt, fays, " The Determinations of *' the Apoftles are allowed to be Obligatory, " for that very Reafon that their Writings " are allowed to be the Pvule of Faith to " all Chriftians, viz. for that immediate " Infpiration of the Holy Spirit which they " were fo eminently endow'd with j which " Circumflance makes a very wide Difference " betwixt the Apoflles and their Succeffors." 3 1 . Lafdy\ If the iirft Chriftians embrac'd their Religion upon good Grounds j if the Gof- pelinet with fuch a Belief and Regard from the FrofefTors of it as was due to the Excellency of its Dodrlnes, the Juftnefs of its Re- pre- CiiURCH-GoVEilNMENT, &C. 483 prefentations, the Reafonablenefs of its Pre- cepts, and the Veracity of its Vouchers, that is, the Teftimonies of the Apoftles ; if the Evidences of Convidion were fo clear and confpicuous, and withall fo ftrong and co- gent, that fair and ingenuous Minds might with Safety acquiefce in, and firmly adhere to : Then thofe fame good Grounds and Reafons which difpos'd the firfl Converts to receive the Gofpel, and made it a necefiary Duty in them to embrace the Chriftian Faith, when fet before them in fuch favourable Lights, and under thofe affedling Circumflan- ces J thofe fame good Grounds and Reafons^ we fay, which pav'd the Way to this happy EfFedt, will alfo juftify their Obedience to all fuch Rules and Precepts^ to fuch Rites and Ceremonies, and other Gircumftantials of publick Worfhip, as the Apoflles thought proper for the Service of the Chriftian Church,; and which her Neceffities at thofe particu- lar Junctures called for and demanded j of which Neceffities, and of the propereft Methods of providing for them, the Apoflles muft, on all Hands, be allow'd the beft and moft competent Judges. But the Obedience paid, at the firfl: Convernons from I i 2 I-Jeatheni fm 484 Reflections upon Heathen ifm to Chriftianity, to all fuch Orders of the Apoltles as related both to Matters of Dodrine and Difcipline, could never give the fubfequent Governors of this Church a Right to the fame implicit Obedience from her Lay-Members, much lefs a Right to make Laws independently on their Confent. Becaufe Circumflances ceafing, or altering from what they were, the Reafons, upon which the Apoflles and other infpired Perfons Condudt, in refpecft of Legiflation, was found- ed, chang'd, or rather ceas'd with them. 32. But tho' Church-men have not, ei- ther from the Reafons of Things, which are by God's Appointment, and, in this Senfe, Manifeftations of his Will, or from the ex- prefs Declarations of Chriil; and ids Apoililes, a Right to make Laws j v/hethcr v. e con- fider them as relating to the C: edenia or Agenda in Religion, and fo confequendy to the fixing the Terms of Admiflion into the Chriftian Church • or to the Adminiftration of the Word and Sacraments, and the more orderly Performance of divine Worifhip ; tho' Cjiurch-men, v/e fay, have no Right to make ^i^royiilons of this kind which iliall bind tlie Laity independently on their Confent j yet is Church^ Government, fl« that the Power alfo of taking others into this Miniflry, and fo of continuing the Suc-s ceffion, belong'd to her Officers, have both of them been already {hewn : It has been hkewife made out above, that the Right of making all Sorts of ecclefiaftical Laws relating to Matters of Faith and Prad:ice, to Order and Difcipline • as alfo of appoint- ing all fuch Rites and Ceremonies as are neceilary to thp decent, orderly Performance of the feveral diftindt Parts of publick Wor- ship ; that the Right, we fay, of making thofe Provifions belongs to all the Mem- bers of this religious Society, as well Laity as Clergy. We fhall now go on to enume- rate fome other Powers, Rights, &c. of this Society, as they are to be found in the Writings of the Nev/ Teflament. 34. Our Saviour fpeaking to his Difci- ples of Offences, that they mufl happen, de- nounces the Woe of thofe by whom they tio come, in faying, it had been better for flich Men they had never been born. He afterwards turns his Difcourfe from the Per- fon offending to the Perfon offended, and declares what is the Duty of Man un- der that particular Cirumffance. For tho' his Church-Government, ^r. 487 his Words were not perfonally dlredled, that is, were not dire<5ted to any certain Perfons then prefent with him, yet they muft be allowed to be fpoken, if not to thofe of that Chara(fter, yet in Reference to fuch as fhould one Time or other come under that Cha- racter or Conlideration : Our Saviour, we fay, turning himfelf from one to the other, ipeaks thus ; Moreover ^ if thy Brother fiall trefpafs agmnft thee^ go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone : If he (Imll hear thee^ thou haft gained thy Bro^ ther. But if he will not hear thee^ then take with thee one or two more^ that in the Mouth of two or three WitneJJes every Word may be efiablijhed. And if he jhall negleB to hear them, tell it unto the Church : But if he negleB to hear the Churchy let him be to thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican, Thefe Words, fays the learned Bifhop Stillingfeet, have been prefTed into the Ser- vice of all the feveral forts of Churches e- reAed, and in ufe iamong Chriftians, as well to vindicate the Lawfulnefs, as the Neceffity of their own particular Form of Church-Government. Tho' others, fo far from thinking any one individual Form to I i 4 be ^^S K ^FLECT ions upon contained in them, or by Confequence to be deduced from them, do on the contrary- maintain, that they have no Relation at all to Matters of ecclefiaftical Policy, but con-t- .> jequently concern Men only in their pri- vate Capacity, The befl Way to come at the true Meaning and Importance of them, is to take a View of them in the Order in which they ftand, as alfo the Connexion of them both with what went before, and with what follow'd them, In this Light we fliall proceed to confider them. 35. Our Saviour begins this Chapter with ^ddreiling himfelf to his Difciples diflinBly from the Multitude ; ta thofe he conftantly kept v^^ith hiro, during the whole Time of his Miniftry upon Earth, that they might hear the Dodrines and fee the Works which/)--'' he had done amongfl: them, the better to manifeft both the one and the other to the World, to which Work he knew they Ihould be called in due Time, as being Eye-Wit- nefles, and confequently-the befl Vouchers . of Fad:s of this Nature. It was to thofe, with v/hom tlie grand Depofit of our Faith was to be enti'ufled, that he fpoke ; thofe chof^n Inflruments for propagating the Faith / • - both Church-Government, ^c. 489 both among Jews and Gentiles, and con- fequently thofe, to whom the Government of the Churches, founded by them, jQiould be in due Time committed. And there- fore the Rules of Behaviour he here lays down, the Doctrines he delivers, and the Duties he explains, feem not to be, ( and upon ftridl Enquiry will be really found not to be fo ) feem not to be, ws fay, fo much defign'd for their Ufe, as for the Ufe of thofe who, in Times to come, fhould be plac'd under their Care and Diredlion. 36. But to come to an Explanation of the Words themfelves. The whole Chapter may be confidered, as we before obferv'd, either as a Sermon drawn out into Rules of Be- haviour for the Difciples themfelves, or to be preach'd and enforced by them, or their SucceiTors in that Office, for the Service of thofe that fliould be converted to the Chriftian Faith. But that the Charge, here given, principally refpeded, and was in Truth intended for thofe Churches that were to be form'd by them, will feem, we prefume, extremely probable from the Reafons that lliall hereafter be affigned. The Perfon offended was required to go to the Perfon who 490 Reflections upon who committed the Offence ; to tell him of it ; and what Injury he had done him, either in regard to his Perfon, his Charader, or his Property. And if the Party offending refus'd to hear him, that is, if he could not, or, rather would not, be convinced that he was in a Fault, and fo confequently not exprefs a proper Abhorrence of it, then was he to take one or two more with him, &c. and if he negJedfed to hear them, &c. then the Offence enlarg'd itfelf, and became more ge- neral. And for this plain Reafon, that e- very Crime, tho' committed but againft one lingle Individual, is, in feme Senfe, a Crime committed againfh the v/hole human Species, particularly againft that part of the Species, combin'd into fuch particular Body or So- ciety, of which the offending and offended Perfons are Members 3 becaufe it is a Breach of fome Part or Parts of tliat general Law, by the Obfervance of which the whole hu- man Species, and confequently that particu- lar Society, is preferv'd and made happy j and who, in Proportion to their greater or lefs Deviations from it, muft be proportio- nably more or lefs miferable. Thofe Re- monflrances proving ineffectual, the injured Perfon Church^Goverj^ment, ^f. 491 Perfon is direded to proceed a Step fur- ther, and the Accufation is order'd to be laid before the Church ; and if he neglecfts to hear the Church, he is to be counted as an Heathen Man and a PubHcan. And thus, for the Reafon before given, it comes, that the Oifence, tho* originally of a private Nature, yet by being openly reprov'd, but ftill obflinately perfifled in, the Oifence, we fay, becomes general, and in fome Degree affedls all thofe under whofe Notice or Cog- nizance it happens to fall : And fo what was only a particular Offence, comes to be gradually chang'd into a publick Scandal. The great Difficulty here is fuppofed to lie in coming at the true Meaning of the Word Church 'y that by it cannot be meant the yewifi Sanhedrim, is, we prefume, evident from hence, that Our Saviour would never, as a certain great Writer juftly obferves upon this Paflage, have fent his Difciples tq thofe whom he knew would treat them with the moil implacable Spite and Hatred, The Word Church therefore in this Place mufl mean, we think, the Church that was to be gathered by the Apoflles after Chrift's Af- cenfion up into Heaven, or thofe Affemblies of 492 Reflections t^pon of Chriftians that fhould meet together pub- lickly to profefs their Faith in a crucified Saviour. Whatever the Word evDOKVidln may- be made to fignify in fome Authors, yet is it all along in the New Teftament conftant- ly ufed in this Senfe, that is, for a Num- ber of Chriflians united into a Body, or af- fembled together, upon a religious Account, as is abundantly evident from a Multitude of Places in the Epiftles. Can we think therefore that it fhould fignify one Thing in one Place of Scripture, and another Thing in another ? Or, that it fhould have diftindl and different Senfes or Meanings ? This would be fuch an Inconfiftency as we dare not, as we cannot, in Juftice, fix either upon Chrift, or his Apoflles. But to proceed to the next fucceeding Verfe. Verily I fay tut- to you, whatfoever ye jhall bind on Earth, JJjall be bound in Heaven j and whatfoever ye fiall loofe on Earth, Jhall be loofed in Heaven, Who fees not, that fees any thing at all, that thefe Words do not neceffarily refer to the Powers of Excommunication and Abfolu- tion as now pradlis'd and in Ufe in the Chrif-^ tian Church ? Or, to fpeak more properly; - that the Exercife of thofe Powers in the Church , Church-Government, ^c, 493 Church does not neceffarily take their Rife and firil Inftitution from thence ? Words, fo plain, that no Comment can poffibly make them plainer, are not applicable to any but to the Officers of the Chriftian Church. They are of the fame Significancy, and of equal Importance with thofe, he left with his Difciples immediately before his Afcen- lion, when he gave them their Commiffion to preach the Gofpel. John xx. ver. 21, 22, 23. I'hen faid J ejus to them again y Peace be unto you : As my Father hath fent me^ even fo fend I you. And when he had faid thus, he breathed on them, and faith un- to them. Receive ye the Holy Ghoji : Whofefo- ever Sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whofofoever Sins ye retain, they are re- tained. Confequently, if thefe latter Words be fpoke to the Difciples in the Charader of Apoftles, or Officers of the Chriftian Church to be form'd by them, fo muft the former likewife, that is, thofe we have been now explaining muft fall under the fame Confideration alfoj becaufe they have the fame natural Import or Meaning with them, as is obvious to the meaneft Capacity. 37^ The 494 Re inconfijlent with the Laws of the Gofpel, ' Pofitions contrary both to Reafon and Faft ; aJid which, we think, are fufficiently explod-^ ■ cd by what has been faid above. A Main- tenance for religious Officers in general is due by divine Right, but the particular Man- ■ ner of raifing it is left to Men's Difcretion.'' Tithes feem to be neither enjoined nor for- - bidden by the Laws of the Gofpel 5 and therefore may or may not be appointed by human Authority, as to fuch Authority this Way of providing for the Miniflers of Chrifl: fhall feem either expedient or not expedient. -47. We are now able to give an Anfwer to thofe who afk, how are the Legillature to proceed in fettling a Maintenance upon the Officers of the Chrifhian Church ? Are they ty'd down to one certain Method of doing* it ? Or does it depend on their Wills to provide for t]:iem in this^ or that^ or any o'ther Way? We obferv'd before in regard to the Je^ivijh Church, that God himfelf lirft form'd it ; drew out their whole Scheme of ecclefiaftical Policy ; inftituted their Prieil:- hood ; prefcrib'd the Whole of their religi- ous Service j mark'd out, for the Levites, all Church-Government, G?r. 509 all their feveral Rights, Dues, Offerings, &c, and afterwards united this religious' Society to the State. But this was not the Cafe of the Chriftian Church ; it was ; left ( as we fhall fhew immediately ) independent on the civil Power, and confequently at Liberty to unite itfelf to all the various Forms of civil- Government in the World, upon fuch Terms and Conliderations as fhould be mutually a- greed upon betwixt the governing Parts ©f thofe diftincSl, independent Societies ^ one of which Terms or Conditions was, that it ihould be in the Choice of the fupreme Power of every Nation to fettle the Clergy's Maintenance in fuch particular Man- . ner, as, all things confidered, appear'd beft upon the Whole, that is, moft fuitable to the one to pay, and for the other to receive. 48. Before we proceed any flirther, it is^ proper to obferve, that, among other Inftruc- tions given by our Saviour in his Charge to the Apoftles, is the following one, freely ye have received^ freely give : From whence a certain Sedt, or Profeffion of Chriflians amongft us, have concluded, that the Gofpel. ought to be preached, and the other Oiiices- of , J f^hurdyi>jn .|)ej:form,'.d, gratuitoufly , or ^^^jv.. T -■^ '' ' - -' . without 5io Reflections upon without any Recompence being made them in Return ; and confequently that Tithes, or any other iixt, fettled Provision appropri- ated for the Maintenance of a Chrifiian Clergy, are not only an ufelefs, but an unlav/fal Inflitution, and contrary to the exprefs Order and Command of Chrill: their Mafter. But to begin with an Expoiition of the Words. 49. Freely ye have received ^ freely give. Receiv'd ! what ? not merely the Pov/er of governing Chrifl's Church, which, as yet, had not a Being ; nor the Power of admit- ting Perfons Members of this Church by Baptifm ; nor of adminiftring the Word and Sacraments j of eje(5ting the Criminal, G?<:. which were the fixt, Handing Pov/ers in the Church after it had once acquired an Eilabiifhment. But ye have received^ the Powers of healing the Sick, of cleaiifing the Lepers, of raifmg the Dead, and of cafting cut Devils. As ye therefore have freely received thefe miraculous Powers, freely ex- crcife them, of your own accord, and with- out Fee or Reward. Thefe were Gifts, v/e fee, of an extraordinary Nature, beilow'd up^. on extraordinary Perfons, snd to be ufed upon extraordinary Occafions^ the better to eneaee Church-Government, G?(r. ^u engage both the Heads and Hearts of thofe to w\iom 'fiich chofefi Injiruments in his Hands were to addrefs themfelves. Men who could perform fuch wonderful Adls as thofe, would mot fail of being liflen'd to with Admira- tion, and heard with an awful reverential fort of a Regard. Fadis not lying in the common Road of Events, and out of God's ufual Method of proceeding by Means or fecond Caufes, or,, which' plainly furpafs all the Powers of created Beings limply to per- form ; Fadls, we iay, of this extraordinary Nature and Tendency, cannot fail of excit- ing our Afloniihment, and are apt to fix our Attention wholly upon them. And they are generally introduc'd, at certain peculiar Junctures, either for the Repeal of fome old Law or Inftitution, or for the Eftablifhment of a new one. 50. The Words therefore, according ta the Dependence which th-ey have upon what goes before, and what follows them, cannot be faid to relate, in any Senfe, to the future Taflars of Chrifl's Church ; to the Doctrines they were to preach ; to the Powers to be exercis'd by them ; or to the Rights they fhould acquire from the Labours of their Fundionsi ^I^. REFLiSCtlONS Upon Funcflibns : But they were fpoke to Perfolis then going to be eminehtly endow'd with Gifts which were liot intended to be com-* municated to any Officers of this Churchy after Chriflianity had once obtained a full and perfe6t Settlement. And cOnfequently, coniidering their natural Import and Sig- nificancy, nothing can be inferr'd from theni, which can any Ways, or in any Degree;' affecft the Handing ordinary Miniflry of Chrifl^s Church ; or which has any fort of Refer- ence to their Rights, Powers, Privileges, Duties or Obligations, of what Kind or Denomination foever they be. 51. Chriftianity not only conflitutes a So- ciety diftindl from the Civil, in the Way that any other Species of Religion does, but the Chriftian Church is declared to be a Society by the Founder of it. The Title of Kingdom given by Chrifl: to his Church, almoft in every Page of the four Evangelifls in which he fpeaks of this Church ; and the Declaration he is pleafed to make of the Nature of this Kingdom, and of the Con- ditions "upon which Perfons are to be admit- ted into it, and piade Members of it ; and the Qualifications thof^ fliould have who were Church-Government, ^^c. 513 were to officiate in it ; flrongly confirra the Truth o£ our Pofition. Let us add to this, that Chrift, and in Obedience to his Example, his Apoftles, appointed thofe Mi- niilers -, made a Diflindiion betwixt them, as plainly appears from the different Com- miifions he delivered to tl:e Twelve and Seventy ; and veiled them with thofe Powers, and gave them fuch Inftrudiions, as were neceffiry for the refpe(5live Buiinefs each had to do in the Church : From which Con- du6l of Chrift and his Apoflles we would draw this Obfervation, v^z. that a Number or Colle